Revision 1

Overview

Saint Selena Cathedral (圣赛琳娜大教堂) is the largest cathedral and ritual hub in Backlund. It serves as the Backlund seat of the Church of the Evernight Goddess, the most prominent of the orthodox Churches in the Loen Kingdom. The cathedral runs both public religious services and confidential high-Sequence ritual operations, and its inner sanctum is the official ritual venue for Nighthawk and Red Glove Sequence advancement ceremonies above Sequence 6.

Architecture

Saint Selena Cathedral occupies a large block in central Backlund. The main worship hall is a Gothic vaulted nave with a rose window of indigo and silver (the Evernight Goddess's colours). A bell tower rises high above the city skyline. Beneath the nave, a multi-level vault complex houses the cathedral's archives, ritual chambers, and Sequence-specific sanctums; the deepest sanctums are accessible only through Beyonder-keyed doors.

Visual identity: indigo-and-silver palette throughout, lunar-themed iconography across stained glass and floor mosaics, a quiet acoustic that amplifies whispered Beyonder ritual chants without overpowering them. The cathedral is one of the architectural set-pieces of the live-game Backlund arc and a major narrative venue for high-Sequence story beats.

Public worship

The cathedral hosts daily public services for the lay faithful, with major weekly services on the day of the Evernight Goddess. Public space is sized for thousands of worshippers. The cathedral also runs charity, education, and shelter services for Backlund's poor; the surface organisation treats Saint Selena as one of the kingdom's most important religious institutions.

Civilians attending public services are entirely unaware of the Beyonder operations conducted beneath their feet. The cover-and-public mission balance is one of the campaign's recurring themes: the Churches maintain mainstream worship as both a sincere religious mission and a structural cover for Beyonder authority.

Beyonder operations

The cathedral's Beyonder operations are concealed beneath the public-facing institution. The cathedral hosts:

The Backlund Nighthawk regional command, with the city's senior captains and the largest single contingent of Sequence 4-6 operatives in Loen.

The headquarters of the Red Gloves cross-jurisdictional unit, including Leonard Mitchell's captaincy.

Sequence-specific advancement chapels for Beyonders aligned with the Evernight Goddess. Each Sequence band has its own ritual chamber: a Sequence 7-8 chamber on the upper sanctum levels, a Sequence 5-6 chamber further down, and a Sequence 4-and-below chamber in the deepest vaults.

An archive of Beyonder lore and historical records second only to the central Church archives in Backlund's palace district. Includes Sealed Artifact vault space for Grade 2 and Grade 3 items routinely on loan to Nighthawks and Red Gloves operations.

Cross-Church coordination space used for joint operations with the Mandated Punishers (Church of the Lord of Storms) and the Machinery Hivemind (Church of the God of Steam and Machinery).

Player relevance

Saint Selena Cathedral is a major endgame venue. Players advancing past Sequence 7 in any Pathway aligned with the Evernight Goddess will route through Saint Selena for their ritual ceremonies. Several raid encounters in the live game are set inside the deeper sanctum levels.

Specific player-side activities at Saint Selena include:

Sequence 6+ advancement ceremonies for Nighthawks-aligned characters.

Acting Method training sessions with senior Nighthawk captains.

Red Gloves mission briefings and after-action debriefs with Leonard Mitchell and other captains.

Sealed Artifact requisition and return for active Nighthawks operations.

Late-game raid entry portal for inner-sanctum content.

Crimson Test scope

Crimson Test players cannot enter the deep sanctums; Saint Selena's exterior and public worship hall are explorable in the test, but the Beyonder operations content is gated behind later beta phases and live patches. Backlund itself is built and previewed during the test but the city's gameplay loop opens after launch.