For three weeks, he had been able to shut out the world and focus solely and completely on his family. A vacation to Mount Yasuo, it had been idyllic.

Serene.

Peaceful.

Ebon cherished that serenity. Oh, since returning to Rhy'din, he had done his best to shut out the ugliness that seemed intent on fouling the city. He spent his days working on projects with Azure, or reading to Olivia as she cuddled with her baby sloth, or riding the fields with Doran. Most often he would find Phen and sit with her, communing in mutual silence, and those were the times when he was most at peace.

Then he would venture out into the city, and try as he might, there was no escaping the troubles entirely. Graffiti on alley walls (and sometimes out facing the streets) was echoed in the overheard slurs from passing conversations. My family is my focus, he told himself on one such venture, seeing a pack of angry thugs harassing a mother and child whose emerald-hued skin marked them as not-quite-human.

And I have to look them in the eyes every day.

———-

"Hey, greenie, go back to your woods or wherever you come from!" One of the ruffians got up in the mother's face, with barely an inch separating them. "You some sort of plant-person' Why don't y- eh?" The man spied a black-cloaked figure standing nearby, and turned to face him; his comrades-in-arms drew close, and their presence fueled his bravado. "You have a problem' Think we're being too rough on the unnatural trash?"

Ignoring him for the moment, the cloaked man addressed their target. "Go on your way, ma'am. These gentlemen won't be bothering you anymore tonight."

"Oh, we won't' Who do you think you are?" When the newcomer lowered the hood of his cloak to reveal his jet black eyes, the thugs froze for a moment, long enough for the mother and child to slip away. "The old Governor. Figures you'd stand up for the freaks. To think that I voted for you....twice!"

"Thank you for your support," replied Ebon with a wry grin.

"Rot! Everyone knows you can do mind tricks. You probably fried my skull so I'd support you!"

That accusation got a raised eyebrow in response. "Not my style, and besides, I can tell from your words that your mind is an oozing pustule, so why would I ever want to touch it voluntarily?" As he spoke with the gang's apparent leader, or at least its spokesman, Ebon noted that the others were spreading out and around, as if trying to flank him. Beyond them, bystanders had begun to gather, and he sighed wearily. "I'd suggest you follow the advice I gave the lady, and go on your way before I embarrass you in front of all these people."

Then they rushed him all at once, voices matched in a single roar.

After his decision to take a stand, Ebon wasted no time in reaching out to his friends and contacts across the city: Katt, Isuelt, Rachael, and others. There was the odd invitation from Jewell, too, and though he'd been unable—and, to some degree, unwilling at the time—to attend that gathering on Overlord Isle, some of those he contacted had been there. What he learned from them, things both said and unsaid, chilled him to the marrow.

Whatever was being done against this Temple directly, it was clearly well in hand and he didn't need to know the details. His concern was the city at large. Katt was organizing a quiet evacuation of more vulnerable targets: orphanages and fosterages, hospitals (at least for those patients who could be moved; Batten Security teams were watching over those forced to remain), and the like.

Taking stock of who he could rely upon, Ebon made plans to defend all he could come Valentine's Night.