Part 2: The meeting of paths

Katrin looks up as the tavern door opens, and Akiran and Ascian step inside. Oh thank the gods. Standing, she says, "Good to see you both here. We have a bit of a demon problem to take care of."

Ascian wanders in behind Akiran, Barnes' concoction weighing heavily in his pocket and Ember padding silently at his side. A mildly quizzical look creases his features as the others come into view and Katrin's words hit home, followed by a long, slow blink at the man behind her. He looks back at Katrin with a frown.  "Demons. How." To the man that is clearly Thrandimir and simultaneously not Thrandimir, he wades back into the thick, familiar static that is the wizard's mind, adding flatly, Why.

Some old 'friends' showed up in Fireblade looking for Thrandimir. So, meet Sable,  the wizard thinks back at Ascian, smiling broadly when he sees the young man that he'd come to call his friend. It was such an elegant way to communicate and Sable found that he'd missed it.

The dragonborn let's out a small whoop after Katrin mentions the Demons. Leaning in he excitedly says "Demons! Fortune smiles on us my friends! Have you seen one? Better yet do ya have a body or any proof?"

“Creatures from the abyss do not leave  bodies.”  Thezra states offhandedly, her focus on  the guardsmen, “As you might recall after killing Duar’ken. We fought a few, but none remain to prove anything.” There’s a pause before she throws out an optimistic, “ Yet .”

Akiran groans and for just a small moment deflates before his high spirits returns. Walking behind the bar he helps himself to a tumbler of whiskey and says "Ah damn that makes it a bit harder, thought that was just something that happened to Duar'ken. Have the guards seen enough to believe that Demons were here?" Leaning in his voice going low but excitement clearly ringing through "We got a big pay day hanging on the line. I was able to make nice with General Trask of the Heartlands, and got us a bit of work. Even better it sounds like you lot may have already got it done. All we got ta do is prove that there was demonic presence here in Crossroads. And General Trask is gonna bust open the Heartland's coffers and give us 500 gold coins! Also was able to sweet talk em into paying us a bit more from that last gig." He attempts to form his snout into a human grin, with his eyes shinning in excitement   "Fortune has been kind to us today my friends!" Reaching in his pocket he discreetly passes out everyone's share from the last job and gets to the old Human  "Who are you?"

Did they follow you here, Ascian responds with a tilt of his head. He accepts the money from Akiran, pocketing it wordlessly. He’d anticipated needing the money to heal Ember, but with that cleanly resolved it feels strange to have gold without purpose; a luxury none from the Cape really knew. “Why are they here. The demons.”  To the wizard, he asks,  Do I have to call you that.

Katrin shrugs. "Don't know. Maybe the sewers will hold more answers. That's where Lilli and Sable saw one of them," She raises an eye pointedly at Sable when she says his name, glancing at Ascian. She knew that the wizard and the boy had formed a bond, and she only hoped that another deception wasn't going to shake Ascian again.

Lilliana watches the reunion with a sense of relief, having more of the group around felt safer... She finally understood what people meant when they would say things like "safety in numbers". She'd be alone for so long that she'd forgotten what that meant exactly, but after being with the Fireblades  yesterday and then going alone into the chamber with just Sable... No, she was sure she didn't want to be alone again for a very long time, if ever again. When Akiran passes her a handful of gold coins, she frowns at him inquisitively. "What's this for? I haven't really done anything with you all to earn this amount of money."

Akiran chuckles and motions for her to take it "One of my old captains had a saying that I like." His voice taking on the tone of an older officer with a stodgy style of speech   "If the company earns a meal, everyone gets a bite. Better to feed those who didn't earn it, than have a hungry man at your back when the battle goes to shit." His tone returning to normal " Apparently  we're the Fireblades now and you're with us. So if I get a say in it, you get a piece." Adding with a wink "Just make sure to keep working your magics, and we'll be alright Invisible Woman"

Lilliana's face brightens significantly as she listens to Akiran. 'I'm one of them now.'  She feels something odd deep in her chest, a sort of warm tingle that spread throughout her torso and works into a knot in her throat. Not trusting herself to speak at the moment, she simply smiles and nods with a whispered. "Thank you, and I will."  

