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[micelus]

After ensuring that most of the visitors had left, and speaking with a few that had volunteered to stay, Ketemos decided to inform the others about the proceedings. Finding the rooms of Tulwor, Auratus and Pyrite empty, he slipped a short note under each of their doors and went on to Ketari's chambers.

Spoiler: Important Information
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As you might have noticed, I had invited a delegation of mortals here to Newbellium to speak about several subjects. I've learned quite a few things, most important of which I've listed here.

1. There is a Chimeric goddess by the name of Patches residing below Kiatown. We are currently on friendly terms although I urge caution in case her friendly demeanour is only a facade.
2. The Chimeras are currently blocked from accessing Kiatown due to a Harpy siege.
3. I have created a system that allows instantaneous transport between areas. It requires worship to function however and I would ask that your followers be allowed to use them.

That is all.

Knocking on her door, Ketemos heard people speaking although he was not sure who it was. "Ketari? I have some information that might be of interest to. It involves harpies."

[Weirdsound]

Auratus laughed out. " Does he now? I agree, that complicates things a fair bit. Seeing his flag, I dare to make an educated guess at what kind of being should inhibit the armour, if the matter proves to be truth. " He furrowed his brow in thought. Could the infidel who worked that armour truly had the power to bind the slain dragons soul to it? If so, for what reasons? It would really seem that leaving the task of investigation to one with neither magic nor divine abilities would not make for good results, and thus he told the gargoyle as much. " It seems to gain the answer I seek, mundane means might not be the best choice. Unless you know of someone in this city who would be able to divine the truth, and would be willing to do so, I guess I myself will have to take care of it. If you can gather some more information about the matter, feel free to do so. Else it might do you better if you were to concentrate on your own tasks and duties instead. "

Rook pauses a second for thought. "You are correct of course, lord, I would not be of much use in this endeavor. If you still seek to delegate, you should seek out Shamus Bones. He is not among the best of mortal necromancers, but he should be skilled enough to at least tell if the item indeed has a soul bound to it, and may also be able to deduce a bit about the nature of said soul should it exist. Shamus was, until recently, a first officer on one of my ships, but he decided to leave my service instead of guard your temple. In all likelihood, he will be trying to land some officer's position on one of the other fleets in town, if he hasn't already."

While the dragon had noticed the gargoyle to be built in an unusual way, he had dismissed it as unimportant until now. He had mused the thought of gaining wide-spread worship among these beings of stone, but at worst only gaining some of their outcasts was not that bad either. Their low numbers should easily be tided over by their greater fervour towards him. Yes, he decided, this dealing still had much untapped promise.

" Hah! What a fitting task indeed. Feel free to show your flying kin all the resentment you have in store for them, even to the point that they will liken it to my own wrath - if it would please you to do so, that is. " Auratus stroked his chin, but mainly did so for effect, already decided that sicking and pitting Clammors own creations against him was most delicious and entertaining. Had he wanted Rook to succeed prior to knowing of these circumstances, he wanted it ever more so now. " Allow me to ease your burden then, and if I do so only for a bit. Any of your kin that swear fealty to you and your cause, will also be allowed to worship me. Be reminded that it will only be so temporarily, and going about it too openly might have your other brethren prepared for any schemes or hostilities you would bring to their door-step. Still, I am sure that you should be able to get some use out of this arrangement. "

The Gargoyle hangs his head. "There are no more than a hundred of us left... perhaps even less than half of that. Most of the remainder have settled into quiet lives as second class citizens of the various fortresses. Of the handful still on the sea, I can only say with any certainty that I know the general whereabouts of two. Also, as I am the only Searoc Pirate Lord, I can say with all humility that I am the greatest and best known of the remaining Gargoyles of my batch; Any effort I make to round up my kin will not go unnoticed. I will keep your offer in mind lord, but I doubt I can make much use of it."

He then smiles dreamily, as if envisioning the future. "I have always hoped that one day I would do something so great for my people, that Gargoylekind would have no choice but to swallow their pride and acknowledge it. That would be enough to satisfy my resentment... at least I hope. I also, however, harbor twisted dreams of taking a more violent vengeance and becoming the first being to successfully besiege a fortress manned by stone people who do not bleed, sleep, eat, drink, or breath... To use the skills and purposes of seigecraft that make me abhorrent to Clammor against those who cursed me with them. Your task and support may very well give me means to both these wild wishes... for that you have my thanks and service."

