Neither Gregor nor Evander are able to identify the transmutation effect. The illusion effect, however, Gregor is able to identify as invisibility.
Gilda, meanwhile, doesn’t notice any deception in Rexus’s words. The nobleman seemed genuine when he said he wasn’t responsible for the illusion or transmutation effects.
Rexus does seem a bit disturbed at the sudden increase of interest for his work.
To Didiana and Gilda, he asks, “Is everything… okay? I’ve been working on these documents for weeks and this is the first significant interruption I’ve had. Was there something I could help with?”
-----
Morgar leaves the Coffeehouse and immediately heads toward the Greens, Kintargo’s noble district. Gregor and Evander are able to follow the man easily enough. He seems completely unaware of their presence.
After reaching the gate to the Greens, he’s able to get inside rather quickly after speaking with the pair of guards posted outside. Were you to ask the guards why he was permitted inside, they would explain that he intended to offer his services as a groundskeeper to the nobles inside.
One after another the schemers sneak out of the establishment. Inquisitive eyes band together to administer the movements of the apparent traitor and Matiscio clenches his fists around that singular goal, moving forth with clear intent.
Gregor goes along with the plan as he sees Evander play it out, offering a slight correction to the family name he used, as well as maintaining the look of bodyguard for a person of some renown.
To Didiana and Gilda, Rexus asks, “Is everything… okay? I’ve been working on these documents for weeks and this is the first significant interruption I’ve had. Was there something I could help with?”
Didiana still didn't suspect Rexus of anything more damning than naivete and so answered him plainly. All the recent skullduggery didn't become her. She preferred a straightforward approach, for good or ill, and would welcome the nobleman's help.
"Sigh. It's this sabotage matter. That odd music - you described it as pipes? - it seems to be centered around your study. In her search, Ms Grabapple found two unaccounted for magical presences here. Seems unlikely to be a coincidence, doesn't it?"
One of the two presences had been identified, however, as some sort of invisibility effect. With this in mind, Didiana, armed with Detect Magic, started feeling around the man's desk where the illusion was felt strongly.
"Excuse me, Rexus."
She did not ask for permission, but there was no harm in being polite. The room wasn't large. With Gilda's and Didiana's ability to detect magical auras, they should be able to find whatever had been hidden there. Even the strongest invisibility spell was no use to the blind man's approach, which was what the sorcerer resembled as she let her hands roam wherever the aura led her.
Alright, this doesn't make any damn sense!
Didiana had been searching Rexus's study for whatever was emitting the illusion aura a few minutes now, alternating between casting magic detecting cantrips and feeling about with her hands, but she was finding nothing beyond slight frustration. Every time she thought she re-identified the source of the aura it had somewhat shifted.
Where the heck is this thing?! It's almost like it's mov...
Every muscle the sorcerer had froze with the realization, excepting those of the face. Those sank into the frown of someone ready to drown a sack of something adorable. Something or someone had entered the Wasp Nest unbidden and Didiana was not amused. Within a second she straightened up, turned to Gilda stiffly and no less stiffly asked:
"Ms Grabapple, could I ask you to keep an eye on that illusion, thank you."
With that she promptly exited the side room, leaving the older woman and the nobleman with nothing but the clear sense that something was very wrong. The armiger made her way just out of the rebellion's HQ, into Laria's storage. There she quickly found what she was looking for, as well she should; she had used it for the team training recently: it was a bag of flour. Having found her powdery instrument of justice, the armiger returned to Gilda and Rexus.
"Illusion still there?"
"Show me," she said and retrieved a hefty fistful of flour.
The guards look a bit leery when Evander first approaches them. They also seem a bit skeptical when Evander suggests he’s planning to write an opera about a noble family. However, once Evander mentions Lia and the Aulamaxas, the guards nod and let him, Gregor, and Matiscio through. They assume Gregor and Matiscio are Evander’s bodyguards.
Once inside, you can’t see Morgar immediately. A more thorough inspection of the Greens may be required to find him.
