The woman glances briefly at the group but seems far less interested in any revelations about mortal enemies and more irritated about excessive chatter. She pulls a large falchion out of the box, sharp, but notched and dulled from use and abuse. She holds it in hand and tests the weight for a moment before being satisfied. Looking down into the chest she reaches up with one hand and simply rips the loincloth off her discarding its filthy remains along with modesty on the floor. Crouching over the box she assembles her things and starts to put her real clothes most of it caked in stains familiar to long and bloody use.
That done she lifts up her left arm and grimaces as she reveals 4 long straight scars close to her armpit. With a sharp intake of breath she digs a finger into one of the scars and slowly digs around until it comes into contact with something. Equally slowly she pull out what appears to bee a long sliver of bone, perhaps a rib or perhaps a sliver carved out of a femur. Either way it seems very sharp. She takes a second to inspect it before putting it into one of her belt pouches. She repeats this process seven more times three more for her left and four again on her right. This finally done she hefts her blade over her shoulder and casually walks to the room where she senses her brother.
At the crashing and loud bangs outside she simply smile, "I think Mother likes you. You're not out there with them."
Jolene didn't regard herself as squeamish but she was disgusted when the woman stared digging things out of scars on her arms and had to look away, thinking 'Really?! What the heck! That one needs a new name, perhaps Masochist or maybe Revolting will do...'
She jumped and yelped in surprise when things kicked off but recovered quickly when wherever it was passed by and smirked, "Sounds like they're having a ball out there! Shall we go?"
With a flutter, Tiki shot out of the now ruined door and landed on her shoulder briefly before finding a hiding spot.
”Oh, someone’s definitely getting fired for this.” Goresk muttered as they all started pulling their gear out of the trunk. Either the guards had just left it here for the time being or someone had arranged for their belongings to be here when they got out. He shrugged at the idea and pulled his clothes on over the tunic then started to fasten on his armor. Under normal circumstances, he might have stopped to watch the feral woman strip but, well, not every day affords leisure time.
Goresk listened to the others as he buckled his boots and belt. He could not keep himself from eyeing the symbol of Pazuzu on Avamedes. What were the chances that one of Pazuzu’s followers was locked up here at the same time as Goresk?
”So, Avame-Avoma...Ava, Jolene” he nodded to each of them as he said their names. He swatted, halfheartedly at the bird as it flew by and turned to address feral woman. ”And-” Goresk paused, helmet halfway over his head when the feral woman started to pull...things from her own flesh. Goresk shrugged again, this time allowing himself an extra moment at the new view, and tugged his helmet down all the way.
”I’m Goresk Trulk, son of-” the thunderous crash cuts him off. Goresk steadies himself as the building rocks and he snatches up the cruel looking scythe just as the massive creature moves past. ”Mighnao spoke the truth! Somethingis happening!” He slipped on his pack and started for the door, ”Yes, Jolene, let’s go.”
"Something indeed! Time to get out of here, post haste!"
He was disturbed, to put it plainly, by Kelva, along with a sneaking suspicion as to her profane allegiances. Until it was confirmed, though, he'd withhold Pazuzu's wrath. No sense in wanton butchery quite yet.
Ioriana changes quickly, throwing her tunic and chain shirt over, fastening the clamps on her weapon belt, bow and quiver on her back.
Right. Follow me.
She steps out through the collapsed wall...
The woman steps over the rubble towards one of the smashed doors to a violently writhing figure bound on the floor. She bends down next to it whispering soft words to it as she starts undoing the bonds. Within a few moments a ravenous scaled beast rushes out of the cell snapping at air and posturing as if about to strike before the woman follows in behind it and shoves its large head down and behind here where it meekly stays for a second before falling in passively behind her. Bipedal with large curved horns sweeping forward from its large head it moves and gives the impression of a large flightless bird with all the fangs and ferocity of an angry crocodile. Most unsettling is the feature it shares with its master in that its appearance seems to constantly shift and move, albeit slowly, but just enough that no two viewings are precisely the same. Even now the woman has already grown slightly thicker and more muscular while her hair has started to noticeably curl up and in on itself.
