When contact was lost with the crusading army at the far border of Grellek, it was initially assumed that they had managed to breach the walls and had advanced so quickly that they had been unable to send reports in the midst of the excitement. Thus, for days after the Crusaders had been wiped out the view held by the people was still one of optimism. They simply could not imagine that their glorious soldiers had been utterly crushed.

Then the deserters and fleeing troops began to trickle in, followed shortly thereafter by the unrelenting tide made up of the Metal Demons. Despite every attempt made to destroy them, even if you took off one of their limbs or even their heads, they would still not die. As survivors gathered information, the weakness, if one could call it that, of the Metal Demons was discovered. Only by heavily damaging their torso could they be slain, and even then you had to be careful to avoid getting roasted by the explosion or shredded by the shrapnel that resulted from their death. Even with the resistance fighting in dishonorable, guerilla style methods the kill to death ratio was not in the favor of Grellek. For every one of the Metal Demons that was slain a thousand more would take its place. For every Metal Demon that fell fifty Grellekians or more were lost. It was an unsustainable war, and one they knew that they would lose.

It was odd, how little it took to change absurd levels of optimism into total despair. What made it worse were the massive artillery barges that hovered above the ground and moved at speeds no man on foot could match. The steel clouds that hovered over cities and threatened to disgorge more of the Metal Demons made the idea of resistance even more foolish. When the third week of the counter-invasion had come and went, Grellek’s aristocracy had already fled for the ‘safety’ of the Holy Crux Empire, leaving the masses without any leadership for the first time in their lives. As the next few weeks passed, the propaganda machine from the invaders went into full effect.

“The monarchy in Nortfrozz has been overthrown by its own people. The Republic of Nortfrozz has been inducted into the Gaian Alliance.”

Such a thing couldn’t possibly be true, could it? No, of course not! Commoners overthrowing the Divinely Chosen Ruling Class and making their own government was beyond impossible.

As the trade with Nortfrozz had been disrupted by the beginnings of the invasion, no one truly believed that the people of Nortfrozz could successfully rise up against the divinely chosen monarchy and clergy and succeed. However, as trade between occupied Grellek and Nortfrozz once again began to open the truth was made perfectly clear. Nortfrozz had done something impossible and overthrown people chosen by Lugus to rule them. They claimed that all people were equal and that no god, king or man could truly strip people of their basic rights. They claimed to have made a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Of course the clergy that remained in Grellek were having none of this, and continuously tried to ferment resistance and revolt against the occupation. This was met with overwhelming force, as the occupiers made sure to nip any potential resistance in the bud. Due to this, for the first time in Grellek’s history members of the clergy were being tried in a court of law. As the occupation slowly got confessions from the accused without the use of torture, the counts against them only grew as people who had been abused by the clergy now had a way to get justice.

“Loyalty to the True Faith and its voice? Nonsense! With what they did to me and my family, they are not the true voice of God! What kind of man sexually abuses a child and gets away with it and stays in the same church so he can commit the same act again and again?! Our family was nearly excommunicated for trying to get this damn man to regret his actions; but what does it matter if we are excommunicated? If these men truly are the legitimate voice of Lugus, then the whole faith has been corrupted!”

This one outburst from a well-respected merchant was seen all over Grellek via the new ‘Telly Vision’ that was placed in certain spots. What was said next by the priest merely put the nail in the coffin.

“We, the holiest of Lugus’ servants can do whatever we want! Lugus has given us exemption from sin, as all we do is good! You and your son should have been honored that he got to be handled by me. The holy power of Lugus has blessed we, his voice on Gaia to do whatever we want to in order to spread the true word. I could forcibly make love to a virgin woman the day before her marriage in the middle of the town and then gut her like a fish and Lugus would smile upon me and my fellows for our purity! If you have a problem with we, the true voice of the Almighty, then you are Lost!”

Silence ruled both in and outside of the courtroom as the other priests in the court nodded and expressed their affirmations. For decades there had been rumors of the debauchery that the Holy Men of Lugus were indulging in, but these were only rumors. This open declaration made it clear to everyone watching or listening that these were not baseless lies and rumors; they had grounding in truth.

And just like that, someone, somewhere outside of the courtroom spoke up in the middle of the streets.

“That one made me cheat upon my husband with him!”

Another voice cried out.

“He demanded I give my life savings to the Church! If he hadn’t, my children wouldn’t have starved to death!”

Soon the voices of those who were hurt by the Church multiplied and people began to realize that they were not alone. Others had suffered just as they had suffered and others were hurt just as they were. As more and more voiced were added to the cries of anger and rage, fewer and fewer people were able to hold on to the notion that the Church was beyond corruption and evil. The Church was losing more and more support as the clergy continued to rant and rave on screen, digging themselves and their faith into deeper and deeper holes.