Now that I've finished showing off what the Sibersk region of Krevborna will look like in the revised version of the book, let's move on to Chancel. In many ways, Chancel is emblematic of Krevborna's themes as a whole. It exemplifies the power and corruption of the Church and the evil that hides in plain sight. It's also the area of the setting inspired by Catholic-critical Gothic texts like Matthew Lewis's The Monk.
The scent of incense hangs heavy in the air of Chancel, a metropolis of towering churches and cathedrals. Statues of saints crop up like funereal marble gardens throughout the city. Once the seat of Krevborna’s tsars, Chancel has been reborn as the center of the Church of Holy Blood’s power. Chancel is nominally governed by Father Anjelus, the pontiff of the Church of Holy Blood, though he leaves the daily business of the city to a tangled conclave of magistrates, judges, and bureaucrats appointed by the Church.
The Church of Holy Blood infiltrates every facet of life in Chancel, but the Church is hideously corrupt. Crackling pyres stand ready to burn accused witches and other heretics alive—regardless of their actual guilt. Although piety is a prized quality in Chancel, the city is at once a den of immoral decadence and religious fanaticism. Chancel is the most wealthy city in Krevborna, yet it is also a place of crushing poverty for the city’s underclass. Afflicted beggars dressed in rags call for alms as gilded carriages roll past.
Periodic outbreaks of strange miasmas and diseases that transform citizens into ravening beasts or the walking dead afflict the people of Chancel.
Hallmarks
The following elements and aesthetic notes define Chancel:
• Chancel is the seat of power for the Church of Holy Blood.
• The city is a theocracy currently governed by Father Anjelus Navarre, the head of the Church.
• Great disparity of wealth exists between the upper- and lower-classes in Chancel.
• Chancel has countless churches, chapels, and shrines dedicated to the saints; these edifices often dwarf the surrounding buildings.
• It is not unusual for daily life in Chancel to be interrupted by the passing of a sacred procession consisting of gilded icons, flagellants, and choirs of children and castrati.
(Art by Tenebrous Kate)
