Sol and Kaygan talk privately for a moment . Kaygan can't help but look back at the tiefling paladin , but he looks reassured.
Sol:
After helping with freeing the remaining librarians, Jod stands and considers a rather nasty gash in his side that his actions had hidden from the healers.
"Say, folks, if anyone has some healing to spare, I think I could use a bit here."
Hand outstretched in greeting, he leans toward Kaygan. "Welcome aboard, Kaygan! If Sol's vouching for you, that's good enough for me!"
"So, if we are going to bring the wounded up from the depths, is there some place here we can keep them safe? Or do we need to find a different spot to hole up?" He looks around at the recently-freed and his friends.
"Thankyou," Kaygan replies to the ranger, returning the handshake in a reasonable facsimile of the traditional Kellid fashion.
"I don't know how safe it is here to be honest. We thought it was, but," he pauses and shrugs, looking at the dead tieflings, "obviously we were wrong. If the city is still overrun with demons, perhaps it would be safer to remain underground? Although that still sounds like hiding, and I am tired of that." He walks over and huddles together with his fellow librarians, asking them what they plan to do and their opinion of whether the remains of the library can be made secure.
"By the way," Kaygan adds to Jod, "weren't you about to look for that odd looking fellow who came with you, then dashed back outside? Should we be worried about him?"
The young man's expression darkens. "Probably. He surrendered rather than die with his tribe. I let him live, gave him a second chance. If he doesn't come back on his own soon, I won't make that mistake a second time."
Mulluq turns abruptly at Jod's request, "Yes, I can offer some healing. I apologize for my delay in providing it. I was... distracted." With that, he moves over, and with a prayer to Iomedae, lays his taloned hand on one of Jod's wounds. Seeing his effort produce minor results, he grows determined to help. That's when the effect pays off. "I'm sorry I could not provide more, it's my fault for doubting my own worthiness in receiving Her righteous glory. Who am I to question her choice?" He turns to the library as a whole, and takes time to scan it for any sense of evil, before moving out to the doorway and scanning the courtyard in front of the building.
The young man's expression darkens. "Probably. He surrendered rather than die with his tribe. I let him live, gave him a second chance. If he doesn't come back on his own soon, I won't make that mistake a second time."
"So ... he won't go and tell any passing demons that we're in here will he?" Kaygan asks mildly.
"Not likely. He would be too scared. He'd struggle to ask his own shadow to help."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
There will also be histories of the previous crusades which will mention Drezen, and somewhere there will be older volumes which detail the city as it was before it was absorbed by the expansion of the Worldwound. Drezen is, however, quite famous as its loss at the beginning of the disastrous Second Crusade is still a piece of unfinished business as far as the Church of Iomedae was concerned. At least until the recent attack.
How much of all this survives given the devastated state of the Librarium is debatable, however. Certainly it might be hard to find right now.
"So, if we are going to bring the wounded up from the depths, is there some place here we can keep them safe? Or do we need to find a different spot to hole up?" He looks around at the recently-freed and his friends.
One of the other librarians speaks up. “The main hall of the Librarium here is well constructed, and the front doors are heavy and intact. If he hadn’t fooled us into thinking he was here to help, I don’t think that false crusader would have had much luck getting in here. I’d think it may be a good place to bring your wounded friends. We’ve managed to scrounge up some supplies, you’d be secure and safe here for a while.”
Following Sol’s question, Kaygan confers quietly with his fellow librarians, as well as trying to recall his own studies on such matters. Shortly he speaks up, addressing Sol but speaking loudly enough so that the others can also hear.
“Well, the Librarium has a copy of Yaniel’s A Treatise on Slaying Demons of course; but most in Kenabres would be familiar with the teachings in that tome, even if they don’t know who wrote them – it’s a common enough book. Neither my colleagues nor myself are aware of any official biographies of Yaniel, though she is mentioned in other sources, such as general histories of the Crusades. I don’t know anything specific about her sword – to be honest, it could show up right in front of me and I wouldn’t know it from any other blade.
“Drezen is quite famous – or infamous – for being lost to the marilith Aponavicius at the start of the Second Crusade – or rather it was the loss of that crusader city that prompted the call for the Second Crusade, which, as you no doubt know, was quite a disaster for our side – Sarkoris in particular. The demons still occupy Drezen as far as anyone knows – I’ve heard that the Church of Iomedae consider that a particular piece of unfinished business. There are – or were – plenty of books in the Librarium that mention Drezen; any history of the Second Crusade for instance, and I know there are some older volumes around that detail the city as it was before it was absorbed by the expansion of the Worldwound.