-----
Meanwhile, back in the Wasp Nest, Didiana puts her plan into action to find the source of the invisibility. Rexus still looks quite disturbed by the whole situation, but merely watches as the sorcereress proceeds. Gilda is nearby as well.
Didiana manages to thoroughly coat her target area with flour. In addition to turning the floor white, the flour outlines the shape of a tiny figure. The thing briefly freezes, seeming to realize it’s been discovered. A second later, it comes into full view. It has a red body and tail, black wings, and wields a set of pipes in one hand with a shortsword at its side. The tiny winged creature glares at Didiana before moving to play her pipes.
With eyes like an eagle, Matiscio soaks up the surroundings as they explore the Greens. Knowing that Gregor will be scanning the streets for Morgar, Matiscio keeps throwing looks at the various houses they pass by until he hits the jackpot. "There he is. Okay, he's coming for us and this is an awful place to intercept him. We ought to scoot."
"Agreed. We need to move out of his way and find out what he was doing over there."
Gilda thrust her outstretched finger at the tiny powdered creature.
"AUGH! It's another of those damned tooth fairies! And this one's got horns! Errr, at least one horn."
Gilda glanced about for Matiscio.
"Devil farts! Where's Muscles when ya need 'im!?"
Whistling at Rexus, she directs the aspiring rebel.
"Use yer stick, Rex! Swat it! And keep yer trap closed less ya lose a couple pearly whites!"
Thanks to Matiscio’s keen perception, he, Evander, and Gregor are able to get out of the way of Morgar before he passes by. He returns to the gate into the Greens and, after a brief exchange with the guards, leaves.
-----
In the Wasp Nest…
Gilda thrust her outstretched finger at the tiny powdered creature.
"AUGH! It's another of those damned tooth fairies! And this one's got horns! Errr, at least one horn."
Gilda glanced about for Matiscio.
"Devil farts! Where's Muscles when ya need 'im!?"
Whistling at Rexus, she directs the aspiring rebel.
"Use yer stick, Rex! Swat it! And keep yer trap closed less ya lose a couple pearly whites!"
The creature looks quite angry at Gilda as it shrugs off the effects of the shaman’s daze attempt.
The creature takes a step back, or rather, flies a step back.
The thing puts the pipes to its lips and begins playing a tune not too different than one some of you have heard before. As it does, you begin to hear some scratching noises behind the wall near where it is playing.
Rexus, having been momentarily stunned by the proceedings, quickly recovers and directs his efforts toward assisting in dealing with the thing. He moves across the room to be in line of sight of the thing. He utters a few words and an array of colors shoot forth from his hands.
The creature drops its pipes and falls the short distance to the floor. It appears stunned by Rexus’s spell. The scratching noises begin to fade before ceasing altogether. Rexus looks a bit stunned himself at how well the spell worked.
Few words were needed at times like these. Purpose was clear and the road ahead needed no invitation to be traversed. "We best keep eyes on him. Let's move."
Evander says, ”I want to find out what he was doing.”
Evander sneaks over to where Morgan has been snooping around and began looking over the area.
Gregor sees both Matiscio and Evander split objectives, but he agrees with both of them. Turning to Evander he replies, "We'll follow him to keep an eye on the quarry. You go ahead and investigate the house as best you can. Good idea, but be careful. Catch up to us if you can." With that he falls quickly into step with Matiscio as they track Morgar.
"AUGH! It's another of those damned tooth fairies! And this one's got horns! Errr, at least one horn."
"That's no tooth fairy," Didiana replied. "That's a devil, an imp!"
The sorcerer spoke in hurried and grave tones; there were no threats she took more seriously than the inhabitants of Hell. "Don't underestimate it for its size - this is a true fiend. Rexus, avoid using your acid bolts. It's resistant to both acid and cold. And fire is right out! No flame of ours can harm a creature used to hellfire. Um..."
She thought for a second. Was there anything else the Torrent had taught her about the foul things? The Order was very particular in instructing its cadets on devils, considering the hellknights' final exam.
"Oh! Silver! Silver can end it."
