(Sorry for the length of this one. As I was going, it became less of a 'best of' and more just a chronicle of events. At least I stayed mostly on topic.)
Topic number two: Dissent: Spies, Cults, Demons, and False Prophets
Believe it or not, those were all at one point happening to me at the same time. But I'll get to that further down.
This one's mostly in honour of Xar's events--he's the one showing the creativity here, with his multitude of disasters and worries, and the way he tied in early events with later ones. I'll also go a little into the Asta/Maeror struggling, as his efforts tied in with and around the troubles I had with cults.
It all began way, way back, during my war with Adomorn... but then, I've already shared the beginning. I killed some demon summoners in Bhakti's city of Ayre, who were on the edge of calling
something through from another realm...
The AllFather wrote:The demon summoners of Ayre stood in front of the black and red altar, their high priest holding the still-beating heart of Maeror's messenger, chanting together in an attempt to summon the presence of their patron into the world; the beating of the human heart was slowly echoed by the whole chamber, as if it were a gigantic, ancient heart, only now returning to an unholy form of life. Blood dripped on the floor, but the worshipers paid no attention to it; their chant was reaching a crescendo that led them to feel ecstasy run through their veins and into their bones. Their patron's presence was closer now, his eye was being attracted towards Eiran by the power not just of this sacrifice, but of the many sacrifices and the great devotion that had come before it. Far from Eiran, in the Outer Darkness, something stirred, as the chanting and the sacrifice called for it through the empty space of a dimensional exile. The entity shook, and shook again, as the words trickled through a pinprick hole into the prison holding it captive, awakening it, awakening its great power; a crack of existence opened in the nethervoid of the entity's jail, and through it, a whiff of reality reached the prisoner, who slowly awakened. It made no sound: no sound could be heard in the Outer Darkness. But it moved, and it started approaching the crack, seeing a chance to escape its prison.
Just then, Maeror's hand struck, and the worshipers saw the terrible visage of Death; the chanting was interrupted, the crack began to close. The entity knew rage, but also fear; soon it would be trapped in the nethervoid again, but the crack was too small for it to escape. Desperately, it tried to hold the crack open with a monstrous appendage, but the walls of its prison could not be stopped. With a silent scream of fury and pain, the crack closed, severing the entity's appendage; unseen by Maeror's wrath, a monstrous, reddish, clawed hand fell on the altar, severed neatly at the wrist, still writhing and squirming with horrid mockery of life. As the Lord of Death's presence retreated from the place of worship, the dead did not see the effects of their summoning; but the Hand didn't remain in that place of torment for long. When the corpses were discovered, and the cult's existence uncovered, two days later, the Hand was nowhere to be found.
I immediately warned Bhakti, of course, that this hand had been released in his city and may be lurking somewhere near it. We searched for it, but I was not to hear anything more of it for a very long time.
It was my change of heart, on this same turn, that began my trouble with cults and splinter sects. While Admar met with the commanders of the siege, I received this:
The AllFather wrote:A small heresy of your people is disgusted by your sudden "change of heart", and keeps worshiping your dark and grim, brooding aspect. They break off from the main church, and refuse to further acknowledge the authority of Admar, claiming he has become soft-hearted, and is no longer worthy of being the Prophet of the God of Death.
Occupied with moving the men of Adomorn's army away from my lands, I left this sect unharmed.
The AllFather wrote:The small heresy grows stronger as another display of your "nauseating soft-heartedness" manifests as the barrier. Calling themselves the Grim Reapers, they keep worshiping a grim and dark version of you, and abandon the idea of the Goddess of Healing, considering Maeror as the God of Death and Oblivion.
Fortunately, there was something I could do:
The AllFather wrote:Glianneth's fame reaches epic levels; ballads and tales are composed about him, and his word alone can sway people to your worship. Even among the nonbelievers, Glianneth's name has become legend, and many would do anything he would ask them to.
