"Well, if Hulrun is dead, he will have a lot to answer for in the afterlife," Elliot adds in support of Verene, though he felt more detached from the revelation that he probably should have. "And it might be better that way, too. Given how paranoid he already was, imagine how he'd be after all this. And worse, he'd have the rank to assume command of what crusader forces might be left in the city. I shudder to think what a questionably sane at worst and highly incompotent inquisitor at best would do here when joined by enough fallen crusaders like Arik."
He turns to Anevia next and gives her an encouraging pat on the shoulder as they walked towards Fine Fittings. "I think we all would like to help find your wife in any way we can. If she's as skilled as her rank suggests, there's a good chance she managed to avoid being captured. Who knows? She might end up saving us when we most need her."
"Is there some password we should say when we get there, so your parents would know to open for us?" he finally asks Klarah.
Silently, Merixia sends up a prayer of thanks that she won't end up as the next casualty of Hulrun's inquisition. "Well. It's a shame that he's dead, of course, but not having to deal with his anti-tiefling prejudice will certainly make my life easier. I just hope someone with battlefield experience survived to take charge of things."
She gives Anevia a sympathetic look. "If anyone lived through this, it'll be an experienced warrior like your wife. Don't count her out just yet." Of course, it's equally likely that Irabeth made a heroic and tragic last stand defending the townsfolk... but that's definitely not what Anevia needs to hear right now.
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"It makes sense that he'd be a target of the demons. He is - was - old, and would've been a natural figure to rally around. He was also at St. Clydwell's when the attack happened, and would probably not have retreated." Aravashnial observes. "For all his flaws, Hulrun was not a coward, and he hated demons."
Klarah shrugs. "Nobody seems to have taken charge, from what I can tell..." The young woman says. "At least not here. Maybe there're survivors with more martial training in other parts of the city." Her brows furrow. "At least, who haven't gone insane."
Anevia grimaces. "If Irabeth survived," her voice catches, but she pushes on, "then she'd have taken charge of as many survivors as she could."
At this point, the heroes arrive at Fine Fittings - a severely damaged building, though all of its walls still stand, as does its roof. The glass in the windows is broken and they have been boarded up. The door, however, is gone. A few fragments cling to the hinges, but other than that, it is fragments on the ground.
"Oh no..." Klarah makes as though to run towards the shop, but Anevia grabs her.
"Don't. Thesius, Elyda, can you go check inside?"
The inquisitor nods, and looks to Thesius.
Thesius had been lost in his thoughts. He felt a conflict growing within him. He seemed to be finding it easier to see the life of humanoids ended. What did that mean. Was he growing use to it or was he perhaps in shock were some of the questions that came to him.
He would jump slightly at being addressed directly. Taking a moment to think over the words said and Elyda's nod, he steps forward. "Of course. It's better we take caution."
He strengthens his grip upon the morningstar while moving in pace with Elyda. The weight of the items upon him still slowing him down.
Elyda and Thesius carefully approach the broken remnants of the door, looking inside.
With claws and fangs - its horns are thought to be too fragile for use in combat - an abrikandilu can rend flesh and bone almost as easily as it does other material. Veteran crusaders say that they're fairly common foot soldiers in demonic armies because of their natural weapons and tendency for physical destruction - plus, they're none too bright, and thus don't threaten more powerful demons with ambitions.
Abrikandilus have the standard demonic set of resistances and immunities, and are able to communicate telepathically with others within a certain range. They are infamously infuriated by their own reflections, but also seem to have a supernatural sort of dread towards mirrors. Thesius remembers hearing a story about how a friend's uncle brought a polished shield into battle with one of these demons. Though he unnerved it, it also focused all of its efforts on killing him - allowing his comrades free rein on killing it.
Wrecker demons also are incredibly fond of mutilating beautiful mortals, and their claws and fangs are especially well-suited to doing so. From what Thesius has deduced, they have a supernatural component that wreaks havoc on their target's confidence as much as their appearance .
Outside, Anevia draws her shortbow and murmurs an update to Aravashnial. "It looks like her parents' home has been broken into. Elyda and Thesius are taking a look inside."
The Riftwarden grips his staff tighter, perhaps readying himself to cast something.