The armiger was honestly feeling a bit nervous. It was one thing to take on an extraplanar threat without the rest of the group, but a much vaunted devil? Hellknight doctrine placed much significance on the infernal fiends, for good and ill, a conviction that she had been mired in for the past few years. It was therefore almost disappointing, anticlimactic even, when all that was needed for the job was not silver but one Rexus Victocora.
W-wow. Go, Rexus.
She quickly collected herself, however. The imp lay on the floor, stunned, and this was good. Devils were not to be revered. To hellknights they were meant to be teaching tools and examples. That, and subjugated. And subjugate was what she intended.
Gathering all her arcane energy into her hands, the sorcerer was surprised at her own reserves. The rebellion's efforts were toughening her. White-blue orbs sparking with enough power to sting the eyes danced around Didiana's arms for a few seconds before she let missile after missile crash into the downed imp.
-----
Gregor and Matiscio are able to follow the man without issue. He continues to be oblivious to their presence. After leaving the Greens, he travels back to the Coffeehouse before descending into the Wasp Nest.
-----
Evander isn't very familiar with the Sarinis or their house, but he doesn't notice anything out of place when he goes over to inspect the area where Matiscio spotted Morgar.
The investigator does know that the Sarinis are lead by Countess Urora Sarini. The family is rumored to be heavily involved in diabolism and all indications point to them being firmly loyal to Thrune.
Gilda winces as each of the four arcane missiles thud into the creature.
"Wait! It's an imp? Not a fairy?"
Gilda's hand had somehow found the black ironed blade that she carried for dealing with such fey creatures.
"Red!! Maybe... it was sent to spy on us? Shouldn't we..."
Gilda raised her voice to be heard over Didiana's cacophonous arcane discharge.
"TALK TO IT?"
"Red!! Maybe... it was sent to spy on us? Shouldn't we..."
Gilda raised her voice to be heard over Didiana's cacophonous arcane discharge.
"TALK TO IT?"
Gilda's objection was very reasonable. Devils were many things but solitary creatures they were not. The inhabitants of the Pit worked best in hierarchies. If a devil had made its way into the rebellion's HQ, it had most likely done so on the order of someone else. If so whatever the imp knew was in the interest of the Ravens to find out.
The problem was of course in making the devil talk. Didiana's charms wouldn't work on it. The fiend's mind was nothing like that of a mortal. Nor was there anything the group could promise it in order to coerce it. If it was bound by some diabolical deal, then by its nature the creature would be literally unable to speak anything of why it was here. Really, the sorcerer only knew of one avenue to coerce one such as it. And that was fear. It was with this in mind that she replied:
"It's a devil, Grabapple. Its words are poison. It has nothing good to tell us."
The armiger punctuated her judgement with a theatrical, and intimidating considering her earlier barrage, spark of arcane energy from her hands. Didiana was just as curious as the older woman to know the who and why of the imp. But A: the easiest way to detain it was to beat it, B: the easiest way to make it talk was to make sure it feared them, and C: the easiest way to ensure that fear was to have it believe at least one of them actively wanted it dead.
Point C would be particularly easy for Didiana.
Sighing, Evander gives the area one last look over before he heads back to the Wasp's Nest.
Evander examines the area for another moment but finds no evidence that Morgar did anything but look at the Sarini estate. With nothing else to see, he heads back to the Wasp Nest.
-----
Didiana gathered all her arcane energy into her hands, the sorcerer was surprised at her own reserves. The rebellion's efforts were toughening her. White-blue orbs sparking with enough power to sting the eyes danced around Didiana's arms for a few seconds before she let missile after missile crash into the downed imp. Both missiles slammed into the imp. It looked badly injured by the blows, but was still standing.
Gilda decided to take advantage of the imp being stunned. She approached and attempted to bind it with her scarf.
Rexus waits to see if Gilda’s efforts were successful before acting further.
The imp shakes its tiny one-horned head as it recovers from the stun only to notice that its hands are currently bound behind it. The devil immediately attempts to break free.
