During the 5 years of Ed's "Pilgrimage," many things happened.
The capital removed all cemeteries from inside the city walls and located them outside. This would prevent any further issues like before. Brother Darby was promoted to head of the church, much against his will, and the Inquisitors were tried and mostly executed except for a handful that were not involved in the incident. Word of their attempt to murder the man at the center of the miracle had gotten out and made them the villain very quick.
CunStead started to see the effects of Ed's presence quickly and crops yielded much faster thereafter his visit. It was not so much that he had performed any specific miracle but that he had made friends with the spirits around the town and they chose to bless it. The spirits nurtured the soil and rewarded humans who worked with the land. Farms that became lazy no longer yielded and soon worship of Linist began to rise. The chapel was rededicated and expanded. Many farms were bought and sold in the first year thinking that money could be made buying enchanted lands. Eventually, those who thought that the land was blessed realized that only those farms owned by farmers who were devout were blessed with quick-growing, fertile farmlands.
Priya came of age while Ed was gone. She had never forgotten his face and within the first year, her hair turned entirely golden. She was still as much tomboy as ever and because her family was never exactly rich, a dowry was never made for her. She told her parents, Juniper and Jorgen that she had other plans and to take care of Corvus and the twins first.
Corvus bought the land next to theirs and married a girl from a family of merchants. He became the go-to between the families. Their family grew and the twins became old enough to help around the farm. During this time Priya took a job with Corvus' wife's family on the merchant trains. She heard stories of how Erust had been traveling and she hoped to meet him again one day. She wasn't smitten after meeting him it was just that none of the regular boys held much interest for her.
That's not to say that she didn't learn how to have fun, she still partied with the men on the merchant trains. She learned to sing and dance. She grew her other skills and kept her ear open for news of miracles happening in the hopes that one day she would hear that Erust was coming back. The year after her 21st birthday her caravan headed towards the border and was attacked by bandits.
Word had made it back to CunStead about the attack. Jorgen and Juniper were worried but sure that the strong, capable young woman was safe.
And in a house near Deavers Township where Ed grew up, Lily lived. Her marriage had fallen after her husband's mysterious death after a night of drinking. She was still living with her husband's family as she was now part of the family. She had born them two boys who would one day take over the family business there. She knew if she left she would lose her children.
Every now and then though she would go digging into a chest she had tucked away in the back of her small widow's room in the rear of the family house. Under the mementos of her marriage was a small package wrapped in old paper. Inside of it was the only thing she had of her best childhood friend before he was killed. She had run to his house when she heard that the church was going to seize his belongings for the orphans. She had gone to his room in the back of old Endre's smith and removed a pair of mittens she had made for him. She had looked for the brown scarf she had made but it was missing, probably already taken by looters like his ledger book at the town bank and all his smithing tools.
She often sat on the porch watching her boys play in the yard and wondered what would have happened if he had only asked earlier or if she had broken tradition and simply asked him. Ed was a good, honest young man back then but way too timid. Would she have lived this kind of quality of life with good food and decent dresses? Or would the life with him have been more rustic? With him working odd jobs and becoming the town smith when Endre finally saw his soul collected?
Ysennia sat at a table in what would best be described as an office. If the divines had anything that came close to a headquarters this was it. It was nothing like what the books would describe to humans. There was no grand cathedral on the top of a mountain where the gods participated in feast and debauchery while viewing all of the creation looking for a chance to be divine.
No, this building was sitting hidden in the middle of the world. In a set of ruins that were as old as them and deemed too ancient by the humans and demis alike for anyone to interfere with. It sat the exact center of the world both from the east and west and the north and south. Its perfect location is what made it easier to concentrate divine powers.
Ysennia's office was a rectangular room with white walls that emanated a warm pastel light. The effect gave it the look of being inside of color itself. The room was sparsely decorated but had all the things that the divine needed, a cabinet containing magic and its instruments, a desk with a chair, and a round table with seats for enough people to gather. The seats would expand or reduce depending on how many people were in the room at one time.
Golliad sat across from the desk, he leaned back with his hands behind his head and chuckled to himself.
"Rennish had no clue what we did until he got out the door. I wonder what he said when he got outside."
"Who cares, the idiot better follow commands this time though. This plan has to go our way. Any more time and the Lord will start to nose in. He has been coming and checking in on this world and the other two we watch over. The fact that he is not focused elsewhere means he gave up on the other realm he was trying to subjugate, or he has noticed something going on." She sighed and put her hands in her head.
"If he really gets involved who knows what will happen, but if he sees the sorry state of affairs here he will probably wipe it out completely and start over. We have the false god in the south, people expanding at an alarming rate. People are looking for a new prophet and even though Linist is being worshipped again in the north, Ed's little persona is getting a lot of attention too. Too much word of mouth and that would be a problem also. The lord can never know of a human's involvement."
Golliad lazily looked around the room while listening. "You know we could just wipe it all out and start again. You have that authority. And then when the Lord asks you tell him we needed a reset. He would be mad that his plan was overrun, but you have enough goodwill with him to ask forgiveness. You might be able to save a few of us divine by sending us to other worlds first."
"Yeah maybe," she said giving it consideration. "But the more likely chance is he will be angry and wipe me out as well. This plan is too important. If we are to make this work, in the long run, we need this world. We need the souls gathered here to make this all work and we need Ed to finally unify the humans and demi's under the church again."
"Don't worry about old Ed. I know you're smitten with him and his awkward human ways, but he will make sure things advance. You left enough hints and clues for the other humans to find this time. Trust me. Soon we will collect the rewards and you will get to do your thing." Golliad smiled.
"You better be right. We need this Golliad, not just me, not just you but the pantheon that exists to keep this all running." She said looking at him with intent, almost dangerous eyes. "This needs to work, and my dear sweet Ed needs to man up."
They both looked at the desk and an image of the world was imprinted at the top. Dots for each human were moving around like ants. Some were moving more than others. If you looked at focused on the one you would see its name, levels of creation, and anything important. You could also use your fingers to zoom in on the map or move it around. When they both looked, they could see the bluish-white dot of Ed, the silky green dot for Rennish, and several other dots around. They had been moving and headed south, just on the plan.