When I returned to Maggie’s town in the late afternoon, I couldn’t help but feel a little more confident about the situation. Luna, whom I had asked first about her willingness to help, had been quite interested. I had a feeling she was planning to quietly talk to the villagers about Lady Hecate and encourage them to believe in her, turning the situation to her advantage. It would be difficult to sell the people of the Blessed City on a new deity, but if they saw Luna be present and actively helping, she might have a chance.

  There would undoubtedly be some trauma regarding the Mind Control they had all suffered under and the things they had either passively allowed to happen or even actively participated in, which would have to be worked through. I would have to keep my Mind Magic abilities somewhat quiet, as I wouldn’t want someone with that sort of ability within a mile of me after such an experience. It would be a challenge to help them, but maybe it would allow me to learn even more about the sapient Mind, how it dealt with trauma and how I could shape it.

  Regardless, Luna was completely on board, already planning to move to Maggie’s town for a few days, maybe a week or two, making sure that the people there had all the resources they needed to help the former residents of the Blessed City.

  It was incredibly adorable how invested she became right away when I told her about the project. She began making lists of available resources, planning how to use our time and energy to the greatest effect, even wondering about the available space in Maggie’s town, trying to ensure that her efforts had the greatest possible impact. A part of me wondered if that might be because she felt guilty over the harassment Lia and I had subjected these people to, simply to break the Blessed City. It was possible, plausible even, though I knew Luna wouldn’t make the mistake of telling them about our efforts.

  Lia, on the other hand, was a lot less enthusiastic. She had basically no interest in helping these people; the plans she started making focused on keeping an eye on those who weren't interested in joining Maggie’s town. While she hadn’t outright said so, I had a strong feeling that the people heading elsewhere would meet with terrible accidents if they didn’t give up their faith.

  It wasn’t nice, but, quite frankly, it was understandable. People who were willing to keep worshipping Sunna after experiencing just how far the deity was willing to go in order to enforce compliance with her creed and order weren’t something we could ever work with. It was an incredibly dangerous ideology, and we wouldn't want to see it spreading. If that meant a few people had tragic accidents and came down with a sudden case of death, well, so be it.

  And there would be some of those. Under the light of day, my scrying constructs had allowed me to get a much better idea of the damage their city had taken.

  Quite frankly, looking at the situation from above, I was fairly certain that the wards had done more than brainwash the people and protect the city. A few of the buildings had come crashing down without any obvious reason why. Maybe someone had decided to go around breaking buildings, it wouldn’t be too hard to break a building if the person had sufficient Strength or the right, or wrong, skills. Just considering it made me wonder how stupid people could be, but given that I had seen a few dead bodies in the snow, my estimation of their intelligence wasn’t high. After all, just how foolish did one have to be to go fornicating in the snow and stay in the snow, still joined to one another? Only to freeze to death in that position, a fate I didn’t even want to consider. It was, quite frankly, insane, making me wonder if Lia’s little concoction had been even worse than I thought, making people completely and utterly stupid. Though she had said it should be roughly as bad as someone who was completely and utterly drunk, so who knew? Maybe people were really that stupid. I didn’t want to contemplate it further.

  Instead, I focused on the people milling around in the ruins, noticing the obvious groups that had formed. One was centred around the shed I had spotted Lorgar in, with his buddies providing some muscle and order, though Lorgar himself wasn’t visible. Maybe still out of it, I had no idea, but I had a feeling that these people were the ones I had to worry about. The fanatics, who weren’t swayed from their belief in Sunna, even after the mind control broke. Even though they should be fully aware of the horror they had witnessed, they still stayed.

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  The other group was much larger and less organised than the group around that shed. They seemed to be clinging to one another, seeking assurance, shelter and some form of comfort after the home they thought they had suddenly crumbled around them, literally in some cases. They were obviously seeking some form of leadership, meaning it would be highly advantageous to strike while the iron was hot and the people were cold.

  I briefly considered stepping through the shadows and making contact directly, but decided against it. No need to give the people who still believe in Sunna a target for their ire, because they would use it. They might try pinning their troubles on me, simply because I was present and Lorgar’s buddies knew about and hated me, making me an acceptable target. That they would be correct didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, just that they would happily use me to provide purpose and unity for their group.

  So, instead of stepping through the shadows to Maggie, planning to take her along and let her make contact while I remained in the background.

  “Good afternoon,” I greeted Maggie, who looked a lot better than earlier.

  “Hey,” she returned the greeting, not even jumping a little. She had clearly been waiting for me and ready for my sudden appearance. Maybe I should find a new way to spook her, just to keep things interesting.

  “As promised, I talked with Luna and considered the issue,” I began after a brief glimpse around, “We would both be willing to assist for a limited time. Our current plan is to provide assistance until a month after spring rolls around. By that point, our assistance shouldn’t be necessary any longer, as you should have the means to sustain your community, even with the additional mouths to feed. After all, you’ll also have additional hands that’ll help.”

  For a moment, Maggie simply stared at me, her eyes obviously measuring and weighing my words.

  “That sounds acceptable,” she nodded after another moment passed, “I’ve also talked with the other village leaders. They are willing to extend a helping hand, especially if you give a promise to assist us. I’m assuming you already have an idea how to proceed?”

  “I do,” I nodded, “The biggest issue is that the people there are leaderless. From what I’ve seen, they have no real idea how to proceed; their minds seem to be a mess. Maybe due to the party, maybe because the brainwashing I told you about broke, I’m uncertain. Whatever the case may be, they could easily fall prey to malicious actors, and then you suddenly have a massive group of people willing to do anything to remain part of the group. It is possible that they could become a threat, or at least force you into fighting them, if they don’t get the appropriate leadership,” I explained, voicing some of my fears.

  “Doesn’t sound good. Nobody wants to lose even more people than we already lost. Who knows how many people are still out there?” She shuddered for a moment, the sheer numbers far too big to visualise. How did that quote go, something about a hundred dead being a tragedy, a million dead being a statistic? The change and the mess that had happened ever since were beyond that.

  “Agreed,” I nodded, “Given that I’ve got some negative history with Lorgar and his friends, could you make the initial contact? Maybe with a few companions, to provide a bit of organisation and order?”

  Again, she studied me for a moment before nodding in acceptance. “We can do that. But I believe you mentioned time is of the essence, and given how you’ve been coming and going, you can move a lot faster than we can. Are you able to transport a few of my people there, or is that something that only works for yourself?”

  “It works for others, but it can be uncomfortable,” I admitted, “You should be alright, and people above level fifty shouldn’t be harmed. I’m uncertain about the exact limitations; I only tried it on my family, obviously.”

  “I’ll take the chance. You said these people need leadership. I’d like you to get me there after I tell a few others to organise here. They can either ask you to pick them up or walk there. It’ll be your choice and theirs,” she decided, already rising to organise her people.

  It made me wonder just how badly she wanted to absorb these people; maybe her community needed additional labour. Regardless, this was a good outcome for everyone involved. Maybe even the best possible outcome of this situation.