The strange road that Althos' second will and his companions found themselves on seemed to stretch on for an indeterminate distance. Althos' body could tell that over the course of the past forty-five minutes it had begun to close the distance on the city of Namira, but it also knew that over the course of the hour it had walked for at least two kilometers.

What's really weird though isn't the length of the road. It's the fact that there aren't any guards on the road. The will observed, being slightly spooked by the fact that the road was unmonitored by whatever authorities had taken control of the city in the wake of the disappearance of the sandy sultan Althos' original will had clashed against hours ago.

I haven't seen any patrols of any sort... and I haven't noticed anyone leaving the city, at least not in a direction that'd lead them towards us. The will mused, considering how strange all of this was. Eventually, the thing realized that its introspection was it not maximizing the resources at its disposal.

[Hey, have any of you noticed anyone leaving the city and walking in the direction we came in?] The will asked its companions, curious as to if they had noticed something it hadn't. Seconds later it got an answer, and the answer was exactly what it thought it'd be.

[Not a single soul.] Said the golden furred jackaloid.

[Nope.] The red-headed warrior woman muttered under her mental breath.

[Sorry, I haven't seen, heard, or otherwise noticed anyone.] Responded the dire-scorpion.

[I see...] The desert-giant responded, annoyed but not surprised.

[This is too weird. Why is travel allowed from this direction, yet no travel is allowed IN this direction?] The desert-giant told its companions, complaining and thinking aloud in the same thought. And then it realized that it hadn't told its companions what it knew. So it began the process of correcting that.

What followed Althos' declaration that he was the second dark-saint, the prophecied second ruler and savior of Infernius, and his demonstration of the evidence he had which backed his claim, was an announcement that he needed to speak with the leaders of the assorted devils he had brought back to life. He instructed them to meet him within the cathedral in the next few minutes so that the leaders could be briefed on what was going on in the dark cathedral.

He also told his other, more distant, followers to be ready to be teleported to Infernius at any point during the rest of the day. He informed them that they'd be ironing out the tenants of the religions they had been building on their own, so there was some sort of cohesion, even if the faiths were different across community or across species.

"And if you aren't one of those leaders... stay here!" He had commanded the lesser devils, at a loss of what sort of commands to give them. They obeyed him, and all of the phalanx devils, archery devils, and the hulking devils all leaped to stand at attention, standing straight and looking ready for battle, while awaiting their next command.

This odd gesture was something Althos didn't understand, as he wasn't a military devil himself, yet he smiled at the devils, understanding at that moment that they'd at least obey his command and not go anywhere.

He turned to head into the interior of the chapel, just as Tristan and her father emerged from within it. He directed a thought her way, simplistically telling her and her father that they ought to turn around and head back inside, in his words he said there was about to be a [Big meeting of devilish leaders and you're in it, as is your father.].

[Understood] She responded, without missing a beat. She grabbed her father's hand and led him back into the chapel immediately. The moth-devil had a split second to glance at Althos, and wondered who he was for a second before Tristan caught him up to speed. He nodded at the deity-devil and turned with his daughter to retreat inside the dark church.

Althos would catch up to them just two seconds later, and the trio waited for a few minutes before soon being followed by a host of egoistical devils, all of whom felt they were their own leaders. They were also accompanied by Tristan, and a few minutes later they were joined by their final guest.

The very last member to sneak into the chapel was Camaxtli, who had been informed of the events by one of the jackaloids who had seen Althos demonstrate that he was the second dark saint. The jackaloid had come to the meeting, uninvited and in canine form because he wanted to see if his patron was okay. And when Althos saw him, the deity-devil nodded happily at the canine.

I guess... I'll just stay? The canine asked himself, debating for a moment before deciding that that was the best course of action.

When the last member of the self-appointed "leaders" of the three factions the chapel and its grounds were now housing had gathered, Althos was seated in a pew he had used magic to flip so that it was facing the other pews.

His followers also found or tried to find, their own seats, and many different devils sat with creatures unlike themselves. To Althos this read as a display of tension and friction between the devils. I'll need to address this won't I? He wondered, before rightfully figuring that he probably would have to handle it somehow. How should I do this? He asked himself. He thought about his answer before coming up with one he liked.

This is a multipurpose meeting. One for all of us present to meet each other, for us to figure out how to best collaborate for the future of Infernius, and to determine what it means to worship me. Maybe having some fresh-eyes will help.

