Part 2: The meeting of paths

Katrin's eyes flare as the halfling falls to the ground, his face screwed up in pain as his armor sears the flesh on his body. With a swift downward slash, she bites into his shoulder with her axe. "Maybe you stop harassing women in your spare time," she hisses as he burns. "Would've saved you a lot of trouble."

As the battle rages on around her, Lilliana watches as these people cut down the hunters quickly and she starts to wonder if perhaps… Yes, this could work. Maybe. As the Dragonborn calls out to her, she has to stifle a giggle as she creeps around them all and places them between her and the bounty hunters. Now she could begin to wreak true havoc… As she speaks aloud the words of power to rob the enemy of their sight, she becomes visible again. “Void take your sight.”  Lilliana’s eyes flash a bright silver once more as she taps the raw potential of her abilities before the halfling’s eyes turn completely black for a moment as the magic begins to take effect; however, his fortitude is too strong and the spell washes away with no effect. She then turns her attention to the other enemy nearby. Her fingers reach up to touch the black gemstone once more as she speaks words of power and she draws out a strange, dark colored sphere. She guides the sphere into a spot near the enemy and he is drawn towards the rapidly rotating sphere as if the ground had shifted and was pulling the man sideways, but once more this enemy overpowers the magic and struggles against the pull of the miniature Star… “Help me kill these men and I will buy more than just one drink.”

The swashbuckler looks at his leader on the ground, and looks at the dark colored sphere and his dead and dying companions. He looks at Katrin with a placating gesture, still keeping his weapon between himself and the dwarf. "This isn't worth dying for. Was just a job. No hard feelings?" He takes a few longs steps back. The burning veteran on the ground grunts in pain. "Fuck you, man," he says, looking at the swashbuckler. He grits his teeth and drops his sword. "Look, I'm sorry. I surrender. Don't kill me."

Lilliana looks the man in the eyes, keeping her swirling black orb nearby. “Give me the names of the men who sent you.”

"It was an anonymous contract, I don't know what their names were," he says, still gritting his teeth through the pain.

Lilliana shrugs. “Then you are of no use to me. My offer stands.” She looks at the rest, but especially the Dragonborn.

Thezra looks torn, her eyes jumping from the halfling to Katrin to the raven-haired woman and back again. “Give me a reason beyond base gold and greed,” she calls out towards the woman. Truth be told she had no care one way or the other, but if she were to kill a man she’d rather it be for a reason she could get behind. “This was your idea,”  she shoots a glance back over to Katrin, trying to gauge her intent, “Have they learned their lesson?”

Akiran shrugs his blade still pointed at the man, though he looks to the dark haired woman  "Whatcha offering? A drinks good an all, but I don't like killing people who surrendered. It's bad for your rep, makes people get all heroic when you face em.  You gotta have a good price to make me reconsider that." Looking down at their leader he adds  "Especially since these screw ups just seem like some pups who bit off more than they can chew." 

Katrin looks down at the halfling, tilting her head as his armor continues to burn. After a moment, the heat fades from her eyes, and the armor loses its red hot glow. She kneels down next to him, her battleaxe held loosely in her hand. "Tell me why you thought harassing a woman was a good idea. And maybe I'll let you live." Her voice is quiet, but it holds a deadly menace in each word.

"It was a job. It was just a job!" His voice is sharp, cutting through the pain of his white-hot armor against his skin.

Katrin leans in closer. "How did they contact you?"

Lilliana looks between the Dragonborn and the orcish woman. “Because these scum feel it’s acceptable to kidnap a young woman for reasons they do not even know with the understatement of ‘it’s just a job.’ What if the people who hired them to kidnap me intend to rape and murder me? Is that justification enough? What value should we place upon men willing to do the dirty business of others knowing full well that this job could very well end in my death?” She looks at Akiran again. “I do not have an over abundance of wealth, but I can ensure you receive payment of that is what you wish. Tell me your cost.”

