Part 1

It was an otherwise ordinary meeting in the Inn when Vordea called for silence. The Raven King attending had become a regular occurrence, albeit in his partially awakened giant raven form, and even Zalas had started to show up more than once a decade.

"Eigen, the preparations are complete, I've chosen the candidates." Vordea said as she walked to the front of the room, her waistcoat shimmering. "Four and five will become four and seven." Vordea surveyed the gathered Gods and Goddesses before speaking. "There has been discussion amongst the Primal Gods that I will now share with you. Since the apotheosis of Neptis, the pantheon has been unstable."

"Unstable?" Sargon asked.

"The power of numbers, Judge. Observe." Vordea answered, pulling out a drawing from her coat pocket and placing it on the table.

"Four primals, five inners. The divisible prime. Multiplicative roots. Four and five is nine and twenty. The root of evil and the exponent of delay." Vordea said, pointing at various parts of the drawing of the current pantheon.

"Wait, four primals?" Neptis asked. "There's three."

Vordea smiled. "The fourth Primal is extremely reclusive. Know only that his power is equal to mine."

"Do we get a name? A purview?" Neptis pressed, annoyed.

"No." Eigengrau answered. "Only those he needs to meet gain that knowledge."

"Fine." Neptis said, extremely annoyed.

"As I was saying," Vordea continued. "This pantheon is unstable. Two new Inner Gods must be added."

"Why two?" Vaust asked. "Of course, even one is unprecedented."

"With four and six, the third potential is ten. This makes the fifth and sixth thirty-four and the tower." Vordea answered, flipping over the drawing. "With four and seven, they become thirty-nine and the wheel."

"It's time to vote." Agbus said, removing his hands from his sleeves.

"Why? It's not like we can say no." Neptis said, gesturing at the drawings. "I know an Elven trial when I see one. So who's our new friends?"

"It took me a long time for the second, but the first will be arriving shortly. I'll let him introduce himself, though." Vordea said, looking over at the door.

Less than a minute later, a knock was heard at the door, and it swung open, revealing a scrawny man covered in seaweed and holding a trident. He smelled strongly of the ocean, but despite his stature, he seemed to give off a commanding presence.

"May I present to you Thalassius, God of the Sea." Vordea said, pointing her arm at him and bowing.