Reaching in his pocket he discreetly passes out everyone's share from the last job and gets to the old Human  "Who are you?" "Oh, you know me, Akiran," Sable replies, clapping his hand on the dragonborn's arm with a congenial smile as he holds eye contact. "I'm Katrin's friend, Sable the wizard. We fought side-by-side against Duar'ken in Fireblade. Perhaps you remember me a little differently? I'll explain all in good time." Did they follow you here, Ascian responds with a tilt of his head. He accepts the money from Akiran, pocketing it wordlessly. He’d anticipated needing the money to heal Ember, but with that cleanly resolved it feels strange to have gold without purpose; a luxury none from the Cape really knew. “Why are they here. The demons.”  To the wizard, he asks,  Do I have to call you that. I hope not, Sable explains mentally as he converses with Akiran. I was careful. Please do call me Sable in public, just to be sure. Can't be too careful. Katrin shrugs. "Don't know. Maybe the sewers will hold more answers. That's where Lilli and Sable saw one of them," She raises an eye pointedly at Sable when she says his name, glancing at Ascian. She knew that the wizard and the boy had formed a bond, and she only hoped that another deception wasn't going to shake Ascian again. The wizard gives Katrin a short nod in response to her look.

Akiran stares at Sable for much longer than it should have taken the dragonborn to put it all together, but in the end he laughs deeply and passes the wizards share of the loot over to him. "Ahhh... you're a tricky bastard, good to have you back though." Downing the last of his whiskey, "Well let's get this over with, sewer isn't getting any cleaner the longer we wait." Grumbling as he moves "Ya know before meeting you lot, I never once went into a sewer. Now two days in a row there's something crazy going on in the shit filled sewers." Continuing almost under his breath   "Took me all night to get the grime and smell off my armor, and we're just jumping right back in.  Mutant Goblins,  body snatching demons, & fortune only knows what's next.  Only silver lining is that we're at least getting paid this time."

At this point, the guard captain re-enters the tavern from the kitchen. Approaching the table, he lets out a heavy sigh and says, "Alright, well, your story checks out. The mages confirmed that demonic essence was present at the scene. So you're not murderers. Must be adventurers then. You've already got a contract with the city, so you're free to go about your business."

"Thank you, Captain. We appreciate your efforts in this matter." Katrin glances around at her friends, finally resting on Thezra. "Anyone ready to delve into the sewers again? Oh, Th--Sable. When you two were down there...the creature you saw. What did it look like? They're likely expecting us now, after the fiasco in the kitchen." She mentally kicks herself for her near slip-up. That goddamn wizard. But he must've had a good reason to change his identity, and was content for the moment to leave the matter be.  

A mildly amused smirk dances across Sable's face until she mentions the demon in the passage below the mead hall. "It was... greenish and fleshy. A long, worm-like arm ending in stubby fingers with a mouth in the palm."

"How revolting. Between those things and the tentacled spirit-like creatures Katrin and I encountered in the bartender's body, we are dealing with at least a few types of fiends here, possibly more."  Thezra runs through the situation again in her mind, recalling the momentary shiver of fear that ran through her when the bartender turned to look at her, and again when the cook did as well. "I am ready of course," she starts, glancing about the group with anticipation, but stops to look back towards Sable, Katrin, and Liliana. "However, more than once now these creatures have attempted to invade my mind. I've managed to shake it off each time so far, but it's... unpleasant nonetheless. A hammer's blow or beast's talons I can brush aside, but it's harder to steel one's mind. You mages wouldn't happen to have any means of helping shield us all from such things, would you?"

Katrin nods. "I have several spells that offer such protection. And a few that can weaken our enemies." She glances at Sable and Lilliana, giving space for them to offer up their own unique set of skills. 

Sable chuckles and clicks his fingers, producing a miniature illusion of the demon in the palm of his hand. It snarls with the same foul noise that he and Lilliana heard from it below. "My magic is better suited to manipulating the minds and senses of others ," the wizard explains. "For protection of the kind you describe, it's usually best to look to a cleric," he confirms, nodding in Katrin's direction.

Lilliana shakes her head. "I have no such magic at my disposal. As you have seen, a lot of my magic is different than most. Which, speaking of, I would like to take a little bit of time before we venture down there again to rejuvenate myself and regain some of my energy back."

Katrin nods slowly. "Let's do it then. We leave in....say an hour? We should all be ready by then." With that, Katrin sits back down, bringing out her axe and whetstone, sharpening the darkened steel blade for their next adventure.

