[coronatiger]

In the cellar was a simply furbished meeting room, and we seated ourselves. The women asked Wolfram his name. “Black, at least for the moment,” he replied. In his dulled state, I was astounded that he remembered his assumed name. Grogg could never have accomplished that. Wolfram went on to say that he wanted to save the world, but he could help You along the way.

The two anonymous women said that this struggle was far greater than squabbling between Ashtarites. They claimed that this wasn’t even Your fight. They had also found it necessary to ally with one of the factions in Byblos. It sounded like they were talking about nobles and politics. Wolfram even asked right out if they had aligned with Lord Mir. I interjected that Lord Mir didn’t have anything to do with this, and the women confirmed it.

The women explained that they wanted the priesthood in Byblos to take after that of the Prince’s Cities. I said that if this meant that we were against the nobility running the temples, then we were in agreement. There is nothing wrong with nobles having positions of power in the clergy, but they shouldn’t assume that they have a right to those positions just because they were born into a certain family.

Wolfram said he was happy as long as he got to kill Tivito people. The river thistle had really loosened his tongue. The women asked who he followed, and he admitted to following Tiri. That surprised them, for they were under the impression that Tiri’s order wasn’t active anymore, not even in the Prince’s Cities.

The women asked if our friends upstairs only had come here to meet the high priestess. For Ashtarites, the two of them acted uncannily reverent towards her. I caught myself thinking that they might not be true Ashtarites, but I quickly discarded that idea. Or at least, I tried to. Something was still nagging at me about them, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. The women said that if the high priestess wanted to meet us, they wouldn’t stand in the way.

Since they asked, I told them what I wanted. I said I was worried about the conflict among our brothers and sisters, and while I had another quest, that was on hold for the moment, so I thought I could sort out their mess while I waited for the other mission to progress. I wanted to see their temple, but the women warned us that we could get into trouble if we were observed going there. They could meet us here, tomorrow, and bring those of us who wanted to come. I assumed some of my friends would want to speak with the high priestess, and that might take some time.

Yana, Wolfram and I said goodbye to the Ashtarites, and rejoined Xipil and Grogg upstairs. Kraa was sitting on the high priestess’s hand, squawking away. I put on the spirit-seeing ring and observed that Grogg’s familiar seemed quite enthusiastic. Without seeing the bird, Grogg tried to pet it, but his hand didn’t quite hit the mark.

Xipil warned us not to speak. Information should be shared both ways, he thought. From what I’d heard, Azura’s priestesses were tight as clams when it came to handing out information. They gladly listened when people were talking to them, but they gave nothing back. Wolfram thought Xipil had the wrong attitude, but I agreed with the lizard man. Clams were never part of my diet, but I knew how to get out the good stuff. With a knife.