I asked Glianneth, who had recently been named my Divine Emissary, to speak to the cultists, and sway them back to my worship.
Maeror wrote:My followers have fallen into heresy because of my chosen path, but there remains one who might change their thoughts. Glianneth is to speak to the people of Maeror, to send his word out against this heresy. He will argue for the rightness of my change and the folly of wishing to worship one who would destroy their souls. Speaking of my mercy and forgiveness, he will bring them back into the fold.
The AllFather wrote:Fueled by your power, Glianneth speaks to your people, decrying the folly of the heresy that has taken the hearts of so many deluded followers, and urging them to see the truth about the Lord of Death. Many are moved by his persuasive words, but still a core of hardened worshipers refuses to pay him heed.
And of course the troubles could not be singular; Glianneth was murdered, as posted before, by one of Undine's followers, and disasters multiplied:
The AllFather wrote:A famine manifests itself among your people, due to the wanton destruction of fields and granaries on the part of Adomorn's soldiers when they moved towards Fort Hope. The famine is additionally compounded by the fact that the army that even now marches towards Fort Hope is requisitioning any food supplies it recovers.
A group of adventurers, during an expedition into the mountains, inadvertently remove a strange glowing (and obviously magical) gem from its resting place in a temple-like structure; shortly afterwards, the very mountain where the gem rested erupts, revealing itself to be a previously dormant volcano. The temple-like structure is destroyed by molten lava, and the adventurers only barely manage to escape. The volcano's eruption provokes earthquakes throughout your lands, destroying several small villages on the sides of the mountain and killing many; clouds of black smoke and ash rise from the volcano, clouding your lands in darkness.
Simjen and Jove aided me in solving those problems; Simjen, at that time, took the domain of Volcanoes. It was also the turn when the city of Bassina joined my cult. (I wrote that up as my priests converting a town, not founding one, though the place never existed until I wrote that up.)
Glianneth was brought back into my service with an act of power that precursed Maeror's claim to the domain of Life:
Maeror wrote:A delegation from Maeror comes to Adomorn's new city of Sanctuary. With them are priests, a few pilgrims, stomemasons to lend their skill to the cities construction--and a small armed guard bearing the body of a divine emissary.
Glianneth's form, wrapped in the gods protective power to keep it from decay, is taken by these men to the Pantheon Temple in Sanctuary, where he is lain in its centre. Days pass, and the men stand guard around the body, insisting they maintain ceremony when any attempt to challenge them.
In the realm of the afterlife, Maeror wraps his power around the soul of Glianneth, strengthening it, infusing it.
On the fifth day, it begins. The hand of Love, bearing the power of another god in Maeror's name, reaches into the temple. Bhakti infuses the flesh of Glianneth with Undine's divine power. And Maeror reaches out, and she takes this strength, and he sends out the soul of the emissary. The strength Bhakti has placed in the body becomes, under the Healer's guidance, the spark, the light of life. And Maeror's hand thrusts into the world of the living, and body and soul of the dead are fused into one in a burst of divine might.
Glianneth, the Emissary, the Chosen, rises from Death into the realm of the living. He brings with him a message to Sanctuary, to the Pantheon.
"This place, wrought under the guidance of Honor and Justice, is offered as a pledge between the gods, that they may work together, in peace, and that we of different faiths may also stand together, in peace. Maeror has chosen to stand on the side of peace, and so am I sent to stand for him. I, Glianneth, divine emissary of Maeror, represent the gods of Death and Health."
[Bhakti should be sending the 1DRP mentioned above to Glianneth's body. I will put 2DRP of my own into the restoration of his soul to his living form. Glianneth is now my official representative in the meeting of faiths at Sanctuary--hopefully this act will show such support of Adomorn's proposal that others will put more stock in it also.]
Of course, the idea of Sanctuary never really caught on, and I was one of only a few to send important representatives there.
