Rotgoriel counted the seconds, throttling his impatience. Two minutes. He had to wait two minutes to respawn after Cole or Mayhew betrayed him. That was what he had worked out with Richard, that was the signal for his brother to flee his cage.

Two minutes passed, and he paid his tokens to respawn. He was down to nine of the things now, various training deaths and the two at the hands of his foes today taking their toll. But it didn't matter. He could get more.

He chose “New Fimble” to respawn in, hoping it was the proper location. It was, and he sighed in relief as the lumpy, battered buildings faded in around him. Agnezsharron stood there, her wounds mostly closed. He read relief in her body language as she saw him.

Beyond her the valley was coming apart.

It was like a bonfire of sickly yellow flames licking up through the air. They settled into glowing runes and patterns that rippled and faded, leaving behind black spires and broken buildings that loomed like sinister obelisks, rising up to meet the surrounding mountains.

Rumbling noises came from the west, and Rotgoriel looked over to see buildings phasing into the space where the avalanche now occupied. It didn't go well, and dark towers shuddered and fell, sending glittering stony dust up into the moonlight.

“What is this?” Agnezsharron whispered. “I know, I know, you said there was an invisible city. But this...”

“New Corcasa,” Rotgoriel rumbled. “Sealed away by dragons, before either of us were born. Sealed with three great rituals, each requiring a sacrifice to undo.”

“What? How did you...” Agnezsharron closed her eyes. “You left me out of your plans. That is why the players went back to their own world.”

“They have an errand to run with my brother. It is literally life and death for them.”

“It is life and death for me,” Agnezsharron snarled, flaring her wings as she stalked closer. Behind her the city whined and groaned, its buildings disturbing the air and sending it into roiling clouds above.

“Effendis, does this quarrel serve a purpose?” Antonic spoke, red skin pink in the moonlight.

Rotgoriel glanced at him, forgetting who he was for a second. Only a second, though. “Ah. Yes, Aunarox's servant. Do any of your Simurghani still live?”

“What have you not told me?” Agnezsharron interjected, pushing the djinn aside, her gaze boring into Rotgoriel.

“Much,” he said simply. “What have you not told me?”

“This is not a game,” she hissed.

“I know that. And my brother does too, as well. He learned a day ago, and told me some of the plan. Not all of it.”

“Then what now, Rotgoriel? What now, at the end of the world?”

“Not the end of the world,” he rumbled, seeing the floating island that bore his enemies like a chariot dancing among the spires before it was lost to sight. “A beginning. But only if we fail.”

She digested that. He watched, fascinated as she choked back her anger and sorrow, turning to look at the remnants of the village. At Tinty who moved between houses, gathering those that remained and arming them up.

At the army on the northern horizon, that marched under the moonlight, making their way across the rubble field to where they stood.

And back to Rotgoriel, who saw through the mask. Saw concern and fear... not for herself, but for this tiny tribe of humans that she had adopted, more or less. That she had come to care for, in her exile.

PER+1

“Mayhew and Cole turned on me, as I knew they would,” Rotgoriel said. “They slew me above the first seal, used the heartsblood of a dragon to open the way. I went because I expected them to do this, and because I knew that if they could not get me, they would get you. And you cannot return from death. Not yet, anyway.”

“You sacrificed yourself for me?” She frowned. “What do you get out of it?”

“An ally for the part that matters. And you must listen to me before you rush off,” Rotgoriel said, folding his wings. “Richard was very clear on that. We have to plan and coordinate before we try this next part. Or else we are, as he said it, so very very boned.”

LivingDeadGrrl: Hey, anyone still alive? You guys are pretty quiet.

Rotgoriel nodded. “Perhaps we had better discuss this through the party whisper. How long does your skill last?”

Agnezsharron kept glancing between the approaching army and the city. “Do we have time?”

“Not for everything, no. But you do not need a full explanation to begin the plan.”

“Well, if you are going to do it that way, perhaps I should help,” a familiar voice spoke, and Rotgoriel almost twisted his neck as Aunarox stepped out of the shadows.

“You!” he growled. “You abandoned us. And my mirror is gone. Tell me why I should trust you again?”

