"People won't like that," Lallara said. "We Thayans put the dead to use in a way that less sophisticated peoples don't, but that doesn't mean the average person likes the things or wants to see his sweet old granny shuffling around as a zombie." She gave the lich a mocking smile. "No offense."
"None taken," Szass Tam replied blandly. "There are two answers to your objection. The first is that commoners have little choice but to do as we tell them, whether they like it or not. The second is that we'll pay for the cadavers we appropriate. Thanks to the Guild of Foreign Trade, we have plenty of gold."
Samas Kul smirked and preened.
"That may be," said Iphegor, "but it isn't just squeamish commoners who'll object to your scheme. I object. The Firelord objects. It's his will that the bodies of his worshipers be cremated."
"I'm not averse to granting your followers an exemption," said Szass Tam, "provided you're willing to help me in return."
The priest snorted. "At last we come to it. The reason you included me in your conclave."
"Yes," Szass Tam replied. "I intend to put the order of Necromancy in the forefront of the fight against the marauders. My subordinates won't just supply zombies and skeletons to Tharchion Focar. They'll stand in the battle lines themselves and use their magic to smite the foe. Dealing with the undead is their specialty, after all, so they should acquit themselves admirably, but our forces will prove more formidable still if the church of Kossuth commits itself to the struggle. Pyarados needs warrior priests to exert their special powers versus this sort of threat, and none are more capable than your Burning Braziers."
"According to Tharchion Focar," Iphegor said, "some of the undead apparently possess the ability to strip clerics of their magic. You can understand my reluctance to send my followers into such a situation."
"Ah, yes," said Szass Tam, "the quells. Even the most learned necromancers believed that, like nighthaunts, the last of them perished eons ago, but now that we know of the threat, we can employ countermeasures. We'll guard the priests better-perhaps your orders of militant monks should undertake the task-and arm them better as well, so they're capable of defending themselves even under adverse circumstances."
"Arm them with what?" Iphegor asked.
"With this."
Suddenly a baton of crimson metal reposed in Szass Tam's withered fingers. Though Aoth was looking straight at the zulkir of Necromancy, he had the odd feeling that somehow he'd just missed seeing the rod materialize. Startled, Samas Kul gave a little jerk that set his layers of flab jiggling. Yaphyll smiled at his discomfiture.
"Take it, please," Szass Tam said.
Iphegor accepted the baton which, Aoth now observed, had stylized tongues of flame etched on its surface. As soon as the primate gripped it, the small flames dancing about his person poured hissing down his arm and over the weapon. The tip of it blazed up as if someone had soaked it in oil. Now it resembled a brightly burning torch, and despite the cooling enchantment of his tattoo, Aoth shrank back slightly from the fierce radiant heat.
"I feel the power in it." The primate rose and brandished the torch in an experimental manner. "What exactly does it do?"
"I'll show you," said Szass Tam, rising, "using these targets."
He waved his hand to indicate the entities now occupying one corner of the room. Aoth hadn't noticed them materializing either, nor had he sensed any telltale fluctuation of magical forces in his vicinity. Nymia caught her breath in surprise, or alarm.
One of the creatures was a zombielike "dread warrior," an undead soldier still possessed of the martial skills it had mastered in life, its eyes aglow with yellow phosphorescence. The other was some sort of ghost, a bluish transparent shape that flowed and warped from one moment to the next. Its face flickered repeatedly from wholeness to raw, bleeding ruin, as if an invisible knife were cutting away the nose, lips, and eyes in turn. Aoth assumed the display reprised agonies the spirit had suffered while alive.
After his recent experiences, he felt an unreasoning urge to lash out at the undead things with his spells before they could strike at him, but in point of fact, they weren't moving to menace anyone. Szass Tam's magic evidently caged them where they were.
Iphegor gave the lich a glower. "People aren't supposed to be able to translate anything in or out of the temple without my consent."
"I apologize if it seemed disrespectful," said Szass Tam. "Perhaps later on Lallara can help you improve your wards." As zulkir of Abjuration, as protective magic was called, she was presumably well suited to the task. "For now, though, shall we proceed with our demonstration?"
"All right." The high priest extended his arm, aiming the baton as if it were a wizard's wand or a handheld crossbow. "I assume I point the fiery end at the object of my displeasure."
"Yes. Now focus. Place yourself in the proper frame of mind to cast a spell or chastise undead through sheer force of faith, but you aren't actually going to expend any of your own power. You're simply going to release a measure of what's stored in the rod."
Iphegor snorted. "I do know how to employ a talisman."
"Of course. When you're ready, the trigger word is 'Burn.'"
"Burn," Iphegor repeated.
Dazzling flame exploded from the end of the torch to engulf the captive undead. When the flare died a heartbeat later, they were gone as well. The burst had reduced the dread warrior to wisps of ash, while the phantom left no tangible residue whatsoever.
"Impressive," Iphegor conceded.
"Thank you," Szass Tam replied. "The discharge is a mixture of fire and that pure essence of light and life which is poison to undead creatures, and I guarantee you, the Burning Braziers will be able to invoke it as required, even if other magic fails."
"There will still be a significant element of danger, and you still need to give me an adequate reason to put Kossuth's servants in harm's way."
"Concern for the common folk who need your help?" Yaphyll suggested, grinning.
Judging from her scowl, Lallara found the high priest's recalcitrance less amusing. "Szass Tam already offered to exempt your followers from the mandate to surrender their dead."
"True, that's something," the fire priest said, "and so are these torches, which, I assume, the Braziers will keep even when the threat is past. Still, if I'm to throw in with you and earn the enmity of Thrul and his party, I need more."
"It seems to me," said Szass Tam, "that you're getting it. As we seek ascendancy over our fellow zulkirs, don't you aspire to make the worship of Kossuth the primary faith in the realm?"
"It already is," said Iphegor.
"Granted," said the lich, "but the churches of Bane, Cyric, and Shar are also strong, and in time, one of them could well supplant you. As you and Yaphyll agreed, this is a generation of 'change and turmoil.' We're offering you a chance to guarantee your continued dominance. If your faith receives special treatment from the zulkirs and plays a heroic part in destroying the menace in Pyarados, new worshipers will flock to your altars.
"Surely that's sufficient incentive," Szass Tam continued. "Surely it's more important than anything else we could offer, so must you really haggle like a fishwife for additional concessions?"
Iphegor grinned. "It seemed worth a try, but perhaps it is beneath our dignity. All right, I agree to your terms. When the tharchions and your zombies and necromancers march out, the Burning Braziers, Black Flame Zealots, Brothers and Sisters of the Pure Flame, and the Order of the Salamander will march with them."
Szass Tam returned the smile. "I'm glad to hear it."