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Barabus inhaled deeply. That certainly answered the question. “However, do not fear! Chancellor Alighieri has generously opened the treasury on board the Inferno to provide us with gemstones from which to create Holy Mana pools. Furthermore, to ensure the success of our mission, Wing Arms Master Heron has asked the crew to join us in worship services in good faith, so that we may accumulate mana from more sources and store it in mana pools for use by our priests.”

That seemed to cheer the priests up a little bit.

“We will now take questions; please raise your hands if you have a question,” Barabus told the audience, and sighed at the sea of hands that shot into the air. He gestured to a Rod member near the front.

“If we are cut off from Tiernon and his avatars, and links do not work, then are we not also cut off from Tierhallon?” the soldier asked.

“Yes, I think that is implied,” Diocate Temerlain confirmed tersely beside Barabus.

Barabus started to move onto the next question when the soldier spoke up again. “So if we get slain by a demon down here, how are our souls supposed to get to Tierhallon?” The room went deathly quiet for a few moments before utter pandemonium broke out.

Courts of Chaos, The RMS: DOA + 4, Mid Fifth Period

Zargoffelstan set his empty mug on the bar of The Ripe Young Maiden’s Surprise and grimaced. He nodded to the bartender, the boy-demon Tut, to refill his mug. He really should not be drinking another. His purse was rapidly emptying; he had not been to Astlan much lately and so had been unable to snag things to sell in the Abyss for cash.

Tut set a new mug down and smiled at Zargoffelstan. “Zarg, I’ve been seeing a lot of you lately. Did you off your accursed master? I thought you liked him.”

Zargoffelstan frowned. “No, he’s still alive, but he’s trapped in Freehold on Astlan behind these anti-demon wards so he cannot summon me. Consequently, I have no work and no opportunities to snag stuff from Astlan to sell here, so I’m drinking my money away!”

Tut shook his head in sympathy. “Freehold? They still have the wards up all this time after expelling the demons?”

“No, they went down, and I got back in for a bit, but apparently one of the Councilors of Wizardry — Lenamare’s archenemy, Exador — was exposed as an archdemon pretending to be a wizard, and there was a big battle and Freehold put the wards back up. Sent me scrambling again!”

“An archdemon posing as a wizard? That is so bizarre!” Tut said.

Zargoffelstan nodded, it was unheard of and completely irrational.

“That greater demon has set off a whole chain of events,” Tut observed.

Zargoffelstan nodded. “Tell me about it. You know I’ve met him?”

Tut did a double-take. “You’ve met the greater demon that stole the knight?”

Zargoffelstan took a drink from his mug before replying. “Early on, I had to protect my accursed master from him.” He did not fail to notice the look of skepticism on the bartender’s face; he was used to it. “Yes, my accursed master works for the wizard Lenamare, who is the greater demon’s accursed master.”

Tut shook his head and suddenly seemed much more interested in Zargoffelstan’s story. “Oh, this is juicy. You need to tell me the whole story!”

Zargoffelstan smiled sadly. “I can tell you a bit, but as I said, I’m going broke quickly, so I can’t stay for too long.”

“Not a problem!” Tut said, grinning. “This is killer detail on the most talked-about thing in the Abyss in centuries! Drinks are on me!”

Zargoffelstan was surprised by the offer, but one didn’t look a gift basilisk in the face! He grinned and nodded, making a toasting gesture towards the bartender.

Tierhallon

“Well, they don’t seem to be dead, just cut off,” Sentir Fallon told the others at their reconvened meeting several hours after their first hasty meeting on the new crisis.

“I’ve been tracing who I have left in Norelon and who is missing,” Hilda said. “As far as I can tell, all my remaining illuminaries and their flocks are still camped outside Freehold. The ones that are now missing are the ones that left on ships for parts unknown shortly after the demon expulsion.”

“Where did those ships go?” Moradel asked.

Baysir shook his head. “Not completely clear, but I suspect Oorstemoth.”

“Oorstemoth?” Beragamos asked.

“Once we began to suspect they were in the contingent that departed, I queried our saints with the most illuminaries in Justicia to see if there were any clues. We are still working on it, but there seems to have been a great deal of thought and prayer surrounding some agreement with Oorstemoth,” Baysir said.

“A deal with Oorstemoth? That seems exceedingly unusual,” Moradel said.

“Indeed,” Sentir Fallon agreed, frowning.

“Further,” Baysir continued, “the Arch-Vicar General of the Rod was apparently leading the team that left Freehold.”

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