More lore of One Shell Straight to Hell with "THE ARCHIVER EPISODE #02"

[note: The Archiver is a series of posts dedicated to the lore of One Shell Straight to Hell. To know more about the game itself, we invite you to head over Steam: https://bit.ly/2Xcn3fX]

The Archiver, Episode #02

Benedictus

These tapes were recovered in the personal belongings of the archivist of the papal library after the tragic events at the Halliwell residence.

At the time Alexander was not yet known as Padre, Benedictus was assistant to the bishop, but also a member of the Society of Honorius, a priestly confraternity dedicated to training exorcists and, it was rumoured, fighting the good fight in rather less orthodox ways. Their paths would have soon crossed, leading both of them to unpredictable events...

Tapescript:

At the beginning of the event, of which has claimed my life and placed this recording in your hand, I revealed the name of our organisation and our sacred duty to the world. At the time of the event the leader of our movement was no other than Benedictus.

Benedictus has always known he had to serve the church. Born Angelo into an Italian-American family in New York, his father’s work as a merchant banker kept them moving about, but the young Giuliano enjoyed the finest tutors money could buy. When he told his parents he intended to join the priesthood, they were delighted, and paid for him to go to Rome to finish his schooling and then train. Angelo was originally considering life as a Jesuit or Dominican, for although he was aware of the privilege that his parents’ wealth had brought him, he had also seen the darker side, the unfaithfulness, the avarice, the dissolute living. Yet, in Rome he found much of the same and had a crisis of faith.

It was only in stumbling across a reference to the Society of Honorius in one of his books that he was rescued. Intrigued by the idea of a ministry of exorcism, he sought out the Society itself. The Honorians turned out to be more than he had expected, but Angelo was nothing if not determined to put his faith to use. He joined the society, taking the name Benedictus in acknowledgement of God’s generous hand upon him, and returned to the United Kingdom, ready to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Benedictus is, in many ways, an uncomplicated character: he is just as ruthless and zealous as he appears to be. His tangled schemes are designed to root out corruption wherever it might be, and ensuring that he gets the credit, although to him status is primarily a tool, a weapon in the fight.

He hopes someday to secure a post in Rome, that he might attend to the vice at the heart of the Church. Zealous, bright, and cunning, Benedictus’ conviction that only he knows best is almost unshakeable because, infuriatingly, he almost always does. Almost always.