Alec dashed towards the Gilded Eye paladin. “Oh no you don’t!” he shouted as the paladin raised his sword to strike down the kneeling Inquisitor. He recklessly swung his greatsword at the knight, cutting his hands off at the wrist. Alec aimed his sword at the man’s face. “No martyrs,” he said firmly. The Gilded Eye knight slumped to the ground, eyes wide with shock as his life’s blood pumped out from two bloody stumps. Alec turned and filled his hand with the crossbow and shot at the priestess, missing her. “Stand down, you’ve already lost this!” he shouted. The two knights in the southern hemisphere of the chamber turned on Erwen malevolently. The Halfling ducked the first swing. “Guess you came up short!” he snarked at the knight, who set his jaw and slashed back, slicing Erwen three times. Not to be outdone, his partner hacked at the Halfling, slashing Erwen twice. He lost concentration on his spell, and his school of electric eels fizzled out and disappeared. “You got off easy, Short Stuff,” the knight snarled at Erwen. The Relentless Aggressor released its grip on his sword, which floated in mid-air. The celestial unlimbered a divine longbow and aimed an arrow at Siegfried. An angelic arrow arced out over Siegfried’s shoulder, shattering like crystal against the wall behind him. “I have agreed not to do violence against you!” Siegfried called to the Relentless Aggressor. The floating sword flew towards Siegfried, who pulled Azuredge to block the attack, deflecting it. “Again, I have agreed not to pursue violence against you!” he shouted. The Relentless Aggressor held out a gauntlet and grabbed the sword as it flew back. There was a sound like a resounding gong. Erwen looked up at the knights in front of him. He brushed blood from his lip and smiled. “Gentlemen, you’re about to get more bang for your bucks,” he said as he conjured a herd of giant elks behind them. The herd began to rush towards the Gilded Eye knights, trampling them underfoot, turning one into a smear of torn meat and shattered armour. The second one attempted to shield himself from the antlers and stood firm for a moment before getting knocked down. “Looks like you got more bang for your buck,” Erwen said with a smile. “You…you already used that joke,” the Gilded Eye knight groaned. “Skraper,” Bob said to his mount, “what say we dive-bomb that spellcaster?” “Sounds good,” Skraper sniffed. “Skraper pounce now?” “Skraper pounce!” Bob shouted, digging his heels into the liondrake’s flanks. The liondrake dove down to the cleric, colliding with her and tearing her to shreds. “Take me to that celestial!” Bob shouted. Skraper bit off a hunk of flesh from the dead cleric’s midsection. “With pleasure,” he growled. With a beat of his wings, he brought Bob level with the Relentless Aggressor. “O, Mighty Manifestation of Helm,” Bob intoned diplomatically. “We have one of Helm’s followers on our side,” he pointed to his brother. “But you are fighting on the wrong side! It is the people who summoned you who are the heretics and false worshippers.” Siegfried leaned over to Alec. “Are apostates heretics?” “Siegfried, I don’t think this is the right time to discuss matters of theology,” Alec hissed back. Siegfried shook his head and pointed at the holy manifestation of divine will stomping about the room. “It’s exactly the right time to discuss matters of theology!” The Relentless Aggressor appeared to silently consider Bob’s words. After a moment, the celestial gave something like a respectful nod to Bob, but continued its advance, teleporting behind the High Priest of Sune and his flying mount. “Nothing personal, then,” Bob sighed. “War it is.” Skraper spat out a chunk of cleric. “Skraper no like this unfortunate development,” he hissed. Bob frowned and pointed at the Relentless Aggressor. “You have chosen violence,” he said. “The light of the sun shall expose the crimes of those who summoned you! In blindness, may you see the error of your ways!” He cast sunburst and a brilliant burst of sunlight illuminated the chamber with radiant brilliance. For a moment, a second sun blazed into existence over the God Catcher statue, stunning the onlookers in the courtyard below. Alec threw up his hands to shield his eyes as he was scorched by the edge of the sunburst. “Ouch!” Siegfried dropped his spirit guardians spell, and took a seat on the Inquisitor, who groaned beneath him. “I’m not willing to fight you,” he said to the Relentless Aggressor. “But I am willing to call you childish. None of us wish to fight you. These holy men do not wish to fight