The next of my troubles was from Fiends, as they breached the afterlife itself to steal souls:
The AllFather wrote:Fiendish incursions into the realm of the dead begin and slowly become more common, as fiends open portals into the realm of the dead and send in raiding parties which steal several souls before retiring into the portals, which close down behind them.
A simple use of power to strengthen the boundaries of the afterlife is all I did to stop that.
Throughout the game, many of us have heard of the same things happening: voices speaking from the darkness and in dreams, giving orders in our name. Thus was Glianneth attacked by one of Undine's. Directly following the previous events, I saw two such incidents on the same turn:
The AllFather wrote:A warlord named Untharl raises an army in your name, claiming to have received a dream from the Lord of Death, and to have been chosen to bring the gift of death to all who infest the land of Olaern. He raises your banner and draws many to him, leading them out of your lands and beginning to prey upon travelers and villages in Adomorn's lands.
One of your worshipers, a murderer named Analani, reaches the lands of Adomorn and, claiming to be fulfilling the will of the Lord of Death as it was told to him by the voices of the dead, ambushes and murders Grathgor, one of Adomorn's most prominent followers and the warleader of Adomorn's army when it attacked your lands, desecrating his corpse and claiming this is what awaits all who follow Adomorn's way and spite the Lord of Death.
I allowed Adomorn to deal with the murderer as he saw fit. I can't seem to find exactly what happened to Untharl, but an action taken a turn later states that he was somehow convinced to end his crusade.
The next turn saw Nor Yekith's short leave begin, and my ill-begotten attempt to profit from his absence. While my prophet and armies were gone, more spies appeared, and the first major cult began to arise:
The AllFather wrote:A spy among your followers in Fort Hope is exploiting the absence of the Lord-General to draw the people away from your worship, spreading word of a "new god" who sounds suspiciously similar to Vadhaka Chorah.
Several of your worshipers gather in a cult they call the Cult of the Bloodstained Hand, which worships you as the deity of Murder because of your ties with life and death.
I began this turn by attempting to deal with what was left of the warlord's army:
Maeror wrote:Maeror visits the old dragon Or in Ai-Lamentum, and delivers him these words:
"We have a task for you to perform. There are, among our followers, a group who were led astray by the servant of another god. Even when this servant was brought to change his path, these followers of mine would not relinquish their belief in his lies. They cause pain and destruction in the land of my neighbour--and even now, an army marches to destroy them.
"I would avoid this end. I ask that you leave this temple for a short time, and find these followers before their doom is sealed. Show them your strength. Teach them your wisdom. Do anything you can to prevent the slaughter, and return these people to the correct path. Of all our servants in this world, you are the one who might convince them of their fault."
Alas, it was not enough:
The AllFather wrote:Or hears your words and flies to meet your false army before Argothoth's and Adomorn's armies fall upon them. The dragon's words are persuasive, but many of those soldiers are fanatical in their beliefs and not so easily swayed; although a few repent and flee the army with Or before the battle starts, most of them stay behind, and are decimated by the armies of undeath and justice. From their corpses, imbued with necromantic energy, a great corpse dragon is slowly constructed, an entity with sentience which calls itself Roghnarh, which is welcomed by the undead as an omen of their god's favor, and which is regarded by the surviving members of the false army with horror beyond belief.
For the Cult, I try an old method first:
Maeror wrote:My Divine Emissary Glianneth is charged with the task of speaking out against movements like the Cult of the Blood-Stained Hand, reinforcing our word, convincing my people to remain upon the true path.
And the spy:
Maeror wrote:At times, the simplest option is the best. Though it pains him to do so, the Lord claims the soul of the spy in Fort Hope, in hope that the seeds he has sown will wither in his absence.
These actions do as is intended; little response is received to them. The next turn, however, is when the problems began to truly multiply. My prophet still on Khenstorn, the army there and in Serenity, Maeror's lands were falling to all kinds of heresies:
The AllFather wrote:A false prophet in Grief claims to have visions of the future, and tells high tales to your people, drawing them away from your faith.
