text: The more you think about it, the more this makes sense in a ruthless pragmatic sort of way.
  
  The temple of Fel here could very well become an arm of the Syndicate again, maybe not today or tomorrow, but when it happens, you're going to be in a much more dangerous position.
  
  You still aren't exactly sure about the Dornans, but you're willing to give Heather the benefit of the doubt that she has genuine intentions. This still could all backfire of course, but you'll have to take that chance too.
  
  However, being an ally is a two way street and Heather did say she would help you in any way she could.
  
  "Okay Heather, I'm going to risk this, but as a show of good will I'm going to need something from you too." You say.
  "Of course. What is it?" Heather asks.
  "There's a representative from the Syndicate here as you know. Now I have to pay him an amount of coin that I don't particularly want to before he leaves in a few days."
  "Wait, so you want me to kill him?"
  "Well, you probably would be better equipped since I do have reason to believe that he's probably highly skilled in shadow magic. While maybe with a bit of preparation my people could take him since he's alone, but it wouldn't be pretty. However, that wouldn't really solve my problem. The Syndicate would just rightfully assume I killed him and then have good reason to be pissed at me and that wouldn't be good."
  "So what are you asking exactly?"
  "Any way you could alter his mind or something similar?"
  "Well there are spells that can do all sorts of things, but again, did you have an idea of what you wanted exactly?"
  
  You and Heather start to discuss each other's plans. Your situation with Percy is easy enough Heather says, and assures you that she will be able to implement something with the help of her people.
  
  Gloom and his people will be a little more difficult, but the pair of you come up with something that should work. It'll just require a little bullshit on your part, but you've been doing that for so long that you're definitely an expert in it. In any event, you're going to go meet with Gloom while Heather plans to ambush Percy.
  
  The next day you head to the Temple of Fel. Several Felians don't even seem to be bothered by your intrusion, which would be a much different story if Shade or his predecessors were running things.
  
  When one of them asks what your business is at the temple, you simply tell them that you wish to see Gloom at which point they go check to see if he's available and fortunately he is so you can get this over with today hopefully. (Along with it going smoothly)
  
  You walk through the dark temple and eventually to Gloom's chambers where he sits writing something. When you enter he smiles and greets you. (You've always found his general friendly personality to not quite match his name, let alone his faith)
  
  "Come in, come in, I was just finishing up my latest sermon. Have my faithful been providing an adequate job with your extra security? There haven't been any issues have there?" Gloom asks.
  "No, not at all. In fact I was going to tell you I won't be needing them after all, seems I overreacted with the Syndicate visit." You answer.
  "Ah, I see. Well better safe than sorry. So how did your meeting with the Syndicate go?"
  "Better than I hoped. Worse than I feared. So has the Syndicate been to see you?"
  "Us? No. I don't see why they would. Why do you ask?"
  "Oh, I figured while the Syndicate isn't making a direct threatening presence, I figure they might still be snooping about and trying to stir up animosity between allies."
  "Ah, yes I can see where that would be a concern, but I assure you we have no dealings with them even if the Temple of Fel has been considered the Syndicate's traditional ally. As you know while we are faithful to Fel, we believe in following our own path. We are your allies, not the Syndicate."
  "Yes, this particular temple has been engaged in the concept of flexibility for quite some time now. And I appreciate your dedication to our partnership, which is why I'm puzzled that you did not ask for our help on your own matter."
  "Our matter?"
  "Well your attempt to wipe out the Dornans of course."
  
  Gloom drops his friendly persona, though not to a hostile expression, but more of a serious one.
  
  "I considered that as a private conflict between faith and saw no reason to bother you with it, I know you're very busy and all. Though I do wonder how you found out about it, since we've very good about keeping this quiet. The Baroness would come down on everyone if the two remaining religious factions in the city were openly fighting in the streets." Gloom says.
  "Because the leader of the Dornans came to me yesterday begging for an alliance. She wants me to turn on you. She even gave me one of these again."
  
  You pull out a solid black orb causing Gloom's eyes to widen. He remembers a similar magic object was used during the final battle with the Joachimites. You continue to speak quickly before Gloom makes any rash moves.
  
  "Don't worry my friend, obviously I'm not here for treachery. Besides, I'm here by myself. Even without your magic I would never succeed so it would be a pretty poor plan indeed. I am however giving it to you. Just like I gave this to Shade when we fought the Inquisitor. Here you go."
  
  Gloom warily looks at you as he slowly takes the orb. When he finally grabs it, he seems to relax a little more, but he's definitely not comfortable. Still he hasn't killed you yet, so that's a good sign. Meanwhile you're doing your best to remain calm yourself under these conditions, so you continue to speak.
  