And then he began to speak.

"This is a meeting has multiple purposes. The main purpose of the next few minutes is for us to come together, know where we are, and for all of us but especially me, to figure out what you'd like to do. Personally, as your resurrector, I think it'd be good for all of you to stay here with me, and for us to begin researching how to best defeat Paimon, the master of the city of Bastille. But I'm getting ahead of myself." He said, clearing his throat at the end of that last sentence, before continuing to speak.

"I am going to start you off with a history lesson. A history lesson on a weird topic. Me." Althos told the devils he had gathered. A few of them chuckled at that declaration, but most of them stood stoically still, awaiting whatever revelations the deity-devil was about to reveal to them. He didn't keep them waiting long.

"My story begins about 10 days ago, in a forest very far from here." He told them, before beginning to tell them of the adventures he had gone on, the friends he had made, and the enemies they had defeated, including mentioning Raverangos, and the encounter with the desert-titan. At the end of him recounting his adventures, a process that took several minutes, he had one final thing to add.

"Now you all know me and my life. And I don't know you or yours. That's gonna change. But as we move forward and you all take your turns telling me of what led you to Narcolept's stomach, I want you to consider that one of the things we'll discuss today will be what our immediate plans are. If you have any immediate plans, I'd love to hear them. Especially if you're planning to stay here even without me needing to persuade you." Althos told the gathered devils, before stealthy entering their minds and snatching up a copy of their memories.

I may not have time to peruse these right now, but I will later. He told himself, determined to fulfill his promise of taking time each day to relive memories.

Before the deity sat down, he said one last thing: "I don't care what order you go in. But if you're here you're sharing what happened to you." He instructed, his voice stern so as to not tempt anyone into acting foolishly.

Althos then sat down on the pew he had turned to face the others, so that he could see them all. As he did so the devils all looked around at each other, murmuring nervously. They were each nervous about going first, even the knight, the krieg-devil, and Agowraith whispered nervously before Nefarious decided to be the first to tackle the stagefright. He stood up, cleared his throat, and began to talk.

"Hello everyone! I am Nefarious. I went to Agowraith's tomb not even a century ago, which I know thanks to my daughter, and perished at Nacrolept's hand. I and my allies, which was a lot of the devils present, including Heryensis, and Malefactor the Krieg-Devil," When Nefarious introduced the general-devil she looked at everyone and nodded curtly, "Felt that enough was enough." He said, strongly.

He continued to speak after thinking for a second about how to explain the impatience to someone as young as Althos. "You have to understand... I and a few others of us have been alive since the days of the old dark saint. We were tired of waiting for someone to show up. We decided to challenge the dungeon ourselves and see if any of us were worthy. When the tomb opened for us we dared to hope that that was a sign. It was. Sadly it was just a sign that Narcolept was hungry."

In an act of surprising sympathy, many of the other devils present looked at the noble moth-devil, a creature with a humanoid frame, thick wings, and the compound eyes of a powerful moth, with pain in their eyes. Althos looked around, seeing the number of eyes that suggested that they had similar motivations and was surprised to see that many of Narcolept's victims were overzealous devils who believed they were capable of ascending the infernal ladder.

Is this infernal ambition common? Althos quietly wondered, having only met a handful of devils before now, and then continuing to listen to Nefarious.

"Once we entered the tomb we proceeded through it with no difficulty at all. But at the end, in the battle against Narcolept... we were helpless." The devil confessed, humble enough to accept the truth for what it was. "He devoured us all. One by one. The more he ate of our numbers the more strength he regained, while we grew weaker. It was a massacre." The devil said. He froze for a second, looking down, his mind lost in the memory of his final moments.

And then as quickly as he froze, he started to speak again. "But that doesn't matter anymore. Our mistakes... the blood we shed. It has been repaid. In full. By Althos!" He said, grinning, as the rest of the devils reacted joyfully to the fact that they had been given a second chance at life by the devil in front of them, the deity many of them were already react to worship. And while the devils rejoiced, Nefarious sat down and grinned at Althos. The young deity smiled back, appreciative of how the devil told his story while keeping the mood light and the story brief.

Many of the devils present had similar stories, and many of them had been the warriors who had accompanied Nefarious in the first place.

While Nefarious told his story, Althos' second will and its companions inched closer and closer to the gate. For the first time, the party's non-divine members could see the towering gates that surrounded the city off in the distance, revealing to them that they had less than a kilometer left to walk.

