Xander hurries off to exchange Unafe's scrolls for the scroll of summon ship. He doesn't encounter much difficulty, beyond the very long walk between the main atrium down into the catacombs of the school.
Xander returns many minutes of waiting later, scroll in hand. Looking outside, it appears to now be past noon.
Once Xander heads out, Unafe mutters to Valais, "'No time to waste indeed'! What does he think we've been doing? I mean really, it's not my business, but why are you so devoted to him?"
Unafe chats with Valais for a few minutes. Then she stands, stretches, glances briefly at the bored looking receptionist, and begins to chant prayers to her ancestors. As she does, Saurian spirits buzz and roar about her. Several fly through her and she feels the familiar pain of calling on their aid, but it doesn't amount to much.
Once she has called on their blessings, Unafe paces anxiously until Xander returns.
While Unafe chants with her ancestor spirits, the receptionist glares daggers at her the entire time, clearly not enjoying the noisy interruption to her day.
Once she is done, she settles back into her chair, content to only shoot her dirty looks from time to time. Valais pays her no mind and sits back in her seat. "He has a habit of sticking up for people no one else is willing to stick their necks out for," she says with a small smile. It vanishes after a moment. "Then again, I never thought he'd be capable of working with devils."
Xander does not return until several moments later.
Xander returns a few minutes later. He's tucked away the scroll of summon ship, and he's ready to go. He pulls out the scroll of teleport. "Are you ready, Unafe?" He looks at Valais. "Do you want to come? It seems like it's going to be a big battle and a quick escape. Should make a good story!"
Shaking her head, Unafe says "He's a puzzle. He clearly cares, deeply. He risks his life to thwart demons, and now to rescue his allies.
"...And then he thinks it's OK to set soldiers and their mounts on fire. And yes, he speaks so casually of signing a deal with devils. Though if that deal was the only way to get us back into the fight...well then, perhaps it's a sacrifice he's making on behalf of his friends. One I should feel grateful for."
Once they're done talking, Unafe paces (spool now inside her haversack, which is on her back).
When Xander returns, Unafe simply says, "I'm ready."
She adds, "Let me hold both your hand, in case we end up somewhere wrong and I need to take you and run. Or swim..."
Once she has a firm grip she clenches her jaw, preparing to be yanked through space.
"We must all hold hands in order to teleport anyway," Xander responds, grabbing onto Unafe's hand. He needed his other hand for the scroll, and anyway if Valais was coming she could hold on to Unafe's second hand. "Hold on to your hats!" he calls, before beginning to chant.
Isilme and Ehren had just finished preparing their spells when Xanderghul, Valais, and Unafe abruptly arrive in the sewers, appearing just in front of them.
Valais winces as she realizes she is now ankle deep in human sewage.
After a few minutes of rest, Hinagiku stands back up from the lotus position she had adopted. Being motionless and attentive was a good way of dipping one’s toes in the flow of the world, but letting one’s body flow with it was one step closer to diving in.
As if enraptured in the flowing threads of ley around her, Hinagiku gracefully and slowly moves around the room in what might appear to be a dance or, to those you have seen her fight, a slower version of her style and stances.
Every so often, she gives a look at the battered door she closed after taking refuge in the building and through the shroud she has hanged in front of the window. All senses at the ready and in tune with the surroundings, she would make sure not to be taken by surprises.
Isilme is more than a little frustrated when Valais appears along with Xander and Unafe. If things got bad it meant that they'd have to deal with even more dead weight on top of the four mangled riftwardens and the two-dozen halflings. She goes to say something but then stops herself.
"I am glad you all safely teleported here," she says, starting anew, "If you could, I need you to break out your wand of non-detection, Xander. We need it on everyone here as soon as possible please. We know the city guard has been scrying on us regularly, and we cannot afford to have them do so going forward from here until we escape."
Turning to Valais, she adds "What we're about to do here is exceedingly dangerous, Valais. I will be summoning an Azata to help us shortly. You will stay with it and listen to what it says. Do not enter the room with us when we go to fight the Daemons. We do not have enough magic to ward you against their ability to devour souls. Is that understood?"
Once she gets a chance to use the wand on herself, she begins the ritual to beseech the Song of Spheres to send them aid on their quest.
"Devour... souls?" Valais trails off, tilting her head as she scrawls notes in her book. "Oh well, a quick battle and a quick escape, right?" She grins.
She watches as Isilme spends ten minutes chanting and dancing, as the holy symbol on her hand glows a brilliant blue, invoking to her goddess for any aid that she could send. At the end of her invocation, Cygnus shines and emits a cloud of stardust, that coalesces in the air to form a two-foot tall fey-looking creature. His features appear male, and he has ashen grey skin. His butterfly-like wings are decorated with motes that resemble a starry sky.