Verene stays back and still, the loaded crossbow in her hands with its cold iron bolt pointed at the ground, as Thesius and Elyda investigate.
Using Verene's spell to communicate back to her, he relays what he has found.
"There appears to be a wrecker demon inside. If we have a mirror, we might be able to draw it's attacks to a particular individual. Without it, it may very likely go after those of more conventional beauty due to it's disdain for such. Be forewarned that they are able to telepathically communicate and can wreak havoc not simply upon one's physical well being, but mental as well. It's resistances tend to be those of most demons, so cold iron is our friend here where we can spare it."
Knowing what he does, he wonders if the demon will likely aim for him. He looks for a way that he might be able to take advantage of that.
Elyda looks grim. "In an enclosed space, it will be harder to leverage our numbers... but it is quite stupid. Maybe it will not be able to resist charging out at us."
"Perhaps you could all hide up against the wall and I will draw it's attention out here to your readied weapons and spells?"
Thesius is thinking of attempting his metaphorical hand at singing to draw the creature out.
Verene conveys the Thesius's warning about the wrecker demon's presence and likely behavior to the group word-for-word via message, then additionally whispers to everyone, "Point or whisper where you want us to stand, Thesius, and we'll wait on your mark to attack when you draw it out. I can instead use the phantom sound cantrip if you choose, so that it's not drawn directly to your location, but the demon might realize the noise isn't real and become suspicious."
She waits for him to indicate a place - hopefully one well back from the door and with a clear line of sight for when the demon emerges, for her - and stands there, ready to shoot as soon as the enemy appears.
Elliot silently nods, Radiant Eclipse readied, and moves to stand wherever Thesius indicated. The plan of springing a trap made sense, and from the sound of it, Klarah's parents weren't in immediate danger - either they were still hidden, or already dead.
He glances at the girl and give her a look of sympathy. "I know it's difficult not to rush in. But it sounds like it might not have found your parents yet. Let's see if his plan of drawing it out works and we'll handle it either way."
Merixia draws her sword, nods to Verene, and moves to wherever Thesius wants her.
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Thesius does his best to guide their team, perhaps too formal a word considering what they had been through together, friends he thought instead in a reasonable manner. He hoped all went well, for he did not want to let down the faith they were putting in him.
"Once I lure it out to me, the plan is to have Merixia take the door way and Elliot to stand beside her to cut off it's escape route," he would respond to them through the whisper spell Verene was managing for them.
Once everyone is in position, Thesius begins his mocking song - making sure to make it in Abyssal, just so the abrikandilu understands. A growl comes from within the building, and after a few seconds, the green-skinned, goat-legged wrecker demon emerges, blinking briefly in the sunlight.
The demon looks around and roars at the sight of the heroes.
Anevia is the first to act. Stepping around Verene, she nocks an arrow and fires it at the demon... unfortunately, she has to adjust her aim to avoid hitting Thesius, which sends the arrow arcing over the abrikandilu's head. She curses loudly in Shadowtongue.
Back to the wall and hearing the thuds and noise of the demon coming closer behind him, Elliot closes his eyes and tries to calm himself. He forced some arcane power into his sword, increasing its glow slightly, and glanced at Merixia to the side, giving a nod to show he was ready.
When the demon bursts through the door, he moves up to strike it from behind just as its gaze was fixed on Thesius and his song...
Almost before the demon's misshapen face appears in the door, Verene realizes that the clear space in front of it means she won't have a better opportunity than this to use a spell without hitting her allies, before they have closed with the fiend. Taking a hand off the stock of the crossbow, she rummages hastily for a pinch of colored sand as she hurries to Thesius's other side, distantly noting the hiss of Anevia's arrow and the archer's curse. Slightly covered by the roof, she chants the words and blows the sand outward from the corner of the building, sending a brilliant cone of colors clashing through the air and washing over the abrikandilu.
Thesius shifts backwards as the sudden wave of color washes out in front of him, but recovers quickly to move in . He does not move to flank with Elliot however. He wants to keep the beast confined, so he leaves that space open for Elyda to fill.
A song in his heart and upon his lips, he continues to try to pull the demons attention with his song as he tries to twist Abyssal words into something of beauty. "The light that guides us~ The light that redeems~"
All the while his arm swings back only to reverse it's direction as he takes a shot at the beast.