The blue djinn folded her arms, and returned the glare. “You think you were the only one betrayed by this Cole creature, oh capricious commander? He was moving to neutralize me through the lust of his allies. I had to remove myself from the board, until the time came to turn the tables.

“And as for your mirror, I do not have it. I did attempt to borrow it for a time, as your servant can attest.” She slipped a ring from her finger and pointed it at the ground, and with a wisp of smoke, Geebo appeared!

“Geebo!” Rotgoriel hurried to him, nuzzling him and confirming his scent. He stand of irritation and perfume, but he was unharmed.

Rotgoriel had not realized just how much that mattered to him. Not until now.

“Geebo is... ah, please stop that great one, I am well. We have talked. The djinn is deceptive, but not deceitful in this case. I think she would have returned the mirror.”

“I would have,” she said. “You will need it at the second or third seal, if you are to stop them. You are the only one who can, I think. But your servant insists that it is missing!” she glared. “In any case, this is something to discuss in a party, not out loud. Too many ears, too much chance of scrying. Invite me in, and Geebo too, if you wish to win this day.”

“Do we have enough room?” Rotgoriel looked to Agnezsharron.

“Tinty, you are on your own. Antonic, you are out.”

Aunarox has joined your party!

Geebo has joined your party!

LivingDeadGrrl: Well that's an encouraging sign. Listen, I've got the wendigos chewing on their flanks, but I can't hold them for long. The army's coming to mop up anything that's left.

Agnezsharron: They will be upon Fimble within the hour. I cannot let my people perish here.

LivingDeadGrrl: Got any suggestions?

Rutger: More than that, we need to stop them. The first seal is opened, but they were out of position because Mayhew and Cole opened it.

LivingDeadGrrl: Who?

Rutger: Invictus and Benedict Cucumberpatch.

Agnezsharron: The undead and the sneaky creep.

Rutger: They opened it early. Now they are going to find the second seal, and try to ambush the Warmers when they get there.

Aunarox: Do the Warmers have what it takes to open the second site?

Rutger: Before I answer that, I want to know something. Why did you kidnap Geebo? And try to steal my mirror?

Aunarox: The halven was working to undermine me, and I caught him studying your cave more than once. I suspected he would attempt to steal your mirror. And once he learned you had hidden the duplicate, I expected he would question your servant for it. I guarantee you, he would be less polite than I was to Geebo.

Rutger: I find your words self-serving.

Aunarox: I do not deny it, effendi. But I ask you this, what would have been your servant's fate if he had been on your back with the halven and the lich five minutes ago?

Agnezsharron: It matters little now. We can have it out with her later. How do we stop the Warmers? And the traitors too, for that matter?

Rutger: Cutter betrayed the traitors. My brother has granted to me the knowledge of the second and third seals. The Warmers will go to the second, and try to break it. The traitors will try to stop them and take the... key... from them. If we interfere at exactly the right moment, we can take the key from them. Then we get it to Greg or Pat, and they leave this world, taking the key with them until they return to it. But they need never return to it, and so the key will be forever beyond their reach.

Agnezsharron: But they disappeared right before you left! Back to their own world!

Rutger: They will be back once they are safe.

Agnezsharron: And when will that be?

Rutger: I do not know. They will return. Have faith in my brother, if not me.

Aunarox: It is a neat solution. But what if we fail? What if they open the second seal? Do they have what they need to open the third?

Rutger: I am the key to the third.

Agnezsharron: But they used you to open the first...

Rutger: It does not matter. They have to be opened in order. And I am both a dragon and an abomination. If my heart's blood is shed at the site of the third seal, then it shall open.

Aunarox: And if you do not have the mirror, then all shall be lost.

Rutger: I do not understand this. What do you know? Why is the mirror so important?

Aunarox: I do not know everything, all the details. The world changes, effendi. There is a cycle, a hidden one, that works to erase the sins of the past. But I have long been in a place where my mind was sheltered from the worst of it, and my further research and usage of the mirror while you slept for two long years has helped me figure out some truths.

Aunarox: This world is a prison. The door is not yet shut upon your brother, and those like him. This city was an attempt to forge a gate that could never be closed, hence why it was sealed. And at the deepest layers, it opens to a place between worlds. Does that sound familiar?

