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As the fighting went on and became more and more intense, the Forge-Long began to consolidate their power and unite in earnest with sympathetic gods. The Spark and the Apple-of-the-Eye sent envoys to the forming organization, beginning to form the core of the confederacy that would watch over them and govern their movements.
But where some saw the secessionists as a nuisance to be destroyed or as allies to be protected, some gazed upon the secessionist movement and saw a means to further their power. The cabal Long and Names who formerly made up the Deceiver were involved in both sides of this. Many of the old loyalists, seeing kindred souls in others trying to restore their gods, joined the DeceiverAssemblage whole-heartedly, the sudden surge in experienced personnel with mysterious origins. But there, the opportunists, that surreptitious group of liars seeing a chance to usurp a god and opportunists increase their power, enacted a plot to usurp and subvert the secessionist movement from within. They joined the flood of old loyalists in, pretending merely to be more displaced Long and Names seeking a home. Upon infiltrating the movement, they started spreading rumors that the Apple-of-the-Eye was truly a God-from-BloodNowhere, reviving their old pamphlets from their subversion of Project Cassandra. The Apple was truly the enemy, and was trying to lead the faithful of the Maker and Anvil astray. This set off another round of infighting and division within the ranks, as the agents of the Liar worked to drive a wedge between the Long and the Hours that would be willing to patron them. Between the increasing pressure from the Hours and the Engine and the dissent in their own ranks, the crisis might well have ended there had fate not intervened.
The infighting between the Hours and their servants attracted the attention of the Peacock and his servants, who were eager to bring more Long to the "true path" of [[The Choir Unceasing]]. As his aviform Long began to infiltrate the hiding places of the Forge-Long and whisper their songs however, they soon overheard word of the designs of the Liar. Their lies of the nature of the Glorious Lie, and that the Long would be far better served joining with the Deceiver.