Verene swiftly joins Anevia, and with words and gestures scribed deeply upon her memory, she unleashes a blast of colors at the demon. The abrikandilu yowls, staggering away from the unpleasant assault on its senses, before swaying slightly.
Elliot takes advantage of the opening his sister has given him and lunges forwards with Righteous Eclipse in hand. The black blade hums through the air and slashes deep into the wrecker demon's flank. It twitches at the intrusion, but is too dazed to do anything else, not even attempting to protect itself.
Thesius follows up on the attack, slamming the thing's horned head with his morningstar. Though it is a powerful blow, he feels the abrikandilu's supernatural resistance to his weapon throw off some of the damage. Nevertheless, he feels bones crunch under the force of his attack.
Elyda steps forwards, her golden blade flashing down towards the creature. Radiance cuts through the wrecker demon's foul flesh with ease, biting into its ribcage and slicing through several bones.
Aravashnial hesitates. "How goes the battle?"
"It looks seriously injured!" Anevia replies, though there's an edge of frustration to her voice.
The Riftwarden nods. "Then I shall hold off for now."
Now this is a demon! More powerful than the dretches and much bigger than the annoying quasit. Merixia grins viciously and steps up beside Elliot, bastard sword slashing at the demon's chest.
Though she is passionate in her attacks, Merixia is far from accurate, and her bastard sword goes wide, even from the stunned demon's form.
Fortunately, it doesn't seem to have much interest in counterattacking - or, indeed, ability to do so. Instead, the abrikandilu simply stands, staring somewhat vacantly at the heroes.
Anevia clenches her shortbow tightly, before shaking her head. "Take it down, you guys!"
Ready for a counterattack yet grateful for Verene's magic preventing one, Elliot tries to strike it again!
...Unfortunately, this strike goes wide. How had he missed an unmoving target? By assuming it would dodge at the last moment... at least, that's what he'd tell the others.
Grateful for Verene's well timed and well placed spell, Thesius works to take full advantage of the situation. Some thought luck was simply coincidence, others thought it a force one made for themselves. Then there were those that thought it divine intervention, even inspiration. Thesius believed in all of the above and continued to hope his patron deity would look favorably down upon him.
Letting their gifted weapon drop to the ground with a clang, he pulls forth one of the cold iron daggers from before and lashes out at the demon in hopes of overcoming it's supernatural defenses.
Verene hesitates, not wanting to chance hitting Thesius or any of her friends with an ill-timed crossbow bolt. Not for the first time, she is grateful for his courage and clear thinking under pressure. For he had been right: the abrikandilu was too stupid to resist the lure of hurting him, or so arrogant that it did not recognize the danger to itself posed by a group. But it easily could have gone another way, and he could have been badly injured or killed as a consequence of drawing its attention to himself.
She whispers to Aravashnial alone, so as not to distract anyone else, "It's starting to come around, but looks very seriously hurt. I can't imagine it could take much more punishment. You can hold off on using your spells, Master Aravashnial."
Verene holds off now that melee combat has been engaged, allowing her brother and Thesius the chance to attack. While Elliot is less than effective - despite the fact that it is still only moving slowly, the abrikandilu has no need to even evade the magus' strikes. Thesius, however, finds that the Song of the Spheres yet favors him as he drops his morningstar, draws his cold iron dagger, and knifes the demon in the ribs. It screeches in pain, pulling itself off of the offending weapon, but is clearly badly injured.
Elyda moves quickly to take advantage of the injured demon's distraction. With a sweep of her golden blade, she guts the abrikandilu, slicing open its stomach and letting its innards spill onto the ground. She hastily steps away from them, her nose wrinkling as the stench of demonic corruption fills the air.
It only takes a few heartbeats for Klarah to realize the demon is dead before she rushes past the heroes and into Fine Fittings.
"Wait! Dammit, girl..." Anevia reaches for her, but is too slow to stop her. "We should get in and make sure she's not found something else that'll kill her."
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"Klarah, don't! Let—" Verene breaks off in frustration as the girl vanishes into the ruined shop. "—the armored warriors go in first," she finishes, resigned.
