A teenage girl walks up towards Sel and the newcomer. Her clothes are practical, if made with high-quality materials. A broomstick is on her back and a silver dagger at her side. Sturdy hobnail boots cover her feet, and a pointy witch's hat covers her chestnut-brown hair, cut to just above her shoulders. Brown, curious eyes are set in a pale, recently scrubbed face. She might be called a little pretty.
"Hello!", she calls to the newcomer.
She looks at the fiendish hound.
"Let's take care of *that* first and then we'll talk! I'll wait until it's a little bit closer but I do plan to slow it."
Overgrowth on hound when it enters range.
The hell hound is several hundred yards away, out of bowshot. Noticing you looking at it, it slinks away, moving out of sight.
Joy peers in the direction of where the hell hound was for a few long moments longer. Then she turns to Sel and the newcomer, extending a heavily gloved hand.
"I'm Joy Summers. What are you doing here, Seraphina? There's a very dangerous demon ahead and we have to stop it before it ruins more of the world."
Dramm examines the strange woman carefully.
"She can take care of herself. How many people in this country can hide from Selgaer until they want to be seen?" He eyes the blades on her hip. "We can handle the hell-hound, and likely the others that are with it. Dogs don't hunt alone. You didn't come here to help us either. What do you want with Roo?"
Dramm moves to flank Selgaer with his hand resting on his knife hilt as well.
Why is it always dogs and wolves? The Children, the Long, Wolfmen, hell hounds... it's always f&$*ing dogs.
Sera takes the cute witch's hand and shakes it, adding a kind of bow-curtsey that is both charming and revealing of her lowborn manners."Now well met, Miss Summers. I like your hat. Looks good on ye."
She's about to say more, but Dramm comes forward and offers rather a more barbed set of questions. Pisslicker tilts her head back and regards him levely. "Well now, ye must be the leader of this merry band, then, are ye? The suspicious type. An' rightly so. Who am I, then, what just appeared from thin air on this trail? A good question. A fine question!"
The woman's eyes shift, over Dramm's shoulder, to where the pursuing barghest has vanished, then she adds, "He's trackin' you. Won't attack till dark, though, them hellbeasts hate the daylight. And you're right -- odds are he won't be alone when he comes."
The Cambion's boots crunch on the ground as she comes forward further, right up to the Exorcist. She extends a slim hand, as Joy had done for her. "I'm Sera. You are?"
Seraphina can see Dramm's hand tense when she approaches Joy, but the moment passes after the two shake hands. He does not tense when she approaches him directly, instead staring down intently at her with brown eyes from under poorly kempt hair. The stony expression on his somewhat round face makes him appear even more surly up close.
"Dramm Hayle. Leader? No." The sorcerer replies firmly. His three fingered hand does not leave the magical blade sheathed at his hip, but makes no motion to draw it either. "I've known fast-talking Goblins before. Flattery and repeating questions is not akin to answering them. What do you want with Roo?"
From some yards back and away from the group there was the now familiar outburst of magical energy. Imedren then came moving up to the group, his eyes glowing a deep blue. After several steps Imedren stopped dead in his tracks as he locked eyes with the now revealed Cambion.
"Seraphina. I was wondering how one could just appear, knowing so much about what we were dealing with..." his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "but your devil blood makes this whole situation make so much more sense. What was your plan here? Lie, then get close to us when we were off guard and strike?"
Imedren was poised, ready to start casting spells at a moments notice.
Sera frowns when Hayle doesn't take her offered hand, but she's unable to respond before another sorcerer pushes to the front of the group. An astute one, it seems.
"Well," she says lightly, turning to the newcomer as a smile reveals a pair of fangs, "aren't we shrewd? No flies on this bald one, then. You though," the cambion says with a now white-eyed glance to Dramm, "are a touch rude. I was just makin' conversation, gettin' to know ye. Learnin' if you're worth riskin' my hide over."
Splaying both hands to show that she intends no violence, the infernal creature completes her transformation. Her skin darkens to a deep, rich red as short horns grow from her forehead, and then she shrugs.
"So you'cn imagine what kind of a first impression this makes. Most folk are simple, not so bold as the lot of you. Oft as not they run screamin' from this, the teeth and the horns and such, nevermind my scintillatin' company. I'm a half-blood. A human mother and a devil-prick of a father." Casting her eerie gaze about the whole group, she pauses briefly and adds, "I am recently come from Hell, actually. Supposed to do Diabolus' dirty work. Manage them hounds, hunt the damned, corrupt the innocent. I want no part of any of it, but I've played along until I could slip my noose... not easy as you might imagine, but I've done it -- just now. So now I aim to knock the Devil's vile business in the mortal world on its arse. Starting with Roo the clockwork. Them in Hell set me after him, and that's reason enough for me to keep him outta their clutches."
