Riclos the Forsaken gave G a sharp glance, trying to determine whether the elf was insane. "No, Breamus is the god of Mischief. I've never heard of him being referred to as a doctor or a shaman. He is the patron saint of gamblers and other unsavory characters. He is also one of the five gods you will find mentioned by all sentient peoples across all planes. He exists in all of them, just as the four brothers do." He paused a moment. "What did you say your names were again?"

G's mind was still spinning, and he barely heard Riclos as he glanced at Kargan, who had a suspicious look. The hobgoblin's eyes moved back and forth between Riclos and G, his sword never wavering.

"Does this God of Mischief, Breamus, appear as a tanned man wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a red plume? Long, dark curly hair? An outfit in deep autumn red with white frills of his shirt coming out of the sleeves of his jacket? Wide pantaloons?" asked G quickly, trying to sort out what he was hearing.

Kargan spoke, "You can call me Kargan."

Riclos nodded to the hobgoblin in acknowledgment and turned back to G. "Breamus can take many forms and be in many places at the same time. It's one of the ways to tell when you're talking to a god since they can and usually are in multiple places at once. As for his appearance, he appears differently to different races. To humans, he has been known to appear as you describe. Have you met him? He would have appeared quite differently to elves."

G was quiet, unsure of how much to tell this man, who was now busy taking off his fur-lined gloves and placing them on the table. His hands were pale white and very human-looking.

"I might have. It's a long story, and we will need to come to some form of agreement before I discuss it. We all need to escape this ship. If I can find this room, the dark elves will find it given enough time, and we might not be able to escape once they take us to their city," said G.

Riclos carefully removed his fur-lined overcoat, placed it on the floor next to the chair, and sat back down. G caught a glimpse of his wooden foot when he bent over, steadying himself on the chair. It was shoved into a boot, but it was clearly strapped to his left calf with leather bindings.

He settled back into the chair. "I don't see where I have much choice in the matter. I'll help you, and when we're done, you'll accompany me to someone who can remove my ring from your hand. Then we can part ways." He held out his hand to shake on the matter.

G looked at the offered hand while speaking, "My name is G. " Things were turning out better than he had expected. He reached out and shook Riclos's hand, feeling a magical tingling sensation running up to his elbow. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"I just sealed our deal. If you or I decide to break the agreement, the person breaking it will contract a very uncomfortable rash and constantly itch until the agreement is fulfilled. One can't be too trusting these days. It's a minor magic that I still possess since it wasn't a boon from my god. It is quite binding; all diplomats carry some form of that spell." said Riclos.

G shook his hand, which still tingled, and a small icon had appeared on the edge of his vision, blinking. He took a deep breath, grateful that the agreement bound both of them. He sat down in the chair opposite Riclos. "Tell me about this God of Mischief and what happened after you met him?"

"Breamus spoke to me for a while. In the end, he convinced me I needed to find the lost Temple of Sensation. You know, before I joined the church, I was an artifact hunter. I spent much of my youth searching for lost ruins and magical treasures. I didn't join the temple until later in my life, when my wife passed away. After Breamus left, I went to see the artifact hunters guild and persuaded a group of them to help me find a portal to the plane containing the ruins of the Temple of Sensation. After we found the place and brought back much of the treasure, the artifact hunters and I had a falling out, so I took my share and left. Breamus told me where I'd find an astral ship captain and what I would need to pay for the trip to the Grand Bazaar, where I would find the answers about being forsaken by my god. I found all the wealth I needed for the trip in the Temple of Sensation and the captain who would take me there, as there were no portals on my plane leading to the Beast Lands, and the quickest way to get there was by astral ship, which is not cheap. I could have bought a small kingdom for what I spent on this trip," said Riclos, pointing at the pile of treasure haphazardly heaped against the wall. "That stubborn crustacean wouldn't even consider it because of the dangers until I gave him most of that gold and that chest of gems there."

G was looking at the glowing ring on his finger as Riclos finished. "How often does Breamus appear?"

"It is very rare, and the church would only hear about visages of him long after he was gone," said Riclos as he reached down to loosen the strap holding his wooden foot in place.

"Would you say it's almost impossible for two people who have talked to him to meet?" asked G.

"Very. It's rare to even have two in a single generation see him on a given plane. In some cities, his name is a curse, and usually, when he appears, events that can shake kingdoms follow. He is the harbinger of disaster for many," Riclos's tone dropped a bit as he realized what he had just said.

"Is it possible he shows up to shape a disaster or guide it to a conclusion?" asked G. He wasn't certain any of this was caused by Dr. Reamus or Breamus, but Dr. Reamus was certainly interested in its outcome if that was even his real name.

"Well, that's my story, elf. How about you share yours? Why did you refer to Breamus as Dr. Reamus? I've never heard of that before," asked Riclos.

G looked at Kargan, who nodded as if he wanted to hear this too. The hobgoblin wasn't holding his sword ready and must have come to some conclusion about the danger Riclos posed.

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G didn't want to expose his whole story; he probably shouldn't have told them. He felt that sharing this information now was a great plan. It was likely the ring influencing his thoughts, and he had no idea how to remove or counter its magic. He was trying to work through this problem while paying attention to Riclos.

G shook his fingers, which were still tingling, and a small icon appeared on the edge of his vision, blinking. He took a deep breath; at least, the agreement bound both of them. He sat down in the chair opposite Riclos.

"Breamus is the one who first greeted me when I arrived in the dark pathways near where Kargan and I met. I have a quest to find someone from my home and kill him before he restarts an interrupted ritual that he was performing; it must not be allowed to finish," said G.

Riclos looked intently at him as he spoke, taking in every twitch of his face, reading him in some way, trying to discern the truth of G's words. "What kind of ritual? Was there a sacrifice involved?" Riclos asked with concern in his voice.

