Part 2: The meeting of paths

Sable shrugs. "Death doesn't have to be an end or an escape. If we have questions to ask of that man, we can, but we should first consider how we plan to get answers. He has passed beyond the threat of pain." A thought crosses the wizard's mine and he turns back to the stocker on the ground besides them. "What was his name?" Sable asks, the knife suddenly back in his hands. The point twirls back and forth as he plays with it. "Did he also work at the market? Where? Does he have friends there? A family perhaps? Answer honestly and I will see to it that you receive healing."

He snorts. "You think I know his name? I don't know anything about him, you sadistic fuck."

Sable sighs with mild disappointment. "If they're all local, then we can probably identify him either way," he remarks off-hand to Katrin. "You report to him, stocker. You know something about him. Where did he meet you? When did he meet you? How did he give you instructions? What did you report to him? People pick up all sorts of details that they don't think about."

He coughs up another bloody plug and spits it at the floor with a not-insubstantial effort. "God, you're thick, aren't you?" he says, his voice filled with ire. "Even if I told you every time I had seen the man, it wouldn't make any difference. The only one that knows anything is..." His voice trails off as his eyes move to the illusory "Cedrik" lying on the ground. "Why wouldn't you just use that scroll on..." He squints at the corpse, and then laughs -- the sound immediately cut off by a choked cry of pain. "That's a good trick. I guess we're not as fucked as I thought we were."

Sable waves his hand and the image of Cedrik dissolves into black smoke that wraps itself in a sphere of blackness around the stocker's head. A high pitched ringing screams loudly within the ball while the wizard turns to speak to Katrin. "There's always a hierarchy. This stocker may be a grunt, but he answered to someone, who answered to someone. Follow the breadcrumbs and eventually somebody will know something."

Katrin lets the scroll disappear back into the bag, frowning down at the cultist. "Indeed." She looks back up at Sable and Ascian, with a quick side-glance to the others.  "Someone has to know something, but it may be some time before we find all these breadcrumbs. I just hope it won't be too late." 

Lilliana watches the proceedings with the man with a half-hearted interest, suddenly realizing she still holds a handful of loose coins in her palm. She stashes it into one of the pouches on her belt before approaching. "I'm sure the guards can figure out who some of these men are. Or we can move around with illusions of their faces and asking about if anyone knows them. Once we figure out who they are, maybe we can start to break down their lives and figure out more that way."

Sable nods in agreement and begins to move amongst the fallen, memorising their faces, taking special care to inspect the cultist who they believe to be the leader. "Find anything useful?" He asks Lilliana in passing.

As Sable starts to memorize the faces as best he can, Lilli follows behind to do the same. It was a very macabre sort of feeling that passes over her while she does this and wonders if this was the sort of thing these people did often. She then began to wonder if that was why the pale one, Ash, had begged the Watcher to send him away. She could not quite imagine what would ever drive someone to such a request, but the lack of drastic response from the others led her to believe that perhaps that was normal for the man? Before she could delve much further into that line of thinking, Sable's voice breaks through. "Hmm?" She says as she glances up. "Oh. Just a handful of money, not much. About sixteen gold and then whatever weapons they had. Nothing else really. Unfortunately."

The wizard nods in understanding. "We can divvy that and the other gold up later when we're topside and get a moment of peace," he comments friendlily as the pair of mages go about their work.

Ascian watches from the edge as the scene unfolds, intimately familiar and somehow also foreign; something he would have been at the forefront of just a few weeks ago and distinctly lacks a place in now. It should bother him, he thinks; and maybe it does. Yet there's no time to dwell on it as that word spins in the heart of the stinging numbness in his empty chest, a litany outlined in the Watcher's green eye that echoes the sound of Marianne's dismay. Katrin and once-Thrandimir drift around him, and though his eyes track their movements, the conversation seems to fall on deaf ears. He hesitates a moment longer as the wizard heads off, glancing ultimately to Katrin as if she might stop him before approaching the man whose wound still wets the floor. Slowly, Ascian drops to a knee at the edge of where the warrior's leg bends in all the wrong ways, his own black pants growing blacker with blood. A glance to not-Thrandimir drops the illusion, and Ascian waits, his unblinking eyes staring as the man's senses return to him for better or what is almost certainly worse. Even as he crouches there, watching pain flood back into existence, he knows he won't get an answer; that it will be one more voice of dismissal to add to an ever-growing list. The urge to silence Marianne's means he still has to try. "What is Daerheim."