He flutters in front of Isilme, a small grin on his face. "يا لواد السر ، من الجيد رؤيتك. ماذا تحتاج في هذا اليوم؟" he says joyfully, in the lilting sing-song tones of azata-accented Celestial.
"Lleuad-ar-ser, it is good to see you. What do you need on this day?"
Isilme doesn't recognize (or remember) this azata, but as a Desnan she is familiar with her goddess' servitor race and their abilities.
This creature is a Thyrlien, an azata that is a divine servitor race of Desna. Desna creates Thyrlien to watch over night time travelers.
Isilme is flabbergasted when Valais glibly describes the coming battle as something quick and trivial. "Please tell me you explained to her what was happening here before you brought her Xander," she says, looking at him for some sign that this had been more than one of his whims. "This is no 'quick battle' and there is no guaranteed escape here. We are fighting three extremely powerful daemons, and we need to escort two dozen halflings and four severely wounded friends of ours out of this city. The city and its guards are hostile to us, and both the slavers and the guards will be after us once they realize we are trying to flee with their slaves."
Turning to her ritual after explaining the situation some, she is a little surprised and flattered when the Thrylien that appears knows of her, and more than a little embarrassed to similarly have forgotten the azata's name. She replies in her own still fluent Celestial, her natural Azatan cadence unaffected by her newfound mortality. "لديك لي في وضع غير مؤات ، لسوء الحظ. بينما كنت في السابق Lleuad a'r Ser ، أصبحت بشرًا الآن ولم يعد لدي ذكريات تلك الأعمار التي قضيتها في خدمة السيدة ستارسونغ. من فضلك اتصل بي Isilme ، ماذا يمكنني أن أسميك؟," she begins, getting introductions out of the way.
She begins explaining the situation and the services needed to the Azata, hoping she can convince him to aid them for long enough to get out. "لقد اتصلت بك هنا لمساعدتي في تحرير مجموعة من العبيد نصفين ، ما يقرب من عشرين من كل ما تحتجزه الشياطين داخل مجمع قريب. من المحتمل أنه بينما نهرب ، سيحاول البشر أو الحراس من المدينة إلقاء القبض على أولئك الذين أطلقنا سراحهم. سأحتاج إلى مساعدتكم في حراستهم وإرشادهم إلى حيث سنغادر المدينة وما وراءها حتى نصل بأمان. نأمل قبل مرور 8 ساعات أخرى."
Moving on to the topic of payment at last, she finishes by offering what she can. "يمكنني أن أقدم لك أجرًا عادلًا ، أو أي خدمة قد تطلبها مني ، أو أي مزيج منها إذا كنت ستساعدنا في هذه المهمة."
I have called you here to aid me in freeing a group of halfling slaves-- nearly two dozen in all--and several Riftwardens that are being held by daemons within a compound nearby. It is likely that as we escape, slaver humans or guards from the city will attempt to apprehend those we have freed. I will need your aid in guarding them and guiding them to where we will leave the city, and beyond until we have reached safely. Hopefully before another 8 hours have passed.
I can offer you fair payment, any favor you might ask of me, or any combination thereof if you will aid us in this task.
Valais does not react overtly much to Isilme's comments of doom, but she does scrawl more furiously in her book to add the added context.
Later, the little azata spins in a small circle as Isilme speaks. "Do not worry, Isilme, for endings often mean new beginnings," he says, switching to his race's ability to true speak, making himself fully understandable to all sentient creatures. "You may call me Aglais."
"I am familiar with the plight of which you speak, and as such will not require any payment for this task. Our goddess seeks to champion for those who have no one else to call for aid, and I will do all in my power to ensure our Lady Starsong smiles tonight."
When Xander appears, Isilme is instantly upset with him, showing all scowls and frowns and bad portents. Xander adopts his own frown once he dispels the illusion concealing his true form. "Actually, no, I did not go into a long explanation about what we would face. What will we face, Isilme? I got your message about the slaves and the daemons."
He gestures at the excrement that surrounds them. "I see that we're standing in a sewer. Why are we here, and where are we going?"
He sees Ehren perched upon her shoulder, and he's brought Unafe with him. Ary's location he knows, and he decides to share with Isilme -- "Have you any word from Ary? She contacted me in a dream last night. She told me that she's in custody, and she's been offered some kind of deal? She didn't ask me to turn myself in, but she did say that the Rahadoumi asked her to. Has she contacted you?"
"Have you heard from Hinagiku recently? I see that she's not here. I tried to scry on her and found that she's not caught in an antimagic field like Ary is, so I wonder if she's been released."
Finally, he throws up his hands and gives a little lip-razzle. "What about, 'oh, thank the Gods that you're here Xander, there were only two of us before and now there are five helping to deal with rescuing my lover'."
While he complains, Xander withdraws his wand and uses it on everyone -- bird, filthy goblin number one, filthy goblin number two, dinosaur shaman and chronicler.
