Li came upon the Farmer's Guild building.

In two months, it had been fully constructed with the aid of Count Alexei's vast resources. It was an impressive building standing three stories tall with a massive guild hall that could hold all of Li's current followers and more.

Aside from its sheer capacity, the building itself looked pleasing. The sigil of the Farmer's Guild – the red blossom – lay carved from red rock at its entrance, gleaming with magical light that made it easy to navigate to even in night.

Unlike the buildings of smoothened stone and marble that tended to rise up in the city center, the guild was fashioned mostly out of sturdy wood, with enchanted vines curling down from them and sprouting a myriad of pleasant smelling and looking flowers.

Most of the time, the Farmer's Guild was dark, its indoor lanterns and light crystals inactive because followers were usually working in their own lives, farming, hunting, gathering herbs, making elixirs, and the like.

The only light that was on all the time was on the second floor where Sindra and her administrative staff dealt with matters of numbers, coin, contracts, and the like. This time, though, the second floor lights were off, instead light flashing from the windows around the circular first floor: the guild auditorium.

Li stepped past the oaken double doors of the guild, appreciating the glimmer of the red stone blossom above. Immediately, as he made his way to the vine-curled door to the auditorium, he could sense an immense amount of life signatures beyond.

The entirety of his following was here, and he could tell that not all was right. There was fear in ther hearts. Doubt. Anxiety.

Li opened the door and stepped in, Zagan trotting behind and Tia sleeping on his shoulder, having fallen into a deeper sleep from eating the bread.

The auditorium was semicircular in layout, filled with seats and tables meant for discussions with a main stage where speakers could talk, drawing out plans on a runeboard, their voices amplified with a magic crystal that had a sound projection spell embedded within it.

It felt like almost all the seats were occupied. All the farmers and beastwomen were there, and this time, Li noted with some happiness, they were mingled together, though the Serpi still isolated themselves in their own group due to their inherently reclusive natures.

There was a great amount of discussion flitting about the room, a general sense of chaos manifested in the worried looks and raised voices of a hundred different conversations clashing at once. But when Li entered, his presence extending outwards like a surging tidal wave, silence immediately befell upon his followers.

Silence, then, happiness.

Li could see the concerned faces of his followers all brighten up as they beheld him, and almost immediately, he was assaulted with questions.

"Good Seer, where have you been?"

"The demons, they are nigh upon us! What shall we do?"

"What of our fields? Shall they rot while we are barred in this city?"

"Are you alright, Good Seer?"

"The duchess has declared a state of war, how shall we proceed?"

Li raised a hand to silence them. "All questions, I will strive to answer soon, when I make my way to the rest of the council members at the stage."

His followers made way for him, letting him walk up the main aisle to the stage where he found the faces he was hoping to find.

Sitting around runeboard table were Old Thane, Ivo, Sindra, and Ven'thur.

Immediately, Old Thane stood up to embrace Li.

"Gods, lad, I knew you'd be gone, but not this long," said Old Thane.

"Relax, old man," said Li, smiling. "You know I'm not the type to get done in so suddenly."

"Aye, that is true," said Old Thane as he pulled away from the hug. "But still, it was mighty worrying to hear tell of smoke and demons where you had gone. That, coupled with your absence and the city's sudden preparations for war, have left all of our nerves quite on edge."

Li sat down on a seat and put Tia's sleeping form on his lap. She was incredibly tired, drained not only from staying awake so long, but from expending what would have been vast amounts of power fighting off Dark beasts. He doubted anything would wake her soon.

"My priests and I, too, had thought the worst. During your absence, there was a time when we attempted to commune with you, but found you had disappeared from us, your being strangely erased, and yet the power you granted us still there," said Ivo.

We had thought that perhaps, you, Good Seer, had perished, leaving but the divinity above with us. But now, it is heartening to see that you have returned and as well as ever."

"A good thing you were gone, I do say," said Ven'thur. "You will not believe how preposterously difficult it was to get some information about this situation. Right after I had believed I had quite well and thoroughly brow beaten the Merchant's Guild into an agreement with us, all of a sudden, there is a city wide lockdown, armies are upon us, and a call to arms?

All with no warning? It is disappointing to see the level of disorganization within this city's administration."

Sindra was concentrated on paper she wrote furiously on, but her tail swayed from side to side, indicating happiness at Li's return.

"I agree with Ven'thur," she said. "It is quite odd that the city was so ill-informed and prepared for movement of this caliber. But now, with the guildmaster here, we can sit down and reach conclusions about it."

"I apologize for my absence," said Li. "I dealt with a threat that sprawled out of expectation, but not control, hence my delay. But I am here now. Tell me what has happened so that we can give the rest of the people an idea of what to expect."