Pyrite raised an eyebrow.

"Interested by her training?

Mm, but I require your counsel in Divine matters. There's a mortal who prayed for aid, seeking a sign that some god still protected his people. His people being men who bed men and women who bed women. I tried to organize a festival, you may have heard about it, and it seemed to work... but it wasn't good enough for him. He wanted an explicit sign that they've got a god all to themselves."

He shrugged.

"I don't think that's going to happen, the festival was a complete success in other ways, and he'd offended me slightly. Now I'm not sure whether to write his request off as reasonable but unlikely, try to compromise by giving one of them the power to protect themselves, compromise spitefully by warping one of them into a monster with the power to protect themselves, send him a dream mocking his supposed difficulties and solution, or call him an ungrateful coward to his face.

I really don't know what's reasonable in this case."

"I was actually making ready to head up to Ketari's room, and examine the quarry I heard she had caught. I merely stopped here to gather myself for the next flight of stairs, and figured watching Sarah train would be just the inspiration I need..."

The priest turns away from the Crucible, and begins to limp slowly away, gesturing for you to follow. "That isn't needed now though. There is a chance I may need to consult my books, so if it pleases you Lord, I would ask you to accompany me downstairs to my chambers."

He continues to talk as he slowly works his way down the stairs to the staff quarters. "Now then, as much as I prefer to deal with problems of nature and beasts, your issue of people and societies is a simple one. In fact, I believe that you yourself have touched on the solution in your very description of the problem itself."

Ketari wasn't sure whether prey that moved itself to her mouth was good or not. She nibbled on the harpy's neck almost like a lover, not hard enough to break the skin, while she thought of questions. She wanted to talk. She wanted to eat. The taste of blood was sweet in her mouth from biting off the wingtip.

Focus, or she'd devour them all and have no more secrets to show for it. This egg seems dangerous. A endless flock of birds? Vile, vile, especially if their flesh was poison. She could take most venoms without flinching that would kill a mortal, but such a apocalyptic nectar might be too much for her, and having all her prey murdered by something out of her control was no fun at all. The other gods would probably be unhappy as well, and Tulwor was blood of her blood. Mother would be angry if she let him die. Hmm. Her mother's wrath was something she'd feared as a child, and it had carried on to the adulthood of the tempermental goddess.

"Where are these eggs - the remaining egg anyway, yes? - keep, and where are they likely to be moved. Too dangerous to let birds have them, wouldn't you say? Do you harpies have a city, or do your flocks roam? Tell me of your race, Ketrin. Yours were driven from my land long ago, and I came here to seek you out. Which of your gods is weakest, that I might devour with the greatest ease? Whisper your secrets, little meal."

She considered crippling the harpy and letting it go to spread fear of her among the harpies, but decided a confused prey was better than a prepared, fearful one. 

Your meal begins to whisper in your ear, occasionally offering a tantalizing shift of her neck to try and bait you into ending it soon. "Some Harpies live alone, others in nomadic hunting bands, others still in small towns and forts at the base of the mountains, and some have even taken to making nests on the mobile wooden islands of friendly sea people. We may live however we choose so long as we keep Macawina's three commandments: We may not hatch a chick who has a living father; we may not pursue peaceful relations with those not of our race, unless they are lead by a female or avian tyrant, who keeps a female or avian divine as her chief deity; and when we dwell in groups larger than one nesting family, we must be lead by an autocrat."

Suddenly, timing one of your nibbles, the Harpy wrenches her neck away from you so as to leave a decent chunk of flesh in your mouth; Luckily for your discussion, her vein remains unbroken however. Defeated, Ketrin becomes as limp as her injured body allows. Her head flops over your shoulder, and she begins to sob. "Please let that be enough... Don't make me betray my goddesses and their treasure to you right before you send my soul to them... I know you are hungry.. and I know... that the torment of a goddesses' hunger is but a blissful instant compared to the eternal agonizing wrath of a Pantheon scorned. What huntress... what huntress wishes ill to the spirit of her prey? Don't... don't give them reason to punish me."

[IronyOwl]

Ketari chuckled. "Having never seen a flying fish or wingless bird, I couldn't say. I suppose feathers. My feeligns are conflicted about the dragon, as it is a winged being, but a lizard as well as bird.