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”That’s… a good call. It seems odd that he suggested for us to go to gain information from a group that reacted in the way that they did. Thank you, by the way.” Ary says, as he tells her about how his investigation was going. ”It was more than I had any right to expect that you would believe me about Avi, much less that you would work towards solving it, despite the way we had gone about things. I appreciate the effort of your people.”
”Mm.” Ary says in response to what they considered terrorist attacks. Her head tilts slightly to the side… that was a complicated state of affairs. While she was no fan of slavery and certainly wouldn’t support it (and indeed, was very likely to make illegal in its entirety within Drezen), killing dozens of people was… well, honestly, it was something that her group would do in regards to cultists. Without a second thought. There was a large probability that the people killed weren’t all people who had any real control over their situation, though.
Which went back to annihilating the problem at its source.
As long as slavery was legal here, there would be slavers, and people who thought it simply was a way of life without questioning it. At the mention of a starknife, her mind goes to Valaria. How would things have gone differently if the woman had been here to work alongside Isilme? Likely, Hinagiku and Xander wouldn’t have felt a need to accompany Isilme… though maybe they would have.
”I only know a few people who wield star knives, Isilme… and a tiefling named Valaria. She was a friend who grew distant after Li'an died.” she tilts her head for a moment, and a penchant for not being remembered when she didn’t want to be, at least just before she disappeared from the group entirely. ”I don’t think the two are related and I think she would be somewhere in Varisia around now, based on what she last told me of where she intended to go.” she says, though she’s unable to not entertain the possibility that Valaria and her dream girl were posing as a pair of gnomes, working as freedom fighters. ”I don’t know anything about Sophini’s Servants, though.” she says, shaking her head.
”So, the gnomes have ties to a Thuvian spy? That’s even further away from Mendev, right?” she says, not really aware of how the geography of this side of the world worked at all - she only had a passing knowledge of the inner seas, after all. ”Did you find her via an anonymous tip? If not, investigating the person who knew what she was doing might be another lead.” she suggests. ”And now Isilme is working with, or did work with Maroq.” she says, but stops, unable to quite puzzle out anything further connecting the gnomes, Maroq, the Slavers and Isilme besides the tangent, and in a metropolis, it would be silly for her to assume they were all connected.
Ary shakes her head at the suggestion it was the wound, but waits until he reaches a stopping point before responding. ”Hinata is her mother’s surname. She didn’t have one before we went to visit her. There’s something about the place she’s from where those who aren’t rich don’t have them, and that it’s rude to refer to them by their given names if you aren’t familiar with them.” she responds slowly, tilting her head at the strange antics he’d described.
”But as for the wound, I don’t know how long it’s been there, but I know of it. I think it was there when she was reincarnated, I don’t recall knowing of it before then. Maybe it was there when we first found her in the Gray Garrison. That was years ago, and healing magic hasn’t done anything for it. She… may have been meditating?” Ary suggests. ”I’ve never really had reason to check her vital signs during that sort of thing. She can be a bit non-responsive during that as well. It’s still… odd.”
Her finger plays idly with the empty space still as her eyes look to his notebook, though she can’t read it, more staring into the middle distance and concentrating. She nods absently, ”I… understand. And thank you again for your honesty and openness. I would be happy to meet with him, though simply letting him know what is going on is enough. I think Hinagiku will be difficult to scry on… that should impact the dangers from Jerribeth going for her while she’s alone.” she says, tilting her head back and forth. ”Between Unafe and Xander, I think they could escape a lot of dangers, the same goes for Isilme and Ehren… but I have no idea how things would go for Hinagiku on her own.” she says, chewing her lip, then huffs.
”I wouldn’t mind meeting with Lann, if only to talk to him about what we’ve learned and see if he has any ideas… and to let him know why we’re here and what’s going on.”
She pauses for a moment at that, ”Do your laws account for the lifespan of people when it comes to sentencing? The underfolk don’t really live for an abundant amount of time, so… years for him would be more like a decade for me. Do you think he’s at any risk of conviction from what you know of the situations?”
Isilme lets most of Xander's complaints roll off her, but she frowns at him when he trivializes the situation to 'rescuing her lover'. "I am glad you are here, Xander, it is better than otherwise. I just want her to know the dangers ahead. And many more lives are at stake than just Aravashnial's, you know that. I wouldn't call on you here if it were just his life on the line."
"Anyway, we should get moving quickly. We need to get closer before we begin using our spells to ward us. Their base has one set of stairs down to the sewers, and a half-finished tunnel that seems to go underneath the jail cells. Our plan was to seal off the exit to the sewers before we head in, then have Ehren dig up into the room. I will begin with calm emotions to help the halflings get down the tunnel, and we will need to seal off any exits in the room immediately. The biggest threats will be from swarms, so Ehren has prepared some spells for that. Additionally the ability of the Thanadaemon to drain your energy will need to be dealt with. I believe Ehren can protect two people, so perhaps he and Unafe should be protected."