Worshipers of yours in Bassina turn to diabolism, performing unspeakable rites and murdering innocent victims. They claim to serve "The Hand".
Yes, it had finally come back to bite (grope?) me in the ass.
I leave my prophet in Serenity for the time being; my armies on Khenstorn are withdrawn. Meanwhile, I investigate what lies behind these events:
Maeror wrote:The Lord of Death looks into the town of Bassina and into the lands around it, searching with his power for signs of demonic energy; and in particular, for those sensations he had felt when, years earlier, he had slammed a door between realms shut in Ayre, spilling demonic blood.
[1DRP]
*
Loyal priests from the City of Regret are sent across the water to Grief, to investigate this false prophet and attempt to draw the people back onto the path of Maeror.
The AllFather wrote:In Bassina, a powerful evil energy is felt: the cult of diabolists grows stronger by the day, and the focus of their worship is a former High Priest of yours, now somehow twisted by demonic energy and not entirely alive, who sports a demonic Hand instead of a normal right hand.
Loyal priests from Regret reach Grief, but the false preacher, apparently warned about their coming, left days ago, heading towards the mainland. Rumor has it he's marching towards Fort Hope, gathering his converts around him as a makeshift army.
Despite Glianneth's efforts, the Cult of the Bloodstained Hand grows in power and popularity as your followers feel that dark times are ahead.
A splinter sect detaches from your church, worshiping "Maeror the Taker" and "The Harvester of Souls", claiming that you are the taker of all lives and the harvester of all souls, and that you grant eternal bliss to the worthy, but devour the souls of the guilty. They are a "fire and brimstone" cult which threatens obliteration for all those who do not follow your commands.
A follower of the Sect of the Taker begins penning the Tome of the Harvester, the holy book for the splinter sect.
And while these events continued to worsen, Astavyastataa arrived. The bastard.
The AllFather wrote:You see destruction and chaos raising their head throughout your lands, as some entities (which are somehow obscured, so that you cannot readily discern them or their intentions) appear to be spreading destruction and chaos, and attempting to proselytize in Astavyastataa Kadna's name. Their violence, threats, and at the same time their persuasive words are leading many to their preaching, creating a cancer of sort among your people.
His followers never were very good at obeying orders when it came to secrecy.
It was unfortunate for him that one of Mithyaat's followers chose this time to cause some mischief:
The AllFather wrote:In Porsulis, Illumar is slain by an assassin who hacks his body into pieces and leaves Astavyastataa Kadna's holy symbol on his corpse.
With so many of my people all turning to false doctrines, I decided to try an action that would guarantee that my true word would be known, and could not be contradicted.
Maeror wrote:As the sun rises high in the heavens, the suns rays cast their light through the great crystal spire of the Grand Temple. The light shatters into a thousand fragments casting shapes and patterns upon the wide plaza the fronts the temple. At its peak, the beams fuse once more, shining a single point of pure white onto the earth, in the centre of those red slabs of stone.
On the first day of the new season, as autumn turns to winter, the beams convene on that place, and the earth shakes. Upon that site, the ground falls away slabs of paving sinking into the round pit that forms in the centre; and from that hole, an object rises. It stands a metre in height, a block of some strange mineral, seemingly unbreakable--and yet, its surface is carved all over with text, worlds crawling across all sides: for written upon it is Maeror's rede. To honour the dead, and give care to the living. To seek cure to illness, and an end to suffering. To respect the followers of other faiths, to accept them when they intend no harm, and to respect the gods themselves who hold power over this world. To seek peace with their fellows, until hope of peace is lost, and at the last, to defend their homes and faith with all they can. All this and more is written, unchangeable, upon the stone.
And Ai-Lamentum is not alone in receipt of this word: In the Temple at Solimn, so soon after its consecration, a stone the twin of that in Ai-Lamentum rises. And in Bassina, before the doors of the sept; in Grief, at centre of the harbour front; Porsulis, the centre of the grand square that fronts the palaces; Regret, upon the hill that rises north of the city; in Serenity, at the temple there, and at the new settlment of Sorrow; and in the Mausoleum at Sanctuary.
