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Description
The hobgoblin had been standing there for some while, dressed in a simple robe and shawl. How long he’d been waiting there, he wasn’t fully sure. But he had occasionally played with his own beaded hair and spent most of it watching one of their flock clean the floor. The girl was so pregnant she couldn’t bend, sitting on all fours as she scrubbed and wiped at the stone. The sight amused him somewhat, maybe even titillated. For a second he imagined grabbing her and pulling up her skirts to have a go at her as she squealed. Thinking of that big round gut clenched under his firm fingers. His sharp teeth glimmered past his thing lips momentarily.
There was the rustle of fabric curtains and he stiffened.
There was the patter of feet and he heard he approach.
“Disyyus” her voice was firm, making the hobgoblin’s neck prickle.
“You summoned me, sister?” He replied, keeping his hands steady and expression placid.
She emerged from behind him. Her bulbous waddling mass- wrapped tightly in tasselled cloth. Bloated obese belly, horse like thighs. Her greying hair hung in two long plaits down her front. In the pale light, her tusks gleamed faintly. Often she reminded him of a prize pig dressed in religious robes.
“I did. I require your knowledge” the large matron said, casting her eye across several hanging charms. Eyes and suns carved from bones or cast in bronze. Animal skins of all manner of huge creatures that had been hunted and cured for her usage as drapes, carpets and blankets.
Disyyus smiled to show sharp reptilian teeth. “My talents are at your command, sister Pisces”
The large orc tutted and turned away, musing over something. He watched her move about, before she turned back. With a flick of her finger she dismissed the over-swollen servant. It took a while for the young lady to leave but when the two were alone, Pisces spoke.
“I do not trust Cancer”
“Cancer, sister?” The hobgoblin raised an eyebrow. She was being remarkably candid for talking about others within the inner circle of the Cult of Sol. For a group blessed with such a great mission, he knew there was plenty of private vices and grievances within the Brothers and Sisters who made up their leadership. Was something afoot? He thought of the tiefling. A two-spirt with a willowy youthful body and curling ram's horns. Draped in soft clothes and possessing a sweetness of voice that could make anyone do their bidding. Hiding their advanced age behind magic and sorcery.
“I believe they have designs about our mission, and craves power as the hand of the Sol”
He nodded along. There was a heavy smell of smoke in the air, had she been burning some sort of leaves? Typical of her. All shows and tricks, the orator and matchmaker. It worked when the cult travelled from tribal to tribal, absorbing the wild bandit groups of the wastes with the promise of safety and cheap tricks. It had worked on him, when he had been a lost apprentice cast out at the age of fourteen. But now he could see past it.
“Yes” Pisces paused, looking at him with her deep, soulful eyes, “I believe they have a hand in the passing of Dryza, Bati and Syuo”
Ah he thought to himself.
“But those were victims of calamity of disease?” He offered in a confused manner. “Poison of the bone marrow, too narrow hips, heart stopping?”

“So it seemed” she continued, brushing through a series of celestial dream catchers with an outstretched finger.
“However I have reason to believe that Cancer had them killed to enable their own designs. All three had… opinions and concerns”

What was the old bitch saying? He really hated it when she did this. He wasn’t some stupid tribal who needed coddling and filling with fantasies. He had been with the Sol since his youth, and yes he was not a brother or sister. But he was still a man of knowledge and the natural sciences. She couldn’t play with him like her usual toys… could she?

He kept his face neutral. Meeting the old woman’s gaze with his own. “I was there…. I’m sure you are not saying that my experience in healing is wrong?”
“No… merely that it was hidden. Cancer is a spider. Building their web through illusions and tricks, it was always their way. Cutting off those who get in their path, dancing about Aries’ gaze. With the deaths that they caused, there was much that could be gained in their little games”. He could play them in his head. Regrettable. Stoic Dryza, sweet Bati and the clever Syuo.
This was too close, it had to be a coincidence. On the surface, Disyyys was calm and still but inside he toiled over if she was playing with him or it she was being genuine. How he wanted to take her by her flabby neck and force poison down her throat, the irritating old bitch.
“So… you believe they make a move against you?”
“A move. Maybe. Or at least their meddling has cost me loyal servants of Sol”
“I’m sure Aries wouldn’t want to know-“
“Aries doesn’t need this kind of distraction” Pisces cut him off. “I plan to deal with this, if I do, quietly”
Thank Sol, he thought to himself.

There was a quiet gaggle and Pisces’ face changed. She gestured to a fabric and wicker construct in the corner.
“The last?” He asked, moving closer. He came to the basket, looking down. Amid a simply been blanket was a greenish shape- a year old child nestled within. It babbled and cooed up at him.
“Yes. My last born. The last as you informed me”
He nodded. “Considerable magics had to be made to extended your fruitfulness. It was a stretch to last that far. Most would have ceased to be able to bear children several years before your age, sister” looking at the baby, he remembered when it had arrived. Bloody in his hands, soaked red from where it's birth had nearly killed its mother. When it should have done the job. His mouth twitched. Pisces was a resolute bitch, many others would have died.

