| Canon Story | ||||||||
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| Prayer Of The Mantis | ||||||||
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| Artist | Writer | |||||||
| David Hopkins | David Hopkins | |||||||
| Previous | Next | |||||||
| Arc XLVII: You're So Mean | Arc XLIX: Whenever A Bell Rings | |||||||
Farrago is a soldier in a Queen's army during a quasi-Medieval like time in the past during the time of Vince's reign on Earth. She is part of military detachment led by Executor Nashtok seeking to rescue their captured queen, held hostage by Vince's forces.
Along the way they are joined by Sir Eric, an excommunicated knight from the Queen's army who has lost his faith but still fights Vince on his own accord. Reluctant to turn down help even from an enemy of the church, Nashtok allows him to join the group but remains wary of him. Eric in turn suspects Nashtok of using this war as a means to get the queen out of the way and seize power for himself.
Entering one of Vince's strongholds, they are shocked to find the nearly abandoned fort filled with mutilated corpses. Searching the place, they find their queen, a Rework husk being looked over by Vince's necromancer Nostrum, who tells them their queen's soul is trapped in Hell. He offers them the ability to travel to Hell to rescue her. Farrago, Nashtok, Eric and Nashtok's subordinate, a sycophant desperate to curry his boss's favor, all accept Nostrum's offer and enter Hell.
In Hell, they end up in the graveyard of dishonored dead, buried alive with all of them needing to dig themselves out of the ground. Once above ground, they are shocked to discover that they have been changed: Eric has taken on a withered appearance, Nashtok has lost his face, Farrago has grown angel-like wings and Nashtok's subordinate has a list of his sins written on his flesh. They are visited by Jack, who is confused to see four still-living people in Hell. He warns them if they die they risk damnation. The subordinate claims he should have been cleansed due to his service and begs Jack to send him back to the land of the living. Instead, Jack, reaps his soul, leaving the remaining three.
They begin on a journey to the Cavern of Lust, which Jack warns will be a three-day journey taking them through numerous dangers including an ominous sounding device called "Mulciber's Machine." Farrago is surprised to find not lakes of fire and brimstone, but instead Hell is a cold wasteland where the damned punish themselves. She begins to suspect that if free will exists in Hell, people can escape damnation if they chose to.
During one night, Nashtok relates how his life experiences led him to doubt his church, but that he kept his doubts secret because he enjoyed the power he had attained in life. He admits that he did not want to save the queen because he enjoyed the power he had in her absence. He likened the church to the Prayer of the Mantis: calm on the outside, but hiding a deadly trap. Nashtok is certain he will not make it out of Hell.
As they approach the machine, Nashtok's words weigh heavy on Farrago, who is concerned that Hell might be hard to escape. The group gets to the machine, a massive factory built in a lake of fire where the damned are fed via conveyor belt into skewers and a giant cog that mashes up its victims to power the machine and all of Hell.
Farrago uses her wings to glide down, and the machine's victims mistake her for an angel. Even when she admits she's not, she still hears their prayers and finds a purpose for her life. Eric, Farrago and Nashtok time the blades so they miss being sliced apart. Nashtok offers to sacrifice himself to allow Farrago and Eric to survive the cog wheel, vowing not to leave Hell until he destroys the machine. He is crushed on the wheel, allowing Farrago and Eric to survive in their corresponding space.
Farrago flies with Eric out of the other side of the machine, carrying him out of an exhaust vent in the roof and toward a hill where they're greeted by Lucifer. He points them toward the cave, helping them because Vince's impending failure will speed up his collection of the future Sin. Inside, they find Lust's victims, reverted to children's bodies imbeded in the cave walls. Father Rask, the current sin of Lust, appears as a two-headed insect, a literal mantis calling back to Nashtok's metaphor.
Rask, a former leader of Farrago's church and a pedophile, recognizes her and she stands her ground. Eric goes further into the cave to rescue the Queen's soul. She claims he must be an angel, which confuses Eric as he doesn't see himself this way. While escaping, Farrago has her wings ripped off by Rask, who then strangles her to death.
Eric, the final living member of the party, makes it outside the cave only to encounter Lucifer again. The Devil offers to send one of them back, the Queen doesn't want any more sacrifices in her name, but Eric insists the Queen go. The Devil reveals the choice was a ruse, the Queen's soul was already returning to her body and he missed his chance to leave Hell. The devil then kills Eric when he tries to strike him.
On Earth, the Queen sets about establishing a peaceful reign, though she has Nostrum executed. Nashtok eventually destroyed the machine and attempted life again in the Dust Bowl. Farrago went to Heaven and became an angel for real, happy that she now feels a purpose in her life. Sir Eric remains in Hell awaiting an opportunity to be an instrument in God's plan.
Characters[]
Locations[]
- Earth
- Hell
- Plains of Hell
- Mulciber's Machine
- Cavern of Lust