The Clockwork Mansion

   The sun rose to mark the beginning of a new day, it's radiance providing light to those beneath it's gaze. Yet, it's gentleness could barely be felt in a cold, unforgiving winter. Strong winds blew across the snowy landscape, circulating cold air throughout, and uplifting snow off the ground to give an illusion of a rabid snowstorm. Trees in the distance waved from side to side, leaf-less branches dangling in the cold weather. Yet perhaps the most unwholesome aspect of the setting was the stillness, the silence, with only the wind to be heard.
   A lone angel stood above the wreckage that once was the Whistling Willow, shivering in the cold landscape, enduring the stillness to the best of his ability. Yet, he was more concerned with those on the ground before him, they lay still in the snow. He had pulled them out from underneath the wreckage, and treated their wounds. The sight made him speculate about what had happened the night before. Yet, no clarity came from his thoughts, only confusion, and also sadness stemming from those he could not save in time. He shed a few tears for the lost, frozen on his face from the cold gale until he wiped them off, yet the memory still stung his mind.
   He looked over at those he had healed, checking to see if they still breathed life. He looked over each one... then stood. He had cleaned most of their blood off, but the thought that he could still do something more for them kept circulating through his head.

Red flickers of pain throbbed across Kedered's chest, neck, arms and head. It was worse on his back than his chest. Pride more than anything else kept a groan strangled in his teeth, an intrastringent refusal to acknowledge his pain when confronted with the possible inflicters of said pain. So he lay there, hurting. After a moment, it occurred to the last heir of the Aldoraethar house to open his eyes. Something was wrong with his vision. He could see light and dark, and make out the white of the snow on the ground, but when he moved his hand in front of his face, he saw but a black and yellow blur, not digits. It was cold. He tried to stand, failed.

For want of a more direct means of understanding his situation, Kedered consulted his old friend Memory, trying to track back what had most immediately happened. He had been at some backwoods inn called the Whistling Willow, swilling some ale that was more water than anything else, although the figure, whose features escaped him seemed to enjoy the brew. He was trying to recruit, yes, that was it. And then........... Kedered had to fight through a haze to reach the next part. There was light, there was heat, there was smoke, there was pain. His fur and clothes had caught fire, and he was trying to raise a shield when something struck him on the head. Now that he thought about it, he wondered why he didn't hurt more.

He was lying on his right side, so his left hand went up to his cheekbone, and then to the back of his head, confirming that somehow his skull was all in one piece. His headwings were still hidden too. Another gust of wind blew by, and he shivered. Kedered imagined his clothes were in tatters, and he doubted he could find a reputable tailor to make him new silks. A second attempt at standing succeeded. His hands roamed his body, substituting for his eyes, confirming that his money pouch was still somehow intact, and that the wood of his bow was in reasonable shape, although the string had snapped. The weight of the dagger in his boot was reassuring, he was reasonably certain he wouldn't be up to the effort of casting a spell. If he had more energy he could shapeshift a little, use the anatomical reshuffling to erase most of the pain.

He heard a sound, behind him and to his right, and turned around with a velocity that couldn't be called quick, but was more than he thought he could manage. His legs seemed to be in comparitively good shape. He could sort of make out a figure, and more to cover his own weakness than anything else, Kedered called out "Who are you? Do you know what happened to the inn?"

The angel, previously looking at those who had not woken up yet, turned his attention to Kedered. He took a step back and shivered nervously. A strong gust passed by, he closed his eyes and folded his wings inwards to protect himself from the chill. After a moment, he opened his eyes again, and relaxed his wings. It also gave some time to get a good look at him.
He looks like a tiger based angel, around five foot eight. His face is mostly blue, with orange stripes under his eyes and across his ears. Yellow hair tops his head, it's short, but slightly spikey at some ends, parted to his right. He is currently wearing a red sweater, probably over another shirt, as he can be seen with a yellow collar coming out from underneath. He is also wearing simple looking blue pants, and black and white striped shoes. His feathery wings are bright yellow, with slightly darker feathers along the top rim and lighter colored feathers on the bottom rim of his wings. His tail looks fluffy, and is striped blue and orange, and about 4 feet in length. The irises of his eyes have a bright gold color to them, and betray a certain youth to them. He looks young.
He looked up at Kedered, blinked a few times. He let out some muffled "I... I..." noises at his queries, but gave no coherent answers. He looked at a patch of clear snow, closed his eyes, and took some deep breaths, attempting to muster some confidence. 

