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[Iituem]

Jack, in the form of Dordrath, rolled his eyes.  Unheard by any save Carmanthye himself, he snapped a few words.

"Oh, fantastic.  Can't pull the wool over your eyes, can I little brother?  Tell you what, why don't you stop pretending my acts are ever heroism and I'll stop pretending yours are never murder?"

Jack's form shifted as he cloaked his communications from Carmanthyre - just as Carmanthyre's words and appearance were cloaked to all but Eowen.  His, or rather Dordrath's voice rang out in Estriss' head.

Ugh, I swear.  Carmanthyre'll be the death of everyone yet.

"What?!" Estriss squeaked, huddled against Eowen and ducking out of the way of a fist of rustling sand.

Nevermind.  Duck.  Stab left, pull up.  There.  He's your boyfriend's sponsor, and a complete moron to boot, and if he has his way everyone here will die in a blaze of glory for his ego.  Step right, slash.

"Augh!" Estriss cried as an edged blast of sand cut open a gash on her arm.  Sweat was showing on her brow, and she realised that she wasn't feeling the sudden lift she got from killing the Chosen.  "Why aren't you helping?"

What do you think the direction is? the voice snapped.  [/i]Also, duck.  Roll left.  Roll!  There, slash backwards.  Okay.  And by blessing doesn't work here, they're not mortals.[/i]

Estriss gasped as a gritty fist punched her in the gut.  She slashed with the knife again, shattering the transient form.  "Well, I can't keep this up!" she said, trying to gasp air back into her lungs.

No, you're wounded.  Alright, look to your right.  There, the wounded Chosen, you see him?  Roll to him.

Estriss forced herself into a clumsy roll, tumbling towards the Chosen's body.  He looked to have been crushed, probably by one of the strange tree-beasts.  Squatting over the body, she could still see the faintest sign of breathing in him.

Finish him.

"I'm not killing a helpless man!"  Somehow, Estriss could feel the disapproval in her mind.

First, he's not a man.  Second, do you want to survive or not?  Kill him!

Choking back her revulsion at the act, Estriss slit open the fleshy part of the Chosen's throat, then stabbed him through the chest for good measure.  She felt a rush of vigour flood her body, and the burning pain of her injuries lessened to a mere ache.  She flexed her fingers, catching sight of Eowen amidst the flurry of sand people.

There, better?  Now get back to your boyfriend and save his worthlessly heroic backside.  If you live through this, we have a lot to talk about with regards to saving your people.  Go!

Estriss grit her teeth and ran back into the melee, slashing at the sand men to the silent direction in her mind.

[nuker w]

Sighing, the Wanderer flicked a passing cloud. This was not ending how he wanted.

Changing his appearance to one of the more horrific looking sandmen, he landed behind the guard with a loud thump. Turning, the guard was quickly clubbed into a near tree, causing his skull to smash open. Raising his hand, the beings rose.

"Get out of here and continue on to smaller villages around here. You and you, with me."

Turning, the god changed his shape slightly, making himself to stand taller then the rest of the Beings. Grabbing the corpse of the guard, he cut the words "We wish to meet and discuss our position" into the back of it. Grabbing it by the shirt, and with inhuman strength, he threw the corpse towards the middle of the village.

[adwarf]

Seeing that his words had no effect Kain melded back into the earth and returned to watch over the dwarves.

[HailFire]

Phera sighed, leaning on one arm of the marble throne and looking down through a small hole in the clouds. Her newly-created Angels were physical beings, after all, and they would take time to track down her siblings- time she used to collect her thoughts about what she was about to ask them to do.

They were to form an alliance, and a centralized seat for their power, on the concern that those siblings of theirs that would abuse their mother's creation would seek to do the same- but at the same time, virtually guaranteeing that they would do so. In effect, they would draw the battle lines. Was it really the best course of action? Could there not be some other, better way? One of them was a God of War- if they were to combat him, had he not, in principle, already won? After all, no peace could be attained through conflict.

