In the late stages of the Time of Troubles.
The noncombat deities of the Pantheon suffered the greatest losses, especially the goddesses who had once devoted themselves to pleasure. None of them met a particularly good end. Soren even remembered one goddess being imprisoned by an Archduke of Hell in Baator Hell. Who knew how long she had been subjected to his "training" before someone rescued her? But that happened much later. For now, the Gods had yet to plunge everything into chaos with their fighting, and everyone was still showing some restraint.
Time always passed quickly before anyone realized it.
In the blink of an eye, May was almost upon them, and signs of the third wave of impact in the Time of Troubles had begun to appear.
Port Nyanzaru lay in the Overseas Islands, so the effects were not particularly noticeable there.
On the mainland, however, traces of devils were becoming increasingly frequent. Low-ranking devils used as cannon fodder, in particular, were appearing more and more often in the wilderness.
The devils had not been the main force in the first two waves of impact, but they had still reaped some gains.
Now those gains had all been converted into imps to serve as cannon fodder. They began appearing frequently in the wild, attacking all manner of non-devil creatures.
Wind Spear Hills. River Valley.
Soren appeared in this somewhat remote region on the edge of the Wind Spear Hills. The land was not especially fertile, but several thousand people lived nearby. Behind him stood the solemn-faced High Priest and a handful of other priests of bishop rank or higher, followed by Ugly Monkey, who had returned from his assignment. The information he brought back was the reason for this visit.
"My Lord."
A priest who appeared to