"In my day, we listened to our elders," she mutters to no one in particular, conveniently forgetting that she had done no such thing, and also that the days in question were barely fifteen years ago. She hurries closer to the broken door, but models caution by waiting for the more heavily armored members of the group to precede her into the shop.
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"Has Thesius *ever* missed or failed to hit hard?" Elliot wonders, a pang of jealously creeping into his thoughts as he sees the man cut down the demon with a dagger like it's nothing. "Speaking of daggers, even when he *throws* one, it seems to hit in the harshest possible of ways..." he then remembers, mentally seeing him kill the fleeing demon cultist back in the caves with seemingly no effort either.
"...I just have to train to get to his level. This gift, whatever it is, isn't enough if I don't put in the effort to get better, or unlock more of it. Maybe, one day, I'll be as good as him."
His thoughts are cut short when Klarah storms off by herself. "Wait!" he calls out the same time as his sister, but seeing the girl continue anyway, he runs after her immediately, not daring to waste any time.
Thesius watches the team respond to the young woman's sudden actions. They did not have time to waste, so he quickly scooped up the morningstar in his off hand and made after them. Nodding his head to Verene as he passes by. He had no intention of letting the woman perish here either if they could do something about it.
Merixia swears under her breath and hurries after Klarah, sword in hand. She understands wanting to make sure your family is safe, but for Ragathiel's sake, this town is full of demons! There might be more inside!
The heroes follow Klarah into Fine Fittings, where most of the storefront seems to have been destroyed - presumably by the wrecker demon. The young woman leads them to a small trapdoor in the living area behind the storefront. She throws it open and drops down inside, where a lantern lights up a small stone basement with numerous piles of fabric. The basement's two occupants - a man in his middle years and a woman who looks slightly older than him, look battered, but not in any danger of dying just yet.
"You're safe, Klarah! We heard the ruckus upstairs and had feared the worst." The woman, presumably her mother, rises to her feet and hugs the young woman. "And you have... guests?"
Klarah's father gets to his feet unsteadily, one hand falling on a dagger at his hip. "What happened up there?"
"There was a demon upstairs, but these people killed it." Klarah quickly explains. "And they think that they can heal you two." She looks hopefully at Merixia.
Thesius keeps an eyes out for danger as they work their way quickly through the establishment.
Once they make it to the trapdoor, he stops and takes some time to assess the situation.
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Paranoia could be a hindrance or benefit and Thesius hopes that in this case he is wrong. Using Verene's spell to quietly speak to her, he makes a suggestion, "Perhaps we should look over her parents to make sure they are not merely okay, but what they say they are. This trapdoor is not exactly hidden and I would think cruel creatures like demons would have no qualms rooting through one's personal quarters in hopes of finding the innocent."
Merixia sheathes her sword, giving the couple a reassuring smile. "Hello, I'm Merixia Pentarian, a cleric of Ragathiel. If you'll let me examine you, I'll see what I can do about your wounds." She digs around in her overstuffed pack while they think it over, eventually coming up with her healer's kit. Quietly, the tiefling casts a quick spell for guidance.
"And I'm Elliot - Elliot Worthane. I'm... a swordfighter and a student of the arcane. Nice to meet you both," he says, relieved at finding the pair saved. "Your daughter is very brave for going off alone to get you help."
He glances at Klarah and raises his hands in a good-natured 'hopeless' gesture. "Also a bit reckless, it seems, for rushing on ahead of us when there could have been other demons, and we, ah, all tried to stop you. Still, I'm happy you've been safely reunited."
Yet, seeing them like this... his smile falls a bit. Where was his family? Had they already passed their remains? If so... unless he could remember more he might never know...
Verene follows the others over to the trapdoor and looks down the ladder into the basement. Seeing that the middle-aged couple are just as Klarah described them - a bit battered but not in immediate danger - she does not crowd in for the introduction, since Merixia will likely need space to examine them. She smiles in a friendly way and raises a hand in greeting. "Hello. I'm Verene, and this is Thamyris." The thrush whistles quietly from her shoulder.
She catches Thesius's meaningful gaze and whispers to him alone, "All well?" so that he can pass her his suggestion by message.
