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Hector had not actually told Caster about Rathmore’s Gate yet, and he wasn’t sure he was going to, either. While it was almost certainly the exact type of land that the guy was looking for, it was also part of a long-term research project for Garovel. Something the reaper had been trying to keep relatively secret, at least until more about its true nature was revealed.

Therefore, telling some weird, god-possessed dude who had very strong ties to Abolish... didn’t seem like the wisest course of action.

At least, for now. Hector wasn’t entirely convinced that he even could keep it a secret from Caster for very long. Within Atreya, Rathmore’s Gate was already fairly famous in its own right. There was a decent chance that Caster would learn about it on his own, especially if he ended up spending much time here.

For the time being, however, Caster and Loren were remaining in Boland to work on a tower there--a “node in the network,” as Caster had put it.

Hector had already told Ravi Zaman about Caster, and even though it had been over the phone, the man’s reaction had not been terribly difficult to read.

<“You met WHO?!”>

“Caster Egmond.”

<“The Marauder of Calthos?!”>

“That’s the guy.”

<“You--?! He--?! But--!”>

It had taken a while to work through Ravi’s disbelieving phase and onto the more productive part of the conversation.

<“He wants to form an alliance with you?!”>

“Yeah. What’s your opinion of him?”

<“I... he’s... agh...”>

Hector just waited.

<“He is a very powerful man. In more ways than one.”>

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

<“Well, um. The Fellowship had been after him for a while, believing him to be a good fit for us, but he refused us for years. I’m not sure why. The news that he finally joined came as quite a shock to many of us...”>

That did track with the story that Caster gave him about being a changed man or whatever.

<“I did not expect to have an encounter with him so soon... You said he wants to meet with me?”>

Hector tilted his head at the man’s marveling tone. Was Ravi starstruck? “That’s right.”

In the end, Ravi had’t proved particularly helpful in trying to discern anything about Caster or his motives. He advised Ravi to be careful, but at that point, it seemed like the guy was hardly even listening.