Garis awoke as the sunlight started bleeding through his eyelids, he blinked a few times, then groggily brought up a wing to block out the sun.  He felt a slight shiver as he collected his thoughts, the last thing he remembered was playing with a rather cold fireball, and trying to catch the eye of the young barmaid.
As his head cleared a little more, he started to stand and noticed he was feeling extremely dizzy.  The wolf stayed in a low crouch while his sense returned, wings spread as the aches and pains started to become apparent across his body.  He looked like a predator ready to pounce as he stared at the wreckage.  Soon he began a look over of the area.  His right hand burst into flames, and his left rested upon his dagger's hilt.  he muttered half to himself "what the hell happened?!"  He then dropped the flame as he spotted someone he thought he recognized from the night before.  In a slow, casual stride, he walked towards the other two, stretching every inch of his body he dulled the pain.  Opting for humor after noticing the wings on the others, he said "i wonder if it's counts as cannibalism if i feed off my own pain"

The angel jumped back at first sight of Garis's flames, and onto the ground. After they waned, he stood himself up, and cast his eyes down into the snow, and then towards the wrecked building. He glanced at Garis, then at Kedered, and shivered, obviously afraid of both of them.
'What was he doing?' he thought, 'That fire could have set the wreckage ablaze!' He took a second look at Garis, but said nothing.
After a moment of regaining his composure, he looked at the two, he didn't know who or what they were, and had never met them before. He breathed a sigh of relief that both of them however, were alive and well as could be, considering the circumstances. He decided to look at those who had not woken up yet, but didn't move.

As the sun's rays hit his eyelids, Raffiele began to stir from the icy ground. The sudden explosion of light and sound was some of the most acute pain he'd felt in years, actually causing him to black out and hit the floor before being buried underneath an avalanche of wood and snow. He would have been passed out for the entire day had the angel not dragged him out from the debris to recover. It took the demon a few minutes to gather his mind and consider the whos, whats, wheres, whys, and whens.

There he was, ordering a beer and chatting up the locals. It was a simple little assignment he was on: go through some of Ithralia's urban centers and determine just how much of a lockdown on crime and immigration there was in each one. Then, report back to the ass-end of Astarea and tell his employer what the scene was like. And just as he was having a pleasant discussion with a rather enlightened being, the whole place was blown to smithereens. Some pleasant evening it turned out to be.

Making sure all his possessions were in order, the demon got to his feet and trudged towards the others. "Gee, hope the owner had a policy on this place." Assuming he even survived the ordeal. "And let me say right now, if any of you had anything to do with this, you're gonna find yourselves missing a little off the top." His hand fondled the steel tomahawk secured to his sash. If there was one thing Raffiele hated, it was having nice conversations broken up by violent eruptions.

paying attention to the angel's obvious apprehension, Garis took a moment to try and de-escalate the situation, he folded his wings so as to appear less intimidating, then took a casual but slow stroll towards the angel. he moved holding his arms out from his body, palms out in an attempt to show that he meant no harm.  In as soft a voice as he could manage, he said "i apologize for being so aggressive when i first got up, as you might have guessed, i'm a little confused as to what's going on, and expected the worst... do you know anything about what happened?"

Why are these people so violent? Kedered had spent a few minutes flexing and running in place, trying to let adrenaline do its little biological trick. To a large extent, it worked. He wasn't in top shape by any stretch of the imagination, but his vision had cleared somewhat, and he could move with a minimum of discomfort. He made some surreptitious efforts to shapeshift at some of the more inflamed areas of his back.

Two others had awoken, a hyena demon who looked vaguely familiar, prompting Kedered to search his recollections if he had ever done business with him, or perhaps a relative before. He seemed to be in very good shape, at least relative to how Kedered felt. Or maybe he was a good bluffer. The other was a very obviously young fellow Incubus. He really ought to keep comments like feeding off pain to himself if he doesn't want some being to carve a second smile beneath his chin. And both of them, being so aggressive so soon after waking. Subtlety, subtlety.

