Mateus looked over at Tilly bemused, as the Librarian led the Commerce Guild representative away while gesticulating wildly. The Elephantine representative simply followed, looking slightly lost.

“Is he always like this?”

Tilly snorted at the question, “Yep, the coolest Librarian I have ever met. It no longer surprises me when I see him, elbows deep in something way outside his wheelhouse.”

Mateus considered his answer thoughtfully, before replying with a nod. “ When he was put forward to meet with my contact, I was worried your Alliance was not taking this seriously… Without Standard currency, plane-wide trade can be very difficult. But your man there is as wily a negotiator as I have ever seen.”

“Ha! Wily is exactly how I would describe Shuji.” Tilly snorted, taking a last look at the Point Exchange counter before turning toward Mateus. Now that he knew they didn’t have the two things he currently wanted, he would just bank his money until a real need came up. He seemed to have built up an embarrassing amount of Contribution Points, but without a solid idea of how to spend it, he was very uncomfortable just picking up stuff he didn’t need.

“So what's next for you guys.” Tilly followed up with the Steward absently, already thinking about heading back to the Masamoto manor. He was pretty sure he would need approval to run this first test and borrow some people, plus he wanted to check in since he had literally just slept almost an entire day.

He needed to test out his new capabilities before Brokenridge reemerged. But he could only activate one combination per day, and he wanted to make sure he was fully set up to test each one. He doubted he would have another chance, the way things were going.

Those thoughts and more were running through his head and he was almost surprised when Mateus answered.

“About that… Do you mind if I accompany you to your next location? I feel it might benefit both of us to exchange a little more information.” Mateus asked hesitantly, taking a few steps in Tilly’s direction. Tilly looked over at the older satyr, suddenly wary of some sort of information play. Hiro had asked Tilly to keep the dragon thing as under wraps as possible, and this was the guy who had showed up with the church's head of intelligence…

Seeing his reaction, Mateus quickly explained, “No, no! Not like that. The church is happy with the arrangement we have reached with your leadership! Perhaps I can even save you time and explain a few details, but no… My question is more personal in nature. I wish to gain a greater understanding of your beliefs, especially in light of…” Mateus gestured vaguely, “all that has happened.” he finished, obviously uncomfortable.

If Tilly was nervous before, the Temple Steward’s clarification instantly ratcheted up his stress to a new level, causing beads of cold sweat to form on his back, but he swallowed and attempted to play it cool.

“Sure, I have a few things I need to do today, but I wanted to check with leadership first. I guess it would be fine for you to come along and tell me as much as you want…” Tilly said, looking around at the crowded street, and hesitating as he tried to find a way to tactfully hint that some things would have to wait.

Mateus nodded immediately, not needing to hear Tilly’s words to understand his thoughts, “This is not my first foray into these waters Mr. Tillman. Nor, hopefully, will it be the last. There is plenty I can share that will be clear as crystal for the whole of your Faction in the coming days. And in regards to my own question, I am more than happy to respect any boundaries of secrecy put on you by your Patron.”

“No, it's not that, I don’t have any of those… it’s just that I don't feel very qualified to speak on something that I barely understand myself. People keep assuming I know more than I do, but sometimes it feels like most of this stuff is happening over my head.”

“Ah, yes. I think I might sympathize with your position more than you know. Consider this a friendly discourse, nothing more, and I promise I won’t keep you longer than the walk. There is much to do for both of us in the coming weeks if I’m not mistaken.” He answered with an easy smile that Tilly had not seen on the Steward at all during the fall of the empire. It's not that they were not facing long odds. The odds might be worse than ever if Tilly was being honest with himself, but he couldn’t help but notice the slight glimmer of hope in the old Steward’s eye.

With a gesture down the road toward the manor, Tilly invited the satyr to walk, and the elderly Steward nodded gratefully before stepping up beside him.

“Firstly, I am not sure what you know about the finalization of our negotiations, but yesterday the Church of Light purchased a plot of land here in the city as the site of our future temple. We paid a generous sum in Standard coin. Along with that contract came permission to bring in our own building team and staff to run the temple. Work will begin today once they all arrive and the materials have all been gathered. This is something we aim to do in every Faction we believe has the potential to oppose darkness, and while there are a few… more private… provisions in our agreement, that is the important and public-facing agreement your Alliance has announced.

“With it in place, I was able to set up a meeting with a Commerce Guild representative on short notice, and our infusion of Standard currency into your economy bolstered the worth of your Contribution Points significantly in the eyes of Plane-wide economics. When we factor in the value of your newest resource, I would not be surprised to see you doing business with the Guild in a few days. Their building team is even faster than ours.”

Tilly took all of that in, processing the reality that he was no longer a part of some rebel band of refugees or a fledgling nation struggling to survive. They had been tested and nearly destroyed several times, but the Three-Fold Alliance had emerged stronger than ever.

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“Thanks, Mateus, that was all new to me. It really feels like we are entering the big leagues. I can’t even begin to imagine what is waiting for us out there, and I really appreciate how much you guys are doing to make this move as fast as possible… I can’t shake the feeling that even with how quickly we are moving, we are still barely keeping up.”

The professional demeanor that Mateus had adopted as he gave his report of their current agreement fell into something a little grimmer, “Yes, well, that feeling is shared by many in our organization. The Church has been on the back foot for months now...” he looked around and leaned forward, muttering under his breath in Tilly’s direction, “Last week, we lost two Faction outposts without warning. This should not have been possible with the protections we have in place… And many more are under pressure or even threat, even within some of our staunchest allies.” He finished in a whisper before coughing loudly and leaning back, continuing the walk as if nothing special had been said.