There's strange look on the man's face, as if he's trying to remember something not-thought of for millennia. Then, a look of comprehension briefly touches his face, before his eyes go glassy. A small trickle of blood begins to flow out of his nose. "Daerheim. I remember. The forgotten city..." He stares off into the darkness of the room's vaulted ceiling, as if gazing out upon a vast city on a hill. His lips curl into a smile. A chuckle bubbles up from the depths of his belly. Then another. And more. Within a few short moments, laughter flows as freely from his mouth as his blood had from the wound on his leg. Unbroken by breath or speech, he cackles maniacally and soon his eyes focus back onto Ascian's face. The cackling turns to wracking sobs as blood begins to pour from his nose, ears, and tear ducts.  As soon as it had begun, it ends. A switch flips, a vessel bursts, and the light falls from his eyes. He collapses back to the stonework, his dead gaze still resting near Ascian's pale form.

Ascian falls back as if he'd been scalded, those glassy eyes too close to comfort; an accusation without a crime. It's hard to say what is worse – the red, red eyes or the blood that leaks from them; the horrified laughter or the terrified sobs. "I'm sorry," he says hoarsely to the others, though his attention can't seem to be pried from the man whose blood he still sits in, feeling even colder now than he had five minutes ago. A forgotten city. This time when Marianne's voice comes, it's to whisper,  Knowledge is a burden;  a distant support for those ruined eyes that won't move from his face.  "I didn't mean to."

Katrin can't stem the welling of dread and horror inside her chest as the man descends into madness before dying. But another instinct rises higher than her own feelings. She kneels down quickly next to Ascian, close, but not touching. She gestures for Ember to come closer, knowing the wolf will be a greater comfort to him than any person. "It's not your fault."

Akiran chuckles and pats Lili on the back, as the young woman details her haul. The Dragonborn cheerfully says  "I knew ya had the magics, but who knew ya had the heart for the work too! Poor bastards didn't stand a chance against that swirling magic of yours ...."  Before he can continue he hears the mans cackling laughter ringing out and then dead silence.  Looking from Katrin to Ash, the dragonborn's voice confused "What.... What happened?"

Forgotten city.  Silver paws stain red as Ember's great head nudges Ascian's and it's all he can do to force his eyes away from the dead man's, lifting a hand reflexively to the wolf's fur.  The familiar motion quells the nausea building within him, but only barely, and when he looks to Katrin near him and then to Akiran it's all he can do to speak around the acidic sick beginning to brew at the base of his throat.    "I didn't mean to. I just wanted to know. About Daer – " he cuts himself off, forcing a swallow.  Ascian, listen to me. You're better off not knowing what this is.   "The place the watcher said. He remembered. I know you wanted to take him back. I'm sorry." Fingers knotted tightly into Ember's back as if letting go might cause him to bleed too, he looks shakily back to Katrin. "What's happening."

Her heart breaks at the torment in Ascian's eyes, and just as she had with Lilliana, Katrin sees her younger sister in his eyes.  "Nothing that we can't sort out. Ascian," she places a gentle hand near his on Ember's fur. "This is not your fault. I know you need answers. And we'll help you find them. That's what friends are for."

"What the fuck happened here?"  a voice from the room's entrance calls out. The party turns to see the guard captain from earlier with a few other Crossroads guard with him. "What is this place?"

Sable looks up at the sound of the cackling and stares over at Ascian and the stocker in surprise. "You couldn't have known, Ascian," he tells the boy softly, but before the wizard can say anything further the watchmen of the guard arrive. "A ritual chamber, it would seem," Sable explains to the captain as though it were obvious, his voice now louder and projected across the room. "We pursued the demons down here to their masters. We defeated most, but their leader has escaped. Possibly teleported."

Lilliana smiles and nods to Sable, turning suddenly as Akiran comes up behind and places a hand upon her shoulder. Her face lights up with the praise, her bright green eyes show the truth of the broad smile the splits across her gorgeous face, but before she could respond they all turn to stare at the cackling man before he collapses in a heap of blood. A horrible, iciness begins to rapidly spread through her torso, replacing the momentary warmth she had felt. And then before she could even gather a sense of what had just occurred, another voice cut through the air to add yet another  stimulus to the already overwhelming scene. Lilliana stares at the guard Captain briefly before gathering her wits about her and approaching. "As we had told you before, this was a gathering place for the cultists who had been using the demons here in Crossroads. We defeated most of them and were questioning this one."  She points at the newly deceased man. "About his involvement when he suddenly started cackling and then... well, died. It was awful..."