The two jackaloids and the dire-scorpion rejoiced as they realized that their hours and hours of walking was beginning to approach a sort of end. Other giants behind the party also got excited to see the onyx gates off in the distance, appearing as eerie light-absorbers in the perpetual twilight of the desert. "Finally!" They muttered, themselves ready to return to their home city and be done with an endless trek through a desert that often felt like it stretched on for eternity.

The next few minutes consisted of devils briefly summarizing their Althos had begun to build a tiny timeline in his mind once more and more of the devils told their stories.

His timeline started off with what knowledge he had gleaned from a notification he received while inside of Agowraith's tomb, outlining the story of the battle between Agowraith and Narcolept. It told him the story of how Agowraith built the tomb to be her home until the coming of the second dark saint.

It told Althos about Nacrolept, how he snuck into the dungeon, and then killed Agowraith. And then it told Althos that the titan deceived the system and the floating-skull servant Agowraith had created to aid her in the dungeon into believing the tomb was still controlled by the woman responsible for it.

And now he was almost done gaining new information. He learned that after Narcolept ate and killed Agowraith there were two attempts on the dungeon. Or at least devils from those two specific incidences are the same devils who were alive inside of the dark cathedral's grounds now.

One attempt on the dungeon, the more recent one, was Nacrolept's. The other attempt on the dungeon involved builder devils, the formal name for the hulking devils, and was trying to make it into a settlement of sorts for devilish exiles. This attempt was led by the knight-devil, Sir Casis Outborn He thought, reflecting on what he now knew.

At this point, only the truly powerful devils hadn't spoken. Agowraith herself, and Sir Casis Outborn.

The knight devil was the first of the two who still needed to speak.

"My name, as others have mentioned," He said, talking directly to Althos while talking about some of the priestly devils who had attended the meeting. "Is Casis. Sir Casis Outborn. I am a knight devil." He told Althos.

"I am a member of the Order Of The Dark Saint. Our entire reason for being has been to wait for you, my liege. And one day, to serve you." The devil spoke respectfully, quickly, straining to hide his excitement at being in the presence of the future master of Infernius, and nearly failing to do so.

"A long time ago, in the unimaginably distant past, I was a human conquistador in a kingdom named La Reconquista. I served a king, a mortal one, with a dark heart who commanded me to spread fear and terror atop a horse with a mane of fire. I lived a life of loyalty and darkness and when I perished my reward was for my soul to be sent to Infernius." The knight said, wistfully recalling his first life.

"I didn't remember my mortal life, not at first anyway. But you see... some devils retain key characteristics from their first lives. And it turns out I retained my sword arm and my skill on a horse. Something I'd find out after centuries of service in Infernius' military. When I reached the rank of Hellknight, I knew I was where I was meant to be. And then I met Nefarious." The devil said, turning to grin at his old friend. Nefarious smiled back, but his smile was softer and sadder.

"Nefarious convinced me that I ought to join him. That I ought to wait. For you, my lord. And so I did. He and I were some of the devils who helped form your order. And we waited." The devil told Althos, grinning all the while. But the story wasn't over yet.

"But you see, I am not the patient sort, I suppose Nefarious was the patient one of us two." He said and then chuckled. "I knew that the first trial the dark saint needed to overcome was the challenges of the tomb of Agowraith and so I wanted to try it. Of course... we had no idea what had happened to Agowraith." He explained, pausing to look apologetic at the aforementioned devil, something many other devils had done as well. They had no idea that she herself hated this, though she would make it clear enough soon.

"I wanted to challenge the tomb. So I did. I took some of my finest with me, priests and ladies of the courts of Infernius," He said, referring to the priests and the attendants behind them. "And we challenged Agowraith's tomb. We paid the price for our hubris. We died." He said, his grin faltering for a moment.

"But! But it is of no importance now." Sir Outborn told the assembled devils. "Althos... The Dark Saint, the second one, is here." He said, his grin re-etching itself onto his face. "We paid the price for our failure, my liege. Allow us to show you that we won't make that mistake again." The devil asked of Althos, his lord. The devil was done speaking and sat down back on the pew he had made his own.

Agowraith herself stood up after the knight-devil, Casis Outborn finishing saying his piece. She began to speak, emotions audibly with every word she spoke. And every word that escaped her lips entranced Althos. And in her he got to witness the true power of infernal pride for the very first time.