"Aglais and Valais, I will need you both to help get the Halflings down into the sewers, and once they're here Ehren will work on freeing them from their shackles, while Unafe, Xander and I try to deal with the Daemons and any other threats that might appear. If we can bring them down quickly, we can begin heading for the sewer exit immediately, where I trust Xander has something planned for our escape."
"Any questions before we get moving? Or would you like to give us a brief description of what you and Unafe have prepared for our escape?" she asks sincerely, looking at Xander to make sure he was on board with the general plan.
"We have not heard anything from Ary, no," the druid replies, shaking his head. Without the constraints of sending, they could, at last, ensure that they are all on the same page. "Last we saw, she was being interrogated by the Pure Legion. We managed to break into the compound she was being held in and recovered a good deal of her confiscated equipment, including Faith and Radiance. Unfortunately, we were in no position to get her or the others out, though I am not entirely certain that Ary would have come with us willingly."
Ehren frowns when Xander mentions Hinagiku, finding it odd that the Legion would not have taken the same precautions with her that they have now taken with Ary. It seemed even more unlikely that they would just let her loose, given Ary's present circumstances.
"Would you... happen to have a sending that you can spare, Xander?" he asks gingerly, aware of how highly the wizard values his resources. Considering the dire straits they are in, it might well be wiser for them to conserve everything they have unless absolutely necessary. But despite what he had told Isilme about Hinagiku "being able to take care of herself," he could not help but worry. "I have not heard anything from Hinagiku since we were all in the hideaway together, so I would appreciate it if we can find out whether she is at least doing okay."
Once all of the greetings (and introductions to Aglais) are said and done, Ehren addresses the plan at hand.
"As Isilme says, I can grant two of us a death ward. Or three, if one of you stays close to me - you can thank the belt from the Demetae treasure hoard for that," he says, tugging on the mithral buckle of his magical belt.
When given the plan, Xander nods along. He surmised they were assaulting a Blackfyre base of some sort, and that their objective was not to defeat the Blackfyre Adepts but rather to rescue the slaves. "I brought with me a scroll of summon boat so that we can escape together by sea -- I was hoping that we could collect our other friends before leaving Azir for good, but if Ary is still imprisoned... that might not be possible."
To Ehren, he nods affirmation. "I tried to contact Ary today but found that she's being held in an antimagic cell and can't be contacted. I also tried to scry on Hinagiku earlier, but she just resisted it. She's not in a cell... and I have another sending I was planning to use once we arrived. If you have a few minutes to spare, I'll do that now."
Xander tries to find a comfortable place within the sewer and then begins to cast his communication spell. He performs arcane gestures for several minutes before the message is sent.
Hinagiku had been meditating in this abandoned apartment building for several hours now when she receives Xander's sending. She can tell that it is probably afternoon by now, as it was becoming uncomfortably hot, but while deep in her meditation she barely registered these sorts of things.
As they materialize, Unafe realizes they actually made it. Her reaction is a mix of relief at seeing Ehren and Isilme again (not to mention surviving the teleport) and disgust at the smells of human sewage that they're standing in. "It's a true relief to see you again...even if it is in one of these 'sewers' I'm learning so much about, all of a sudden."
She listens to the description of the plan, nodding with understanding. Her brow furrows when she hears that Ary and Hinagiku are still separated from them. "With the blessing of the Sacred Ancestors, hopefully we will be reunited with them before we leave this foul city."
When Xander mentions the boat, she grins and briefly pulls the end of a massive spool of rope out of her haversack. "And I brought some rope so that I can tug the boat behind me, in case we need to leave in a hurry."
As the description of the daemons sinks in, Unafe asks, "Do you know which of those daemon-things I should try to take out first, if I have the opportunity? And does that change if we see Adepts there with them as well?"
Without interrupting her flowing motions, Hinagiku receives Xander’s message with relief and, still meditating, answers back.
”Glad to know you are well. In hiding. Leaving in search of Sophini now. Wearing blue Azirian clothes with hood.”
With that said, the monk folds her shroud and rolls it for easy carrying, puts her hood back on and low over her face so as to protect her from the sun and inquisitive passerbys, and lets her sense of the world’s essence and flow guide her not only the general direction, but also to people who might give her directions.
The ley quickly guides her to a person walking through the dilapidated part of town she is in, she gives a slight mix of nod and bow before asking.
”Please, forgive me, I do not speak osiriani. I am looking for a place, maybe you can help me. It is called Sophini’s place. Would you know the directions…. And, if possible, how the street and address are spelled?”