"Yes, many of my people were killed by Ryan as part of the ritual. Breamus said it would bring demons into my home, and they would devour everyone. I must stop Ryan from completing this ritual," said G softly, looking at the ring on his finger again.

"Oh, a demon worshiper; that is never good. Are there no warriors to stop this, Ryan? What does he need to complete this ritual?" the forsaken cleric asked.

"There is no one else from my home here to stop him." G paused momentarily; he didn't want to discuss what Ryan needed to complete the ritual, but the ring's magic made his concern turn to optimism when he thought about holding back. "Ryan needs to kill me as part of the ritual to complete it. Then the way will be open for his demon master," said G.

Riclos nodded, "Do you know the name of the demon or which plane it's from that this Ryan worships?"

"Breamus said it was a devil named Tychon." No sooner had G spoken the name than he heard a sharp intake of breath from Riclos. The priest's eyes widened, and he looked at Kargan, who didn't seem happy with that name. "What? What's wrong?" asked G.

Riclos tapped his bearded chin with his finger, looking at G. "That is one of the four brothers. Tychon is the god of chaos, and this is no small matter. Tychon could have granted him any number of powers. The chaos god also exists in every plane, just as Breamus does, making avoiding his minions difficult." Riclos took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling for a moment as if wishing for some other existence or perhaps divine help he would never receive.

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to rest for a while. There is much to think about when the god of Mischief is involved." Riclos stood up after that and looked at the pile of treasure. He walked over, pulled out a bolt of cloth, and put it on the floor, lying down using it as a pillow with his gloves providing extra padding. G was certain the man was snoring almost instantly.

G looked at Kargan as the hobgoblin gave a noncommittal shrug. They watched the silvery mirror on the wall as the scene played out; the astral ship was pulled down the tunnel at a fair clip, goblins and hobgoblins jogging on both sides. G couldn't see the dark elves who must have been behind the ship, out of view of the mirror. They were making good time down the dark pathways tunnel.

G was feeling pretty good about how everything was going. He was certain it was the ring, and he tried to resist its power, failing yet again. He awoke later as Kargan shook his shoulder, holding his finger to his lips in a sign to be silent, and pointed up at the mirror. G was still in the chair, but his head had been on the table. He had dozed off for an uncertain amount of time. Checking the time on Tocai's quest, it had been five hours, maybe a bit longer.

Riclos was awake, leaning against one of the walls. Kargan tapped G again and pointed at the mirror. The ship had stopped in a vast cavern that seemed to be a crossroads of some sort. They could see the goblins making camp. Many of them sprawled on the ground, sleeping in large groups. In front of the ship, to the side with the ladder leading to the deck from the ground, was a series of tents set up in a semi-circle with the ship at the center. Several hobgoblins stood guard at the tents and near the ship. Most of the tents had the same make and pattern as the dark elf's tent he had seen earlier at the crash site. However, one in the middle was twice as large and had several symbols on the cloth that G couldn't decipher.

"Tocia, do you know what those symbols mean?" G mentally asked his familiar.

"They are not words of a language; they might be house symbols or coats of arms for a commander. You could ask Kargan about them," said Tocai.

G heard muffled voices in the ship but couldn't make out the words. Several people were talking. Kargan again motioned for silence.

He nodded his understanding and continued to watch the mirror, hoping whoever it was didn't find the secret compartment they were hiding in. They sat there for almost thirty minutes as he glanced at the quest timer and back up at the mirror before the sound of several sets of boots could be heard taking the stairs back to the upper deck. Still, they sat there for several more minutes. Riclos finally stood and came over to the table.

He whispered, gesturing at the walls, "We will have to look for a time to leave this place. This is a smuggler's compartment, but a sufficiently talented magic user will be able to find it given enough time. It won't block against a magical scry of the ship if they suspect someone is still in here. That's why I was in that stasis box. It kept me from being found by those artifact hunters following me. They wanted that ring and the robes I took as my part of the treasure we found."

Kargan waved to interrupt him again, gesturing at the mirror and the scene it displayed. There, from the tent, a group of dark pathway elves emerged. Their skin varied from dark purple and deep blue, and each was adorned with intricate symbols scarred into their flesh. Their white and silver hair flowed down behind them, and their features were sharp and angular. Males and females were present, and they all wore dark blue robes with symbols stylized on them that almost matched their scared skin. Their movements were graceful yet menacing, and their purple eyes glinted with a cold, calculating intelligence.

At the back of the group was a tall man. G's heart froze. It was Ryan, but he was almost unrecognizable. The once scrawny, nerdy engineer had transformed into a towering figure, exuding an ominous presence. He now stood taller than those around him, with broad shoulders and a muscular frame that was emphasized by the taut, open red robe he wore. The robe, adorned with intricate occult symbols, seemed to whisper dark secrets as it swayed with his every movement.

His exposed chest bore the evidence of his newfound allegiance. An elaborate, sinister symbol was carved into his flesh, forming a series of glowing scars that pulsed with malevolent energy. The eerie luminescence cast unsettling shadows on his face, which was now partially obscured by a hood that framed his cold, calculating eyes. His once clean-shaven face was now covered in a dark, three-part beard consisting of a mustache, soul patch, and a disconnected goatee that further accentuated the darkness surrounding him.

G hadn't expected this; Ryan was easily a head taller than the hobgoblin guards and dark elves there. The transformation was both shocking and terrifying, making it clear that Ryan had delved deep into the world of occultism and emerged a changed, dangerous man.

G had wanted to find Ryan, but not in the middle of an army, while he had only one mercenary adept and an old man with a wooden foot on G's side.