Present

While the Gods awaited the result of Prospero’s sojourn from the heavens, the God of Wealth turned His attention far beyond the Realm of the Living, beneath the very Roots of Yggdrasil. Prospero marched into the Underworld, and the Underworld bristled, as is its wont. Legions prepared for war as the Merchant Lord arrived at the royal fortress of Cor Kanth, the Vice-Royals Zigana and Tizane roused upon the Shtlenii riverbed and blazing with power and threat alike. The undead circled Prospero and left no doubt as to their intent.

He simply smiled. “Such hospitality does not befit a King,” He spoke for all Creation to hear in a voice sanguine and coolly confident. “Will you now renege on the accord?”

The Undead stood to ease and after a moment of deathly silence, the gates of Cor Kanth began to grind open and Slith, silent until now, bade Prospero to come and bargain.

Gathering almost all of waking mortality to His side as witness, Prospero entered the fortress and lit His cigar, the tension settling as Wealth Incarnate found His footing. Over a hundred adventurers joined Him to observe and Slith, it soon became clear, was not in the mood to waste time.

Though Prospero was happy to proceed straight to business, the Elder God nevertheless insisted on the pleasantries and decorums befitting a King and Divinity taking together counsel. Slith disagreed, and insults were swiftly exchanged alongside reminders of the King’s erstwhile Father and, having scored the first points in this battle of wills, Prospero seized the opportunity to restate His purpose: to collect on the accord made between Himself and King Slith at the climax of the Age of Woe.

The two bantered back and forth, neither willing to concede the advantage. Prospero puffed on His cigar seemingly without a hurry or care in the world, the God of Riches in His element of bargains and deals once more. Finally, He made clear the intention of the Gods: to retrieve from Slith the Golden Chain of Aeon. Negotiations turned to the Undead, and in this, Prospero was able to inch closer toward achieving His deal. Slith would surrender the Chain and in turn, the Gods would preserve his right to kingship for eternity. He would, finally, be free of his father’s long shadow.

Still the King of the Underworld was not satisfied. When pressed on why He sought the chain, the God revealed the Pantheon’s intent to sunder it, that mortality and Divinity may both be freed from the tyranny of time and instead forge forth with memory as backdrop and allegory, not the curse it had proven to be to all. In response, Slith demanded that the Pantheon enshrine Slith’s undead in the boughs of Yggdrasil itself: anchoring their place in history as an essential, vital part of Creation’s Weave.

Prospero gave His word. Slith gave his assent. Formalities were observed, and the Merchant Lord left the fortress of Cor Kanth with the Golden Chain of Aeon now in His possession. No blood had been spilled, and, miraculously, both parties appeared contented.

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Summary: Prospero bargained with Slith to obtain the Golden Chain of Aeon, a relic entrusted to him in a bargain made at the end of the Age of Woe. In exchange for surrendering the relic, Prospero promised on behalf of the Pantheon to enshrine Slith’s undead in memory for eternity and grant them equal footing with the living in the Weave of Creation and its narrative.