None-birds have never occurred to me to eat, just as you would not eat a stone or a plant. I guess I could try them, yes."

"Hah, interesting. Well, if you do, let me know what you thought.

And do let me know if you learn anything from your new victims. I'll investigate that prophecy soon."

He began to take his leave, before offering a rather wicked smile over his shoulder.

"And thank you for the morsel and... well, have fun."

"I was actually making ready to head up to Ketari's room, and examine the quarry I heard she had caught. I merely stopped here to gather myself for the next flight of stairs, and figured watching Sarah train would be just the inspiration I need..."

The priest turns away from the Crucible, and begins to limp slowly away, gesturing for you to follow. "That isn't needed now though. There is a chance I may need to consult my books, so if it pleases you Lord, I would ask you to accompany me downstairs to my chambers."

He continues to talk as he slowly works his way down the stairs to the staff quarters. "Now then, as much as I prefer to deal with problems of nature and beasts, your issue of people and societies is a simple one. In fact, I believe that you yourself have touched on the solution in your very description of the problem itself."

Pyrite furrowed his brow, waiting for the priest to continue before realizing this was probably one of his... challenges. He nearly gave up and prodded for him to continue, before sighing and deciding he ought to at least try to figure it out.

He thought for several agonizingly long moments as he followed the priest, trying to figure out what kind of a solution he meant. He'd never thought of himself as ignorant or dull, but he did feel out of his element here, uncertain of exactly what was appropriate or desirable.

"Make them a god to look after them?" he finally asked in a somewhat irritated tone, giving up creatively more than solving his puzzle. "Swap their genders? Give them their own colony? I'm not sure where the problem tells the solution here. Not the easy one, anyway."

He fell silent waiting for a reply, but couldn't stop himself from continuing to think on the matter.

"...convince everyone that 'his people' are just the Bellians?"

[Weirdsound]

Dennis listens to you, and nods sagely before breaking out in a big grin. "You are casting your net too wide. Clearly you have done at least some study on how the various divine and mortal philosophers view the question of your petitioner's people, but you don't need to contemplate the larger issue. The wisdom you need is more personal than that."

He pauses to take a brief rest from walking, and leans against the wall. "You chose this prayer, so you either actually care about the issue at hand, or at the very least desire the energy that you know answering it will bring. Something, however, is preventing you from acting in your own interests here, and seeing as you have the power to create and smite as you see fit, this something is not a practical or material concern..."

The crippled vampire dramatically raises his eyes to yours. "So tell me then, god, what has gotten between your generosity, and the people of your petitioner?"

[IronyOwl]

"...myself," Pyrite said grimly after a moment's thought. "I know what these mortals' problem is, but I've been too concerned with what's 'proper' to help them fix it. What's the point of wondering how a god should act if the right answer isn't the best one?!

ALRIGHT THEN! I know just how to handle these fools. Thank you, priest, that was... invaluable."

He spent a few more moments thinking.

"Heh. Is that really the answer, though? 'A god should act however a god feels is best to act?'

And speaking of which, what did you need your books for?"

[Weirdsound]

Denis lets out a weak laugh. "That is more or less the conclusion I wanted you to reach in the end. I wasn't banking on you getting it that quickly however, and we skipped a smaller and somewhat more practical lesson I was hoping to teach along the way."

He leans towards you, perhaps to pat you on the back or offer some other sign of congratulations, only to lose his balance and face-plant on the hard castle floor. He takes this in stride, and continues talking without even rolling over, knowing full well that your divine perception can pick up and make sense of his mumbling.

"I was expecting you to answer that the Petitioner himself has gotten between you and his people. You told me that 'he' wanted an explicit sign, and that 'he' offended you, not 'they' or 'them'. If you are thinking all of 'them' fools, and intend to give 'them' all some sort of bitter or painful sign of salvation, you may be casting your net to wide again..."

The vampire raises his head, and looks up at you from the floor. "I have no qualms about hurting others for 'fun' or 'vengeance' or any other reason really, so long as it doesn't harm the greater balance of things. A well fed housecat will still kill a mouse for amusement, and I still gain deep satisfaction from killing and drinking, even though I can live without doing so. I love absolutely nothing more than the feel of another dying in and at my hands. My feeding instinct however, once awakened, is nearly impossible to stop, so once I start, I kill everything in my path and make a large mess. The quandary facing each of us then is how to indulge our want or need to hurt others without making too large a mess or harming our other interests."