The hobgoblin opened his mouth to speak, only to feel a hand on his shoulder and a sudden cold chill on his neck.
Then pain.
He grunted. Then felt liquid in his mouth and throat. A belch. Out came vivid red. Than a spray. A violent eruption of glistening red from across his throat. He clutched at it with a gargling noise, looking down to see the cooing baby soaked in gore once again. His own warm gore. It giggled and kicked it's little legs even as the liquid splattered over its body and soaked into it's hair.
Everything started to spin, his knees trembling.
“You stupid fool” said the voice from behind him. “I knew it was you. I had doubts but I know now. Who truly profited from their deaths. Who could have had a hand to tip the balances. And who could have made a move on my own life. I know your trade” Pisces voice was cold, but even she couldn’t keep the undertone of relish out as he bled. “Bati, Dryza, Syuo and any others I have yet to trace… all were good honest worshippers of Sol. And here you have poisoned his sacred following with your own desires” a glob of spit smacked into his head from Pisces but he barely noticed. Disyyyus crashed to his knees, trying to clamp his neck shut. More red leaked like wine from between his fingers, spraying like holes in a waterskin or dribbling from his lips in multiple streams. His robes, once white, were now dark.

“Capricorn, as much a fool he is, was able to see through your lies. To draw his own conclusions to those your murdered in the guise of healing. Infecting Dryza's leg wound. Ensuring Bati bled out on her birthing bed. Poisoning Syuo's old heart with mushrooms. I cannot allow filth like you to exist, to further sully the work of Airies” her voice was growing distant, fainter. He tried to suck in air to his burning lungs but all that came was fluid. If he could look, what he would have seen was her puffy face twisted into a mask of pure hatred and disgust.
“So die now, and let us be rid of you. I hope your soul is cursed to wander the lands with no rest"
He crashed forwards onto his face, the smooth floor now marred with a wide sticky pool of crimson. Disyyus’ limbs twitched. And then his eyes finally closed.
With a sneer, Sister Pisces wiped the knife clean on his robes, observing the acrid stink amid the metallic blood. The fool had pissed himself. But now at least, the scum was gone.
Slowly, she reached down and picked up the gore-soaked child, the baby giggling despite it's sticky red coating as it looked up upon it's mother. She held it to her chest, wiping at it's smiling face and gave a small, barely discernible smile.

When Pisces left, she ordered the waiting cultists to clear the bloody mess up.

Description
The hobgoblin had been standing there for some while, dressed in a simple robe and shawl. How long he’d been waiting there, he wasn’t fully sure. But he had occasionally played with his own beaded hair and spent most of it watching one of their flock clean the floor. The girl was so pregnant she couldn’t bend, sitting on all fours as she scrubbed and wiped at the stone. The sight amused him somewhat, maybe even titillated. For a second he imagined grabbing her and pulling up her skirts to have a go at her as she squealed. Thinking of that big round gut clenched under his firm fingers. His sharp teeth glimmered past his thing lips momentarily.
There was the rustle of fabric curtains and he stiffened.
There was the patter of feet and he heard he approach.
“Disyyus” her voice was firm, making the hobgoblin’s neck prickle.
“You summoned me, sister?” He replied, keeping his hands steady and expression placid.
She emerged from behind him. Her bulbous waddling mass- wrapped tightly in tasselled cloth. Bloated obese belly, horse like thighs. Her greying hair hung in two long plaits down her front. In the pale light, her tusks gleamed faintly. Often she reminded him of a prize pig dressed in religious robes.
“I did. I require your knowledge” the large matron said, casting her eye across several hanging charms. Eyes and suns carved from bones or cast in bronze. Animal skins of all manner of huge creatures that had been hunted and cured for her usage as drapes, carpets and blankets.
Disyyus smiled to show sharp reptilian teeth. “My talents are at your command, sister Pisces”
The large orc tutted and turned away, musing over something. He watched her move about, before she turned back. With a flick of her finger she dismissed the over-swollen servant. It took a while for the young lady to leave but when the two were alone, Pisces spoke.
“I do not trust Cancer”
“Cancer, sister?” The hobgoblin raised an eyebrow. She was being remarkably candid for talking about others within the inner circle of the Cult of Sol. For a group blessed with such a great mission, he knew there was plenty of private vices and grievances within the Brothers and Sisters who made up their leadership. Was something afoot? He thought of the tiefling. A two-spirt with a willowy youthful body and curling ram's horns. Draped in soft clothes and possessing a sweetness of voice that could make anyone do their bidding. Hiding their advanced age behind magic and sorcery.
“I believe they have designs about our mission, and craves power as the hand of the Sol”
He nodded along. There was a heavy smell of smoke in the air, had she been burning some sort of leaves? Typical of her. All shows and tricks, the orator and matchmaker. It worked when the cult travelled from tribal to tribal, absorbing the wild bandit groups of the wastes with the promise of safety and cheap tricks. It had worked on him, when he had been a lost apprentice cast out at the age of fourteen. But now he could see past it.
“Yes” Pisces paused, looking at him with her deep, soulful eyes, “I believe they have a hand in the passing of Dryza, Bati and Syuo”
Ah he thought to himself.
“But those were victims of calamity of disease?” He offered in a confused manner. “Poison of the bone marrow, too narrow hips, heart stopping?”