"My name is Agowraith. You all know of me, bits and pieces of my work: the prophecy that Althos inches closer and closer to completing each day, and you know my fate: to have been eaten by Narcolept. But let me be clear: you do not know me." She informed the devils gathered before her, ready to say her piece, ready to tell a story worth hearing. She continued quickly, feeling powerful emotions surge out from her with every word and wanting to release them.

"You know little of the kings who now dwell in Infernius because of me. You know nothing of the villages enthralled slaves of mine razed to the ground all because I asked them too. You know nothing of the families my wiles have torn apart. You know only one bit of my writing, and you understand one percent of the sorrows and horrors I've endured, yet you define me by them with your constant glances at me and the faux-gentleness you show me..." She said, rage flowing out of her with every word.

"I am so much more than a damsel in distress or a pitiable princess. I do not deserve or want your pity. I am a devil. And I am old. I walked this land when the first dark saint was still young. I roamed this desert before it became a desert." She said, speaking fondly of an age in the distant past.

"I am so old I can easily remember when the ruler of the city of Bastille was a non-discriminate archdevil who recognized the power and value of every soul and every devil. Not the blood-thirsty animal who banished my kind far from our ancestral home." She said, her voice rising in volume and in frequency with every word she uttered.

That confused Althos, who was lucky enough to have the means to fix his confusion.

For just a moment Althos focused inwardly. He willed his mind to return to the strange lake he had spent what felt like hours within, just hours ago. And in an instant, he was there.

"Hey, can you show me Agowraith's memories?" He shouted into the void of his brain. Within seconds he got a response.

"Yes, I can. Yes, you can. You know what I mean." The lake stammered out.

"Was Agowraith's kind ever hunted down by Paimon?" Althos' conscious mind asked the strange mind-lake that contained among other things, all of the memories he had accrued over his life. Including the ones he had gathered minutes ago.

"Yes. Yes, she was." The lake told him. And then his vision changed, as he got to relive the horrors Agowraith endured first hand.

The smell of burning wood wafted into Althos' nostrils as the scene before him changed. No longer did he float just centimeters off of the water of a lake in his mind, but now he stood at the edge of a cliffside. Behind him was a drop-off and at the bottom of that, an ocean crashing against the cliff he was on top of. In front of him stood a village on fire, tiny houses ablaze and the smoke they produced forming a massive cloud high above him.

He was inside of Agowraith's memories, experiencing what she experienced. Althos could feel the fear that permeated her at this critical moment in her life, and he could feel that she was paralyzed. She wanted to jump and fly away, but she also wanted to turn around and help her kin. She wanted to save more lives than just her own, and her indecision would cost her dearly.

His chance to visually explore the scene was interrupted by shrill shouting."No! Get out of here! Leave. Us. Alone!" Shouted a voice from inside of the closest house, and at the end of the last word, a heavily armored devil in a suit of chainmail was blown out of the house, sailing backward for several seconds before eventually coming to a stop and not moving anymore.

An owl-devil, possibly the figure responsible for that, ran just outside of the house and looked around in a panic. She was taller than Agowraith was at the moment this occurred and had deep-blue wings. Unlike Agowraith, who had both wings and hands, this strange owl-devil had wings in place of her hands.

"Agowraith!" She shouted, her voice still shrill, the sort of shrillness of a screeching bird. Her shouts seemingly knocked the aforementioned owl-devil out of her shock and terror because the seer began to move.

Althos felt the grass under her feet as the future Kingwhisper dashed forward, towards the owl-devil who had just booted the heavily armored invader out of her home. The identity of this creature was revealed when Althos heard a single word escape her lips.

"Mother!" She whined, crying as she hoped that she'd soon awaken from this and realize that this was nothing more than a whisper.

Her hopes were cut short, when another figure emerged from the burning house, only visible at that moment to Agowraith.

The figure, another heavily armored and armed devil, lunged towards Agowraith's mother. The fierce creature swung a sword as it moved closer to Agowraith's family, and the sword bit into and then through the owl-devil in a single slash, killing her instantly. "Paimon sends his regards." The foe shouted as he stepped past the bisected corpse he had just created.

And then he looked at Agowraith, his helmed face revealing only thin red eyes. And he began to charge at her, sprinting across the cliff, sword drawn and ever-eager for blood.

After that Althos returned to the present, feeling some sympathy for what Agowraith had endured.

