The same conflict that founded Sráid also birthed the Twardow. The Fae Civil War broke the native Tuatha of Fae’Riam in four groups. Those who were allowed to settle their own nation of Old Vadalis, those that returned to the Elden Kingdom, those that were exiled to Athshin, and those that were forced into the north. The Twardow were that final group, so punished because of the dark miracles they enacted to fight the war.

When he was a slave Tohl was forced to listen to the sermons of Twardow priests. In their words, a crystal spider descended from the cracked moon with a message of hope for the war-beaten Tuatha. The spider was an angel of the goddess Kutoja, Divine of the Second Moon, Omens, and Deception. Kutoja favored the rebels, for they matched her rebellion against her sister and father. If they drank of the angel’s venom then they would find themselves transformed. They would become clerics gifted a mantel that ran in their blood like an Incarnate's arcana. The hedonistic cult of Kutoja birthed dozens of innate miracle casters that infested the battlefields of the Civil War and nearly overwhelmed the kingdom forces.

What happened next, Tohl had heard two different versions of in life. When he learned the history of Vadalis as a boy, it was said that the Twardow turned on their Tuatha kin following rapid mutations into horrible chitinous monsters. The Tuatha joined forces with the Elden to drive this new faction to the north, leading to the peace negotiations that ended the war. What followed next, the decline of the Twardow fertility, was all the result of Kutoja’s influence. A Dark God always demands more than just prayer for worship.

The Twardow version says that the mutations were intentional, a further blessing of Kutoja, and that the Tuatha were the first to attack under the influence of Kutoja’s sister Aske. The Tuatha were more willing to be driven under heel rather than ally with something they didn’t understand. The infertility was also blamed on Aske, who cursed her sister’s followers so that they may never swell their numbers again.

Tohl, quite honestly, didn’t care which version was correct. The machinations of the Divines seemed to be inconsequential to the majority of his life. He would have manifested the abilities of an Agnost were his fate not now tied to a Divine.

“Create a society that eats itself.” That was what the worm had demanded of him. It was the only time any of the vermin that followed him had ever spoken. The intent was clear: He was chosen to enact one of those divine machinations that he once disregarded. If he resisted...well, an insect’s maw is a great deterrent for provoking it.

The plan for creating that society was left up to Tohl. His answer had been the Order of Suffering, and every thing he had done in the shadows, every connection and plan he tied together, had been to make them the heroes of this world. Oftentimes the shine of a knight’s helmet can distract from the blood on his sword.

Tohl didn’t know the Matron’s end goal, but he had to admit it was enjoyable to bring it about. To finally manipulate the reins of hatred that made him an outcast and slave gave him a level of sick joy he had lacked since the day he murdered his Mistress. He believed that none but him could bring about this machine of genocide.

“No one knows what sets off the hateful better than the hated.” He would often muse to himself.

His machine had stumbled, but it was not yet dismantled. Tohl was currently constructing new orders for his agents as the sun set in Sráid. Ghetsis had welcomed him eagerly, gave him a room in the Keep, and invited him to stand by his side at all times to give him council. He saw it as a fulfillment of Tohl’s long-held promise. Tohl originally projected this stage of their relationship to come much later, when the Order’s control over the Confederacy was more absolute. He had also expected Zam to be the one he advised. With the Order’s forces converged and confined to Sráid Tohl had to consolidate his contingency plans.

Spiral City was lost, but it could be reclaimed under a war for liberation. His agents would seek out bards and town criers to tell stories that Emperor Thezzus ate babies and how his degenerate horde ravaged the innocent. That even now buildings in Spiral City were being demolished to make room for a grand temple of fiends. All absurd claims, but that was the point. Absurd stories stay with people. They get retold. The more they are retold the more they are internalized. He didn’t need people to believe that Thezzus ate babies, he just needed them not to trust him.

As he read he playfully ran his fingers through Billis’ sleek hair. She sat cross legged on the floor beside his bed, her standard spot for the evening. He would often touch her hair when he was thinking. She kept motionless as he did. Like a pet.

Thudding metallic steps approached his chamber door. Three times a steel hand knocked for entry. Tohl stowed his pages and welcomed it. Billis stood alert with falchion in hand.

Ghetsis entered the room. He was clad in his armor, as always. He once claimed that he only removed it to bathe or sleep on particularly restless nights. His leathered skin retained the sickly pallor of the toxin fed to him by Engañar. The poison was known as the Half-Life Potion or the Resurrection Brew. A rare and exotic concoction imported from Sanataan that cost Tohl the price of a house. The poison left a person at half strength; drained as if they had just been resurrected. The true benefit of the Half-Life Potion was its stubbornness in leaving the body. It could take five weeks until the victim showed signs of recovery. With Ghetsis perceived as too ill to lead, Zam was to take charge of the Order forces and enact the next bloody phase of the plan.

With the events of the Emperor’s Clash occurring as they had, it was difficult for Tohl not to regard Ghetsis with masked disdain. The feeling was amplified when Kelmin stepped out from behind Ghetsis. Kelmin was prim as ever in his new uniform retained from his brief period as ruler of Sráid, until he abdicated to Ghetsis.

“Great leader, you should not force yourself up so many stairs to see me.” Tohl modestly offered Ghetsis a cushioned seat in the corner.

Ghetsis rejected the offer. “My body regains its strength twice over each day. I believe it is the specialized diet of raw meat that has made all the difference.”