...No, she decided; this was the best way, and, perhaps, even the only way- it's why she had sent out for those whom she did: to fight those for whom fighting was the end, they must seek to lay down a foundation of peace and order, so that their mortal charges could resist the dark temptations of those kin.

And those souls who were beyond all hope of salvation- she noted with a grimace- must be purged.



An unusual phenomenon shook Phera from her reverie; a distant spark on the landscape indicative of a great fire, larger than she knew of any mortal to build. It was not of her creation, she knew- the volcano to which she had guided the wayward Northren was far, far to the north of the area where she gazed; the plains near the city of Dordrath. The spark was near a forest, but no storm brewed in the sky that could have set vegetation ablaze. Perturbed, she cast her divine sight down towards the area.

What she saw was not a single great pyre- rather, one of the villages of Man had been set ablaze by an invading force, including one of her own temples.

Under any other circumstances, she might have found this last fact amusingly ironic.

The battle itself appeared to be over, however, and the invaders- humanlike creatures with attributes of the sea- all but routed... But a new threat loomed over the village; atop a nearby hill, a strange, shadowy beast loosed an unnatural cry, and it's pack swarmed down towards the village.


"Lady Phera, we have returned."

She turned in her seat, as most, though not all, of the Duties set down on the plain of cloud, escorting Gods.

"Hmm... four? Four will have to do then; if the others show up, we'll catch them up on the details."

Shooting a quick glance back down at the village, she noticed that this second skirmish had ended almost as quickly as it began. She sighed, and frowned. Things were accelerating.

Phera stood, and raised her voice to address her siblings,

"Greetings, brothers! I apologize for summoning you here on such short notice, but we have matters of dire importance to discuss. I am Phera, the flame that brings light to the heavens and warmth to the earth. Please, be seated."

[Fortis]

Adik was quiet before Magus as the strange god of magic outlined what the life of a magic user would be like. There was no denying that this god frightened him. Unlike Kastheen, he bore a robe, one covered with constantly shifting runes. And his face, or what passed for one. All Adik could see was a single eye embedded in the mass of swirling symbols beneath Magus’s hood. He found himself wanting to flinch back from him, and to fly away and take refuge in the clouds. Still, glancing to Kastheen, the Mayura could see that she was not disturbed by the god’s appearance, and spoke calmly with him. Magus himself had a voice that wasn’t threatening, though it did echo with a deep hidden wisdom.

After Magus finished his offer, the Mayura were quiet. The offer itself gave some of them pause. Their life before was a simple one, with nothing more strenuous than hunting for food or gathering plants to eat. Nor did they care to be bound to the tower or answerable to the god of magic or the other mages about where they flew. Yet they didn’t reject it outright. Offset against the restrictions was their curiosity. Every one of them wondered about this strange gift of magic, and here was one who would teach them about it. More, the god promised to show them how to use it to the good of their people. After a moment, Adik stepped forward.

“Magus, I must be honest…. You frighten me. But Kastheen trusts you, so I’ll try to also.” Adik said hesitantly. “But if this magic can help Kastheen and my people…then I want to study it, and learn about it from you and your mages. I’ll try to follow your rules.” After saying his piece, Adik stepped back. One by one, each of the Mayura voiced their agreement with Adik and decided to stay.

“There you go Magus,” Kastheen said. “I’m putting a lot of trust in you, brother. Take care of my children while they learn under you. Goodbye my Mayura, You are always welcome back to fly with me and your kin, whether you choose just to visit, or to leave the study of magic. I must go now.” With that, she leapt off of the summit of the tower, leaving the twelve Mayura with Magus. Kastheen flew up into the sky, up towards the realm that her sister Phera made.

She arrived shortly thereafter, soaring up to the pagoda of marble, and alighted upon it. “Hello again Phera, an interesting realm you have made.” Kastheen said, noting with approval the plain of clouds. It seemed a bit plain and still for her liking, but she liked the canvas of sky she chose to set her realm in.

