"Not a single reasonable creature would spend valuable time solving this sort of phrase-mince. If only someone

"Not a single reasonable creature would spend valuable time solving this sort of phrase-mince. If only someone knew how much effort it required to treat the matter seriously! But it paid off! It's obvious that the part about 'opened the road for the ancient dead man and his black-feathered messenger' refers to Willas Gunderson, who awakened Vordakai. This guess led me to think..."