“But trying to find any particular book in this mess …” Kaygan trails off and looks about the room in dismay. “Most wings of the Librarium were all but destroyed in the initial attack – any books that survived will be buried in the rubble. The books and scrolls here in the main hall mainly survived, but those tieflings destroyed more of a few of them, and as you can see they forced poor Alisia to stack most of the rest in a pile – they’re all out of catalogue order now. We,” his gesture takes in himself and the other librarians, “are all quite junior members of staff, not necessarily privy to the overall catalogue of texts. If you are looking for a particular book or piece of information, the man to ask would be Quendys Orlun, the head of the Librarium. He was over at Clydwell Plaza for the festival when the demons struck – as an important member of the city, he probably would have been somewhere near the Prelate or the Archbishop. If Desna smiles he may have survived the attack, but if so he hasn’t come back here.”
Mulluq turns abruptly at Jod's request, "Yes, I can offer some healing. I apologize for my delay in providing it. I was... distracted." With that, he moves over, and with a prayer to Iomedae, lays his taloned hand on one of Jod's wounds. Seeing his effort produce minor results, he grows determined to help. That's when the effect pays off. "I'm sorry I could not provide more, it's my fault for doubting my own worthiness in receiving Her righteous glory. Who am I to question her choice?"
The ranger's relief is apparent as the healing flows. He puts a hand on the paladin's shoulder. "Mulluq, you know I'm no holy man and I'm not scholar, but Rhok told me once that trying to know the mind of a god is a waste of time. I am glad you are here with us."
|
Following Sol’s question, Kaygan confers quietly with his fellow librarians, as well as trying to recall his own studies on such matters. Shortly he speaks up, addressing Sol but speaking loudly enough so that the others can also hear.
“Well, the Librarium has a copy of Yaniel’s [i]A Treatise ... I don’t know anything specific about her sword – to be honest, it could show up right in front of me and I wouldn’t know it from any other blade.
“Drezen is quite famous – or infamous – for being lost to the marilith Aponavicius at the start of the Second Crusade ... there are some older volumes around that detail the city as it was before it was absorbed by the expansion of the Worldwound.
“But trying to find any particular book in this mess …” Kaygan trails off and looks about the room in dismay. ... If you are looking for a particular book or piece of information, the man to ask would be Quendys Orlun, the head of the Librarium. He was over at Clydwell Plaza for the festival when the demons struck – as an important member of the city, he probably would have been somewhere near the Prelate or the Archbishop. If Desna smiles he may have survived the attack, but if so he hasn’t come back here.”
Sol listens carefully, but with disappointment. "That's not a lot. Finding Orlun, finding him, would just be shear luck. If he survived. The whole plaza caved in. We would have died in the fall without Terendelev's spell."
"What does this Orlun look like? Any chance he is one of those we left below? Some of them were definitely hiding something."
Kaygan thinks for a moment .
"Head Librarian Orlun is a stern looking older gentleman with swept back white hair. He has a tattoo down his cheek sweeping towards his chin, and usually wears black. He's kind of tough looking for a librarian ..."
Jod's easy attitude, and ability to know how to say the right thing, works to help lift Mulluq's self-doubt. He offers a weak and fangy smile at the man, with a soft, "Thank you."
On the discussion at hand, Mulluq offers, "According to the false crusaders' missive, this is Yaniel's sword." He holds up the blade he has been using. "They had it below ground with one of their own. I need to return it to somewhere safe, somewhere its magnificence belongs."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Kaygan is still waxing lyrical about Librarian Orlun.
“… and he looks tough because he is! He’s quite a powerful wizard, fought in the Fourth Crusade! The Third two I think actually. Anyway, he set up the Librarium after he retired from demon killing as a repository for lore on Kenabre’s Abyssal foes.” He looks like he could go on, and is indeed about to go on, but then seems to think better of it and trails off. “Anyway, hopefully he’s still alive out there …”
Jod's easy attitude, and ability to know how to say the right thing, works to help lift Mulluq's self-doubt. He offers a weak and fangy smile at the man, with a soft, "Thank you."
On the discussion at hand, Mulluq offers, "According to the false crusaders' missive, this is Yaniel's sword." He holds up the blade he has been using. "They had it below ground with one of their own. I need to return it to somewhere safe, somewhere its magnificence belongs."