175/175 hp
0/40 delayed damage pool
0/10 shawl of life keeping (lost)
10/19 ki
3/11 mythic
Senses: 35’ blindsight, blindfolded oracle, prescience, battlefield sense.
Precogniscient smite: +3 insight hit/dg
Coward’s boots (2 essence) + 15’ move.
"There wasn't much better choice in location sadly," she remarks at the location for their operation. "The first target will be the Thanadaemon. He's the most powerful, but least physically powerful of the group. I hope we will be able to leverage magics to dispose at least of one of the Dhergodaemons. There shouldn't be any Blackfyre adepts entering, but if one does it will be via teleport, and we will need to bring them down fast, as they will likely be a wizard. Assuming, of course, we're able to seal the entrances."
Hinagiku walks back out into the streets, and walks out until she finds a small residential area. The buildings are no less tall in this area, but they are visibly more worn down. Some walls have painted graffiti, though Hinagiku cannot read the stylized letters. Looking around, she doesn't see any Legionnaires walking around. So, she stops to ask her question of a very tall bearded man who is busy hanging up laundry - the very first person she sees. He remarks with a raised eyebrow, "Oh, I did not know that Tien people traded in slaves as well?"
But then he smiles good-naturedly, and indicates that Hinagiku would need to return across the river back the way she originally came to find the slaver compound. He gives her some basic directions there based on recognizable landmarks. He also draws out the address in the dirt, but he doesn't have any paper to write on, so the monk would have to rely on her memory.
"It is good that they have re-opened," he says as he bends down to pick up another piece of laundry. "My husband had some friends who died in the original attack. Working as security for Sophini's. A real tragedy, what happened..."
Xander relaxes from the spell when Hinagiku responds. He twists his mouth with some consternation, and then brightens again. "Well, it seems Hinagiku is free, though she didn't explain. She just said she was in hiding, and that she was leaving in search of Sophini's."
He steps to one side of the group, peering down the sewers, wondering which way was the right way to go. "Maybe we'll meet her there. What kind of place is it? Have you seen it?"
"Anyway," he adds. "I don't see a reason to hang here in the sewers, now that we're all reunited. What's the next step, Isilme?"
”Oh, no. It is not one of my customs.” Hinagiku replies softly, now concerned about her conspicuousness. ”I am going to meet some friends, and that is the only landmark they mentioned...” Hinagiku continues, not wanting to share too much about her goal. ”It really seems like a tragedy. I have not spoken with many people here yet, but you are the second person I meet who lost someone they knew to the attack. It is sad… my condolences.”
After kindly thanking the man, Hinagiku does her best to follow his direction while still following the guidance of the world, and keeping as discreet as she can.
175/175 hp
0/40 delayed damage pool
0/10 shawl of life keeping (lost)
10/19 ki
2/11 mythic
Senses: 35’ blindsight, blindfolded oracle, prescience, battlefield sense.
Precogniscient smite: +3 insight hit/dg
Coward’s boots (2 essence) + 15’ move.
Hinagiku slips across the city, disappearing into crowds that were crossing the bridge into the eastern part of Azir. When she gets close to the neighborhood that the man had informed her was where she needed to go, Hinagiku slows down and starts to read every single street sign she comes across, comparing it to the letters she had committed to memory. Eventually she finds the street that Sophini's Servants is on.
Sophini's Servants is in an upscale part of town. Most of the buildings here appear to be businesses catering to the upper-class, such as restaurants, cafes, entertainment venues, and shops. At this time of day, it is very busy with various Rahadoumi walking up and down the street. The center of each street is very busy with camel and wagon traffic, which makes crossing busy intersections challenging.
Peering down the street, Hinagiku notices several Legionnaires patrolling the street. There are three sets in all, two a pair of soldiers, and one consisting of a pair of foot-soldiers, and one on camelback.
"We will not get to see what Sophini's looks like. We will be entering from the sewers and exiting via the sewers. We will travel via the sewers to where we'll exit the city. We cannot move two dozen halflings through the city any other way," she explains to Xander when he expresses hope that they'll be out of the sewers soon. "We don't know what it looks like, and hopefully we won't get to see any of it beyond the jail cell, since we are planning on sealing the jail off with a wall of stone to keep the guards from helping while we deal with the Daemons."
She then continues explaining what the plan is in order to get the people out of the jail safely. "The next step will be to move closer to Sophini's, within striking distance, and cast all the spells we'll need to deal with the Daemons. At least those that will last a long time. Then we'll close, and cast any remaining spells before Ehren digs us a route into the jail and we begin the fight. We will focus on the Daemons while Aglais and Valais help the halflings and Riftwardens down here and get them ready to leave as soon as we have the Daemons under control. We have a route to a grating that exits to the river outside the city, that's where we'll head as quickly as we can."