Despite the scarf being less secure than a rope, the imp is unable to extricate itself from the bindings. It goes limp before looking quickly between Didiana, Gilda, and Rexus. It seems to be a bit healthier than when it was first injured by Didiana's magic missiles and seems to still be in the process of healing.
In common, the imp says, "Please. Just destroy my contract. You don't need to kill me."
Rexus laughs nervously and says, "I was thinking I needed a break from my translating, but this wasn't what I had in mind."
The nobleman laughs again before falling silent as he realizes the gravity of the situation.
A few minutes pass before Didiana and Gilda notice that Morgar has returned to the Wasp Nest. The imp is sequestered in one of the Wasp Nest's side rooms when he returns. Morgar doesn't seem to notice anything is wrong.
Another minute passes before Gregor and Matiscio make their way into the Wasp Nest as well. Evander follows shortly afterwards.
Upon his return, Evander merely shakes his head to Gregor and Matiscio, letting them know nonverbally that he didn't find anything. Going over to the side room where Didiana and Gilda are with Rexus, he looks surprised to see the Imp. "Well, well, what have we here?"
Gilda eyes the imp's self-repairing injuries with scrutiny.
"Contract eh? Who's got a contract on ya, anyway? And what do they got ya doin' lurkin' about our hide-- err, place?"
Contract? What contract?
So as not to lose their position of superiority in front of the downed devil (a crucial position in any coming interrogation), Didiana did her best to keep her expression as sternly neutral as possible despite her confusion. Destroy its contract? What was the imp talking about?
"Well, well, what have we here?"
The sorcerer got no time to ruminate on the fiend's words, however, as the rest of the Ravens returned from their trailing mission.
"Devil. Imp. Don't know how long its been here, but it may be the one behind that racket we've been hearing," she replied, indicating the imp's tiny pipe instrument. She spoke brusquely, not for Evander but for the devil. The interrogation had already started. Didiana was working her way into her hellknight persona; she'd learned long ago that the easiest path to coercion was theater. One's victim fearing that you would break their collarbone was a far more efficient method of persuasion than actually breaking a collarbone. It was also convenient when you didn't actually like hurting others, like the sorcerer. If threats would actually work on a fiend was something she did not know, but she intended to do her part in finding out.
"We only just subjugated it, in large part thanks to a particularly well-placed spell from Rexus I might add. Keep your silver ready."
The comment on the silver weaponry was very much intended to both inform all of the devil's weakness and to make sure it knew they were perfectly capable of killing it.
"Contract eh? Who's got a contract on ya, anyway? And what do they got ya doin' lurkin' about our hide-- err, place?"
"Answer her question, imp," Didiana added rather forcefully and with a more than just a little belittling tone added to the word 'imp'. "Or we will make you regret having been born immortal."
Gregor readily pulls and brandishes his morningstar, but he is not playing a part. Gregor genuinely wants to just bash the thing's head in and be done with it. "It's a devil. Why question it? Let me crush the little s%*% right now, before it peddles its lies and double-speak." He had no love for the devils and their ilk. Their corruption was too prevalent in Cheliax as a whole, even in the removed Kintargo. They were the worst kind of lawful. They manipulate and twist words and intentions to only hurt everyone in the end and improve their own station and power. Twisting of the laws was almost worse than outright blatantly breaking them, at least the latter could be caught in their activity.
He listens to anything the thing says with a very specific ear for unspoken hidden truths, and vague uncertainties.
Evander looks at Didiana. "An imp, you say? Fascinating. I'd always wondered what one looked like." At her suggestion, Evander draws out his silver dagger and begins idly toying with it, as though pondering whether or not to use it. "Please answer the question. I've never had the chance to meet an imp before, and I'm just so curious about picking your brain." Whether he means to literally pick the imp's brain apart with the dagger, or just ask questions, he leaves open to interpretation.
The imp looks at Gilda upon the shaman’s question and says, “It’s none of your concern. It is an old, old contract. No one alive today even remembers it being made.”
Rexus blushes at Didiana’s mention of him, but he otherwise remains silent. He seems to prefer listening to talking at the moment.
