Back to the north, in a brightly lit city near the middle of the kingdom of Cinapul, a lone elderly figure stood on a balcony which overlooked the capital. A white and ancient gown sat regally upon his shoulders, flowing in the cool breeze.
He was the grand-priest of the Cinapul branch of the Order of Life. An incredibly old and wise being who had watched over Cinapul for almost a century and a half. An extremely long lifespan for a human.
Despite his regal looking silhouette, a frown hung on his face ruining his cool demeanor. He kneaded his fingers into his palms behind his back, staving off arthritis that had set in as consequence of his long life. The cool air caused his joints to ache, but yet he couldn't bring himself to go inside. Not yet.
Thirty minutes earlier he had received a communication linked to the messenger ring gifted to Tobias. A middle level paladin, and a very good man who had lived in service for the Order for decades. Initially he had thought it was Tobias merely being diligent in his reporting.
The grand-priest had told Tobias on numerous occasions that he did not need to contact unless something notable occurred. He trusted the paladin to keep things in order after all.
Nevertheless, ever diligent to his work, Tobias would provide regular updates, whether in need of help or not.
The grand-priest knew that this was only due to Tobias's nervousness about the assignment, and frankly he couldn't blame him. If it weren't for Her direct instructions, the grand-priest would have never sent a middle level paladin and student clerics on such an important assignment.
But because it was a direct instruction, his hands were tied.
"But I can't be held responsible for anything that goes wrong." he had warned, eyes looking deeply at Her calm smile. She was completely unperturbed by everything around Her.
After dispatching Tobias and the several students from the Burian Academy, all had proceeded smoothly for several months, and the grand-priests' nerves had gradually calmed. He relaxed.
This was until their party of five had passed through Stone-Eye on their way to the edge of the world. As if from nowhere, Tobias reported the death of two promising students – two paladins – at the hands of dark elves which had moved into the mountain at some in the last century.
It was a disaster. He had fretted for several days before reporting the circumstances to Her.
When he finally managed to get a hold of Her though – She had merely smiled and looked right through him. She had told him that it was fine, and to continue the assignment. And then, much to his shock, She had requested that he bring two children into Tobias's party.
A young woman named Sarah, and a young man named Feylin. Two nobodies raised at the last city at the edge of the world - under a former Order enforcer called Jakobson. At first the grand-priest had wanted to question how She knew of them, but he realized what a ridiculous question that would be. She knew everything…
He warned Her that bringing in even more inexperienced members would only decrease chance of the mission's success – but She just smiled at him in that all-knowing way.
Thus, the grand-priest resigned himself again to Her will. Anything to receive what he was promised he thought…
But now, an unacceptable hiccup had occurred, one that all-at-once caused his old blood to boil and a chill to crawl down his spine.
He again glanced back into the room behind him.
A woman, She sat there on his couch. Patiently. Waiting for his return. Next to her were her two ever-present students - her apprentices.
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The grand-priest looked back out to the city. Even the cool chill of night wasn't enough to make him want to return to that room just yet.
When he had received the call from Tobias… he knew something was wrong immediately when instead of Tobias, the image of Raelith Ringflower appeared in his thoughts.
A frown appeared on his face. "Where is Tobias?" he asked unceremoniously.
For Rae, this was her first time speaking so directly with the grand-priest. To her, who was still a student cleric of the Burian, Grand-Priest was a being which was too far removed from her level. She kept her head down respectfully.
"I apologize Grand-Priest David… Tobias has been killed d-during the seizure of Stone-Eye from the dark elves."
Silence.
"And what of the being you were supposed bring here?" His older voice was harsh and cold at this moment, nothing like what Raelith would expect of someone like him.
"Noone has escaped… for now!" She added quickly. "He is still within Stone-Eye though, so we will find him as we take the city." Stuttering over her words slightly, she managed to calm the grand-priests growing anxiety, if only slightly.
"Alright young one. It is okay. I am very saddened by the loss of a paladin as precious and well-liked as Tobias. I will have to make sure his family is compensated well for their loss…" He let the words hang there for a moment. "Will you explain to me exactly how this happened?"
The grand-priest listened carefully as Raelith explained the situation that had unfolded in the past day, as well as their plan to find Noone in the coming week.
"A drider? So far north?" David thought to himself. But he shook that concern from his mind. That was not the biggest issue now.
"Thank you Raelith for the report. As of now you will be the de-facto leader of your party in Tobias's stead. Please make sure you preserve Tobias's body properly so we can give him a generous burial here at the capital… and when you find Noone… be sure to restrain him properly. I look forward to good news from here out." Grand-Priest David hurried to cut off communications just as a fit of coughs caused him to double over. Light specks of blood sprinkling the white railing in front of him.
The frown on his face deepened and he quickly conjured a delicate white flower from his spatial pouch and swallowed it whole. Finally, the pressure which had been building up in his body began to wane and a soothing magic washed through him, purifying his body.
"Well… I guess there's no more putting it off." He thought to himself, silently looking back over his shoulder at Her. Out of the three beings in his office right now, She was the scariest, but She could also give him what he really, really, wanted.
As the grand-priest turned around, he stomped his feet loudly and changed his frown to a scowl preparing to put on a show - storming back into the room.
He huffed out a deep breath. Steam formed in the air in front of him. Loudly he returned into the room. His room.
"This is your fault!" He scowled. "If you hadn't forced me to send such a low-level team to retrieve your precious creature, I would have never lost such an important paladin to our Order! You sabotaged this mission from the very beginning, didn't you? Ordering us to retrieve those two youth after we lost two important Burian students to the dark elves?" He pointed an accusatory finger at the calm figure sitting on the couch…
Or that's what he had been intending.
Instead… he froze as soon as he entered the room. His body shivered and he looked right into the holes where Her eyes would have been – but instead only the void existed. There was no overwhelming pressure locking him down, or cosmic fear that caused him to lock up, and yet he couldn't move. Not once he had met her impossible gaze.
The woman on the couch smiled gently and then picked up a teacup in front of her, sipping from it delicately without shifting her gaze.
"Weird." The grand-priest thought groggily. "I don't remember getting her tea…"
"I take it the being I sent you to retrieve has escaped, David?" The woman's voice was soft and mesmerizing. There was an inhuman quality to it that made it reverberate through any room.
Suddenly the old man was shaken out of his stupor. The bravado he had prepared when he entered the room had completely withered up into dust, blowing away in the gentle breeze that seemed to follow Her wherever She went.
"Yes. I am afraid you are correct. Tobias – the paladin you had me send - died to a Drider within Stone-Eye and... Noone has escaped." He sighed, doing his best to retain what dignity he had left as a level 18 cleric. " However, he should be trapped within Stone-Eye now, so those left will capture him in the process of taking the city." He quickly added, not wanting Her to think he had failed yet.
But the next words out of Her mouth caused him to shiver in fear.