The guard captain scans the room, looking somewhat surprised with a hint of chagrin. "Seems you were right," he says. "The leader...can you describe them? They may still be in the city."

Sable waves his hands and produces another image of Cedrik, complete with his staff, glowing eye, sphere of the force and the portal that he vanished through. "Unfortunately, we didn't learn his name, but I think that he looks like a Cedrik."

From the entranceway Thezra's voice calls out, flatter and colder than usual,  "Doubt he's still nearby. He poofed himself away the moment we got close." She stands leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest with a frown to match. "They call themselves Watchers, claim they're planning to raze all of civilization to the ground, but don't worry, the demon thing was 'completely unintentional'."

"Cedrik, huh?"  the guard captain waves at his men and says,  "Inform the guard. Search the city. And inform the general at the fort." He gives a glance over his shoulder at where Thezra leans. "Unintentional demons, eh? Now I've seen it all." A few more guards arrive and the captain says, "Alright, you can clear out. Go get your reward. We'll secure the area."

With the guards coming in, Thezra had walked back in to the area after stopping just outside to calm herself. Now, with things set to move, a thought crosses her mind. Unintentional or not, that dukhal propped Duar'ken up, caused real harm. She strolls back in, stopping only momentarily to cast a downwards glance at the blood-soaked corpse of the man they'd been interrogating, his face still twisted into a garish amalgamation of a sob and a smile. She hadn't been in the room to see what the wizard had done to the man, but she almost regretted more not truly finishing him off herself. Crossing the room, she stops before the small sack 'Cedrik' had tossed them, glancing over to Akiran for a second as she does so. Better this way than spent on armor polish and vanity mirrors.  She reaches down and snatches up the coins, the weight of the thing seeming somehow more, as if it truly carried the reality of what it was paying for within. "May want to get some of your shamans in here too," she says as she passes the guard captain, "just to be safe."

Lilliana glances around at the others, looking for some direction on their next steps as she then scrutinizes the Captain and his guards. Something about this just felt off… was it just the fact that he wanted to prevent a panic among the populace? Or… was there something more to it? She couldn’t quite tell; she’d never had the skill of reading people like her sister had. “So I guess we are done here?” She watches as Thezra crosses the room to collect the sack of money she had only so recently scoffed at, wondering what the woman's plan was with it. 

Sable frowns as he sees Thezra nonchalantly scoop up the bag of coin from the ground. Normally, he wouldn't care. An ally like Akiran knew to share and share alike, but Thezra seemed very likely to waste the money rather than ensure that it was fairly distributed. "That's not yours," he tells the half-orc loudly, taking a step forwards towards her. "It was given to Akiran and it's his to share out fairly. Put it down." The wizard clicks his fingers and everyone hears Thezra's voice repeat what she told Cedrik.  " We don't want your blood money. " "Or have you changed your mind?"

Off to the side, the guard captain mutters something about money grubbing mercenaries.

Thezra stops mid-step as she nears the tunnel entrance, her ears perking up at the sound of her own voice attempting to be tauntingly wielded against her, and turns her head back with an amused brow.  "Well, I appreciate you listening to  something  I've said,"  she chuckles.  "Yes, I said that. And you're right, this money  isn't  mine. Nor is it yours, or the the primper's,"  she cocks her head towards the walking vanity of a suit of armor with a dragonborn within it.  "This gold, paid for in hellfire with the  blood  of  my  tribesman, with the blood of  Katrin's  people --"  she shoots an acknowledging glance over to the dwarf,  "-- belongs to  none  of us. It belongs to our communities. It will be split in half and given to them to help comfort the bereaved and rebuild the broken. If you have anything in your hearts beyond the thought of endless profit and personal reward, you will  help me  deliver this to them, not steal it from them."

Katrin purses her lips, giving Thezra an appraising look. She closes her eyes, and pinches the bridge of her nose before looking back at Thezra. "How are you going to get it there? It's 10 days ride back, and we took a contract that leaves in less than that. In the opposite direction."     