She backs away from the ladder a bit while she listens, and replies to him alone again. "Understood. I think we may have gotten here just in time, because if that wrecker demon had discovered the basement and the injured people hiding here, it certainly would not have used them to lay some subtle trap for other survivors. But it's possible it wasn't the first enemy to find this place while Klarah was gone. And a little extra caution can't hurt anything in this case."
Verene goes back to the door by which they entered and turns her back to the dead abrikandilu just past it. "Help me look for anything dangerous or interesting, my dear?" she murmurs to Thamyris. Facing the interior, she casts her minor spell to detect the presence and influence of the Abyss and its creatures, and takes a slow look around. Since the abrikandilu was just here, she does expect to sense the aura of its lingering presence, but not any other fiendish auras. If she senses nothing unexpected, she maintains the spell and descends the ladder to be with the others, expecting to find no auras below at all.
To her surprise, there is an aura of fiendish taint on the inside of the shop - though she quickly realizes that it is dim, barely present. Presumably, that's the result of the wrecker demon doing what it was named for and leaving its metaphorical stench all over the shop.
True to her suspicions, there's no signs of fiendish presence on Klarah's parents, or in their basement. Thamyris chirps his assent, peering around the basement, but neither sees anything other than a significant number of fabrics, a few completed sets of fancy clothing,
Anevia stands guard near the door between the storefront and the residential part of Fine Fittings, along with Aravashnial and Horgus. Elyda joins the others in their introductions.
"Pleased to meet you all." Klarah's mother says. "I'm Dea, and this is my husband Syras. Thank you so much for saving us. We heard the door being broken down while we were upstairs, and only just made it down here when whatever that was was tearing up the shop."
Syras grimaces, but nods, rubbing his flank before looking warily at Merixia. He turns to Elyda. "Are you certain that she's, erm, trustworthy?" Dea swats his arm admonishingly, but he pays her no mind.
The lawbringer nods. "Merixia is, as she says, a priestess of Ragathiel. Ragathiel is one of Heaven's generals, and as his priestess, she is a great ally to all the Crusade."
He sighs in relief. "Sorry. It's just... there've been a whole lot of tieflings helping the demons ravage the streets."
"Think, you old fool." Dea says, rolling her eyes. "They've been doing it publicly. Now that they don't need trickery, why would one pretend to be a crusader?" She looks at Merixia. "Sorry dear, we've been through a lot recently." She laughs, a harsh, bitter noise. "Of course, everyone has. Except those damned demon cultists."
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Merixia shrugs with a faint creak of armor. "Eh, I'm used to it. A lot of tieflings figure that if the world is going to treat them like monsters, they might as well be monsters." She smiles slightly. "Fortunately, I'm a whole lot more stubborn than most. People trying to drag me down just make me dig in my heels and do the opposite. Now then, where are you hurt?" The cleric decides to start her examinations with Dea, in hopes that seeing his wife be treated will help ease Syras' worries.
The two are calm enough to accept her treatment, though Syras looks a little wary yet. They show off their injuries carefully.
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"Okay, you should be fine with some healing ointment, new bandages, and rest. It looks like this basement is pretty safe, but if we find a more fortified position somewhere, I'm sure we can find a way to let you know." She looks up at Klarah. "Make sure you keep their wounds clean as best you can in the days to come. If there's a barrel or bathtub around, I can fill it with pure water so you don't have to go out as much." Water is always the limiting factor in a siege. People can live without food far longer than they can live without water. Opening her healer's kit, Merixia casts her spell of guidance again and sets about treating her patients.
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Relieved that Merixia was so skilled at this, Elliot shifts his gaze from watching her work to the Klarah and her family. "What do you intend to do now? Us, we're going to head out and try to find more surviving crusaders. If you wish to come with us, I can't promise we'll be able to keep you safe. But, we could try. Unless you prefer to keep hiding here and hoping you won't be found, of course."
Thesius still got the feeling that something was off. He crouched at the top of the ladder, looking over what was going on down below. His weapons still in hand.
They spoke of only taking to the basement after the abrikandilu was tearing down their door. If that were the case, how did the creature not note the trapdoor in it's destruction of the entire establishment. Why did Klarah risk, even manage, getting past the demon.
Something seemed off and he waited to hear from Verene on what she found while keeping a close eye on the group.
