Apostles of Doom

Actually, upon reflection, Lilith was probably a textbook case of how one should, or at least how one was expected, to rule such a dark contingent. Of course, that had not worked out well for her. Her reign of terror over her troops had driven them to him. So maybe Tolkien, Jordan, Sanderson and the others didn’t truly understand the best way to rule such a group. In those stories, the dark lords who ruled by brute force and terror always ended up failing miserably.

Although, to be fair to the dark lords in those tales, the authors were clearly biased in favor of the good guys. Which was interesting, given that the main complaint he had heard from the D’Orcs about the other side was that the alfar always did the PR work and painted themselves as the defenders of righteousness and honor. Team D’Orc, the orcs and their allies were always presented as the bad guy, exactly like demons. Which is why it probably made sense to have them join forces.

“The tedium of the crown,” Phaestus said beside him. Tom started from his reverie, having not realized that Phaestus had come up beside him. Tizzy and Darg-Krallnom were with him.

“Yes, it’s taking a while, but I don’t find it boring. Daunting, yes — these are big obligations for them and me — but not boring,” Tom said. Darg-Krallnom nodded in appreciation.

“So several more days, I take it?” Phaestus asked.

“At least,” Darg-Krallnom replied.

“You know at some point we need to continue Tartarus training?” Phaestus reminded them.

Tom nodded. “I know; we just want to get everyone sworn before the Storm Lords figure out what is going on.”

Phaestus nodded. “Agreed. Just been thinking about how. While we have covered induction procedures, we have not even touched the release procedures.”

“Release procedures?” Tom asked, puzzled. He twisted his head to stare at the god. “Why would we want to release anyone?”

“Well, the obvious thing that comes to mind is that if the Kraken hadn’t gone back to sleep, we would have had to release it to keep it from waking the others or causing other problems,” Phaestus reminded him.

“And we need to be able to release prisoners for those clients that don’t pay up!” Tizzy interjected.

“What?” Tom asked, shaking his head.

“It’s been over four thousand years since any of our clients have paid their fees!” Tizzy exclaimed between puffs on his pipe. “We are going to need to collect! And if they no longer want to pony up, we release their prisoners!”

“I’m not sure that’s a high priority,” Tom said. He had more than enough on his plate.

“What exactly is the point of running a for-profit prison if you don’t make a profit?” Tizzy asked, waving all four of his hands theatrically.

“I am sure the Olympians will pay,” Phaestus said with a grin. “They are one of our largest clients, and they really do not want those titans out and about.”

“The Five Siblings might be a bit more interesting, given how you took Tiernon’s mana and all, and how Sentir Fallon did kill you — or Orcus, or whatever.” Darg-Krallnom said. “The point being is that they are currently in league with our biggest enemy in the Abyss, Lilith. So collecting from them may be — amusing.”

“The Five Siblings?” Tom asked, puzzled.

“The Etonians, as they are referred to by people in Astlan who are not part of their religion,” Phaestus told him. “They are actually called the Five Siblings internally and on worlds without a continent named Eton.”

“We have prisoners of theirs?” Tom asked, shaking his head.

“Two.” Tizzy nodded.

“If Orcus and the D’Orcs were holding prisoners for them in Tartarus, what could possibly have possessed them to put the prison in jeopardy?” Tom asked.

“That is a mighty good question that we have been contemplating for the last several thousand years,” Phaestus said.

“I’m thinking we should just let them out; skip the negotiations!” Tizzy grinned emphatically.

“Yes, we know. You said that the moment you showed up after Orcus’s defeat,” Darg-Krallnom said.

“And we should have done it!” Tizzy exclaimed.

“You may recall we were missing both Orcus and his Wand? As well as a good chunk of our staff?” Phaestus asked Tizzy. “Doing anything with Tartarus would have been insane!”

Tizzy squinted suspiciously at the god. “You say that word likes it’s a bad thing?”

Tom interrupted the two of them. “Are you saying that we have some leverage over Tiernon and his family?”

“Yes,” Darg-Krallnom said.

“Who have they got locked in our basement?” Tom asked.

“Why, dear old mummy and daddy of course!” Tizzy grinned broadly before taking a big drag on his pipe. Tom blinked and looked at the octopod in shock.

“Well, technically, stepmummy and daddy,” Phaestus corrected.

Tizzy paused and then shrugged with a slight grimace as he removed his pipe. “Technically, even worse in that case, that shrewish old harridan. Cinderella’s stepmother was quite pleasant by comparison.”