Isilme gives Xanderghul a brief grin and a wink before adding, "I would be disappointed if you were." Turning again to the four, she continues, "Shall we continue onward? Xanderghul, do you have message prepared? If so we should use yours to link us together along with the captains going forward." she says.
"Captains, are all your troops prepared to move onward?" she asks through her message.
Nodding, Xanderghul links up The Heroes plus Anevia and Alkalson with message.
Ehren rolls his eyes in response to Xanderghul's remarks, but seeing as he does not actually have eyeballs in his current form, the gesture does not translate well.
"We were held up by some particularly vicious fey," he explains, slightly disappointed that they had not made it in time to help with the second pit. From the look of all the dead harpies however, their assistance had not been needed. "We might want to be on the lookout for little old men with red hats."
As he appraises the battlefield, the liberated prisoners catch Ehren's eye. It still pained him to see that the majority of them are in such terrible shape, but that the ones from the second pit are willing and able to fight is a blessing. Recognizing some of his own people among them, he makes a mental reminder to speak with them later on. For now, they had to worry about capturing the rest of the Hill.
While the heroes regroup, the rest of the army and their civilians catch up to the main group, creating a large mass of people and wagons on and around the hill, having fully recovered from the last combat.
The captains are already to move. Lieutenant Eltringham salutes Isilme. "Aye, Chevalier, I'll move my banshees out. No one's coming close to this hill without us knowing about it."
"We'll take over the forward scouts, then," says Ser Ilivan of Erages.
"So... they did get away, or they didn't? Daisy looks a bit worse for wear." Ary comments, "And in need of a tailor."
"Some of our new men and women want to fight, but aren't properly equipped with armor. Does anyone think we should double back and get them equipped, or should we scavenge later and try to keep them back and in a safe position?"
"I believe we should scavenge once we have secured the tower. As a base of operations for the area, the tower likely has an armory, and there will likely be more troops to be disposed of before we take it. Those will provide extra equipment. For the moment, however, providing a new safe base for the civilians and engineers is our primary concern."
Val recognizes the vial as Xan hands it over to her and eagerly pockets it. The advantages of such an elixir when dealing with foes that can see through invisibility were far too great to ignore. "Everything's taken care of," she assures Ary as they reconvene near the now captured hill. "And the bodies are tucked away to buy us a little more time. So far, everything is going to plan. Which means we're going to have to be on the lookout for the other shoe, but otherwise so far so good."
Seeing that the slavers had all been unarmored, Ehren shakes his head. He understood Ary's concern, but if they doubled back now, they would risk losing the momentum they had built up.
"Let's press on while we still can."
Hinagiku, indifferent to Xanderghul’s antics, decides to finally answer to Ary’s question.
”They are unconscious on the bridge.” she pauses and looks at her clothes for a moment before passing a healing hand over some of her wounds. ”I should be fine.”
”Securing all the slaves first, I believe this would be the right thing to do… but knowing more before moving would be wise.” she expectantly turns to Valaria and Sir Illivan.
Ary nods ascent to the others' suggestion to move forward. "Very well. Ensure that those we've managed to save are kept safe, to those we've helped today, be sure to remain safe. We didn't break your chains only to have you die here. Let's get ready to march on the rest of Paradise Hill."
There is only a small smattering of slavers left on Paradise hill - only a few dozen or so - and they are easily dispatched by the crusader army which numbers in the hundreds. The crusaders remain focused on protecting their rear - which is at this point composed of a rather large collection of ex-slaves, supplies, and civilians - while the forward scouts try to wipe out any escaped cultists.
Of prisoners, only Lurog, who remains stubbornly silent amidst it all, and Nurah, who sits in a prison-box made specially for her - remain. Potts didn't make it - he was murdered in a brash display of prisoner violence while the heroes were away. Irabeth had those responsible executed, and those who paid no part, freed with supplies.
While the crusaders busy themselves with their assigned tasks, a few things remain -
The final slave pit is smaller than the other two, and no people are visible at the bottom of it. Instead, carved into the sides of the pits are the openings to three tunnels that lead into the darkness.