Twelve Mayura join the Magi at the tower of the Magi.

[Atilliano]

With a big jump Aarseral lands on the closest sandbeast and tears it apart.
A second tries to hit him but he jumps to the side and bites it's what-would-be head off.
Then he runs on, jumps right through another, and lands at the feet of Eowen.
Brothers, you here too? more fish-men are coming, I saw one of them climb through a portal.
With these words, Aarseral runs on and stops as he spots a little girl surrounded by three sand-beasts.
One of the symbols on his forehead begins to shine and when the light hits the beasts, they fall apart.
Aarseral leaps before the little girl's feet and says: Go home and lock the door until this is over.
Then, he focuses on yet another sandbeing...

[nuker w]

The Wanderer watched as the corpse slammed to the ground inside the village.

"Well thats one job done" he muttered.

Turning, he stood to face the closest ocean. "Brother Amparos, ruler of the sea, I also wish to talk to you about my position. You may or may not be controlling The Chosen at this time but i'm sure that you can talk them to your agenda.

"And for the rest of my beings inside the village; turn your back to it and come to me here."

And with that, he turned back to observe the smoldering village, waiting for either side to respond.

[Caesar]

Every divine being represented something. Some were elements, others were ideas and yet others were feelings, emotions or actions. The Overgoddess represented the planet itself, with its life, death and Gods..

Amidst the carnage, the dying and the dead a figure appeared, a small pretty girl in peasant's clothes, watching the wounded combatants around her. A girl and a boy, both gifted by the Gods, caught her eye. They were unimportant. She turned to the fires, and they too were unimportant. On the ground were the charred remains of a majestic being of wood. This was important, she knew. Slowly she sat on her knees beside the being, and shed tears. Her tears were red, like blood, and they spread an unnatural light, strangely sinister. They fell off her cheeks, onto the being, and at first, nothing happened.

The girl took off her clothes, for she was immortal and did not need them. Her hands on the wooden being in front of her, it started to decay, going to ashes, which, eventually, dissipated into the ground as well. The girl gasped for air as the last remaining ashes spread in a soft breeze. Her skin turning gray, she collapsed, convulsing heavily, curling up, her hands on her stomach. On her skin grew thorns and bristles, her hair turned from brown to pitch black, and dead leaves covered her skin. She arose a monstrosity of twisted beauty. She walked with grace, approaching yet another corpse. Taking Ganad's mutilated body into her arms, she cradled him like a girl would cradle her little brother.

The corpse seemed to blur, and then became transparent. As she stopped cradling him, she lowered her arms bluntly, as to letting him fall.
Ganad went to water, splashing onto the ground below. The girl gasped once more as through her back spikes and shell appeared, intertwining with the sinister vines, becoming a perverse net of natural armor.

Once more she looked at the peasant boy and girl, her eyes the only part of her body left unaltered, blue like a clear autumn sky, bright and clever.

Murderer and Hero are you, Hero and Murderer you are.

She rose her arms above herself, and then sank into the ground as if it were water.

Nativa changes.
Nativa's change brings the birth of a Demigod, by the name of 'Remorse'.
Jack gains the sphere of Heroes.
Carmanthyre gains the sphere of Murder.

[Humaan]

Aarrook knew that something was rising up in the world. War. Aarrook never was able to figure out why every god was so predisposed towards war. Peace had long existed before war, and Aarrook knew it was always shattered. He created his own paradise, a place where war would never be sought unless such a paradise was in danger. Then why was he here? He had his own children to care for. Around him, four gods had arrived, along with him. He had learned some of their names already; Phera, goddess of fire, and the one he assumed had called this meeting. He, too, had an introduction to make.

"I am Aarrook, god of Paradise, seeker of Paradise, and protector of Paradise. I am, personally, interested in what is happening at the moment, and hope to find a solution here."

