The group came up from the lower temple to find the camp's cook fire was going. Stacked on one of the tables were chunks of mushrooms and flapjacks. There was a jug of syrup, many stoneware plates, and three-pronged wooden forks near them.

In a few moments, most of the food was gone from the table as the warriors and carnival members ate. They chatted and smiled as they took up benches around the tables or just stood there eating. Tad could sense they were in good cheer as they ate and talked.

Tad wondered how much food they had left. Kettle had told him three months, but he didn't think they counted on a squadron of nineteen dwarves living here when they did those figures.

There were fish, and Tad was pretty sure all that green outside meant food. They also had a large grove of mushrooms in the cavern below, which might help. He just needed someone who understood which mushrooms were edible. Many of them were ten or more feet tall.

Kettle startled him out of the pondering of his problems, "Tad, we need to talk. Inside. "

Tad had finished and dropped his plate off at the tub near the food table. After he had entered the World Egg, he felt the air push him as the door swished closed behind, and his ears popped. He stood in the dark of the artifact with a bit of light emanating from Kettle's cabinet, showing outlines of the structure inside. He sat on the seat in front of it.

"All right, tell me what you know, " said Tad. He was exhausted, but he needed to know what happened when he was fighting on the cliffs.

A tapping sound came from the cabinet then Kettle spoke using his voice. Tad hadn't heard him talk in so long it startled him. "Hmm, where to start. Let's start with you first. You chose a class or a calling. I'm not sure, but I think that symbol means both. You had several options on the list. The green symbol choices were Monk, Paladin, Mage, and Asshat. "

"What? Your kidding, " said Tad, surprised.

"No really, threatening Orion was an asshat move. I gave you that as an honorary class, " said Kettle.

Tad chuckled, "Well, I am getting tired of being pushed around by power Kettle."

"Yea sure, feel free to get us all killed when you have a bad day, ok! It's not like the rest of us here depend on you to make the best choice in every situation. After all, we are not important, " said Kettle.

Tad sighed. He had been angry, and he probably could have controlled it better. "I'm sorry, you all are important to me. I'll try to do better in the future. I'm kind of new to this leadership thing. You could give me a pass on some things. "

"Tad, you have a position and soon, I think, more power than you will know what to do with. You will have to control your idiot side in situations that might decide the fate of all your friends. Did you see Bismuth fight out there? We didn't have a chance if they had attacked before that undead horde showed up. Think more, talk less, please. At least think more before you speak. If you ever have doubt. Just think, what would Beothorn do? He wouldn't have put his family and friends at risk for little gain. Yea, sure he might have murdered them all or something, but we are counting on you. Your friends are counting on you. If you need advice, I'm here, and you can call on Gweleth or Niucrealath. Yea, they are both the same goddess. They will have good opinions from different perspectives. Taking advice is one of the pinnacles of being a leader, Tad. Anyway, I think you get the point. Let us talk classes. " said Kettle pausing.

"Now, let us see. Monk, Paladin, and Mage were all green. We already talked about the importance of colors. Those must be the simplest options. After that, in blue are Monkadin, which I've never heard of, then Soulmancer and Cultist. Cultists might be god champions. I saw the same symbol before when you had that one rank in cultist from when you were a child. Thankfully you picked the only gold option on the list. Ding! " he paused while chuckling, "Hahaha. Sorry Yea, Chromatic Paladin. I've never heard of that before. I expect Chromatic means multiple domains. Like that star on your chest, and Paladin is obvious, Oh and DING. You have two ranks in it for killing the crazy-haired lady and her undead, " said Kettle while projecting an image of himself laughing.

Tad sighed, then huffed an ugg, "Ding? Seriously if you didn't already have no legs. I'd be breaking them right now. "

Then he lightly laughed. Kettle had changed quite a lot recently. He was actually finding his friend more enjoyable company.

Sounding surprised at his thoughts. Tad asked, "Hey do you think this will let me learn more domains of magic?"

"I don't know, but it might. You might want to ask Gweleth, " replied Kettle.

Tad nodded, excited now, "Did anything else happen? "

"Yes, several, your soulmancy and ice spells went up ranks. You also have a soulmancy ability called Hold soulmancy creature. This is how you trapped that undead monkey's controller thing last night. You have a couple of new spells that you already know about, of course. You can also smite a few more times. This didn't show in your book at all, so that might be something to do with Galadinidú or attunement. You did become a never before heard of Paladin class while also increasing your basic paladin ranks by five. Your negotiation skill went up eight ranks across the last two days. It is now at ten. Your staff skills went up to thirteen. Lastly, your flattery skill actually went down a point. You are missing opportunities for honest flattery or failing it so horribly that even your soul didn't like your actions. Well, that's most of the important ones, " said Kettle.

Tad sounded surprised and had a frustrated frown on his face, "I can go down in something? Crap, I lost levels in Paladin once, didn't I? I didn't think what I thought affected anything, only what I did."

