Characters:
Granmarg The Striking Vanguard, The Boulderstruck, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate
Pomegranite The Treefallen, The Spymaster
Pomegranite The Treefallen, The Spymaster
Mielikki The Field Marshal, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate
Thicket The Grandmaster Terramorpher, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate
Great Change
With the Imperial Messengers reinstated, communications with distant provinces were restored, and so Mielikki made a deal with Duccio de Segreti. Through him, the earthlings would fund adventurers that delved down into the Labyrinth in exchange for any magical weapons they found. Duccio, as a former Magister of Prophecy, was on the back foot and relatively desperate for funding, and was more than happy to operate as a cut-out to hide the true backers. Hopefully, they'd get something they could use against Terra, Carmenta, and any other gods that returned. Meanwhile, Pomegranite used the terramorphers who had been stationed at the Mountain's Maw to begin the excavation of a pass through the northern mountains that would allow them better access to the coast.
He required Thicket's help, which was granted as the Grandmaster Terramorpher had his own pet project that could use assistance: spying on the former Terran faction of the priesthood and discerning who could be brought over to their side from those who had been cowed by Terra's killing of their highi priests. Granmarg, still in the Elven Forests, established communications with the various merchant guilds operating out of Port Mineur in Lumene to expand ocean-going trade. The earthlings had only a very small bit of coastline and were not an ocean-going people, so they would just contract the experts instead, a very earthling way of doing things.
When his training was complete, Granmarg began the long march back across the continent to the Highland Forests. One day, when he was travelling through western Halberst, he heard a faint sound of rhythmic drumming seeming to come from thin air, which quickly faded. This was too like the opening of the demongate to be coincidence, and so he turned back to the east and headed to the College. Once there, he quickly gained a meeting with High Magister Jasper Sunmeadow, who agreed with his assessment and sent a messenger to fetch Grand Magister Curzo.