Upon all are carved the same words, so that the will of Maeror be known; and throughout the realms of Maeror, the priests walk out to give the news of this word to the people, and pilgrimage to read the word begins, so that peace may be known among Maeror's people once more.
[2DRP]
To deal with those who will not convert, my prophet makes his return to the land of his home.
Maeror wrote:Admar Tellem Meckros is to lead some part of his men--whatever he feels necessary--back to Olaern, landing on the eastern coast and tracking the followers of the false prophet from Grief. They will act mainly as discouragement to these people, and Admar should attempt to resolve the issue without battle. If conflict should arise, they are to avoid killing wherever possible; make every effort to capture these followers who have gone with the false prophet, and especially to capture the 'prophet' himself so that he may be brought to justice.
The AllFather wrote:The Lord-General chases down the false prophet's followers, capturing most of them and persuading them where possible that they were acting wrongly. A few refuse to see the truth of the Lord-General's words, and are jailed.
Unfortunately, not all is as good this turn:
The AllFather wrote:Many of your people are found dead in gruesome ways, their heads severed from their bodies by no known weapon, or their corpses hacked into pieces in a most unsettling way. No one knows how these murders have been performed, and sometimes they have taken place even in heavily guarded areas, or in sealed rooms; rumors spread, and your people grow uneasy. Word also spreads that these murders are your doing, that you manifest your displeasure in this way; the weak-minded among your followers start believing these lies, and the lies themselves spread to the lands of other deities too. Then, two months later, theLord-General himself receives the visit of three black-clad assassins, who appear out of nowhere in his tent as he sleeps, and sneak up on him, fully intending to murder him, though no weapons can be seen. But theLord-General is crafty, and his sleep is faked; as soon as he feels them close, he grasps the hilt of the great sword Hope, and in a blur of motion that even the assassins cannot prevent, he slays them all before they can harm him or Siria. As they fall to the ground, hacked to pieces by the General's fury, one of them has the time to turn his eyes to the sky and whisper through bloodstained lips: "Lord Kadna! I come to your embrace!" before dying.
In Bassina, the cult of diabolists grows stronger by the day, and the Bearer of the Hand is quickly becoming known - and feared - among the common people.
The Sect of the Taker grows in power, as does the Cult of the Bloodstained Hand.
And of course, the most unexpected:
The AllFather wrote:The dead of Eiran have risen!
Actions must be taken. I quickly came to the decision to employ some... professional aid. I approached Vadhaka Chorah with my concerns about the Bearer of the Hand, and we arranged for a follower of his, the Shadow, to dispatch of this demon. At the same time, Admar proceeded upon a hunt for the members of the other sects:
Maeror wrote:Admar Tellem Meckros is given his next task: As he has apprehended the followers of the false prophet, he is now to use his men in a search through Maeror's lands for signs of the Sect of the Taker, and the Cult of the Bloodstained Hand. They will trace these cults and discover as many of their adherents as can be found, and apprehend them. When they have done as much as they can to this purpose in the most part of the lands, only then will they move in force to the north, and Bassina, where they will seek out the followers of the diabolist cult. By this time, the assassin's hand should have struck, and the cult left headless, so that they might be brought more easily to bear.
But as before, death should never be the first resort in these operations; however they have deviated from Maeror's teachings, or harmed Maeror's followers, they must be dealt with justly. Justice, in these times, is ever important.
[1DRP to aid in discovery and apprehension of Cult members]
The AllFather wrote:The Lord-General takes his people and searches through your lands for the Sect of the Taker and the Cult of the Bloodstained Hand. Several adherents are found and apprehended, though thoroughness makes for slow progress.
