Read Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad for Free Online

Intrigue-and perhaps the small boon of Lies, if my service proves worthy.”
    “That is not in my power to grant,” Tempus said. “Even if the trial goes against him-“
    “I ask only that you suggest it.” Mask’s words were soft and quick, and his shadowy figure changed with every one, as though switching forms might hide him from the keen nose of Kezef. “And I ask that you stand by your charges. Once you lodge your complaints, it will be too late to change our course.”
    A deep, profane snarl rumbled through the battle hall and drowned out the din of clanging steel. A beast the size of a war-horse emerged from the far corner. It resembled a giant mastiff with black-crusted fangs and a shimmering coat of maggots.
    Mask trembled so violently his form grew blurry and indistinct, but he did not flee. “Do I have your promise?”
    The Chaos Hound cocked his head, then swung his massive snout toward the Shadowlord and snuffled. Threads of poison-laced drool fell from his chomping maw.
    Tempus nodded. “I give you my word.”
    Kezef charged.
    Mask tossed the scroll at Tempus and leaped over a pile of warriors and disappeared into a shadowy corner.
    The Chaos Hound streaked between two ranks of charging cavalry, then bounded over a knot of grappling footmen. He shoved through a tangle of blood-spattered knights, flashed past Tempus’s throne, and disappeared into the shadows after Mask.
    The Battle Lord sat watching the Eternal War for a moment, then opened the scroll Mask had thrown him. The Shadowlord’s plans always made him uneasy, but Tempus would convene the Circle of Twelve. The Battle Lord rarely gave his word, but when he did, he always kept it.
     

Three
     
    The great gods of the Circle of Twelve gathered in the Pavilion of Cynosure-eleven in all, for Cyric the One was not among them. The Battle Lord Tempus arrived first, followed by Mystra, Lady Magic, and her lover Kelemvor, Lord Death. Then came Talos the Destroyer and Shar the Nightbringer, Goddess of Loss and of all the wicked things men do under cover of darkness-a pair upon whose support the Battle Lord was counting. And too there was Chauntea, Goddess of Bountiful Nature, along with her paramour Lathander the Morninglord, who appeared in a streak of golden light. Never to be outshone, Sune, Goddess of Beauty and Love, appeared in a flash of flame as red as her hair. Silvanus Treefather, God of Wild Nature, also saw fit to attend, as did Oghma, thieving God of Wisdom. Tyr, the eyeless God of Justice, came to act as judge. Though many called him Tyr the Evenhanded, this was something of a joke, as his right arm ended in a stump.
    The gods did not “arrive” in the pavilion so much as turn their attention upon it, for deities are more energy than body and can manifest themselves anywhere with little more than a thought. By dividing their concentration, they can perform many tasks at once, or “travel” between locations in an instant But their abilities are not entirely without limits; they can divide their attention only so many times, and the greater their exertion in any one place, the more of their attention they must concentrate there. The Pavilion of Cynosure appeared different to each god.
    Chauntea the Great Mother perceived it as a lush and fragrant garden, burgeoning with dew-kissed blossoms of impossible brilliance. Shar the Nightbringer saw a dark cavern where no light could shine, filled with barbed stalactites and hidden abysses that seethed with pains long buried but never forgotten. To Mystra, Lady of Magic, the pavilion was an alchemist’s laboratory, strewn with simmering beakers and jars packed with arcane spell components.
    The gods saw each other as differently as they saw the pavilion itself, each in accordance with his or her own nature. Mystra saw her companions as wizards of awesome power, cloaked in robes spun from the shimmering energies of the Magic Weave. In turn, Tempus envisioned her as a valkyrie armored in gleaming