Part 2: The meeting of paths

"It's magical in nature," Barnes says. "I'm not entirely certain of the certain ingredients." He holds out his hand. "I can take it back if you're unsure."

"I'm not."  Ascian gestures for Ember to turn, and moves to follow.  "If it's magical, it actually might work. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Barnes says with a wave. 

With the increasing sounds of commotion coming from within the kitchen, Thezra grimaces. The two had gone in invisible, yet somehow still managed to cause a scene. She lets out a sigh as the bartender starts to bridge the gap towards the doorway, quickly looks around the room, noting the other patrons had almost all diverted their own attention to look towards the going-ons in the back room. Rolling her eyes, she lifts the mug in her hands to her lips, shrugs at Katrin, and slams it down onto the countertop, nearly shattering the metal framing around the woodwork as the last bit of drinks sloshes out over the tabletop. " Spirits,"  she calls out, pushing back from her seat and standing with a deliberate stumble. "That sounds bad ." Ambling forward, she hurries up to the kitchen door alongside the man,   hoping for their own sake the two mages weren't standing in plain view on the other side, but tracing a finger up along the handle of one of the smaller axes dangling at her hip in case they were. "You know... in Ore'agah whenacook losssst control of their kitchen, it meant free drinks" --   hiccup --  "on the house since a bar thacan't be controlled by its owner shoul-shant be paid for by its patrons. Y'know?" With a sheepish grin, she looks up from the man to whatever chaos awaited inside.

Oh shit..... Katrin sets down her mug, hurrying after her "drunk" friend. I hope this works.....

Inside, a dwarven cook contends with a raging oil fire that seems to have consumed the entire stove. The bartender looks at Thezra.  "Go sit down, please,"  he says, and steps inside the kitchen door and attempts to close it. When Thezra blocks the door, the bartender turns and stares hard and cold at the pair and a great fear wells up in both of them. Both are able to push it off, but the bartender's look goes cold when he sees this. Then, he disappears. Down in the cellar, just as the secret door closes, the bartender appears in a whirl of dust. His eyes scan about, turning his head back and forth -- and then all the way around.

"Scheisse," she mutters under her breath as the barkeeper vanishes after attempting to cloud their minds with fear. "We're definitely on the right track," she says, louder so Thezra can hear her. Placing a quick hand on the fighter's arm, she whispers a quick blessing, bolstering their courage and resolve with the divine might of Tempus.  She steps past Thezra into the kitchen and immediately notices the poor cook fighting the fire and losing spectacularly. Perhaps he knows nothing....should at least try to stop this place from burning down. In Dwarvish, she speaks to the other dwarf as she comes up beside him, her head a few inches taller than his. "You need to put out this fire before the whole tavern goes up in flames. Where do you keep flour? We can smother it!" 

The cook looks over his shoulder at the approaching dwarf. Without responding, his eyes go dead and he gives Katrin the same blank, cold stare that the bartender gave. The room seems to shimmer, strangely, but then the effect fades. The eyes turn to a look of surprise...and then, with a sickening pop , tear free of the eye sockets. The ocular tendrils begin to twist themselves around each other, the long sinew of the optic nerve being tied in knots over the bridge of the dwarf's nose. Katrin feels a wave of sickening dread wash over her. The dwarf begins to back away from the fire, closer to the hatch in the floor of the other side of the room.

Thezra attempts to attack One Ugly Motherfucker

Down in the cellar, the bartender looks around, scanning the dank room for any sign of movement. He frowns, and then moves over to the keg where Sable is standing. Sable presses himself against the wall, holding his breath, and the invisibility seems to do the trick. He opens the secret passage, and begins to head across the room toward it.

Sable waits, as still and as silently as he can, for the bartender to enter the passage.