"Not going back immediately, obviously,"  she laughs, "But either I hold onto it for safe keeping until then, which is doable, or we have it delivered. Either way, not a single coin will be spent on my behalf or any of ours. Besides,"  she gestures to the captain, "We're already getting some reward from the leaders of this city. That should be more than enough to whet your appetites for shiny things."

His nostrils flare as a small torrent of ice cold air rushes out with a whir. His scales ripple as his grey eyes narrow on the orc. Thezra's constant jabs were wearing his patience quite thin. His voice dripping with condescension and sarcasm  "Sometimes I wonder why your people would allow such a capable warrior to be exiled, and then you open your mouth and I find  myself  envying them."  Walking up to the warrior and meeting her eyes  "Who the hell died and made you queen. I shed blood for your people"  Shifting his gaze to take in Sable, Ash, & Katrin  "no we all shed blood for your people. You don't get spot out proclamations to us  like some tin pot empress. If you want to give your share to pair of gnomish tap dancers, that's your business. But if you think you get to say how the whole pot gets split we got a problem."

Thezra sighs, casting her gaze down to meet his. She could practically feel the heat radiating off his every word, and for a moment she almost feels them burn. At a different point, they would have, too. What had they called her? The Maligned.  An epithet fit for an exile of course. But now, she only frowned in disappointment.  “Yes, you did shed blood, and you were paid for it. Those people weren’t, though. Akiran, truly, I am sorry we have come to resent each other. You are so capable yourself, but I’ve realized why I feel so uncomfortable fighting besides you. And it’s because of this. Because of this.”   She motions to the pouch. “This gold was offered as a bribe because that man saw you for what you make yourself out to be — available to the highest bidder.”   Folding her arms over her chest, she leans back. She wanted to say this well, but she knew she often fumbled when it came to phrasing things well here. “I think you think I hate getting paid. Truly, I don’t. If we do this job Katrin has chosen, I am excited to get rewarded for it. Gold is useful, and honest work deserves honest pay. But this  gold is not honest. It was given to buy your obedience. If you take it,” she says, pointing to the bloodied bodies of the men around the room,  “you would be no different than them. That’s my issue- the reason I feel I cannot fight with all my focus when you’re at my back? Because I know you would as soon as defend it as stab me through it, for the right price. If we find that man again, and he offers you a thousand, or ten thousand even, to turn on us, how can anyone be sure you wouldn’t? I’m asking you to show me you have loyalty beyond your next pay. Don’t let the ‘ Legend of Akiran the Gold-Hearted’  become that of the cold-hearted.”

With a dry laugh Akiran says "Now I'm a traitor to boot"  Shifting his snout to the side, Akiran letting loose an icy glob of spit next to their feet.  "Oh how I love hearing you tell me who I am. But if you're gonna run my name through the mud, don't rewrite history to do it."  Holding up an armored finger "First I fought with you lot in Fireblade 'fore anyone even thought of paying us. No one was throwing out bags of gold when your people were burning up the village. I jumped in and put my life on the line to help. Shit I was the only one who tried to stick up for you and make sure Marianne and  Na'arik  didn't fry your ass while you were running your mouth trying to get yourself killed. And in thanks all I get are insults from you, since your pissy that I worked  a few good words and made sure the Heartlands recognized us for what we did  " Shrugging as he meets her eyes once again " And besides I didn't see your turning down their gold, you took it just like everyone else." Hooking his hands in his belt " Call me whatever the fuck you want, but you and I both know I'm no traitor." Nodding towards the pouch "That gold is all of ours, no matter what you think 'bout me it's a group decision"

Katrin folds her arms across her chest, her brow furrowed.  "Thezra," she speaks slowly, carefully. "That money was fair payment. Your vendetta against Duar'ken...against these demons.... I appreciate what you're trying to do. But this is not the way. You speak of trust. Akiran has done well in this group. I trust him to have my back. I may not agree with him on everything, but I trust him. If you cannot trust those you fight beside....how can we in turn trust you?" Katrin closes her eyes briefly, taking a breath. She looks at Thezra again, disappointment and sorrow in her eyes.  "I would've agreed with you. But you chose instead to make a decision and expected us to go along with it. And insulted a member of our party in the process. A group you willingly joined. This cannot be the way we operate. We must decide together. Because we're much stronger if we act together. You aren't on your own anymore." 

