'A great place for any ambush' mused Pitcarn to himself as he walked.

'Spread out a little. Keep within sight of each other, but not so that a single enemy can take down more than one man with one charge. Be on the lookout for anything vaguely suspicious around us, and if you think it's dangerous, shoot first and run from the flames after, got it?'

Pitcarn continued to lead the men down the path, hoping to find one of the villiages, or the coast.

Having come to an agreement, Desafon moves out of hiding and, if Paradox forces him out of here to go to Grumbra he will disappear, but otherwise he moves to sit down five minutes away from Pitcarn. His blades, however, are being sheathed back. For now, he will trust this Pitcarn but only as far as he must, his hands always within range to grab his twin blades.

Desafon was currently upon the Island of Grumbra. Removed from his place of ambush, now quite plain in sight for any who might stumble along the path, his Blades of Efficiency hummed softly, discontentedly within their sheathes. They were hungry for action.

Minutes passed, and Pitcarn soon stumbled upon Desafon sitting in the middle of the road, his para-flamers about him.

"What're we going to do, Pit?" asked the Sargent. "This the Pirate-fellow we've been briefed on?"

There was a shimmering nearby, and another hidden being revealed itself from the brush. It was of a shining silver, perfectly round - a Callisti.

Greetings, Aggressive Associate Pitcarn. Greetings, Affiliate Desafon. I have been sent to check the area, and Desafon, for traces of Madness. You expected my arrival, yes?

Desafon chuckles as he hears the Callisti, "About the only madness I know of is that one boy who taunted me, challenged me and then ran through a portal expecting me to follow him. Needless to say I spent a while confused on that one." He looks to the soldiers around Pitcarn, "Remember, I'm honorable but that doesn't mean that I'm just willing to let my whole island go to be destroyed. I'm fairly certain that there is a portion of the forest, near the tea, that might be... infected or somesuch, but other than that I do not believe there is anything else you'll find. Still, if its your requirement to search, be my guest."

Desafon has no traces of Madness. He is clean. Would you care for me to continue examining the island, Associate Pitcarn?

The Callisti hummed softly.

Pitcarn looked at the Callisti, torn. His desire to do his duty warred with his desire to play with the toys that had been made available to him. Eventually, duty won.

"Please, continue, as long as it does not inconveniance you from your other duties."

Desafon nodded, "I was fairly certain of that when the Tower folks asked me if I was tainted." He looks towards Pitcarn, watching and studying the man. Though there is currently no combat, it is wise to study your opponent. Or possible ally.

The Callisti darted off, promising to return once a proper analysis had been made.

"I am sorry for the doubt, but bureaucracy is one of the necessary evils of the Conclave; information does not always travel quickly.

other than that, Pitcarn awaits the return of the Callisti.

Nodding again, Desafon seems to understand. "Indeed. I believe in Bureaucracy only for the means of making money. Past that, it doesn't hold much interest for me." He also waits on the Callisti.

The Callisti quickly returned.

Associate Pitcarn, there is a seventy-three percent chance that the Island of Gumbra is infected with the residual traces of the Taint of Madness. This will have a warping affect on Perigo in due time if it is not dealt with now. Preferred response would be fire. There is massive magical-statistical correlation between the influence of the Conclave in this event and the significant actions of Desafon.

turning to look at Desafon straight on, Pitcarn follows the movements of his troops out of the corners of his eyes.

"Well, God of Duels, you have heard the Callisti. It has re-enforced my original orders, including that you now leave this island.

"I do not mind where you go, you may remain within you realm if you wish, but know that The Conclave requires you to remove yourself from the island of Grumbra immediately. Correspondence will not be entered into, this is not up for negotiation. This is also for your own safety. Please leave the island immediately."

Desafon looks towards the Callisti, his eyes now beginning to show signs of growing angry though he tries to keep his composure, "Define 'warping effect'." He says, uncertain if he wants to allow the m to continue their effort or try and stop them.

If Pitcarn and/or his people look trigger-happy, he'll be moving his hands towards his blades. "I'd like to know what is meant before I make my decision on just how... excited this situation gets."

Interrupting before the Callisti can speak, Pitcarn pleads with Desafon

"Desafon, please. The Conclave takes any risks to the the Great Tree very seriously, and any contagion, no matter how small, is a risk. I can sense that you are hesitant for the treatment of your island to be carries out, and were it not for the Callisti's previous pronouncement that you were clean of taint, I would suspect you of madness for your resistance.