He sat down. he had long forgotten what sitting down was like. He had only sat during his creation, in his first attempt at paradise. That failed, and Aarrook fell in the cycle of death and rebirth. He was too laid-back during his old incarnations. It almost made him forget, or for that matter, unable, to sit down. He needed rest, but how would this meeting go depended on his lack of rest. He had little time if he was to secure paradise.

[Digital Hellhound]

Amparos sat down, looking at the other gods present. He didn't know Phera, who, for some reason, hadn't been at the Overgoddess' island. Still, Kastheen seemed to know her and she was friendly enough.

'I am Amparos, the Master of the Deep Sea.' he said, addressing the fire goddess. ' What are these matters you wish to discuss, sister?'

[ed boy]

Silently, Terron sat down and listened to the others.

[Lordinquisitor]

Rahisael was ecstatic. At first he thought things went well- Then they went very well. But now things were even better than he could ever have imagined.

The City was littered with corpses- And some of those corpses got up again; Possessed by bloodghosts they became abominations and left the village, shambling, towards the blood peak.

On the edge of the village Rahisael noticed some strange creatures. He knew them; During some of his invisible travels he had glimpsed them and some of their crafts- Apparently they weren`t just sneaky but some of them were quite skilled architects and tunnel builders.

And they apparently were associated with the Maw.

"Lord Hunger, can you hear me?" The Lord of war asked. "So you are here to enjoy the battle? Beautiful, isn`t it?"

"And i think your Children enjoy it too; As do mine. I think they would get along pretty well, don`t you think? I also noticed that your children are quite skilled workers- And mine are good warriors. I think they could form a nice, symbiotic, relationship don`t you think?"

"My armies need an housing, a fortress where they can reside. Your Murr are skilled workers- So they could help me to build it. Your Murr are scavengers- And my warriors will make sure that there is something to scavenge."

"I propose that you send some of your Murr to the Blood Peak; Where my abominations reside. I want them to live there; And i want them to build tunnels and rooms within the mountain. Rooms that later will be used for armories, barracks and other things."

"In Return they will get their share of the spoils of war my soldiers will earn."

"What do you think, brother?"

[Ghazkull]

Ah Brother...a quite...amusing spectacle and all the power our kin wasted in the battle for this...village...

the Maw made a grin that almost seemed like he would try and devour the whole village

About your proposal... consider me intrigued. However i am a bit exhausted after my last creations and currently not in the mood to make another special strain of Murr. I will however ask my children if they would agree...as i know them Dordrath is still overpopulated...and most would be gracious to leave...

The Maw appeared again in the still unnamed Hive below Dordrath were daily business was happening...on the market the latest loots were exchanged, in the workshops the pieces were reforged and put to a new use and the tunnel system was ever increasing. The Murr were prospering, but although most of the Blackpelts had left, the population was still enormous. Actually too enormous. And again the Maw appeared as a giant Murr.

My Children...your numbers are enormous and i have an offer to make to you. The poorest among you shall gather and leave this city...not in exile but to a place where another god will await you. The God of War. Rahisael. He is my brother and you will serve him there. But you will be rewarded. The spoils his soldiers bring back shall be yours. You will dig a hive for his soldiers and then connect it with the one here.

The Maw vanished and spoke to his kinsbrother again

i have spoken with my children and as a little bonus or lets rather say a token of my trust your warriors may enter the "Bowels". This should allow them to reach the surface from every murr-hive.

the Maw orders the poorest of the Murr (about 1/3 of the population) to leave "Greatgut" and migrate to the Blood Peak, where they will build a hive for the warriors of Rahisael and themseves...
___________________________________

Finally most of the villagers had gone to sleep and even the ents which had gathered in the center of the village seemed to have fallen into a rather apthethic trance. Molegut stared at the few remaining guards...now was the time...quickly he raised his claw and 30 Murr swarmed silently towards the village. The mostly burned down huts made formidable cover and they passed the guards unnoticed.  Quickly they grabbed swords and shields, ripped off arms, legs and heads. and snuck back into the cover of the corn field. Molegut was mildly disappointed...the magical door had vanished with the fish-thing and left him no choice than to wait for the rest of the battle to end. He had send 2 of his smaller Murr back to the "Bowels" were more Murr were informed. Now 50 completely unarmored and furless Murr had came with sacks, and small sledges to wait for their brethren. The 30 scavengers loaded off their loot and repeated the procedure. Almost unnoticed the armors, weapons and dismembered body parts vanished. Nearly 2 hours had passed and they had made it unnoticed up to now.

