Ukavana, his wife, howled hysterically. “You abandoned Tiamat!”
“Coward!” one of Morena’s cultists shouted.
“Traitor!” a young kobold warrior barked.
“The orcs of the Broken Axe demand that Scyth be overthrown!” I didn’t know where the orcs had come from. They must have come through the portal at Tiamat’s temple.
Everyone started talking at once, shouting, barking, roaring… The voices of my friends were drowned in the racket. The unfair accusations of cowardice stung.
Silence suddenly descended, although I saw that some were still shouting. The Sleeping God emerged from the temple. Behemoth stood next to me, put a mighty arm around my shoulder and announced to all:
“My Initial Scyth made the right decision when he left the temple in the desert. Through that deed, he not only saved the fort on Kharinza, but also saved the lives of every one of you!” The god’s voice boomed through the whole fort, and the listeners heard not only Behemoth in the reflected echo, but also Tiamat. “Return to your business and no longer dare doubt the decisions of the Initial!”
The people took heart and began to disperse, not forgetting to pray that the Sleepers never wake and that their sleep be eternal. Some muttered embarrassed apologies.
Irita, Crawler, Infect and Bomber stayed behind. I nodded to them and pointed with my eyes to the far end of the street, where the tavern was. I wrote in chat: Full clan meeting at the tavern after I talk to Behemoth. Grab the guardians, Manny, Gyula and Patrick.
I watched my friends go and then ran up the stairs and crossed the threshold of the temple. As the only remaining temple of the Sleepers, it couldn’t handle the faith flowing in, and thousands of followers were cut off from Unity, as were all our excess priests. Only Patrick, Tissa and Manny remained active — the first three priests. The adept limit was back at a hundred and sixty-nine. Tissa was taking up a spot that would have been better given to someone else. I wanted to kick her right away, but I decided to wait.
Events had affected Behemoth. His avatar wasn’t flickering, but no table and chairs appeared like at our last meeting. That was probably why the Sleeper was direct and to the point:
“I will repeat it for you — you made the right decision. The temple can be restored, but the followers’ lives can’t. The faith of the undying is not as deep as that of those who are born in this world.”
“You know what the other outcome would have been?”
“Your victory, another lost temple…” Behemoth paused. “And the loss of the Initial. Most of the variations of the future always lead to that.”
“Most? But not all?”
“Not all…”
Behemoth put his hands on my shoulders — I buckled under their weight — and spoke quietly, but with iron in his voice:
“The Nucleus must be destroyed, Initial. While it draws strength in the Nether, this cannot be done. However, the parasite who calls himself Nergal foresaw this in the creation of his puppet. I admit, even with Tiamat’s help, it took a long time of studying the weavings to isolate the single key that will cut off — for a short time! — the Nucleus from the emanations of the Nether. This can be done by pouring Concentrated Life Essence into the Nucleus’ plague reservoir. Then it can be put to rest.”
Death to the Destroying Plague!
Sleeping God Behemoth wants you to destroy the Nucleus of the Destroying Plague. You must find Concentrated Life Essence and pour it into the reservoir of the Nucleus to cut it off from the Nether.
Rewards: unknown.
“Where do I find the essence?” I asked.
“There is a complex elvish ritual for extracting it from Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, in the Forbidden Forest. A droplet of the essence is extracted each year and has since ancient times been given to the most worthy — the winner of the yearly Demonic Games.”
“Demonic? What do demons have to do with it?” I’d heard of the games — Mogwai had won them — but I’d never thought about the name. “What does the essence do?”
“The first games were held by demons back when they still walked the land of Disgardium,” Behemoth explained. “Until the Games, the Life Essence is kept in the elvish capital, in the palace of King Eynyon, and reaches full power only when the names of all the contestants become known. With its help, a sentient can give a significant boost to certain character stats, but the nature of the essence is such that it loses its properties if it is obtained dishonestly.”
“So we’ll have to wait for the Demonic Games…” I sighed, without the slightest idea what they looked like and when they started. Did we even have the time?
“We won’t have to wait long,” the Sleeping God said. He seemed to be well informed on world events. “The cryers of all the capitals are already shouting the names of the contestants bold enough to declare their intention. Apart from that, there are other ways to obtain the essence.”
“From the former champions, for example?” I ventured.
“Unlikely, but it would be short-sighted not to explore the possibility.”
“Or coming to an agreement with the elf king, Eynyon…”
“Even less likely,” Behemoth rumbled. “You won’t be able to defeat the Nucleus even if you cut it off from the Nether. The Sleeping Gods need at least three active temples to give you enough power. The second must be dedicated to Tiamat again. Her support is the most effective against undead. The third is up to you.”
Three Temples
Sleeping God Behemoth wishes that you build a second and third temple in places of power and dedicate them to the Sleeping Gods: Tiamat and another of your choosing (Leviathan, Abzu, Kingu).
Rewards: unknown.
I stared distantly