"A bounty board!" the halfling says, his voice beginning to break with fear. "We don't know what they wanted with her. We were just supposed to meet them outside the city once we had her! Light a lantern and hang it in the oak tree atop Lookout Hill. We were instructed to wait there."

The dragonborn gives a friendly laugh, "I like you! Willing to play any card to get your way, I truly respect that. But the defenseless young woman routine won't work, you could have held your own against these pups without us.   Your magics are strong, and I'd bet the King's treasury you know the reason that these fools were hired. And while I like your style, unless you want to spill the reason their after you. I'm not stepping further into a hornets nest without knowing whose running the hive. " Looking down at their burning leader for a moment before turning back to the formerly invisible girl  "I don't feel good about killing the puppy, anyways it's more like treating the symptom than the illness. If you want to hire me, tell me whats going on and let's go to Lookout hill and kill the bastards who matter!"

Katrin leans back on her heels at the halfling's words. She only has a partial ear to the conversation going on above her. She glances up at Akiran, catching the end of his sentence. "We can set a trap at the top of Lookout Hill. We know the place of meeting. And I'm sure this fine gentleman would be more than happy to guide us." Her eyes flash with the promise of further burning should he try anything. "As for my reasons," she turns her attention to Thezra. "I do not take kindly to any sort of harm wished upon women. Especially from men." She smiles. "Next time we're in Fireblade, you should talk to Audar. He knows how I feel on the subject."  

"Wasn't talking to you," Thezra retorts quickly to Katrin, keeping her eyes on Lilliana, "I know you. I don't know this  one. She dresses the part of a noble and pleads for help and swift retribution on her enemies while acting the helpless damsel, all the while wielding magics I haven't seen before. As the dragonborn notes, she could easily have held her own without us."  She hefts her blade up over her shoulder, placing a foot on the chest of the halfling still sprawled out on the ground below her, "so before deciding to end this one here, I'd rather know exactly whose mess I'm being asked to clean up and why they won't do it themselves. Way I've always seen it, you want a man dead you'd better be willing to be the one swinging the sword."

Katrin snorts, then turns away from Thezra. "You said this was my idea. I was merely explaining why." Bold of you to say you know me. You have no idea.

Lilliana let’s out a sudden, throaty laugh. “You say I could dispatch seven against one? You clearly overestimate my abilities. I called for help, because I needed it. Seven men track me to here and then accost me in an alleyway, I should think anyone should assume they know how to find me anywhere. And if any one of you lot are able to kill seven men alone, then I clearly came to the right people for aid. I would kill them myself if I could, but for all I know you may take issue with that and stand by their sides. Plus, I’ll not do blatantly spit in the faces of those who came to my aid. Should you all wish to let these men live, so be it, but let it be known that after this moment should I ever see any of you men following me again, your lives shall be forfeit. I do not take kindly to being hunted like a fox. As to my reasons, I shall not share them in such an open place. You have proven yourselves to be stalwart, perhaps I shall speak over those aforementioned drinks.” When talk turns to ambushing those responsible, the blood seems to drain from her face and she becomes very sullen. “I am not so sure that is a good idea.”

For the first time, Katrin actually looks at the woman. Her breath nearly catches in her throat, but she holds herself together as she fully takes in the beauty before her. After one awkward moment, Katrin clambers to her feet. "Why do you say that? Or would you rather this conversation wait for a more appropriate atmosphere. Over the aforementioned drinks?"

She gestures towards the wounded and dying men around them. “I would rather decide on their fate before having a lengthy conversation.”  The small, black orb still swirling rapidly in place near one of the hunters. 

Chuckling  "If we see him again, I'll bring you his head and a drink in apology."  Looking down at the squirming captain  "But I'm sure he knows his place now."  Looking to the rest  "They seem like a problem for the city guard. Lets tie them up, see if they have anything on them to compensate us for our troubles. And find a guard to report their vicious attack. If fortune's kind they will be spending quite some time in the city's dungeons."

