The group walked down to sit in front of the platform where the construct still had its hands out, holding them in the mana flow coming through the ceiling and descending directly into the center of the cavern floor. Synethaes didn't seem affected by the flow. Tad wondered if his goddess had something to do with this.

Tad stepped up onto the platform and took a seat on its edge while he pointed for Synethaes to stand in front of him and his friends. Jack went to one side.

"Now, Synethaes, let us discuss a few things before we get to the problem with Aea. These people before you are Zanna, Lamruil, and Nico. That is Jack there. They are my friends and allies. You will treat them and everyone else in this valley with respect. I will assume that was your intention all along. You will not feed on anyone. If you need blood, I will have someone provide one of the mushroom pods, and you will sustain yourself with those. Are there any questions before we continue? " Tad said this while looking directly at the vampire. His staff was a few inches from his hand lying on the platform. He didn't think he would need it. The old stories of what happened to those who violated their magically bound oaths were swift and horrifying, even for a vampire. Being turned inside out and exploding into a cloud of chunks wasn't something any rational being would want to happen.

Synethaes nodded, "I understand. I will not need much as this, " she tapped her Tiara in her hair, " keeps me from having to consume often. "

"One second, may I?" asked Tad, indicating the Tiara. Synethaes nodded affirmations, and he cast his identify spell on her Tiara.

Tiara of the Night Mistress – You believe this Tiara will help limit hunger and other effects of vampirism. It was created by the artificer Adamias in the Kingdom of Cheshik.

Tad wondered if this was the reason she was able to survive the lack of blood without going feral, "Could you tell us how you and Aea ended up in the Artificers Workshop? " asked Tad.

Synethaes looked at Jack nervously, then at the small group of people. She stopped a second while looking at Zanna, then looked up at Tad. "I was left with few options. The war was going poorly, and there was no safe way to get around a pantheon of gods and their armies. Noone escaped. The few that tried to switch sides were turned into undead servants. "

Tad watched her as she spoke. She was a lithe brunette with red glowing eyes and small fangs. She couldn't have been very old when she died or turned, or whatever vampires did to become vampires. Perhaps twenty in appearance, he used his ability on her that let him sense powerful beings. He felt nothing from her. Leana had called Synethaes a Mistress vampire, and Tad had assumed that meant she was powerful. Jack was a beacon of light compared to her when he looked over there. He would have to find out why this is. Perhaps she had some skill or ability to hide her true nature.

"Is that what happened with the Naga? Or were they part of this invasion? " asked Tad. He remembered that the valley's previous army or guard had all been undead when he fought some of them.

"That was a betrayal. It was one of the reasons I took Yevgeny up on his offer to go to that stupid workshop of his. He was supposed to come back, and we were to wait out the war's conclusion and the sacking of the city. He never came back. Then he died, and both of his pets started going insane. Olylia attacked Aea draining her, then I decided it was time to make sure she didn't attack me, " said Synethaes.

"So you drained her? " asked Tad. Leana had told him this story. It was a bit different than this version.

Synethaes eyes narrowed, then she stopped whatever she was feeling and spoke, "Feral vampires are the bane of any that are not insane. They will attack anything given enough time, and they will almost always draw vampire hunters and armies in response to the death they will cause if left to their own methods. I noticed your friend there did much worse to her than I did. "

Tad looked at Jack, who hadn't moved when she referred to him, "Oh, I'm not concerned with her demise. She was never going to leave the World Egg. What I need to know is if Aea is going to do the same thing? " asked Tad.

Synethaes thought about this question for a few moments. Tad looked over at his friends. Zanna was sitting there all calm with disdain on her face, but Nico was another matter. He seemed angry about something.

"I do not know. I can tell you the blood from this mushroom pod or whatever it is, " her face changed. A slight smile crossed her face, "quite satisfying and delicious. Where did you get them? "

Tad wondered how much he should share with someone he barely knew, even with the bond of the promise. That imp Dammit taught him one thing, even bound someone with ill intent could find ways to cause havoc.

"It was a gift, " said Tad, "Can you tell if another vampire is going feral or losing control? "

"Hmm, I should be able to. I've never seen one last this long in the pupa stage. Once blood is shared from a master vampire to any sentient being, they tend to turn quickly and must feed or go feral. I assume she wasn't raging and was in one of those other tubes near me in the… World Egg, you called it? " said the vampire.

"We believe so. There is ample blood from the pods for Aea right now, and we would like to release her tonight if possible. I need to know what you can tell us about helping her become human again, " said Tad.