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"All seems well," Verene whispers to Thesius, busying herself with taking her waterskin out and drinking for a moment. She replaces it in her pack. "The wrecker demon left a dim fiendish aura in the rooms upstairs, as they do with their mere presence. Down here, I sense nothing of the Abyss."
Looking at the injuries on Klarah's parents, as well as her own and Merixia's, she privately wonders if now might be a good time for a burst of magical healing, but says nothing. Merixia is a trained healer as well as a warrior, after all, and she'll trust the cleric's judgement about when to use and when to conserve the gifts granted her by Ragathiel.
"Forgive me for saying so, but this basement does not seem terribly secure or well-disguised," she adds to Dea and Syras, in support of Elliot's offer. "In a few more minutes, it's likely that wrecker demon would have discovered the trap door. I think you would do best to come with us. We are going first to Lord Horgus Gwerm's estate, which is not far from here and may offer some refuge." There is no guarantee of anything, but on balance, she thinks the virtually helpless couple will be safest with them; and if the group came back later to find them dead, she knows she would blame herself.
Merixia's ministrations prove very effective, and the wounded couple seem slightly more cheerful when she's done. Syras offers her a tired, but genuine, smile. "Thanks. Let it never be said that Fine Fittings is without gratitude. If you want, you can each take an outfit from our more valuable stock." He gestures at some of the fairly expensive clothing around.
Dea looks to Elliot. "Board up the front door, probably, and keep surviving." She sighs bitterly. "That's all we can do now, unless you know of someplace more fortified. As for how poorly hidden the trapdoor was, well... normally we pull a rug over it. It was just too sudden for us to do that when we heard the demon."
At the mention of his name, Horgus looks down the trapdoor. "No. That's a terrible idea. First, I don't know if any of my guards are still alive or present, and my food stores aren't limitless. My mansion is not fortified - only my vault is. Second, I'm not exactly easy to get along with, and my temper's worse than usual." There's a trifling amount of self-deprecating humor in his voice. "These citizens aren't trained servants, and I won't have their potential deaths on my head if I try to kick them out in a moment of ill-advised passion."
"I'll be honest," Syras says, "a nobleman's vault doesn't sound terribly ideal to live in. At least this here's ours."
"Especially if he doesn't trust that his guards are still there - or loyal." Klarah says darkly, patting the sword that she stole from the dead crusaders.
"It would be a risk to travel with that large a group anyways... but I don't feel comfortable leaving you here." Elyda says, scratching her scar. "Have you heard of any fortified places?"
The family shake their heads. "Although..." Klarah says after a moment. "I did see a wounded inquisitor who was warning people away from the park up north. Apparently there's a skirmish ongoing there between some... he called them 'fallen' inquisitors, a group of Sarkorians and their druid leaders, and the demon cultists."
She looks down and away. "He was looking for fighters to help free his... well, he called them 'true comrades,' from where they'd been imprisoned."
Elyda looks suddenly graver than before. "What happened to him?"
"Cultists, I think." The answer is quick and blunt.
"Oh." The aasimar woman looks away, one hand falling to her cold iron longsword - not Radiance.
Merixia smiles, carefully patting Syras on the shoulder. "You're very welcome." She has no use for fine clothing at the moment, and it would probably get ruined crushed in the bottom of her pack, but it's the thought that counts. At Klarah's mention of the inquisitors, the cleric frowns. "Gods, that sounds like a mess." Merixia would really rather not get involved, but she's reluctant to say so in front of Elyda. Instead she gets to her feet and walks over to their other aasimar friend.
"Elliot, would you help me look around for a container to hold a large amount of water? Bathtub, laundry tub, maybe a rain barrel from outside... something we can get down the stairs so I can fill it with water for these folks."
"I didn't say it definitely would offer refuge. We don't know its condition at all. It's just the first place we planned on going to check," Verene says, craning her neck up to look at Horgus. "And if it does turn out to be safer than this basement, I'd hope you could at least shelter these people for a short time until we found somewhere more long-term, Lord Horgus. By giving each other space and complete silence, if necessary."
To Dea, Klarah and Syras she says, "Regardless of the mansion's condition or security, I still think you three are better off with us than simply hoping to not be discovered here. But, if you don't want to go, that's that. I won't try to change your minds. I suppose all we can do for you is try to conceal the trap door from above when we leave, and perhaps block the broken door."