Roughly fifty feet away is the proud tower of Paradise Hill. There are no visible guards around it or on top of it. At the very top is an enormous collection of dead branches and bramble - a literal bird's nest.
Finally, Ser Ilivan's scouts report that the northern watchtower is manned by a force of cultists similar to the western one.
What would the heroes like to do?
Ehren peers into the last pit with a frown, wondering just how dangerous the prisoners being kept in it could be. Enough to be kept out of plain view, clearly.
"Perhaps we should investigate this one ourselves?" he suggests, looking to Ary and the others. "The army could secure the tower in the meantime."
"Agreed, Ehren. The troops should focus on clearing the tower, but cautiously. The primary goal is to be able to secure the use of the tower to protect our civilians and to defend the area. Anything seemingly dangerous should be avoided until we can deal with it directly," Isilme responds to the druid's suggestion. "Once the tower is secured, we should put the tree branches atop the tower to use for building barricades around the area. Additionally, I believe we should prepare the catapults now and attempt to aim them at the southern bridge so we are prepared. If the cultist forces have any babaus, they could easily bypass the spike stones on the bridge. We should be ready to destroy it at a moments notice."
"I'd like to have at least a little bit of control over the goings-on in the tower. A good pair of eyes up front, to ensure we don't run into any long-ago set traps that the Vrocks wouldn't have to worry about. Maybe the cultists also lived down inside of the tower, but I'd rather ensure that we don't overlook anything."
"I nominate Anevia!" Anevia responds, raising her hand. "I'll make sure nobody dies by nasty dwarven anti-intruder technologies, and deadly bird-related traps."
Ary gives Anevia a sidelong glance, before nodding, "Sounds good. I'm happy with exploring the pits to find out just what on earth even the cultists felt were dangerous enough to use, but not to ally with."
"Could we set up our catapults around here and still be able to reliably hit the southern bridge if need be?" she asks, looking to Aron.
Additionally, from here you can feel the pull of Drezen's wardstone - it is still active, though the city fell before it was attuned to the greater wardstone field. It lays to the northwest of the city proper.
Aron blinks, having not been totally paying attention to the conversation at hand. "Ah, what? Oh. Um.. Well the tower would help us make our mark, but we're pretty far out so we won't make very reliable shots. But yes, definitely possible from here."
The group picks a tunnel and walks down it. The jail cells appear empty, and it is very dark, though Radiance illuminates the area to them. Each cell is very small, less than 4 feet wide.
You notice one of the cells has a plate and eating utensils still on the ground. Finding this suspicious you look around... but find nothing.
Feeling unnerved, you look towards the ceiling and find a human woman there! She is holding herself up over the cell by her feet in a split, and she seems poised to attack the first foolish person to try and get into her cell... The woman is very dirty, and wears a torn and tattered gi. She appears to be from Tian Xia, based on her facial characteristics.
Still able to peer through the dark without light, Ehren drifts forward slightly, glancing into the prison cells one by one.
"Hm. Should we try one of the other tunnels?"
Ary looks to the plate and utensils on the floor... looks around the cell... then looks up. She gives a small wave to the woman up above. "We're not with the cultists." she offers, in a calm voice, wondering if the woman even spoke a language Ary did. "Hinagiku?" she calls to the monk, knowing that she likely did.
"One moment, Ehren," she says as they prepare to leave. Signs that food had been served in one of the cells seemed odd, as the demons had had no warning of their approach.
Feeling something is amiss, Isilme takes a closer look at the cell with the eating utensils. Before long she spots the woman hidden near the ceiling of the cell. Seeing she was likely from Tian-Xia, she attempts to address her in Tien. "敵ではありません。 悪魔からDrezenを解放するようになった。 あなたは害を受けることはありません," she calls up to the Tian woman in the cell.
The smoky holes that pass for Ehren's eyes squint and follow Ary and Isilme's gaze. "Oh.