"Althos, I am Agowraith the Kingwhisper. I am a powerful owl-devil, a rare form of devil that has the power to see the future. And like Tristan, I was a half-devil when I was born. When I died, slain by one of Paimon's minions in the days of the first Dark Saint, I evolved and became a true owl-devil." Agowraith revealed, looking directly at Althos. And then she turned to the rest of the leaders gathered before her and continued her speech.

"And in time I grew strong. I grew wise. I grew seductive. I used my beauty and my intelligence to bring kingdoms crumbling down, as a way to vent my anger. I chronicled my life, and I wrote down the future. And then I built my underground nest." She said, referring to the place that'd become known as her tomb. "And then I died."

"In the wake of my second death, my tomb became a haunted place. A place of terror and of tragedy. But that was not its original purpose. It was meant to serve my true master, meant to aid him. And instead, because of it, I was forced to rely on him, and receive his aid, his salvation even, long before he met me. And now he stands before me." She said, her voice drifting off for a second as she reflected on the eons of time that she lost while trapped in Narcolept's gullet.

"My tragedies are not merely that I built a tomb and died there. In fact, the truest tragedy of all appears to be that it tragedies are how you all defined me. I am a survivor. I survived death, not once but twice. And now I am ready to become an avenger." Bloodlust filled her voice, and the entire assembly of devils felt it radiate off of her. Her eyes now peered directly into Althos' own, as both of them felt her activate her own devilish deal power, much like Heryensis did hours ago.

"Althos, Paimon is my enemy, for in his hatred of beast-like devils he hunted down my kind and drove us to the furthest, most remote regions of Infernius, where we roost even now. And you are my ally, not just because of the prophecy but because we share a common enemy. From what you say, Paimon is fascinated by you, he wants to capture you for mysterious reasons. And it appears you want to overthrow him. So it is clear you two share a destiny." She told him. He nodded in response to what she had said.

"Althos... let's make a deal." Agowraith told the deity, grinning at him. He grinned back at her.

"I will serve you, provisionally, in exchange for you one day clashing with and defeating Paimon. And when you do, I'll ask you if you'd like for me to stay with you. If you would, you'll have my service forevermore, as a way for me to repay you for slaying the faux-tyrant." She asked Althos, only for the two of them to get a notification alerting them to the deal.

Althos wordlessly accepted the conditions of the deal, and then stood up to address the gathered devils. This is a moment of fate. I want to handle this... on my own. He realized as he looked out at the devils before him. All of them looked up at him expectantly. He opted to handle this without using his faith power.

"Paimon is not a lawful creature. I've heard from multiple people that he has a deep-seated loathing of beastlike devils. This poisons him, poisons, nullifies even, his rule. That's just one of the ways in which he is corrupt. I know this." Althos told them, preparing for what he was about to say next.

"I know this because the system itself, the very thing that dictates the rules and laws of the cosmos, has made it so that I become an archdevil after overthrowing him and installing myself as Bastille's overlord. The system is telling us that his rule needs to be stopped, that it stands as an affront to order." Althos said, bluffing and hoping that his words were getting through to the devils. And now for the big ask. Althos thought, smiling as he readied himself for the end of his speech.

"I am going to stop him. I am going to complete the campaign the system has given me, as it has been given it to me, and at its end, I will overthrow Paimon. And I am asking you if you would like to join me. If you would like to stand alongside me as we retake Bastille for the strong, and not just the ones that Paimon happens to like. My fellow devils... stand beside me as we fulfill the prophecy and as we restore order to our home!" Althos said, shouting the final sentence.

The devils violently got out of their seats and began to cheer, excited to have been asked to join Althos' nascent rebellion. And as Althos was beginning to get excited about his accomplishment, he received an annoying reminder of the place he was in and its virtues.

[New Feat Gained: Rebel Leader

Benefit: Increase your affiliation with demons everywhere, as well as with other chaos-borne creatures.

Method Of Acquisition: Start a rebellion.]

At some point, I'm going to need to find a lawful justification for this. He thought, adding it to the list of things he needed to do. A list which tended to grow more than it shrank most days.

And Althos wasn't the only person who received an alert at that moment. But that was beyond the deity-devil's knowledge. And so he persisted, unaware of what his enemy knew.

"Now we need to talk about religion. Mine. Ours? Kind of ours. We need to specifically discuss what it means to someone who worships me as an arch-devil. Someone who worships the arch-devils." He told his followers, most of whom reacted by being more excited about this than they were about him inviting them to a rebellion.

