the man, dispite the beating, stubbornly stands firm, bleeding and snarling.
Haruto walks over so he can see into the door and fires a magic missile at him.
the man still stands, and... Drops to his knees
"please... Please spare me."
the man is bowing, mace head on the ground and head hung low.
the tieflings were about to set the book pile on fire, but look between each other, pause a moment, and start bowing too.
the man drops his weapon and puts his hands above his head, the tieflings flowing suit.
What in the world are you doing here? Why are these women tied, and why in the world were you going to burn them? Have you lost all reason?
She doesn't lower her bow unless someone ties them up, and waits to hear why the women were bound before moving forward to free them. She wants to hear both sides.
Shayde lurks, still gripping his short sword. He also peers past into the room, to see what the one not-tied-up person is doing. He also tries to see if either group is wearing any recognizable identification, and perhaps get a hunch as to their affiliation.
the woman who isn't tied up is working to untie the others. The man in crusader banded armor says
"You see, these demons forced me to help them." the tieflings immediately grab thier weapons, yelling "why you little-" and "you'll die for that!
Haruto frowned, looking through the armored man more than at him. "In dark times hope may be hard to find, but turning to darkness will not restore it. Truth may be painful, but anything else is a lie."
Lying sack of lard. And you tieflings, put your weapons back down, or we *will* slaughter you like pigs.
Her words don't have the desired effect, but they are true nevertheless. She shoots if they don't drop their weapons.
Lina just shakes her head in disgust, and moves to help cut the women free.
Shayde slips up close to the 'crusader' and his group, moving in behind them relative to the rest. "Don't try to deceive the Shadow. It sees what you are in the dark."
Stalker looms up behind him, silent, yet giving the impression of growling.
the tieflings snarl, but drop thier weapons again. They certainly don't follow suit in kneeling, this time. The person in mail seems to be thinking, not saying anything, yet. The librarians are soon cut free, shaking in terror.
Getting nothing from the arson- and murder- happy idiots, Azlana suggests that someone tie them up. She keeps her bow trained on the bad guys, but asks the librarians what happened, still wanting more information.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lina draws her knife and closes on the man. Her eyes are cold, and she doesn't even try to hide her disdain and anger for the man before her. "From where I'm standing, you're an opportunist who decided to join up with the winning side. You were about to burn hapless victims at the stake. Do you have even one good reason why I shouldn't cut you down right now?"
the librarians quietly explain that they hardly know why, he just barged in, took control, and then this happened.
"because you aren't like me, are you? Becase you aren't an "oppertunist", nor are you willing to kill someone who isn't fighting."
An "opportunist," seriously? What profit is to be gained in burning books and women? And I ASSURE you, even if Lina is against killing someone who isn't fighting, I don't have any such compunction. I will slaughter evil wherever I find it, especially if I know it will do the same to others the minute my back is turned.
She directs the freed librarians to tie them up. If they do so, she will check the bonds to make sure they are secure, and then introduce them (if needed) to Aravash, asking them if they know where his friends went.
"No, I'm not like you," Lina says. "And thank every good god that I am not." She ties his wrists together with a length of rope.
From there, she turns to the tieflings. "You two. Are you with the invading force, or yet more 'opportunists'?"
Shayde lurks in the background, not having much to add. Instead, he kept watch.
the teiflings hesistate, but eventually settle on honesty.
"I-invading forces. We were assigned to work with this man soon after."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lina considers the tieflings briefly. ”Who is your commander?” she says. ”What are your numbers in the city?” Almost as an afterthought she uses Detect Evil on the tieflings and on the man while she’s at it.
neither of the tieflings have an aura of evil, but the plated man glows faintly of it.
"A greater demon just told us. Not much in the way of central leadership, aside from who's stronger then who. and on that note, our numbers are rather hard to even estimate. All I really know is I think You're vastly outnumbered."
Azlana makes sure all of them are tied up and then asks the librarians if they have any idea where people are gathering; where Aravash's friends might be if they are still alive.
Haruto continues staring past the scene in silence, frowning distantly, as if he sees something vaguely distasteful on the other side of the back wall.
after the librarians finally recover a bit, they thank the party repeatedly.
"thank you all so very much. The majority of this place was destroyed by a horrific creature, worms in the shape of a man who bent demons to his will to break the place down, and stole away with dozens of treasures from this stronghold. All of the riftwardens that were stationed here are dead."
one of the librianians looks through the books on here floor, and offers a somewhat damaged spellbook to the party.