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighs in frustration. It was as if they all were only hearing every other word. Was that it? Every attempt at reasoning and understanding she tried only seemed to stir more anger.  “I didn’t call you a traitor. I didn’t rewrite your history. I didn’t say any of those things, nor was it my intent to. I’m… sorry if it came across like that.” She grimaces, the words feeling uneasy on her tongue, but she continues, her tone remaining calm but resolute. “You said you shed blood for them and I said that blood was fairly paid in kind. But for the people hurt by this man’s group, it wasn’t. And you’re right, you did vouch for me. I did not ask you to, but I appreciated it. You have not done anything untrustworthy of yet, so I am sorry.” “But explain to me how I should trust anyone who takes this money for anything other than giving it away. Money is only offered if something is expected in return, is it not? The money the city offers is for taking out these men. The gold given for helping that farming community had a cause behind it. So what of this coin then?”  She looks around to the group, hoping there was even one person among them who could recognize what the gold represented. “I didn’t say you were a traitor.  I said if you — or anyone here — takes this bribe, it would make you indebted to these Watchers. And someone indebted to them is not someone I can trust.” Turning to Katrin she seems plainly confused. She had figured the dwarven woman would want to help her own people. Instead everything she said seemed nearly nonsensical to her. How could one equate a person willing to change sides for the right money to being as untrustworthy as someone skeptical of such a person? Is the man who suspects his friend of murder as untrustworthy as the murderer themself? She furrows her brow. “I will be honest with you Katrin I have no idea how to respond to the first part of that, so I won’t.” The rest however… was she really part of this group? They’d allied against a common enemy at first. She didn’t care for them nor their people, nor they her and hers. When that’d been dealt with, she continued along on behalf of Kerak, and to root out the truth here. She’d thought  they shared a common goal, but that increasingly felt in doubt at times. Akiran and the old man seemed entirely in this for the laughs and money. Ascian seemed to have some personal troubles she didn’t fully understand, but she felt for him. The new girl was just that. And most confounding of all was Katrin, who seemed to switch between righteously directed drive and anger on behalf of her own people to indifference. This had all been an alliance of convenience, had it not? But what if she was wrong… ”I… don’t know that this group is much of a group at all. But I appreciate that thought. I just wish I could tell what this group was doing — who its allegiances were to —then. Because from where I’m standing lines are getting real blurred, so help me out here.”

Lilliana had watched the scene fold out with growing incredulity at Thezra when she made a demand first about how the money was to be handled. The woman had excellent points and likely could have swayed the rest with such a request to donate the money, but the manner in which she did so rankled the nobility behind it. Her eyes grow wide as she then calls Akiran a sellsword who would turn traitor at the offer of gold and then backpedal to say that she had not said that two breaths later. Liliana thought perhaps she ought to intervene as someone not as personally vested in this cause before this went on much further… especially in front of the city guards. She rushes over in between Akiran and Thezra before either could think to draw a blade on the other. She had seen such things happen before and she did not wish to see it happen again. Not here, not now, and gods by damned not now that she finally found people she could trust to have her back. “ All of you stop before worse words can be said!” She gives Akiran a pleading look and a soft smile with a nod, that says a lot in that moment between them before she turns to regard all of them. “ Please listen to yourselves, this is not just about the gold. There are deeper issues here than just a sack of gold, but this is not the place to have that talk. What we do need to discuss is that this is, in fact, a group of people working together towards a goal, whether you understand that goal or not, Thezra. You do not get to make such authoritative decisions and then play the martyr and insult others when they become irritated with your actions. That is what is being questioned, not your preference in what is to be done with the money. Had you spoken up with such a request, I bet you would have found that many of us would have gladly agreed to give that money away to help others in need. I would have had no qualms with such a noble idea, but something that you need to understand is that you are not in charge here. This is a group and if we are to remain as such we must make decisions as a group. You have alienated yourself by insinuating that not only that we are not, but also saying that some of us would turn traitor in the middle of a fight had they been offered more money. Those were your words, Thezra, that you said to Akiran not two moments passed. I do not know what that concept is where you are from, but to us you did in fact call him a traitor. Now, what say we get out of this awful place and let our blood cool over some hard drinks and then have a discussion like civilized people about what we would like to do with this money?”

