She walked through war and came out victorious.
All gods bowed to her. All gods feared her.
And in her moment of triumph she stood with those she trusted most.
Her six disciples.
The six Betrayers.
--The Second Paean, The Anaeal Hymns

The crowd is much larger now. By now most people have finished eating their lunches, or counting their coins, or examining their prizes. The sounds of restless shuffling can be heard, and there is much muttering and conversing, a steady drone of noise.

A gong sounds out, creating a spectacular crash loud enough to quickly hush the crowd. As one, they turn their heads to face, standing at the head of the village square, four robed figures, dressed in hues of red and yellow. They part to let a fifth step forward, a figure robed in blue, bedecked with feathers. It faces the crowd, raises its arms up, and begins to speak.

Unfortunately, its words, although heard by the crowd, cannot carry over to those in the alley sufficiently enough for them to know exactly what it is saying.

Moreth shuffles his way back throug the crowd to the front line, with the others. He places a hand inside his pouch and fumbles around with the marbles nervously.

Estonja addresses the wolf rider, "Both leave alley. Hear what man has to say, yes?" Apparently, Estonja does not believe the alley sufficiently wide for a wolf and its mount to allow two horses to pass. Incidentally, neither horse shows the slightest concern with being this close to a wolf, much less so large of one.

After watching the highly amusing antics of RTC and the rabbit Crake walks over to the apparent aoutority figure to hear what drek he is about to spew forth. while going over he ponders quite in detail as to how that rabbit was able to talk. He leans back against a pole drek-buffers up ready to hear a pack of lies from the man in charge(the guy in the feathers).

[oog: Poing will be mostly gone this weekend, and asked me to post this for her. (Well, not verbatim, but the same idea.)]

Bip squeezes his eyes shut, and curls up in his blanket. He lapses into a long, depressed sleep.

As Moreth and Crake approach the crowd, he can discern that the figure in the feathered blue robes is indeed a man. He appears to be preaching to the crowd about some obscure religion which neither Moreth nor Crake have ever heard of. It seems standard evangelist fare, and on the whole seems most uninteresting. There's not a mention of candy, or anything remotely fun, either.

Moreth pouts and takes a peek around, totally uninterested in what the old geezer with the feathers has to say. Instead he focuses on that fat pocket over there, just off to the right. He sits and focuses intently, blocking out all other sound and movement. This man looked like he knew a thing or two about markets, and was bound to notice the slightest movement.

Moreth focuses intently on the pocket and his ears slowly twitch, slowly attempting to remove one gold piece from Crake's pocket. He could score a whole bunch of gummi worms with that!

Crake sits by and idlly fingers his book while wondering if this preacher is just preaching a sermon or trying to start a witch hunt against the "sinners".

TLP moves to help support Raz, "Are you okay?"

RTC, having finished the pie, moves closer to the preacher to see what Moreth and Crake saw so interesting over there.

Raziel winces slightly holding her side and allows TLP to help support her.

"Im fine...i just need to rest...too much magic at once..."

She sees RTC wander off and follows, bringing TLP with her, to see what everyone is finding so interesting, or uninteresting near thed feathered, dress wearing thing.

"Strange how we never seem to look odd when mixing amoung people like this..."

She follows RTC and Her and TLP become part of the listening crowd as well

The feathered blue-robed man warms up to his subject as Raziel, RTC, and TLP join the crowd. He is talking at length about redemption, for sins both past and present. He argues that whatever religion he is preaching is forgiving, and that all are capable of being redeemed. "Any crime can be forgiven; any criminal can be redeemed. The Holy Mother welcomes all."

His tone grows darker. "All except for a few, who can never taste redemption. For they are guilty of the greatest sin of all, and it is by their hand that the Holy Mother fell, only to rise from Her ashes, for She is the Phoenix, yea, the very Sun. And She watches us from above, and grieves for our sins, but for one sin She doth not grieve, instead condemning to the blackest of hells the Betrayers, they who once walked the path of light, they whose hearts were truly false within."

He speaks with animosity. "Their names have long been cursed and forgotten. But we know them in turn by their titles, the Six Betrayers. Verily are they the most foul of beings, the evilest to walk the earth. Know their titles, for they are to be shunned utterly."

He spits out their titles. "The Long Coat. The Dark One. The Demon Child. The Dire Rat. The Barbarian. The Hellhound. They are cursed thrice and thrice over. They have incurred the wrath of the Holy Mother, and when She raises Her blessed arms to bring the world to salvation, they shall be the ones left behind, to rot in oblivion."

Crake chuckles under his breath about these people believing their goddess is the sun. Not very faithful to her worshippers if she leaves them every night now is she!

He also takes note of how TLP, RTC and Raziel have entered the crowd noting the RTC has a dark coat just like the villian in the sermon.

Crake raises his hand and calls in a loud voice, out to the preacher and says,
"Terribly sorry sir but just what did these infamaous six all do?"

Moreth notices the crowd gasp and such, disorienting one another. He quickly yoinks the gold piece and scoots it across to himself. Yess! Score! Tome to get me some gummi Bears!

He peeks around for another candy store, with a clerk behind a counter, but can't seem to find one... He instead turns his attention to the man onstage, waving his arms like a loony.

In a split desicion, he flings the gold coin at the man, thwumping him in the forhead,
"Redeem that"
He sits peacefully, now listening intently

Raziel twitches at the words she hears from the Man in blue and she wonders to herself as a leather bound book appears in her hands. She opens The Anaeal Hymns and flicks trhow it quikly before calling out.

"How exactly did we- i mean the six Betayers actually betray Ana- The Holy Mother?"

Raziel pushes her way out in front of the front line of people and looks at the preacher with interest. She folds her arms and lets the book vanish as she watches him. She smiles a pointy little grin and stands awaiting a reply, ignoring the too slowly subsiding pain in her side.

Dan, who has been feeling his way through the alley by touching the walls, reaches the main road, which is choked by the crowd. He is just in time to hear the last part of the preacher's sermon, and the various questions.

The preacher turns to look at the crowd. His face is mostly obscured by his hood and the feathers which adorn it. The feathers deflect the gold coin, sending it flying into the crowd, which ignores it, so enraptured are they by the sermon.

The preacher raises his voice to accommodate the growing crowd, such that it can be heard all throughout the village square, the main road, and the alley.

"As it says in the holy texts, they were once Her disciples, Her greatest students. They walked with Her through fire and ice, through the very darkness itself. She placed Her trust in them."

"They listened to Her lessons and learned Her powers. And then they betrayed Her, weakening Her faith. She died by their hand."

"But She arose, as does the Sun after the cold darkness of night, and She ascended to Her rightful place in the Heavens. And She watches over us all."