Lilliana’s eyes widen as the bartender… no, the thing  suddenly appears in the cellar and begins to look around. She clamps her hands over her mouth to stifle the whimper that tries to force its way out as it’s head begin to spin around unnaturally before she begins to make her way away from it as it moves towards the entrance, but as she’s moving away the thing turns and looks directly at her. That was the last straw for poor Lilliana, she chants beneath her breath as she conjures forth the chaotic forces of the heavens and she pops into view as her eyes flash a bright silver when she releases the undulating orb that slams hard into the demon or whatever it was! A section of the body is blasted away by the force just as Lilli then immediately conjures a neutron Star next to it! She grins as it’s sucked into the gravity well, hearing ribs crack as the massive pull hugs it in nice and tight. “Run! Now!” She turns towards the stairs to rush up into the kitchen beyond.

The cosmic glow of Lilliana's neutron star casts the horrors transpiring in the cellar in stark relief. Sable quickly turns the tap on the false keg again to seal off the ritterkin below and hurries to the stairs, throwing open the door to the kitchen. However, the wizard's path is blocked by the dwarf.

Katrin starts backwards, her eyes widening as the dwarf's eyes dislocate from their sockets. Fear wells up in her throat like a bad taste on her tongue.... bile  she decides. She wildly grabs at her amulet, her other hand flinging out clumsily, a half-formed orb of radiance flying across the room. The orb whizzes by Thezra, striking the creature in the midriff, burning a hole straight through. "What in the hell!" Oh gods, I can see the wall through it!  After the initial shock of the moment passes, the bad taste in the back of her throat disappears and she can think a little more clearly. 

The cook looks directly at Thezra. The half-orc sees the air around her begin to warp, but she shakes her head and shrugs off whatever strange effect it had attempted to use. Then, the cook's eyes go dim and he slumps to the ground. His body rapidly rots before Thezra and Katrin, the skin peeling back and wilting away. A whisp of light in the form of a jellyfish swims through the air above the decaying corpse. Then it darts down the stairs, straight through the invisible Sable, and toward the wall where the secret tunnel lies.

Before the strange tentacled-creature can get too far, Thezra lashes out with her blade, just managing to swipe through the air it inhabits and seemingly disrupt its form at least for a moment. Taking off after it, she dashes through the doorway only to smack straight into what she could've sworn felt like a person, yet no one was there. She stumbles, tumbling forward and over the stair railing with a yelp. By some luck, however, she manages to land relatively easily, and finds herself looking up at a slightly terrified-looking Liliana, who's staring ahead at the bartender. The 'man' glances over at her, but he's seemingly preoccupied at the moment as the familiar sight of Lili's neutron star grips him in place. "Did you see a strange intangible-looking tentacle... demon float through here Liliana?"  She quips over to the girl as she brings a blow down upon the man before her, the metal unnaturally cleaving straight through the shoulder and arm as if made of raw meat. She spots what she's looking for almost as soon as she's asked it though, and calls out once more in abyssal: "Stop! I do not know what you are doing here, demon, but you made a deal with an orc named Duar'ken. I demand to know what that deal was!"

Up in the kitchen, a tiny, winged creature appears in front of Katrin's face, screaming a high-pitched shrill sound. The dwarf is momentarily startled, but unafraid as she adjusts the heft of her axe. The creature's face contorts from screaming to a tiny, concerned frown. Down in the cellar, a tiny, winged creature appears in front of Lilliana's face, screaming a high-pitched shrill sound. The woman jumps back, frightened to her core, her own scream joining the creature's as its face contorts into a tiny maniacal smile.  The bartender's corpse goes limp, and another slightly glowing jelly fish tears free of it and flies speedily through the air and into the wall.

Just as Lilliana starts to scramble towards the stairs and out of this gods forsaken cellar, she forces her shaking hands towards and pulls the slightly glowing neutron star into position next to the demonic creature which has just appeared at her side. There is a slight squeak as its yanked hard towards the rapidly rotating object, causing its claw to swipe at Lilliana's back as she rushes up the stairs. There is a palpable sense of relief as she climbs up towards the light of kitchen, only to find yet another scene of horror as she nearly stumbles into the rotting corpse of the dwarven cook at her feet. Now fully shaking with terror, she glances up towards Katrin to find yet another of those awful little creatures tangling with her. She freezes in place, panting and gasping with fear now...

