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"Almost certainly," Elton says. "Drug distribution, prostitution, and—please note that I myself am not a criminal mastermind, though I have known a few—I suspect clubs now serve as a useful physical nexus for illicit online activity. But the Cult of Fenris are focused on Hog Throne tonight, and that's all I know for sure. They might still be at it. I saw one of them in lupus form outside."

"I saw him, too," you say. "Roland: bearded man, bearded wolf. Not something you've seen before, but it makes sense."

"Yeah, that's him," Elton says. "I think he was checking out the wiring." Elton looks around. "Actually, where does the power for all this come from?"

You've noticed the messy wiring; now you peer out one of the slats and look around. You're no electrician, but it looks like a jury-rigged line from the main road. You point it out to Elton.

"The electrical is a mess around here," you say.

But Elton's eyes are narrowed. The bearded Cultist, Roland, is looking around backstage. He backs off gracefully when a security guy notices him, but he's up to something.

"Hm," Elton says. "At first I thought their plan might be to cut the power. Maybe to grab Nin or something. But I don't think they care about her. I think they're going to do something worse. I think they're going to send a warning to the other clubs that, if you don't do business with Huvud Development, you suffer."

"Electrical arson," you say.

Elton thinks, picking his next words carefully.

"Maybe the Cult are only here to frighten the owners of Hog Throne," Elton says as Nin strums her guitar and an expectant hush falls over the crowd. "Maybe they know almost nothing about Nin. If that's the case, why don't we…"

He trails off.

"What?" you say.

"I'm just saying," the theurge says, still choosing his words carefully, "that if we let the Cult do what they want to do, Nin's Rage might be enough to reawaken her Wolf."

"A lot of people think this is inspired by Scritti Ligotti," the Saint Homunculus front man says onstage. "Actually we just misheard some Carly Simon lyrics. This is 'Clowns in My Coffee.'"

The crowd howls with excitement and people pour into the mosh pit. You move Elton toward the juice bar so you can hear yourself think, and say—

"So either the fire kills everyone or Nin transforms and she kills everyone. Good plan, Elton, great idea."

"Among other problems, shapeshifting onstage violates the Litany. We can't let Nin lift the Veil in front of all these people!"

"Let's just kill these Cultists before it's too late. Or at least drive them off."

"If it's necessary to get her to talk about what happened, maybe it's worth it."

"If we heal Nin, she can restore the forest around Broad Brook. It's painful, but we need to consider the land's long-term spiritual health."

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