"Caretaker, Caretaker, this is Vulture. Come in."
"Repeating: this is Vulture. The church has just received word that the Harpers are launching coordinated strikes against members of every faith in Water-Drawing City. Lord Kaierben has already led troops to seal off the entire Port District. Begin evacuation immediately. Come in!"
But the other end of the magical communication remained silent, leaving this mid-ranking member of the Church of Bane deeply uneasy.
The man codenamed Vulture was one of the followers of Bane who had investigated the slave ship "robbery" on the banks of the Surbrin River. He was also the direct superior cleric of Caretaker, the man originally tasked with tracking the Children of Murder.
As for why the follower who had taken away the slime Steel Egg was codenamed Caretaker—it was because the man usually loved penning up all manner of rare Demonic Beasts, even raising magical pets. Thus came the name.
In truth, most intelligence-world codenames were self-declared. Sometimes, for the sake of secrecy, changing one every so often was perfectly normal.
Strictly speaking, Caretaker could not be considered an especially outstanding follower of Bane.
He had spent over a decade muddling along in the Zhentarim of the North, only to barely reach the position of resident Guild Leader in Water-Drawing City. That rate of infiltration and promotion would be downright embarrassing in any other organization.
Still, he had never made any major mistakes over the years, so among the upper ranks of the Church of Bane, he belonged to the group that was relatively trusted.
He might ordinarily have been a minor, inconspicuous figure, but the matter he had suddenly reported and taken charge of this time concerned Baal's Child of Murder—one of the three gods of death. It was a special incident for which their master