The Court of Souls?

“A pantheon is an overview of a given culture's gods and goddesses and reflects not only the society's values but also its sense of itself. A pantheon directed by a thunderbolt-wielding autocrat might suggest a patriarchy and the valuing of warrior skills. A pantheon headed by a great-mother goddess could suggest a village-based agricultural society. To confront the pantheon of the Egyptians is to confront a worldview marked by a sense of death and resurrection and the agricultural importance of the cycles of nature. The Greek pantheon is a metaphor for a pragmatic view of life that values art, beauty, and the power of the individual, and that is somewhat skeptical about human nature.”

- The Journey to the Afterlife

***Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Semper Fidelis***

***Shade***

Seven people enter the throne room. From what I can see, they are clearly high ranking messengers of their respective clans, but not the actual leaders. But if Elona's description is correct then the one on the left is surely Ajax from Morpheus. And the girl who is clinging to him is Takea from Soistaat.

According to my wife, she set them up with each other. It's not surprising that they are still together. From what I remember Elona has at least some skill in that regard. When she decides that two people work well together she is almost always right.

Elona raises a hand to wink at Takea and Ajax. The new couple seems embarrassed, but acknowledges the informal greeting with a nod. I guess it would be interesting to know what they would think about the fact that Elona engineered their first contact with each other.

But the representative of the whole group seems to be another person. He is a slightly older fellow with grey hair. I will never understand why some gods choose an aged appearance instead of one with the vigilance of youth. Unless he has some special circumstances like Doreen with her diminished healing ability, there should be no reason to look like that.

The man steps forward. “We were sent to investigate the circumstances behind Imothep's demise. We-”

I decide to interrupt him. There is no reason to hide my actions. Well, I probably could, but I don't want to. “Ah, yeah. About that. I wiped them out. Who are you? I think you forgot to introduce yourself.”

Greyhairs sputters something incomprehensible and tries for several moments to regain his composure. At last he decides to introduce himself. “My name is Ganwal from the clan Fae. We are located north of the acid sea and wanted to investigate the reason why our allies perished practically overnight.” He is obviously surprised about my blatant confession.

The rest of the group shows equally surprised expressions, so I decide to give a better explanation. I let go of my staff and order it to stay still. It remains standing on its blade right next to me like a loyal pet. Then I interlock the fingers of my hands to think about a good formulation for what I have to say.

“It is simple. I am Angrod, if that name holds any meaning to you. I have decided to make the people of this clan my subjects. The slavers and Imothep engineered several attacks on the people who I decided to protect, which resulted in thousands of deaths on both sides. They even had the audacity to attack us in open battle right in front of this city. That's more than enough to be seen as a declaration of war, even if such a declaration was never officially given.

“From my time in this realm I understood that it is something like a question of honour to raid other clans for resources and slaves. Of course it is far from my interests to interfere in your traditions. But you see, I also have well-kept traditions. And if I have to respect the traditions of others, they also have to respect mine. My traditions include wiping out everyone who attacks me or the ones under my protection. So I followed Ra and his goons to their hideout. I was even kind enough to give them the chance to surrender completely. They refused, so I wiped out their island.”

Ganwal's face shows a strange collection of different emotions until he finally decides on an answer. “I hope you realise that the Alliance was created exactly for situations like this one. No clan should have the power to obliterate another one.”

I snort. “My mother was one of the founders of the alliance and according to her, the alliance was created for an entirely different reason. It was supposed to stop the hostilities between the clans, and abolish slave trade. But the alliance's purpose was twisted by various factions. Instead of stopping the hostilities, the alliance turned into an instrument to uphold the status quo.”

Then I decide to show my true colours and smile viciously at Ganwal. “And if you don't want any clan to have enough power to wipe out another, then I suggest you give up now and swear fealty to me. Because as long as I am alive, no matter with which clan I decide to stay, that clan has the power to wipe out another one with a single spell. Much the same way I wiped out the spirit who attacked us. I am sure that you have heard of it. It caused quite an uproar if I am to believe my family.”

When I am done, Ganwal finds himself awkwardly alone in front of the throne. The other members of his group backed away during the conversation. Ajax and Takea were the first ones who slowly floated away from the group of representatives and silently joined the members of my family.

The simple, but unmistakable act clearly suggests that they and their clans are on our side. It isn't surprising. They saw us in battle and even assisted us in our fight against Imothep. They are the last ones who would complain that Imothep is gone.

The other representatives didn't abandon their spokesperson in such an obvious manner. Instead they slowly backed away from him, as if to say that they don't want to have anything to do with this idiot. Three of them simply backed off to form their own little group, clearly distancing themselves. A fourth representative gestured that he doesn't want to have anything to do with this, then he simply turned and left. I didn't mention his departure to Ganwal, whose entire concentration was focused on me. It was clear that the runaway didn't want to disturb Ganwal's single-mindedness.

Suddenly Ganwal decides to seek assistance from his comrades. He already glared daggers at Ajax and Takea when they switched sides in such a blatant manner. When he turns around, he finds himself completely alone in front of my throne.

It is exactly as I suspected. Moonray didn't make his plans without reason. He knew exactly that the alliance would simply fall apart when there is someone or something which is able to oppose them. Imothep already offended a large part of the alliance when they caused violence at the gathering. But all that happened in response were some measly trade restrictions. If the alliance had any backbone, they would have gathered a suitable force and subdued Imothep.

That's why Moonray had to create a force which is actually able to perform a role in his plan. Obviously that includes having someone near the portal who actually wants to put up a fight.

Ganwal turns back towards me, ever so slowly and without haste. At least he shows some dignity in defeat. “I suppose that your reaction to the attack on your clan was justifiable.”

I nod and smile without answering.

In the end Elona decides to free Ganwal from the awkward silence. “If that's everything you wanted to know, then I guess you can return to your people and inform them of your success in solving the mystery behind Imothep's demise. It's always nice when a mission is easily solved.”

Ganwal bows. “Exactly, I will do that. Have a nice day and I hope that you find the rest of your enemies soon enough. I will tell my people that there is no reason for animosity between our groups.” He turns around and leaves the room with a deliberate gait which is close to running but not quite there. The remaining representatives also excuse themselves with a bow and hurry to make themselves scarce.

I smile and turn my attention to Elona. “That wasn't so bad, Sugar cat. It went exactly as I expected it to happen. Now we can finally concentrate on the important stuff, like how to punish Moonray. Unfortunately invoking high class magic so close to a mana storm isn't a smart idea, or I would have blasted his facility already.”

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