Sel brushes his hair back, revealing two small horns that were hidden behind the mess of a mop on his head. Despite the rest of his refined appearance, his hair has always been wild.
You've got horns, he says, Just like me. And you can change your appearance; not the first time I've known someone who can do that. Hiding what you look like; I get it. Humans like to judge us for looking different. I know. I've dealt with it all my life.
Look, I'm sorry. I don't mean to distrust. We've dealt with a lot of things recently, and there's a lot of people who hide their motives. You, popping up in the middle of nowhere right at the same time a hell hound shows up - it's a bit suspicious, yes?
The last time I let someone I didn't know in the middle of the wilderness, it ended up really bad for me. And we're all on high alert ever since Mr. I escaped Hell crashed a wedding to tell us to drop everything and chase after some demon with a magic sword. Is he telling the truth? We don't know. Are you? We don't know. Hell, he could be leading us all to our deaths. We don't know. We're just going on blind faith and the goodness in our hearts at this point. And I'm hoping that if it is a trap, I can get out of it.
Tell you what, you can come with us to the next camp. Help us kill that hound, and Imedren will get to cast some spells to check out the truth to your story. You agree to that, and you can come along.
Imedren, Dramm? How's that sound?
Joy does indeed shake Sera's hand. While not powerful, Joy has a certain wiriness from daily work. Gardening, judging by the faint earthy smell about her.
The look she gives Sera when the cambion is revealed is an odd one, hard to place. She herself might have trouble explaining it.
She chimes in after Sel's question:
"Anophth had one eye and fur growing on him. He tried to do good. He didn't always manage it but often did. I still miss him, in quiet moments."
"You could be anywhere between completely honest to spinning a fable that you think we want to hear. I think Sel has a good idea: action. If you're here to help, then help us and we can help you!"
Sera glances up at her horns at Selgaer's comment and blows a dark locke of hair out of her eyes. "That I do," she mutters as he goes on, at some length. She stands, listening, but doesn't answer until Summers also said her piece.
"That I like," she says with a ready nod. "Action! Less fond of, you know, being dunked in some unknown magic. Might have a trust issue or two myself, y'see. Let's start small and work together to send the devil-dog holwin' when it comes."
Looking at Roo, she adds, "And what's this about a demon, then? Like, a true demon, from the Void?"
”Indeed, a very dangerous demon at that,” Roo says. ”I will tell you all about it as we travel...”
Once the arguments are settled and they all decide to allow the stranger to join them, Sel sets the pace. As usual, it's a quick pace, challenging the muscles of anyone unused to just how quickly the faun can move - even in a wilderness. But still, Sel always picks a path that's easier to travel and faster to travel, guiding the group on where to step to avoid slowing down.
An hour before sunset, he stops at a good place to set camp - a place with a good vantage point to keep an eye out on the hell hound.
While folks rest their legs and catch their breath, Sel heads off again to find a vulture.
Hello there, friend, he tells it; can you do me a favor? Fly up and keep an eye on the large hound following us. When you find it, just circle above it. It will be dead before morning and you can have your feast.
Selgaer's preparations helped to set Dramm at ease. The Faun's communion with nature brought a valuable sense of security in the dark.
Dramm still eyed Seraphina suspiciously, but he trusted Imedren and his ability to find the truth. Seraphina keeps catching sidelong glances from Dramm, the tell tale curiosity and distrust of a farmer from a small village. Her solid black eyes catch him staring at the horns.
"I did not know that devils could successfully create offspring with mortals. You were part of the Devil hierarchy? That must mean you are talented. What are your talents, exactly?"
Seraphina walks the perimeter of the camp as the group begins to set it up, checking approaches, noting terrain, looking for the most likely means of ingress any diabolic interlopers would have. When she returns to the others, Dramm's question makes her smile slightly.
"Oh, this and that, nothin' big," she says modestly, but in her mind's pupiless eye, a different story unfolds. A scene... a dozen scenes, a hundred scenes -- play out in graphic detail, showing just what the devil-spawn has spent her years doing.
