Drunken Man

285 AC, Tyrosh, The Temple of God…

When Gerold heard the news about the death of Ferora Ormel's father, Tychano Ormel, he was shocked because just several minutes ago, he and several other members of the temple was planning the assassination of Tychano on the morrow.

They planned to send one of the shadows of the temple, the ingenious assassins of the temple, while Tychano was giving a speech about the economic situation of the city then put one of their rich believers into the position of the Archon.

This was going to be easy because, after the arrest of Nakados Paenolis, the faction of Tychano and Nakados was broken into two separate factions. Those who were supporters of Nakados were pressuring Tychano's faction for the releasement of Nakados. On the other hand, Tychano's faction was trying to take over the other faction's businesses. Of course, the city did not solely belong to these two factions because there was also a third one that consisted of the believers of God. While others were fighting over these sort of small things, the believers were reaping the benefits of their peace.

However, the death of Tychano changed everything but it was not a bad thing because the death of Tychano was not by their hands and it was not going to raise any suspicion as the murderer was already dead.

When Ferora, Tychano's daughter, came to the temple for help, Gerold listened to everything she said word by word without interrupting and then he sent her to rest with an escort.

After that, Gerold went to meet Innar, the head of the Tyroshi Temple and they agreed to act by the first lights of the morning. They were going to force a snap election by giving the promise of releasement of Nakados to his faction after the elections. Of course, this was possible only because the believers were controlling 40% of the city's political scene so it was a certain win for the temple.

…

By the morning, there was an uproar in the city. The death of Tychano by the hands of his son was hot news in the streets as the death of Archon was not a common thing. The conclave was already assembled to discuss the situation and when they came out at noon, the new Archon was selected and his name was Belidos Vollaar. He was a man of forty years with a deep purple beard and a fervent believer of God.

Not long after the elections, Tychano's faction was absorbed by other factions and the believers were dominant with 60% of members of the conclave being on their side as the old members of Tychano's faction did not want to join their enemy's faction and support them.

With the change of regime, there wasn't any obstacle anymore for the true God to take its rightful place in the city.

…

While changes were occurring in the city, Gerold was preparing to go out with Aemar, Raenar Rogare's son. He and Innar stepped out of the door of the temple with several holy guards as their escorts.

"Your Holiness, the regime of the city changed recently so wouldn't it be better to stay low key for a while?" asked Aemar with a nervous face.

The political atmosphere of the city was still tense and as the believers won the election, the other faction could attempt to do unwanted things to change the situation in their favour.

Gerold looked at him with a raised eyebrow and said, "Since when you are afraid of heathens, Aemar?"

Aemar's face paled he stuttered, "I… I never… Your Holiness, I would never…"

Gerold raised his hand and stopped from talking, "Nevertheless, the reason for this little trip is the news I have got this morning. The fire-worshippers attacked our temple in Volantis and the Triarchs did nothing to stop it and as we are on a long journey through the Free Cities, I need to shorten our trip time so we going to speed up the proselytizing process."

Aemar looked at Gerold with a confused look and said, "... but how are we going to do that, by going out to the streets and preaching the true path?"

Hearing his question, Gerold chuckled and said, "Of course not, there is two way to proselytize a city; first, you can let nature take its course by allowing people to realize it with their own will. However, if the resistance towards the true path is too much or you are in need of accelerating the process then the only way for you is the second path, banish the demons that are estranging people to the true path."

Aemar tensed a bit when he heard the word "demon" but still asked the question that was on his mind, "With all due respect Your Holiness but they are demons, how are we going to find them?"

Gerold gave a gentle smile and said, "Well, that is very easy. We will look at the places they are known for and after that, all we need to do is to beat them on their own game. If we do that they have to return to their own domain and without any sacrifices, they can't descend to the mortal realm. And that is the most important part, if they are not in the mortal realm, they can't force their will on the mortals so the people who believed in them would be also freed from the shackles of these demons."

As Gerold and Aemar were talking, they came upon a fountain with coins glittering in it and a man with a long beard sitting beside it while sipping from his flask. It was obvious that it was not water on the flask. Actually, the man was drinking the famous pear brandy of Tyrosh and he was drunk as a skunk.

Gerold approached the man and sat beside him. He looked at him with squinted eyes and said, "I heard you like drinking, friend?"

The man continued sipping from his flask like he didn't even realize a man was talking to him.

Gerold cleared his throat and said, "They say you are the best drinker around here and never lost to a man. I say I can win against you, what do you say?"

The man stopped sipping from his flask and turned his head to look at Gerold. There was a weird glint in his eyes that would make anyone who looked at him lose himself in them. He asked, "What's the catch?"

Gerold smirked and said, "Well, how about a little bet, huh?"

The man raised an eyebrow with a sceptical face, "Well, I won't refuse a challenger but I have nothing to give but this little old flask."

"Don't you worry, my friend. I won't take your flask, what sort of man I would be if I take it? However, I will not say what I want, for now. Only if I win, I will say it." said Gerold.

"Hmm." The man stroked his beard and said, "Okay then, I want the most valued thing of yours."

Gerold didn't answer for a while but after hardening his glare he answered, "Deal, I heard you like the drinks at the Drunken One's Inn so what do you say, should we meet there tomorrow evening?

"Deal." said the man simply and continued sipping from his flask while ignoring Gerold.

Gerold stood up and started walking back towards the temple with Aemar.

Aemar looked at him and asked, "Your Holiness, who was that man and why did you challenge him to a drinking contest?"

Gerold sighed and said, "That man was the demon I was talking about, the one people call Drunken God."