"The Callisti has pronounced burning as the most preferred way of cleansing your island, from the Conclave's point of view. The Conclave will likely not be satisfied until this occurs. I would suggest pleading clemency to a High Lord in the Conclave herald would be your only course of action that may alter this, but I do not wish to give you false hope: Low Lord Maxilita has already been overruled once in regards to this mission, and I cannot promise that my next superior, High Lord Ruse, will be able to do anything.

"One more thing. I tell you this only because you have been declared clean of taint: The consequences of your actions here may be far beyond what you are willing to pay. The Conclave is willing to overlook scruffles between Gods, so attack me if you will, but if you so much as threaten one of my men, Conclave soldiers all, you will be declared an enemy of the Conclave. Rescind your question, accept the Conclave's judgment. You may be able to petition for compensation on account of damages suffered or the service you have rendered.

"I will say it straight for the last time: Stand Down."

The Callisti hums, silent above the two Gods, just as the soldiers behind the God of Food wait silently, awkwardly, the para-flamers cackling softly.

Finally, it spoke, bluntly but not unkindly.

In this case WARPING as defined by myself implies that the Mad God in which you killed is not truly dead, and might return, and if it does so then simply by holding small holds within this island it might claim territory and thus power.

Affiliate Desafon, you have no one to blame but yourself. In taking up the STAVE OF GUMBRA you destroyed the Mad God's form, but you did not hesitate to think of the price you might be costing this island. This is a Conclave matter.

No doubt the humm of the Blades of Efficiency sign to him as his hands are close enough to almost be considered touching them. He looks at the Callisti, "My fault?!?! I came to the Conclave, petitioned for assistance and I got nothing but a 'sorry, you're not a member of the Conclave, not our concern'. And now, after I've done all I could to kill the Mad God, you come back and tell me 'Ooops, we can't let this go by and so its your fault and we're going to destroy your island'. I don't know which is worse. You or the Mad Gods." He says, grumbling, no doubt feeling the Vicious nature of himself and, perhaps, the island.

"Give me a moment to consider this. I would've said yes if that bedamned Callisti didn't say it was my fault when its the bloody Conclave's fault for rejecting me first-hand. As for petitioning, I did it once and got rejected straight-out so I'm not even considering falling on deaf ears again." He says, this, looking at Pitcarn and the Callisti, then finally the flame-troopers.

"God of Duels: Do not blame the Conclave for this. I am here, now, to grant the assisstance that you requested. The way you have destroyed the Mad God has cost you the island, acceept that and place more faith in the Conclave's actions next time."

Oh, that certainly didn't convince him, "Don't blame them, its my fault? Why, gee, next time I have a Mad God I'll just wait for him to take the WHOLE REALM then and mess myself out of a whole realm. But its not really your problem until its time to clean up now, is it?" He asks before he looks to Pitcarn, "Don't take a step man, or else I'll seriously take you and the others on. I personally don't like the fact that everything is my fault because the Conclave can't admit their own fault for saying 'No' in the first place. This is their solution of cleaning up after someone else did their dirty work. Now they are sending even more dirty work to be done because I'm not about to just sit here and watch my island go up in flames." He still doesn't reach for his weapons, waiting for Pitcarn or one of the others to reach for theirs first before he'll make his move. Even a twitch to their weapons will set him off. "I'm not about to sit here and let the Conclave get the upper hand when I was being all friendly-like to them and now they want to burn my whole island."

PM
This message was last edited by the player at 23:54, Tue 25 May 2010.

"Desafon, God of Duels, I hope you are fully aware of the consequences of allowing the taint of a mad god to spread. If you are not aware, I suggest you ask at the Tower of Babilu, or petition this Callisti for the information. We are here to remove the taint in a more thourough manner than you are capable of.

"Leave. Now."

"Hello, is anybody there?"

A tall, thin gaunt man, dressed in white-red, extremely fine garb, wanders into the scene. He holds a cigarette in one hand, of a blend somewhere between tobacco and hashish, and at his belt sit a brace of pistols and a heavy saber. His hand is filled with rings of various precious metals and stones, and he smiles broadly as he strides into the volatile situation.

"Desafon of Perigo?" he asked. "I'm afraid you owe the Articulation Current forty-five thousand Conclave Stones. Pay immediately or your life is forfeit. Oh, hello, gentlemen. Am I, uh, interrupting anything?"

Desafon feels a slight twinge within his mind.

