Apostles of Doom

He moved slowly, softly, yet confidently down the long hall, ensuring that none of the birds were spooked. They did not like sudden motions or anything too startling. He approached the two deities and stopped about fifteen feet away, waiting to be noticed.

He purposefully ignored their conversation as was proper, allowing it to flow through his mind without registering. After approximately a quarter hour, his master and Mother Danu finished their conversation and turned their attention to Aodh.

“Aodh.” His master nodded towards him. “You bring word?”

Aodh moved forward, bowing first to Mother Danu and then to his master. “Indeed, my lord,” he said, nodding.

“This is in regard to…?” Mother Danu asked Nét.

“The demon who restarted Mount Doom and who has launched D’Orc incursions into the Planes of Alfar,” Nét responded. Mother Danu nodded, clearly up to date on the situation. Nét turned his attention back to Aodh.

“Sentir Fallon brings word that he and his master believe that this demon is, in fact, Orcus. My immediate allies have also concluded the same,” Aodh said.

Nét nodded. “Even as I suspected. On what do they base this new confidence?”

“He has restarted the Doomalogue in Nysegard,” Aodh replied.

Mother Danu made a small, obviously involuntarily hissing of indrawn breath through her pursed lips.

Nét inhaled deeply through his nostrils, allowing them to flare ever so slightly in the process. He glanced to Mother Danu. “As I’ve said?” Nét asked her.

“If he is moving this quickly, both to reclaim control of his old mortal realms and to recreate his relay stations, then he will be moving to attack soon,” Danu responded.

“Other critical news? We shall discuss the details of this in depth, however, I would know the most critical pieces of information first,” Nét instructed Aodh.

“That is the crux of the news. Most of the rest involves how the Five Siblings knew of his reopening of the site. The remainder is more speculation on motives, particularly with regard to vengeance. We — my immediate allies and I — suspect he may be aware of the Dark Apostle’s work and be seeking to punish the Storm Lords first,” Aodh said.

Nét nodded. “That would be logical. He would certainly want to eliminate any possibility of repeating what happened the last time.”

“So you believe his first target will be the Storm Lords?” Danu asked Nét.

“It would appear so; either them or Lilith. Both would be easier targets than Tiernon and Sentir Fallon. Lilith he could at least temporarily neutralize, and the Storm Lords he could probably do severe damage to now that the Dark Apostle is no more,” Nét replied.

Danu’s eyes narrowed. “This Dark Apostle? Stoivenychas? He was a necromancer, yes?”

“Necromancer and priest of Sutekh,” Nét replied. “Unlife as well, of course.”

“Of course.” Danu shook her head in revulsion. “Although a pawn of ours, I cannot be sorry that he was vanquished. Cloud of Disintegration, was it?”

Nét nodded. “He lost control of it in battle with an Astlanian human wizard.”

Danu shook her head in amazement. “I find it amazing that such a mature and, need I say, ‘evil’ creature as the Dark Apostle could be vanquished by a mortal wizard, let alone a human one. That sort of power would require centuries of experience.”

“Indeed, the Dark Apostle itself was at least six thousand years old at the time of its death,” Nét agreed.

“Remarkable achievement for the mortal,” Danu marveled.

“The same wizard killed the Anilord Diemeron Huntmaster nearly a quarter of a century earlier,” Nét noted.

“The Master of the Mind Reavers?” Danu asked in surprise.

“Indeed.”

“Perhaps not so surprising, in that case,” Danu agreed changing her mind.

Nét turned his attention back to Aodh. “We must move to take action immediately, mobilize our forces in the Astlanian localverse, put other adjacent realms on notice.”

Aodh nodded. “Of course. Our forces in Nysegard are problematic.”

Nét sighed and nodded. “Agreed. For what it is worth, let them be on alert.”

“If only we had better access to that world,” Danu lamented.

“What little influence we had was greatly diminished in the process of getting the Dark Apostles assistance in getting rid of Orcus,” Nét agreed.

“There will, of course, be pushback from the Elders and noble houses. As any sane alfar, they will see these actions as precipitous and rushed,” Aodh noted.

“Indeed,” Danu agreed. “And they are; yet, we have long prepared for this eventuality, and there is prophecy on our side. I shall have my priests support yours.” Danu nodded towards Nét. “We will get the others on board as well.”

Nét and Danu stood in silence, watching morning light creep over the valley below them as they waited to be sure Aodh was completely out of earshot.

“Aodh was right. This will require an unprecedented acceleration of action on the part of our people,” Danu told him.

Nét closed his eyes for a moment. “Indeed. However, as you said, we did prepare our people with prophecy, as soon as we learned of the orc prophesy.”