The imp recoils at Didiana’s forceful words. It says, “My name is Blosodriette, not ‘imp.’ So if you must refer to me, please do so properly. And I just answered her question. It was… a family… like I said, it’s none of your concern. The ones who cared have long since died. Just destroy my contract and I’ll trouble you no more.”
Gregor’s words cause Blosodriette to back up against the wall behind her. She tries to keep going, but the wall proves to be unmoving. Any bit of dignity the devil had left is removed at Evander’s words.
She shakes her head and says, “No lies. Half-truths, perhaps, but as much for your safety as my own. It’s best the exact details be forgotten and that you just destroy my contract. It’s a lot simpler that way. No need for things to get messy. And they don’t have me doing anything here. I’m bound to the contract, so I had to come. I was just… trying to find a way out. And you’re all currently proving that you’re not interested in helping me in that endeavor.”
Both Evander and Gregor can tell she isn’t telling you everything she knows. That much is plain. Both of you can also tell that she genuinely wants you to destroy her contract. She seems to think that will actually solve your problems and especially hers.
Evander can also tell that she had a very particular family in mind when she used the word family. She likely referred to a family of at least some significance. Evander also believes she spoke truthfully when she said she had to come and that she was trying to find a way out.
Evander considers the imp, silver blade still in his hand. That she withheld information was unsurprising, as that she wanted the contract destroyed. Her genuine belief that destroying her contract would solve several problems was interesting. That she was likely truthful about when she arrived...the imp actually might be looking to avoid double crossing them. How interesting. "Blosodriette, why don't you tell us two things, and then we'll consider destroying the contract. First, what family was the contract made with? If saying their name would notify them of your location instantly, would you be able to write it for us without doing so? Second - where is the contract?"
Gilda keeps her arms crossed and maintains a demeanor like a grandmother being presented a new boy asking for her approval to marry a granddaughter.
"Huh? We ain't tearin' up no contract unless ya tell us who's ya was workin' for!"
She gives Evander a nod for his awareness that speaking a name might prove difficult and coming up with alternate solutions to coax the imp into giving them more information.
Then, realizing she can say names on her own.
"It's not Boarzilla or one of his henchpeople izzit? What was that nasty gal's name? Noxious?"
"It's a devil. Why question it? Let me crush the little s~!* right now, before it peddles its lies and double-speak."
Oh no, you don't! I wasn't even allowed to question a traitor. I wasn't even allowed to question Rexus! You do not get to kill the literal incarnation of evil! Yet.
Within her own quiet mind the armiger questioned the ex-dottari's aversion to questionings, but took the opportunity to reply:
"You can hurt it if you'd like. It heals quickly. Look."
Referring to the devil's rapid healing demonstrated earlier and seeing another opportunity to enact cruelty upon the fiend, Didiana directed her index and middle fingers towards the captive. The next second two sparking bolts leapt from the two fingers to crash upon the devil's bound and defenseless body. While the sorcerer was not nearly as heartless as her job required, all moral constraints were off here. She took no pleasure in it but she had no qualms about torturing the fiend. She had studied Hell. This was not a person. This was evil made flesh and it respected nothing but power.
Didiana ignored the devil's proffered name and calls for propriety. It was all just attempts at regaining some foothold in the power balance that was this interrogation. She didn't trust its words, only its screams.
"Answer the questions, imp. What contract? Why are you here?"
Blosodriette shakes her head at Evander’s first question. “Saying it or writing it, neither will make a difference. I just don’t think it’s necessary for you to know their name. As for the contract, it’s among your nobleman’s precious documents. I thought he would have found it by now.”
Evander believes Blosodriette is telling the truth about their name not being necessary and about the contract’s location.
The imp once again shakes her head at Gilda’s questions and says, “You don’t need to know who it’s with. Like I said, no one alive today even remembers it being made. I can assure you it was not Thrune or any of his henchpeople.”
Blosodriette grunts as Didiana’s missile hits the imp in her chest. She grits her teeth and says, “You’re not so different from a devil, you know? Torturing others to get what you want. Refusing to show decency. You would rise far in Hell’s ranks were you one of us. Pharasma may yet grant you a chance.”