When the angry woman so full of delightful threats and the promise of violence simply decides to step into the carnage outside Kelva simply follows suit. If nothing else at least she could bear witness to her painful demise.
As the group emerges from the small crowded prison, you find yourselves thrown into a city in chaos. The Kite itself has been completely destroyed, replaced with a giant plume of fire and smoke.
The source of the roaring is immediately obvious, as a great silver dragon soars overhead, and you immediately recognize Kenabres' greatest defender, Terendelev. She has watched over the city for many many years now, and is the biggest obstacle to the demons likely overtaking its defenders.
The target of her rage is also quite self explanatory, as a demon even larger than the one that just pushed past you hovers above the cathedral. Wielding a large whip and sword crackling with electricity, the large demon lashes out at Terendelev with its weapons, and catches one of her wings with his whip. Dragging her out of the sky, he quickly engages her in hand to hand combat, the pair rolling through buildings as they clash.
As Ioriana steps out, she takes in the new scene...
Now this is a surprise and something new...
She exhales loudly.
City in flames, demons everywhere and the big defender in a tangle. Doesn't look to good for the city and the crusaders. So what's next for us? I would not count on having immunity to all the demons. That seems unlikely for their kind, even though we probably count as their allies at the moment.
She looks to Goresk.
Anything else that lady said?
Jolene watches in fear and awe as the dragon is dragged out of the sky by the biggest demon she'd ever seen. Instinctively she was rooting for the dragon but then she remembered it was allied with the crusaders...
When Azlant asked what was next, Jolene stated the obvious, "Avoiding being squashed or otherwise randomly killed is what I'm concentrating on next. Still if you ever wanted to steal something, now is the time..."
Rather than being shocked the gore encrusted woman is enraptured by the sight before them. She follows the battle between dragon and demon closely. As they disappear through crumbled buildings she mutters a prayer, "Thank you Mother for giving me eyes to see. This humble child only wishes for many more eyes to drink in this glory you present and many more claws with which to collect the meat's hides. LEt this one swim in the roiling tide of fang and ruin and come out anew."
“Gawk later!” Goresk said. He snapped his fingers in front of the others, “We’re not free just yet. Some, promotion chaser might decide we’re more important than all this.” Even as he reprimanded them, Goresk could not keep his eyes off of the action in the city. Especially the battle between the massive demon and the dragon.
He forced himself to look away. “Mighano, the faceless thing that helped us out back there, said we should head to the Tower of Estrod. Something about allies in a marble labyrinth or something.” His brow furrowed as if he was searching for some more information.
"Not really sure where that is, anyone know?" replied Jolene absently. She was still staring at the smoke rising where the dragon crash landed.
Marble labyrinth? Tower of Estrod? Mhhhhh.
You're right though, we're not free just yet. And getting some more and better equipment might be a good idea.
Though not especially knowledgeable of local affairs, Avamedes tries to remember what he can.
With a cynical laugh Jolene replied, "Damn straight we're not free. Whatever that Mighano thing is, you can bet it'll want us to dance to its tune!"
She glanced at the smoke that was still rising from where the demon and the dragon were fighting and in a small voice she added, "If she's anything to do with that we're in no position to refuse..."
Jolene hated the idea of being on the hook for an unknown amount, well let's face it she hated being on the hook period.
Ioriana scowls.
Yeah, not free indeed.
She watches the dragon and the demon fight.
Whoever wins there will just be another tyrant over this land, which needs to be free so the old empire can rise again.
The answer to who would win the contest for the skies above Kenabres is quickly answered, as only a few moments after engaging each other, the massive demon pins the silver dragon to the ground. His sword rises high over his head, and then slashes down to cut clean through the dragons' neck. Her face is still locked in a surprised gaze up at the sky as her head splatters against the ground.
