* * *
The head temple of the priesthood of Saga lay deep within the wealth laden streets of the capital of the entire Aelthron Cycle on the capital and primary plane closest to Aelthron’s Cradle itself. Most papal temples found their primary residence and temple to often coincide with the political powers that be and so the priesthood of Saga followed suit. The pope of Saga had received note of a powerful eccentric in the outermost plane of Aelthron and thought little of it, placing the report of the eccentric quite far down this list of his required duties for the day despite its brilliant teal envelope signaling its utmost urgency. He castigated himself when he’d finally read the missive, and almost found it too late to call for an emergency synod.
The various cardinals and patriarchs in the area replied slowly and with very little patience. Their arrival was marked by cries of anger and dismissive of why the pope would call for an emergency synod to be held on the same day. The cries were disrespectful and biting, but for the first time in a long time, the pope of Saga was able to hold is calm even as glee and satisfaction saturated his being in preparation of quelling many of his political rivals. Surprisingly, the news was even more important than how he hoped to use it: as a political scalpel to excise several rivals unwilling to bend to his leading. The cries grew but the pope held his tongue until all had arrived. Some of this more politically astute rivals understood his patient waiting but were certain of their own power and one took control of the meeting to establish their dominance, just as he’d hoped.
“What is the meaning of this ‘emergency’ synod,” one patriarch lazily opened his eyes and asked when the last member had arrived, injecting enough mockery into the word emergency to quickly garner the support of almost all in the room.
The pope hid his happiness with a stoic simple statement, “A teal missive has arrived.”
That seemed to catch the attention and arrest the slowly gathering agreement of his largest and currently speaking rival. It didn’t slow him long, and the man pivoted to a more neutral tone.
“Oh? A teal missive. From which of our temples?”
“A small town called Coushar, on the outermost plane.”
The mockery returned in full force and included a loud snort, “A teal missive from a tiny village on the outermost plane? Surely you should have more wisely evaluated the missive.”
“I did… quite carefully.”
That brought a slight twinge of concern but ultimately did not bring any caution as the pope’s political rival doubled down.
“Oh?” he replied with now open mockery and a scornful look at the pope of Saga, “And your wisdom is to give this teal missive an immediate synod?”
“Exactly.”
“And the missive’s report?” came the immediate and sharp reply.
“An unusual eccentric has arrived,” the pope replied calmly but rather duplicitously.
The room erupted into a cacophony of anger and disbelief and the pope struggled to keep the smile off his face when he saw both surprise and righteous indignation painting his political rival’s face. Astutely, the political rival allowed the disbelief lead to anger at the pope’s folly to strengthen his own political support. The cries of anger continued for some time until his rival finally called for order with a rather loud and carrying reply that was accompanied by many others calling out agreement.
“And this was worthy of a teal missive and an immediate synod?”
The pope finally revealed a slow satisfied smile at that and turned to face his political rival head on, “Oh. No. Not at all. That did not require a synod at all. No, the synod is because the eccentric trained from Saga faithful to Saga chaplain in less than two weeks.”
Silence echoed throughout the room, then broke in a cacophony of disbelief punctuated by shouts seeking how it was done. For the first time in quite a long time, the pope of Saga held the entire synod of patriarchs and cardinals within his grasp and they listened closely.
The meeting was not quick, taking quite some time for the simple and short message to be fully explored by the entire synod. The people discussed every possible ramification of the news and quickly shifted to how they could capitalize upon both the powerful information and the seemingly rapid and easy path to incredible power. The meeting quickly shifted to the priesthood’s response and in this, the meeting quickly ground to a halt, as rivals snapped at every little piece of power and control they could gain and despite the lengthy time involved, none were willing to postpone the meeting. Decisions needed to be made immediately, and after a long exhausting evening and night, a small but eclectic group of Saga priests representing every political faction within their priesthood was already marching towards the gate of the capital city of the capital plane.
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Many of the priests of the various Coushar temples found themselves with little to do, especially those from the outer city. Having escaped the danger of the outer city and found refuge in within the inner walls along with all the other average citizens, they found themselves at a loss. Few people were concerned with seeking out the temples for their various services except for Fenrir, Frigg, and Sors. However, Fenrir and Frigg were only sought out to turn their eyes away from the supplicants as they did not wish to have the attention of monsters, nor the god of monsters such as Fenrir, and most certainly not the attention of the god of death, Frigg. The only god that attracted true worship was the god of Sors, an ironically fickle god devoted to luck. But, somehow, people sought out luck in the hopes that it might fall their way.