Lilliana smiles at Katrin and finds a quiet spot where she can sit alone, focus inward on herself. She sits cross-legged and takes a few sips from her waterskin before she closes her eyes with her hands clasped lightly together in her lap. She allows her thoughts to drift, letting the current of ideas rush her along to where they would and she finds herself thinking about the night she left home all those years ago. The pang of loss and the voice in her head that pleaded with her to turn back home, to be that---the current carries on to less defined thoughts to something more akin to feelings. Fear of being hunted, that awful understanding of what it means to be prey for the predators all around... fleeing, running, never stopping...  Within a few moments of Lilliana slipping into her meditative state, small objects begin to vibrate and shift as they are slowly pulled towards her. The smallest pieces of the debris begin to lift and slowly swirl around her torso.  A fearful peace, the watchful quiet... then the whispers come and it becomes a full fledged terror. Running, running, always running. Every time she stops she can hear the panting of the wolves at her heels... Running, running... A tense peace that lasts and lasts... She feels the jaws close around her arms as she hears that voice again... "...found you, S---" Power.  Her eyes snap open with a gasp as all the objects revolving around her sudden drop to the ground with a clatter. She looks around sheepishly, frowning at the small objects, but... she feels refreshed all the same. Power, it was there now. She could feel it beneath her skin ready and waiting. Maybe it was time to become the predator, she had a pack now. She still felt the fear at what waited for them below in the underbelly of Crossroads, but with them she could face it. She stands and stretches. "I'm ready."

After their breather, the Fireblades stand and return to the cellar. The air is just as dark, but even with the light from Sable's staff, the darkness seems foreboding. The secret passage opens, and they proceed in, down the stairs. Their footsteps echo as they reach the bottom, the square room's dark tile shining in the staff light. The soft sound of damp flesh sliding across stone can be heard down the corridor that stretches out in front of them into the dark.  The only way to go is forward.

Ascian peers down into the hallway, Ember padding silently at his side. More than once he looks sidelong at the man who is both Thrandimir and not, as if waiting for him to explain further, or maybe disappear again, as Kaed had. It isn't until the dark has nearly swallowed them again that he turns his focus to the tunnel ahead of them. He's not quite sure what to make of what's happening, but supposes there must be comfort to be found in that no one had asked how the visit to the cleric had gone; he wouldn't know how to answer if they had. This, somehow, is comforting; at least it's something familiar. The sound ahead is still resonating when he turns back at the edge of the halo of the staff's light.  "Am I going first. Or all of us."

Katrin furrows her brow. While Ascian's scouting has proven invaluable, this did not seem the time to send the young man off into the darkness. "I think we stay together on this one." She smiles gently. "We're stronger together."

Sable nods in agreement with a kindly smile and brandishes his staff against the darkness, driving it before them as he lights the way.

The group presses forward. As the party fully enters the room, Thezra, Katrin, Ascian, and Akiran feel the same cold wave of fear that Sable and Lilliana had. Most of them are able to shake it, but Akiran stops in his tracks, the fear seeping into his muscles and bones, locking them in place.  The remaining members of the group make it through the square room before they see the three fleshy figures blocking the hall ahead.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't more demons," Katrin smirks at the three creatures blocking their way. With a flash in her eyes, the three demons find themselves surrounded briefly with ethereal flame. One manages to shake it, but the flames melt into the other two like snow, their eyes now tinged with the pressure of her bane. Taking a step to the side, a flaming hammer appears behind the demons, crashing down onto the head of the creature in the center. It connects with a satisfying thwack. 

Lilliana creeps forward with her companions, despite the awful wave of terror that the sounds of slithering skin upon stone brought up into the back of her throat. She swallows back the bitter taste of fear and pushes herself onward, each step was easier than the last until she no longer felt the horrible urge to ran back up the stairs into the daylight of the world beyond and let these people deal with the threat... 'No, not just these people. They are my people now and I will stand with them as they have stood with me.'   With that sense of driven purpose she pushes herself onward until just up ahead the group spots them once more... the demons... or demonspawn... whatever. She finds that the terror is lessened and never overcome as an inexplicable loathing burns within her chest, no... this was in her very soul. She silently bares her dazzlingly white teeth in a snarl as she begins the motions of a casting a spell. Battle-cries erupt around Lilliana as she focuses on a point in the air, just behind the demons as a tiny, black-pinprick appears in the darkness just as a soundless wave of force slams out from that point like thunder without sound and everything within ten feet of it is inexplicably slammed hard into the stone floor as the very gravity within that field is magnified exponentially. The demons recoil from the forceful impact, two of them suddenly finding themselves heavier than before and difficult to drag their weight behind them. 