He pauses for a moment, before trying feebly to climb back to his feet using his walking stick. "I was going for my books, because I was personally going to suggest publicly showing your support for the needy in question by publicly appointing them a leader, advocate, or champion other than your pesky and foolish petitioner. I would then look through my index of Agrippa's brood, and have Mortus send for one who beds the same type, because improving a bloodthirsty killer into a worthy leader would be a great test for you. I also suspect that doing so would be more to your tastes than simply watching the people of Kiatown until such a worthy leader reveals itself."

[GiglameshDespair]

"Have no fear, little one," She whispered to the harpy. "I'll devour your gods as well, so your soul won't suffer too long." Her hunger overcame her, and she opened her mouth to take the bite that would end the harpy's life.

There was a knock on the door.

She growled, annoyed at the distraction, but nonetheless released the harpy as it crumpled to the floor. The Barkers watched from the window-door, blocking any escape route, and Ketari padded towards the door. A muffled voice said something through it, but she couldn't understand it through the thick oak and the bloodlust warring with rationality in her head.

She ripped open the door.

"Ketemos?" She snapped. Out of the sight of the broken prey, she regained some control.
"Is there something you wanted, yes?" she asked in a tone that hinted at apology for the rudeness. She licked at the blood on her hand as she waited for a reply. Behind her the harpy mewled as one of the Barkers nuzzled at her missing wingtip and licked the crimson form it's muzzle with a leaf-like tongue.

[escaped lurker]

After the gargoyle had given Auratus his thanks, the later could not help but chuckle slightly, his amusement spurring him into grim laughter shortly thereafter. " What Irony. What Irony indeed! "

Gathering himself, he continued. " A dragon who would be disdained by most of his kin for dabbling in the realm of the gods, which is hated by his fellow gods for being a dragon. A gargoyle who is disdained by his kin for being capable of different things than them, which is hated by his god because his existence conflicts with his divine nature. Both formed out of materials from bellow, but able to conquer another element with their wings. " [ Both born and quested with a task because of their parent's greed ] He did not voice this later thought, already divulging far more than he would if it were for a mere mortal, his follower or not. But truly, the similarities of their circumstances were far too perfect – had maybe his mother already foreseen this? Even if not, he would invest in this one, lest the fates would make him regret not doing so. " And both amongst the last of their kind. I doubt the searocs could ever find a god more fitting than I, nor that I would be able to find followers that come as close to my nature and circumstances as them... "

" But! " he snarled, seizing up the pirate lord before him with a venomous glare. " While one of us is able to accept the fate he was dealt, the other is seemingly not. Stop your longing for Clammor, for even if you prove superior over your airborne kin, he will never accept your devotion, whereas I will accept your nature, and the boons that come of it! Vanquish any regret over being built in the way that you are, and find pride in it instead! " Backing off, the dragon made to leave, throwing a last glance at his follower. " This will be my guidance, and intermediate task for you. Unless under circumstances that won't permit otherwise, you are not to show yourself before me until you are able to do as I instructed. " Without waiting for an answer, Auratus made for the docks. He would not suffer to be the searocs replacement for Clammor, nor would he stand idly should Rook make this longing spoken once more. Well, as his message should have been clear enough, he doubted the gargoyle would dare to do so. Either way, his temple was secure, and he had set himself another task at Kiatown.

~

Back at the castle, Auratus made a beeline for Ketemos quarters, taking ill notice of some orcs wandering the premise. He might have cared enough to ask why they allowed themselves to be here, but he had a far more pressing matter to attend. Throwing open the doors to the divine library without bothering to knock, he let loose a yell inside of it. " Show yourself, " and dripping with scorn, he added another word, one which in this case was more spite than swear, because for all intents and purposes, it was naught but the truth; " Bastard! "

[Digital Hellhound]

Having returned to the Castle, Tulwor went to find Pyrite. He had business with the hedonist god. Tulwor had no wish to interrupt the man if he was busy with another, and tried to get to him in private.

'Pyrite! I hear of Orcs - you must have been among them. Tell me all you can, and let us soon begin our work,' he said. 'We've wasted time long enough!'