“You may feel that we are being altruistic in our maneuvers here, but that is far from the truth. In reality, your Faction represents our only play for meaningfully taking steps to check and even push back the enemy’s advances. We need people with the powers your Patron provides in locations all over the Plane. This is not even speaking of the coming clash in the Contested Lands. We are still collecting intel on this, but it looks like no Powers have teleport access, and the System itself had buffered the area with great swaths of recently destroyed land. Any claim staked to that place will have to arrive physically, and any base of operations in the area before we set up a connection with our Teleport platforms, will be a logistical nightmare.”

Tilly appreciated how Mateus was breaking down his points in such a concise manner, and for the first time, it felt like they were both speaking the same language. As he took in the shape of the coming conflict, pieces of information began to line up and Tilly started to draw conclusions that might be unique to their faction because of the insane ‘coincidence’ of a dragon awakening under their temple mount yesterday.

“Quick question Mateus. Am I right in my understanding that the Contested Lands are currently ruled by the ‘Apex Predators of the first Epoch’ that the world announcement spoke of? And that their seat of power is someplace called the Council Peaks?”

Mateus almost missed a step, shuffling his hoof quickly to regain his balance, before looking over at Tilly with a pensive expression. Consideration slowing his response as he got his thoughts in order, “... I can only assume this has something to do with your new resource and whatever encounter you all had to rush off to yesterday.” He muttered, keeping his thoughts in statement form to save Tilly from the pressure of having to navigate withholding sensitive information.

“My superior also seemed to leave yesterday with a lot more information than he was ready to share after hearing that voice… Well, I promised you a simple conversation, so let's leave that point for now and get to the meat of my inquiry.” He concluded, moving on from the subject without a whiff of hesitation. They turned the corner to a less crowded road and Mateus’ steps slowed as they approached the guarded manor.

“... Mr. Tillman, I have served our Lady for just under a century. In that time, I have never questioned my role as a supporter of the premier force for good on the plane. We exist to counterbalance evil, pushing back the darkness in the hope that all creatures may be free to choose their path. However, it seems our enemy has changed, and we are falling behind. Millennia of balance has been disturbed and I am afraid if the Light remains as it always has, we will lose everything. Change is coming and I must know the truth.” With those heavy words the Steward’s steps slowed to a stop, and he looked up at the human inquiringly.

Tilly belatedly stopped a few steps later, turning to find Mateus waiting for something.

“What are you asking? I think we have already given you guys a commitment-” he trailed off as the expression on Mateus’ face fell.

“Human, I am old. I do not have time to waste. I must know, is your Patron who you all claim him to be?” He implored, something wild showing in his eyes for the first time.

“Look, Mateus, I am still super new to this, and I’m not sure what you are asking. What are people saying?”

At that, the Satyr grimaced and stepped right up to Tilly’s face, “Surely you must know what I am saying?” then he leaned forward even closer, lowering his voice into a harsh whisper, “I ask again. Who is this Origin? Is it true he came before the Gods? And if so what are his intentions with us? Doest he lay claim to Nephesh, or are we too far beneath His notice?” he asked, urgency coloring his tone to a greater extent than Tilly had ever seen on the old Satyr.

For some reason, Tilly still wanted to plead ignorance. He was tired of being expected to know things, and it felt safer to just send the man on his way and go about his business without getting caught up in a religious debate. With an army of obvious monsters trying to take over the world, who cared about the nuance?

But something in the steward’s eyes quieted the shallow avoidance Tilly was about to voice. This was not the expression of someone looking for a debate. He looked… desperate.

“Ugh, look, I really don't know much. I can barely understand all this religious crap myself. But I think I met Him, and honestly… He was… Good. It was as if I didn’t know the meaning of the word until that moment. I don’t understand why He has played things so close to the chest for so long. But I do know Corruption is more than some cosmic bad guy showing up to oppose Good at the eleventh hour…” Tilly snorted as he heard the comic book-esq explanation stumbling out of his mouth.

Deciding to switch tack, he tried, “Look, I had that shit inside of me, messing with my head for weeks, but do you want to know what the worst part was? It wasn’t the tentacles in my body, or the twisted thoughts worming through my mind. It was that the whole thing felt familiar! Like a nightmare that you never remember until it snares your consciousness all over again. Corruption is, for sure, Evil. But it is not new… I think Origin set this all in motion,” Tilly continued, sweeping his hands through the air to encompass their surroundings,

“And it isn’t pointless... When I met Him, He showed me something, something I can barely remember. But whatever I saw was enough to make all the pain, all the struggle, worth it. If I believe in something now, it's that. The end I saw with Him.

“Corruption isn’t here as His opposition… it’s here to oppose us. To keep us from… that. God… I’m not making any sense, am I? This is so far above my pay grade it is not even funny. Honestly, the only way I can sleep is if I keep my mind on doing my best for the people around me. Anything more and I begin crawling up the walls.” He finished quietly, with a small self-deprecating smile tugging at the corner of his lips. This was the first time he had really tried to put any of the tenuous peace he had found into words, and the whole attempt felt… gangly.

His smile turned apologetic as he turned back to face the Steward, who, to his shock, was openly crying. A look of profound relief glowed through the silent tears and he took in Tilly’s words with his eyes closed. After a moment he breathed the words,

“So there is an end… Tell me, is it beautiful?”