Sable tumbles to the side as Thezra slams into him, twisting through the air to land in a neat roll, while by some miracle also managing to maintain concentration on his invisibility. The wizard turns and hurries back up the stairs after Lilliana, hastily throwing magic missiles at the demon behind him as he runs, having finally given up on subterfuge. "Katrin!!!" Sable yells as they fall back to the kitchen.

"I'm a little busy at the moment!" She yells back to...wherever Sable was at the moment. A hammer materializes, swinging down furiously towards the little creature that had screeched at her rather pathetically. But the hammer swings harmlessly by the creature. A loud string of Dwarvish curses spills off of her tongue as she swings her ax at the creature in frustration. The blade clips the creature, knocking it off-balance. However it corrects it's course, maintaining it's flight. 

The remaining jellyfish creature disappears through the wall, leaving the party alone with two quasits, two corpses, and a lot of questions.

Thezra let's out a frustrated groan as the second of the two creatures ignores her and vanishes through the wall. With barely a glance, she flicks her wrist at the remaining little creature ensnared in Liliana's star, which splatters into goo that immediately dissolves to ash. Hurrying up the stairs, she nearly smacks straight into Sable for what would have -- unbeknownst to her -- been the second time in as many seconds, but stops just short, seeing Lili positioned just on the other side and quivering in fear. " Gorvash ka!"  She shouts, exhibting genuine anger for once, "Those little cretins are escaping!"

The remaining quasit, seeing the cadre coming up the stairs from the cellar, turns panicky. With a flash, he disappears. There's a few moments of silence as the grease fire begins to burn itself out and Lilliana, Sable, and Thezra pile into the kitchen. There's a creak as the door opens. One of the patrons of the Amber Meadhall looks curiously into the kitchen. He sees the party, the smoke, and the corpse on the floor -- and lets out an ear-splitting shriek and flees.

"Scheisse," Katrin mutters again under her breath as the man flees the room. She drops her ax back into its loop on her belt, hefting her shield in the other hand to a more neutral position. "Pretty sure he's going for the guard," she throws a look over her shoulder at the others as they pile back into the kitchen.

Lilliana stumbles back into a corner and slides down into a curled up ball, hugging her knees to her chest as she stares blankly at the scene before her eyes. Her breaths are short and rapidly, bordering on hyperventilation while her dark and terrible thoughts race in a myriad of directions. The scream of the patron seems to break her stupor and she shakes her head to clear her mind as she pulls herself back to her feet.  She takes a moment to try to clear her thoughts, but her subconscious is still running through all the awful scenarios she had played out in her head over and over these last few years and so she doesn't even think to respond to Katrin. She simply stands there, staring down the stairwell into the darkness beyond, her thoughts a jumble of terror that is palpable. 

Katrin glances over at Lilli, slightly concerned for the woman's current state of mind.  I should say something....right? Instead she waves a hand, her hammer dissipating in a cloud of what look to be embers. "What do we do? Tell them the truth? I doubt they'll be happy with demons in their city. Besides," she gestures to the fleshy remains of what had been the cook. "We technically have proof."   

"Well, there's a dead demon in the cellar and far worse down the secret passage below," Sable explains to Katrin, breathing heavily and gently mopping his brow as he recovers from the tense situation below. "That might make better proof than a corpse. I don't suppose that we have any powerful friends in this city?"

Katrin snorts. "I don't care much for the Crown, or anything associated with it."  She focuses her eyes on the old man. "Did you say there's more below the tavern?" 

Sable nods slowly. "A secret passage infested with demons. I'm not in a hurry to head back down there."

"Great. Just fantastic." She paces around the kitchen, then gives Thezra a look. "At least we know we're on the right track. Now we just have to avoid being arrested....." 

