The party decides to investigate two of the safe houses in Hosilla's note. Arthas and the halflings will search the Nyserian Manor, while Malak, Elaryan and Eovan explore Topaz Solutions. Both locations are located in the North Market district: the manor belongs to one Kandro Nyserian, a local noble, while Topaz Solutions is a small herbalist’s shop run by an alchemist named Topaz. Arthas, Lor, and Nor have a rather uneventful trip to the manor. The building itself has been completely razed by a passing ulkreth, and Kandro himself is no where to be found. The heroes search the rubble for a while, but find no additional clues. Despondent, they return to the Inn of the Defender's Heart. Malak, Elaryan and Eovan have a much more interesting time. As they are making their way across the city ruins, they discover a group of Anestrali soldiers about to kill a young girl. These knights, desperate to drive back the demons, have latched onto an old folktale— that sheathing one’s blade in the body of a virgin temporarily transforms the sword into a demon-slaying weapon. They have found a likely candidate and are preparing to carry out their grisly task. However, Malak successfully intimidates them into releasing the girl and fleeing. The girl's name is Klarah, and she reveals that her house was destroyed and her parents killed by a passing demon. The companions decide to take her with them to the cultist safehouse. As they near the location of Topaz Solutions, Eovan scouts ahead. He discovers the shop, still standing. A single, armed man lounges outside. Eovan returns to his companions and reveals what he has found. The party decides to use stealth in their approach, so Eovan returns to the shadows while Malak, now invisible, follows. They quietly approach the building and Eovan kills the sentry before he can make a single noise. The companions then begin looting his body and loudly congratulating each other. After they have grabbed all of the stranger's equipment, they make their way into the shop. Unfortunately, the noise that they have made at the threshold has alerted the man's companions tot heir intentions, who defend themselves with javelins from behind the shop's display cases. The companions rush in and begin killing. After several of the men have been slain, the others throw down their weapons and beg for mercy. It turns out that they have nothing to do with the chaos cults... they are actually adventurers who have been using the shop as a camp while they search the nearby ruins for treasure left by the marauding demons. Malak is unconvinced at first... but after throwing one of the terrified men from a great height several times, reducing him to a bloodied, blubbering mess, the dragon disciple decides that the men are not real threat. Meanwhile, the remaining men have decided that Elaryan is an avatar of the Demon Lord Angazhani, since the elf entered the fray in dire ape form. They throw themselves to the ground and beg for him to spare them. Malak returns with his victim, and also asks for an explanation, since he has never seen Elaryan's ape form before. Elaryan responds with an unconvincing explanation-- which is further undermined when one of the treasure hunters points out that an Angazhani unholy symbol has slipped from Elaryan's robes during the melee. Elaryan tucks the amulet back into his clothing, and reiterates that he is not a Demon Lord... he simply does not acknowledge that good is always preferable to evil. Malak is not completely comfortable with this philosophy, but decides to wait until later to pursue the matter. The companions tell the terrified men that they may flee with their lives intact, but they must leave any treasure they found behind. The hunters gladly comply, and the party divides the spoils. They then turn to searching the shop. Soon they discover a secret door leading into a dank basement dedicated to Baphomet. Eovan descends the stairs, and several things happen simultaneously: a cryptic message from Topaz is delivered by a magic mouth, a magic trap activates filling the room with poison gas, and a hidden mandragora erupts from a pile of rubbish and attacks! A chaotic battle ensues, in which Eovan is critically injured, Elaryan is disabled, and the poor girl Klarah (whom the party brought with them into the demonic basement) is killed. Nonetheless, the party eventually kills the mandragora, loots the secret chamber, and returns to the Inn of the Defender's Heart. Back at the inn, Malak asks for Irabeth's advice on how to deal with Elaryan. The paladin explains that she probably could use an atonement spell to break the sorcerer's bond with the Demon Lord, but that it requires the subject to be truly repentant-- which Elaryan clearly is not. On the other hand, she also says that his corruption has not progressed to the point that it has caused his aura to detect as evil... so their may be hope for him yet. Everyone who played gains 3,000 XP