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"A boat?" Ehren asks rhetorically, an eyebrow raised. It is certainly a much better plan than carrying them all out himself - the only option they would have had if Unafe and Xander had been unable to make it. Somehow, Unafe's intention to drag it across the water inspires less incredulity.
When Xander reports the response to his sending, the druid lets out a sigh.
Ehren has no idea how Hinagiku managed to escape from the Pure Legion, but he nonetheless feels a swell of relief at the news of her freedom. It is a fleeting feeling, however; heading to Sophini's on her own without a way to coordinate with the rest of them might well put her in grave danger. He frowns, feeling the compulsion to head to the surface and bring her into the fold, somehow, but dismisses the notion. He could not justify jeopardizing their plans for the sake of possibly improving their chances... and setting his own heart at ease.
"Thank you, Xander," he says, nodding to the wizard. "But if everything goes according to plan, then I doubt that we will cross paths with her. Hopefully, once we've made our escape, I can go back for her before we leave the city proper." Ehren furrows his brown, wishing he could say the same for the rest of their companions. "I am not sure what we will be able to do for Ary and Lann. Perhaps we can ask the Crusades for help, or failing that, come back and break them out ourselves." With a tightened fist and palpable disdain, he adds, "We can't just leave them behind in this gods-forsaken place."
With the plan laid out by Isilme, Ehren runs a hand over his eyes, bestowing himself with darkvision. Now that their group is together and warded by nondetection, there is little point in disguising himself like before.
Despite the strenuous and, to Hinagiku, unnatural task of acting inconspicuous, the monk is able to take in the sights of the city. It really did come alive during the day, and in a much more pleasant way than when prisoners were dragged in. It was unfortunate that they had not been able to enter more quietly, enjoying what this place had to offer, some more coffee for instance or more discussion with the residents, would have been interesting.
Hinagiku continues her almost touristy observations as she comes upon Sophini’s street. It was no wonder that any attack here had caused the lives of passersby, the street was so busy, especially with the creatures called camels.
When Sophini finally comes into sight, as well as the guard patrolling nearby, Hinagiku directs her steps towards a shadowy sidestreet in which she can hide from both the sun and the throng of people. She walks a few yards in, until the sound of the crowd becomes more muffled, and searches for a small nook were she could rest without being too noticeable from the street. There, she sets her shroud down, sits on it, and patiently waits to be found by her friends.
Now finished discussing their plan and Isilme, Aglais, Valais, Xander, Unafe, and Ehren head off towards Sophini's Servants. Isilme had remembered the way from last time, so they head off, slowly, towards the center of the city, close to the river-front. It was relatively easy to follow the river in the sewers, making navigation much simpler than say, navigating the Darklands in search of Lann's kidnapped friend.
Isilme halts their progress when she knows they're only a few minutes from the large door beneath the complex that she had identified previously.
Hinagiku walks down a side street and takes a seat to wait. She appears as a traveler that is trying to get out of the hot Rahadoumi sun. The alleyway that she is in connects directly to the busy through-fair that lead her to the street that Sophini's was on. Many people walk back and forth down the busy street. After several minutes, Hinagiku notices a person on the street staring down the alleyway at her. They are wrapped up in colorful fabrics, so Hinagiku can't tell much about their features.
"Thuvia borders our country along our eastern border," Jamal says. "Thuvian terrorists and proselytizers are therefore a common problem. We discovered Maroq when we arrested an immigrant merchant found in possession of a small Desnan holy symbol. We granted her her arrest in exchange for information as to how she obtained it. We don't believe her involvement in these events to be more than that fleeting error of judgment. A subsequent stake-out and investigation of the copper merchant confirmed the informant's story."
They take notes on all information that Ary provides, regardless of how relevant it is to their line of questioning. At her final questions they remark, "No, our laws don't account for differences in lifespans, however beyond a finding of illegal possession of Iomedaen holy symbols, your soldier Lann does not appear to be guilty of anything that would risk his imprisonment. He appears to have came here strictly on Crusader orders, and did not resist arrest. Had your other ally, Hinagiku, not escaped arrest last night we would have moved forwards with releasing him later this afternoon. But as it stands now, we do not have a clear conclusion as to whether or not you or your people are involved with the terrorist attacks on Sophini's from a month ago, and until we gain more evidence, we will need to hold him here at least until we hold the final trial."
They stand up and make eye contact with Ary. "That is all I had to share for today. Do you have any questions or requests of me? I have a very busy day ahead."
Finally, they say, before leaving, "I will send one of my men to check with Lann and see if he would consent to a supervised meeting with you. Someone should be back shortly with him or his answer."
When Isilme signals for everyone to stop, Ehren steps forward and begins to chant, casting the numerous longer-duration spells that the two of them discussed. The air thrums with power as he draws on the ley and infuses his friends with his druidic magic. To top it all off, he takes out the redwood wand from the Demetae treasure hoard and taps them once each, granting their supple flesh the hardness of unyielding stone.
