The Black Bat Flowers

The night came to a close with the killing of undead. It has been hours, and we now must count the living, see to our defenses, and then sleep until sunrise.
 
It was noon once we woke up; but Tiberius had not slept, going around saying the rites for the dead. Lily found him and passed on a sigil of Pharasma; the two conversed.
 

(With) The shield as my shepherd, I lack nothing.
It faces the midday sun on high,
reflecting the Light on all that it covers.

— Songs of the Seven 8:1-2

 

New leadership

 
Though Curie was late, we met with the council to discuss further steps. Verdant led the talking, and quickly came to his point: our new war with the trade union is fueled by their need to outwin the competition, and how they want a hostile takeover of any "outside" economic forces. Currently, they are benefitting from Ragnall's civil war, and in this vacuum the union is (currently) benefitting financially. "We live in a veritable grain silo," the leshy intoned gravely.
 
Lily filled in some gaps in my knowledge: the Preda were members of the trade union, before their demise by our hands. Dunkin is (to us) the representative of Qada, and mostly likely has investment in the trade union itself. Outside of that, we have little to no information of his involvement. Lily herself is very inclined to ruin the union's operations at all turns.
 
Back to the council meeting, Venrick stepped forward to represent our group as liazon to the Erta council. He was granted a seat alongside the rest: the dwarf Stump representing his kith, Grim Ben backed by the farmers, NAME, Hebaz with her intellectuals, blacksmith Bryce Beddect alongside his soldiers, and Verdant. With the seat came a vote, for our group, in Erta's political decisions.
 
A sidenote was made on the appearance of lairs and veritable dungeons in the region: places of interest that will need to be investigated and possibly cleared out of hazards. We made mental note, and Lily added on that a crevice in the earth was discovered by the dwarves in Fort Bearly. This could be a good starting point for this delving effort.
 
Before the dwarves left we were given an update: some buildings are livable, but the majority would be finished in two weeks' time.
 
Some talk about religious buildings concluded the meeting, but our group remained in the council chambers to discuss on our own after the rest of Erta's leadership adjourned.
 

And a new inner circle

Now as a group, Lily and Tiberius mentioned the holy symbol of Pharasma looted from the slain council. The champion of the psychopomp was disgusted: "that a follower of Pharasma would work with the unholy undead". Tiberius took a cloak from the dead follower, and called to Pharasma to ask about their affiliation with the undead. From what he could read, they were not devoted to Pharasma how Tiberius is.
 
I offered to Tiberius, and we joined hands. I felt Thorek's hand on my shoulder, as my second sight pulled us to communion together. "Feel as I do," I murmured. The three of us felt those lingering memories of Pharasma's follower, and the two other religious took offense to his blindness of faith.
 
Curie spoke good wisdom: "This new council has no more of my trust than the last." We agreed wordlessly, and decided that carving our own path -- or paths -- is better. War scared her, especially one against Qada, the "city of scholars". "And we have two Qadi mages in the group," she intoned.
 
"And what if we met more adventurers?" Curie added. "We could bolster our ranks, and add allies to our number."
 
"And what about where I am from? Raku, the desert jewel of gladiators." Tiberius spoke next, memories clouding his vision. "It is far away, but still."
 
"And what about where I am from," I breathed, asking no one but the light itself. I mentioned the rites of pilgrimage and the sentinel flow, and derailed the conversation for over an hour.
 

Individually, together

But we returned to topic, and resolved to solve the local problems and ally with nearby townships.
 
We called then the council back in. Hebaz spoke to Curie, putting her training on hiatus in lieu of the work that needs to be done in and around Erta. Then, all at once, Hebaz pulled the veil away from her to reveal not a lizardborn but a mothfolk.
 
"We have existed to keep Erta as it was: small, quiet, and unassuming. But there are others, more of us, that are known to us."
 
"So, you must approach the Weaver," Hebaz concluded. We stood, awestruck: she spoke of the Weaver, as if Hebaz knew her.
 

Peace, by another name

 
And that was that. "Go now, Grim Ben would like to see you in the main training square." Moth-Hebaz waved us out, and we left wordlessly. To her word, Grim Ben and his men were practicing combat movements en masse. One of his men, known as Fiddler, intercepted us -- and interrupted Ben to hold conversation.
 
"I want to propose diplomacy," Grim Ben opened. There are groups he spoke of, whom we could convince to join our side. If we couldn't get them to our side, we could at least negotiate nonaggression. The more Ben talked, the more it seemed he wanted to ally with any creature, with any sense inside its head, moreso than just towns and cities.