  "I have to say I was a little surprised that the Dornan high priestess came to me though. I figured with all their magic they would be more than able to take care of themselves." You say.
  "They're in a vulnerable state so they need all the help they can get right now. However, they're still very dangerous. In fact I thought that with their new leadership, they would soon collapse altogether, but as it turned out they have proved more resilient than I thought. They're attempting to rebuild and I'm not just talking about their numbers, I'm talking about their influence in this city." Gloom remarks.
  "What do you mean?"
  "The Dornan high priestess or matriarch as her followers call her now, has made steps in meeting with Baroness Varsakken over the past few months. She obviously intends on gaining favor with Ludmilla and eventually get rid of us and that can't happen."
  "Wow. Didn't know that, but isn't the Baroness a dedicated follower of Fel?"
  "Eh, the Baroness has always been a dabbler. Her faith in Fel isn't the most dedicated. Indeed she probably has always been more interested in learning shadow magic rather than revering Fel. Still, it was useful to have ruler that was friendly towards us. Unfortunately the new Dornan leadership seems have opened their own doors to teaching the ways of magic and Ludmilla is all too eager to jump on such an offer even if it means paying lip service to both gods."
  "Won't one of these divine beings eventually punish Ludmillia for her fickle nature?" you say mildly jokingly.
  "Perhaps, but it my experience the gods do things in their own time and as a mortal I can't wait that long. In any case it would seem that perhaps Fel has assisted in the more direct destruction of the immediate threat that are the Dornans."
  
  Gloom examines the orb in his hand after his statement before continuing.
  
  "So what exactly was the plan anyway? How did she even trust you enough?" Gloom asks.
  "Oh, she was trying to prey upon my paranoia with the Syndicate, claiming that you would eventually turn against me and other shit. Also during that whole getting Dornan help against the Joachimites, I fucked her once." You say.
  "Truly?"
  "Yeah, the Elder at the time was being sort of a dick to her and I bumped into her crying about it. Seeing an opportunity, I sort of reassured her of her worth and well you know how women fall for that sort of thing. One thing lead to another and I think she's always been a little sweet on me after that. As for the plan, I was supposed to just come in here with my people, break the orb so you couldn't use any magic and then make sure all of you were dead."
  "Hm, she might as well have placed her faith in Dorna rather than you for all good either would do her. The Dornans do have powerful magic to be sure, but they are poor fighters. Evening the odds with this object and they stand no chance. I'm going to personally enjoy this I believe and you've proven that our alliance is indeed a strong one. We will strike their temple in force. I want to make sure none escape, then we'll destroy it."
  "Did you want the League's assistance?"
  "Well, you've done enough already and I never even asked for it. I see now that I probably should have though. I believe we can do this ourselves, however if you still wish to help, I will not turn it down."
  "I'll be there with a few of my people. Couldn't hurt."
  
  Gloom tells you that he'll organize an attack in a few days, you tell him that works for you since you have some other business to attend to.
  
  A couple days pass and that other business finally comes to pass and this is what you've been more concerned about.
  
  You meet Percy at the same tavern with the payment. Once again he's very friendly.
  
  "On time as usual. Very glad that you value promptness as I am in a bit of a hurry. I believe I may have had too much fun here and I should be getting back. I thank you for your suggestions on where to go." Percy says.
  "No problem, so will you be back next month at this time?" you ask.
  "Probably not me, but someone will. Probably of much lesser importance of course. I was just here this time to extend the hand and make the deal as it were. Still glad we came to one."
  "Yes, I agree. Better for business all around."
  "Yes! Yes exactly!"
  "Anyway, I have your payment. Um, just so we're clear how much was it again?"
  "Oh come on now. You trying one last try at lowering the price? I told you I wasn't here to haggle. You know it was a thousand gold pieces."
  "Yes, I knew, and I have it here. Just a poor attempt at a joke I suppose."
  "Hm, well jokes are fine, but never about the Syndicate business. I hope you remember that."
  "I will."
  
  You have two of your hobgoblin muscle show Percy a large chest of gold to which he nods and you tell them to load it on the carriage outside.
  
  "And with that, our business is concluded. I bid you good day and wish you well in your future endeavors, especially if it's going to make the Syndicate money!"
  
  Percy stands up, shaking your hand and leaves.
  
  You can't believe that worked. You don't know what the hell Heather did to him, but he actually believed he only asked you for a thousand gold monthly payment as opposed to the much larger sum he asked before.
  