Hinagiku steps forward and looks up to the ceiling of the cell... and then it dawns on her, she is now a kitsune, not always the most popular species where she is from.
"あじめまして、ヒナギクです. これは、十字軍のイシルムです。 そして、ここでは、指揮官Bishop様は十字軍の指導者です。 あなたと他の人たちをここで釈放してくれるようになりました。"
Val is unusually grim as they clear out the rest of Paradise Hill, as if walking through the slaver's pens disturbs her a bit. By the time they've reached the last put, she seems to have calmed a bit, but she is starting to look tired. Still, she makes no complaints as the team descends into the last pit to search the deep caves for any sign of more victims. "Hold just a moment," she says just as they're about to move on from the first cave. The others seems to notice it too and she steps back when they see the woman hanging from above. "Right." She doesn't understand a word Isilme is saying, so she just steps back and lets the bard do the talking.
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You recognize the woman as Shu-Lien, one of the monks in your entourage when you first arrived at Kenabres. Despite her small frame, she was the physically strongest member of your group, capable of landing fearsomely powerful blows. She has little patience for martial arts styles intended to wear down or disable an enemy - her only interest is to pummel her opponent into submission.
Of course, in your current form, she doesn't recognize you at all.
The woman drops down and approaches the cell, gripping the bars with both hands. She is quick to make eye contact. Her gaze is intense. The woman is tall, heavily muscular, and curvy with dusky skin. She has long black hair, that in contrast with her dirty appearance, is maintained in a neat set of braids to keep it out of her face... and difficult to grab onto in a fight.
"Oh? Not Oni? ...You are Crusader?" she asks in a thick Tien accent, her eyes flicking across Ary's tabard, recognizing the herald of the Mendevian crusades.
She appears briefly surprised that Isilme speaks her native tongue, but she takes it in stride. "そうですか。 私の名前はShu Lienです" She says, tossing her own manacles to the ground. "Ano... I am Shu Lien," she re-iterates, for the westerners who do not speak her tongue. But it seems that is all she is willing to say to them, as she continues on in Tien.
"私は遠く離れたより強くなる使命をもって来ましたが、私は仲間の学生の無能のためにここに捕らえられました." Rather than ask for help, she closes her eyes and places two fingers on her forehead. She vanishes into thin air.... reappearing next to Ary and Isilme. As if nothing unusual had happened., she continues walking down the tunnel and out into the pit. "私は彼がここのどこかにいると思う 私は彼を手に入れるべきだと思う" she adds cooly, not bothering to thank them.
She stops when she is about to pass by Hinagiku, visibly surprised. "こんにちは。 私はAvistanでここでキツネの精神を見ることを期待していませんでした。"
"I see. My name is Shu Lien."
"I have come from very far away on a mission to become stronger, but I was captured here due to the... incompetence of my fellow student. "
"I think he is somewhere else here. I suppose I should go get him."
"Hello. I did not expect to see a fox spirit here in Avistan."
There is an evident change in Hinagiku’s body language when she finally recognizes her fellow monk; her head bows slightly and she appear more subservient. And then, for a moment, Hinagiku who as about to speak closes her mouth, silenced by Shu Lien's teleportation. Her companion had gained a true mastery in the past months.
"私は私たちの使命に失敗し、悪魔に打ち負かされました。"、先制感謝先輩、それは奇妙に聞こえるでしょうが、私はデイジーです。とにかく、あなたの仲間はここ にいると言いました、私たちと一緒に来た他のチャンピオンの一人ですか？ "
”Shu-lien senpai, it will sound strange, but it is I, Daisy. My body has changed, but the mind is the same. I… I have failed at our mission and was defeated by a demon. However, my spirit was reborn into this body. Anyway, you said your companion is here, is one of the the other champions who came with us?”
Shu Lien peers at Hinagiku for a moment with narrowed eyes, then bursts out laughing. "待って...ヒナギク？ クリスマスケーキ？ それはあなたです" She giggles for a moment then stops.
"Wait... Hinagiku? Winter Cake*? That is you? "
"Winter Cake" is a Tien term similar to "old maid" - a cake that is past its prime to describe a woman past hers.