The door to the kitchens slams open and a half-dozen armed guards spill in wearing the colors of the Heartlands. Three of them wield spears, which they brace on their shields and point toward the party. Two of them aim bows, and another halts in the middle, sword drawn. The one with a sword -- a human man -- gestures with it. "Put your weapons on the ground, then place your hands on top of your heads, and interlace your fingers!" His voice is clear and calm, but loud.

"Ah, I think that there's been some kind of big misunderstanding," Sable protests, slowly raising his hands as instructed. "Who exactly are you?"

"Crossroads city guard," the man with the sword says. He looks over the party with narrowed eyes.  "Who are you  and why are you here?"

Lilliana gives a start as the armed men burst into the room, braking her out of her stupor. She stares at them, raising her hands slowly and doing as she is told. She looks about, especially towards Thezra when he apparent leader demands to know why they were here. ‘Hopefully she doesn’t mess this up.”

"We're here, guardsmen"  Thezra calls out from the back of the room, coming out through the kitchen while polishing a bit of muck off the end of her blade and then bringing it back up over her shoulder to sheathe it, "Because something foul has been going on beneath this tavern. Something demonic. You can come see for yourselves if you'd like, we won't stand in your way."  She gestures through the door to the kitchen and beyond, the rotted sack of flesh still splayed out on the floor like discarded frocks.

The man with the sword gestures for one of his bow-wielding counterparts to follow. "Show me," he begins, but before Thezra can lead the guards downstairs, another voice interrupts. Lilliana steps up with a little clearing of her throat. ”Excuse me, sir? I can show you, there is a secret entrance to some sort of ritual chamber below, but…” she swallows and pales a bit. ”There are very dangerous things below… at least one demon. I promise you. You may want to bring more men.” The guardsman gestures for Thezra to halt. "You show me then." Lilliana shakes a bit and she stares at him wide eyed, then looks at Katrin, Sable, and Thezra… tears welling a bit, then nods. ”I will, but I’ll not let those things take me.” "Just keep your hands where we can see them," the guardsman replies, nodding toward the cellar. Lilliana moves down the stairs with the guards in tow, explaining what she and Sable saw within the tunnel and chamber. As the guards bring out lights to illuminate the cellar, there is no sign of the quasit's corpse with the exception of a almost imperceptible puddle of black goo. The bartender's corpse also lays in the dirt, mutilated and decayed.  The guardsman waits as Lilliana triggers the secret door, and he peers down the stairs once they're revealed. He looks at the bowman. "Go check it out," he says. "Quietly." The bowman slinks down into the darkness, and the man with the sword turns back to keep his eyes on both Lilliana and the entrance to the chamber. After a few minutes, the bowman comes back. "Leads to the sewers, but there's been some development there. Tiled floor, torch sconces." He gives a significant look in Lilliana's direction. "No demons though." The man with the sword gestures to Lilliana. "Close it up." After she does so, he gestures for all of them to head upstairs. Once they're all out, he shakes his head. "We're going to lock this place down." He motions for a few of his men to move out, presumably to clear out the taproom and then to get reinforcements. "Someone explain exactly what the hell is going on here."

"I already told you, human. Did you see those corpses? Those people were seemingly alive just a few minutes ago." Thezra folds her arms over her chest, "I am Thezra of Ore'agah. A shaman of my clan came to this tavern some time ago and returned possessed by what he called spirits but what was actually a demon. In investigating this," she explains while reaching for the note Kerak had handed her once more and holding it out towards the captain, "We learned of a meeting place beneath this building. When we arrived, the bartender lied and said no orc had ever come here. When his cook nearly set the bar ablaze and we attempted to help, he tried to sway our minds with dark magic. And when attacked, their skin sloughed off instantly, like they'd been dead for weeks. In their place, disgusting, tentacled creatures slithered out from the corpses and fled below, likely taking whatever Liliana here saw with them." She takes a moment to pause and let the full story sink in, then sighs, "You will not believe that of course, but you don't need to. Something is happening beneath these walls that likely threatens more than just a village to the west or my own tribe. Regardless of your willingness to believe, it will  continue if not dealt with."