  You can imagine his superiors are going to be upset, but it won't be at you, it'll be at him for fucking up a deal that they're stuck with now. Well at least you hope they won't try to re-negotiate immediately. You've bought yourself a little more time at least.
  
  Meanwhile, you still have to go stab the Felians in the back though you're sort of wondering about still going through with that now what you've heard about Heather cozying up to the Baroness.
  
  Seems like now more than ever she's attempting to use you as a pawn. Granted she was allying with you for mutual benefit before, but this seems a little different now. What exactly is she planning?
  
  Then again, if she is getting friendly with the Baroness, is it really going to make a difference to you? And Heather did just come through for you on the Syndicate thing.
  > change your mind
  You got what you wanted from Heather as far as the Syndicate was concerned. It's a shitty situation, but you're doing what you got to do to survive it.
  
  Not that you have some great love for the Felians, and you don't even mind Heather, but who knows what the hell her real agenda is if she's making friends in high places. Plus better the devil you know than the one you don't.
  
  All that remains is somehow warning Gloom about the orb. It's going to be tough considering you convinced him to take it in the first place. Last thing you want to happen is to arouse suspicion from him.
  
  Upon thinking about it you decide you'll just have to take Heather by surprise when you accompany Gloom on his invasion of the temple. She'll be expecting you to be on her side, so you should have the drop on her and her people. You'll need to make those shots count and attempt to take cover immediately.
  
  After the battle, you can claim ignorance about the orb and just tell Gloom that she must have been attempting to kill you by giving you a non-working one in the first place.
  
  The night of the attack comes and you meet with Gloom just a few blocks away from the Dornan Temple, you have your usual hob retinue with you. (You're really getting used to having these guys around nowadays) Gloom is with a few of his own people, but even without magic powers you can sense some are probably nearby in the shadows.
  
  "Once again, glad that this is a joint effort though I don't think it was necessary to bring as many people with you as you did. The orb is going to nullify all magic and when that happens, those Dornan priests aren't going to be much match for us." Gloom says.
  "Yeah, well I want to be on the safe side. We'll come in with your people." You say.
  "I appreciate it. This is something that's been a long time coming. Honestly, it was foolish to believe they wouldn't be a problem. Shadow Master Shade warned me to always watch them you know, just before he died. A few of his interpretations of the faith may have been a bit too restrictive, but he had his own wisdom on practical matters."
  
  With those last words all of you march towards the temple. The few wanderers still outside in the area immediately go find shelter when they see a group of mean looking hobgoblins and Felians walking down the street.
  
  The Dornan Temple doesn't even have their usual lookout standing outside, though you imagine the Dornans have some sort of magical detection going on and this plan has already been expected.
  
  Gloom blasts the temple's doors off their hinges with a dark magic bolt of some sort. Then he takes the lead, you tell your hobgoblins to rush forward for the kill as soon as the orb is dropped. They faithfully obey and you all enter with the crowd of Felians that are entering the temple.
  
  Heather and her much smaller group are already there to meet the Felians.
  
  "It ends today and the faith of Fel will rule supreme in the city at last!" Gloom shouts and throws down the orb. A bit more dramatic than you'd expect from a Felian, but then Gloom's whole attack tonight is a bit more theatrical than a typical Felian would go about this. Good thing too, since if he behaved more like his predecessors he wouldn't be going in so recklessly like this.
  
  No sooner has Gloom made his announcement, a white light washes over the room and suddenly all of Gloom's previously shadow cloaked people are now visible. Naturally Gloom just assumes this is just the effects of the orb, but he's soon very surprised to learn that the Dornans have not lost any of their magic abilities at all.
  
  Knowing what's really going on, you waste no time in firing at Heather while your hobs rush forward to attack.
  
  A couple of the Dornan acolytes are cut down as they were caught completely off guard by this, however your own attack has proven ineffective against Heather who apparently had a protective spell up just in case you decided to betray her.
  
  In fact as the bullets fail to hurt her, she just turns her head and looks at you with a minor head shake.
  
  "Shit... "
  
  They may be a small group, but this temple is where their magic is the most powerful.
  
  Most of your hobs are incinerated instantly by the remaining Dornan spells. A lot of the Felians too, before Gloom orders a retreat. He doesn't make it out though before he's brought down by some spell that causes him to age rapidly and then fall over dead.
  
  You don't make it out either. A spell freezes you in place and while you helplessly watch others escape or die in front of you, you can only imagine what grim fate Heather has in store for you after this is over.
  
  As it turns out, Heather's imagination is a lot darker than yours. She manages to punish you for a week before she contacts the Syndicate about your double cross on them and hands you over.
  
  They're more than happy to finish the job of putting you out of your misery.