The Fifth Ring

---

The Sanctum Ring was once the heart of the Delicate-Demonic Federal Republic (DDFR) —
a gold-adorned stronghold of order, influence, and solemnly wielded ladles.

At its centre stood the Sanctum Cremoris, residence of the Butter President:
A palace of marble, gold foil, and spreadable pathos, where decrees were more often buttered than signed.
It was considerably more opulent than the current Sanctum Cremoris in Krutzbaum.

Today, the Sanctum Ring is a place of fading splendour.
The domes remain — but they whisper.
The acolytes march — but without purpose.
The liturgy lives — as a ritual without aim.

“No will resides here —
only the final resonance of what once was.”

Distinct Features:

• The Sanctum Cremoris:
  Centre of all ceremonies. Its walls made of fired cream-clay,
  its windows filtering reality through whipped light.
  Few are allowed inside — and fewer understand what they saw.
• Acolytes of the Recipe:
  They still guard the Sacred Butter Schema,
  though no one remembers what that schema contains.
  They carry ladles like sceptres and nod in unison when one apologises.
• The Gold-Muffled Hall:
  A corridor in which one always feels important — even when merely asking for the toilet.
• Sessions of the Final Loop:
  The DDFR’s parliament still convenes here… allegedly.
  No one has ever been allowed to listen.
  Some believe the session is a tape loop no one knows how to stop.

Relation to Hehrschwund: Where Hehrschwund is the empty gesture, the Sanctum Ring is exaggerated dignity. Meaning was not forgotten here — it was so overamplified, it shattered on itself.