Are devils... religious? Althos questioned, before remembering that most of these devils were affiliated with the order of the dark saint, and had been pious in theory, but now were about to be pious in practice.

The gates in and out of Namira were ornate things, made of polished onyx. They were impossibly tall structures which by Althos' second will's estimation measured at least 45 meters tall.

"It is... really tall." He said as the party the primary will had gathered finally reached the portcullis that led through the wall surrounding the city and thus in and out of Namira. The three of them and the scorpion walked the final few steps that stood between them and a guard who stood a bit shorter than Althos' desert-giant disguise.

Upon close inspection, the guard wore thick black armor and carried a strange gem in one hand and a thick machete in the other. He had a stern, unforgiving face, and for the last few minutes, Althos had heard him yell at various people who were trying to get into the city. Fortunately, the pseudo-giant was ready, having studied the memories of the titan Althos had mentally defeated carefully and it came ready to talk to any guards who wanted to accost the party.

"Hello, may we enter the city?" Althos politely asked as he approached the guardsman. The guard carefully inspected him, his eyes narrowing into suspicion-filled slits as he studied the new and tall giant. The more he studied Althos, the more he tried to stand out and look tough straightening his own posture and puffing out his chest so that he could look more like a warrior and intimidate the god.

"What's the reason for your visit, son?" The guard asked, sounding quite irritable. His voice was gruff and rumbled a lot, naturally emphasizing the hard syllables in each of the words he spoke.

"Well sir, I and my companions are traveling adventurers." The disguised god responded, impressively calmly since the will had never had to lie before. Though the thing did think Me being a traveling adventure isn't really a lie though. I travel. I go on adventures. It rationalized.

When Mahmud Suit entered and explored the city he disguised himself and told guards he was a traveling adventurer. It was a trick he did often and it was one that enabled him to meet all sorts of people during his early childhood and was the basis for what the will was trying here.

The guard carefully looked at Althos, as if sizing the lad up. He did this for a few seconds, assessing every part of the newcomer's body. He then glanced at his stone, and carefully infused the thing with magical energy. Time froze around the secondary will rather abruptly as the thing got a notification.

Time freezing around the will was strange, as not much was happening at the moment. The will looked around and saw people behind it in mid-step, it saw a few people beyond the gate stuck in conversation, and even a few giant animals stuck mid-step.

[Alert:

A guard has tried to use a "Stone of Status" on you, which would provide him with a brief assessment of your character, informing him of your name, alignment, and class. As a god... well "Stones of Status" are not meant to be used on gods. You do not have a class, but the primary will does. So congratulations are in order! You're a monk now. A level 12 monk. And you have a pseudonym now. You're Quinn Razorsand, the lawful neutral monk. Your alignment isn't lawful neutral, but by default that's what it says whenever someone tries to use those things a god.]

The secondary will read this and grinned. When the notification was willed away time resumed, and the will watched as the guard read and reacted to the notification he had just received. The guard's eyes went wide and his whole demeanor changed.

"Oh, um... excuse my earlier rudeness Bey Razorsand! I had no idea you were such an experienced warrior..." The guard exclaimed, politely and demurely trying to prevent any problems before they arose. The desert giant before him grinned softly and his voice revealed no anger.

"It's fine! You were just doing your job. And a fine job at that." The disguised deity told the guard, reassuring him, and causing the man to smile awkwardly. He rose his hand in a gesture visible to guards magically embedded within the wall. Those same guards carefully lowered the gate, and the guard nodded at Althos, at Quinn, and told him he was free to enter the city.

The guard noticed Quinn's companions but didn't bother to examine them. He's a level 12 monk? He could punch my head clean off of my body... The guard thought to himself. But I should probably tell Ahmet that there's such a strong newcomer in the city. The guard told himself. Just two more hours left. He thought, eager to be done with his daily shift.

And behind him, the desert giant and the jackaloids continued their trek to the gate, and made it into the city proper.

The atmosphere in the dark chapel had changed completely in the wake of Althos openly declaring that they were starting a rebellion. No longer was the mood somber and reserved, now it was one of overlapping conversations, rapid introductions, and quick decision making.

