Of course, the creation and guiding of one Dungeon was not the only scheme put into play by the Carnies. The three were far busier than that, their enemy was after all not a single individual constrained to focusing on one or a handful of priorities at a given time. Similarly, they needed to occupy themselves with a myriad of simple and outlandish schemes to prepare for battling their enemy.
A Clown stepped out in front of a caravan containing magical artifacts and diverted them away from traveling east and rather directing them westward. Puppets leaving notes at the door of the head of the Usurers Guild. Cards containing the knowledge of future troop movements of a rival Count given to the greatest General of Chilvale. And other schemes besides these were enacted in short order all over the lands that the trio could reach.
Did their involvement have limits? Unfortunately, or fortunately, if you saw it that way, the Carnies had limits in the schemes they could enact. Walking the roads of fate and seeing the twists before the others in the story, limited the ability they had to actually interact with the road itself. Touching down on the road had a cost and they had to be careful lest they become characters in the show rather than stage workers.
"It will cost too much, we must look to plying our trades soon or be rendered unable to influence the outcome. I will not see another step if we cannot take the time to do so."
"The Swarm has gone to the sea."
The Tarot Reader opined as she placed down her stall in a nameless village by a mountainside, her presence only heralded by a slight mist cloud floating through town. She sat and flicked her cards without reading them as the Clown replied from where he stood at the edge of a beach. His cloth shoes stood just out of the reach of the tide as his grim face looked out over the lapping waves of the ocean.
"They are entering the Dungeon, the Army is on the move. He is not stopping and the Swarm is expanding. Cards and Puppets are no good at sea, do Clowns fare better beneath the waves?"
"When a King has no throne or no crown then is he a King?"
"You move with metaphors our Seer of Death and Pasts, that is your trade and as such we respect it. But that does not mean your metaphors are good. A Clown is no King and who cares if you lose face, this is about a world!"
"A masquerade without masks has just been a ball of lies, a sword with no edge is just a metal stick, likewise a Clown without his face is just an empty man who laughs."
He turned to look away from the sea and across the stage to where the puppets and their master rose up in challenge. The white face with a red nose did not flicker or change, but displeasure was still conveyed as Life and Death stared at one another. When the Present and the Past were in conflict, then it was up to the Future to Resurrect hope.
"Pst you will never laugh, nor will you smile. There is no hope in what you are. We will lose sight if we do not look at what we must do. The sea is no friend of the circus or the ones who perform in it. It will never be our stage, so we will not look there. We are bound to serve in another role, leave the sea to those who are destined to work there. "
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"The wind is rushing as the scepter of control has been found, the former Adventurer is once again coming to face with the enemy."
The Scarab puppet interrupted the Tarot Reader as she tried to lift the spirits of her comrades and the Reader sighed audibly and beckoned to behind the curtains.
"Our time will now be up, we must begin to ply our trades to ready ourselves for the next act in the play."
It only took moments for the trio to reunite in the village that the Tarot Reader had chosen. One seer stepped into the shadows and flickered around the stage until he could step behind the curtains again. The other didn't as much move as let his puppets move her across the world while sitting behind their booth. When they arrived the three did not stay together long, in essence, they always were together and apart. But over the next few days, villagers would be entertained during the day, be warned of dangers at night as their past was unearthed by a stoic face, have their present revealed while observing a cadre of puppets, and have their futures read by a woman who could not read her own cards.
There was power in doing such things, and gods knew that the Carnies needed power for the future no matter what transpired in the present.
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Gods were gathering, the Chilvalean deities had noticed a great threat rising within their territory and it was time to properly address it. As such the Widest Plain, the most sacred realm of the Chilvaleans was host to a mighty force as divine beings, sacred ancestors, cultural heroes, and even a few spirit kings gathered to discuss the interloper that had appeared in their midst.
A large marble palace had been constructed "overnight" to accommodate the gathering of the gods and their guests. Ramles the Judge was the one presiding over the gathering. He saw all and directed the cadre of servants needed to escort and manage those who came. Ancient rivals had to be kept away from one another, unfaithful spouses had to be discretely warned to not engage with their lovers, and guests had to be appeased as they entered the Divine Realm.
For most, this would be an intense exercise in tedium, but Ramles was content. Really, he was content to manage the minutiae of the Pantheon and this gathering specifically. He would watch and judge was his nature, but only he was capable of handling these matters.
It didn't take much time to corral everyone within the marble palace, but consequently, it required enormous effort on behalf of the staff as they slaved to ensure that everyone was moved into the gathering chamber at the center of the palace. He saw Molark the Sorcerer Queen, Wilterz the Horse Lord, and other important personages in the Pantheon gathering together. The time had come, time to discuss the nature of this new god. The Thrall-King of Hor.