Xander stops with the others and watches Ehren and Isilme cast a myriad number of spells on themselves and each other. Wishing he had been able to come better prepared, but still confident in his skills and abilities, Xander only has one spell that might be relevant to cast: comprehend languages. Knowing that they had issues with the Osiriani language before, he uses it on himself just in case.
Like the others, Isilme begins weaving spell after spell, using both her bardic and divine casting to great effect. Most notably, she places a strong ward upon Ehren, extending a radius about him which would protect anyone within from the Daemons.
Once those spells are in place, she guides the group still closer, now only a couple corners away from the stairs up to Sophini's. She then proceeds to cast the remaining spells on herself and others, leaving only the shortest duration of spells to cast once they were ready to engage.
Mage Circle against Evil (70 min) - On Ehren
Heightened Awareness (70 min) - On Isilme
Lucky Number (24 hours) - On Isilme
Overland Flight (7 Hours) - On Isilme
Veil of Heaven (70 min) - On Isilme
Remove Fear (10 min) - On Isilme, Xander, Unafe, Ehren, Aglais and Valais
Good Hope (7 min) - On Isilme, Xander, Unafe, Ehren, Aglais and Valais
Expeditious Retreat (7 min) - On Isilme
Mirror Image (7 min) - On Isilme
Unafe marvels as her skin takes on the toughness of granite, and then a barky quality...and then she feels Desna's blessing fill her with courage, and sees her form seem to shimmer and shift about. "Thank you, Archdruid. Thank you, Priestess of the Song of the Spheres."
"If I may, I'd like to call on some protection from the Ancestors for each of you as well."
As Unafe chants, the swarm of spirits that fade in and out around her stretch out to circle and lay their hands on Xander, Ehren, and Isilme.
She also takes on her hybrid form, but elects to stay her usual size, given the tight quarters. Then she follows right behind Isilme and awaits her cue.
Four illusory Xanders spring up around him in addition to the defenses bestowed on him by Unafe and Ehren. Ready for battle, he holds his staff in one hand and draws his machete with the other. "What's next? We kick down the door and kick some daemon butt?"
Isilme leads everyone within 30 seconds of the strange door that she had found previously, and then casts a series of more spells. Valais hangs awkwardly in the back, trying to keep as much out of the sewage as she possibly can.
Unafe grins at Xander's question, showing off needle-like saurian teeth. "Ready when you are!"
Closer to Sophini's, Ehren casts even more spells, further measures for negating the worst of the thanadaemon and derghodaemon's abilities. As he casts his second death ward, a translucent blue vine reaches out from his mithral belt and wraps around Xander's waist.
Isilme leads the heroes down a dark passage of the sewers. Here the sewers are about 8' tall, and completely dark, as there are no visible grates to the surface here. Only an ankle deep sludge coats the bottom of the sewers, and it smells foul.
However, all of the creatures present are able to see in the dark (and in Xander's case, he can see in full-color, a boon from his Infernal patron), so this poses no real obstacle to them. They pass by a set of a short, shallow flight of steps that lead up to a large set of heavy, wooden doors on the right.
They then come to a strange part of sewer, where it appears that a small, 5 by 5 foot, man-made tunnel has been excavated out from the stone out from the sewer system. This tunnel ends abruptly in a large cave-in, however.
Isilme then comes to the exact area in the sewers that locate object had told her was below the thanadaemon's staff. The Thanadaemon she saw outside of Aravashnial's cellblock.
With the group in position at the half-dug tunnel, she quickly explains the plan. "I will go seal the door down to the stairs. I'll return with a stone with silence on it. Aglais, you will carry it up along with Ehren as he digs up through the area ahead, and once he breaks through, either throw it into a corner at least 20' away from where we broke in, preferably with none of the prisoners, or if that isn't possible, bring it out here and throw it down the hall. Once the fight starts, you and Valais will be responsible for helping guide the Halflings and riftwardens down here and out into the sewers while we fight. Here we go."
She then goes back down the hall and casts silence on a stone quickly, then runs up to the top of the steps where the door is. She takes a moment to inspect the door to see which way it opens, then, leaving the stone at the door, backs up far enough that she is able to cast again, then touches the wall, using the stone from it and the door frame to seal the door, using what she knew of the principles of engineering to reinforce it as much as possible.
She then heads back with the stone, handing it to Aglais. Once Ehren and Aglais head into the tunnel, she quickly casts displacement on Unafe and signals that she's ready for Ehren to begin.
Steeling himself for the impending confrontation, Ehren retrieves Terendelev's scale from his belt pouch and turns it over in his palm, invoking its latent magic. With that final preparation made, the druid transforms once more, taking on the shape of a beast capable of burrowing through solid stone. Silvery streaks run through the fur of the dire badger, and bony protrusions jut out from its extremities, most prominently forming a crown that encircles its head.