After the imp fully heals from the magic missile, it says, “That said, your methods are not without merit. I can testify first hand to their effectiveness. Like I said, my contract is not with Thrune or his lackeys. If you must know.... if you must know, my contract was with one of Kintargo’s current noble families. My original master is dead and no one in the family still lives who remembers me. You can destroy my contract and no one will be the wiser.”
Gilda appears baffled that their efforts to pin the devil's work on Thrune or his lackeys comes up empty.
"What? Then why are you here? You were tasked decades ago to lurk in this basement? You never thought to make yourself known to us and simply ask us to tear up the contract?"
Gilda starts feeling Didiana rubbing off on her as her patience quickly fails and she points a finger of her own at the imp.
"Yer gonna need to give us somethin' for yer freedom imp!"
Gilda pauses for a moment and shudders as she has a chill.
"Or do some spyin' fer us on Boarzilla to earn it!"
Gregor cocks his head at Gilda, "Oh? So now we are treating with devils? We hold a contract, and are demanding work from it, for our own ends? What makes you think we could trust it to do anything for us without corrupting the request? I'm not some Asmodean forcing devils to do my bidding. We're all better off getting rid of it, either my way or its way, and you guys know my preference." He hates the idea that he agrees with the thing, even worse that he agrees about its assessment of Didiana's tortures. She is too eager to 'extract' answers from the accused vice finding them in the clues.
The tiny creature's apparent sordid situation made Matiscio feel a pwang of pity and empathy, but that melted away like snow underneath a summer sun. She was a devil, after all, and unlike mortals had no choice in determining what she'd be.
She was evil, is evil and will always be evil. Still, they lived in the land of devils - Cheliax - and had already scored a few stains on their souls in their collective quest to free Kintargo. Co-operating with the creature before sending it back to whatever layer of Hell she came from seemed .. and Matiscio hated himself for using that word .. sensible.
"Not it, she. She might not be mortal and she might be the creation of what we'd call unblemished evil, but right now she's bound by contract and definitely at our whim. Perhaps we can help set her free and return to Hell if only she helps us out first. Just because her blood aches with a foulness few of us mortals can comprehend doesn't mean she's devoid of sense and reason. Especially so when it involves her own rather hopeless situation."
He then eyed Didiana, wondering how she'll react to all of this. After all, Matiscio knew very little in the academical sense of these otherworldly beings.
Evander thinks for a moment. One of Kintargo's noble families... An idea occurs to him. "Is that family House Sarini?"
Evander isn't keen on using a devil - some things were too distasteful, and he was inclined to destroy the contract for it, but if it was Sarini, then the imp would know where their home was, and might be able to find anything Morgar had hidden there earlier.
Blosodriette grunts as Didiana’s missile hits the imp in her chest. She grits her teeth and says, “You’re not so different from a devil, you know?”
"..."
The devil's comment was no compliment, despite the hellknights taking their moniker precisely from their emulation of the fire-blasted plane's inhabitants. Ever since she had first learned of the infernal source of her powers, Didiana's greatest fear had been damnation. That fear had been the entire reason she had joined the Torrent; she was able to admit that to herself now. She hadn't really believed in the cause back then, not really. All she'd wanted was to learn discipline, to occupy her wandering mind, to force herself onto the straight and narrow. When you feared that your very soul was touched by fiends, who better to learn restraint from than the orders subjugating Hell? In a sense, she had abused the Torrent and that plagued her.
As if she needed any more angst in her life. But she had come a fair way since then. She did believe in the Torrent's cause now, wholly. And ever since the Matiscio incident she had been far more honest with herself. She had even started looking into different points of view with Irori's holy text. She was, if not improving, then at least trying. Which was perhaps also why, having gone through all of that, hearing the imp declare her a prime candidate for devilry in the afterlife hurt Didiana just a bit.
But not nearly as much as another two Magic Missiles to the face.
"Less backtalk, more answers, imp."