Asta continues his bumbling attempts at subterfuge:
The AllFather wrote:Astavyastataa Kadna's followers leave your lands. Among your people, dark rumors spread about your weakness and powerlessness, and about your supposedly dark nature. These rumors compare you to Astavyastataa Kadna and portray him as a protector and a natural part of the world, whereas you wouldn't be; as a result, many among the common folk are swayed and turn to his worship.
The results of the assassination were slow to arrive (Xar forgot to include them i my results
) but they were indeed satisfatory:
The AllFather wrote:The Bearer of the Hand and a large number of cultists are found dead in an underground temple, most of them with no signs on their bodies. The Bearer was lacking the Hand, which had been cut at the wrist, and had his throat slit.
Vadhaka shared with me the full story of what had occured:
The AllFather wrote:You empower the Shadow to find and dispatch the Bearer of the Hand, and to destroy the Hand itself. The Shadow travels to Bassina. You yourself are awed by his skills as he silently stalks the nights of Bassina, undetected by any, following both leads and his intuition, until he quickly discovers the underground temple of the Hand. There, he managed to sneak inside without being noticed, and watches as a grand ceremony is held by the Bearer himself. As he lifts his Hand to complete the blasphemous ceremony, the Shadow strikes, a blade sparkles in the darkness, and the Hand is severed at the wrist, falling down on the ground, trying to crawl away even as the Bearer doubles in pain, blood spurting from his stump. The audience is speechless, and the Shadow exploits this to crush the Hand with a powerful blow of his heel, breaking its fingers, before impaling it with a silver dagger. The guards finally react, but they are too late: the Shadow simply casts a pinch of black powder into the brazier near the altar, and thick black smoke fills the chamber; the Shadow slits the throat of the unconscious Bearer, grabs the impaled Hand and flees, even as the smoke poisons the worshipers, who quickly tumble to the floor, unconscious. Outside the chamber, the Shadow takes out a silver rope from his backpack and tightly wraps the impaled Hand with it, ensuring it cannot move at all; then, he drops it into a small silver chest which he locks shut. He drops the box into his backpack and leaves quickly. Once he is outside of town, he seeks out a hidden spot where he builds a fire as hot as possible, and drops the silver box onto it, invoking your blessing for its destruction.
Meanwhile, a group of my people have started a crusade against undead, which my priests attempt to talk them out of; another has created the Death's Skull:
The AllFather wrote:A mortal somewhere on Immeril crafts the Death's Skull, an artifact that makes everything within miles of it entirely barren, so that no blade of grass may grow, no beast may give birth, and living creatures within the area wither and die.
Which I swiftly destroy.
The next turn, Nephirthos arrives.
The AllFather wrote:Your people continue to search for the cults in your lands, apprehending more members of the Cult of the Taker.
You reach to Immeril and wrap your hand around the Death's Skull, making it dormant.
You spread the word among your people that the crusade against the undead should be stopped; reluctantly, your people reduce and then stop the hostilities, allowing the undead to leave your lands, despite the heavy hearts of the living as they watch the corpses of their loved ones shamble mindlessly away.
More rumors spread among your people, about your dark nature and your role as death incarnate; many people turn to the benevolent, all-generous Astavyastataa Kadna for worship.
(Whoever said Asta wasn't subtle? 
)
In Fort Hope, rumors begin to spread of the power of Moxinomal, Lord of Madness and Luck, and how in these trying times only He of the Mox can help those in need. Rumor has it that a high priest of Moxinomal is hidden in the city, and spreads the god's word.
Would I never get a turn where there was not some kind of cult or spy spreading lies?
My army are now occupied with helping my people after the destruction of Solimn; my prophet is sent into the devastation to face the servants of Nephirthos. I recruit Simjen's aid in the creation of a new artifact, that will divine truth from falsehood:
Maeror wrote:Maeror sends his power to Simjen, so that the God of the Forge can craft for him a stone that divines truth from falsehood. When the stone is made, the Lord sends it to Fort Hope with a message to the priests: each person in Fort Hope--beginning with Maeror's priests--is to speak his faith with hands upon the stone. Those who follow other gods are free to do so and to pledge so upon the stone; however, any persons who worship the Lords Astavyastataa Kadna and Moxinomal are to be held by the soldiers of the Fort for judgement, as are any demon-worshippers or members of the Cults.