Akiran made his way down there stairs with more than a touch of cockiness in his stride. The Dragonborn was already planning out how he wanted to spend his new found windfall of gold, when he struck a wall. As his foot fell, Akiran's mind was assaulted by a terror so deep that the Dragonborn's muscles refused his commands. While he fought for control of his body an all to familiar scene played through his head. Visions that plagued his mind on the nights he couldn't drink them away. A forest covered in blood, his clanmates falling one by one as they valiantly fought a hopeless battle, the scorn in their eyes as Akiran begs them to retreat and regroup, then a fallen shield and the sight of trees rapidly passing. Akiran tries to flee again but his legs still refuse him. He just manages to wrest control of his arms and in a panic, sloppily throws an axe towards the demonic foes. The axe barely leaves his hand before falling and noisily clattering to the floor. As he slowly retracts his hand he sees the gleam of his armor. The shinning armor managing to pierce through the terror and reignite his pride. He was Akiran master of the forge, the warrior of fortune, his story would not end here. Roaring out his usual jovial voice cold and precise  "Stay the fuck out of my head."

Amazing what's possible once your wolf gets LASIK.

The feeling of a fear that was not hers attempts once more to shroud her mind, but Thezra clenches her eyes tight as she sprints into the dark of the tunnel, pushing the feeling from her head and turning it instead into focus. Without missing a beat she draws her sword and swiftly brings it down upon one of the foul creatures, cleaving its leg clean off above the knee. It slouches with an awkward gait and falls to the sewer floor, but its already a mass of brimstone and bile by the time it hits.

Once it is clear that battle has been met, Sable thrusts his staff aloft to illuminate the passage. Seeing the hideous rutterkin arrayed before him, he quickly seeks shelter behind the bulwark that is Akiran.

Another light joins Sable's staff, but glows more faintly -- a glowing jellyfish. It reaches out with stringy tendrils of sickening fear that takes root once again in Lilliana's heart, leaving a simple cold space in Katrin's and Ascian's with the attempt.  Lilliana is overcome with an ice cold terror as a whispering tendril sneaks up her back. I know what you are...

Katrin snarls at the glowing creature, fighting the coldness the thing left in her chest. In her periphery, the hammer slams down on another demon, but it whiffs past as the demon dodges to the side. She strikes out with her battleaxe, feeling the dark steel blade hit.

As the tendril slithers up her back and that voice pierces the barriers of her mind, she finds her mind strangely drifting. Like a dream layered over reality.  S he feels that heavy hand with the vice-like grip upon her slender shoulder and the gruff voice that whispered in her ear. "We found you, Stargard."  In her mind, she whirls again, lashing out with the strange power she felt welling inside her, but this time it didn't come. She screams as she finds herself being pulled back, but in reality she's just running away as quickly as she possibly can away from that which scares her more than anything she could ever fathom. Her cries carry back down the stairwell into the darkness where her friends fought against evil. 

With a roar Akiran rushes towards the demonic creature, his blade held high. Reaching the creature the Dragonborn slashes down as hard as he can and then slams his helmed head into the demon. With a quick step back he rushes forward again and jams his knee into the squishy monster, briefly staggering the creature and breaking it's guard.

The demons blocking the door begin to lurch forward. One slams its gnawing fist into Thezra's armor, to little avail. The other is able to snake a fleshy tendril around behind Katrin, giving the mouth opening to bite down on her shoulder. The cleric's dwarven constitution shakes off the poison that leeches into her system, and she still maintains her spell, coming out mostly unscathed, if not a little unnerved. 

There's a jellyfish joke in here somewhere, I'm just too tired to see it.

The joke is that Ash shot it so hard it now knows what its like to get stung. Also something something Thezra kills a dude and trips another.

Judging the jellyfish creature to be the greater threat, Sable begins a familiar incantation, concentrating arcane power in his staff and hurling bolts of it at the demon with pin-point accuracy. Fluorescent ectoplasm spatters across the wall, but the fiend somehow finds the strength to evade a mortal blow.

The jellyfish swirls evasively around Akiran and Katrin's weapons, and then flees into the wall. Ascian's arrow fails to dematerialize with it, and clatters to the ground, echoing amidst the noise of battle.

"Fucking hell," she mutters as the demon disappears once again into the stonework. But there was still one more. One more bad thing that needed to die. She stares down at the demon on the ground, and her eyes appear to be on fire as the hammer strikes the demon square on the chest. Then, with a quick, downward slash, she cleaves the arm from it's body, her blade sinking partway into it's torso. It turns to goo, and she taps the axehead on the ground to shake off the remaining goo as it melts away. Striding past Thezra, she moves a short distance down the hall, to where she can see staircases. Leading down. "It's always down," she mutters again. Turning back to the others, she points onward, her hammer coming up beside her. "Couple staircases at the end here. Going deeper."