Syras looks a little uncomfortable, but Dea speaks. "We haven't had much trouble getting water, but any help you can give us is good." She pauses. "Generally, the demons have left us alone. This is the first actual demon that's come. Mostly it's the cultists, and they've not been very thorough."
"There's a rain barrel next door." Klarah offers. "The Youbols used it for fermenting their alcohol, or something. Said it was better than the river water. 'course, it froze more often than not, so..." She smiles slightly, though there's a sadness about her.
"Unfortunately, we broke our laundry tub down to board up the windows." Syras adds grimly.
Horgus shakes his head at Verene. "It's not practical, but if you must see it, you must see it."
Syras scratches behind his ear. "Maybe so." He looks to his wife and daughter. "Klarah, Dea, do you want to go?"
Dea shakes her head. "It's hard to leave behind my life's work, but not much is left. I don't know..." Klarah remains silent, looking briefly at Elyda.
"The issue is that we don't know where there is a safe place at the moment." Elyda says. "If Gwerm Manor isn't an option, then bringing them along might actually be more dangerous for them than staying here. We'll be there to protect them, but they'll be in the open, and it's even harder to hide eleven people moving around than it is eight." She looks to the others. "If they're reluctant to go to Gwerm Manor, we should do everything we can to help them fortify and conceal themselves, and then come back when we find a safe place."
"Elliot, would you help me look around for a container to hold a large amount of water? Bathtub, laundry tub, maybe a rain barrel from outside... something we can get down the stairs so I can fill it with water for these folks."
After listening to the family explain their suggestion Elliot nods in affirmation. "Seems like we're getting that barrel, then. I hope it'll last you long enough. We'll do what we can to cover up the trapdoor when we leave - without locking you in completely."
When the issue of the chaotic-sounding free for all (?) with the inquisitors comes up and Elyda shows interest in it, he looks at her, concerned. "Elyda? Do you feel compelled to go there? It sounds incredibly dangerous. And we have other places we need to visit too, where we might find easier aid."
On the way out with Merixia, Elliot briefly stops in the store to select the clothing offered to him. "Clothes worth a hundred gold... it sounds so superfluous," he comments to her. "I'm tempted to just leave it, so they'd have more to rebuild. If it wasn't that we might need whatever we could get to fight back."
His gaze falls on a blue and purple-leaning Qadiran outfit, which gold-rimmed sleeves. "Though... I kind of like this one, to be honest..."
It felt right , in a way, as if he'd worn something similar in a previous life. And that was all he needed to know.
"Unless they are capable with a weapon, I would have to agree with Elyda here. Until we have a safe haven to bring them to, we would be tasking ourselves with more people to protect should a situation arise. That said, I would feel better leaving them behind with a means to defend themselves," his eyes turn towards the family as he continues to speak, "Have you trained with any weapons? That will help us better determine how we can help."
When given the opportunity, Thesius would look through the wares to see if their was anything that seemed to be of practical value in their upcoming battles. While doing do, he would cast a cantrip to detect magic as well.
"I do have to agree that wandering the streets with eleven people under these conditions sounds ill-advised, and if the Gwerm estate is not suitable to shelter them even temporarily, I would be at something of a loss," Verene admits. She looks at Elyda, who is clearly troubled. "Not to mention, I don't know what to think about 'fallen' inquisitors battling druids and cultists. If the park is Truestone Park, that is closer to the city center, two sets of walls away from here, in the Ring District. A considerable journey at a time like this." She carefully avoids making any suggestion beyond the information.
"It is very kind in you to offer to outfit us," she says somewhat belatedly to Syras and Dea. She has the feeling that demurring would only insult them, so she looks around briefly for something she can wear that is not finery that will only end up ruined, or so expensive they might regret its loss later when trying to rebuild. Eventually she spies a set of cold-weather clothes approximately her size, with a down-insulated coat, trousers, fur-lined boots and hooded cloak. "Ah, these look very warm and well-made, and might even double as blankets if I need them. I don't know if any of my clothes or possessions have survived besides what I have with me, or what kind of shelter or conditions we may soon find ourselves facing, so I deeply appreciate the gift." She smiles gratefully at the family.