It's frequently weird being a priest of the goddess of oracles. But it's been getting weirder. A godwar happened, and he happened to learn, without seeking it out, that this had been foretold.
And now... another is. At a specific place, on a specific day, at a specific exact time.
And though he can't speak it, can barely even think it, there's more.
"As the Archcountess commands. C̴̢̧̧̡̛̩̩̹̗̭̤͍̘̣̤͇͍̖̙̥̭̜̳̽̒̄̏̆̍͑̓͐́́̊̓̇̔́͆̈̚ą̸̼͇̥͉̮̊̍͛̔̉̕͝y̸̨̧̘͇̻̼͈͔̹̮̜͇̩̤̟̘̏̈͊͑͌̌̀̆̆͑͆͂̽͐̌̃͑̈̈́͘͜͠͝d̴̦͕̟̙̦̹̦͎̘̰͓̓̈́͆͊̎͆̋̓͐̑͒̾̎͗̔́̈̌̇͠͝ͅę̷̗̬̹̼̪̺̖̲̬̗̱̭̮́̔̀̒̏̉̑̽͑̌̄̅̌̈̍́̔͜͠͝͝ņ̸̡̧̭͕̦͎̯͕͖̮̣͖̠̣̻̻̞͚̍̑̈́́͊̈́̀̊̑̊̍̑͋̒͘͝͠ͅ ̶̨̡̨͚̦̖͇̭͈͇̙̞̺̖̦͉̭͇̮͙̘̩̭͓͕̍̎̐̆̔̐̉͝C̴̤̬͍̬̲̹͇̳̜̫͖͛͒̀̿̑̒̍̒̓̔͌̊̇͜a̸̧̠̰̟͕̪̞̬̔̐̎̑̀̀̋̂̈̾̈́i̵̧̧̨̢̛̛͉̠͎̳̟̫̹̠̹̫͍̼̖̹͇̥̪̫͉͍̮̳̟̖͉̮̫̔̑͒̑̀̋̋̾̈́̃̀̌͋̔͛̅̃̊͑̅̿̄͋́͗̎̋̑̉̌̚͜͜͠l̷̢̧̥̞̺͉̣̰̤̙̓̇͐͂͜é̶̡̛̛̱̩̖̦͙̠̰̩͎̱̥͍̙̹͎͚̤̩͆̈́́̓̂͌͗̏̅͋͗̎̽̋͛̿̀̐̀̏̆̊̈́͘͝͠͝ȁ̸̡̛̪͇̣͍̝̭̻͌͛̄̎́̀͒̋́̋̑̉̍̆̃͆̒̏͌͂̏̽̀͘͘͝n̴̡͓̹̰̬̰͖̗̯̠̟̲̜͇͔͒̔̉́̅́̈́͜."
"You'll probably understand it in... about an hour and a half. Erecura is a demigoddess of secrets but she prefers to be a friendly one."
But not infinitely so. And the time approaches. He has a grandfather clock, and has put a line where the hour hand should be, when the lunar eclipse begins.
"And so it begins," he intones, managing to keep the smile out of his voice just long enough.
"Since I had to be a sober, serious advisor for so many sober, serious people and come across as convincing."
In Absalom, events began three hours earlier. Many cities across Golarion have heard about it by now, but in Cheliax spreading true information is not considered a desirable thing, and so outside a few notables among the Crown and Church, it is unknown.
The warning came from the mouth of an oracle, so Theopho would know, if he had asked. But even if he thought to, he would not have bothered. He knows what is at stake. And soon those thoughts will come unbound.
Erecura is a demigod, and does not have a terribly large budget for interventions on the Material Plane. She is, while of Golarion originally, also less focused on her planet of origin than most ascended mortals. There, prophecy is broken, and this interests her. And there a god was killed, which as perpetrator of one of the most successful acts of hubris, and thus patron of it, also interests her. But she would normally husband her interventions.
But soon all accounts will be settled, all debts either collected or gone permanently into arrears. Her stores of power are being burned on something rather different, but for a weak action like passing a few sentences to the ears of a priest, which burns only stored latitude-to-affect-mortals, she can do to every one of her (not very numerous) anointed clerics.
"Magewar in ten minutes. Enormous lethal radius around Starstone. Start running NOW. Avoid mage-works. Dismiss outsiders. Don't go ethereal. Don't look back."
"Hiiii everyyyyyone! It's Pilar Pineda! Sorry we had to hold the fight here, but everyone needs to run away now! Abscond! FLEE!"
"I, Carissa Sevar, wish to avoid deaths so numerous that the River of Souls overflows and loses some forever. You can help by not being among them."
"I'm Keltham. What you're about to see is a warning explosion one thousandth as powerful as the lesser forces to be unleashed here."
Theo blinks, mutters "Don't look back" absent-mindedly. His eyes are half-closed and unfocused.
"Erecura wants me to know what the oracles are saying in Absalom. 'Magewar in ten minutes around the Starstone. Run away. Don't look back.' Lady Pineda and Empress Sevar are there, too. And the outsider."
“These are strange days. For gods as much as for mortals, I think." And last days.
“Magewar in ten minutes. Godwar, I expect, in twelve. And the death of Cailean within fifteen."
“Huh, I didn't expect that to come loose yet. Weird feeling, isn't it?
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