To help out his sister, Armin had taken up the role of being the moderator of court discussion. Which meant he was in charge of dictating the rules of the discussion. As might be expected there were some disagreements on his nomination, but so far he had been adept enough to weather most of the heavy criticisms. This meeting would be a discussion on the recent events on the world and an unofficial introduction to the court. 

Twenty of the major shaking gods had been invited to the meeting tonight, and unfortunately nearly half of them despised his sister in some way or form. According to the rumors they will likely push to remove Eramis from her position in the next major meeting of the court. This meeting today would be a convenient way to see where his sister stood. Most of the lower gods would follow the majority of the major gods. Thus, if Eramis was to retain control of the court, they must maintain control of the major gods.

As this meeting was meant to discuss the events, Aramin simply made long row tables in a v formation that would face the podium he would make for Jack. In the middle of the tables, he started to make the extravagant chair that his sister would be sitting at. 

While Aramin was finishing up the chair, he noticed Cagey come in wearing an elegant green dress that possessed a slit up one leg for the meeting. Her hair was braided behind her, and she smiled when she saw him. He grinned back and said "You are looking great Cagey. You are a bit early Cagey, the meeting is in a while."

"Thank you." Cagey said, and walked up, "I came by to see how you are doing." She ran her hands through his hair ruffling it. "You changed robes."

"Yeah, Eramis said I needed to change my robes for this meeting. She said I had to wear this specific robe. Thanks for coming by to see me, it's been a while since I last saw you."

Cagey ran her hands along his robe and said "Looks like she increased its durability for your protection. It looks good on you. Speaking of your sister, how is Eramis doing? I know she has been busy these past few days. I haven't had a chance to speak with her at all."

"Eramis is actually doing quite well, at least in regards to mood. She is a lot happier lately, despite the problems at work and the troubles with the court." Aramin said looking up at Cagey who nodded.

"I think that's because of your new friend."

"You mean Jack?" 

"Yep, I think they might have something going on between them." Cagey went over and sat down on a table and watched Aramin as he began to make the chairs for the gods to sit down at the table.

"Why would you think that? Last time I saw them together, Eramis was threatening Jack." Aramin said while starting to put down the meeting notes at each chair.

"I saw the sparks between them. Not to mention I took a peek at his Avatar, he is quite the specimen." Cagey said, waving her hand in front of her face.

Aramin frowned and said "Oh is that so?"

Cagey smiled and stood and walked up to Aramin and grasped him into a hug and said "Feeling Jealous?" She leaned down and kissed the top of his head.

He looked up and kissed her and said "I'm glad if Eramis is considering getting out there and seeing new people. She's been way too obsessed with the court and me. Plus it would mean we have more time to ourselves." Aramin broke free from her grasp and said "But now is not the time for that."

"You don't come by my place anymore. The only time I get to see you is when I come by to see your sister and then we have to sneak off to the bath." Cagey made a playful pouty face and Aramin laughed.

"Cagey, I promise to come by after the meeting. I have to get this done. Eramis is trusting me to this. I want to prove that I am capable despite my appearance." 

"You know if it really bothers you, you could make yourself grow like you do in the bedroom." Cagey said.

Aramin sighed and said "When Eramis no longer needs me to act like a younger brother then I will do so. Until then we have to play it safe. You know my sister's temper. I don't want her to start fighting you just because we are seeing each other."

"Then maybe I should speak with the goddess of love and see if we can't set up something up between the two of them. Once she is seeing someone, I don't think she will mind as much if we openly start dating." Cagey said and leaned down and kissed him.

"I will speak with Jack later to see how he feels about my sister. But for right now I can't let my sister be distracted, especially when Alacanar is pushing for a no confidence vote in Eramis. Once this whole series of events gets settled, Cagey I will tell my sister the truth."

"You better, Eramis is my best friend, I hate having to hide this behind her back." She stepped back as another god came into the meeting space followed by a thick trail of smoke coming from his pipe.

"Naphat," Aramin called "This is a no smoking space. Put out your pipe please."

Naphat looked around confused for a second and said "Oh sorry dude. Just a second." He put out his pipe and put it into his robes. 

Cagey went up to Naphat and said "I'm surprised to see you at the meeting so early Naphat. You usually don't show up until it's already started."

"Yeah man, I've been working pretty hard lately with the issues regarding the Glowing Mountain Incident. Natures out of whack in the region. Nothing will grow in that area for decades to come. I managed to stop the surrounding regions from becoming deserts due to the increased fire elements in the area."

"So it's still on fire?"

"Yeah, we managed to contain the worst of it, but winters will be significantly weaker. I saw a fire elemental nearly four hundred feet tall in the area." Naphat shuddered then walked to his seat.

As Naphat sat down, his two siblings came into the space. Nominos and Nephala greeted Aramin and went to sit next to their brother. The other gods began to trickle into the space as well. When Alacanar came in, he was surrounded by three of his henchmen and his lover Melinoe.

A thread of annoyance passed through Aramin as he saw Melinoe. Ever since she had appeared one day, he had always been on the bad side of this goddess. She was the goddess of dark magic, more of a ritualistic nature than the magic of Nominos. Melinoe also represented the dark side of the moon, which meant he had to contend with her for followers of the moon.