"The lines are always going to be blurred. That's a fact of life, not a morality issue. Our allegiance should be to each other." She flexes her fingers, taking a deep breath, her irritation starting to get the better of her. "Thezra. I have not lost my loyalty to the people of Fireblade. My fucking girlfriend lives there for gods sake. But there are bigger things going on. The village is safe. Your people are safe. Why must we continually fight about it?" 

Being bombarded from all sides by increasingly and confusingly irate members of the group, including a near incomprehensibly semi-hysterical new member, Thezra can't tell if she's more disheartened or confused. Not a single thing she said seemed to be interpreted how she intended it to be. Even attempts at apologies were ignored in favor of accused martyrdom. It was clear there was no reasoning with anyone here, too caught up in their own emotions as they were. Ever calm-spoken, she takes a deep breath and sighs. "I cannot possibly address all of that Lilliana, least of all because you've been here for only a day, but," she turns to Katrin, "Fine. I don't know what makes you think I've accused you  of turning on your own loved ones. I'd say I never said that, but I'm sure I'll be told I actually did , so, I am sorry. It's clear I will never understand your ways, those of this society. I do not see myself as a leader, for I hardly see myself as part of this group. I have nothing I can say that will make any of you understand me, so I will not waste my words any longer. You want to discuss how this money is used? Fine. Let's go. Pour some drinks, explain how the Watchers are to be trusted." She raises a finger up, looking to the rest,  "I stand by what I said about it, though, for none of you have yet offered any reason you could want to take money signifying your service to them otherwise. So as much as greys may be a fact of life, Katrin, I see no reason to trust any who would take it." With that she turns, tossing the pouch into Katrin's hands as she does, and makes for the tunnel once more.

The scales on Akiran's face scrunch with an irritating mixture of anger and confusion. First she said he would stab her in the back for a pile of gold but somehow that is not her calling him a traitor, and then has the audacity to say the gold is meant to buy obedience like it's some crazy magical contract. Yet somehow she is perfectly fine to take it and give it away. She didn't make any damn sense, it's just a bag of gold taking it won't force them to serve the watchers and if it did wouldn't taking it to give away force her to serve as well? His snout opens to retort when Lili steps in between the two and attempts to bring peace.  The dragonborn meets her eyes and twists his snout to in an attempt return her smile, he had to admit the kid was right. Trying to return his voice to it's usual carefree and friendly timbre, though a clear edge of anger is evident Akiran says  "Yeah your right Lili, this isn't the place to talk. It's been a long day, a bit of breather, a nice meal and stiff drink over at the sluicegate will do us good." 

Katrin looks at the pouch in her hands, watching Thezra disappear back down the tunnel. She looks around, disbelief and confusion written on her face. Wordlessly, she hands the money to Akiran, then looks down the empty tunnel again. She shakes her head, still trying to wrap her head around the tense emotions still running high in the room.  "Yes. I think we could all use a drink."

At first, Sable rolls his eyes at the never-ending stream of Thezra's self-righteous nonsense, but then the old man can't help but laugh out loud at Akiran's scathing retorts. "Thezra, I couldn't care less what Cedrik thinks that he's bought with that gold. I'll take it, spend my share on whatever I please and think nothing of any imagined debt. The green-eyed cunt can kiss my wrinkly, old arse. The Watchers are not to be trusted and they're also not to be heeded. The coin is ours and they have no power over us." Shaking his head, the wizard turns and follows Katrin out of the tunnels.

As the group starts gathering up to leave, Lilli approaches Akiran and catches his eye, then purposely holds back as the others get out of earshot. "What was that all about? What is her deal? And what's with... Ash? That was... odd."

Ascian watches the others argue as if from the end of a long tunnel, his fingers tightening in Ember's fur the higher things seem to escalate. It's a long moment after the wizard has walked down the hall before he looks at the wolf. "Let's go somewhere." Climbing slowly to his feet, he casts one more long, wavering glance at the dead man behind him before bending to slowly close the eyes that he worries will keep staring after him long after he's left. Then, feet still unsteady, he leads Ember into the corridor.

As they head up the tunnel, Katrin mutters to Sable. "Interesting choice of words back there. Appropriate though. Cedrik is indeed a cunt."  

