The meeting on the nature walkway wrapped up after a brief discussion of logistics between their organizations. Sammy said her goodbyes with a hug and a kiss on either cheek before departing back to her realm. With it being deep in the nighttime, it was a bit difficult to exactly ‘rouse the engine of progress’ toward the purposes of the coming search and so on, so she made plans more with her Servitors.

She intended to entirely dispense with mortals for the troll hunt, and have the majority of her Followers get together in teams orchestrated with Red’s people. The primary template for a team was to pair up at least two very capable members, some semblance of a tank and an off-tank, two or three capable supports, and a bunch of generic fighters and rogues to fill out teams of twelve.

Twelve members were pretty much what Red said was the happy medium between too few and too many down in the sort of caverns the mountains had. Red also pointed out that if they bumped into something really scary, there were numerous summoning options… her top Servitors were of course stupidly powerful, however that most of them weren’t readily available under most circumstances.

Considering there would be a huge exodus north, Sammy was inclined for more Angel Servitors to assist with travel there and as replacements locally, so she dropped some more of that sweet, sweet expendable Faith Energy into Servitor creation! Seven Angels and Three Resemblants to help with logistics. 440 FE.

Her total number of Servitors ended up in the 40’s, so wasn’t even close to her maximum — she had plenty of open slots in the future. There was whatever she’d make as a new Line for Pneuma, and perhaps she’d finally figure out something for a generalist, but she wasn’t in the greatest hurry.

For the names… she was running somewhat drier on angel names, but the whole ‘seven entities’ thing recalled to her a tarot deck focused around Zoroastrianism… and there were seven divine beings like helpers or angels or lesser deities that emanated from Ahura Mazda, the creator. She knew those cards quite well, wearing them into faded and bent use in childhood. She remembered liking them because of the mix of male and female balance…

While she didn’t know much about them, she could honor them with the proliferation of the names, each of which were positive concepts… and so Vohu Manah, Vahishta, Kshathra, Armaiti, Haurvatat, Ameretat, and Spenta Mainyu were born. Whether it was accurate, she also knew their associated colors in the tarot (orange, red, gold, indigo, light blue, green, purple, respectively), so each represented that in their design as well.

For her Resemblants… she decided to break from the butler shtick a bit more as she rounded out her skill potential. Jeeves had asked for someone with [Communications] that could begin handling messaging exclusively, so she went with… a muscular guy named Tank who answered with ‘Operator.’

For [Criminology] she (somewhat ironically) went with a rather tough-looking Italian named Capone, and she decided to give her Faerie Dragons and other spies some suave support and [Persuasion] with Templeton… who also answered to Faceman.

Crow woke up in the night, heard about the mission, and soon thereafter contacted his goddess. Sammy decided to have him communicate through a mirror so she could see him.

He was looking up from writing at a desk in what appeared to be a quality room of an inn, the lighting quite excellent despite the hour thanks to a spell. As always, there was that feline self-possession and confidence to him, but his experiences had made into an aura of proven and earned confidence. The chip on his shoulder was gone.

“Crow!” Sammy exclaimed with a smile. “It’s really good to see you again.”

He nodded and sat back, putting down his pen. “Likewise, Samantha. Things are going well in the organization, I see. A Pantheon with a powerful ally, perhaps more in the future, and a rather promising domain choice on the horizon.”

“Waaaait, did you just pun?! Horizon — that’s the Pantheon name!”

Crow maintained a perfect deadpan. “Never. That was a mere coincidence, Mother of Fate.”

“Riiiight. But yes, things are looking up, up, up these days. A far cry from our beginnings, eh?”

“Very far. The weight and depth of past lives have changed us just as rapidly as should be expected when it is embraced in knowledge rather than rejected in ignorance. But to segue to the purpose, I was bothered by a composition in the night, and heard about the missions underway. I believe myself and Carlisle should head up a mission.”

“Oh? Still close to the mountains, are you?”

“Oxentine in the hills, the farthest secure stronghold and community south not flagged as the Wildlands. Carlisle came this way as military reinforcement for an excursion to take out some more beastmen pushing too far north. They’re still taxing all the territories out here, though it’s dying down. I met up with him here, but he got the message recently that it was probably a wasted trip as the beastmen faded back south.”

“Ah, so there are some itchy men willing to take on something interesting.”