First, there's the sex. So much sex. Sex with men of all shapes and sizes. Sex with two men at the same time. Sex with two women at the same time. Sex with orcs. Sex with a half-dozen goblins, sex in positions that boggle the mind. It's really quite arresting, except what comes next is even more so: murders. Murders by the score. Throats are slit, hearts are stabbed, daggers are slid, silently, into flesh and organs. Poison is brewed and dribbled onto food. Marks are drowned, pushed from great heights, smothered, impaled, shoved in front of stampeding beasts, and sweetly strangled in their greatest moments of ecstasy.
Looking at Dramm with those white eyes, Sera shrugs and pats the hilts of the two weapons she wears at her rounded hips. "Handy with these, I spose, and I'm told there's worsen' me for company when the wine and spirits are flowin'." Cocking her head to the side slightly, she adds, "And yea man, devils can rape with the best of 'em, and also fool women into thinkin' they're layin' with their man, especially if he's been away a spell. They're bastards, to a one. Cambions, we're called, devil half-breeds. Little monsters no one wants."
Imedren finished with his divination, although he'd risked it being broader in nature in case of needing to narrow it down afterward, it helped to greatly put his mind at ease when his gamble paid off about Roo and Seraphina. There was much about Roo's work he wanted to know, but it would have to wait for the moment, for now he could help ease their worries.
He walked up to the Dramm and Sera. "It's alright, I think she can be trusted. What Seraphina has told us is true." He eyed the cambion, "For what it's worth, Selgaer is right in most cases about us humans. But looking different isn't necessarily what bothers me. We've had several run-ins with perfectly normal looking humans who turned out to be servants of the Demon Lord. In this case we just had a fight with devils; with us defending Roo who is a fugitive of Hell. What bothered me was the fact that you were hiding who you were with illusions."
Careful with that, Im. Just cause someone hides their true appearance doesn't make them bad. Sel is more concerned with protecting Joy's feelings that warning Imedren over a faux pas; he glanced over at Joy to make sure she didn't hear him.
The he looks up to the sky to see where the culture is flying. The beast is getting closer. We should hunt it before dusk. Hey Dramm, want to set some traps, too?
Selgaer spots the vulture about a hundred yards from the camp. The hell hound must be lurking close by.
Flicking one of her horns, Seraphina smiles at Imedren and Selgaer. "Save these, and me sordid past, I dinna have much to hide."
When the faun speaks of going after the hellbeast following them, the half-breed nods. "Smart. If nothin' else, that thing's coming for the brass gent after dark. Best put it on its heels by attacking now. And if we wait too long, there's a chance his master'll send more. Especially if they already know I'm off script."
As an aside, Pisslicker lowers her voice to Imedren. "The Demon Lord. Lovely. We should talk about that f*cker at some point."
I have a plan. Joy and I shall fly over to the beast and get eyes on it. Then we pelt it with arrows and magic, driving it like a boar towards the trap. Or like the sheepdog herding the flock. We lead it straight to you, where you ambush it with magic and steel. What do you think? he asks, addressing everyone.
Slight update to the plan. After I scout it out with Joy, we'll come back and trade - Uruuna can get on the broom with joy and pelt it from above. I'll lead it on land and give it something to chase, bringing it right to you guys where you can ambush it.
Joy gives Imedren a funny look but decides to leave it at that for now.
When Sel suggests aerial reconnaissance, she nods and channels a very little nature magic into the broom as she takes it in hand.
"In the air sounds more sensible anyway with this thing about! Can it jump high? Because I take us above that."
"Higher than y'might think," Sera chimed in. "Have ye encountered such a thing as a barghest before? Don't be takin' this monster lightly. They spew fire, resist magic, and are far faster than they seem. If we manage to slay it, watch out for hellfires streamin' from its body."
Her brow furrowing beneath her horns, the cambion adds, "Oh, and they don't much like sunlight. Nor cold iron, like most devils and fey. So there's that."
Sel and Joy fly high overhead, moving towards where the vulture circles. And as they pass over a large patch of brush, they see the barghest lurking within. Resembling a great hound with a coal black coat, fiery red eyes, and curls of sulfurous smoke rising from its body, the very sight of it evokes dread. The hell hound looks up at the pair and snarls menacingly—then it bursts forth from its hiding spot and begins charging toward the campsite!
Something ticks in Sel's mind when he finally witnesses the beast from close up, but it immediately bolts as soon as he sees it, giving Sel no time to think. Shit! the fuam yells out, It's moving! Joy! Go go go!
He quickly knocks an arrow and fires.
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Despite his preparations, or maybe because of them, Imedren's eyes gain a dangerous light of their own the moment the Barghest reveals itself.