"It happened about the time you started calling that Naga the crazy hair lady, then you lost the points when Niucrealath laughed at it. You know she has the exact same snakes as hair, right? I'm pretty sure she didn't think it was as funny as she let on Tad. She can read your thoughts when you are near her if she wants to, which kind of makes it an action. " said Kettle.

"Oh yea, those snake things are creepy. There is always at least one snake looking at you even when she is paying attention to something else, " said Tad.

"Well, she is a goddess. She can do that. She can also be in multiple places at once doing different things. It's a god thing. Some other creatures can do that too, but ALL gods can do it. Now for quests. I believe these are things you do that have rewards. I've been thinking about this a great deal recently. Quests have rewards, and if you fail, there are penalties. They are not just tasks that usually only have rewards or a neutral fail result. Depending on their size, Quests have a huge downside if you fail them. We need to make sure not to fail any of your quests, Tad. Anyway, you completed the A safe place to live, which was actually multiple quests in order or linked like a chain. The reward is listed, Valley of Statues. That makes sense. Everyone here sees you as the leader and agrees to follow you because they like you or you pay them. So the valley is yours. Well, at least until your subjects overthrow you for being an asshat, " said Kettle.

Tad chuckled, "Yea, that is a thing isn't it? How about the bees and other quests? "

"The quest Help Zanna find herself hasn't changed. It is still there. The quest Release the spirits is already finished. The quest Find a home for the Queen is completed. I have no idea what the reward is. It might update once you receive one. I'm actually not entirely sure what a bee can reward you with as a non-bee. You will have to find that one out for yourself. It is still blinking in your book, so is the A Safe Place to Live quest. This must indicate that there are further rewards. They are both greyed out like the completed Release the Spirits quest entry, " Kettle sighed after that.

"Tad, I need you to bring in all the bodies of the Automatrons. You might also want to collect all that gear from the fallen undead, " said Kettle.

"Why?" asked Tad.

"I'm going to make a body. Those fallen Automatrons have things I'm going to need, " said Kettle.

"Isn't Orion going to be mad if you do that? " asked Tad.

"You should really read that book about Automatrons. " Kettle mentally sighed, " I don't have a soul, neither does Orion. None of those Automatrons do. I suppose I can tell you more now that Orion has changed our court date and left in peace. Maximilianus already told you most of what I wasn't supposed to anyway. Orion won't touch him. You remember when Maximilianus told you about the first Biological AI being his father..." Kettle paused, waiting for Tad to figure something out.

It took a few moments. Kettle started ticking like a giant clock. Tad finally spoke, "That is Orion? How is that possible? Maximilianus has a soul, Orion doesn't, and they don't look at all alike. "

"Good, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone that. Orion had some control of his World Egg when he created Maximilianus. He probably used the same type tubes that the vampires are in now. Maximilianus said the AI used a speck of Primordial ooze. Which means he created Maximilianus's ancestors. Orion also used what he had on hand, which was broken ship parts. This leads to a lot of other questions about the Maelstrom and the war between brothers. I don't know the answers, Tad. You will have to ask Maximilianus if you get a chance. I guarantee you Orion will not tell you. I'm starting to piece a lot of things together, and it's long, complex, and there are many questions. This is why I need you to bring in those other Automatrons. Rest assured, their personality or spirit is already reborn in another body on Bismuth. There is a process for that. When one falls, its old copy is born. It won't' remember what destroyed it, but it will remember everything up to the point it was copied. I can't do that right now. If I die, no copy will encompass what I've become. I'm also severed from Orion. In many ways, I'm like Maximilianus. Orion's son, well, I'm his son, Maximilianus is more like his great, great, great, great, great, grandson. But unlike him, I was mentally attached at the hip to Orion before your spell. My old body was made from the metal of Bismuth. That is why he set that crazy long court date. He wanted to study me. I'm either a threat that he would have eliminated or a boon. If I were a boon, he would have tried to copy me to make others. I don't know, and as I said, Orion will never tell you if you ask, " said Kettle.

"So you are going to try to make a copy of yourself? " asked Tad.

"No, I'm going to try to add more minds to my own if any work. I also want to be able to see outside this artifact. I'll do something depending on what remains of the others out there, " said Kettle.

"More minds? "asked Tad.

"Right now, I have two minds. One is the primary, and the others are attached to it. I have one working on your book with symbols and the knowledge of the artifact full time. The other watches you and interacts with physical things using my eyes, our bond, and other senses. It takes a great deal of mana to run more than one mind, but we are sitting in a giant flow of it. If I can get some more and they are a good match. I could have two minds looking at the symbols and sort out some of this pre-maelstrom knowledge. This stuff is complex. There are symbols for groups of symbols that have yet other groups of symbols they reference. This is not easy, Tad. More minds will help me and, in turn, you. You know that negotiator automatron had at least 12 minds running. That's a huge number. It is why negotiators can have a more refined shape, " said Kettle.