It was the last watch and the sky was already slowly beginning to change his colour. Reigh had enough of this. Why guarding the village for so long? Those tree monsters had chased them off! Those fish-things wouldn't come back and...what was that? Reigh looked closer. He thought that he had seen something...

Smalleye ducked deeper into the field as the manthing came closer. 10 meters to the left of him lay Greeneye, an old veteran whose eye had gone blind, and rather strange for Murr...green. The Manthing was only a few feet away now.

Reigh nearly cried out in fear. In front of him stood a small black creature. It looked unnaturally intelligent for an animal and it wore...something like an armor? It looked at him with it's red gleaming eyes a small stone dagger in its claws. What new witchcraft was this...? He must...

Smalleye barely managed to keep the man-thing from crushing him. Warm blood drenched him as it spilled out of its throat. Quickly Greeneye jumped from the manthings back and shoved the body from his fellow Murr.

Next time... be more careful...Hiveling

Along with the other corpses also that of Reigh vanished and it seemed that apart from the burnt-out huts, the muddied fields and a few corpses left in the city center, that there never was a battle...

However Molegut had forgotten one thing...muddy fields leave quiet obvious tracks...
________________________

Gernad was nearly dying from the pain. Who would have thought that a small boy would be such a masterful fighter. His chest felt like it was torn apart. But at least he was still alive. Although dishonoured and propably a slave. He opened his eyes and stared at the strange ceiling above of him. It almost seemed like of rock...and...he nearly cringed as he saw the creature looming over him. It looked like a grotesque mix of a rat and a mole...only larger...what in the name of Amparos?

Molegut looked down on the fish-thing. It was a wonder that it was still alive. It whole chest had been caved in and yet it stared at him with a strange expression of surprise in it's face...

We found it half impaled on some rock on the way back to the cave...he was still breathing... propably one of the tree-things has thrown him away...we thought it best to tie him up and bring him to you Fangmaster...

You did right Greeneye... take one of those strange fish-thing bones for yourself...and of course one for Smalleye

[Atilliano]

After the battle Aarseral had hid himself in the bushes and began to rest, but suddenly he woke from his sleep.
Where were the bodies, the weapons and the pieces of armor?
Looking around, Aarseral soon found a large track where the grass was flat against the ground and blood pools laid scattered.
Here and there there were also some knifes or necklaces and other trinkets.
The village has been looted in the middle of the night.
Very interesting, perhaps later I will follow this track...
Whispering to himself Aarseral returned to his original restingplace...

[Iituem]

The night before...

Estriss wanted to cry.  She wanted to bawl, and let loose her rage and anguish in a storm of tears, but she couldn't.  She felt hollow, burned out for all the strength the battle had granted her.  So instead she knelt by the body in the ruins of the temple and clutched its hand, trying to make herself cry. 

The temple was almost dark now, save a handful of still-burning embers.  Flin shone down across the village, highlighting all of the broken rubble but none of the people, conspicuous wells of darkness where nobody wished to be seen.

"You lied, Jack," Estriss whispered.  Her grip tightened on the corpse's hand.  "You told me we could save them."

"We saved some of them.  Still a better result than the alternative."

Estriss looked up to where the voice had come from.  Sitting on a piece of broken wall was the very image of herself, save that her golden locks were turned to black.  She recognised the picture of regret on Jack's face, it well mirrored her own.  Her own face turned swiftly enough to anger.

"But they died, Jack!  So many of them died.  People I knew growing up, my friends, my..."  Without thinking, Estriss' eyes flicked to the body below.