Despite his mocking laugh, she silently appreciates the old wizard's words. None of the others had bothered to pay so much as lip service to anything she'd given concern to, after all. Shaking her head, she calls back down the hall as she walks,  "That's at least somewhat reassuring. Admittedly I am not as worried about you Sable, since you don't pose a physical threat to anyone here anyway. But either way..." Turning her head back to face him for a moment, she gives a slight nod of recognition.

Sable arches an eyebrow at the whimsy of Thezra's respect, but clamps down on the urge to embarrass the half-orc by proving how dangerous he is and says nothing more.

After exiting the passages and cellar beneath the tavern, Katrin glances at Sable.  "I need to get some air."  She parts ways with the wizard, after giving his arm a firm clap. It takes her some time, but she eventually finds Ascian and Ember outside the confines of the tavern. Which she understood. That place felt stuffy, cramped, tainted. She approaches slowly, giving him time to notice her. She leans against a wall.  "Did everything go well with the cleric?" She'd meant to ask him earlier, but demons had gotten in the way.

Akiran nods as he stows the pouch in his pack dreading the debate it will bring and slows his pace as Lili catches his eye. Honestly a bit grateful for the excuse to get some space. After she poses his questions he looks back up the tunnel before answering "Ash is a bit of a mystery to me. Before this whole mess I thought he was solid, a real professional. Doesn't talk much, but he's good, does what needs to be done, and I've never seen anyone move like him before. Whole time I've known him never seen the man sleep, or eat, hell he walked through poison like it's nothing. Never seen anything like it before, he doesn't look it but he's top notch.    With a shrug he adds     "Dunno what's eating at him but he is clearly going through some shit. But he's still good in my book, he's odd and not the most pleasant company. But in our line of business you can't have anyone better with you. Still good to keep an eye out for him though until he handles whatever's bothering him." With a grunt he begins again, his voice tired and slightly bitter "Now Thezra she just hates my guts. Not quite sure what I did, but she's acted like I pissed in her porridge since Fireblade. Treats it like I should be jumping for joy to fight for free, and follow her code of honor." Shaking his head and holding up a hand as he ticks off his imaginary list. "No one expects a farmer to till the fields for free, or a blacksmith to forge a wheel for no pay, but cause I can swing sword I'm supposed to go crusading around the world. Solving everyone's problems and not make a penny off it. "  Spitting another icy glob as he finishes his tirade. With a long and overly exaggerated sigh  "But we gotta patch this shit up. It's good to have a squad where half the crew dreams of stabbing each other right? Maybe after few barrels of whiskey, we can squash whatever the hell our problem is." Looking back to Lili , he adds "I wouldn't worry about either of them though, Ash is solid and Thezra has her oh so precious honor."

Ascian leans back into the crates at the entrance of the alleyway near the tavern he'd retreated to, his fingers absently scraping through the fur that lines Ember's muzzle. It's moments like these where he misses breathing the most; when a deep inhale of fresh air might make all the difference between being in that dank, sticky tunnel and up above it. It's certainly when he misses sleeping. The urge to simply turn his mind off has never been stronger than now, when it buzzes with numb, exhausted thoughts of a brother and echoes with hideous laughter and worse, it's all tinted green. Dully, he thinks of the prize in his pocket; wonders if the others will even notice he's disappeared in the throes of grander, more important arguments. But the sun still seems too bright for that, and distantly it seems better to wait until nightfall when the world is quiet and that laughter gets louder, as it inevitably will when the others sleep and he's alone.  He sees Katrin long before he hears her, not quite moving to acknowledge her until she speaks. Of all still gathered, it's Katrin he's been with the longest; perhaps the longest he's ever been with anyone, outside of family. It's a strange thought. Stranger still to know he'd go back to Fireblade with her if she asked, or east to Bresselvik, or even south back to the Cape. He doesn't quite know when it happened, when once he'd been ashamed to be near her – as if his own innate unholiness was somehow an insult; only that it has. "I don't know," he says honestly, his pale eyes lifting at last from where they'd focused on Ember's. "She said she might have a ritual. Asked me to go get mushrooms in the meanwhile. But I don't know if they will want to go. Not with..." He trails off, gesturing vaguely to indicate whatever that had been they'd just walked out from. He gives an uncomfortable shrug of one shoulder and looks away again, cringing slightly at the memory of that blindfold lifting, and the assertion that had followed. "And not with me."