Ehren looks to the ceiling, assessing it for the best point of entry. Ordinarily, he would not be able to dig upwards so easily for lack of proper footing. With the silver dragon's sorcery, however, he has the lift he needs. A cloud of gray clouds form beneath Ehren's feet and pushes him off the ground and up into the ceiling. As it presses him against the stone surface, he begins to dig into it with his large, shovel-like claws, intent on carving out a shaft that would lead right into the prison.
Initiative +8 (with Improved Initiative)
hp 146
Fortitude +13
Str 15, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 22, Cha 12
AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 19 (+2 deflection, +2 Dex, +7 natural)
CMB +9; CMD 23 (27 vs. trip)
Melee bite +9 (1d4+2), 2 claws +9 (1d4+2)
Speed 50 ft., burrow 20 ft. (with greater longstrider)
Other +2 Constitution, Bonus Feat: Improved Initiative, low-light vision, scent, ferocity
Initiative Rolls
27. Aglais
27. Xander
22. Ehren
21. Derghodaemon
20. Enslaved Halflings
19. Unafe
18. Enslaved Halflings 2
16. Riftwarden 1
15. Riftwarden 2
15. Thanadaemon
14. Derghodaemon 2
12. Isilme
Ehren floats up to the 8 ft tall ceiling and starts to dig straight up. His enormous spade-like claws shovel solid stone out of the way. He doesn't dig for long, digging around 5 ft upwards before breaking through to the air above. It would be extremely noisy, except for the silence spell.
He breaches through soil - the ground here is not floored, instead covered with hay, similar to a stable. The smell of sweat and filth fills his nostrils as he takes in a 15 ft tall wooden warehouse. Former horse stalls line the wall on his right. A trio of sputtering lanterns hang from chains hooked into the wall on the left. Piles of dry hay are in every corner.
Ehren emerges right at the feet of a black-robed skeletal figure with eyes burning like coals. It clutches a wicked staff. It obviously notices the sudden intrusion into the ground just five feet away from it.
Not missing a beat, Aglais quickly flies through the hole and up, 15' in the air near the roof of the complex. He chucks the stone as far away from the heroes' entry point as he can.
Round 1!
Xander and Ehren are up!
Unafe is up!
Xander looks up the hole when Ehren breaches the floor. He clenches his staff and sword tightly, takes a deep breath, and then he takes a step upward. He disappears in a blue flicker and reappears in the room above, next to the astradaemon, balanced on the edge of the hole Ehren made.
He quickly takes stock of the situation around him, the terrifying creature that stands above the hole, and the shadowy cell-filled room. He leaps away from the hole towards the center of the room in order to get himself between the derghodaemon and Ehren -- for he knew Ehren had to concentrate on his spellcraft in order for the plan to work -- and lands on the ground. Staff in one hand and sword in the other, he keeps his back to the outer wall and tries to keep his eyes on both the thanadaemon and the derghodaemons.
If his luck held out, the thanadaemon was about to be pounced on by Unafe, which left only the terrifying derghodaemons to handle while Isilme and Ehren took care of the halflings.
Ehren's nose wrinkles as he breaches the surface, taking in all the unpleasant odors that permeate the air. Of course, the very first thing he sees when he emerges is the wicked thanadaemon. For just an instant, he locks eyes with the fiend before scrambling out of its way, clearing the tunnel for the others to come through. The badger rallies to Aglais's side, his head darting side to side as he takes in the room's features. Just at a glance, it does not appear to be quite the foreboding dungeon that his scrying sensor's limited sight made it appear to be.
Ignoring the trio of foreboding daemons, Ehren gestures with his claw, his bestial eyes glowing silver as he draws on the ley. A tall, wall of stone suddenly erupts from the ground, splitting the warehouse in half right down the center, and separating the derghodaemons from the captive halflings.
Unafe smiles when she sees the thanadaemon. "I hear you lot are into death, eh? Let's see if I can help you learn more about it!"
She shoves in its chest--feeling her handwraps' enchantment against evil outsiders flare up--and then attempts to grab it in the same smooth motion. From there, she swings with all of her strength, and then attempts to slam it into the horse stall wall.
Without raising her head, Hinagiku gives a dismissing, yet kind, wave at the person looking at her, something that said: I am alright, but I don’t want company.
When the person finally stops staring at her, Hinagiku stands up and leaves the sidestreet, heading away from the street on which Sophini is situated. As fast as she can,, while remaining as inconspicuous as possible, Hinagiku goes around the block and does her best to find a street parallel to that on which Sophini is located and which would be considered behind Sophini. Again, she looks for a quiet sidestreet with shade. Hopefully, from her new location, she would simply have to fly over roofs, and not streets, to get to Sophini unnoticed.