[2DRP to Simjen to create the stone.]
I also attempt to strike back at Astavyastataa, using my domain of Justice (Hedra Iren had at this time withdrawn, and left us to act without her word as Law):
Maeror wrote:Maeror has judged Lord Astavyastataa for his violation of Law three seasons ago, and his failure to comply when given the opportunity to redeem himself. The Lord then sends his voice out across Eiran: In Moxville, in Sietch Chaos, Sietch Crumble, Sietch Destruction, across the Domain of Destruction, and in the parts of Maeror's own land where rumours have been spreading, the words form out of the air so that all hear:
"The Lord Astavyastataa Kadna, God of Suffering, has violated the divine laws of Eiran, and will be punished. If you follow this lord or his vassal, you risk harm if you stand with him longer. Your Lords will be opposed by the Pantheon, and will fall. Your Lord is weakened, and he acts rashly--those who serve him will lose their lives when he sends them against the pantheon. I am Maeror, Lord of Justice, and I give the innocent among you this opportunity: renounce your Lord for his crimes, and you will be spared from that harm."
[1DRP]
*
Then Maeror seeks across the world for the Favoured of Astavyastataa Kadna, his chosen murderers. Their ability to travel on the Winds hampered, he has less difficulty than he would have had in finding them. A hard act for him, now, yet he must: they are guilty of horrific crimes, and they are the ones the Lord Astavyastataa will rely on most when he strikes against Maeror, so, with no small measure of sorrow, the Lord claims the souls of all Favoured that he finds.
[2DRP to find and kill.]
The following turn, Asta's Penance Curse began--for the first time, something that worked exactly as he ordered it to. However, there was some hope:
The AllFather wrote:In Olaern, a vengeful mage from Ai-Lamentum, whose child was struck by the strange curse has divined the cause of it, and believes it is being spread by Astavyastataa Kadna's priests and Favored hiding in your lands. Though he is unable to stop it, the mage casts a mighty spell and curses Astavyastataa Kadna's worshipers in Olaern: any of his worshipers who sets foot inAi-Lamentum will appear like a monstrous, deformed humanoid with sickly skin, exhuding a terrifying stench and unable to speak coherent words for as long as they remain within the city walls. Following this, several of his worshipers, now easily detected among the population, are snuffed out by your hand.
Using your power, Simjen crafts the Stone of Assaying, a mix of black and white encased in an arc of gold. If those who touch it speak a lie, the stone turns black, while if they speak the truth, it turns white. Upon receiving the Stone, the temple of Fort Hope begins requesting that all priests and soldiers of Maeror swear their allegiance upon it, starting with the most trusted; the soldiers who have passed the test are then ordered to find, arrest and detain any who refuse to swear upon the Stone or whose oath is false. With the coming of the curse caused by Astavyastataa Kadna, your priests spread the rumor they will force everyone in Fort Hope to swear upon the Stone, and they will hang any who are shown to be false; in the next few days, the soldiers manage to exploit this situation to capture several dozen dissenters who tried to escape Fort Hope.
A group of your worshipers, enraged by Astavyastataa Kadna's multiple attempts at undermining your rule, found the Order of the Grim Hand, dedicated to eradicating his presence in your lands and to prevent further mischief.
And this is where things come to an end. There is a little more--in the next turn I tried once more to convert the Domain of Destruction; I sent the Stone of Assaying to the next city to cleanse it of dissenters; the Order of the Grim Hand received my blessing on their work.
However, the efforts were short-lived. Argothoth's attack on my lands destroyed most of my cities, and killed most of my people--there are no longer enough remaining to dissent.
*