you. But we will be taking this wicked man with us when we leave this place. And that is something you cannot prevent. In my holy name you will cease interfering in the sacred business of kings! In my holy name of Siegfried Alagondar, First of his Name, begone from this place!” The Relentless Aggressor paused, towering over the adventurer, as Siegfried’s words hung long and loud in the sphere’s interior. “You are free to walk with us, to see that justice is met, to see that this prisoner is treated fairly and within the confines of the Code Legal of Waterdeep, but we will not be fighting you this day,” Siegfried said firmly. He grabbed the Inquisitor by the scruff of his collar and dragged him across the stone floor, hiding the physical strain. Varien took advantage of the Relentless Aggressor’s distraction and swooped in behind with Arcetalos, wielding Fiendsbane. The Arcetalos’s beak snapped out, tearing into the celestial’s back. Varien swung his sword, slashing into the Relentless Aggressor and shearing its plate armour. He struck again, blasting the celestial with radiant energy. The Relentless Aggressor staggered. Light began to leak out from cracks in its armor. “On this, Siegfried and I agree,” Varien said. “Begone from this place!” Varien cast destructive wave . He struck the Relentless Aggressor and there was another ringing sound as a blast of destruction tore the celestial apart, deforming its armor plating until light bled out in all directions. Caught up in the blast wave, the celestial became nothing more than motes of divine light dispersing at high speed in a shower of radiance. Cracks appeared in the floor and walls of the sphere as the wave continued its course. Varien cast a sidelong glance at Siegfried. “That’s how you say begone in a language this creature understands.” “I think I was getting through to him,” Siegfried sniffed. “I got through him,” Varien said smugly. Siegfried inspected the Inquisitor. “Boy, I bet you wish you had one of these right now,” Siegfried flashed the assassin’s mask at him. Inquisitor Marros glared in response. “Where did you get that?” he hissed. “Do the math, Inquisitor,” Siegfried said. “Though she did die in custody, even without this mask on her face.” Erwen suppressed a grin. “She was marked, and she confessed,” Siegfried said. “Perhaps you will survive cleansing.” Siegfried turned. “Erwen, you about finished up over there?” “He’s holding on for deer life!” Erwen said over the pounding hoofbeats of his herd of elks. “I won’t give you the satisfaction!” Inquisitor Marros roared, bursting his bonds with a sudden surge of strength. Shoving Siegfried aside, he rushed towards the open portal at the southern end of the sphere, intent on hurling himself to the street below. Siegfried rolled his eyes and hooked the Inquisitor’s legs with the flat of his axe, sending the man flying chin-first to the stone floor. Face down, he moaned incoherently. Alec dashed towards the fallen Gilded Eye Knight, pushing aside elk after elk and bringing his greatsword down on the prone paladin at Erwen’s feet with two severe strokes. Siegfried got another set of manacles out and prepared to handcuff the prone Inquistor. Erwen climbed atop his elk and rallied the herd. “Erwen! Erwen, no!” Siegfried said, pointing at Erwen. “I’m at the top of my game, Siegfried!” Erwen said, as he led the herd in a running charge to trample Inquisitor Marros to death. Siegfried stepped back as he watched the Gilded Eye Inquisitor be turned into so much ground beef. He sighed. “Erwen, I went to a lot of trouble to take that man alive. I don’t know why you choose to break the things that I put so much work into.” “Siegfried, it doesn’t matter!” Erwen called out. “I’m famoose!” “Erwen, you wouldn’t like it if I came into your barn and set fire to Stemly,” Siegfried said sternly. “That would be rude of me! Why do you treat me this way?” Erwen dismissed his elk brigade, tumbling off to land at Siegfried’s feet. A single tear rolled down his cheek. “When you make an effort to kill prisoners I have tried to take alive, I feel hurt, and honestly it makes me feel small, Erwen,” Siegfried said, keeping his emotions in check. Erwen nodded, kicking a small piece of Inquisitor on the floor with his toe. Suddenly, a disembodied voice rang out in the chamber. “This is all very touching, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” “I’m sorry,” Siegfried addressed the chamber. “But who in the Shadowfell are you?” “You are in my home, uninvited,” the voice continued. “I suppose I should thank