"I know."  Jack ran a hand through her hair and gazed at the broken body of Estriss' mother, a frown breaking across her brow.  "I had hoped that we might be able to stop the temple's collapse.  You did the right thing, though.  Killing Ganad broke the spirit of the Chosen, and the rest fled.  She would be proud of you."  Estriss' nostrils flared and she stood straight up.

"What do you know about her pride?!  What makes you even think you can understand what my mother felt, what kind of a person she was?"  Around the village, some of the survivors winked to life in Flin's errant light, their desire to be ignored forgotten in the face of curiosity.  Estriss herself gleamed brightly in the moonshine.

"You know nothing, Jack!  You, who are so powerful, couldn't even stop a single band of nightmares raiding our people!"

For a moment a shadow fell across Jack's borrowed face and Estriss swore she could hear whispers in the back of her head.  They passed and instead Jack merely looked tired.

"I know more than you think, Estriss.  I truly wish I could have done more, but there is such a delicate balance to uphold here.  I don't suppose you understand escalation?"  Estriss' face was blank.  "Well, it's like a fight.  You both start off with fists, and it stays with fists.  Then one of you gets a rock.  So the other one gets a knife.  So you get a spear.  And the other one brings friends.  I can accomplish much more.  I could have crushed every one of those Chosen in an instant, but that attracts the attention of the other gods."

"So, like when a wolf kills a sheep, and then all the scavengers come around?"  Estriss' face had relaxed slightly, her rage forgotten for the moment.

"Close enough.  Carmanthyre, Eowen's patron, is my brother.  He operates on a mortal level, like myself, although in Carmanthyre's case he likes to empower a single mortal significantly.  I don't usually work that way.  To put it another way, even with all of the power my boon could grant you, you would probably never survive a face to face fight with Eowen when he wields Carmanthyre's blade."

"Why would I even want to?"

"I'm not saying you would, I'm just highlighting a matter of scale.  If Carmanthyre really wanted, he could cause the earth to crack open and swallow the Chosen, just as I could have killed them all instantly.  But by working on a small scale, he limits attention.  I really only noticed because he and I have a very... close relationship.  Like Carmantyhre, I operate on a mortal scale.  When I intervened with you, I did so on a very minor level because I feared what did happen, might happen."

"So what went wrong?"  Jack nodded towards the slumbering tree beasts.

"One of my other brothers' attention was piqued.  He brought the scale up by sending in a force of his tree-men, his Ents.  Now the ents could have easily crushed the Chosen, and they did, but by bringing them in he caught the attention of the others.  This prompted another god, a much worse one, to intervene with his own forces and seize upon the opportunity of a weakened town.  This god, this Wanderer, was responsible for the beasts of sand.  This ultimately forced Carmanthyre to end it with a direct intervention, causing the battle to cease but by this point the damage was already done."

"What damage?  What have you caused, Jack?"  Estriss bunched her fists again, her blood starting to boil once more.  Jack winced slightly.

"Because too much attention was drawn, what was a raid is most likely going to become a war.  Based on what the Chosen knew when they died, they have a much larger, much more dangerous force that they can bring to bear on your people.  To that end, I have a task for you.  You will be my prophet."

"Wait, what kind of prophet?  Just what are you god of, Jack?  Why do you keep dodging the question?"  Estriss' eyes narrowed, and Jack's own hardened.

"Murder.  I am the God of Murder, and I want you to do my bidding and be the first Assassin."

"No!"  Estriss thrust her hands out in front of her, as if trying to ward the deity off.  "No, no, no!  I am not killing for you, you sick freak!  After what happened today, after all the people I- I...  oh gods I'm going to be sick-"  Estriss dry heaved for a moment, honestly sure she was going to vomit.  A few moments passed, and it became clear she could not.  She swallowed and coughed a few times.

"I don't know what you did to me, Jack, but you have to take it back.  I can't live like this, I can't be a killer!"

