Apostles of Doom

Talarius was silent for a moment. “You would take my word? After the Freehold battlefield?”

“If you swear to me that your word of honor is redeemed, and that it is once more good and applies to me and mine? Then yes, I would.” Tom said.

Talarius sighed and nodded in gratitude. “Then yes, you have my word to you that I will keep my word of honor and that I will not reveal the location of Tartarus to anyone outside this room; nor will I seek to harm it, you, yours and this entire complex.”

Tom nodded. “Very well then. Let’s head out!”

Murgatroy

Jenn and Gastropé were helping load the magical equipment used to scan the D’Orc’s staging site onto the transport carpet to take back to the Nimbus when Zed showed up, looking none too fresh from spending the night in the city. Gastropé chuckled at the sight of the rather greenish-looking satyr.

Jenn smiled and shook her head; apparently satyrs, in accordance with legend, had very little self-control when it came to alcohol and other pursuits of pleasure. She yelled, “Good morning Zed! How are you on this fine fierdy morning?” and was amused to see the satyr wince.

“You really don’t need to shout. My hearing is not impaired,” he replied sourly.

“Long night out playing cards?” Gastropé asked.

Zed nodded. “It got worse after I met your friend Vaselle, who was drinking with Teragdor.”

Jenn looked at Gastropé. “You have friends in Murgatroy?”

Gastropé frowned. He was also looking a bit paler, although it was hard to tell exactly what Gastropé’s various shades of pale meant. “Uhm, more of an acquaintance.”

Zed shrugged. “He also knows your demon, the four-armed and — legged one that you summoned to fight the Storm Lords.”

Jenn frowned and turned to face Gastropé. “How does an acquaintance of yours know Tizzy?” she asked suspiciously. She really did not like their demonic affiliations being made known.

“Uhm, well…” Gastropé hedged, as if trying to come up with an answer.

Jenn suddenly wondered if Gastropé might have also gotten drunk with this Vaselle character. But surely he wouldn’t have summoned Tizzy while drunk?

Zed answered for Gastropé, “Vaselle works for a good friend of Gastropé’s. An animage named Edwyrd.”

“Edwyrd!” Jenn blurted in shock and surprise. “Is he here in Murgatroy?” How would he have gotten to Murgatroy? That would mean Rupert was here too! She could finally get him back safely. But thinking on it some more, maybe not. This was not a particularly safe operation they were undertaking. However, it was far safer than chasing down expelled demons with his senseless cousin, Edwyrd. Further, if Rupert had stayed in Freehold, like he should have, he’d have had to come with them anyway. Then, she and Elrose could certainly have continued the boy’s studies.

“The way Vaselle talked, I don’t think so. We were all pretty drunk. I sort of think he was waiting for Edwyrd to show up to get him back to Freehold,” Zed replied, wincing as he tried to recall.

“How in Astlan is Edwyrd going to get him back to Freehold? For that matter, how did he get here?”

Zed shrugged.

“Uhm, maybe Edwyrd is a Voyager like Gamos?” Gastropé volunteered.

Jenn turned back to Gastropé. “Really?” she asked dismissively, shaking her head. “If he was a Voyager, why didn’t he use his Voyager skills to get us from Gizzor Del to Freehold? It’s a lot shorter distance!”

Gastropé was at a loss for words for a moment before weakly replying, “Maybe he just learned?”

Jenn sighed loudly and rolled her head in frustration. “He just learned? In what? The twelve days since we last saw him? Seriously?”

She shook her head and looked at the two men. “Where is this Vaselle staying? I want to talk to him!”

“Uhm,” Zed hemmed. “I didn’t ask. I sort of think it’s the inn next to the tavern? There are only three inns in Murgatroy, so it’s probably one of them.”

“Fine, then let’s start there. Follow me.” Jenn started marching towards Murgatroy, not waiting for the others to agree.

Oubliette

Talarius and the rest of Tom’s entourage stood in the center of the Oubliette, staring up silently as Phaestus recited the same information from yesterday. When he lit the door to Tartarus there were audible gasps.

Tom smiled as he watched Talarius twist and contort in his armor to peer through the visor and take everything in. “The atmosphere and temperature here is perfectly fine for humans,” he told the knight. “There are a lot of electronics in the other room, so, like the Tech Command Center, we have to keep it cool. You can take your helmet off to look around.”

The knight paused, considering, and then tentatively pulled his helmet off. Finally verifying that Tom was telling the truth, he put his helm under his left arm. Now he could rubberneck with the rest of the visitors.

“This is insane!” Reggie exclaimed. “I can’t even begin to imagine the resources it would take to build something like this!”

Phaestus chuckled. “But for the rest of Doom you can?”