The brawler's call for decency was ignored by the sorcerer. While she might have refuted the points raised under normal circumstances, she wasn't going to debate him in front of the captive. The theater of the interrogation did not allow for it. And crucially, something the imp had said demanded her attention. Namely that the contract in question was already in their possession, somewhere amongst Rexus's material.
"Rexus, help me look through the paper, please."
Didiana headed for the side room. All the answers the imp was hesitant to provide might be revealed, black on white, in this supposed contract of hers.
Blosodriette rolls her eyes at Gilda’s questions. She replies, “I’m bound to the contract. I have to be in close proximity to it. Why do you think I was stuck in the basement of that livery for so long? And I didn’t make myself known because a devil confiding in a bunch of rebels to Thrune wasn’t my first thought.”
Gilda doesn’t believe the imp actually has useful information, except, perhaps, information that pertains to the noble family it’s bound to.
“Spyin’?” Blosodriette continues. “You’re all pretty much dead already. I would prefer not to be counted among you.”
The imp points at Gregor after he speaks and says, “Now that guy, I don’t particularly like him, but that guy talks some sense. Destroy my contract and you don’t have to deal with me anymore. I’m sure my pipes were out of tune half the time.”
After Matiscio speaks, Blosodriette says, “Unlike demons, devils do indeed understand sense and reason. Which is why I see a lot of sense in destroying my contract. What could you possibly want me to do and realistically expect me to actually do?”
At Evander’s question, the imp remains silent, but her body language makes it painfully obvious that the investigator has guessed correctly.
The imp merely took Didiana’s latest assault and did her best to remain stoic.
Rexus readily acquiesces to assisting in the search of the papers. The two take a few minutes to look through the various documents, but don’t manage to find anything that looks like a contract. When Didiana casts detect magic while examining the documents, she is able to determine that the magical aura comes from one particular page. As before, it radiates a transmutation aura.
Gregor too focuses on helping to find the given paper, talking himself through it, "A single sheet, among so many. A devil's contract hidden among them. How to find it in all this, would take more than a keen eye." Slowly he starts to realize that one of the pages begins to stand out with a glow that he never really noticed before. Concentrating on the glow, it becomes more pronounced, as he realizes that he can actually see the magic around it. He is so amazed by what he sees that he fails to understand the very magic before him.
Although failing to find anything even remotely resembling a contract, infernal or otherwise, Rexus, Gregor and Didiana soon narrowed down their search to a single page. Its contents were unassuming but sheer process of elimination made it the only candidate; after all, none of the other pages radiated magic.
Unfortunately, the sorcerer was unable to determine what magic, exactly.
Transmutation... Has it been transformed somehow?
Evander smiles as his guess is confirmed. Now, could they use her?
Leaning over to Gregor and Matisico, Evander says, "Remember those bushes the subject was near earlier? Do you think perhaps we should have her take a look at them?"
Gregor sticks by his assessment of using her at all, "Wouldn't a hound be a safer and more reliable choice?"
"Probably. I'll admit I'm not too keen on doing so, either. But if there is something there, she might know better where to look."
Gilda's face twists as the magical page is uncovered.
"Huh? Can't say I understand this magic. Must be powerful, then. Might be one of those ones you read it wrong and suddenly it explodes in your face."
Gilda smirks at Didiana, seeming to have read the sorceress's thoughts.
"So, one of us wants to get ridda it. Gotta say I'm not a fan of lettin' it go free given how much it knows. Just takes some two-copper wizard summonin' an imp next week before Blossy here gets a clever idea to trade the goods about us an extra cookie..."
Gilda glances at the door, wondering if the imp can hear them.
"Think it can speak anything 'sides devil? Maybe it can help us on our translatin' work?"
Matiscio eyes his companions, looking a little lost. "I .. am honestly at a loss. This is definitely not my forte, I'm afraid."
While you are speaking, Rexus watches over the imp a safe distance away. For having been captured, the imp is actually quite calm.
As you discuss what should be done about the matter, Laria walks over and says, “What’s all the fuss over here, sweethearts? Some of the others may start to talk when they see y’all huddled together secretively like you are. Did Rexus’s head finally explode from all that translating he’s been doing?”