Well since they are brothers and sisters in sedition now I'm glad they can get along. Althos thought to himself, in the wake of the cheering dying down and the overlapping conversations beginning. Much to his surprise, they were all talking about religion and religious beliefs. Just not with him. Well... at least they're religious. He told himself, trying to justify their behavior.

But there was a crowd of devils that were approaching him and ignoring any and all attempts to get their attention that came from elsewhere.

The priestly devils and their sisters, the fiendish nuns, approached Althos as one, closing in on him in an instant so that they could talk about the religion Althos wanted to build around himself. It was an impressive, albeit somewhat frightening sight, especially since they sat far apart originally. Within moments they were around him, hovering like zealous vultures.

He greeted them, somewhat off-put by their directness but ultimately thankful for their energy. "Hi everyone." He said, smiling at them.

They all greeted him eagerly and took turns reintroducing themselves. Three of them would have been priests and two of them would have been nuns in the age of the old gods.

Althos studied each of them carefully, noting that they seemingly shared an intense, borderline fanatical zeal and studied him diligently. Their eyes were glued to Althos, and they seemed to want him to do something, anything. They had eerie, crystalline eyes which didn't help with their intensity.

"So... I need your help." He confessed, having made the decision to be honest and upfront with them since this was about building an organized, logical church devoted to him as an archdevil, a creature of great evil and great lawfulness.

"We shall aid you however you need, lord." One of them, a male named Arodon told him, smiling as he said it. His voice was serene, far calmer than the intensity of his gaze.

"I have somewhat different desires for each of the cults or religions I'm building around myself, but I want this one, the devil one, to be a logical church that emphasized the law and evil in equal measure." He told Arodon and the other faithful fiends. "But you see, I'm new to a lot of this. I'm new to... everything really." He said plainly, a statement which elicited sympathetic nods from his fanatical followers.

Another one of his followers spoke in response to him, a nun named Nuno. "Master... it's okay to be nervous. You aren't alone. You have us, on your side. We became these types of devils because we worship you. In a sense, we worshiped you before you even existed. Our kind of devil is literally a kind of devil that is affiliated with and born from devilish cults." She told him.

"Instead of leaving all of this to you, why don't we help? We'll start off by asking simple questions with simple answers and then we'll build it out from there." She said, reassuring her master. Althos nodded at this, appreciative of the support, and Nuno asked her first, rhetorical question. "How many gods are in your religion?"

Althos immediately answered, no doubt in his mind. "One."

Then another priest, one named Faldor, spoke up. "Who is that god?"

Althos again had an immediate answer. "Althos."

The next question belonged to the second nun, a devil named Trix. "Who might this religion appeal too?"

Althos' answer was simple but longer than his other ones had been. "Devils, mortals who want to use the law to advance their agendas, and tyrants who recognize that the law is a weapon." This answer received an approving nod from his newest, most pious followers.

The final priest, a younger-looking one than his fellows, got the next question. "How is a church structured in your religion?"

Althos had a ready answer for this one, having thought about these sorts of things while waiting for the devils to assemble in the cathedral. "Orderly. There is a clear hierarchy in each church that leaves the chain of command indisputable. It is not based solely on age or time in the clergy, but both of those things should play at least a little bit of a factor, as should zeal, accomplishments, and charisma." He told his followers.

Nuno got to ask another question. "What is the purpose of this religion? From a devilish standpoint and from a mortal standpoint."

Althos considered her question for a moment, before replying to it. He thought about how the structure and order of Infernius' hierarchy differed from what he had seen in the world of mortals.

Then he opened his mouth and began to speak. "From a devilish point of view, this religion exists to draw people into Infernius. Like how my other cults exist to expose people to me as a god, the purpose of this cult is to expose mortals to Infernius, to devils, and to me as well. If you're a mortal, this religion's purpose in your life could be to give you order or to give you power." He said.

"I've been in the wilderness. In remote communities, there is no order, or at least no one who enforces it which is why it's easy to inflict evil on people who live in the wilderness." He told the devils listening to them. They nodded at him, considering the simplistic truths of his words.

"The first town I visited was destroyed before I even got there because they had very few defenders and they were ambushed by a handful of orcs. If this religion results in new communities being made, we've got to..." He thought about what they "had" to do to prevent the destruction he had seen in the tiny community of Golden-Gate.

"We've got to establish order within them. Any towns built around this religion should have an emphasis on defensive capabilities with strong defenders who can keep the weak alive. If we appear in existing communities, we can make our worshipers respectable by making them enforcers and keepers of order." He told the acolytes who surrounded him.