The fiend roars in celebration, and many a cry of desperation can be heard from the to-be defenders of the town. He reaches down and grabs the dragon by the neck and collects her head before swiftly flying up into the sky and out of sight.
Avamedes grins at the demon's murder of the dragon. The world was burning, as the demons demanded.
"The tower of Estrod's about half a mile from here to the northeast. Some sort of library if I remember right."
The dragon's demise was an image that would be seared into Jolene's mind and likely nightmares. She wasn't at all sure how she felt about it, the best thing to do for now was to keep on walking...
"There's that phrase 'it's all gone to hell in a handcart', I guess we're about to find out what that means." remarked Jolene with an impish smile as she started walking.
Sill with a note of caution she added, "We'd best be on our guard, I bet the invading forces didn't all get the memo about us and as for the crusaders..."
Iorianas mouth forms a big "Oh" as the dragon falls and gets decapitated.
A very mixed expression of gleamish joy, awe and hints of sorrow.
Yeah only in this case it's the Abyss, not hell. So that might be a lot more chaotic and ... different. I wonder if there are any plans besides "kill them all" and "despoil the land".
Library sounds good. Just what we need now. Bookworms. Let's go. Neither my arrows nor my sword cares about whether they strike humans or demons, nor do i.
She looks firm and dedicated.
While others seem to be shocked or amused the bloodied woman seems completely enraptured. As the others turn and start making their way away from the unfolding carnage the woman seems ready to rush towards it and bathe in the bloodshed. But, she stops suddenly and turns back towards the others as if something yanks her back and whether by conscious choice, divine intervention, the whims of chance, or simple bestial survival instinct she abstains from joining the hordes directly and elects to follow behind like a loping predator following a herd only occasionally looking back at the gleaming corpse and the untold havoc it was doing to the morale of the meat in the city.
A younger, more naïve Goresk may have felt something for the slain dragon but, after a life time of hating Kenabres, seeing the "protector's" head carried off brought a smile to his face.
"So, we head to the tower then? Avamedes, we'll follow you."
Avamedes nods, ”Off we go, then.”
As they travel, he surveys the assembled company. Goresk and Jolene seemed like reliable characters, as much as anyone truly is. Goresk, if he played his cards right, could be a useful pawn. Ioriana’s zealotry was admirable, though her cause a strange one.
Kelva…well, she was a dog of the ravenous b!#ch-goddess Lamashtu, but a strong leash could help to direct the madwoman’s fury.
The path to the tower does not look super easy to traverse, with large demons and collapsed buildings littering the way. But, it’s much more preferable to the prison you all just left.
Within the first few minutes of traveling, however, you get the feeling that you won’t be able to make the journey unaccosted. Immediately after this thought crosses your mind, you stumble upon a handful of men with longswords and shields standing warily in front of a shop front, their weapons at the ready.
As you approach, one of them calls out to you loudly.
”Ay! What are you lot doing? Mind lending a hand?”
Still wearing her torn ballgown, Jolene smiled briefly and sauntered towards the men but stopped ten yards away. Speaking to the one who spoke she replied, "Sorry love can't stop, we're on a mission to rescue friends and family! My Gregori works half an hour to the north west and the gods only know what's happened to to him with all these Demons! Wish us luck, we'll probably need it..."
This replaces the countersong and distraction bardic performances.
Avamedes quickly catches on to Jolene's maneuver as he chimes in, "Ah, poor Grigori. My own brother, in danger of these horrible demons."
Seeing as the bords were happily chirping away Kelca abstained from immediate slaughter and just ignored the meat to press onward.
The obvious crusaders look at each other in bewilderment at the story before seemingly waving you along with their hand movements.
The one that spoke before answers again.
”Go on, check on your family, we will deal with this demon we have cornered. With what’s happened so far, Iomadae herself would need to watch over them to see them through this day. May she shield you in her light.”
With that, she turns back to the doorway the others are attempting to pry open, and seems to forget about you.