Katrin nods, gesturing to Thezra. "I think he'll breathe easier without your foot crushing his chest." She looks at Akiran, then the rest. "Seems a reasonable plan. Better than leaving a trail of bodies, which would be worse. Could cast unneccesary suspicion."

Thezra laughs and leans down a bit to pat Katrin on the shoulder, "I'd have to be applying pressure for that to happen. Besides, you wouldn't really lose any sleep tonight if this one found it harder to get any of his, would you?" She starts to walk about the alley, observing Akiran as he rifles through the would-be bounty hunter's belongings and looks to the tied-up men to see their reactions to their newfound situation, all the while waiting for the guard to arrive.

Akiran makes short work of relieving the would-be bounty hunters of their weapons, potions, and money. His efforts are met with muttered complaints and under-the-breath curses, but no physical resistance. The hunters are bound, the guard informed, and the party returned to the Sluicegate Tavern. With no more bounty hunters harassing them, the time for explanations has come.  Petey is busy behind the bar, but as the party re-enters, he holds up a single finger, as if to say, "I'll be with you as soon as I can."

Counting the coin they liberated from the captured bounty hunters,  the dragonborn shrugs not a bad haul for a few minutes work. Waiving down the waitress he puts some of the bounty hunters coin on the table "My friends and I are in need of another round."  Taking a seat in the booth an amused look on his scaled face as he turns to look at the mysterious woman "Fortune favors you! The bounty hunter's coin was more than enough to replace my fallen drink. My name is Akrian, and you my friend owe us a story." Pausing his greys eyes lost in thought for a moment before he chuckles and says  "And your name, though  the Invisible Woman does have a certain ring to it"

The young woman looks relieved when the guards arrive, but she watches them closely from a distance. As the scene is cleared and they are finally released, she heaves a heavy sigh of relief, but it is clear she is on edge; constantly checking over her shoulder and keeping everything tight around herself. When they enter the tavern once more, she asks for a spot in a corner where she can see the entry door.  She sits quietly until the round of drinks is delivered and takes a few tentative sips to wet her throat and ensure that no one around is paying the group any undue attention. “My name is Lilliana Peacemourn. I am glad to have met you, Akrian. Truly. Had you and your friends not intervened this day, I don’t know that I would have been able to escape. It is possible those men did not know of my full capability, but the fact alone that they found me is a testament to their skill. I came to Crossroads to hide. There are people who are after me, for reasons I do not know. I suspect it has something to do with my father. He inherited my grandfather’s failing logging company in Timbervale. I think he made some alliances with unsavory partners, but I cannot be sure. I just know that shortly after my sixteenth birthday, he told me I had to get away and to hide. That people were after me and that I should never let them find me.”  Her shoulders slump as she seems to deflate with that realization. “It would seem that today they have… So now, I must leave and find somewhere else to hide.”  

Katrin ponders the young woman's story as she sips her ale. She leans back as Lilliana finishes her tale, and her demeanor slumps into a dull glumness.  "You've traveled a long way if you've come from Timbervale." She takes another sip, then narrows her eyes with curiosity. "These alliances. Your grandfather's doing?" 

She shrugs. “I do not really know. I was never involved in such things. My younger brother was set to inherit the business, as is the way of things. Does it matter who made the deals?”

She shrugs. "Perhaps not. But it could become important one day. Maybe that's a discovery to be made down the road." Another sip. "It may not seem like it, but I understand a bit of your plight. Family's are complicated, as are the laws that govern them."

Leaning back in his chair, the Dragonborn idly sips his newly restored old fashioned as he thinks on their new found opportunity. War was coming, and with war the need for timber would skyrocket. The Heartlands would need massive quantities to build it's siege engines, barricades, arrows, and boats. Solid timber could become more precious than gold.  Looking up he says "Have you heard any word of your father or brother since you left?"