"That is big and scary... but it's only the third scariest thing I've seen this month." Then in the blink of an eye, he vanished. Appearing 5 yards from the beast.
"I saw a beast from beyond time within a dying world come for me. You are not that."
As the beast charges and the group explodes into action, Seraphina watches with wide eyes as the people she's been talking to start flying, teleporting, and blasting away with magic.
"Diabolus' shriveled balls, are you all witches and warlocks, then, each and every one of ye?" she says aloud as she draws her longknives and starts to run, to close the distance with the barghest. As she does, the cambion watches their flanks, making sure the hound's handler hasn't sent more of the monsters.
Dramm placed several iron ankle biter traps into the animal paths and informs Selgaer of each location.
"Iron will cripple them if you can draw the beast along the path."
Dramm empowers his usual repertoire of defensive spells, armoring and shielding himself before venting the excess magic. When the beast rushes forth, Dramm moves close to Uruuna.
"Hells, Imedren! We don't know if it's alone!" He calls, but it's too late. The sorcerer warps forward and unleashes destruction upon the hell hound!
Dramm releases a more conservative dart, using the long range of his magic to harry the beast. His tattoos flare angrily and he flicks the magic away again in another small explosion.
Selgaer shoots the barghest with an arrow, and Joy conjures vines that wound it but fail to grab a hold. Imedren suddenly teleports in front of the hound, using his time magic to slow it down. The sorcerer then backs off and blasts it with explosive missiles, though it dodges the worst of each explosion. Dramm sends a dart into its flank, while Uruuna shoots it with two arrows. Sera simply rushes towards it.
The hound meets Imedren’s gaze and tries to curse him with a vision of Hell, but the watcher’s will is too strong. Howling, the beast charges forward, tearing into Imedren with its fiery bite.
Damn it, Imedren! We had a plan! Sel yells out, firing another arrow at the beast.
"What the f*ck?!" Sera cried as she sprinted, moving at full speed towards the hound now. "I thought your plan was going to draw it in, bring it to us?! Charging the thing is daft! There might be more of them!"
Flying away, Joy calls back to Sera:
"Only most of us!"
*******
Joy calmly manuevres the broom well above the barghest and first tries vines. When that doesn't stop the hellbeast, she returns to her standby of witch fire, chucking a ball at the creature!
Imedren's future sight and magical shield keep the Barghest's strike away from him with only a small loss of it's protective energies. He calls on his waves of Chaos to assault the beast.
The glint in his eye dies down as he hears his friends call out for him and he regains something of his normal composure.
"But you know, the scariest thing I've seen this month has got to be my wife when she's had a bad day."
"Now we can deal with this one much more efficiently."
He manages to hold his buildup of arcane energies in this time.
"Hey! I resemble that remark!" Uruuna shouts at her husband. She fires two more arrows at the hell hound, though only one hits.
Though Joy's witch fire seems ineffective, the rest of the group makes up for it. Selgaer and Uruuna each strike the barghest with an arrow, while Imedren devastates it with chaotic energy. A moment later, the sorcerer teleports away and launches another flickering ball of energy at the barghest. As this one strikes, the hell hound howls with agony before erupting in an enormous burst of hellfire! The flames crackle and smolder, leaving a huge patch of scorched earth and no sign of any remains.
"It was meant as a compliment." Imedren says, letting a big grin show across his face as he picks Uruuna up in hug.
"Thanks for waiting for me to get clear. You did great!"
Uruuna hugs Imedren back. "Well, it wasn't the plan, but it worked out alright."
The halfling shrugs at Seraphina apologetically. "Sorry you didn't get a chance to use those blades of yours. I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunities soon, though."
Well, Sel says, hoping off the broom, that's done with. Oy! Sera! Any other dangers lurking behind us? What about you, Roo? Got anything more to say about what's ahead?
Sunionius Roo peers at the scorched ground from a safe distance before shaking his metallic head. "The barghests are among the most powerful of Hell's minions. You dealt with that one in a matter of seconds. I know not what other dangers lie ahead, but it would seem you are well-equipped to deal with them."
"We dealt with one quickly. A pack might have different results." Dramm says while inspecting the vicious bite wound Imedren had suffered. "You're lucky it was alone, Imedren. If two more had emerged, there would have been nothing I could do."
Dramm delivers some healing to his injured ally.
Another quick kaboom, no strain gained.
The sorcerer sighs as the magic runs its course, patching most of the wounds.
"You never learn, do you? Next time, wait for me. I have something new for you and Eldren that will protect you during these mad rushes. I can't seem to convince you to give them up, so I can at least make them safer."
