"We know that in LA they were worshipping the Mouths, and that Louise and associated worship the Liar, and that Mariam who would presumably know both of those facts said we were following the same God."

"But -- even if they are the same god -- that doesn't mean that summoning the Mouth entity is the same as summoning the Liar. It might just be -- a part. Like how the Mouths themselves are already physically separate parts of a single entity."

"Given the Masks thing that's... plausible." Flipping through notes flipping through notes. "Trammel and Ayers both thought they were the same but that doesn't rule out the parts of a whole theory, I think?"

"So, what, there might be other liar body parts, or something?"

"Or other things entirely — we know someone called Nephren Ka has been harassing Zoe, one of the books seemed to be saying the Liar is a math proof —"

"Could be they were trying to summon something bigger than the Mouth entity that night. Could be after they summoned it they were going to -- physically bind it, to, to--" he does not actually want to say that maybe Lev was intended as a human vessel for their god "--maybe, who knows, maybe they summoned an entire god into our reality so they could complete a big enough spell or something -- we really don't know."

"Maybe it was two separate rituals and they just scheduled them back to back for convenience." Shaky laugh.

At at 3pm, Sir Martin Blackwood emerges from a sewer grate outside the front of the hotel.

He does a little wave.

that is NOT NORMAL. suspicious human.

"Hi! Um, so you guys are the rest of the people fighting the cultists? I'm, uh, Sir Martin Blackwood-- uh, Sister Araari probably told you that-- sorry."

Martin is 6'4" and the kind of fat that does not remotely cover up muscle at all.

Araari bows. “Yes, these are my companions.”

There was no reason to expect shining armor but he's so very mundane-looking. Oswald pats Magnificence reassuringly and nods.

"Hello Sir Blackwood," Mordred says. (He is extremely aware that Martin knows him as Lukas Marsh and is really unsure whether to give his actual name.) "Thank you for keeping Araari safe yesterday."

"No worries! Happy to help.

So, uh, we should probably-- go up to your hotel room? Unless it's bugged. Not trying to say that you're bad at sweeping for bugs, just. I am definitely the only person in the catacombs because everyone else who tries would, um. Die."

(He is wearing casual clothes, about six years out of date, with mud stains that didn't get out even with conscientious scrubbing.)

"I don't believe we've been bugged." Dammit they should've done a spot check on the hotel rooms.

Oh man yeah that was super dumb of them. Although Lev's been staying in the rooms all day, right? So at least the men's room should be unbugged?

"Let's go upstairs?"

Martin goes up to the hotel room, sits down, and out of sheer force of habit looks around for tea to make.

"Deadly catacombs, huh?" Oswald says, because there are too many other starting options.

"Oh yeah," Martin says. "Centuries ago the Knights of Malta laid traps all throughout the old Christian catacombs, to ward off our enemies. They're not dangerous if you know where they are, or have someone to guide you. You can get anywhere in the city through the catacombs.

Of course, sometimes the Christian catacombs have collapsed-- building projects, that kind of thing-- and you have to go down into the secret catacombs of the Hypogeum to get anywhere."

"That is. a lot of catacombs." Hey resident anthropologist, does Hypogeum ring any bells?

Lev bounces. "You can go into the Hypogeum?? Have you found any artifacts?? Have you examined the bodies-- I have so many questions-- have you figured out whether they're hunter-gatherers or agriculturalists-- or pastoralists I guess but there aren't really pastoralists in Malta I'd think it's too small-- are there burial goods?"

"Um. We... have found bodies? Yes." He guesses wildly. "They're... hunter gatherers?"

"Oh, that's amazing. Mordred, you have to take me to the catacombs."

"....Martin apparently I have to take Lev to the catacombs."

"Oh! Yes. I can help you do that."

"What... is... the hypogeum."