was, after all, undermining their faith to an extent.
Asmodeus continued, remaining perfectly calm. “I have spoken with Talgaroth, the elder god of neutrality. He taught me the history of the elder gods. Upon banishing the evil gods, the gods of good retired to their own self-imposed exile, where they lay in slumber until the end of days. Talgaroth has been charged with ensuring that the evil gods do not break free from their confinement until such time.”
“Talgaroth, you say? Some scrawlings we encountered at the LeFay mansion spoke of a ‘devourer’.” Vlishgnath’s voice remained calm as well, while Thunderclese looked down at the sand in genuine confoundedness, and Maximus simply continued to listen to Asmodeus in complete silence.
Asmodeus nodded, and continued. “Belphegor the Devourer, yes. He, along with Temelachus the Decayer, and Jauphrimel Who is Death, comprise the evil axis of the elder gods. Talgaroth remains neutral, while Colopatrion the Creator, Melchisidek the Renewer, and Gazardiel Who Gives Life, comprise the axis of good.”
“Colopatrion! The fly demon called us children of Colopatrion in the dining hall!” Thunderclese had gotten very excited all of a sudden.
Asmodeus turned to him and grinned. “As well you are. All that you see in your world was created by Colopatrion, left in the charge of the young gods to govern over. Your deity, Mithos, is one such god, as is his opposing counterpart Necros.”
For several long minutes, none of them said anything.
Until, finally, Asmodeus spoke up again. “I realize this is a great deal to take in all at once. Admittedly, I was quite confounded when I first learned of it all from Talgaroth.”
Vlishgnath nodded slowly, his eyes a bit glazed over. “You’ve given us a great deal to think about, friend. I do have another question for you, however.” Asmodeus nodded his consent, and Vlishgnath continued. “How exactly are we to find the LeFay’s here in this place? The water stretches out as far as I can see, and if these…” he trailed off and gestured towards the creatures on the spit and those still clattering about around them, “…live in the shallow regions, I’d hate to venture a swim and find out what lurks in the deeper areas.”
Asmodeus laughed, audibly this time, and shook his head. “No, Sir Vlishgnath, we will not be swimming. I will arrange for our transportation as soon as my friend arrives.”
“Friend?” Vlishgnath grinned, looking around at the water that surrounded the small island as far as they could see.
Asmodeus simply smiled knowingly. “You will see.”
For what felt like quite a while, the three paladins sat with Asmodeus and ate, asking questions about the elder gods while Asmodeus proved to be fairly knowledgeable on the subject. Maximus mostly just ate bits of the roasted shellfish through his helmet visor, Thunderclese frowning when he realized Maximus wasn’t going to take his helmet off. Asmodeus shared some water from a water skin with them in plain wooden cups he kept in his satchel. As time went on, the quality of light never changed nor diminished, the red tide always washing up to roughly the same point.
Suddenly, though, Asmodeus sat upright, tilting his head as his ears perked up.
“What is it?” Thunderclese asked, looking around with an alarmed expression as even Vlishgnath began to sit up and reach for his helmet.
Asmodeus simply grinned. “Our ride has arrived, church knights.”
Gradually, the three of them heard it. Dozens of deep, bass voices, all male, chanting a serious sounding hymn with great enthusiasm, their voices joining together in a glorious harmony, the words of a language none of them understood, continually growing louder.
They all stood up, Asmodeus turning and taking his staff in his right hand, waving his arms as if to flag someone down. In the distance, a small speck began to take the shape of a massive wooden warship, its massive sails white with the ornate ancient runes of the Northmen stitched into them. The bow of the ship bore a carving of a dragon’s head. Several sets of oars stuck out of the port and starboard sides of the vessel, dipping into the water in rhythm with the chanting, and carried the ship forward.
Vlishgnath and Thunderclese gathered their gear and stood a few feet behind Asmodeus, who continued to wave his arms as the ship drew nearer.
“Does something seem…odd about that ship to you?” Thunderclese asked, pointing at the craft as it continued to draw nearer.
Vlishgnath nodded sternly, watching with fascination. “It’s an ancient design that hasn’t been in use for hundreds of years. To see it in such pristine condition is almost unheard of. Loremaster Garadain would likely give anything just for the chance to see what we are witnessing now.”
The large warship eventually dropped anchor a ways out from the beach, a pair of rowboats disembarking from it and making their way towards the shore. Large, square-jawed and broad-shouldered men, all bearded and clad in a combination of heavy furs and archaic chainmail, and bearing iron weapons, filled the rowboats to the brim. The largest of the men stepped forth from the first boat to make it to shore. His blonde beard in a set of long battle braids, he revealed himself to be missing a tooth when he smiled, extending his meaty hand out to shake Asmodeus’, ignoring the church knights for the moment. A tarnished silver circlet adorned his head, which Vlishgnath recognized as a sign of one of the Northmen chieftains. All of the men from the boats bore the same Northmen runes on their person in some form, be it clothing, armor, or adornments.
The large man spoke as he shook the hand of the half-demon, his voice deep, loud, and very self-assured, though his grasp of the common tongue was a tentative one. “Greetings, friend Asmodeus! It has been a long while since we have drank together and your voice has joined ours in a hymn of battle! My men, they tell me that this cannot be you, but I shout them down and tell them to bring Hjorngrimar around to pick you up!”
Asmodeus chuckled, returning the large Northman’s handshake. “Greetings, Dnieper! I thank you for sailing out of your way to pick me up. But first, I must introduce my friends. This is Sir Maximus the Bane of Necros, Sir Thunderclese the Divine Might of Mithos, and Sir Vlishgnath the Cleansing Light. They are strangers to these lands, just as you are.”
Vlishgnath, Thunderclese, and Maximus all brought their right arms up diagonally across their chest, beating upon the upper left side of their breastplate with their gauntlets in the traditional greeting of the paladins of the church. Dnieper laughed heartily, then nodded his head in response. Simultaneously, all of the other men from the boats let out a unanimous shout, their voices low and booming as they formally acknowledged the men their chieftain was greeting.
Dnieper approached Maximus, the confident grin never leaving his face as he strode up to the giant man without fear. “This one is quite the large one, yes? Hah hah! How do you move in this heavy suit of metals?!”
That said, Dnieper pounded on Maximus’s breastplate with the bottom of his right hand, laughing when Maximus didn’t move an inch or even so much as flinch. Dnieper looked up at him yet still somehow seeming to look down at him at the same time, as if their sizes were reversed.
“Very good! I like this man! He shows the fearlessness of Ygramir!” Then, striding past Thunderclese and clapping him heavily on the pauldron as he passed by, he came to stop in front of Vlishgnath. “Vilshgnat, was it?”
Vlishgnath smiled, bowing his head. “Vlishgnath.”
Dnieper furrowed his eyebrows, his grin widening as he puffed up his chest in mock indignation. “Just as I said! These are strange waters, are they not?”
Vlishgnath chuckled, nodding his agreement. “Indeed they are. Stranger still is the tale of how we came to be here.”
Dnieper’s grin faded, his expression turning somewhat serious as he spoke. “This is true. My men and I, we saw a green light on the horizon, and so we sail towards it, thinking perhaps it is the light of Yrgramir guiding us to adventure. But as we pass through the light, we find ourselves sailing in red waters, and now we cannot find our way back.” That said, Dnieper sighed, then shrugged his