So last time, we met our hero. He's not bad! I rather like him! And we got to see life around a big fantasy library. Seems nice actually!



We start off with some environmental description of the Snowflake Mountains and particularly the mountain spur that houses Castle Trinity. It's described as " a castle-in-mountain's-clothing" and "a fortress for an evil brotherhood determined to gain in power".

I DO like the idea of a mountain castle. These are Aballister's digs, from the look of it. And he's busy nervously fingering his "precious parchment'. Not a euphemism, sadly. We're told that rationally, he has faith in it, but with victory so close at hand, he's feeling apprehension.

Druzil the imp, on the other hand, is impatient. He mutters a phrase that's probably not complementary ("Quiesta bene tellemara"). Aballister isn't really fooled by Druzil's excuse, but he doesn't press it. It occurs to me that Aballister and Druzil don't seem to have the standard wizard-apprentice dynamic. Perhaps because of the Goddess Talona. When your familiar is a god's chosen, it muddies the power structure.

We get some backstory: Aballister had spoken to the avatar of the goddess, Talona, who gave him Druzil's name and promised the recipe for entropy. The full undertaken has taken two years and apparently destroyed "so many others" in the process. But it's worth it.

As a chekhov's gun moment, I suspect, we're told that Aballister's gate has shut down but he can reopen it pretty easily with special powders.

We get a mirror moment:

Aballister continued his scan and saw his reflection in a mirror across the room. Once he had been a handsome man, with inquisitive eyes and a bright smile. The change had been dramatic. Aballister was hollowed and worn, all the dabbling in dark magic, worshiping a demanding goddess, and controlling chaotic creatures such as Druzil having taken their toll.

Many years before, the wizard had given up everything—his family and friends, and all the joys he once had held dear—in his hunger for knowledge and power, and that obsession had only multiplied when he met Talona.

I never really understand why folks follow the evil gods in Forgotten Realms and similar settings. At least not if you have a choice. The drow and Lolth, okay. Most of them aren't raised knowing much about other deities. But humans? Evil gods are pretty notoriously awful to enemies and followers alike. Why not follow someone who won't torture you in the afterlife?

Anyway, Aballister is ranting a bit about the ingredients. They all sound fairly standard: eyes of an umber hulk, blood of a druid, tentatcles of a displacer beast. Druzil continues to reassure in English/Common/Human/whatever the standard language is assumed to be. He continues to mutter insults in that other language.

Ugh, they keep talking. It's fine, but it really just feels like stalling. There's not a lot of new information here. Some "as you know, Talona led you to this" and some mention of someone named Barjin and "wretched priests", and an evil triumverate. But it really just feels like filler.

And not particularly informative filler. EVENTUALLY, it's explained that Barjin is the clerical leader of Castle Trinity, and he's arrogant, and something of a rival for Aballister. Aballister and Druzil like the idea of the clerics praying and kneeling to a simple magical device.

It IS a magical device provided by a god, so I'm not sure why that's such a funny concept. But whatever. We get some backstory on Barjin - that he traveled all the way from Damara, homeless, broken and godless, as an order of paladin kings had banished his original deity to the lower plains. Barjin claims that he met an avatar of Talona, who sent him to the Castle.

He IS pretty powerful, and the ruling triumverate of the time had welcomed him with open arms. But now Aballister is uneasy. One interesting fact of Barjin is that he has none of the scars or tattoos of most Talona followers, giving the impression that he's "sacrificed nothing" to his new goddess.

THAT part is actually rather interesting. This is the "cleric quintet" after all. I'm looking forward to seeing more examination on what it actually means to be a cleric in the Forgotten Realms.

Anyway, Barjin is useful in holding Castle Trinity together, and his wealth has continued to fund the chaos curse.

We learn also that Aballister's troupe of three wizards is the strongest leg of the triumverate, at least in Druzil's estimation. Druzil likes to insult Aballister, he also believes Aballister is marvelously intelligent for a human and easily the most powerful of his order.

