On one side of the desk sits the mayor of Woodsville, the logging town which is where the other gentleman first appeared after receiving permission to free himself from his divine home, along with his secretary. The figure on the other side is the servant of the newly mantled Devil. At the moment the powerful pit fiend is disguised as an elderly human merchant.
The mayor smiles at the figure and gestures widely. He doesn’t speak but there is a clever twinkle in his eyes. His secretary, a smart-looking woman with blonde hair in a long ponytail rolls her eyes at her boss.
“Good afternoon Mr. Silver. I am Lainey Pendergrass and this, elegant figure, is Mayor Stonewall.” The woman explains. “Mr. Silver” extends a hand to the woman and she takes it respectfully.
“It is nice to meet you, Lainey. I assume that Jacob told the two of you who I am and what I do?” The well-dressed merchant asks. The secretary smiles at him and nods and his eyes fill with warmth and joy, as the devil is an excellent actor and more than capable of deceiving two country folk.
The pit fiend quietly and mentally prays to his master. His words are blunt but respectful, and he asks the strange god for permission to take advantage of some of the domains the god rules over. This strange process is part of what it takes for a cleric or divine being to beseech a god and to gain the ability to do the mighty thing that clerics and divine host creatures are known for.
The distant deity, who is even now busily adjusting to his new life as a god, silently gives the devil permission. This causes the pit fiend’s magicked eyes to gleam and twinkle for a split second, something which occurs at a speed that the humans speaking to the devil cannot perceive.
“Jacob is a chatter mouth. I love the man like a son, but he is the town gossip. Which in some ways makes you rather lucky. It saved you time if nothing else.” The mayor, Stanley Silverwall, says with a grin. The merchant smiles at the man and politely chuckles. The mayor’s eyes then flicker and narrow to thin slits, but only for the briefest of instants. Nevertheless, the devil senses the color of greed which taints the mayor’s soul.
“That said, I can’t believe it took someone from Juttun so long to want to establish a supply route through our little hamlet.” The mayor says, his voice sickly sweet. Ragnos chuckles as the mayor says this, mentally noting how strong the man’s desire for commerce is and that he’s ready, eager even, to do business with anyone he can legally make money off of.
“The consortium of men and women I represent fear the money that has been lost in the time since Juttun severed its relationship with Belens. We desire to feel our pockets fatten with currency from both Juttun and Belens. And we’ve heard that we may not be alone.” The disguised devil cleverly explains. Both the mayor and his secretary lean forward as if they are learning of new conspiracies and are eager to allow the devil to speak without anyone overhearing him.
“It seems that the new emperor of Juttun is quietly making overtures to well-known, ambitious merchants about the possibility of reestablishing trade with Belens. One such individual is a member of the consortium of people I’m here representing. I’ve no doubt other exploratory merchants and organizations representing such brave individuals are doing the same thing as we speak.” The fiend in disguise explains, causing his newfound co-conspirators to gasp in a mixture of shock and delight.
“That is incredible news! But is it reliable?” The sharp-witted secretary asks, causing the devil to smile softly as he wordlessly fabricates a false document in the form of a letter supposedly written by the head of a regional merchant’s guild.
The letter manifests in his pocket and he deftly retrieves the thing. He places it on the elegantly crafted desk and slides it forward towards the town’s head and his secretary. The woman grabs it with a gloved hand and begins to read it.
“Hmm… I see. How exciting!” She mutters, before giving it to the mayor who smiles as his aide reacts to the falsified document. The mayor’s eyes widen in delight and greedy joy as he begins to envision the rewards the opportunity this constitutes could bring him.
“Well, my friend, what do you need from us? We’d be happy to help however we can.” The mayor asks, causing the devil to smile gratefully at the man. The thoughtful creature considers the question for a few moments, silently, before he gives his answer.
“I need to see maps of Belens. Ones that denote topographical features would be preferred, but any map that gives me a more or less accurate understanding of the country’s layout is fine.” The man replies, causing the secretary to nod at him. She immediately walks over to a small bookshelf on one of the walls of the room and begins to scan the items the thing stores.
“If possible I’d also love to examine roads leading in and out of town. I’d normally ask if any such roads exist, but I happen to know that they exist. I’m not here randomly.” The “merchant” confesses, causing the mayor to look at him curiously and wait for the man to elaborate. The devil eventually chuckles and indeed adds context to his cryptic remark.