you for dealing with these attackers. But it is time for you to take your business elsewhere.” “Well, speaking of business, are you part of an organization known as the Hand of Nessus?” Siegfried asked. “You’re asking the same questions they asked,” the voice replied. “Does that mean I should re-evaluate your intentions?” “We are the safest place you can be, because Lorcan’s in the shitter and Asmodeus’s goons are taking the furniture out of his house,” Siegfried said. “You tied yourself to a sinking ship, infernally speaking, and you can either come with us quietly, or this man is going to burn down your house looking for you.” He pointed to Varien. “Lorcan’s days are numbered because he’s a small fish in a very large lake of fire, and the sharks are circling. Now that’s not even us. He just got in our way.” Erwen tugged on Siegfried’s scarf. “Are you saying we’re Lorcan for a fight?” “I do like your puns, Small Man,” Siegfried whispered. “They do bring warmth to my heart.” He turned back to the chamber. “We’ve already dropped a building on Loreloth. Brevindon’s dead on my boat. And Kovkorin’s in chains in a divinely-bound jail cell. You need to consider snitching at this point, because otherwise you’re going to end up in a ditch with no stitches.” “You speak well,” the disembodied voice replied. “It’s a shame that you speak from a position of ignorance.” Siegfried thought that the voice was coming from the northern end of the room. He pointed. “Varien, light her up.” Varien shook his head. “Let her finish. We’re not monsters, Siegfried.” “I do not truck with devils, nor demons,” the disembodied voice said haughtily. “But between you and my torturers here, you have rid me of a thorn in my side that has been stuck there far too long. That said, I did not invite you here. You are damaging my property. And thus, it is time for you to leave. You got what you wanted, didn’t you?” Siegfried frowned. “Whose house am I in?” he muttered to himself. Then he slapped his forehead. “Aundra Blackcloak, is that you?” “Who asks?” the voice replied. “I’m Siegfried Thann, of House Thann,” Siegfried said. “We’ve met before at that party some time ago, remember? We sang that song about the wizard whose staff has a knob on the end…” Siegfried recalled that Aundra Blackcloak was the reclusive sorceress who owned the God Catcher Inn and likely paid hefty bribes to the Blackstaff to ensure that the statue wouldn’t get up and walk, damaging her investment. It had never occurred to Siegfried that the reclusive raptoran would have taken up residence in the floating sphere. “I’m terribly sorry,” Siegfried said expansively. “We’ve been dealing with the Gilded Eye, we’ve been dealing with these cults, and I completely forgot that this was your place. My bad.” He sighed. “You’ve had a shit day. I’ve had a shit day. It’s all been crap, all right? We found one cult and then it turned out there was another cult, and there was a lot of evidence pointing to cult activity in this room. We’re going to deal with these guys and their bosses. They’ve tried to kill us once already and you saw them summon a huge death angel to try and kill us. So there’s that to deal with.” He pulled out the broom of prestidigitation . “This will make things easier to clean up with. We’ll deal with the corpses as best we can. And tell you what: I will make sure a shipment of my family’s wine will make its way to your doorstep. Are you okay?” “Ah, my broom!” Aundra said. “Yes, of course it’s yours,” Siegfried said. “But you can see that others followed the same trail of clues that we did, leading straight to you. Look what happened to them. But those guys are complete assholes. We dealt with them. I owe you wine.” “Far be it from me to refuse an offer of wine,” Aundra said. “Let’s get these corpses saddled up,” Siegfried said to his companions. To the invisible sorceress he said, “oh, by the way, I informed the Blackstaff about the defiled sigils in the basement of the God Catcher. Like as not she’ll be paying the statue a visit to reinforce them.” There was a pause. “The Blackstaff is always welcome here,” Aundra said. “You know how it is, and who I work for,” Siegfried said. “We’ll see ourselves out.” As they moved to the exit, Siegfried received a sending spell from Barnibus Blastwind. We’ve got a problem. These hostiles. Men. Women. Children. They’ve got devils inside them. Devils!” Siegfried whirled to rally his companions. “Downstairs, now!” The party moved to the exit and could suddenly hear the sounds of swordplay and screaming from the street below.