"Kybele! I foresee a glorious day ahead of us, although admittedly such things aren't worth that much these days. Who are we still waiting on?"

"The fellow from the curio shop, Fyllemen, and Irabeth's lot, and Ember. Where are you on commissioning those ballads, I'm holding you to that and can't wait."

He laughs.

"Well, Aranka has made me the very compelling pitch that she'll be there and is thus significantly more qualified to write about it after, which I had to admit was fairly persuasive, but I think there's also a call for retellings with less of a focus on accuracy than that. Half the fun is in a tale too outlandish to possibly take seriously, as long as it still maintains enough truth to force you to do so anyway, so I've penned a letter to some of my more usual sources to see about getting that squared away. Either I live, in which case I'll be sending them more details, or I die here and they're to make sure to emphasize how it absolutely wasn't my fault and I perished solely due to my own irrepressible heroism in the defense of others. Either way, I've been very clear that you're to have a starring role."

"How positively sublime. Do you do this a lot, to have usual sources?"

"Oh yes. That's half the fun in doing outlandish things, to give other people something exciting to talk about. The other half is my own bragging, of course."

"They must sing your name in every tavern for leagues around."

"Well, I can't say I've traditionally seen much success garnering fame on the demonic side of the wardstone line, but I suppose this makes an excellent opportunity to change that. And perhaps once the crisis is over, I shall take it upon myself to take a vacation in Absalom so the poor souls there need not endure without hearing of our exploits, even if I have to attend all the very best parties to do it."

"You would go in person? Your dedication is astounding. The boredom of the souls in Absalom who have not yet heard of the excitement must resonate so deeply within your heart."

"It's true. My virtue is so astounding, it's a wonder Iomedae has yet to offer to make me her cleric. Perhaps she feels that I already overshadow my dear cousin too much as it is."

The next arrival shows up around then, a red faced crusader from the eagle's watch that Kybele might recognize from earlier.

"Captain Tirabade sent me to inform you that we are currently mustering with Hulrun at the Temple of the Inheritor, and should be ready to join you inside the hour; they say they'd like to meet with you and whoever else is helping you to coordinate to talk strategy before the attack, but that they're currently praying for spells and can't do so right this instant."

"I'd offer to go to them but am still expecting Ember to meet us here. Thank you for letting me know."

He salutes her on instinct, then thinks better of it and flushes more, his arm dropping back to his side.

"I'll relay that to them now."

She salutes back, but ironically.

Ember still hasn't arrived by the time that Ramien emerges from his prayer.

"The good news is that Desna has agreed that I ought to be 5th circle for this, which means I now have breath of life, burst of glory, and two castings of dispel evil. In more mixed news, she seems to think I need repel vermin in addition to the holy smite, greater magic weapon and crusader's edge I asked for, which means we'll probably have to deal with that at some point but at least should be prepared for it. The bit that makes me nervous is that she supplied me with an unorthodox miracle to put a number of targets to sleep without going through spells, which is either a very serious warning about what level of resistance we should expect or a sign that she's prepared to back us all the way."

"Repel vermin? Like the locusts yesterday?"

"Yes, or other insects, rats, and so forth. It's got a radius of 10 feet or so around me it should keep clear for an hour and a half after I cast it."

"Good to have the heads up. If Deskari shows up again will even a repaired wardstone do anything?" she asks, beekeeperizing herself.

"... if Desna thinks Deskari will show up again in person, I think this wouldn't be the approach she'd take. A demon lord's intervention that she knew was coming is the kind of thing she or Black Butterfly would manifest in person to deal with, or at least tell Iomedae to send a few hundred paladins to kill him from ambush. But he can still command swarms from a distance, and some of his followers have related abilities; it's those that I would expect this to deal with."

"Oh, good. Does anyone else want paper netting? I don't think it'll hold up without reinforcement against a determined bug, let alone a rat, but it'll buy you a moment."

Most of them will take it, Daeran in particular seeming to delight in how outlandish it looks.

Camellia will also make her way out at this point, and accept the netting on the condition that Kybele make it the proper shade of blue.

"I've got evil eye and several second circle spells, including barkskin, so I think I can safely say that was a success."

"Marvelous." She can blue the paper net for Camellia; she doesn't want to ruin her allies' images. Even if they don't work like her.

"I'm starting to get worried about Ember."

"I see your point. Shall we go looking for her?"

"I don't know where we'd start, but maybe a quick jog through likely areas to see if we can find her or Soot. Anyone else up for joining the search?"

Ramien will join them, in case the issue is that she's injured; he asks Daeran and Aranka if they'd be willing to stay by the temple in case she shows up, since with their horses it should be relatively easy to ride them down to deliver the news.