The guardsman, clearly a captain of some kind, listens to Thezra's story intently. When Thezra moves to retrieve the note, spears bristle, but the captain raises a hand, and the weapons go back on standby. He takes the parchment and reads, his eyes glancing in the direction of the kitchen door, toward the center of the Amber Market. After reading, he hangs onto the note.  After she finishes her story, he nods once, and pockets the note. "You'll need to wait here while I run this up the chain of command." He gestures toward the taproom. "Out there, if you please. Leave your weapons where they are. Should your story prove to have merit, they'll be returned to you."

Thezra frowns, remaining where she is. "I will happily wait there, but I cannot relinquish this sword. I have a couple axes on me you're free to hold onto if it helps your men feel at ease, but the blade stays on my back. Always."  She moves to remove the two handaxes from their sheaths on her legs, holding them out towards the guardsmen.  "I promise you -- barring those demons returning -- it will remain sheathed."

The man's gaze turns cold as he considers Thezra, then he shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "Fine. Use it on any of my men and you won't get the chance to see the inside of a cell." He gestures for his men to watch and then turns toward the taproom door, mumbling something about adventurers and their toys  under his breath. Ascian and Akiran end up approaching the Amber Meadhall at the same, only to see it cordoned off by the city guard. The rest of their companions are nowhere to be seen.

Once out in the taproom, Katrin looks at Thezra with incredulity. "What in all the hells was that?!" Her voice hisses with frustration. "You could've gotten us all killed back there. And for what? So you can hold on to your precious sword? There are rules. Laws. One of which is cooperating with law enforcement." This is the fucking Fireblade all over again.  She pauses to take a breath, turning away to pace, and try to calm the old frustration welling up in her chest. She decides it's best to keep her next thoughts to herself. You need to work with this woman. Anger isn't going to get you anywhere.

Thezra blinks, caught off-guard by the dwarf's sudden outburst. "You wouldn't have died, Katrin. If they felt so threatened as to attack, it'd have only been me. And that is fine. There are  rules. And laws. And codes for which we each abide. One of which, for me, is not abandoning this weapon."  Her head turns back to look at the finely-banded hilt rising up over her shoulder, her eyes softening into near-melancholy. "You don't need to understand. But this is not just a sword. It is more that that. It is a remnant. And it is me. To allow it to leave my side would be..." The words don't seem to come, her voice trailing off. "I'm sorry you think I'm putting your life in danger -- it shouldn't be, if these people are not unthinking beasts -- only my own."

Sable lets out a tense breath and gladly heads back out into the tap room, stopping to help Lilliana along the way. "Are you alright?" He asks the sorceress, while Katrin and Thezra argue.

Katrin stops her pacing, her back to Thezra. She lets out a long, weary sigh. "Tell me something. Do you see all those who would choose to live in peace the same? As weak? Simply because they wield no weapon?"  She turns to face her. "I do not wish to antagonize you. I simply want to understand you."

Akiran whistles the tune of a bawdy chant he picked up from the Legion. The Dragonborn moves with a spring in his step, a smile in his eyes, and the dream of glass after glass of the tavern's most expensive whiskey on his mind. Seeing the guards cordoning off the tavern, he gives a small shake of his snout but retains his cheerful mood as he chooses to take this as good news.  Striding confidently right up to the guards in front of the tavern, his posture authoritative but loose. He reaches into his pack and draws the letter with General Trask's seal. In an officer's tone   "Akiran here on orders from General Trask, to investigate this tavern for suspected demon activity. Stand aside so I can begin my work." Seeing Ash in the crowd as he waives him over and says "He's with me, my other associates may be inside already. Have you seen a young woman with black hair  apparently  attractive by human standards, a Dwarven servant of Tempus with more than a bit of a self righteous  look, and a Orcish warrior who has no doubt by now charmed all of your comrades  into wanting to stab her?" 

