Setting Things in Motion

Despite now being an adult, Ahsch found he was still fairly helpless, at least for the half-week following his instant maturation. Which only further annoyed him, since the group had to walk a fine line between hurrying and being cautious. They had to hurry to get everything prepared for their next move before someone somehow found out that Ahsch was back - in a world of magic, that wasn't as simple as restricting the number of people who were given access to where he was. Likewise, Byrdrek and Fauna's ultimatum to Kirasiel had a deadline that none of them wanted to hit. On the other hand, moving too fast was liable to tip off their opponents that something was up.

It was a tense, intricate dance of subtle speed, and much as Ahsch wasn't a fan of that sort of thing, he wished he could help. But since he was supposed to be dead, he couldn't well be running around and being seen by everybody. Instead, he stayed in the Odestag Suite, doing what little he could to help coordinate everything. Butler and Dorin relayed messages for Avery to the Odestag troops, giving them locations to slowly and stealthily move soldiers to. Ariin and Elui were freed up to spend even more time at the Temple, and split their efforts between mitigating the fallout of the Irztonite and Orrorist aggression and spreading the new and updated rituals and teachings to Enochiel's worshipers, not to mention maintaining the training of new priests and acolytes. Kirasiel returned to her own House and began her subtle preparations to get herself and her little sister, Stella, out safely when things began to happen. And Mahat...

Might as well stick me in a kennel, the familiar growled in annoyance, curled up on Ahsch's bed in her beast form.

Ahsch chuckled. He wasn't the only one stuck under 'house arrest' while things were put into motion. And, in all honesty, there wasn't much either of them could do to help: Daydreamweave between all members of the group made that easy. Which meant that the hrafthi and his familiar were stuck doing very, very little.

Therefore, Ahsch was spending most of his time planning things out beyond their immediate next moves. Namely, their case against Byrdrek and Fauna, and what he could do about the Irztonites and Orrorists. He'd asked Rwnil for help on both fronts, but his mentor had just given him a long look before saying that, should he fail to have anything by the time he needed it, she would help, but she expected a future god to be better than that.

Which, to Ahsch, suggested that her ideas were mainly linked to either his divinity or to bonds, or both. So he was meditating a lot, exploring what he had access to on both fronts.

As far as the case against Byrdrek and Fauna went, he was pretty sure he had a decent plan, though it depended on how much he was willing to trust the ruling family. The word of a god, especially if he gave his bonded word and was essentially forced to be truthful, carried weight, regardless of how established he was as a divinity. Potentially finding a way to extend that bond of honesty to others might help as well - if he could bind Byrdrek or Fauna to tell the truth, they would incriminate themselves, after all.

There was also the angle of the bought inquisitor, which was almost more of the same - bind the inquisitor to tell the truth, and he would incriminate Byrdrek and Fauna for them. After talking more with Kirasiel, he learned that, much like how things worked during an investigation at Sarvas, the inquisitors interviewed those involved in a case and were able to scan surface thoughts of others to determine if they were telling the truth. The corrupt inquisitor had headed up the investigation into Ahsch's death and had, on Byrdrek and Fauna's orders, told the truth about Kirasiel's lack of involvement, but also absolved pretty much anyone else of any involvement either. Kirasiel's uncle had taken her aside to point out how easily they could have framed her for Ahsch's murder instead.

During their conversation, Ahsch mentioned the pin the assassin had used against him. The royal girl hadn't been familiar, nor had anyone else, until he talked to Rwnil, who instantly identified it as a Godslayer, a weapon designed to absorb and obliterate divine essence, therefore killing the targeted god. That it hadn't worked against a 'god' as weak as Ahsch was testament to the absolute bullshit that was his Life Resistance. The intriguing thing was that there was absolutely no mention of it in the case reports. Which, on the one hand, made a sort of sense - Godslayers not only obliterated the divine essence of a god, but themselves as well, so there shouldn't have been anything there after a few seconds.

Except Ahsch was certain it was still stuck inside him when he hit the ground. Which either meant it had destroyed itself upon his death, or - much more worryingly - someone had taken it. And if it was the latter case, the chances that it was one of their enemies who had it was high.

What was also concerning was where in the hells the assassin had gotten it. Because of how terrifyingly powerful the things were, they were watched and monitored closely, and there shouldn't be any that anyone outside of the highest of religious authorities or the ruling family could access.

Which lead Ahsch to the question of the Irztonites and Orrorists. He was doubtful the ruling family was involved in his murder. But given the connection between Byrdrek and Fauna, and the Church of Irzton, the chances that the Church - one of the most powerful organizations outside of the ruling family - was involved in the destruction of the god of their newest opposition wasn't exactly low.

Though, unless they could prove that involvement, it wouldn't do anything to stop the troubles the Order of Enochiel was having with their fellow religions. So, on the decent chance that nothing would implicate the Church in his murder, Ahsch considered what could be done for that. Short of intimidating the hell out of the Church of Irzton and the Order of Orror, the other option was to somehow instigate a reform of both religions. Both options weren't exactly likely, as far as he could see.

Perhaps official recognition from the ruling family? he considered. Or some sort of firm agreement about where each religion's authority begins and ends. The Order of Enochiel doesn't do anything illegal, so Irzton has nothing to stand on in an actual case, they're just going out of their way to pick out the most insignificant 'crimes' any of our followers might be involved with and running with it. Like cops arresting people for jaywalking. And as for Orror, family and birth is all well and good, but doesn't actually directly cover sex.

A frown crossed his face. I talked to Kakais, so maybe it would be worthwhile to reach out to the Children of Kakais...

Mahat looked up from her spot on the bed. It wouldn't be the worst idea. And/or the Order of Utsus, since we're already on friendly footing with them. If all three of us were to confront the Irztonites and Orrorists, they'd only have the Krutunites and Bikullanians to call on.

Ahsch nodded slowly. _I don't see the Krutunites getting involved either way, or at least, not in a way that would really matter. War and honor aren't really at stake here, not without a good deal of mental gymnastics. Though if the Church of Irzton was involved in my murder, I'm pretty sure the Krutunites wouldn't like the sound of peacetime assassination._

The Bikullanians though... enough of them would be willing to back whoever was more economically-beneficial to them.

The familiar huffed a breath. Why not give them some of our health care stuff? Enochiel might offer free healthcare, but if we're the only ones doing it, we're likely to get swamped. But if the Bikullanians can take some of the pressure off by offering the same service for payment, then maybe the wealthier members of the population would go to them rather than us. Takes some of the pressure off us, gives them business, and makes a friend.

The Dominant Mage raised an eyebrow at Mahat. That's a good idea, actually. And honestly, something we could offer for more than just the healthcare. If we ever start developing medicine or other contraceptive methods - or hell, sex and kink toys - we could offer effective stuff that works but isn't particularly 'fancy,' while they can sell over-engineered or pretty versions.

After a few more moments of thought, Ahsch pulled out paper and a quill and started writing up a letter to the Faithful of Bikulla, outlining the idea. All the while, the question of the Krutunites spun in the back of his head. Without proof of Irztonite involvement in his murder, he wasn't optimistic about them helping, but maybe there was something he could leverage. Maybe something to do with his domain of bonds helping with honesty - and therefore, honor?

But even without them, assuming the Children of Kakais and the Order of Utsus would back him, and he could win over the Bikullanians, it would be four against two should things with the Church of Irzton and the Order of Orror come to a head.