I'm wondering about the third "leg" of the triumverate. We have wizards and priests. Who else?

We skip ahead a bit, to Aballister adding the last ingredient under Druzil's instruction. He asks if they're supposed to imbibe the potion, and Druzil kind of freaks out at the thought. The consequences, apparently, are too grave. I think it's a fair question, but odd that it's only being asked now.

Apparently the potion will be best used in a mist form. They've got to figure out a better container to spread the "intoxicant".

Absurdly, Aballister gets mad at that description, assuming that he's spent a shit ton of time and money to create something like Elven Wine.

Druzil explains:

Druzil snapped his wings over his face then back behind him again, a movement that plainly revealed his frustration. “It will invade the hearts of our targets,” the imp explained, “and exaggerate their desires. Simple impulses will become god-given commands. None will be affected in quite the same way, nor will the effects remain consistent to any one victim. Purely chaotic! Those affected will …”

Aballister raised a hand to stop him, needing no further explanation.

Druzil suggests a demonstration. There's a fighter named Haverly who thinks he's better than Ragnor, captain of the fighters. He hasn't gone so far as to threaten his would-be rival though. Druzil wants to use him. Aballister agrees, thinking it might be fun to watch.

So they do. Druzil, apparently, pretends to be a statue around other people. Only Aballister and his other wizards know he's a familiar. Haverly is encouraged to bend over the beaker of potion and add the last drop. Haverly is pretty skeptical, and Aballister makes a production of being about to send him away for his doubts.

But Haverly is ambitious and stupid, so he decides to cooperate. He adds the ingredient and the potion belches smoke in his face. There's no apparent effect at first, until Aballister brings up Ragnor.

Haverly’s transformation at the mention of Ragnor forced the wizard back several steps. The young fighter’s eyes widened grotesquely, and he bit his lip so hard that blood dripped down his chin. “Ragnor!” he growled through gritted teeth. “Ragnor the Imposter! Ragnor the Pretender! You would not invite him, for I am his better!”

Dude runs off, sword in hand.

Aballister follows, meeting up with the other wizards. Only one gets a name or any kind of description: Dorigen, a female wizard with long black hair and amber eyes. She knows enough to realize the potion must be completed. She's clearly enthusiastic. The other wizard might as well not be there at all.

They get to where Haverly and Ragnor are fighting. Ragner, by the way, is an Ogrillon, which means he has ancestors that are ogres and orcs. He carries "the scars of a thousand battles." They fight and it's surprisingly intense. Eventually, Ragnor does get the upperhand and kills Haverly.

The priests of the triumverate, as led by Barjin, are upset and displeased. They figure out that Aballister had a role in the combat. Barjin's mood changes when Aballister whispers "chaos curse" in his ear. Now he's on board.

And actually, Haverly's not dead. He took a dirk to the head, impaled all the way in. But Haverly's not going down. It sounds pretty awful:

“Ragnor!” he growled, slurring badly and spitting thick blood with every syllable. Blood filled one of his eyes and poured from his head wound, matting his brown hair, but he raised his sword and stumbled in.

Ragnor is actually a bit terrified of this. He keeps fighting, beating Haverly back, slicing through exposed ribs and so on. But Haverly keeps coming for a lot longer than he should. Eventually Ragnor does win and lops off the head of an orc that dares to praise Haverly's spirit.

Barjin and Aballister are both pleased. And Aballister uses the occasion to one-up his rival in a way suggested by Druzil either, that I hadn't recapped. He names the potion "Tuanta Quiro Miancay", which translates to "Most Fatal Horror". A title that generally goes to a very high ranking follower of Talona - higher than poor Barjin. So he's basically claiming the potion outranks any of the clerics present. The other clerics, fanatics of Talona, are on board. Barjin on the other hand is less than pleased, but plays along.

The chapter ends here.