Akiran repeatedly bashes his shield into the wall the Jellyfish fled through. His eyes darting and wild, and his teeth gleaming within his open snout. Taking a step back and looking around at the rest he barks out "What the fuck was that?" Though his rant continues before his companions get a chance to answer  "Did the bastards try to get in any of your heads? Felt the slimy fucks trying to drudge up things best forgotten, and had the nerve to run away after." Smashing his shield into the wall a final time  "500 gold coins, 500. That General better be ready to bust open the vaults after we finish. Cause after this shit I'm smelling a raise."

"It's as I said earlier, they've been trying to get into our minds since the start."  Thezra strolls over the bits of goo remaining from the smaller demons and walks after Katrin. She rolls her eyes to herself at the dragonborn's inane ranting about money. "If it comforts you Akiran, with your mind so constantly focused on the money, it's unlikely they would wish to stay in it for very long. Demons have little use for the stuff." She pauses mid-stride, stopping to turn back to quickly and flatly throw out an explanatory, "That was a joke."  Before turning back and preparing to head down the stairs. As she nears Katrin, she murmurs, "Does it bother you Katrin that these things have died rather easily so far? Considering their operation above, and their outreach to my tribe of all places, I expected... more here." She frowns, furrowing her brow. "I fear there is someone or some thing  at work further below here far more sinister than just these tentacled creatures."

As the fear breaks nearly as abruptly as it came upon her, Lilliana stops running, she takes a moment to gather her wits about her and rush back towards the fight below as quickly as her shaking legs will carry her. Embarrassment and lingering fear flush her cheeks, worrying for her companions as she still hears the clash and shouting of battle, but when it all comes into view she merely spots Akiran slamming the wall with his shield. "Did that thing flee into the wall again?"  She looks around at the others sheepishly, hoping none of them would bring up her cowardice...

Katrin nods, frowning as she gazes off down the hall. "Yeah, this whole thing feels.....off. What the fuck do these demons want? And why? That's the truly troubling thing in all this." She rubs her eyes. "Why."

Sable peeks his head out from around Akiran, before stepping forwards once more when it becomes clear that the demon has fled. "Only one way to find out," he muses in response to Katrin's question.

With the short battle blowing their chances at a stealthy entrance, the Fireblades move down the corridor toward the descending staircases. At the top of the stairs, they can hear the echoes of a conversation in Common. A distorted voice, clearly in pain, cries out for mercy. "Pleeeeeease! I'm begging you, pleeeeaaase!" In a thin, condescending tone, another voice calmly says, "This is your mess. It was your foolishness that lead them here. You were instructed to conduct raids on Peak Farm..." "Peak Farm has a small army of guards! Fireblade was virtually  undefended. I did not think-" "That's correct," the calm voice interrupts. "You didn't think. You were supposed to follow instructions -- not think. And now, because of your actions, this sanctuary is compromised . There are six adventurers coming down the stairs right now." The party rounds the corner into a small, stone-walled cavern with a set of double doors opposite them. The doors are standing open, and inside, they can see a large, well-lit circular chamber. Three more of the fleshy demons can be seen guarding the door, while a few humanoid figures stand in the depressed center of the room.  The calm voice belongs to a human man, standing atop one of the four daises. He wears dark hooded robes that seem to flow around him independently of the still air. He carries a dark-stained wooden staff, and an ornate blindfold covers both of his eyes.  The distorted voice belongs to something else. A mass of twisted shadow sits imprisoned in a whirling ball of energy that hovers above the center of the room. The group catches the flash of yellow eyes within it. The calm voice speaks again. "This is your mess, Duar'ken. Clean it up." He slams his staff into the ground and the ball of energy peels off of what was and is Duar'ken and moves to surround the dais that the human stands on. He stands there, watching and waiting.  The shadow turns, glaring down at the intruding group of adventurers. Its yellow gaze centers on Thezra. The two axe-wielding men move down into the central basin of the chamber, waiting for the party to make a move.

Katrin looks over the lot of them. She takes a breath, letting it out slowly. "How many times are we going to have to kill this guy?"  Three small motes fly from her fingertips, wriggling into the ears, or what passes for ears, of the three snarling demons before them. They're faces go slack for a moment, and she can feel their minds slowed just a little bit more, thanks to her spell. With a stamp of her foot, the flaming hammer reappears. Without preamble, it smashes down on the demon in front of it. She steps quickly into the room. "Motherfucker's got nine lives or something."