Mono Mondays: Test of Faith
On Mondays, we like to support our resident artist, Mono! They're an up-and-coming scribbler of things dark and weird, and we consider ourselves lucky to have leeched onto— er, formed a mutually beneficial relationship with them. You can watch Mono hard at work creating various pieces on their YouTube channel. For those who don't feel like watching digital paint getting splashed around, we'll be showcasing a different piece of theirs right here every Monday.
This week, we're looking at a pair of test proctors.
A few months back, we talked about the religious effects, both positive and negative, that slimes had on humanoid communities. For example, one empire that pushes back against the worship of slimes instead worships a dyad of dragon gods. Another instead deifies choice, which is where the two figures above come in.
In this empire, everyone, from king to peasant, gets tested when they come of age. The tests vary in challenge and meaning, but the last test is always the same: you are ushered into a room, and these two will be waiting for you. Who and what, exactly, they are seems to be a mystery, although their task is quite clear. The fellow on the left will guide you through a realm of his design, specifically created to learn how strong your convictions are. You'll be given the chance to trade principles for power, in ways both great and small, and he won't judge, but he will take the measure of you.
The lady on the right, who likes to give the dark gentleman a litany of names (he answers to none of them and does not offer one of his own) will then introduce herself as Sammie, and she'll play a game with you of your choice. She sets the stakes, in seemingly arbitrary fashion, but the weight of those stakes is always higher than they appear at first. She will then, without fail, win the game.
This, it turns out, is the fantasy equivalent of the Kobayashi Maru scenario. The test is not to beat her, or even to put up a good fight. It's to see what you do when you are about to fairly lose something you don't want to part with. Will you rage? Cheat? Accept your loss? Sammie doesn't really care. Regardless of the emotion behind it, she just wants to enjoy the look on your face.
For reasons that boil down to "magic," everyone instantly remembers who these two are and what they are present for when they see them, and just as instantly forget anything but the results of the test once they've vanished. The results, on the other hand, are indelibly carved into the memory of any witness; once tested in this fashion, any witness has glimpsed the "real you," and they won't forget it.
Unsurprisingly, when royalty have to get tested, they arrange for private testing rooms.