Desafon peers between the whole gathering. His eyes narrow deeply, pondering thoughts within thoughts. Oh, just about anybody can feel that he's so very tempted to just go through with his plan. The grin on his face turns savage, almost... vicious. However, hearing the newcomer arrive and remembering that he indeed owes an amount of conclave money, especially that he bets with his war against the Conclave his stones will be worth nothing, Desafon nods. "Fine. Forty-Five thousand Conclave Stones, as we agreed on before." He says, not removing his other hand from behind his back. He looks towards Pitcarn, watching him to see if he moves at all towards Desafon or if any of his troops will be prepared to combat him.

He seeks to prepare the conclave stones with one hand and motions the man closer, "As an honorable man, I swear I have no intention to harm you. Come and get the stones before this situation becomes very unstable. I call a cease-fire of any combat, Pitcarn, until this man is gone. If your Conclave honors its own thought of peace you'll do the same." He says, still holding something in his other hand while he moves to have his conclave stones prepared.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:05, Thu 27 May 2010.

As Desafon prepares the stones, Pitcarn relaxes slightly. There is an opportunity here. Hopefully is will mean no blood needs be spilt.

"Desafon, God of Duels. Once you have finished your exchange, I have been authorized by the Conclave, and specifically High Lord Ruse, to make you a one time, non-negotiable offer."

Once Desafon has made his exchange, Pitcarn continues.

"High Lord Ruse has taken an interest in this situation, he has been contacting me over my private channel and has a highly beneficial offer to make to you.

"High Lord Ruse has also informed me that the Conclave is in a position to destroy you, and has redundant plans in place to ensure your demise, should you continue to hamper us.

"This is Ruse's offer, and I suggest you hear it out:

"on your behalf you will: 1.) Allow the madness of his realm to be purged with no further protest.
2.) Work for Operation HIEROPHANT, and in particular for High Lord Ruse as your direct supervisor.

"In return, you will be granted: 1.) An exemption for your insolence against the Conclave and Conclave Law, in addition to a waiver of any fines or punishments you may or may not have accrued.
2.) An Associateship with the Conclave, and good standing.
3.) A contract with HIEROPHANT for your finest woods business. HIEROPHANT will, in exchange for a share of you profits, be willing to make a financial investment in your business as a part of the wide portfolio of investments that HIEROPHANT are making.

"High Lord Ruse has also offered to put you in contact with his finance manager and you can then work out the details (H.L Ruse did not specify which details) in a way both parties will find favorable, but this would be good for both HIEROPHANT and you.

"As I have said, I have been informed that this deal is non-negotiable, and since I am not offering it, simply informing you of the offer, I have no power to change it anyway.

"This is your last chance Desafon. After this, we have no choice but to take the path our type of god finds so appealing."

Pitcarn fished into the neck of his robes, and pulled out a small object on a chain . The chain dangled from his left hand, the object not specifically in his grasp, while a diamond rifle appeared in his right hand. he points he muzzle at the ground to show that, while he has the weapon, it is somewhat of a last resort.

"Excellent," said the man, smiling all the while, as he took Desafon's stones and clasped his hand firmly with his own. He glanced at Pitcarn and the soldiers. "Forgive me, gentlemen, but this man is now a registered member of the Apotheosis Circle and thus a recipient of our merchant immunity from Conclave intervention. I am Respected Partner Sohdat and I have proper authorization to act in these matters. Gumbra has been determined to be a Stage Two Province and is thus not to be touched in any regard except by either our agents our the owner, Desafon, himself."

He threw Pitcarn a dangerously charismatic smile.

"Associate Pitcarn, yes? If you leave here right at this moment - take your lackeys with you - you'll find three thousand Conclave Stones in your account, plus whatever the Conclave promised you, and you'll receive a direct promotion to Low Lord. If you continue with this silliness, however.." The man shrugged.

Grinning widely at Pitcarn, Desafon seems to be somewhat happy, but fails to comment past that. He places his grenades back up, ensuring that he is showing no further sign of offense, although his hands do not move too far from his swords as to not be prepared to defend himself if he is attacked.

He bows to Sohdat, "Many thanks to your assistance, Respected Partner Sohdat." He then shoots another grin to Pitcarn, though not showing any sign of offense to him past that, if it can even be seen as offensive.

"Lower your weapons, at ease soldiers.

"Respected Official Sohdat, I think you for your concern.

"Desafon, I depart in peace, but I beg of you, do not ignore the danger in your realm. The Callisti do not lie, there is taint present. My role here is finished, but I beseech you to take it up. Perigo may be endangered, not just Grumbra, and I would hate for your impressive reputation as a killer of Mad Gods to be tainted by you becoming one yourself.

"I leave you, in peace."

Pitcarn opens two Portals, one to Bilbligh, for his man, and one to the Hall of the sun, for his soldiers. Pitcarn steps through both of them, following the others.