"Rumors? What kind of rumors?"
Amy laughed. "They say that you are broke. That you have lost all your money in a bad business deal and that you are trying to get it all back using whatever means possible."
That was not nearly as bad as Ted had expected it to be. He had feared that his sinister intentions about the true nature of the Society could reveal themselves before it was time to do something about the actual sacrificial gift.
The right thing to do was to flaunt his wealth in such a public way that no further doubts could arise. While not the worst possible thing to happen, being thought of as a financial leech would surely make recruiting new cultists harder for him.
It was time to have a ball.
The pinnacle of upper class behavior, the social convention of arranging a ball to show off one's prestige and talent was familiar to Ted. He had always been the one to sneak in without an invitation until people had taken the hint that he, too, in his elusiveness, liked to mingle and sample cheeses, and dance as well.
He was a good dancer. Eknie said so, and she did not have the guts to lie to him about that. Besides, he was watchful enough to notice if he was stepping on the toes of his partner. He only ever hurt people on purpose.
Oafishness and clumsy movements were not his style.
"Actually, make those robes beautiful, expensive, opulent, whatever, and make twenty with dragon embroidery as well," Ted said. "I trust your visual excellence and your taste. Make the dragon robes look even better."
"How many again…?"
"Make fifty regular ones and twenty with said dragon embroidery."
Amy let out a screech.
"You're killing me with work, cor! My dear cor Tobias, that is no way to treat a woman!"
"You seemed to like money before…"
"I do, cor, but there's a heck of a hassle and hustle in seventy damn robes. Excuse me. I will have to take payment up front. And the price will be sky high if you want them quickly, cor."
"When have I ever lowballed you, Amy?" Ted faked an offended frown. "Here is your gold."
He threw the amount he thought of as proper onto the table and then some more.
Ted told Eknie about this plan. They would have the first and the second stage of the initiation ceremony soon enough. The robes would be ready for that, and after there were actual cultists, with their fancy labels and lofty ideas, they could have a gathering of elite Neulians in Ted's manor.
Now, though, he had committed to having a maximum amount of initiated cultists at the ball. He would have to work hard, not only to fill all those robes for Fireflies, but also to keep the Society from becoming some bloated monstrosity before it was their time to shine.
Eknie clicked her tongue.
"A fancy gathering. Sounds like a good way to earn the trust of the high and mighty."
"That's exactly how I see it as well." Ted smirked. "I need to tell them that part from my pleasant, charitable nature, I am also invested in the supernatural side of the weather. Tell me, Eknie, dear, do you believe that the storms surrounding the Fin are magical in origin?"
"There is witchcraft in the waves, that much is true…I guess I do believe in such things. The question is, what makes the waves and the clouds so angry?"
"No, Eknie. The question is, how do we push through the clouds and the waves?"
The woman frowned. "I might have an idea. I still have some connections. You know my parents like you, though you might not like them back. They were mistaken as relatives of Ed Worthgul when they were newlyweds, and they have had a few academic friends ever since. A man named Madorn…"
Her voice faded away, leaving Ted with just the right amount of curiosity about this mysterious Madorn.
"Is he a professor?"
"A huge mind. That is what he is. Honestly, I have met him twice and I still have nightmares about the crushing inadequacy I felt back then. But he definitely does not do it on purpose. I think he must be a professor. If he was not, it would be a dragon without scales."
Eknie seemed to shudder at the thought of being in the presence of such a great thinker.
"Interesting. Dragons…reminds me that I need to finish planning the second part of the ceremony. That will be private as well, with only the existing Dragons present, and us, of course. That means someone will have to be the first."
"What kind of a ceremony will it be?"
Ted explained everything. He had made things a bit simpler. The first part was just a new name and a symbolic bath in bright sunshine, with the fresh meat wearing the basic robe and saying a certain oath. The fee had to be collected beforehand, of course. Then there was the part that fascinated Ted the most due to its nonsensical nature. The cultist would have to stay wide awake for twenty and four hours and make observations about the weather while chanting a single sentence.
Sun, Your Divine Grace, your rays purify all things.
Ted had made up an entire language to speak the sentence in, or perhaps not as much a full-blown linguistic system as a gibberish code with certain auditive sigils that sounded very impressive. He had translated the phrase to his own language, smuggled plenty of corna leaves to Neul to secretly make a mixture to stimulate the mental and physical abilities of the cultists. He was going to make a drinkable version of corna and discreetly make the cultists drink it, so that they would believe that being in the Society gave them superhuman powers.
This was the first part, and after reviewing all the parts, they agreed that while it was absolute lunacy, it would kick-start the madness of the initiates as well and hook them on the intoxicating feeling.