To Mulluq, Kaygan says, “Really? Yaniel’s sword? Oh, I don’t doubt your word, warrior of the Inheritor,” he adds hastily. “However, if the information you have from the false crusaders is true, that is a great find. Though as I said I don’t know anything specific about Yaniel’s sword, I would expect that the sword of a famous demon slayer may bear some truly potent enchantments. Has any amongst you yet examined the blade for such?”
As the various conversations go on, one of the other librarians clears his throat. “Uh, one of you mentioned some injured friends? You were going to go and fetch them here?”
Kaygan nods. “There was some talk of that, wasn’t there. Are you lot all content to stay here for the time being?” This is addressed at the other librarians, who all nod, preferring the relative safety of the remains of the Librarium to the unknown dangers of the city. “Alright; I’m going to go with Sol and his friends, if they’ll have me. I’ll help them get their injured companions here if I can – and if it seems safe to do so without drawing attention to you. If I get a chance I’ll keep an eye out for Head Librarian Orlun, or anyone else we know. If we run into any sort of a rescue party, I’ll let them know where you are. Don’t open the doors to anyone else unless you’re sure they’re on our side. Hmmm, we should do a secret knock.” He spends a few moments practicing a complex knock with the other librarians on a nearby book shelf.
“If I’m going out there, do you mind if I take some of the supplies and weapons we managed to scrounge up from the rubble?” The other librarians raise no objections, so Kaygan strides over to a low hidey-hole between a wall alcove and a partially fallen shelf, and shoves some items hidden there into a backpack. One of these is a large book, that he wraps carefully in an oil cloth before placing into the backpack. He attaches a light crossbow to a hook on the side of the pack. Lastly, he coaxes a big grey rat out from the hidey hole. The rat looks at Kaygan, rubs its snout with one tiny paw, then scurries up the librarian’s arm and into a large pocket in his robe.
“Right,” says Kaygan, returning to stand near Sol and Jod as he shoulders the backpack. “I’m ready to go if you are.”
Kira sighs at all of the arrangements, especially the secret knock. But manages to keep quiet.
"As ready as I can be today."
Jod laughs at Sol's discomfort. "C'mon! Let's go do heroic deeds, eh?" He slaps him on the shoulder, throws an arm over Kaygan, and heads toward the door. "So you are good with words, right? You will be able to record the epic deeds we do and rights we wrong as we free the city from the demonic hordes? Of course you can!"
While the others confer with Kaygan, Hannik strips the false crusader and tieflings of anything useful and throws it in a pile to the side. Her scavenging is forceful, almost violent and her brow dark as she focuses on anger rather than tears. As much as anyplace else the Library had been her home since leaving Shelyn's temple and while Alissa wasn't a friend she had been a reliable part of that home. When she finishes with each one Ghroth throws the body over his shoulder and dumps them near the door side by side.
Finally she comes to Alissa and gently crosses her arms with whatever book she finds nearby under her heart and says a quiet prayer to Shelyn over her.
Once they are nearly ready to leave Hannik stops the librarian, "Kaygan you should also know that the Wardstone was tampered with from within to make this invasion possible. As far as we know it is heavily damaged, but still exist. The Baphomet worshiping crusaders had a note that mentioned Areelu Vorlesh wasn't finished with the Wardstone yet and once she was they would be leaving Kenabres for Drezen, but first they needed to go by each of the safehouses and destroy any evidence of the collaboration. We know the safehouses and the passphrase. Even if the city has fallen we want that evidence. After we bring the others up we are going to get it."
"Also- we need to be quick. Murray may be a coward, but he knows where we left the rest of the loot from the Baphomet cultists."
Jod laughs at Sol's discomfort. "C'mon! Let's go do heroic deeds, eh?" He slaps him on the shoulder, throws an arm over Kaygan, and heads toward the door. "So you are good with words, right? You will be able to record the epic deeds we do and rights we wrong as we free the city from the demonic hordes? Of course you can!"
“Uh, good with words? Not sure I’d say that … I probably talk too much though. I do a bit of writing … I could probably pen something …”
Once they are nearly ready to leave Hannik stops the librarian, "Kaygan you should also know that the Wardstone was tampered with from within to make this invasion possible. As far as we know it is heavily damaged, but still exist. The Baphomet worshiping crusaders had a note that mentioned Areelu Vorlesh wasn't finished with the Wardstone yet and once she was they would be leaving Kenabres for Drezen, but first they needed to go by each of the safehouses and destroy any evidence of the collaboration. We know the safehouses and the passphrase. Even if the city has fallen we want that evidence. After we bring the others up we are going to get it."
"Also- we need to be quick. Murray may be a coward, but he knows where we left the rest of the loot from the Baphomet cultists."
