The fighting had died down and both the Shore Wardens and the cultists had been defeated by the pirates. That was weird saying out loud. We didn’t have time to chat about the hilarious nature of the situation as someone could come questioning any time soon. I helped tow a few row boats back to the Ill Hand and we got everyone on board and set sail for something far away.

Alyson had not killed Beckett to my surprise. She said,” I would love to do this immediately but I am still debating on taking him to darktow. We just kicked the hornet's nest so we are going to head home and lay low for a few weeks maybe a couple of months.”

“I guess that's fair. Might want to stick a guard on him 24/7. Don’t know what magic the Clovis Concord will pull to rescue him. Killing him might be the safer option.” I said.

“You are probably right. I will think about it. Thank you for everything you have done. I had wanted to go after Beckett for a long time but I just never found the courage. I only suggested this because I thought I might just have you kill him for me. But after the last weeks working with you I realized that life doesn’t wait for you. You were out here hunting bigger and better things just to gain the smallest amount of control. Made me realize I should as well. So thank you,” she said.

“Not a problem,” I said. I was getting kinda embarrassed. I haven’t been a role model before.

“So you sticking around or heading out now that the deal is done?” She asked.

“I would love to head back and take over Darktow or something but I have goals elsewhere. There are things out there that bad people shouldn’t have. Up to the people with the power and drive to stop them,” I said all heroic. I might as well lean into the hero role.

“Well, that's a big responsibility. Good luck with that and do make sure to swing by every now and then. You are always welcome on my ship,” she said.

I would be doing that. I am not letting the Mighty Nein work with Avantika. I can change the plot my way so that they have more time to work against Uk’otoa. I will even see about getting Fjord under the Wildmother's wings sooner. There are a lot of changes I will need to make. There is one I am still unsure about.

………….

I woke up in the Soul Dream.

“Alright, what's the damage Rubert?” I asked

“From all battles, you killed a total of 32 individuals. But only 18 arrived here, boss,” Rubert said.

“What? What happened to the others?” I asked.

“Of the people you killed, we counted 10 to be cultists. Each one was a believed follower of Tiamat. We have concluded that you do not gain the souls of people devoted to a god,” Rubert said.

“Oh okay. I guess that makes sense. It also clears up any worries I will have about encountering other angry gods. All right how has it gone with the new residents?” I asked.

“All of them are going through the stages of grief right now. As we planned ahead of time for this, they are all in their own waiting area. We have not informed them about you but we will with time. There is also the issue we discussed last night. Theseus has learned how to give himself truesight as you use but has been unable to interact with a person's soul nor can he view memories within. For the moment we lack the ability to judge a person’s past life and so we have decided for now we are going to treat them all the same. This will be interesting since none of us require anything to live now. They have been instructed to simply relax and consider things they want to spend their days doing,” Rubert said.

“And you have hidden the memory orbs from them right?” I asked.

“Yes. The warehouse has been moved to a more secure location. They have just arrived and do not fully understand this world so they shouldn't be able to find it. Even if they do Theseus has guards defending it,” Rubert said.

“Good. I am going to say my goodbyes tomorrow morning and head for the empire. I’d like the committee be gather for a small meeting so I can ask their advice,” I said.

“Right away boss,” Rubert said and left to gather the others.

………

I created a platform on the beach. It had a large table and chairs for those that would be sitting in them. Soon everyone had arrived. Gatsby, Tiny, Altus. Theseus, Clarion, Hardok, Lightning, Temprus, and Rubert all sat either in chairs or wherever was comfortable for them.

“I am glad you all could make it. This is going to be an important discussion as I need to come up with some long-term changes I will be making to the world and the canonical timeline of the Mighty Nein,” I said.

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“Oh finally. I have been thinking about this for weeks. I have so many opinions and things I want to say,” Clarion said.

“Calm yourself Clarion. We will all get the chance to speak. This discussion could take a few days,” Temprus said.

“I am happy we are being included. Thanks boss,” Lightning said.

“You are all welcome. I would like to start with the biggest one. Cognoza and most importantly Lucien,” I said dropping the biggest weight on the group. They had all watched the entire season of Campaign 2 and now the stakes. Lucien Tavelle is a bloodhunter who died not too long ago when he was betrayed by a member of the Cerberus Assembly Vess DeRogna. His soul was shattered and his body was inhabited by the remaining pieces that soon became Mollymock Tealeaf.

“I say we burn his body when Molly dies,” Atlus said.

“I agree but we should go a step further and kill Cree,” Hardok said.

“What no! We should save Molly and help the Nein beat the tombtakers,” Tiny said.

“I agree we should save Molly. But Cree should die anyway. There is only room for one lord of blood,” Clarion said.

I raise my hand to interrupt the discussion. “If we save Molly and kill Cree, Lucien might still come back and I won’t know when or where. Mercer hinted as much himself,” I said.

“But that didn’t happen. I understand trusting what has already happened in the campaign but all the hypothetical stuff will just make us run in circles,” said Atlus.

