The Heavenly Host

“I am getting spoiled in Tierhallon,” Hilda told Stevos as they entered Murgatroy. Beragamos had asked her to introduce Stevos to their new tactic of using “on-the-ground intel.” He had mentioned that everyone had been so pleased with her quick success, they were going to be doing a lot more on-the-ground work and that if she was interested after this was over, she would be a huge asset to the new team.

Hilda has smiled graciously and replied that it was a huge honor. She had left it at that. She really had not been sure how much she wanted to have a job that required a lot of travel. Although, if her expense account continued at the current level, that would more than compensate. At least, that’s how she felt until she and Stevos arrived in Murgatroy. Ugh!

Muddy, dung-filled streets with no sidewalks other than a few wooden planks here and there. Rough wooden buildings right up alongside poorly constructed stone buildings. The smell? Horrible. The town was overrun with animals and some odd beasts of burden. And there were orcs. Lots of orcs. Quite a number of alvar as well.

Truly amazing that the city was still standing with both alvar and orcs in it. It had been her understanding that the two races frequently clashed, even in non-wartime situations. If alcohol was involved, it was considered guaranteed. Yet there was no question that there was alcohol in this town. Bad alcohol, vinegary and nasty, mixed with the smell of vomit and urine. Every alleyway they passed was an assault on her nostrils. Seriously, the damn wards around Freehold had been less of an assault on her person than the stench from some of these alleys.

Fortunately, she was not in her saintly attire. Since they were undercover, she was dressed in leather breeches and sturdy leather boots. Hidden beneath her rather large leather coat, she had a knit shirt and silk undergarments, fortunately. Otherwise, there would be no question of chafing in the stifling heat of this city. The humidity was quite atrocious. Her hair was apparently on strike and curling in random directions.

Stevos was dressed similarly and appeared quite happy to be out of saintly attire. Even as she was thinking this, he spoke up. “It’s really nice to be back in normal clothes.”

Hilda grinned at him. “You think it’s nice? Try walking through the mud in slippers and a white gown with gossamer lacing along the bottom trim.”

He shuddered and grinned back. “Yeah, women saints have it far worse, I agree with that.”

“At least those of us from the Sisterhood. The women Rod members have a better getup,” Hilda noted.

“Yeah, but think of the knightly saints; they have to wander around in full armor all the time.”

“How is that different than how most of them lived their entire lives? How often have you seen a Knight Rampant or a Paladin not in armor?”

Stevos grinned at her. “Point taken. Although, in my defense, we did not get a whole lot of knight anythings down here. Mainly Brothers and Sisters, along with priests and an occasional Rod detachment.”

“Given what I’ve seen so far, it is probably a good idea to keep the knights away,” commented Hilda. “There are too many suspicious characters here, most almost certainly up to no good. Plus all the orcs, goblins and other unsavory types would probably distract them and cause all sorts of unwanted political issues.”

Stevos nodded. “The Church keeps a much lower profile down here. We also interact more with the churches of the Holy Siblings than in other parts of Norelon.”

“And probably in Eton,” Hilda said. “I lived in Eton and while we saw Sibling church members, we had very little interaction with them. Rather odd, I always thought, but who was I to say?”

“Do you ever encounter any avatars from the Sibling Hosts?” Stevos asked.

“Only at official dinners. They will show up to those, but they generally only interact with the highest ranking avatars on our side.” She paused. “Where does this illuminary of yours, Teragdor, live?” she asked, adjusting the subject to their current business.

“ ‘Around’ is about the best I can say, unfortunately.” Stevos said with a grimace.

“Around?”

“He’s itinerant and travels the area around Murgatroy and many of the deeper villages of Murgandy,” Stevos said. “He just happened to be in Murgatroy when the D’Orcs came to town.”

“He is still here?” Hilda asked.

Stevos shrugged. “I would think so; it was just last night that he contacted me. If he’s not still in the city, he is going to be close by.”

“Very well, then. Can you follow your illumination line to him?” Hilda asked.

“I should be able to. I have never really had to do it from the Planes of Men before. Normally I’m doing it from Tierhallon and so — ”

“I know.” Hilda beamed at him and gave him a small pat on the shoulder. “It is trickier here because everything is close and the lines tangle. From up there, the lines spread out over all of Astlan so they become easier to track. Down here, it is like being in a bowl full of noodles trying to follow a single noodle!”