(This is less so because Hinagiku is actually old - but she did join their dojo at an unusually old age.)
"あなたは、神々があなたにそのような良い新しい形を与えることを選んだことに感謝しなければならない。あなたが着用した鎧があなたを減速させたのであなたは死 んだか?"
She turns and walks out of the tunnel and gestures for her to follow her. While Hinagiku appears subservient, Shu Lien keeps her head held high. "はい、HuáXíngはどこかにいます。 私たちはしばらく前に一緒に捕らえられました。 私は離れてしまいましたが、HuáXíngは私が今できることと同じ方法で彼の気を運ぶことができません。 しかし、私は彼が彼の強みを持っていることを認めなければなりません。" she says, seriously. Finally, she turns to Ary.
"Ano... excuse me, Bishop-soutaichou. Please come with me. I will need this light to help rescue our friend no baka. This way, please." She pauses in the middle of the pit, bends down and frisks the body of some poor, hapless slaver who fell in during the fight. Pulling out a key, she continues onwards.
"Yes, Huá Xíng is here somewhere. We were captured awhile ago, together. I would have gotten away but Huá Xíng cannot channel his ki in the same way that I now can. But I do have to admit he has his strengths, just in other ways."
"soutaichou" = "Commander"
"no baka" = "our stupid/foolish friend".
She leads Hinagiku and Ary... as well as anyone else interested across the pit to the next tunnel. "I try to run many, many time," she says, grinning. She points at her feet - there is a thick scar healed over one of her legs. "One day they try to take my foot. The one who try... did not succeed." She smirks.
Finally, she comes to the last cell at the back of the tunnel. A tall, thin, young man sits there in a meditative pose.
Huá Xíng stands up in alarm when he sees Shu Lien. "元帥！ 何してるの？ 彼らがあなたをもう一度つかまえたら、彼らはあなたを殺すでしょう"
"落ち着いて、HuáXín," she responds, irritably. She unlocks the gate. "十字軍が来て、ここで奴隷を殺した。 このキツネを見て...それはヒナギクです。 生まれ変わった... ...もっと「完璧な」形"
His eyes light up when he sees Hinagiku. He smiles warmly at her. "ヒナギクちゃん...本当にあなたですか？ それはあなたを見てとてもうれしいです。 私達はあなたが死んだと思った。 攻撃の中で"
"Shu Lien! What are you doing, get away! If they catch you again they might kill you!"
"Settle down, Huá Xíng. Crusaders have come and killed the slavers here. Look at this kitsune... it is Hinagiku. Reincarnated into an... ahem... more "perfect" form."
"Hinagiku-chan... is that really you? It is so good to see you. We thought... we thought you died. In the attack."
He steps out and bows to Ary, and any other Westerners present. "It is good to meet you. I am Huá Xíng. Thank you very much for your help, Crusaders."
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Hinagiku weathers Shu Lien's insult without a word, or any negative emotions.
Hinagiku bows to Huà Xing with her usual calm and gentle composure.
"シン先輩、もう一度会いにはいいですね" she begins, noting the "-chan" honorific used after her name. "いいえ、私はケナブレスで死ぬことはありませんでした。私たちがそこに到着すると分かれた後、いくつかのミッションで十字軍のグループに加わりました。しかし 、私たちは捕らえられました。幸運にも、司教様、ここ、そして彼女のグループが私を救ってくれました" she pauses for a moment. "また、私の身体は変わったと説明しなければなりません。なぜなら私の本物の身分を隠していたからではなく、戦闘で亡くなったからです。幸いにも、私の精神はこ の体に生まれ変わりました。"
"Xing senpai, it is good to see you again."
"No, I did not die in Kenabres. After we got separated upon our arrival in there, I joined a group of crusaders on some missions. But, we got captured. Luckily, Bishop sama, here, and her group rescued me."
"Also, I should explain, my body has changed, not because I hid my real identify back home, but because ... I died in battle. Luckily, my spirit was reborn into this body."