Emma H. said: Katrin stops her pacing, her back to Thezra. She lets out a long, weary sigh. "Tell me something. Do you see all those who would choose to live in peace the same? As weak? Simply because they wield no weapon?"  She turns to face her. "I do not wish to antagonize you. I simply want to understand you." "I don't know what that has to do with anything here, but, yes."  She replies flatly. "In general, that is. That is to say, they are physically not strong. Would you argue otherwise? By definition, that makes them weak."  Running a hand through her braids, she looks down to the perpetually-angry dwarf,  "But I think, as with most things I say to you, you're misunderstanding me. That's probably my fault, I still am not great at speaking this tongue, and the social cues of the outsiders' world still confuse me. Regardless, being weak does not mean they are not resilient, or without worth, or strong in other areas. They are simply weak. That shouldn't be an insult, just a statement of fact."

Katrin is silent for a long moment, and it seems to stretch into infinity. She falls into a chair. "That's all I wanted. A simple explanation." She steeples her fingers, elbows on the table, forehead resting on her hands. She doesn't say anything else. Nothing needed to be said. Not right now anyways. 

Lilliana returns from the cellar looking less frightened, but more weary then before and drawn in on herself. She watches the guard members carefully as she keeps her shoulders hunched and pulled inward as if trying to make herself smaller and withdrawn. Her gaze is only pulled away from the guards and the occasional glance at the stairwell to stare at Thezra with incredulity and her brazen attitude and defiance. She narrows her eyes as she begins to realize that this foolish woman might very be further cause of their detainment and that she might have to take matters into her own hands, but before she reaches that conclusion, the captain orders everyone out of the kitchen while he sought clarification. That was good, that meant he was a man capable of recognizing something beyond his ken, she respected people like that.  She follows behind the others with the occasional backwards glance as is prepared for some unseen menace to present itself out of the darkness. She turns to look at Sable when he steps over, asking about her. She shakes her head. "No, but maybe I will be once this is all over."  She has a sudden thought as she turns to look around for the bowman that had gone into the hidden tunnel alone. She leans in closer to Sable and whispers. "Perhaps we should keep a close watch on the guard that went down alone. These things seem capable of possession and I fear they may be more clever than we give them credit."

Sable nods quietly. "There are spells for determining such things, but that is more Katrin's area of expertise than my own."

Akiran whistles the tune of a bawdy chant he picked up from the Legion. The Dragonborn moves with a spring in his step, a smile in his eyes, and the dream of glass after glass of the tavern's most expensive whiskey on his mind. Seeing the guards cordoning off the tavern, he gives a small shake of his snout but retains his cheerful mood as he chooses to take this as good news.  Striding confidently right up to the guards in front of the tavern, his posture authoritative but loose. He reaches into his pack and draws the letter with General Trask's seal. In an officer's tone   "Akiran here on orders from General Trask, to investigate this tavern for suspected demon activity. Stand aside so I can begin my work." Seeing Ash in the crowd as he waives him over and says "He's with me, my other associates may be inside already. Have you seen a young woman with black hair  apparently  attractive by human standards, a Dwarven servant of Tempus with more than a bit of a self righteous  look, and a Orcish warrior who has no doubt by now charmed all of your comrades  into wanting to stab her?"  The guard takes the letter and examines the seal, doing his best to mask the grin that washes over his face at Akiran's words. He hands it back to Akiran and looks at both the dragonborn and Ascian. "You'll have to wait here until my superior officer returns." After a few minutes, the captain does return, with more men in tow. "Who are these?" he asks. "They said their with the others, here under orders from General Trask," the guard that Akiran spoke to says.  The captain says, "You must be Akiran then. Alright, both of you can join your friends inside."  Ascian and Akiran rejoin their companions at one of the taproom's larger tables. The captain gestures for a few guards wearing the robes of a mage to follow him into the kitchen, leaving the party back together, with a half-dozen guards keeping watch in the taproom. Those that surrendered their weapons have them returned and the Fireblades are left to their table.