Ultimately, most of the priests of the outer temples found themselves well protected in rather opulent halls with little to do and no supplicants, so conversation quickly turned to rumors and gossip. The greatest source of rumor in the small town of Coushar happened to be the unusual eccentric by the name of Joe. Despite his fame, not many of the priesthood were really concerned with knowing the man. That change quickly with his part in curing the deadly breeder curse. That bonfire only had fuel added to it when the eccentric had enacted a new curse never before seen. A much more potent and powerful curse than a simple ostracizing of a single man. And not only that, none of the priests who’d been present had been able to see any form of ritual or runic dao construction to guide the spelled curse. And the priests chattered excitedly over what it could mean. Their discussions only uncovered ever more extremely unusual pieces of information regarding Joe.
* * *
The LEAP headquarters lazily ground on, accomplishing a task that was Great cycles upon Great cycles old. So old, in fact, that to just list the names of the long line of leaders of the LEAP organization would require over a year to say at one name per second. The bureaucracy was now self-perpetuating and an inevitable reality that lumbered over any and all obstacles without remorse or even seemingly acknowledging them.
While the administrative and bureaucratic nature of the organization was utterly lethargic and unstoppable, its military arm was prestigious, sought out by almost all significant cultivators desiring protected but powerful personal growth ever upwards toward immortality. The Loki Eradication And Prognostication guard was a well-oiled machine with their primary purpose self-evident in their existence. Despite their primary purpose, Loki still prowled the Great Cycle without fear for far longer than any immortal had ever done before. He was a myth and their purpose was to find and eradicate him.
However, Loki’s ability to disappear completely for millennia and even more at a time, left the LEAP guardians and their administrative branch free to accomplish other tasks during the long millennia that Loki was missing. There was one branch, however, who never rested from their primary purpose. The Prognostication team always sought out signs of Loki’s soon reappearance and had absolute authority to reassign LEAP guardians if such signs ever proved to be convincing enough.
One such report had just arrived and the Prognostication team was certain it was evidence of Loki’s return. Over a dozen eccentric landings had been reported on Aelthron’s Cradle. It took the Prognostication team some time to verify where Aelthron’s Cradle was and even who Aelthron was. But when that information was discovered, the Prognostication team was even more certain of Loki’s current location. There best team of LEAP guardians was immediately sent to Aelthron’s Cradle.
* * *
The guards for the Cycle gate into Aelthron’s Cradle, connecting star to star, were rather unusual in that they worked directly under the Guardians who were assigned to Aelthron’s Cradle. For most cradles, the guards for the gate to the entire Cradle were largely ceremonial. And planer gate travel within any cradle was common, even within Aelthron’s cradle, if only for the wealthy. For the guards of Aelthron’s Cradle gate, however, their duty was significantly more important. Still, even here in Aelthron’s Cradle, it was a simple duty often and regularly ceremonial.
Granted, having the gate spin up, activating outside scheduled hours, was something incredibly unusual and had the guards quickly coming to attention, glancing at each other and whispering amongst themselves until the gate connected and they quickly came to attention. Having an unscheduled gate connection to Aelthron’s Cradle was unheard of! When the gate had activated, one of the young runners on hand was quickly dispatched to run towards the Guardians, the outer clan members of the Taglisea clan or even just mercenaries hired to support the outer clan members sent to guard Aelthron’s Cradle.
When the guards and the Guardians that followed after saw the LEAP uniforms, the stiffened with fear and awe even as the head of the Guardians cursed softly under his breath, pulling in his shadow dao out of respect, revealing himself to the incoming LEAP members. The quite fearful respect quickly turned to murmuring concerns as member after member poured through the gates, a massive army of LEAP guards and their apprentices and squires. The Taglisea Guardian felt his heart pounding with each added member of LEAP.
“What brings the great LEAP to Aelthron’s Cradle?”
The LEAP captain in charge that had just arrived turned to stare at the man, sneering slightly, “What do you think has brought LEAP to your Cradle?”
The Guardian curdled under the reply, attempting to remain calm and subservient but struggled to withhold the curse that burned in his heart at the insult. Who is he to say this is my Cradle! Like I would ever be from su… He cut off his thoughts and bowed.
“I am uncertain, great one. I only seek how I may help you.”
The LEAP captain grew even more disgusted at that, snorting as his sneer grew, “Why else would LEAP appear at any Cradle. Loki has appeared.”
The Taglisea Guardian struggled to keep his heart calm even as his breath hitched slightly, “Loki? Here?”
The LEAP captain turned away, ignoring him as he shouted at all the gathered crowd of LEAP soldiers and quickly shouted out orders. There was a ruthless efficiency to LEAP and while the Taglisea Guardian had heard rumors of the excellent members of LEAP, seeing it in practice was both inspiring and disheartening. He waited patiently, if with an increasing unease.
After issuing his orders, the LEAP captain turned back to the Taglisea Guardian, “Now. Speak to me of these many eccentric sightings!”
The Taglisea Guardian almost ignited his dao of shadows and fled, fear trembling through him. I should have taken it more seriously! This is… oh… Loki’s infested nethers! If it is Loki! His mind tumbled through dozens of curses and fears even as he began quickly reporting what he and his fellow guards had found.
* * *