[IronyOwl]

Denis lets out a weak laugh. "That is more or less the conclusion I wanted you to reach in the end. I wasn't banking on you getting it that quickly however, and we skipped a smaller and somewhat more practical lesson I was hoping to teach along the way."

He leans towards you, perhaps to pat you on the back or offer some other sign of congratulations, only to lose his balance and face-plant on the hard castle floor. He takes this in stride, and continues talking without even rolling over, knowing full well that your divine perception can pick up and make sense of his mumbling.

"I was expecting you to answer that the Petitioner himself has gotten between you and his people. You told me that 'he' wanted an explicit sign, and that 'he' offended you, not 'they' or 'them'. If you are thinking all of 'them' fools, and intend to give 'them' all some sort of bitter or painful sign of salvation, you may be casting your net to wide again..."

The vampire raises his head, and looks up at you from the floor. "I have no qualms about hurting others for 'fun' or 'vengeance' or any other reason really, so long as it doesn't harm the greater balance of things. A well fed housecat will still kill a mouse for amusement, and I still gain deep satisfaction from killing and drinking, even though I can live without doing so. I love absolutely nothing more than the feel of another dying in and at my hands. My feeding instinct however, once awakened, is nearly impossible to stop, so once I start, I kill everything in my path and make a large mess. The quandary facing each of us then is how to indulge our want or need to hurt others without making too large a mess or harming our other interests."

He pauses for a moment, before trying feebly to climb back to his feet using his walking stick. "I was going for my books, because I was personally going to suggest publicly showing your support for the needy in question by publicly appointing them a leader, advocate, or champion other than your pesky and foolish petitioner. I would then look through my index of Agrippa's brood, and have Mortus send for one who beds the same type, because improving a bloodthirsty killer into a worthy leader would be a great test for you. I also suspect that doing so would be more to your tastes than simply watching the people of Kiatown until such a worthy leader reveals itself."

"Hah, no worries. 'Those fools' seemed numerous and enthusiastic enough at my festival; I suspect straightening out their leader will rid them of their remaining weakness.

Hm... replacing their leader entirely seems excessive, but perhaps better in the long run. Then again, I've no idea what manner of leader he is outside this foolishness."

He thought for a few more moments.

"Would you value some manner of death chamber to slaughter things in and then be trapped inside for a while, then? What is a vampire, in any case?"

Having returned to the Castle, Tulwor went to find Pyrite. He had business with the hedonist god. Tulwor had no wish to interrupt the man if he was busy with another, and tried to get to him in private.

'Pyrite! I hear of Orcs - you must have been among them. Tell me all you can, and let us soon begin our work,' he said. 'We've wasted time long enough!'

"Ah, Tulwor," he responded, his tone serious, "Unfortunate news. I learned much of the Orcs, as you requested, but there's been a complication. A few of the Orcs battle for some prophecy involving your sister; she's found an egg larger than she is, radiating power, though she agreed hatching it would be better than eating it. I assume that's involved, though I don't know any details yet."

He shrugged.

"Most of them, though, fight to determine whether Bellians or Orcs are better as a whole. That means a normal tournament won't work, because it tells them more about individuals than societies. To break the siege, we'd need our tournament to be between Bellians and Orcs, and to be excessively large.

Plus, there's the issue of size and strength. These Orcs are rather large, and I've yet to determine how Bellians fare against them in single combat. That was less of a concern when I envisioned a periodic tournament, since they wouldn't have to win every time, but if we hold a tournament and the Bellians lose, the Orcs may refuse to lift the barricade simply because they don't wish to."

[Weirdsound]

"Hah, no worries. 'Those fools' seemed numerous and enthusiastic enough at my festival; I suspect straightening out their leader will rid them of their remaining weakness.

Hm... replacing their leader entirely seems excessive, but perhaps better in the long run. Then again, I've no idea what manner of leader he is outside this foolishness."

He thought for a few more moments.

"Would you value some manner of death chamber to slaughter things in and then be trapped inside for a while, then? What is a vampire, in any case?"

Dennis offers a grim smile. "Better you come up with your own idea anyhow..."