Dramm then turns his attention to Seraphina.
"A shame, it was an opportunity to see your capabilities. We still have little understanding of your scope. As you see, I'm a skilled healer. There is little I cannot restore, excepting death. Don't die."
Will you two stop it with the explosive farts? Every other spell you're blasting something out! At this rate you'll burn half the first down, Sel teases, waving his hand in front of his face.
Changing topics, he asks, So what's the new protection ya got, Dramm? Would it help Uruuna and I when we're up close?
"About as likely as you are to end up a pancake with those mad dives of yours." Dramm chuckles bemusedly to himself. "The spell is advanced protection magic and powerful. A barrier coats the body, turning away wounds and environment. Magical effects can still bind you, but death due to injury is nigh impossible. I am only able to cast it once before my stores need to be replenished, and it requires that I maintain the spell. However, I can apply it to any one of you."
When Dramm mentions "Don't die.", Joy waves as she descends on the broom.
"I might be able to fix that! But it's still good advice!"
Once she gets close to the ground, she turns to Sel:
"Fancy some more aerial scouting, Sel?"
You scout the area around camp, but no more enemies lurk about. The rest of the night passes without incident.
The next few days pass quickly as you travel north to the city of Foundry. From there, it's another two days to reach the foothills of the Iron Peaks. You approach the Spear, a sheer mountain stabbing up from the western arm of the Iron Peaks. At the base of the mountain stands a deserted large town, the crooked sign naming it Oblivion. The town’s dozens of buildings show signs of blood and carnage, but only a few corpses can be found. The many farmsteads outside the town are likewise empty, except for occasional farm animals that now wander the countryside in a state of terror.
At the far end of town, a lone figure stands staring up at the Spear...
You think he did all this? Sel whispers.
"We'd better find out!", replies Joy from just above the group, in a strangled whisper at the sight of so much carnage.
"A single man? Possibly. If it was him, what did he do with all the bodies and how did he move so many?" Dramm rubs his chin and stares up at the crooked wooden sign. "Irony might have done it. I suspect this is demonic handiwork. An entire town to devour in blood lust."
As with all strangers, Dramm eyes the solitary figure with suspicion.
"Could be a worshipper of the Demon Lord. Could be a survivor. Now's your chance, Seraphina. Think you can determine more information?"
"It's a real tragedy, isn't it?" The stranger says as he turns around, without a hint of surprise or shock by what he's seen. The old man leans heavily on his staff as he does so. He's dressed plainly, his patched and loose shirt creased by the large wicker basket he carries on his back. The elderly gentleman smiles easily, laugh lines obvious on his face.
"You're just in time! You lot look pretty strong, I don't suppose you could help an old man bury these poor souls?" His staff is topped with a strange symbol from the Old Faith, with his only other weapon being a small dagger on his belt.
As the barghest's remains burn away, Sera kneels to examine the scorched ground as Sel asks her if there's more trouble coming.
"Unf*cking doubtedly," she says, looking at her soot-stained red fingers as she rubs them together. "Roo here's got hisself quite t'guardians. Some of these devils are a bit thick between the ears, but it won't take 'em long to figure out gettin' 'im back might require some... special attention. We shouldn't tarry here too long."
When Dramm recommends that Sera not die, she merely nods, smiles and offers a thumbs up. "Words to live by. Literally."
At the edge of town, Seraphina pauses at the crooked sign and scratches her head. "Now... who t'f*ck's bright idear was it t'name the town Oblivion? Kind of... askin' for it, right?"
When they come upon the first bodies, the cambion shrugs. "Aye? Aye? I knew it."
When they see the lone man, and Dramm asks if Sera can glean more information, she drops her voice to her own musical whisper. "What, by puttin' me knife to 'is troat and tellin' 'im to fess up?" She thinks about it for a moment, then lightly adds, "Yeh, might work."
When the half-breed steps forward, she's back in her guise as a human woman, and she raises her voice in response to the old man.
"What happened here, geezer? What's your name and why aren't you dead on t'ground like these other sods?"
"Well, I don't really know, I was just *Koff* passing through myself. But that mountain there gives me a bad feeling every time I look at it. I'd say it's probably the work of demons. Has their stink all about this place." The old man slowly makes his way closer to the party, continuing to lean heavily on his staff.
He frowns slightly as he talks. "Young lady, I think you're supposed to introduce yourself first?" He looks at Sera disapprovingly before shrugging his shoulders.
*Koff* "But I suppose you can call me Mr.Reed"