“I know. But it's not just about how we use this information but how it will look. The Nein will realize I know things in advance and they might one day ask me if I could have stopped his death. They will know and it will cause unneeded stress on our relationship,” I said.

“Then that is a risk you will need to take. There is much you will be manipulating and changing about their lives. You won’t be able to be friends with them. They have their destiny and you are simply making it easier for them to complete it,” Temprus said.

He was right. I won’t be able to just stick with the Nein like I was a member of the group. I can be an occasional ally but until they are strong enough I will bring danger to them by being in the group. I can’t fight their battles for them. Only with them.

“There is also the chance if we leave Molly alive it will mess with Caduceus joining the group. Or he could join the group and then their enemies respond harder to there being an 8th member at one time,” Gatsby said.

“What if we faked his death,” Tiny asked.

“Molly will probably be unwilling to keep that up. I know I don’t like lying to my friends,” Lightning said. He was such a good boy.

“We will probably end up going in circles about this for a while. Consider the options and we can decide later,” I said.

“How is that going to work boss? We vote as a group and then you decide?” Atlus said.

“I would prefer we approach a situation together. Most of the time I will try and listen to your requests. If I can’t I can’t, but I want to at least hear your opinions,” I said.

They all nodded. We discussed more about things to kill or about things the Soul Dream needed. We discussed architecture and future buildings.

“Boss you need to get planeshift. If you can gain that ability you might be able to send things here physically. I would love for more books,” Gatsby said.

“Agreed. It would be nice to read some of my old stories I never finished,” Hardok said.

“I will get on that. It's a rare ability but I can try,” I said.

“Boss I have a question,” Tiny asked.

“Go ahead,” I said.

“How come you never use the power you got from the Hag,” Tiny said.

When I shattered the hag’s soul I retained a piece of it that I hadn’t used yet. I could cast a sleep spell once a day.

“I have been afraid to do so. I don’t know the effects of using dark fey magics. I might try at some point but it's not really been useful,” I said.

We continued the conversation jumping from dealing with the Cerberus Assembly to visiting the Kryn Dyansty. The conversation was brought back to Avantika and I told them I was not letting the Nein get near her other than to kill her. They agreed that it would be better to lean on allies I have already made.

"What of the Cult of the Worm? What shall be done about them?” Rubert said.

“I had a plan in mind myself. This will be what we can do for several threats I can deal with or have time to deal with. We will ready all the information about them and then I will compile a report about them on paper. I will make copies of this and then deliver it to organizations that can deal with the threat or want to deal with them. For the Cult of the Worm, I am going to deliver all information on them to both the Kryn and the Cobalt Soul. Especially the outpost of Vurmas. I am unsure if they have already started to recruit the cult but they need to be informed with what they are dealing with,” I said.

The floating outpost of Vurmas is a Kryn research and scouting facility for their operations in Eiselcross. They didn’t study the ruins much but instead recruited the Wilders to come live in Xhorhas. They had or will be speaking with Cultists of the Worm about this without knowing the full extent of what Quajath is.

“Now let's move on to discussion. Boss, where are we going next?” Rubert asked.

“I plan on flying to Nicodranis. I am going to try and speak with Yussa. Then I will make a stop at the Mother's Lighthouse to speak with a priest of the wildmother and do some praying. Actually, I need to explain that more,” I said breathing in. This is going to be one of the most important topics of the night. “I am going to try and speak with the gods,” I said.

There was a lot of surprise. Everyone was trying to speak at once about their opinions. I raised my hand asking for their silence.

“I am preventing souls from going to lower or higher planes. I am already stepping on the god's toes. I need to at least approach some of them and talk to them. I haven’t been visited by some divine messenger or any assassins so I might be good to speak with them,” I said.

“I think this is a horrible idea boss,” Atlus said.

“This was always going to happen. I am a dragon if though a minor one. It's a big deal if you start preventing other planes from receiving their supposed souls,” Temprus said.

“I know. Which is why I will see what happens at Mothers Lighthouse. Now returning to the future. Once I am done in Nicodranus I am heading into the empire. I am going to find Abaxis and the rest and ask for their help with recovering the Luxon Beacon in the Ruins of Shattengrod first,” I said.

“Good. I don’t like these Cerberus types. We have seen too much and know the alignments of their leaders. They need to be stopped,” Gatsby said.

“They work with Ickython. They are not good people,” Lightning said.

“We can discuss their destruction later. Master, what is the plan for the Luxon Beacon,” Clarion asked.

“I will return it to the Kryn . This will allow me to gain the allies needed to move through Xhorhas smoothly. I might even get to approach Essek before the Nein. In addition, I am going to create a connection between the Kryn and the Cobalt Soul. This might have to wait for the Nein to catch up first and the war to be over,” I said.

“That might be for the best. A connection with the Kryn would hurt the Soul in the Empire more than help,” Tiny said.

We continued all the way till it was time for me to wake up. There was much to do and much to see. The only thing the Committee wanted me to pursue right away was a creature with planeshift so that I could transfer physical items to the Soul Dream. I could do that. We will discuss targets tomorrow. For now, I need to go spy on a blue tiefling and see about meeting an elf in a tower.