“I have friends who hail from Kelri. One of them was born in Jorgensberg.” The devil reveals, causing the mayor to sigh in sadness.
“Jorgensburg huh? Then I suppose it makes sense you’d choose this town… You know, my first wife was from Jorgensburg.” The man says, sadness steeping into his voice. The sadness in the man’s voice is surprisingly sincere.
“I don’t know what your views are on the government of Belens, but among the people, there are plenty of us who were saddened when Kelri fell. The people of Jorgensburg were kind to the people of Woodsville. Jorgensburg is a ghost town now.” The mayor remarks, bleakly. Ragnos wasn’t expecting the man to have such a sincere admiration for the border town that this community once traded with.
“Perhaps someday Stanley will be able to smile when all of this is part of Juttun…” The devil thinks, in the safety of his infernal and impenetrable mind. The devil cares not for Stanley’s sensitivities, but it is interesting to see that Stanley has more depth to his heart than just yearning for wealth and success.
The devil spends the next few minutes conversing with the pair before he eventually excuses himself. When he is free from the difficulties that come with playing nice and being social he stalks off into the woods that surround the town.
A few minutes after the devil leaves the village he finds himself standing in the middle of the woods. All around him he can hear the soft sounds of small animals, and the rustling of distant leaves. A faint breeze blows through the forest around him, and the figure studies his surroundings.
Trees dot his surroundings and gorgeous green grass grows underfoot. The figure approaches one of the trees and places a single hand on the thing.
“This’ll do quite nicely…” He utters, quietly, as the tree warms up. His arcane energy surges into it. The tree glows and a sickly red aura begins to slowly seep out of it as it is morphed and molded into something different, something new; a powerful portal to the divine realm of the Devil himself.
A smattering of peals of laughter begins to emanate out of the tree-turned-portal. The base of the tree cracks and splinters, and in the crack sets of eyes begin to peer out, staring, fiendishly, at the world of mortals. No one manages to step through the thing right away, but the fact that the portal exists at all is something of an unholy miracle in and of itself.
“Excellent… I have long missed the sight of devilish soldiers walking the world of mortals.” Ragnos mutters, his eyes filling with excitement as he envisions a hellish horde stepping out of the tree, at first one at time and then in greater numbers as hellish energy infuses the forest.
“What a wonderful lord I have been given the chance to serve…” The creature says, reverentially, as he silently visualizes a world where demons, devils, and other fiends are free to run rampant and wreak havoc. The creature seems almost giddy as he thinks about this.
“Hello Hierach Gregory. We have much to discuss” Says the elegantly dressed avatar of the newly ascended Living God, as the eyes of the short, high-ranking religious official finally see the figure in the shadows of the room’s distant corner.
The man squeaks in a rather unmanly way and bows to the figure he recognizes as the descendant of his god; Perandor, the deity who long ago founded the empire of Juttun. The avatar smiles and asks the religious official to stand up.
“While I am delighted to see your obedience to your emperor, I am in need of your aid and your wisdom. Today is going to be a very exciting day, my friend.” The emperor’s avatar says, gently. There is a bright smile on his face as he steps out of the shadows and into the dim light of the candle. The avatar gestures to the lit candle and the flickering fire begins to glow much brighter.
“Lord Emperor, I didn’t know you could do that…” The hierarch exclaims, his eyes softening as he gazes at the emperor. The two men quietly size each other up, with the hierarch attempting to see what changes have occurred to the emperor that has gifted him the power to manipulate nature and the emperor silently activating “Worldmind’s” psychometric aspects to learn everything he can about the religious leader.
“Gregory, my abilities have recently… grown, in rather spectacular new ways.” The emperor confesses, a whimsical smile lighting up his face as he speaks. His smile is bright and contagious and the hierarch struggles to not to smile back in exactly the same way.
“As much as my abilities have grown, so has my earnest desire to strengthen Juttun. And to do that I need the aid and counsel of wise men like yourself.” The emperor states, causing the hierarch's eyes to widen as he hears what he perceives as humility from the emperor. His eyes fill with impressed tears and he immediately replies to his emperor.
“Why, Lord Emperor, I’d be honored and delighted to stand by you and be part of your council. Perandor be praised, it is precisely for things like this that my position as the high archivist remains so important, even with the advent of governmental positions like that of the Priestess of Perandor.” The man exclaims, delightedly. And with that, a conversation between two fairly respectable intellectuals begins in earnest.