“So it seemed” she continued, brushing through a series of celestial dream catchers with an outstretched finger.
“However I have reason to believe that Cancer had them killed to enable their own designs. All three had… opinions and concerns”

What was the old bitch saying? He really hated it when she did this. He wasn’t some stupid tribal who needed coddling and filling with fantasies. He had been with the Sol since his youth, and yes he was not a brother or sister. But he was still a man of knowledge and the natural sciences. She couldn’t play with him like her usual toys… could she?

He kept his face neutral. Meeting the old woman’s gaze with his own. “I was there…. I’m sure you are not saying that my experience in healing is wrong?”
“No… merely that it was hidden. Cancer is a spider. Building their web through illusions and tricks, it was always their way. Cutting off those who get in their path, dancing about Aries’ gaze. With the deaths that they caused, there was much that could be gained in their little games”. He could play them in his head. Regrettable. Stoic Dryza, sweet Bati and the clever Syuo.
This was too close, it had to be a coincidence. On the surface, Disyyys was calm and still but inside he toiled over if she was playing with him or it she was being genuine. How he wanted to take her by her flabby neck and force poison down her throat, the irritating old bitch.
“So… you believe they make a move against you?”
“A move. Maybe. Or at least their meddling has cost me loyal servants of Sol”
“I’m sure Aries wouldn’t want to know-“
“Aries doesn’t need this kind of distraction” Pisces cut him off. “I plan to deal with this, if I do, quietly”
Thank Sol, he thought to himself.

There was a quiet gaggle and Pisces’ face changed. She gestured to a fabric and wicker construct in the corner.
“The last?” He asked, moving closer. He came to the basket, looking down. Amid a simply been blanket was a greenish shape- a year old child nestled within. It babbled and cooed up at him.
“Yes. My last born. The last as you informed me”
He nodded. “Considerable magics had to be made to extended your fruitfulness. It was a stretch to last that far. Most would have ceased to be able to bear children several years before your age, sister” looking at the baby, he remembered when it had arrived. Bloody in his hands, soaked red from where it's birth had nearly killed its mother. When it should have done the job. His mouth twitched. Pisces was a resolute bitch, many others would have died.

The hobgoblin opened his mouth to speak, only to feel a hand on his shoulder and a sudden cold chill on his neck.
Then pain.
He grunted. Then felt liquid in his mouth and throat. A belch. Out came vivid red. Than a spray. A violent eruption of glistening red from across his throat. He clutched at it with a gargling noise, looking down to see the cooing baby soaked in gore once again. His own warm gore. It giggled and kicked it's little legs even as the liquid splattered over its body and soaked into it's hair.
Everything started to spin, his knees trembling.
“You stupid fool” said the voice from behind him. “I knew it was you. I had doubts but I know now. Who truly profited from their deaths. Who could have had a hand to tip the balances. And who could have made a move on my own life. I know your trade” Pisces voice was cold, but even she couldn’t keep the undertone of relish out as he bled. “Bati, Dryza, Syuo and any others I have yet to trace… all were good honest worshippers of Sol. And here you have poisoned his sacred following with your own desires” a glob of spit smacked into his head from Pisces but he barely noticed. Disyyyus crashed to his knees, trying to clamp his neck shut. More red leaked like wine from between his fingers, spraying like holes in a waterskin or dribbling from his lips in multiple streams. His robes, once white, were now dark.

“Capricorn, as much a fool he is, was able to see through your lies. To draw his own conclusions to those your murdered in the guise of healing. Infecting Dryza's leg wound. Ensuring Bati bled out on her birthing bed. Poisoning Syuo's old heart with mushrooms. I cannot allow filth like you to exist, to further sully the work of Airies” her voice was growing distant, fainter. He tried to suck in air to his burning lungs but all that came was fluid. If he could look, what he would have seen was her puffy face twisted into a mask of pure hatred and disgust.
“So die now, and let us be rid of you. I hope your soul is cursed to wander the lands with no rest"
He crashed forwards onto his face, the smooth floor now marred with a wide sticky pool of crimson. Disyyus’ limbs twitched. And then his eyes finally closed.
With a sneer, Sister Pisces wiped the knife clean on his robes, observing the acrid stink amid the metallic blood. The fool had pissed himself. But now at least, the scum was gone.
Slowly, she reached down and picked up the gore-soaked child, the baby giggling despite it's sticky red coating as it looked up upon it's mother. She held it to her chest, wiping at it's smiling face and gave a small, barely discernible smile.

When Pisces left, she ordered the waiting cultists to clear the bloody mess up.