Goresk’s grip tightened around the handle of his scythe at the mention of Iomedae. “‘May she shield you in her light,’” he repeated through gritted teeth. Goresk glanced at the others. If they were willing, now was the time. The crusaders had shown their backs.
He saw little value in throwing away their escape so quickly but, if Goresk was being honest with himself, he was itching for a fight. His muscles longed to burn with the familiar feeling of swinging the scythe. He needed to feel the rush of adrenaline that only a skirmish could provide.
Jolene hurried away careful not to smirk until she was well out of earshot. To Avamedes she flashed a smile, and said "Handsome, you have my thanks for your timely assistance. Still I suppose I should be even more thankful for the crusader's lack of imagination, little did they know..."
Kelva could smell the blooust and impending carnage coming off the men and her erstwhile partners. But she was patient when situation called and the idea of collecting faces fresh out of imprisonment and none too gentle beatings held little joy to the idea of decent sleep and a moment to reflect upon the holy visions she just saw upon her freedom. Blessed violence would come later. Survival demanded more caution now.
As you walk away from the apparent temptation of violence, you get about a block away before you hear a large outburst behind you of breaking wood and the screams of men. It appears you know their ultimate fate now.
Looking forward to the next intersection, however, is a more appealing scene. Two tiny flying monsters with ram horns curling back from the head on top of their wiry thin body.
Some of the rubble has been cleared from the street here, and an improvised stage made of several partially destroyed wagons and carts has been erected in the middle of the street. On this stage stand four frightened-looking men and women, each armed with jagged broken weapons and clad in bits and pieces of dented, bloody armor. The tiny flying demons swirl around the stage calling out obscenities towards their tormented subjects.
Jolene takes the scene in with a jaundiced eye. She prepared to hurry past but with an odd impulse she stopped and purred to Avamedes, "Tell me handsome, have you wanted slaves?" Turning to Ioriana she added, "Or maybe that's more your style? As for the rest of you degenerates, I have a feeling you're are looking for a different kind of sport..."
Avamedes gives a wicked grin to Jolene, "Slaves? No, but disciples? Certainly."
He turns to the demons and calls out in fluent Abyssal, "Children of the pit! I invoke the name of mighty Pazuzu, King of the Wind Demons and of all that flies, and proclaim that we have need of those mortals! There is chaff for you to torment elsewhere."
Ioriana looks in surprise.
Slaves? What good are slaves right now?
Seeing Avamedes going to interfere she just shakes her head.
Seriously? Disciples? Now? Are you going to preach to them? Forget that, we don't have the time. Let's move on!
"Let the peacock spread his feathers," the bloodied woman said with some amusement, "maybe they'll make him part of the performance." Kelva pauses for a second before a wicked fanged grin slices across her features, "as the curtain."
Goresk leaned over to Ioriana and Kelva, “If he survives, maybe we can enlist those flying creatures. Having a pair of flying pests could be useful.” He took a beat to look up and down the streets, “Especially since he just announced to half the city that we’re playing for teh other team.”
Avamedes’ words seemed to catch the demons’ attention, and the two winged creatures turn away from their tormenting to speak to him.
”Oh, you speak for the King of the Wind Demons, hmm?” the first one says, his voice seeming to shake slightly, suggesting he might be afraid of Pazuzu being invoked.
”Well, if you have need of these poor mortals, feel free to use them as you see fit.” the second one continues, picking up where the first left off.
”But, if you have no objections, sir, we’d love to follow you around in this wonderful slaughter of a city. Whatever fate befalls you, I’m sure there is plenty of torment to be had.” the first one speaks again, his voice full of mischief.
"Leave us the mortals. Wreak havoc elsewhere. Though I appreciate the offer, our mission needs a lighter touch."
He turns to the rest of the party and smiles, "See, I have my uses."
Jolene didn't like the look of these winged tormentors but it wouldn't do to look frightened in front of them so she yawned and pointed out, "We've got a fair way to go still, let's get going."