"I've told you most of what I know. I have never seen anyone reverse the curse of vampirism. If anyone knows, it would be the coven, "said Synethaes.

"Yes, I heard you earlier. You said the city of Ring Hunt. It's an odd name. Sadly, if it existed anywhere near here, it's gone. " said Tad.

"It exists to the northwest several weeks from Cheshik on the mainland. Do you not have a map of the continents? " asked Synethaes.

Tad hadn't seen any indication there was another land near this one. The dwarf's map had only shown this continent. "There is a bigger land somewhere to the northwest then? No, we do not have a map of this. The kingdom of Cheshik is no more. The last remaining part of it is this valley and its been in ruins for several centuries in the middle of a cursed desert. "

Synethaes's eyebrows raised at that statement, "Cursed desert? This island was known as a tropical paradise compared to most other continents. It was a large kingdom island with one of the strongest armies. It had a legion of constructs and ten legions of soldiers. They were mostly human, and all died in the purge. A desert now? " she sighed. "The river runs for close to fifty miles before it reaches the ocean. Does that still flow there, or is that dried up also? "

"The river still spills from the lake in the valley here. The river flows and it is full of undead and Naga. A fog runs along the river, which sustains the undead now that the curse has been lifted. They have tried multiple times to enter the valley. For now, they can not, " said Tad.

"Naga's, horrible creatures, they were the first ones to betray the kingdom. The goddess refused to let the armies hunt them down, then the purge arrived. It was a massacre, and several of the legions thought they could avoid the coming slaughter by changing sides. Also betrayers, and that stupid Yevgeny turning that priestling, then he runs off and dies, leaving us trapped in that astral pocket with that horrible construct. It forced me to sit on that divan till I shriveled up…" Synethaes went into a tirade of swearing. Her face changed shape a few times before coming back to human.

Tad watched as his fingers inched toward his staff. He saw Jack start to glow. Then Synethaes gained control of herself.

Her nostrils were flaring as she stood there with her now-clawed hands opened and closed into fists. "What kind of idiot can't use the Torque around his own neck to flee dangers!"

Tad breathed deeply, "I think the goddess killed him. There must have been a lot of that going on there at the end. She used Aea to keep herself from dissipating. Aea was her last follower." He didn't mention there is a seven heartbeat delay between activating the Torque and it actually working. That is a lot of time in a fight.

Synethaes stopped moving, then she looked around again at the temple, "The goddess still exists? " the vampire took another long sigh, "I should have suspected that. Yevgeny was an idiot, but even he knew how to run. The Torque should have allowed him to escape almost anything for a while anyway. And that stupid construct wouldn't let me leave the divan once I tried to take the walls down in that workshop. "

"She isn't a construct. She is more than that. I think she might have saved you more trouble. There are things outside her structure, and opening that up would have been bad, " said Tad. He hadn't been told what they were, but Maximilianus respected them, which meant Tad should too. Anything a librarian that used to be an angel respected or feared should probably terrify a normal person.

"Perhaps you will enjoy your time when she holds you still while you starve to death slowly over years, " replied a contrite Synethaes.

Tad couldn't imagine that was pleasant even for an undead. Perhaps worse for them, he didn't really know. He gets hungry just thinking about food half the time.

"Tell us why you think the coven can help Aea? " asked Tad trying to change the subject.

"I don't know if they can help you, but if there is an answer, one of the elders would know it. I do not, " said Synethaes, "I do remember there used to be a world map in the city center building. Much of the trade for the kingdom came through that building at some point. It was carved and tiled into the floor of the building. The trip is a long journey, and if you have to travel through the desert to get on your ship, it will be even longer. "

"Umm… we do not have a ship. We have something better. We will need to find out where this place is though, we can –" someone called his name from the stairs.

Kizzac was on the stairway up, "Master Rockgrip, I hate to interrupt your meeting, but there is a matter of some urgency that needs your attention at the bridge of the fallen god. "

"What is it, Kizzac? " asked Tad loudly.

"I think you have a guest. It's a strange creature that calls itself Quig Ba'Lagta. He floats just outside the shield where he just destroyed a large group of undead that attacked him, " said the dwarf who was trying to catch his breath from running all the way here to get Tad.

Tad looked at Zanna. She appeared to remember the lich as her eyebrows came up in surprise. Tad remembered the weird pulsing of the magic promise he had made to defend lich's phylactery. This was when he had fled the demon fortress through the portal the lich guarded. Tad had the phylactery and the necromancer book stored in an empty tube in the World Egg.

Tad sighed, then took another deep breath, "This discussion is over for now."

***