Lilliana smiles at the Dwarven lass. ‘This is one who understands.’  Before she could say much more on the subject, her thoughts were interrupted by Akrian. She shakes her head, sending the raven ringlets of her hair swishing through the air. “No, I’ve been trying to make it on my own. I think trying to reach out to them would only alert those who are clearly still looking for me. So I keep to myself, or at least I try to.” She sets her glass down and looks at the group for a few moments as if gauging them. “What about all of you? Where you from? What do you when not helping young women in distress?” She smiles demurely and slyly at the same moment, it’s an odd dichotomy of looks.

Katrin nearly chokes on a sip of ale as the catches the tail end of Lilliana's smile. Fuck. Ignore it. Ignore it. After a moment, she regains her composure, coughing slightly. "Nearby and faraway. But we traveled together from the same place. Fireblade. Have you heard of it?"

Lilliana glances over at the dwarven lass as she chokes and splutters on her drink, but isn’t sure if she said something wrong or if she just swallowed too much. “Yes, Fireblade is on the way here from Timbervale. I stayed at the tavern there for a time on my way east. Those lands were a bit wild, the folks at the tavern could be a bit raucous.” She takes a drink. “So, you know my name and I know yours.” She gestures with a long-fingered hand towards Akrian. “But I don’t know yours.”  She waves her drink at the rest with a bit of a smirk. 

"You're very free with it," Ascian remarks absently from where he'd been sitting quietly at the end of the table, his listless eyes drifting over the newcomer as his fingers trail aimlessly through Ember's fur at his side. "Considering we could very well be after the same bounty. And just cleverer in approach."

“He’s right, you know.”  Thezra leans forward, swiping her freshly made glass of sluicegate up and perching her elbow out in the table, “You are quick to trust for one long on the run.” She takes a swig and reclines back in her chair, “Personally I don’t care about your bounty, but the promise of gold allures many.” Her eyes flit around the table, going from one person to another before settling back on Lilliana.  “I’d be more keen to hear about those magics of yours, actually. I’m not all that familiar with human customs but is that sort of power common among loggers?”

  Lilliana’s gaze sharply adjusts to take in the quiet, pale man and while she immediately tenses, she pauses and laughs. “Yes, we’ll, if you were you wouldn’t have just told me. I do accept your point, which brings me to mine. Where are you going? What do you do to make a living? Are you mercenaries?” She casts a glance to the orc, sidestepping the question, tapping her painted lower lip with a finger thoughtfully. She sits quiet for a moment before answering. “You all warn me to be more secretive and yet ask me to spill my secrets when none, but one of you have even offered up even so much as your names.” She folds her arms across her chest, in a clear display of shutting herself off. “Tell your names, your real names, and I will consider sharing more of myself. As you say, I do not know you and you could just as easily sell my off for coin, but there is power in knowledge. So, you wish to know more… then make your offering.” She quirks one dark eyebrow up over impossibly green eyes.

Akiran laughs and says between breaths "It appears my companions are willing to shed blood for you but simply giving their name is too much to ask" Shaking his head he looks back over and says    "I'll answer your questions but know that I have one of my own. Our destination was the Crossroads, we each have our own interests in the city.." Taking a sip of his drink   "I won't speak for the rest but I'm a mercenary, a sell sword, a soldier of fortune really what ever the hell you want to call it. End of the day it just boils down to the fact that I'm willing to lend my blade for the right price." Leaning a bit closer, Akiran keeps his voice low and says "My question for you is simple. What would you do with your life if you no longer had to run?"

“My name is Thezra.”  she chuckles, “It’s no secret. Though truth be told I thought it was the way things are done here: avoiding giving names. I only met this bunch a short time ago myself and after fighting against my own people to help them, they and their folk threatened to kill me while withholding their own names.”  She gives a shrug, “Can’t take it all too personally.”  She takes another sip of the fruity drink. ”I have no great story to tell you. I left my tribe to stop a traitor to it. He’s dead now but his demons quite literally aren’t just yet. So I’m here.” Thezra leans forward once more. “Akiran asks a good question. Would you return to your people? Would you continue studying that fanciful magic of yours?”