When she saw him, she gave a wide toothy grin at him that made him feel like he was being stared at by a predator. She took a seat next to Alacanar and murmured something to him. At that time she called out "Aramin, come here I have a question."

Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Aramin walked up to the table and said "What is it Melinoe?"

"I looked around and didn't find the meeting notes. Could I get another copy?"

Confused Aramin thought back and was sure he had placed a set on each chair. "Did you check your chair?"

"Yes, Alacanar got his, but I'm missing mine. Did you forget mine or are you still sore about what happened last time?" 

"No, it's just a mistake. Here is another set of the notes." Aramin said, pulling out a copy of the notes and handing them to her.

He was startled as she was reaching for the notes, she suddenly snatched his hand and licked it with a gross long tongue. He ripped his hand from her grasp disgusted and she said "You seem different. I can taste something new coming off of you." She looked him over.

Tossing the notes in front of her he said "Is that all you needed?"

"I got everything I need. What about you? Do you have everything you need? How is your sister doing? Still struggling being the Supreme goddess?"

"My sister struggles with nothing. She has the competency that some others lack. She is the Supreme Goddess" Aramin said pointedly.

Melinoe grinned and said "For now."

As the gods began to settle down into their chairs, he got word from Jack they were on the way. Aramin took his position next to Eramis's chair and said in his official voice "Now presenting Eramis of the Sun, The Supreme goddess of the court. Please stand in respect."

With that Eramis popped into the space with Jack in his orb form following behind her. She was wearing a golden headband and a set of robes that sent waves of power coming off her. As she walked by the tables, Aramin noticed that several gods had not stood. 

Alacanar and his allies had always refused to stand, but Aramin was alarmed that Adranus the god of Fire did not stand for Eramis. This was an unexpected blow to Eramis' power. He would have to find out why Adranus had decided to switch sides.

Eramis sat down and said "You may sit. Aramin is the appointed moderator of this meeting. You may proceed when ready Aramin."

As everyone that had stood, and Jack was behind the podium, Aramin stated "We have come here today to discuss two critical issues that face the world. The first issue is the attempted summoning of a corrupted goddess that took place underneath the city of Naraak. The second will be the Glowing Mountain Incident that took place a few days ago. To provide more context and answer questions is the Entity known as Jack. Before the Meeting continues, I will lay down the rules of the meeting."

Alacanar called out "I object to Aramin as the moderator of this meeting. As the representative god of the kingdom that these incidents took place in, I move that we dismiss Aramin from his role. I call that we replace him with an independent voice due to my concerns about his impartiality in regards to this role. I invoke my right as stated in paragraph five of section forty three of the code of the gods."

Seeing his sister's eyes twitch in frustration she said "I recognize your right to lay down your reasons as to why Aramin is not suitable for the role of moderator for this meeting."

With a grin Alacanar said "I have reason to believe that Aramin has a contract with Jack, thus I doubt his impartiality in regards to Jack. It must be noted that Jack has his hands in both incidents, thus raising my suspicions about him. How can we trust a Moderator that has made a deal with an entity that may be behind these catastrophic incidents."

Eramis looked at Aramin and said "Aramin you have the floor to respond to his allegations."

"While it is true that I have signed a contract with Jack, it does not restrict me. It is also true that we are not here to investigate Jack. I am also not questioning Jack and have implemented minimal rules in the moderation of today's meeting. I assure everyone here that my judgement remains impartial under these circumstances."

Seeing that he was done, Eramis said "We will now conduct a vote, for the removal of Aramin, say Aye, to keep Aramin as a moderator, say Nay."

Going around each of the twenty gods present each voted, and to Aramins concern there were nine Ayes to unseat him. It was not enough to remove him, but it showed that Eramis' support among the gods was definitely decreasing. Eramis said "The motion to dismiss has failed. Aramin remains the moderator. Continue on with the meeting Aramin."

"The Rules for this meeting are as follows, I will provide a very brief description of the incident in question. More details are in the notes that I provided. Each god or goddess will be allowed three questions per incident to Jack or other relevant party. Once we finish going over the incidents Eramis will discuss ways to prevent each incident from occurring again. Does anyone have any questions regarding the rules I have set forth?"

Libres raised his hand and asked "Are our questions regulated in any way?"

"No, you may ask anything you desire. The only regulation is that you are limited to three questions. Multipart questions are under that restriction as well."

Seeing that no one else had questions, Aramin said "Let's begin with the incident that occurred underneath Naraak. A group of vampires and undead attempted to unseal a corrupted goddess. Jack had his followers act in an effort to stop the event from occurring. The Supreme Goddess has the floor for the first questions.

"How did you become aware of the ritual that was taking place underneath the city of Naraak." 

Jack floated up to the podium and said "I first became aware of the ritual taking place when an associate of one of my Users informed her of the kidnapping of Oliver, an angel. They were planning to use Oliver as a means of breaking the seal that held the corrupted goddess. I then sent my Users down to stop the ritual that was taking place."

