Role

Chapter 4

Obughum sat before a cave at the top of a mountain, gazing into Lord
Akresius' sanctum, stunned.

His reverent calls, bizarre as they may have been, were taken as mockery and
heresy by the deity he worships. He thought back upon what his father had
taught him and realized that it must have been wrong - or, perhaps, that this
was some kind of test.

And so Obughum sought out Talisin, one famously favored by Lord Akresius, and
learned that Akresius does not typically take the form of an alligator, and
that much of what he had previously thought about the god was wrong.

"All men are fools," Talisin told Obughum.

The statement resonated with Obughum, as it is something he had long
suspected. But he never applied that idea to Mr. Bogglesworth, who had taken
on a godlike status in Obughum's memory.

Akresius' rejection has driven Obughum to search out flaws within himself.
Upon the sort of reflection of which he is capable, he realized that he
shrieked before Akresius like a petulant swamprat. Lord Akresius, however,
demands a noble lion, who can command comfort and fear with a mere gaze.

A noble lion, then, is what he will become.

It should also be noted that Obughum has an unfortunate inability to
understand subtle turns of phrase, and often misses implied statements. For
instance, a crimson-stained angel's offhanded remark has left Obughum
seriously unsettled at the notion of joining some other god's circus.