Apostles of Doom

He needed something outside the city, something a bit more rugged and easier to use. Perhaps an active artifact, something with a mana pool and a fire spell that could ignite a fire to make creating the gateway easier. It would probably be a good idea to make quite a few of those. Vaselle figured it would be very useful to place them with various allies and locations they might need to travel to.

“Councilor Damien!” a very smug-sounding voice shouted from the other side of the ruined grand hall. Vaselle saw Damien visibly wince.

“Councilor Lenamare,” Damien said with a nod.

Vaselle blinked and looked more closely at his master’s accursed master.

“So nice of you to finally join us,” Lenamare said acidly.

“Yes. I had to be out of town, following up a lead on that demon you misplaced,” Damien replied. “Fortunately, you seem to have had everything under control.” He gestured to the wreckage around them. Workers were just now filing in with the morning light to continue removing rubble.

“A lead?” Lenamare asked rather drily.

“Yes, I was contacted by Edwyrd, the animage. He and your student Rupert had been working to locate your demon, along with Tiernon’s knight,” Damien said.

“And were you successful?” Lenamare asked, sounding skeptical.

“I did have some success. I will be preparing a report for the council,” Damien told his fellow council member.

Vaselle noted that Crispin was watching Damien with a great deal of curiosity. He was reasonably certain the djinni knew the truth. Vaselle suddenly wondered what the djinni would tell his master, Councilor Randolf.

“Hmm.” Lenamare sniffed and seemed to suddenly realize how dirty and disheveled Damien looked. “Have you been buried in a cave or something?”

“Something like that.” Damien said. “Scrying into the Abyss requires one to get one’s hands dirty.”

“Scrying into the Abyss?” Lenamare looked very puzzled by Damien’s statement. “I am not sure how that would be possible.”

“It is not easy,” Damien said, sounding tired. “However, I am not yet ready to publish my paper on it.”

Lenamare stared at his fellow councilor for a moment as if trying to come to some decision. He finally shrugged and smiled. “Very well, then. I look forward to both your report and your new publication on scrying into the Abyss.”

Damien nodded. “Now, if you will excuse me, I am in need of a bath.”

“Yes, you are.” Lenamare said. He nodded, turned away and proceeded upon his journey.

“We should meet for a recap tomorrow sometime,” Damien said to Vaselle.

“Sounds good to me. I’m going to go work on some new projects I have in mind,” Vaselle said. “Thank you for your assistance, Crispin.”

“You are welcome, Vaselle,” the djinni replied.

“Yes, thank you, Crispin,” Damien said. “Are you planning on informing your master of my connections to Mount Doom?”

Crispin tilted his head, thinking. “I am not sure how the Calyphos feel on that. Until they clarify, I will not be relaying any information.”

“Thank you,” Damien said, and Crispin nodded.

Noajar, New Sais: Early Third Period

“Wow, the architecture here is very odd,” Gastropé said to his companions as they wandered the streets of the walled city of New Sais in Noajar, near the southern tip of Norelon.

“Noajar was originally a colony of Najaar Kmet. So it is only natural that the cities would use the same architecture as Natoor and Najaar.”

“I am still trying to get these lands down,” Jenn said. “Najaar Kmet was an ancient kingdom or empire consisting of the continents of Natoor and Najaar, and they had settled some people here in Noajar, on the southern tip of Norelon.”

“Correct,” Elrose said.

“And the Holy Etonian Empire invaded and took them over,” Gastropé confirmed.

“Not exactly,” Elrose said. “What we think of as the Holy Etonian Empire did not exist in its current form at that time. Initially, it was the Rod and the Rangers, exercising their newfound freedom after long being suppressed by the Anilords. So at that point there was not a Holy Etonian Empire. There was an Etonian empire that spanned the entire continent, which was essentially the predecessor to what we call the Holy Etonian Empire. Etonia Eternia, as it was called, was a theocracy ruled by a council of the High Pontificates of the Five Churches of the Etonians. The Anilords shattered the Holy Council’s power and they broke up the continent into various political regions with their own rulers to dilute the power of the churches.”

“So their invasion, which came near the end of the reign of the Anilords, was part of an attempt to recreate Etonia Eternia?” Jenn asked.

“Essentially,” Elrose agreed. “They were trying to flex their independence, and the Rod of Tiernon, which had formerly been called the Militia of Tiernon, was quite new in its current form.”

“I don’t think any of the wizard schools in Norelon cover it much,” Gastropé said.