“Yes — Carlisle included. He said he was risking getting rusty being so long without any action, and complained also of being close to leveling.”

“How about you?”

“No. Not [Requiter], anyway. I am already level 8 recently.”

“Congratulations, by the way!”

“Thank you. I could always use more [Priest] and other secondary class experience, and I’m sure this will be high for that. I have two other critical motives, however. One, I know of some caverns already that should be explored, and two: tomorrow we are meeting with that famous Crusader, Beikiar Darkhunter, more in-depth, and presumably after we convert him he will be rather inclined to come along.”

“Beikiar… oh! Right, Carlisle mentioned him once. Well, that’s great to hear. And what about these caverns?”

“Just something noted in my adventures south near the mountains. It was in passing because my group was heading hard beyond it, but it seemed extensive and… interesting. The openings I happened to see were not very accessible, so we’ll have to search for an actual entrance.”

“Alright… well, go ahead with my blessing. We can ensure proper payment, too.”

“That shouldn’t be necessary with Carlisle’s men. I can sell it as a holy mission with ease. Considering principally that it is that.”

“Even better. Saving me gold — Crow, you’re really becoming dear to my heart in your old age, you know.”

He gave a rare grin at that. Crow tended to appreciate being seen as an adult — much easier since his transformation. “As long as it's sisterly or motherly. You know to whom my own heart belongs and vice versa.”

Sammy raised her eyebrows conspiratorially. “Oh ho, so bold about that already, are we? Just what has been going on in my mirrors? The sharing of poems, protestations of love, and serenades?”

Crow, as ever, had zero embarrassment. “Of course there has been: I’m an artist. And she’s learning more and more how to express herself eloquently.” After a pause, he narrowed his feline eyes suddenly. “If you must tease her about this, you better damn well make it clear I did not break any private confidence!”

Sammy laughed and waved her hands. “I won’t, I won’t! But you might be underestimating what she’s okay with me knowing. We’re very close. Most recently — likely too recent for her to share with you — we’ve uncovered significant past history. You called me the Mother of Fate, right? She’s a Daughter.”

Crow’s ears twitched, and a hand came up to rub his chin thoughtfully. “That is intriguing yet somehow not surprising to my instincts. Well, whatever. What is shared is up to her as I don’t mind at all. She is young and needs such a confidante or two. Especially to counteract Dax’s influence.”

“Dax?” Sammy quirked an eyebrow and smirked. “How could she possibly be a bad influence?”

Crow had a sour tilt to his expression. “She just is. She doesn’t make good decisions or give good advice. I’m glad she has you and that she’s surrounded by capable people like this Lucky character. Without me around, they’re the only reason her neck hasn’t found itself a noose.”

“Yes, she’s done quite well with the current dynamic.” It’s funny how they both think similarly about each other. But at least he shows he cares and worries, probably exacerbated by the separation.

“I suppose that’s all, Goddess. I’ll be sure to alert and update the realm on how things go tomorrow if Carlisle doesn’t.”

“Understood, Crow. Good luck.” Sammy disconnected from the mirror.

The nighttime and wee hours died to preparations, organization, and research. Thaumaturgical discussions with Azure and the ever-awake Tashome gave her some food for her spell development, as did Azure’s demonstrations of her often unique spells. Azure had a lot of eclectic understanding of spellcraft from the perspective of a sorcerous ‘bad girl.’

The final stirring of the pot was going through recordings by Resemblants she hadn’t seen, which included some spell demonstrations by the accomplished wizard Zephyr, at the behest of Bast, who understood her need for such examples just as he had for his own development. He’d even requested Protection school spells…

Bast, you completely outdid yourself. Too bad you’re not awake or I’d blow you a kiss. It’s really too bad you have to miss out on such a blessing…

In the process of tinkering and constructing the spell, she felt a sudden surge of information flood her brain.

The spell information bored into her head and she could feel it tickling at her nerves and fingertips, just waiting to be unleashed. It was something incredibly special compared to Just Any Old Spell… and she felt something else within that accomplishment. A key, a doorway, a vector into the Hall.

She had found a new route and entrance within — beyond merely the default one.

Holy shit! It must be significant, then. Leading me to an important past life, an important vision. Looks like our itinerary just keeps filling out!

She drew up the spell description.

Sammy, sitting at the desk in the hideout study, slapped her hands together and rubbed them. “My defensive layers against the old codgers continue to grow, nyahaha!”