"How were your followers able to stop the ritual?"

"My Users were able to kill most of the vampires and undead that were attempting to unseal the corrupted goddess. When they reached the main leader of the cult that was attempting this, my users were aided by another vampire in killing this vampire."

"I have no more questions. This table may begin with their questions."

After Eramis finished, most of the questions were pretty minor questions. Then it got to Libres turn and he looked at Jack and said "Let's begin by addressing the elephant in the room. What exactly are you Jack?"

"I am what is known as a System. I grant various powers and abilities to those who sign contracts with me."

"So not exactly a god." Then Libres face turned serious and he said "I recently lost contact with Princess Falean, one of my most important followers. To my complete shock, when I managed to find her again, she was your Users, and worse she was no longer my follower. Can you tell me what happened to her?"

Aramin frowned when he heard the question and saw several gods and goddesses looking concerned. Jack said "Falean contracted a soul parasite, and we visited a soulamancer. With her help we managed to reforge Falean's soul, unfortunately in the process his connection to you was destroyed. If she wishes to renew her following of you, I will not prevent it."

Libres nodded and then he said "How many gods have you signed a contract with?"

"Six." Jack said.

After Libres, most of the gods' questions were minor, until it got to Alacanar's turn. When that happened, Alacanar said "My first question is for Aramin. Before the party did you meet up with Jack?"

Not seeing where he was going with this, Aramin said "That is correct, I had gotten lost and encountered Jack who aided me get to the party."

"That is troubling, as you were the only one late to the party." Alacanar tsked and said "My next question is for the Supreme Goddess, You were the one who choose the location and date of the party correct?"

Eramis said "That is accurate."

"So the date where it would be the most convenient to break the seal was the date you choose? Very troubling. My final question is for Jack. When you visited the temple district in Taras, you went to the grand temple. In there you met with Eramis avatar in one of the secret rooms. When you met with her, she was going over what had happened in Naraak, is that correct."

Jack said "That is correct."

Alacanar nodded and then pulled out some napkins that looked discoloured. "But that is not all that occurred in the room. After they had left, I investigated and found evidence of the Supreme Goddess bodily fluids. They are having a very intimate relationship."

Aramin interrupted and said "That has no relation to the case at hand. You are out of questions. It is the next gods turn."

The god grinned and sat back down. The rest of the gods had only minor questions and then it was the next part of the meeting. Aramin said "A few days ago the Glowing Mountain incident occurred. Lord Attomas of the Hawke family attempted to unleash a great deal of magic and infuse it into himself. Jack took actions to stop him, but Lord Attomas broke the seals and unleashed the power causing the emergence of the massive fire energy. Supreme Goddess Eramis you may begin questions."

"Jack, What were you doing at that location?"

"I had signed a contract with Lady Niadas to go with them and provide support."

Eramis looked at Decalad the God of Contracts and said "Is that true?"

Decalad nodded and said "I do have a record of him signing a contract with Lady Niadas."

"No further questions."

Adranus was next, and he looked at Eramis and said "I'm the god of fire, yet you refuse to let me look over this glowing mountain region. Why is that?"

"As it deals with the Kingdom of Sevaris, there are concerns of lingering corruption. Until it has been sorted out, I must refuse your request."

Adranus frowned and sat back down. Surprisingly Alacanar did not say anything, but Melinoe did have a few questions. "Jack, is it true that you lost a follower?"

"That is correct. She bravely sacrificed her life to save us."

"Lord Attomas came to my temple a while ago. He wanted insight into a ritual he had found. I was quite horrified by the ritual. Had I known what he planned for it, why I would never have helped him out." Melinoe said. Then she continued "It's very tragic that your user gave her life, why I'm sure you must be very sad." A hint of malice began to creep into her voice.

Interrupting her Aramin said "Do you have any more questions Melinoe?"

Melinoe grinned at Aramin and said "I only have one more question. At the same time the glowing mountain incident occurred, I found out that you were sleeping. How does it feel that your user died because you fell asleep?"

Jack's orb stilled and the court went quiet and then Jack said "Not good."

She sat down with a grin of pure evil and the rest of the questions were pretty minor questions. Soon it was Eramis turn to speak, and she said "I'm conducting more investigations into the summoning incident at Naraak. I will be presenting my findings at the next monthly meeting. To prevent this thing from happening again, I will be designating several gods to remain on watch when we are gathering."

"As for the Glowing Mountain Incident, I will be working on finding the remains of more of the Kingdom of Sevaris ruins. Once I do so, I will make sure that no more magical power is being stored. If it is the case, I will be working with Nominos to safely remove the magical power."

"At the upcoming main meeting of the court we will also be formally introducing Jack and two goddesses. I've also received word that a few lost gods will be looking to join the court. That is it for this meeting. Aramin put the meeting notes in the records." Eramis stood and the other gods stood and they began to leave. 

Eramis walked over to Aramin and said "You did a good job. I will speak with you later for right now, I got to talk to Jack."

Aramin nodded and caught Cagey's eye and nodded signalling her that he would meet her later. With that he left the meeting room to the court records to put away the notes.