Well, that explained how Kettle seems to be able to do all this work, thought Tad. "ok, I'll get some constructs to bring down what they find. Hey, where is that sand storm you said was going to happen? " asked Tad.

"I don't know. It might be linked to that crystal or those undead last night. You will have to ask Gweleth. I'm not an expert in cursed god magic, " said Kettle.

Tad nodded and stood, "I'll ask her. Is there anything else in the book before I go? "

"No, but we need to figure out a way to keep the goddess and Maximilianus from throwing you around your soulscape. Also, how to block them from listening to our conversations while you are at it. It is going to look really awkward when you try to explain why you keep locking yourself away in the World Egg, closing out all magic to talk to me, " said Kettle.

"Yes, that's why I need to talk to Jack. I'm pretty sure he can help. Oh, we have some blood mushroom things we have to try on these vampires tonight. You saw them. I am guessing the goddess is going to ask for it to be done tonight. Do not let that feral one out no matter what she does to me, Kettle. I'll try to negotiate for the other two. Oh, and don't let her see that Phylactery. Niucrealath doesn't' seem to have the same aversion to vampires that everyone else I know has. She might want a pet lich too. Let's avoid that if possible. " said, Tad.

"Got it, " said Kettle.

Tad stood, and the door to the World Egg opened and slid to the side, letting him out.

Tad went over to check on the ponies in Jack's wagon, and he couldn't sense them in there. The monkeys were doing their thing in their wagon, sitting and sleeping.

He opened the door to the wagon and saw that it was empty. He left and went over to the cook fire, where Bernard still sat drinking something warm.

"Hey, Bernard, how goes the day? " asked Tad taking the bench seat next to him, looking at the fire.

"Good, Thaddius, very good. We have made it another day, and I have some warm tea and a good fire. What more can an old man wish for, " said Bernard raising his cup to Tad.

"Yea, about that, how was your sleep? " asked Tad. Bernard had stayed in his wagon the whole night.

"It was grand." Bernard smiled then," I'm too old to be of much use in a fight, and I figured if I were going to die, I'd like it to be in my bed."

"Ahh. Well, I'm glad someone enjoyed a good rest. Did you happen to get those wards out of the wagon? I'm going to see if they can be activated, " asked Tad feeling more tired than before, just thinking about sleep.

"We certainly did. They are on the other side of the wagons stacked near the wall of the Cathedral, " said Bernard as he looked again up at the stained windows above. The personality of the goddess was portrayed one each in large round windows at different ends of the Cathedral. They were high up in the wall. Above the altar was Niucrealath. Above the large entrance where Tad could see the Fey Tree through the opening was Gweleth.

Bernard continued, "You know, that is some amazing work. Stained glass is considered a trade art where I am from. Few can do that type of detail. "

Tad looked up, taking in the view, "The goddess did these and those smaller windows along the sides. Speaking of that, I see there is a scene of ponies running across a field of fire in one of those smaller side windows. Do you happen to know where the ponies went? " asked Tad. He liked those ponies, and he knew more about those animals than he did about some of his friends.

"I think the goddess took them somewhere, Tad. I asked earlier when I was checking their food. You know the bees are gone also? " asked Bernard.

"Yes, I do. The bees have taken up residence in the Fey Tree out front, and I don't think feeding them will be an issue any longer," said Tad thinking of the giant white flowers in bloom outside atop the tree.

Bernard took another sip of tea, looking into the fire. He spoke in a solemn quiet voice, "Ahh, that is good. Tad, do you know if Samphire is ever coming back? I've been with the Carnival for nineteen years. He has never been gone this long, and I don't know what we should do if he doesn't. The Carnival is my life. My kids have long grown and are far away from here. My wife passed away in childbirth. I was hoping someday I could visit and see my grandkids if the Carnival ever made its way back that direction. " Bernard's eyes were watering now. Tad could feel the sadness in the man. He looked very old and frail then. Tad had always seen the quartermaster as an authority figure or the carnival boss when Samphire was busy. He had never thought of him as an old man missing his grandkids.

Tad looked into the fire now. It crackled under the cooking pot. He sensed that two of the guard's wives were standing a short distance away, listening. They wanted to know the answer too.

Tad said softly, "Bernard, I do not know. But I promise that when I'm sure everyone is safe here, I'll find him. One way or the other, we all need to know what's going on. "

Tad stood up. His eyes were starting to moisten too.

Tad spoke overloud, "Bernard, we have a party tonight. I hope there is some ale in that Wagon of yours. It is going to be hard to have a party without it."

Bernard smiled and chuckled, then turned to look at Tad, "I do indeed have some private stock. I put it away for a special occasion. The party will be fine. Where would you be setting up the tables? "

Tad hadn't thought of that, "You know what? I think in front of the Cathedral before the Fey Tree would be a nice spot. I'd like to see the valley. " Tad patted the old man on the shoulder, nodded, and walked off to find the stack of wards. He needed to do some work before he took a long nap.

***