The priest shakes his head. "I would value such a thing, in fact the vampires at Agrippa's hall use a contraption similar to what you described, but I fear being locked away long enough to calm down from a major feast would prevent me from performing my duties as groundskeeper... but my present starvation is clearly getting in the way as well... I should eat soon... yes. One or two Bellian sized meals should restore enough strength without requiring me to be restrained for a few brief minutes or hours at most. I was hoping Ketari might offer me some Harpy... if she dosn't, I might have to do some hunting..."

The vampire shows a wide smile, showing his fangs, before shrugging. "Vampires are created by several schools of Dark Magic, but I am not a practicing dark mage. I understand my body is dead; my heart doesn't beat, and I only breath voluntarily for speech or dramatic effect. I understand that my condition grants me some powers that I can use, related to stealth and shadow, and that stronger vampires who surrender entirely to their instincts have more power than I. I understand that I have instincts that are inherently opposed to the very idea of life. Beyond that, however, I understand little of Agrippa's brood."

"But in some ways Vampireism is clearly an improvement over the base Bellian state, isn't it?" Dennis asks, "You would want to know more, wouldn't you? It would be relevant to your focus and intrests. House Nightcharm is on the island, and they are infamous as dark mages. Most of their highest born study at Agrippa's court, and a small handful of them are even members of her brood. Ask them. Alternatively, I could look somebody up in my Index, and we could have Mortus fetch them."

[IronyOwl]

Pyrite scowled thoughtfully.

"An improvement, yes... but I assume a corpse can't breed. If they can't form a proper race, I'm not sure there's a point."

He kept thinking for a few more moments, still scowling.

"Hm... I'll definitely need to study them in more detail. There could be a workaround or way to replicate some of its blessings without so many flaws... or just a hidden bit of knowledge I hadn't anticipated where it is. Learning more about magic in general will be a nice bonus as well; I'll seek out House Nightcharm whenever I get a chance."

He sighed, sizing up the vampire.

"Which may be a while. Do you want assistance getting to Ketari's chambers? She'll probably share.

Otherwise I should probably find Veilia as long as I'm down here. Did you notice her mood when she got back?"

[micelus]

"Ah yes...harpies. I've discovered that there is a whole siege of harpies blocking a possible ally from aiding us. I hear that you want to...consume more of them. Perhaps you'd be willing to help?"

Ketemos became increasingly uncomfortable as he noticed the blood dripping off her feathers and the mad look in her eyes.

...

Emerging from his study, Ketemos sighed and walked up to the entrance of his library to find Auratus fuming about one thing or another.

"Yes, Auratus?"

[Weirdsound]

Pyrite scowled thoughtfully.

"An improvement, yes... but I assume a corpse can't breed. If they can't form a proper race, I'm not sure there's a point."

Dennis furrows his brow in thought. "True, we don't breed in the traditional way... my blood still flows somehow, so I can still partake in manly pleasures... I can only shoot blanks though I'm afraid... but the vampires who allow their instincts to rule them can turn others into vampires. Nervyle... a philosopher and member of Agrippa's personal harem, famously wrote that Vampires are in fact better at breeding than mortals, as we can choose who are children are, thus ensuring they are strong."

"Hm... I'll definitely need to study them in more detail. There could be a workaround or way to replicate some of its blessings without so many flaws... or just a hidden bit of knowledge I hadn't anticipated where it is. Learning more about magic in general will be a nice bonus as well; I'll seek out House Nightcharm whenever I get a chance."

He sighed, sizing up the vampire.

"Which may be a while. Do you want assistance getting to Ketari's chambers? She'll probably share.

Otherwise I should probably find Veilia as long as I'm down here. Did you notice her mood when she got back?"

Dennis chuckles. "The nature gods do enough for me as is. It would not be my place to ask her a favor. I just have to hope she volunteers. No need to burden you either, I'm sure there will still be some Harpy left by the time I do make it up.

...I didn't catch your sister coming back in, but she is nowhere near happy now. She very recently told me that her idiot father just turned a bunch of wild and smelly Orcs in the castle for her to clean up after, and that her Uncle invited a bunch of untidy Bellians over to boot."

A light suddenly goes on in Dennis' eyes, and he snaps his finger; The act of doing so inadvertently causing him to fall again when he removes a hand from his walking stick. "Ketemos' meeting! Chell brought a Nightcharm to attend it, and I don't think he has left yet!"

[IronyOwl]

Pyrite started laughing, but cut himself off at the mention of a Nightcharm.

"Really? What's his name? Or appearance, better yet."