"it's not much, but it's all we have to offer."
the librarian talking to azlana shakes her head a bit.
"I'm sorry, all I know is that Quednys Orlun, the head librarian, was near the cathedral of Saint clydewell when the disaster happened. He might be of help in finding where people have gathered? I'm Sorry."
It's okay. We'll try the Cathedral.
After hearing Hanna's questions, Azlana adds You can come with us if you like. We're looking for some last bastion of civilization. Maybe you would like to as well?
Shayde considered the ruined location. "There may yet remain something here of use."
Without further fanfare, he went to search the building, to see if any secret caches or such remained. Demons were hardly thorough searchers.
(aid Shayde if successful)
"This central area is pretty well fortified. If we lock up and refuse to let anyone in, we should be fine while you go and search. And if the riftwarden would please stay with us..
Avarash nods
I will gladly protect this place.
"This central area is pretty well fortified. If we lock up and refuse to let anyone in, we should be fine while you go and search. And if the riftwarden would please stay with us..."
Avarash nods
"i will gladly remain and protect this place, for the time being.
Haruto nods, looking upwards instead of at Aravashnial. "Then are we free to continue to the next home," he states.
"The cathedral, I don't know if--" Lina shakes her head. "What am I saying? It would be a safe place, but that the battle was centered on the square and the cathedral nearby. We can't be sure that we will find safety there. First, we can go to Horgus' manor, as promised. After that, it's going to be some playing by ear until we can learn the condition of the crusaders that are left."
She glances at Haruto as she passes him, briefly stops by Azlana and quietly says to her, "Keep an eye on that man, he has a foul aura," and goes to Aravashnial and the librarians. She touches Aravashnial's arm. "May fortune smile on you in these dark days, sir."
Take care Aravash.
She nods to Lina and listens to Hanna and says
We will take the prisoners with us. I am still hoping to find some vestige of civilization rather than deciding their fates for ourselves, but we shall see.
As they travel to Horgus' place, she walks behind the prisoners, keeping watch over them with a ready bow trained on the evil-aura one.
Shayde lurked around the edges of the group, staying in the dim at the edge of the light, keeping watch for threats from without, or from their captives.
as the group presses on through the rubble, a familiar sight comes in view- a white winged woman, flying in midair, shouting angrily at six people garbed with symbols of baphomet. The people seem quite enraptured with the enraged woman, and the woman hasn't noticed the party yet. There are quite a few buildings gathered around a well, with the woman's group near the well. It may be possible to slip among the rubble to avoid this alltogether.
It didn't look like any innocents were in danger, so Azlana is in favor of avoiding this fight. She looks at Lina for confirmation.
Haruto frowns. "What is she saying?" he quietly asks the others, wondering if any have sharper ears than his.
"Likely giving orders, under the delusion that her mutations are more divine than they are deranged. Let's go, before they notice us," Lina says.
Shayde eyes the scene before addressing the others in a half-whisper. "If she is an enemy, it may be better to strike her down when she is unaware, and before she can gather further strength. Unless she is too strong already. You seem to know more about this one than I."
"Perhaps if we do not wish to fight all at once, we should wait until they separate," Haruto suggests.
Azlana nods to Haruto and leads the group away, hoping they can come back after they have found a safe place for the noncombatants in their charge.
She says to Shayde after gaining some distance from the scene, I agree that we probably need to take her down, but let's get these people to a safe place first, and then we can worry about fighting back. We need to choose our battles carefully right now.
the woman's enraged shouting is more or less a rally, a combination of threats and encouragement for the other cultists.
oon enough the party skirts around and arrives at Horgus's manor. His demeanor lightens as he sees it undamaged, and gives the group a "wait one moment" gesture. But as he returns, he's shaking a bit in rage, but still offers the party a bag of gold, the thousand gold he had promised.
"the guards not only abandoned my house, but ran off with many of my goods. This is... Unacceptable. Regardless, I thank you.
after he offers the gold, he bristles, a moment, almsot seeming to feel the need to say something to ruin his almost being nice. So he does.
"of course you recognized my importance immidately, but still, you did a most adaquate job of getting us safely to the surface. Above average, even."
Azlana bids Horgus farewell, and suggests that they take Anvina home. ... She seems a lot more cheerful now that Horgus isn't around.