Cult of the Lionel

In Promo, The Burned Man by The Burned Man

Inside a church, a horned lamb wearing a red fleece and a demonic crown is seen giving a sermon to a large gathering of cute animals. We don’t hear any words being spoken aside from some bleats from the lamb.

“This is a cute game, isn’t it?”

With a click of a computer mouse, the sermon ends and the other animals leave the building to go back to their livelihoods.

“It’s called Cult of the Lamb. You play as the titular lamb trying to turn their cult from a small gathering in the Groves into a domain worthy of a God. How do you pull this off?”

The lamb leaves the church, revealing a large dwelling full of shelters, farms, workhouses, and other ritualistic buildings in a large forest like area. We zoom out to reveal a kid sitting at their computer playing the game, with Blaze standing right beside them.

“First you ‘rescue’ potential followers from their darkest hour and recruit them. Then you gather supplies from the Groves in order to build many of the structures you see before you. Once you’ve amassed enough of both, you can send them out into the field to work for you.”

The player proceeds to walk the lamb over to the offering statue, picking up a gold necklace once arriving.

“After some battles with other cults, you’ll eventually become the most powerful creature in the land. The lamb will be so powerful, that it’ll even surpass the God they’re supposed to be worshipping in the first place.”

A few seconds of resource collecting later, the lamb moves towards the tabernacle, where the followers pray to a giant lamb statue to raise devotion.

“But this is just a game, you say. Surely nobody could be inspired by what goes on here and apply it to Arcadian life? Unfortunately, someone did exactly that.”

Blaze chuckles as the followers keep praying.

“That someone is Lionel Troy; the self proclaimed Lion of Zion. He started his church under the guise of worshipping a higher power, giving the people of Arcadia faith in these trying times.”

After a bit of watching the followers pray, something odd happens to the player. Their hands slip off the keyboard and mouse as the lamb’s eyes turn red and face towards the screen.

“They built up a reputation of rescuing those from their darkest hour and giving them a role to play in their cult, like having them give the sermons. However, underneath that welcoming guise lies a black heart that wants to become more powerful than the God he claims to praise.”

The player suddenly starts praying to the lamb in the game.

“Lady Justice doesn’t want this to happen. She wants to see you brought down to normalcy before you can ascend. That’s why she dispatched me to deal with you.”

Wrapping the chain around his fist, Blaze suddenly punches a hole through the monitor, breaking the kid out of their trance.

“After that? The scales of justice will determine your fate.”

We fade to black not long after.