Apostles of Doom

“It is interesting that Iskerus seemed to believe that much of the doctrine about when it is acceptable to break oaths or use what we would think of as troubling rituals have been around as long as the Rod has called itself the Rod,” Stevos said.

Baysir nodded. “Astlan started using the term ‘Rod’ after the fall of the Anilords. Prior to that it was the Militia of Tiernon.”

“Which, interestingly enough, is about the time that the Rod invaded Natoor, which apparently is what set this goddess Bastet on a warpath or something,” Hilda said.

“So you are once more thinking that the cat demoness is the Nyjyr Ennead goddess?” Stevos asked.

“I am, for the moment; however, that brings up another odd point that I cannot reconcile,” Hilda said.

“What is that?” Timbly asked.

“When the Rod invaded Natoor, the Arch-Vicar General of the Rod was named Exador,” Hilda stated as the others’ faces quickly displayed shock at this news.

“Are you saying that you think the Arch-Vicar General of the Rod was an archdemon?” Baysir asked incredulously.

Hilda shrugged. “We know that the current Exador has a long history of masquerading as a human, pretending to age and die and always begetting a male heir named Exador.”

Stevos nodded in agreement. “We are only talking a thousand years ago; that is not an unreasonable timeframe for an archdemon to play such a game.”

Baysir had put his elbows on the table and his head in his hands as Stevos spoke. He sighed and looked up at them. “I would have heard his prayers, as would many others. This is an Arch-Vicar General we are talking about, and technically only the second or third since they renamed the Militia the Rod. He would have been under quite a bit of scrutiny from both Sentir and myself as well as many other avatars.”

“Well, the conquest of Natoor and Naajar were particularly bloody, and uncharacteristic of our stated doctrine,” Hilda replied.

Timbly nodded. “Agreed; the entire Holy Etonian Empire and the brutal conquest model is not at all how we like to come in. Normally we work to infiltrate, subvert and absorb local populations peacefully. This is central to how the Rangers work. It is, in essence, a large part of their mission.”

Baysir twisted his head on his neck, as if trying to relieve stiffness. “I will need to go back to my diary. I know Sentir and I had more than a few dustups over this. We were both caught a bit unaware and had to scramble to contain the damage.” He grimaced. “An archdemon leading our army would explain a lot in how this came about.”

“So then, what is it you can’t square?” Timbly asked Hilda.

“It is this: if the cat archdemon is Bastet, why would she be aligned with the archdemon Exador, who more than likely led the conquest of her followers?” Hilda asked.

Baysir raised an eyebrow. “They would be very odd bedfellows.”

“It makes me think of the saying: Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer,” Timbly noted.

Stevos made a small chortle and grinned.

Baysir nodded and shook his head. “Possibly true, but again maybe we are over thinking this. We have no concrete proof that the cat archdemon is the goddess Bastet, nor proof that Arch-Vicar General Exador is the same archdemon we are dealing with today.”

Mount Doom: Early Second Period

Tom wandered through Orcus’s gallery in the Library of Doom. Having spent the entire day in Nysegard and the majority of the evening outside of Mount Doom, he was fully charged, so to speak, and had no need for sleep. Nor would his mind allow it; it was moving in overdrive, trying to understand the games the gods played.

While he had intellectually realized it as his anxiety built all day about meeting with the Nyjyr Ennead, he had not truly gotten it at the “gut level,” the emotional level. It had not been until halfway through his liquid CO2 cocktail that it finally hit him that he had somehow moved from pawn to queen on the chessboard of the gods. That had turned his stomach into an icier knot than even the super-cold CO2.

It was the moment when the fear and awe of meeting the ancient Egyptian gods turned into the sudden realization that he was going to be expected to play in their league. He would have to compete at the god level, whatever that was. It was, Tom reflected anxiously, a level at which decisions he and his allies and opponents made could bend the course of destiny of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of beings.

Could he do it? Was he up to it? Clearly he had the ego, the hubris to play on that level. Only someone who fancied himself a peer with the gods would even think to play their games on their level and terms; and Tom had been, and was still, considering it. The Nyjyr Ennead wanted to ally more closely with him and Doom; they wanted to work together to bring down Tiernon and Torean. They believed he was a worthy ally!