Katrin shoots a stony look towards Thezra, before turning it back to Lilliana. "Name's Katrin. Pleasure." Her voice is as stony as her eyes.

She pauses and looks towards the threshold to the world beyond. “I would live my life the way I want to, not for anyone else.” She says with a wistful tone. ”Therza and Katrin. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. What of you, pale one?”

"Ascian," he intones, the uncanny stillness of him further enhanced by the face his half-lidded eyes don't seem to blink as often as they ought to. "This is Ember." The wolf looks up at his name, and Ascian's hand tilts beneath his ear accordingly. " We're here to see a cleric."

“Do you have plans to stick around Crossroads? Or will you all move once you’re done here?”

Akiran leans even further in "Then why wait to live your life?"   His tone is sincere with a hint of sadness "Why continue to let these people control your life? I know how it feels to be forced from your home, forced to leave the world you know."    As he speaks his mind flashes to an all to familiar memory. The young Dragonborn scrambling frantically through a forest, his shield left far behind as he runs  towards a place he would soon learn was no longer his home. Shaking his snout to clear his head, his usual boisterous tone returning  "We know where some of your hunters will be, so why not turn the tables. Lets hunt the bastards,  and if Fortune favors us we'll gut a few and one of the others will talk. Maybe they will tell us who is behind it all. And when it's all said and done you could go home and finally live." "I can't speak for the rest, but I may be willing to lend my blade"  Leaning back he takes a long sip and says "Though It wouldn't be charity, once your home I would expect to be showered with gold by your grateful family"  If they aren't behind all of this, but that's tomorrow's problem. 

"Someone new," a voice says at the end of the table. Petey is standing there, holding the Wayfarer's coin. He tosses it onto the table. "Down the road from the capitol building there's a shop with a fountain out front. Toss the coin in there when tonight's moon crests the top of the palace."  He shrugs. "That's all I know. Good luck to you! If ya need anything else, flag down one of the staff or come find me."

Katrin leans forward, picking up the coin and putting it back in her pocket, nodding to him.  "Thank you." Turning back to the rest, she sighs. "Looks like we have an appointment tonight." After a moment's hesitation, she looks at Lilliana. "You're more than welcome to join us, I suppose, if you've nothing better to do." 

The dark-haired young woman's head sags as Akrian starts in. "My entire life has been about helping everyone else..." she mutters quietly. "While I appreciate your offer, Akrian, I- I don't want to go home. I want to go into the world and make my own way. They always wanted me to put everyone else before myself, all the time. No one ever listened to what I wanted! In a way, I was glad for the excuse to leave, but even now I cannot leave it behind. It keeps following me."  She lets out an angry huff of frustration. "Maybe I could find a way to pay you for your services? Although, I'm terrified of confronting these people. What I have heard of them..." she pales a little. "It's terrifying." Her voice trails off quickly as the man approaches.  After a moment's hesitation, she looks at Lilliana.  "You're more than welcome to join us, I suppose, if you've nothing better to do."  Her head quickly turns, sending raven curls spinning around her beautiful face, full of hope. "You mean that?Truly? I have nothing to do now, but hope no one is watching my home, gathering what little bit I have, and leave this behind."  She gestures around at the city. 

“We’ve only just arrived so we’re not leaving just yet, but,”  The wide-brimmed glass of sluicegate clacks down on the table as Thezra pipes in, “Ignore Akiran,” she chuckles, “None of us are paying each other, you’d be no different. If a reward comes to us all for something we do that’s another thing, of course, but this isn’t a group of bounty hunters. Despite what we joked about earlier you’d not be trading one devil for another.” Thezra flashes the woman a toothy grin, “Anyway sounds like we have a fountain to toss a coin in. Wonder if that moon-cresting bit takes into account the different angles one could be viewing the palace from…”

Lilliana's face bursts out into a genuine smile and the assembled crew around her realize that this is the first time they have truly seen this woman smile; everything else up to this point had been a tightly controlled facade, a carefully crafted mask of deceit that had been layered up around her like fortifications. "If it is not too much to ask, I would like to return to my home to change out of this and gather my things before we go to this fountain. I love my dress, but it is not exactly ideal for this sort of life."