"Okay...so now you want us to have dead weight to drag around?" Goresk grumbled. "I'd much rather have these overgrown horse flies with us than," he gestured to the huddled people, those things. I know what to expect from demons. People? Not so much."
Goresk held his scythe out to one side, "What's worse, now they've seen us purla- parlay-" he paused to collect his thoughts, "TALKING with demons. We'd be smart to put this lot down now and be on our way."
"You trade the butcher's skill for the bones in his shop. Yes, very useful indeed." the woman considers this for a moment before apeaking again, "unless the peacock desires a mouse to carry around to discourage the meat and attract a mate? Is this what you desire little peacock? A toy to wave before the angry meat?"
When revolting spoke, Jolene thought her words where more than a little strange. She now regretted suggesting they take slaves, fury was right, without a power base they'd be a millstone around their necks.
She frankly didn't give a damn what happened to these people, as long as she wasn't the one doing or watching it. There'd almost certainly be killing later, perhaps Calliatra willing, there'd be a reason to mete vengeance. Vengeance was a dish to be savoured, pointless random killings on the other hand where quite the turn off for her at least. She could tell from fury's eyes he relished the prospect and she had suspicions about several of the others too, that impulse seemed to her to be a liability. Still you had to play with the cards dealt to you.
Hoping to start a movement, Jolene started walking and looked back to see if the group followed.
Avamedes ponders for a moment. The time for sycophants could come later. For now, he had to escape Kenabres with as little hindrance as possible.
He motions to the demons, "You know what? Have your fun, you deserve it."
Gesturing to the party he says, "Well, not much need for a few miserable mortals at the moment. Let's make haste to the Tower of Estrod."
The two demons laugh at Avamedes words, cruel unsettling laughs that make you wonder about their intentions.
As the discussion carries on, however, one of the captives seems to free herself from the fear holding her still and she charges towards the pair of tormentors. They quickly see the surprise attack, and a quick claw to the stomach is enough to send the optimistic crusader to her knees. She cries out in pain once more before collapsing to the ground, motionless.
"As you command, my lord." the sarcasm in the title is obvious in its words.
The demons' cries and laughs can be heard for the next few blocks as you move on, with the occasional human scream puncturing the silence in between.
Kelva found the whole scene mildly amusing. The play of human emotions and outright violence. A shame she would miss the results. But, at least this group seemed entertaining sensibility and the senseless, pragmatism and sadism, all such things can be found in the Abyss. Kelva could be all these things or none of them if she chose. Walking along she could feel the plots and scheming in her very bones and she reveled in the possibilities. So much joy to be had, so much gore and the potential for new life.
She quickened her pace automatically. The aster to this place the faster the veils of caution and survival can be dropped and the true meaning behind Lamashtu's wisdom can be splattered artfully on the walls.
Jolene shrugged upon hearing the screams, wasn't her problem. Sniffing disdainfully she remarked as she walked towards their destination, "This town is full of distractions, lets try and get there before we end up with an entourage..."
Avamedes rolls his eyes, "Yes, yes, yes. The fire and madness and the pain and the destruction is quite the distraction. It's just all so..." The man's face twists into a wicked grin as he licks his lips, "Delicious."
While nowhere near as maniacal as Kelva, that same feral delight in chaos and suffering is thick in his voice.
"I wouldn't really say it's delicious but it sure as s#!% is fun." Goresk said. His eye flicked down alleyways as they went, "How much further, you think, 'til we get there? We're not going to be able to talk our way past everything we meet."
It's been about 20 minutes, based on the position of the sun, leaving a little under 40 minutes to the tower. That is, as the crow flies. The destrcution and chaos around you could make the trip take a bit longer.
As the sounds of the demons' play finally leaves your ears, you notice that the town around you has been plunged into unnatural darkness in places, with the bright flickering light of fires puncturing the shadows every now and then. Surprisingly, the area in front of you that appears to me your destination is nearly untouched by both destruction and fire.