Exile sighed as his consciousness returned to The Raider's Horn. He spent quite a lot of time talking with Thovok, Harik and Ania away from everyone else. 'I see... They just want the chance to study gods because they believe that they can find a way for themselves to ascend as well. For that, they're willing to pay any price. No wonder they're all fanatics when it comes to gods... but I doubt it will go anywhere.'
"Exile! What happened to you!" Leggy suddenly shouted as the golden cocoon shattered.
While Exile remained in his Avatar, the transformation of his real body had remained concealed inside its own cocoon until he returned. Exile glanced around and then let out a broad grin at the confused looks on everyone's faces.
"Nothing much... I just found us some new allies that will be a big boost to our war efforts." Exile shrugged as if it were no big deal, but he did not want to go into the details. After all, Thovok had been clear that their kingdom would only worship him and not even any of the other gods from his Pantheon.
'The dwarves will be my ace in the hole. I doubt they'll easily change to someone else. Though, I doubt they can in the first place. At the very least, Thovok is stuck as my oracle now. So I need to keep quiet about that. He's like an extra life to me in this game if something happens to Ania.'
"Even if you found allies, why did your appearance change! You don't even look human anymore!" Leggy pointed a finger at him as if accusing him of something.
"You're being overdramatic, Leggy!" Beans shouted as she stood up from her seat. "Who cares if he's had a few changes! He's still Exile! Plus, the changes aren't too great! He still looks human, just with a bigger beard and slightly pointed ears..."
Silence took over the room when Beans made that statement. Sure, now that she mentioned it, he did look as if he had only gotten a little older. So why was it they felt like he did not look human? It was the damn ears! But they did not really register that until Beans mentioned it! The beard with its several braids and jewellery had distracted them!
"You're an elf!" Leggy screamed. "How could you betray us like that!"
Shouts of outrage soon erupted as everyone started to throw accusations at him.
"Enough!" Exile roared, his voice like a mountain dropping on them. "I haven't betrayed anyone, so just calm down. These changes are a benefit brought by our new friends. But you'll find out about them when the time is right. All you need to know is that things will get easier soon."
He spotted a few dubious looks being thrown his way, but nobody seemed to want to escalate the matter further. After all, they were still in the middle of dealing with the suppression from the ruling faction. However, a few of them decided to bring the matter up with the other leaders when they returned from their breaks and own missions.
"Ok, now that I'm back, are these all the reports I need to see right now?" Exile slammed his palm down on the bundle of papers that had appeared while he was in the Mortal Realms. "If not, then get them to me right away! I need to understand the overall situation as quickly as possible. We're going to start a counterattack soon to break these blockades for good! Starting in the Stormcrown region!"
Whispered emerged as people became curious as to why he was so confident all of a sudden. Were these new friends that Exile had made powerful enough to cause this kind of reaction? Sure, they knew that manpower was their biggest weakness, but so was their quality of weapons and armour. Plus the struggle of getting supplies across the unforgiving terrain of Skardia.
"Ah, Exile... There's something you need to know." Old Un stepped up to the table with a stern expression.
"What is is Un? Which report is yours?" Exile cocked an eyebrow as he began shuffling the papers, looking for Un's name.
"It's not in a report. This a personal matter for our Pantheon but it's something you need to deal with." Un's voice dropped to a whisper so that nobody else could hear him. "It's WintersEmbrace... There are concerns about her methods. I picked up a few new followers the other day who had become lost after fleeing their town. They spoke of nightmares that were driving people insane and to murder each other."
"Hm? That's what she set out to do though... So what's the issue? As long as she's targeting the enemy, there are no problems."
"You don't get it... The moment I mentioned her name and promised that it would not happen to them again because she's part of our Pantheon... well they, you know..."
Exile frowned as Un drew a finger across his throat. He understood why Un was concerned now. 'I see... If word spreads, then anyone would usually come to our side if their god or cities fall won't want anything to do with us. They're afraid that we'll just toy with them in other ways.'
'But Winters' authority is powerful, and a great asset in this war. We can't just shelf her because of this. Maybe I need to speak to her about what she's fully capable of. See if there's a way to better use her. If she can provide pleasant dreams to the citizens of the life they would have under us and nightmares for the Jarls and their warriors, that would be better.'
"Ok, I understand your concern, Un. Speak to whoever is in charge of her operations and ask them to send her here for an urgent meeting with me. We can't let it go on in case it ruins the entire reputation of Ragnarok amongst the Skardians not under our umbrella...."