A thrash of coughing interrupted his speech. As Ghetsis hacked into his fist Tohl observed the four Order soldiers just outside his open door. He made threatening eye contact with Kelmin.

“What brings you at this hour, Caballero Reballo?” Tohl cut to the point. He valued his privacy this time of night.

Ghetsis had to collect himself. Kelmin passed him a handkerchief to wipe the spittle from his mouth with. The delay proved too long, Kelmin spoke for them.

“We have just received news that Spiral City is gathering forces to march on Sráid. Earliest projections for their arrival are set to two weeks.”

“It is as you warned.” Ghetsis wheezed. “The demon is coming for me. Our alliance with the Elves will have to hold this city.”

That alliance was growing tenuous. Sráid had allowed Kelmin to act as an emergency ruler, but bringing in Ghetsis made them fear for a coup. The Order members on the war council had to assure the Fae Generals that this was all necessary for returning Princess Ruaidrí. Tohl knew exactly where she was, she was with the army coming for them, but he would suppress that news to the best of his ability.

“This is their home. The Fae will defend it from the horde.” Tohl said sagely.

Ghetsis pulled on the ends of his mustache. “Your kin are noble souls. With their aid, Kelmin has calculated us to having even odds. Our skill against their numbers. It is a shame we could only reach them now.”

Tohl briefly tensed at the mention of “his kin.” He had no love for those that shared his face.

“This is a welcomed forewarning, but if you have come for a vision of the battle’s outcome I can not yet give it.” Tohl bowed his head meekly.

“There is another matter that has brought me here.” Ghetsis straightened his back. His tone turned grave. “There are...rumors proceeding the army. Rumors that have caught the attention of the Confederacy.”

Tohl’s mask slipped slightly from nerve, but he remained quiet. He had heard no rumors.

“There is talk that Thezzus has implicated us as the source of the tragedy at the Feast of Equals. Something found at Underdune…”

“Why do you trust the word of a demon child? Thezzus and his beasts were all immune to the poisoning. They are the clear culprit.” Tohl did not like the troubled look in Ghetsis’ eye. Kelmin kept himself out of either’s view.

“There is another rumor.” Ghetsis’ features were shadowed by the candlelight. “A rumor that ties you to the operations of the necromancer of Spiral City and the barbatus slavers from the month prior.”

Out of Ghetsis’ sight, Tohl made a fist tight enough to crush a small animal. When he spoke, it came as a hiss: “And you believe them?”

“I am neutral, but the some of the Order are not, including the elves. They wish you driven from my service until this matter is resolved. You may be innocent, but you are also an albino. They are known for deception as well as magic. I have trusted you thus far with so much. It would be a shame were you revealed a volatile.”

Tohl strained to turn his glare into a smile. “Great General, you are merciful to not feed me to the dogs frenzied by gossip and speculation. I am a seer and adviser to you alone. Do not turn your sword on your fellows while the horde approaches.”

“So you have no connection to these enterprises. Necromancy and slavery?” Ghetsis glowered. The soldiers in the hall were watching this exchange intently.

Tohl swallowed all of his emotion. He regressed to a whipped boy lying to his Mistress. “Of course not.”

Ghetsis nodded in relief. “Then I believe you, but there is little I can do to stop the rumoring until the battle is won and we force a confession from Thezzus.”

His eyes drifted to the window. The darkest time of night had come. Another bout of coughing took him. At Kelmin’s urging, Ghetsis left to find rest. Kelmin and Tohl both watched Ghetsis leave with his guards, waiting until the sound of heavy boot steps were faint.

Kelmin shut the door. “This is bad. What are we to do?”

Tohl allowed himself to look as furious as he felt. He had no idea what ties had been uncovered about him, or how their discovery slipped through his network.

With clenched teeth he said: “We do nothing. We act less bold certainly, but nothing will come of this. I will ensure that.”

“And what of the coming battle?”

“That is your expertise.” Tohl snapped. “Are you really so afraid of another skirmish in your career?”

Kelmin straightened himself. He sniffed at Tohl. “I perform best when the odds are in my favor. These are decidedly not. I am the last of your officers and the last of Ghetsis’. All others have all died with the mounting resistance to the Order. Forgive my fear from noticing a trend.”

“I could have Billis kill you now and be done with it.” Tohl said darkly. Kelmin had pressed his patience too far. Kelmin nearly collapsed when he saw Billis was now staring at him.

“I meant no disrespect.” Kelmin corrected his tone. “It’s the tension of the coming siege. How are we going to relocate before the Spiral army arrives?”

Tohl pulled on the roots of his hair. It was a question he himself had pondered.

“We won’t. If you or I vanish from Sráid it will reflect poorly on the Order and brew an internal investigation as to where we left to and why. Ghetsis already suspects me. He’ll have us hunted. The best outcome for this siege is either victory or total defeat. Better the Order is scrubbed from the Confederacy so I can start fresh than to deal with a half-life remnant hunting me. No. If any escape from this city is to occur, it must happen the day of the siege and no earlier. But only as a last resort. You place our odds evenly matched with the Spiral army. If the Order wins the Battle of Sráid it will accelerate their spread like a rising phoenix.”

Tohl looked to the candle on his bedside table. It was three-quarters burned.

As Kelmin went for the door Tohl said:“I trust you with military tactics because that is your expertise, coward though you are. Leave the grand planning to me. That is my expertise.”

Kelmin lingered by the door. There was worry in his eyes. “I would hope so, otherwise I murdered a King for nothing.”