Rutger: It does.

LivingDeadGrrl: Holy shit, this is some deep lore. But seriously, army? Guys? The plan?

Aunarox: The mirror is a tool that someone who is skilled with the dominant magical paradigm can use to alter the world. But only in certain places. Like the third seal, which covers the Well.

Rutger: The Well. It seems to me I have heard that term before. But there is no time. Very well, you have convinced me. We will trust you in this, at least.

Aunarox: Good. Are you satisfied, Geebo? Will you produce the mirror, now?

Geebo: Yes. Master, do you wish me to share where it is?

Rutger: I do.

Geebo: I put my pouch of holding, which contained the mirror, in the pockets of the coat that Tinty Bortiz gave me. I left it hanging in his house. It should still be there.

Rutger: The pink coat.

Geebo: Yes, master.

Agnezsharron: The fluffy pink coat.

Geebo: Yes... great one...

Agnezsharron: The fluffy pink coat that Sir Gideon was wearing when he left this world.

Geebo: Oh no.

LivingDeadGrrl: Look, Rutger, I know you're a hardcore RP guy, but can you like log off and tell him to get the fuck back in?

Rutger: Please trust me when I say I cannot. It is literally a matter of life or death for him right now. We must trust that he will return in time.

Agnezsharron: And when is that time?

Rutger: Hours, if we are lucky.

Agnezsharron: That army will be here before then! He will reappear in this position and be captured, and the mirror will be lost!

Rutger: Then we must defend it. And stop the Warmers at the second seal at the same time.

Agnezsharron: Won't the traitors stop them?

Rutger: They are smart and prepared, but something is wrong with that lich. He is sick, somehow. And though they obviously prepared their army to move into the city and assist, I doubt they can get there in time to make a difference. No, unless we interfere, it is likely they will crack the second seal.

Agnezsharron: Something tugs at my mind. You told us what it took to open the first seal and the third. Yet you have been quiet about the second seal.

Rutger: Yes.

Agnezsharron: What is the second seal, Rotgoriel? What are you hiding from me?

Rutger: The second seal is the heartsblood of the unborn.

Rutger: It is the egg that holds your sibling.

LivingDeadGrrl: Aw shit. Cue dragonrage in five, four, three...

Agnezsharron: How?

Rutger: Cutter found a way to retrieve it for them. It was the final step required to earn their trust. He could not steal it back before he turned his coat. Now the Warmers carry it with them to open the way. The second seal is over a library, a vast vault of knowledge. It holds the secret of the guilds, and many more besides. But they will not stop there.

Agnezsharron: Why are we wasting time talking? Go! We must save...

She trailed off, and Rotgoriel watched as Agnez lifted her head to look at the oncoming battle lines, then down again at her humans. Her tribe.

And he made his choice.

Rutger: You must go. I will stay and guard your village. I must do this anyway, to get the mirror from Greg when he returns.

Agnezsharron: Tell me where.

Rutger: I shall. And I shall send what aid I can. Geebo, Aunarox, can you go with her?

Geebo: Of course, master!

Aunarox: My illusions may aid your approach.

Agnezsharron: I am both a Shaman and a Scout. I know a thing or two about sneaking.

Rutger: Just say thank you. Here is where you need to go...

He described the location in detail, and she took off midway through, listening to him whisper as she went. Aunarox called up a cloud big enough for her and Geebo, and followed in hot pursuit.

Furry boots crunched on the snow behind him, and he turned to see LivingDeadGrrl grinning widely. Around her the remaining villagers came out one by one, armed with what they had to hand; hunting bows, spears, picks, axes, and in the innkeeper's case, a heavy-looking pepper grinder. Antonic at least looked a little more deadly, he'd called up a pair of scimitars from somewhere.

“Heroic last stand against all odds, huh?” LivingDeadGrrl asked.

“Something like that,” Rotgoriel agreed. “Got any jobs left open?”

“Been saving one for a rainy day. Or a heroic last stand, come to think of it.”

“Have you unlocked Cultist?”

“Yeah, but ick. Not much for support classes.”

“Get over it quickly and take the job. I have an idea, but we'll need everyone in the cult for it to work...”