Kaygan stares at the young woman for a moment. “Alright,” he says after a moment, looking over at Alissa’s body, resting on the book that Hannik placed there. “That sounds like quite a task, but … I’ll help as I can. I know a few spells … nothing very powerful I’m afraid, but … I don’t know, I had sort of a bad feeling when I woke up this morning, I prepared some spells that I normally wouldn’t; some of them may actually be useful as it turns out.”
"Let's go. These streets resemble my dreamscapes too much." Rhok picks up his morningstar from where he left it and starts walking towards the manhole cover they emerged from.
Jod turns and comes back to the youth, looking concerned. "I never even thought about it - I guess I didn't think people had families here, they came here to fight and went somewhere else to live." He looks at the others in the group, wondering how many others have loved ones - not just fellow warriors - in the rubble.
"I will absolutely help you find your family, but you have to remember. It's been, what, two days?" He looks at the newest member of the party. "I hate to say it like this, but if they survived the initial assault and rampaging demons and fake crusaders, it's because they have found allies and a place to hide. You will be in more danger looking for them, especially alone, than they will be."
Putting a hand on each shoulder and looking Sol in the face, he offers, "Come with us. Stay with the tribe. Let us bring up those we left behind - the ones we know we can help - and we, all of us, will search for your family as we get the lay of the land when we return."
He stops and waits for the other fellow's response.
Kaygan stays silent at Sol's words. He hadn't thought about family - all of his own are long dead as far as he is aware, and his adopted family is safely back in Nerosyan. He is on good terms with his fellow librarians, but hasn't really been here long enough to feel very close to them - with the exception of his respect for Alissa and his hero-worship of the Head Librarian.
He wants to help Sol, but secretly feels that the younger man's quest may be doomed, and that they are better of helping people they know still to be alive. Felling ashamed at the thought, he offers a silent prayer to Desna that she grant luck to Sol's family.
After thinking about it for a moment, Kaygan inclines his head towards Jod and then turns to Sol. “I’ll help you look for your family,” he says quietly. “But your friend is right – you are unlikely to be able to help anyone if you go alone, and you,” he indicates the group, not just Sol, “have told me that you have injured allies waiting for you to return to see them to safety. We should see to them soon – it sounds as if they are not so far away – and then search for family and friends.”
Trying to move about a bit, though still looking sore. Kira looks over some of the stuff Hannik has put to one side.
Ohh, Kira may take that if one of the more melee folks doesn't want it.
I would suppose that Wardstones are outside of Kaygan’s experience, but perhaps he’s read something useful on the subject; any idea what could be done with a damaged Wardstone that might interest Vorlesh? Would there be any likelihood of repairing it?
Kira takes one of the potions and downs it with a shivver. "Jod, take this." she hands Jod the other.
"Surprise. Some of us grew up here. Before we leave the city I will have to see the temple of Shelyn. If it is still standing and the other temple wards are alive I'm taking them with us when we leave."
|
|
Jod turns and comes back to the youth, looking concerned. "I never even thought about it - I guess I didn't think people had families here, they came here to fight and went somewhere else to live." He looks at the others in the group, wondering how many others have loved ones - not just fellow warriors - in the rubble.
"I will absolutely help you find your family, ...."
Putting a hand on each shoulder and looking Sol in the face, he offers, "Come with us. Stay with the tribe. Let us bring up those we left behind - the ones we know we can help - and we, all of us, will search for your family as we get the lay of the land when we return."
He stops and waits for the other fellow's response.
After thinking about it for a moment, Kaygan inclines his head towards Jod and then turns to Sol. “I’ll help you look for your family,” he says quietly. “But your friend is right – you are unlikely to be able to help anyone if you go alone, and you,” he indicates the group, not just Sol, “have told me that you have injured allies waiting for you to return to see them to safety. We should see to them soon – it sounds as if they are not so far away – and then search for family and friends.”
"Surprise. Some of us grew up here. Before we leave the city I will have to see the temple of Shelyn. If it is still standing and the other temple wards are alive I'm taking them with us when we leave."
Sol's brow unfurrows as each of his companions speaks. "Th- Thank you. I thought the mission to the safe houses would be more important than my troubles. I'm happy to have your help. And, Jod's right it's been days. A few more hours won't matter that much. Let's get Anevia and the others then."
Jod replaces his used potion and defers on the armor. "My friend Mulluq has proven himself by far more effective, we need to be sure he stays upright."
Kaygan peers about the seemingly deserted, ruined street as he steps outside the library for the first time in days.