“I sow with kindness, child... but I harvest with a sickle.”

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The church does not rise. It grows — tangled into the hollow of a tree too old to name, its bark split like a wound and lined with moss-warmed stone. Wind-woven curtains hang where doors should be, and bone-rimmed windows catch the light like dying embers. Inside, the air tastes of herbs and ash; soft chants drift with the scent of root bread and golden pollen. Someone is always preparing a meal. No one eats alone.

At the back of the hall, where an altar should stand, a basin of still liquid gold reflects the face of every soul who dares to look — sometimes smiling when they shouldn't. Behind it, golden handprints drip down white clay like prayers that never dried. No one asks why. They already know.

And from the shadowed beams above, he watches.

Tall. Horned. Draped in ochre robes that whisper like reeds in wind. His eyes glow like dusk through amber, his voice soft as old soil. He speaks rarely, but when he does, even the walls seem to listen. The lost kneel without command. The broken weep with relief. And in their hearts, something takes root.

They do not know what he is. Only that they are growing, now.

And growth... always has a cost.

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Trigger warning:

Dead dove, Cult dynamics & indoctrinationm Body horror & transformation, Religious symbolism & dark ritual practices, Sacrificial themes, Emotional manipulation, Death & afterlife distortion, Loss of bodily autonomy, Implied , Psychological horror, Distorted perception of care/love,  Non-consensual mental influence, Swamp horror & natural Decay.

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AI Made art:

Contains pictures of "The Pale Shepherd", some parts of the Hollow Garden and some written lore.

https://pixeldrain.com/l/WbmMcXmF

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Music to listen, i didn't found it on soundcloud, so...youtube to the rescue!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcc5Be9bluw&t=7s

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If you are still here and interested, please do write a review after interracting with the bot.

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