The officials of Opes Fluvium met in the city hall, situated behind the walls dividing the wealthy district from the rest of the city. Outside those walls people murmured about rumours of a revived saint, but inside those walls the leaders worried. They sat at the top of the chain of command of this city. The poor farmers harvested valuable tropical crops like rice and sugar cane from the fields surrounding the city. The officials would tax these. The farmers would sell what they didn't need for themselves, and the proceeds of that are taxed too. Then the merchants would export those goods from the city along the river, and the leaders would have that taxed as well. All these taxes meant that the leaders lived in prosperity and riches, and this revived 'saint' threatened that.

The Anointed of Caldor and Disciples of Unda were also concerned (although the former more so than the latter). This pagan saint of the Akrassans was a threat to their hold over the city. The Paterdomans held a close alliance to Opes Fluvium. Along with achieving the widespread dominance of their religion, Opes Fluvium was also a source of tithes and served as a good missionary base for the southern half of Elysium. In turn, the people of Opes Fluvium received the skills of the fire and water mages. The native magic of the area is wind magic, which makes the threshing of rice more efficient, but with the help of water magic they can irrigate their fields much better. However, it seems that the people of the region are not quite as loyal as they may have hoped.

In the meeting chamber, the leaders adorned in jewellery and the priests in their robes of red and blue were in agreement. This saint of the Akrassans must be eliminated before he converts the entire city, and measures must be put in place to quell a potential rebellion. They made their plans and parted ways, to prepare the city and army.

A number of officials checked the defences of the city. The outer walls were not very strong, and houses still sprang up outside those walls, but they are meant to serve as more of a boundary than anything. The important part was the inner walls, which were tough and sturdy and capable of withstanding force, especially from a rebellion of the common folk outside those walls. However, they remembered that the 'saint' had wings, which meant he could fly. They contacted the generals to ensure that they had sufficient ranged capabilities to face a flying target. With bows, crossbows, muskets and magic in their arsenal, they assured the leaders that they should be able to handle it.

The priests arranged sermons both in the churches and on the streets to warn the people against the influence of pagan religions. The fire priests warned the citizens that the time was coming soon when the mighty Caldor himself would smite those who worship false gods and those who turn from him, pointing to the red sun as a sign of Caldor's will and also his great might. The water priests reminded the citizens of all the good of the Paterdoman religion, such as the unity it brings and the truths it holds. While they would probably fail to out-persuade Macaroth, they could at least provide some resistance against the doubt and rumours he had left behind.

Then came the offensive strategy. It was easy enough to discover that this patron saint of the Akrassans was situated in Deren Abbey back in his own time, and it was not much of a stretch to assume that this had not changed. What they did not know, however, was how well defended Deren Abbey is at the moment. The 'saint' had come with an armed escort, so it would appear that he has at the very least a small army. There were rumours from upriver of populations being unsettled and the poor and criminal disappearing from their regions, which could probably be somehow connected to the activities of the 'saint', but the leaders had too little information to determine what was going on. Before they could send out an army to attempt to wipe out this uprising they would first need to assess what they were up against, so they sent out their scouts.

The scouts of Opes Fluvium are very mobile. While they use horses to travel long distances, as they would have to do to get near Deren Abbey, on foot they use wind magic to enhance their movements and allow them to travel fast, jump far and move almost silently. They were equipped with camouflage, allowing them to blend in with tall tropical grasses, short swords for if they end up having to fight, and telescopes to see details from a distance. Eight such scouts departed from Opes Fluvium and rode down the road which would eventually take them to Deren Abbey. Once they got close Deren Abbey, which is about a day's ride away, they would dismount, split up and go the rest of the way on foot, travelling by cover as much as they could and eventually finding a safe location from which they could see Deren Abbey. They would then make a mental note of what they saw, such as approximate troop numbers, armaments, and the fortifications present, and depart as swiftly as they came.

With speed, stealth, surprise and also the darkness of dusk which had fallen by the time they got there on their side, it would be a challenge to catch all the scouts, if Macaroth could manage to catch any at all, let alone notice them and identify them as threats. Their augmented speed would make it a challenge for any human to capture or kill them even if they saw them, but at the same time they might have difficulty escaping a flying foe if one pursues them.