Katrin laughs. "A dress is certainly impractical for the kind of things we get ourselves into." She sighs, taking another sip of her ale. "What do the rest of you say? Finish our drinks and then make our way to this fountain? After, of course, getting Lilliana here some more appropriate attire."

The group seemed to be in agreement, finishing their rounds of drinks before gathering up everything and before Lilliana left the room she asked for the group to gather around her for just a moment. She mutters a few arcane words, hidden behind the assembled group and as they part she looks completely different. Her long, dark locks are now a mousy brown, her shockingly bright green eyes are now a pale hazel, and her fine features are very different; a long, wide-set nose flairs out over a small mouth. Her clothes were more simple, everyday wear for The Crossroads compared to the striking dress she'd been wearing previously. "This will only last an hour, but that should be enough time for us to get to my place and back out again before it wears off. I hope to throw off anyone else looking for me with this glamour. Come."  She sets off through the city at a quick pace and eventually stopping before a two-story home with a wooden sign hanging from a rusted iron post with simple black letters painted upon it that said: Madam Rosemerta's Boards and Lodging. "You're welcome to accompany me, but I do think that might draw the madam's attention if an entire party follows me in. I need to be able to sneak in and out quietly otherwise she may well call the constables if she spots an unwelcome guest trying to break into one of her lodger's rooms. I shan't be long, but perhaps you could keep watch over the front and rear for me just in case?" The dwarf gal, Katrin, steps forward and offers to come with Lilliana just in case. She nods at her and holding a finger to her lips she opens the door and as she does so, she blows a strange black dust into the air that swirls around the pair. As Lilliana enters the boarding house and Katrin follows behind, she finds that the normal obnoxious clank of her armor is muffled and minimized. She heads up the stairs and to a door at the immediate top of the stairwell. She turns the key and moves silently into the small room, ushering Katrin inside.  The room is quite small with just enough room for a single occupancy bed with a small end table shoved between the bed and the wall, a wardrobe takes up a large section of the far wall where it sits alongside a large window, the other corner is occupied by a writing desk with a wooden chair containing a soft cushion, and lastly a large trunk sits at the foot of the bed. "I won't be long."   She reaches into the trunk and pulls out a well-made leather backpack, throwing it onto the bed as she pulls out a set of clothing that appears much more suited to the wear and tear of traveling. The next moment, the illusion of the woman makes the motions to undress, but her clothing remains in place as Lilliana carefully lays out the black dress on her bed and begins to pull the travel clothes on beneath the glamour. Once fully clothed, she checks the contents inside the backpack, pulling out a leather belt with several pouches on it and lays that on the bed as she gingerly places the dress in the backpack. Once done with that, she lays flat on the floor and reaches beneath the bed and rustles around beneath it before sliding out a small, wooden box, two sheathed daggers, and a crossbow. She opens the wooden box and removes six glass vials which she quickly places into the pouches on the belt. She then shoves the wooden box into the backpack before rushing over to the desk. She writes out a hastily written notice to Madam Rosemerta indicating her intent to vacate her monthly lease with the woman. She then attaches the daggers to her belt, slips it around her waist before hooking the crossbow to the side of her backpack and hoisting that over her shoulders. She takes one last, longing look around the room and it's simple decorations before turning back to Katrin. "I'm done here. Let's go!" The pair quietly make their way back out of the lodging and to the streets beyond where they meet up with the rest of the group and disappear into the hustle and bustle of the streets of Crossroads. Before they disappear from eye sight, Lilliana turns one last time to gaze up at the building. "Goodbye." She whispers.