"はい、ヒナギク、私はあなたの言葉を疑うことはありません。私はあなたが私たちの先生からそれを隠していたとは思わない... Graukurと一緒ではない" Xíng says gently.
"Yes, Hinagiku-chan, I do not doubt your words.I do not believe that you would have concealed that from sensei... not with Graukur-san with us. "
"Graukur! Heh、その古い鳥の頭脳。 彼が大丈夫になったのだろうか" says Shu Lien with a smile.
"Graukur! Heh, that old bird-brains. I wonder if he got out alright."
"彼にはそれほど意味があってはいけません" Xíng says regretfully. He shakes his head then changes the subject. "Bishop-soutaichou. Please come, we need to go to the other cell for Delaskru-san now."
"We shouldn't have been so mean to him."
Delaskru refers likely to Captain Maranse Delaskru - a swashbuckler and crusader who began leading a number of successful missions into the Worldwound beginning two years ago. His heroic exploits are told in taverns by bards from time to time.
"Captain Maranse Delaskru is here? That will be quite heartening among the troops," Isilme says, immediately recognizing the name. "Captain Delaskru's exploits are widely known, even though his raids into the worldwound were only a few years ago."
Isilme addresses Hinagiku's two companions respectfully, "あなたに会うことは喜ばしいことです。シュ・リエンと華興. Drezenを確保するまであなたの援助を貸していただければ幸いです。"
"We should continue on to Delaskru's cell quickly and rejoin the others to check the status of the tower. Time is of the essence, as we still have the element of surprise," she says, turning back to the others.
Ary doesn't protest as she follows the woman around, providing light for her and her allies as they gather those in the pits together. The fact that none were outright aggressive was... surprising. She had somewhat expected at least one group to be an enemy of both Crusader and Demon alike. But she wasn't going to complain about their luck.
It was also easy to just follow along, given that she had no idea what the majority of talk was in regards to. "Two years is... a long time. I wonder how he's held up in that time..?"
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As they find the pair of Tien monks, Xanderghul scoffs with surprise. "Gods, there are more of you?" he asks. "I'm shocked, just shocked."
"Is there any reason why you weren't just killed?" he asks.
Floating along, Ehren looks on with a small smile as Hinagiku is reunited with her companions. Though he could not understand their language, he watches the way they interact; Shu Lien's mannerisms spoke volumes about the kind of person she must be. The difference between the two of them was like night and day. Seeing the three Tian monks together, it occurs to him that he has never really asked Hinagiku about her people and homeland. More things he would have to talk to her about, once everyone finally had time to catch their breath.
There is a rush of air as Ehren reverts to his human form, more for the sake of proper introductions than anything. As long as he did not have to infiltrate any towers in the dead of night, he was fairly confident that he had enough transformations to get through the day. His smile now more apparent, he merely bows his head slightly toward Shu Lien and Huá Xíng.
His expression turns slightly grim when he hears Ary. "We will know soon enough. Demons do not treat all of their prisoners equally."
Shu Lien raises an eyebrow at Xanderghul as they walk together to the final tunnel. She crosses her arms. "ああ？ この男の子、ひなぎくんは誰ですか"
Huà Xing shoots Shu Lien a look before responding to Xanderghul. "I don't know. Sometimes they tell us we were going to have a visitor soon, so there must have been a reason."
They reach the end of the last tunnel. It appears to be empty. No food was left out, and the cell doors are all left ajar. "Delaskru-san? Where are you?" Huà Xing calls out.
"Graukur 先輩について、私は1〜2ヶ月前に彼を見ました。彼はよく生きていた。しかし、彼は彼の使命を断念したようだった。彼がまだ創傷の周りにいれば、心が変わること を望むかもしれません。"
"About Graukur senpai, I saw him a month or two ago. He was well and alive. But he seemed to have abandoned his mission. There might still be hope for him to change is mind, if he is still around the Wound."
