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===The Attention of the Serpents===
Eventually, this skirmish began to draw attention from the other Hours, who began to circle like sharks and eyed the fighting sides appraisingly. Seeing common cause in the Engine's goal to break open and go wherever it pleased, the [[Snake Tail with Appendages]] descended from the Mansus and pledged aid to the Engine. The Anaconda, ever eager to confront her rival, offered her aid to the loyalists.
While the Engine was at first grateful for the aid, it quickly grew angry as it realized the truth of the situation. The elder Hours did not take it seriously, seeing it and its conflict as just another piece in their long game against each other. Enraged, the Engine suddenly turned on the Snake-Tail, devouring it while the serpent's guard was down. While the Snake-Tail proved more difficult to kill due to its unique abilities and its status as a Nowhere, the sudden defeat of one of the most powerful Keys drew the attention of numerous Hours, who sought to use the conflict to their own ends.
The Apple-of-the-Eye, thanks to its close bond with the all-pervasive Glory, had been privy to the events that had ensued - the attempted assassination of the Delver, as well as parts of the greater conspiracy to control the Assemblage by followers of The-Liar-Most-High. These distant visions prompted it to call upon the other patron-Hours of the Assemblage of Holy Vessels, the Spark and the Peacock with its Vizier, to dismantle the growing conspiracy.
As far as he could feel such negative emotions, the Peacock felt his umbrage rise at the revelation the pretender-Hour's servants were working to undermine his collaboration with the other Hours. His winged Long scattered to the winds, keeping an eye open for seditious whispers and promising untold delights to any who could offer useful information. The Suitors and the Suitresses of the Lady in Red, with their seemingly human visages and charming countenances, slipped into the ranks of the Assemblage and the Liar. As both spies and "interrogators", the infiltrators they found parted with their secrets almost immediately. The Vizier also did FNORDhowever, was focused on a different matter. The attack on the Delver had roused him to a cold fury. His Agents had already embedded themselves within the Assemblage, and now on their master's orders they began to seek out the assassin and whoever had supported them. Paranoia began to infect the weaker-willed around them, further hastening the Fifth History's collapse. While aid was still given to the Peacock's efforts, they had been relegated to a lower priority.
The Spark, wanderer and visionary, wandered now with a rare sense of purpose. It traversed the Histories and sought out the minds of those connected to the Deceiver, plumbing their depths for evidence of their wrongdoings and planting ideas for a change in religion, although it is unknown how many acted on the inspired notion.