The next speaker, another priest, asked him a continuation of the last question. "Say I'm a mortal you want to worship you. How do you convince me to do so?"

Althos thought about it for a second and considered saying something like I show you I'm stronger than you. But he knew that wasn't enough for many mortals I'm lucky to have met so many power-hungry people so early. He realized. He thought for a second about a serious answer and then began to speak.

"If you're a mortal I want to worship me as an archdevil I appeal to a variety of your desires, testing the waters. If you want power, or you respect power, I can show you my power and offer you power. If you want order, I can show you how orderly my societies are, and promise to aid you in stabilizing your communities. Be it through empowering you in a range of ways, or by sending you the help and the arms to stabilize your community yourself." He told the devil, thinking of the devilish deals he had made and been a part of so far in his life.

The next devil gave him a more direct question. "Tell me the structure of your church as an organization. Be as specific as you can."

And that was how Althos spent the next two hours until the six individuals had built the bare bones of an infernal cult, aided by the devil's ability to perfectly recall conversations on matters related to religion.

[Multiple New Species Knowledge Notification: Krieg-Devils, Knight Devils, Pious Devils, Seductress Devils, Owl-Devils, Moth-Devils, Attendant Devils, Desert Giants

Please note: this notification has been summarized.

Krieg-Devils are the generals of Infernius. These potent warlords are the masterminds behind genocides, rule from unassailable fortresses, and are impossibly strong warriors who are fond of challenging honorable heroes to one-on-one duels stating that the loser has to serve the victor. They don't lose. They stand at the top of the infernal hierarchy, right beside Vizier-Devils. They can only ascend to true devils or to archdevils.

Knight-Devils are the faithful servants and honorable protectors of archdevils. These warriors were the most honorable, loyal, and direct servants of archdevils, receiving their commands directly from them rather than listening to Vizier-Devils. These warriors are incredibly potent in one on one battles, having mastered the sword in life and refining that mastery in their afterlives.

Pious Devils are the chaplains, sisters, and fathers of the faiths of the archdevils. They lead services extolling the unholy virtues of tyranny, of the might of arms, and of a guilty until proven innocent legal system. They are rhetoricians and can help anyone refine an argument but only in a way that advances an unholy agenda. In some religions, religious leaders are forced to take oaths of celibacy, but these unholy clerics vow to use their sexuality in pursuit of their master's goals, fathering or mothering children as ordered by their gods. They frequently become templars, crusaders, and inquisitors pursuing heretics and apostates with terrifying vigor.

Seductress Devils are beautiful devils who tempt the weak-hearted with the pleasures of the flesh with a wink and lure them to the edge of ecstasy with a kiss. They are spies, assassins, and provocateurs who have mastered the art of beauty and of sensuality. Their temptations make the strong weak in the knees and they take special pleasure in destroying families.

Owl-Devils are mighty winged devils who can see into the future. They use their clairvoyance in pursuit of the breakdown of incohesive societies, tempting the power with glimpses into their future, tempting the weak with baser distractions such as indulging in the arts, and do their best to foster wars and violence between both tiny settlements and entire countries. They are fond of dramatic titles like "The Queen-Slayer" or "The Muse".

Moth-Devils are insectile devils who have traits of moths and the appearance of humanoids. They are regal devils who are fond of courtly intrigue and high-class politics. These noble devils frequently become philosophers, lawyers, or judges in both devilish and mortal society. Their superiors are fond of ordering them to integrate themselves into various communities and begin the insidious process of twisting the law to draconic extremes.

Attendant Devils are noble handmaidens and attendants of greater devils. They are as cruel as other devils but have been given a figure that many humanoids can find appealing with beautiful faces, and other "talents" that allow them to easily become concubines of noble or wealthy paramours who can hedonistically lavish them while giving them servants they can be cruel towards, especially if they are given magic that disguises their lack of legs and the stalks on their heads. These devils are fond of the drama of high-stakes politics and push those who listen to them to the edge of legally permissible cruelty.

Desert Giants are a rare type of giant who inhabits sandy wastes. They build ornate cities of onyx and glass deep in the desert, with towering ziggurats whereupon they practiced living sacrifices in the ancient past, to cruel desert gods. Their cities and social structures are complex, living things, and they are one of the few species with magic that identifies creatures, a gift from their ancient gods who recognized the power of early threat detection in the desert.]