"I'm afraid that's not mine to take away.  My pact gave you power, but it is not my pact that is changing you.  To have power is to be separate, as is to have any experience that truly changes you.  You can never take back the men you've killed, but you can take comfort in knowing that it served your cause."  Jack's eyes softened.

"I love you, Estriss.  I love for your remorse, for acknowledging that no matter what noble ends it may have served, the act of murder is wrong.  You understand the heavy weight of what it entails and, unlike others-" Jack gave a scathing glance towards the village.  Estriss couldn't see what he was looking at, but she could imagine who it was. "-you will not be so quick to deal out death and judgement.  But deal it out, you must."

"I told you, I don't want to be a part of this!  Why can't you just leave us alone?"

"I don't imagine you'd believe me if I told you I cared, so I have two rather more concrete reasons.  The first is that you have sworn to serve me, and I expect you to be true to your word.  The second is that what I want of you already falls into your beast interests and those of your people.  Now, will you listen to me, or will you be as petulant and immature as my brother?"

Estriss wanted to shout some more, to rage and scream and spit at this arrogant god that felt it could somehow understand what it was like to be human.  She wanted to dearly, but already the fire was going out in her.  Jack wasn't their only hope, Carmanthyre would certainly protect them, but deep down she knew she couldn't live with herself just being on the sidelines any more.  She'd been quiet, remained out of heroics her whole life, and whilst she didn't intend to be a hero now she couldn't stomach the idea of being helpless to aid her people.  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"What do you want from me?"

"This village is destroyed and too many of its people are gone.  If there were no greater threat, I would tell you to split up and live amongst the nearby villages.  That is not the case, and you must take a different path.  The nearer villages, some have been raided by the Chosen and they will aid you.  Gather the survivors and lead them east, toward Dordrath."

"The Arena City?  Dordrath is real?"  Estriss blinked in surprise.

"It is real, and your people must be led there.  In Dordrath you will find men, and weapons, and armour.  You will be able to build an army capable of striking out against the Chosen and breaking their forces.  And you will need such an army, as the Chosen will already be putting together one of their own."

"You expect me to lead my people to war?"

"No, I expect you to convince Eowen to do it.  The boy himself will struggle to accept the mantle, but I daresay Carmanthyre will leap at the opportunity.  That's his idea of how things should be, a gleaming king leading his forces to glory and battle.  Plus, with Carmanthyre's aid Eowen should certainly prove convincing enough to bring other villagers to his cause.  You will probably need him to recruit every able-bodied man between here and Dordrath, and it will take you maybe the better part of a month to reach it on foot.  It isn't too diffilcult, you just have to keep following the river.  When you get to Dordrath, you will need Eowen to convince their king to lend his aid - or else to replace him.  Then I imagine they will erect a shine to Rahisael, God of War, and seek his aid in the coming battle."

"You're saying a lot about what Eowen should do.  What am I going to do?"

"You'll have to lead too, but in a different way.  The priestesses are all dead, and you're the closest thing they have now.  Take up the mantle, and lead your people spiritually.  As you travel towards Dordrath, you will meet a strange woman, like yourself but somehow wolfish.  She will seem very odd and her speech will differ, but you must show her hospitality.  In return, she will teach you how to fight."

"I already know how to fight, I think we proved that."

"Yes, if you have an expert directing your moves at every opportunity.  On your own, you're just a scared young woman.  A powerful young woman with my blessings, but still a young woman.  My servant will teach you how to fight on your own, and also how to blend into shadows and move undetected.  She will train you to perform the ultimate task required of you.  Other servants of mine shall attend to you, small in form but great in stealth and power.  They will serve as your eyes and ears, for as the priestess you will need to maintain a presence amongst your people."

"And when all this is done?  What task do you ask of me?"

"That... I will reveal when the time is right.  Rest now, and burn or bury your dead out of respect for them.  When the morning comes, you and yours have a long way to march."


Jack instructs Estriss to convince the people of the broken village to migrate to Dordrath, gathering an army along the way.