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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3662365" data-attributes="member: 143">I noticed that my SH is featured in your sig, Richard... thanks for the advertising!* * * * * Chapter 217SCHISMBlack streaks appeared on the ancient supports of the arched ceiling above as the fire elemental surged forward toward Varo.  The old weathered pews flanking the altar burst into flame, and the candles surrounding the altar melted from the backblast of heat. Gaius Annochus lifted a hand to protect his face, and fell back around the perimeter of the chapel.  “BE GONE!” shouted a deep voice that echoed through the sanctum.  The elemental flickered and dissolved, leaving a strong smell of brimstone in the air.  Nelan strode into the chapel, accompanied by a pair of older men clad in white robes.  All three looked furious.  “What in the hells were you thinking, Patriarch?” Nelan asked.  “You would destroy the cathedral?”The two men accompanying Nelan created water, dousing the flames left behind by the elemental’s passage.  Varo had not moved, and he stepped aside to let Nelan pass him down the aisle. Gaius, cowering along the wall, blinked in surprise.  “What?  Agathon?  You... you knew he was here!”  He pointed at Varo.  “You are working with that... that... fiend to discredit me!”“Oh, shut up,” Nelan said.  “You have done quite enough to discredit yourself, Gaius.”One of the old men in the white robes nodded.  “I must admit, I could not believe it, when you first came to me, Nelandro.  But a Council of Bishops will be convened at once, and the current Patriarch will be stripped of his power ere this day is concluded.”  He did not quite look at Gaius Annochus.  “So, Agathon.  This is your plan, to gain your revenge over me?  Perhaps you wish my title, my power?  Well, you can have it.”“I do not want anything from you,” Nelan said, his voice tinged with sadness.  “You will regret the day you opened dealings with him,” Gaius said, looking at Varo with undisguised hatred shining in his eyes.  The other bishop turned to the door, and gestured; a pair of armored priests entered.  “Please escort Gaius Annochus to one of the penitents’ cells, and see that he is sequestered,” he told them.  The man who had once been the most powerful cleric in Camar did not look at any of them as he walked between the guards, and exited the room.  Nelan stood facing the altar.  Finally, he turned to face Varo, who had remained silent during the other exchange.  Nelan’s voice was thick.  “Once... once he was a great man.”Varo’s gaze was cold.  “Perhaps.  But no longer.  And Camar will have need of great men again, Nelandro Agathon.  Very, very soon.”Without a word, he strode down the aisle and departed, leaving Nelan and the other priests to share a look that bespoke a grim awareness of the truth of the cleric’s words.</blockquote>

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