"Shu Lien senpai, please forgive me for not introducing you earlier. This is Mr. Xanderghul, powerful wizard and member of the pathfinder society. Here is Mr. Ferron, archdruid of Sarkoris. Here is Ms. Alazario, a great warrior. And, here is Ms. Tirabade, an impressive sharpshooter and crusader." she says, introducing everyone that wasn't introduced yet. The switch from first names to last names might appear strange to the others, but it had taken Hinagiku some time to understand the naming customs of Avistan and she did not want her seniors to make the same mistakes she did.
Frowning at the empty cell, Hinagiku approaches each of them, peering inside in case the crusader had been able to hid or fool them into thinking he was not there.
"Could he have finally met his visitor?"she finally asks the others
Upon being introduced, Xanderghul gives a small bow.
When they reach the last cell, he frowns. "Damn, an actual Crusader prisoner and they're missing," he says. "Maybe there's a sign about where they went? No matter how famous, we shouldn't spend too much time looking... but a cursory check shouldn't hurt."
Xanderghul uses detect magic and also spends some time searching around the room, looking for signs of the missing Crusader Captain.
Ary, nodding along with Xanderghul's assessment, quickly gets to work looking over the space as well. The fact that the cells sank back into the earth made her have some rather pointed suspicions about shadow demons being involved. Quite specifically, ones that they knew.
"Graukurは生きている？ それは良いニュースです...おそらく他の人たちもどこかに生きています。" Huà Xing says, surprised.
"Graukur lives? That is good news... perhaps the others are alive somewhere, too. "
The trail is over two weeks old, and covered up by your party's own footprints, but your keen eyes are able to spot a pair of footprints - one male, one female - leaving one of the cells and out to the pit. When followed, they vanish a bit outside... washed away by the recent rains.
Huà Xing bows respectfully and deeply to the heroes. Shu Lien follows his lead, but in contrast, she just sort of jerks her head downwards and back up again.
"It is good to meet all of you, friends of Hinagiku," Huà Xing says. "With your permission, Bishop-soutaichou, we would be honored to help fight the Oni with you."
"それに、ヒナギク、あなたは私に戦いを負っています," Shu Lien adds, with a smirk.
"Besides, Hinagiku, you owe me a fight."
After a few moments, Anevia pops in, followed by a few members of the Eagle Watch. "Oh, hi, new friends?" she asks, grinning at the two monks. "I'm Anevia, nice to meet cha. Anyways, Commander-boss-lady, we checked the tower... there are some house-slaves for cleaning up the place, frightened out of their minds, but we calmed them down some... other than that, completely clear. Should we start moving our stuff in?"
Huà Xing frowns when Anevia doesn't mention Maranse's presence in the tower. "Oh.. maybe Delaskru-san escaped on his own."
"The tracks are terribly old." Ary shares. "Well over a week. There's no way we'd be able to follow them outside. I... wonder what changed." she pauses for a moment, before heading out of the darkness with the others in tow. "Keep in mind that most demons are particularly resistant to fists. Babau in particular - the slimy, elongated ones that usually carry spears - are difficult for you to deal with.
After listening to Anevia, Ary nods. [b]"I think we should scout a little to the west of the tower, to ensure that we won't be visible to any of their main defenses. But otherwise, it should be a good idea to start moving in."
"A pleasure to meet you, though I wish it was under better circumstances," Val says with a small bow to Hinagiku's old comrades as Daisy introduces the group. Of all the places to encounter such friends, the slave pits of Drezen wouldn't have been very high on the list, but this was hardly the time to question good fortune.
Her frown deepens as it becomes clear this crusader hero is nowhere to be found. "If he's been successful dealing with the demons, I doubt they would take that lying down. If they caught him, he probably isn't going to last long. We should keep our eyes open for signs of him while we're moving through the city, but prepare for the worst."
"We should investigate the northern gate garrison," Isilme says as they head back out. "I agree with Val, while finding Captain Delaskru would certainly be beneficial, our primary goal should still be to secure this section of the city."
"The question is do we attempt a raid on the garrison, or do we attempt to lure them out through subterfuge?" she asks the others.