Ignoring the others for a moment, he stiffly made his way closer to the angel. He noticed for the first time his odd blue colored tiger face. The angel was slightly shorter than himself, and seemed to be walking with an ingrained cringe in his step, like he was ever afraid of being struck. Nodding solemnly and bowing at the waist, Kedered said in a full clear voice. "I am Kedered, the heir of the Aldoraethar family, and I would desire to know the name of the fine Creature that saved my life." He rose, and said more normally, less formally. "Do not worry, I seem to owe you a debt, and while it remains unfulfilled, I will not allow harm that I can prevent to come to you. Has the fire or the collapse done you any harm? I am a poor healer, but perhaps there is something I can do."

The angel suddenly seemed a bit calmer, though still quite nervous.
"I.... ". He had trouble mustering the courage, shaking his head shortly after speaking. He took a deep breath, and tried to relax himself.
"I'm alright..." He took another look at what was left of the willow, parts of it's structure were coated in a layer of blood.
The angel closed his eyes.
'I only wish I had been able to save them', he thought, 'but I couldn't, I wish I could have done more...' A small tear started to flow down his left eye. He looked down at a patch of blank snow, almost as if in shame. He then wiped the tear off his face, and turned to face Kedered, still not entirely in control of his mental faculties.
"I'm Kassin.... Kassin Starshine." He paused, glanced at the other two that had arisen.
A wind blew across, blowing snow all across his face, he shivered in the cold weather. He kept running the same thoughts through his head, 'Will they be alright?', 'I wish I could have done more...', 'Maybe I can keep them warm...', the thoughts went on. He closed his eyes, softly trying to keep his composure, and for the large part, failing miserably.

Raffiele tried his absolute best not to snerk as Kedered introduced himself to the angel. Yeah, heir to the butler and substitute teacher dynasty. He'd heard of the Aldoraethar and other clans from his grandfather's business trips and debates, and knew enough to consider them an example on how not to make a comeback. He could only hope his own family would never drop into such a rut.

"Well, Mr. Starshine," Raffiele spoke to the Angel plainly, "you can't quite blame yourself if someone went crazy and bombed an inn. You weren't to know." His leathery wings folded gently as he looked to the more gored portions of the ruined establishment. He still wanted to punch out whoever wrecked the place, but he had to admit, the perpetrator knew how to make things combust rather nicely. A Thom'sen would always step back to admire the particularly brutal handiwork of others.

eyeing the newcomer, Garis didn't really trust the demons frankness or attitude.  He turned towards the angel and took a semi-formal bow, he then said, "i am Garis Ahnasazi, a simple adventurer for the moment.  I feel that i owe you a great debt of gratitude, and if there's anything at all you need me to do that would help, please, don't hesitate to ask..." he then looked over at the other two, first the demon again, then the other incubus...
as he looked at the one who had introduced himself as the heir to the Aldoraethar family Garis thought to himself hmm, if it's that family that feels it's entitle to rules the lands that had thrown them out, then pity really.  No one should feel entitled to anything that they themselves haven't worked for... he cut his thoughts off as he  felt the pain of the others... it wasn't great, but it did give him a lot more energy, and also helped him recover far faster than had he been left to his own.

Feeling re-energized, Garis folded his wings around his body like an oversized, feathered cloak.  He looked at the ruble, then asked "anyone else feel like starting a small fire, perhaps it might add a little warmth, and give our fellow survivors something to wake up to besides the icy ground..."

Kassin nodded at Rafielle's comment, but it didn't improve his mood. He continued to stare at the ground, occasionally covering his face with his bright yellow wings when a gust of wind blew in his face.
He turned to Garis, and nodded at his introduction. Kassin wanted to smile, but he couldn't, not while looking at the wreckage and those who did not survive to receive his care. He turned to Garis after a fire was mentioned.
"A.... fire?" He shuddered slightly, both at the cold and at the thought. He didn't want a blaze to erupt and possibly kill those whom were still unconscious. "J...J...J...." He shook his head. "Just be careful." He took long pauses in between his sentences, still trying to regain control of his composure. His thoughts were more stable than they were before, but he was far from an ideal state of mind. He glanced over at the wreckage again. A strong wind blew in his face, blowing his hair and his wings with it's force.
There was plenty of wreckage to fuel a fire with, a lot of the structure was wooden, so could be easily salvaged for firewood, and it's not like anyone would really be upset with a few pieces missing.

Garis took great care when removing pieces of rubble, collecting some stones to form a rough circle first, set a good ways away from the debris.  The, grabbing some wood, he formed a pile outside the circle, several times what he'd actually need for a fire.  after taking a few minutes to set everything up, he set his hand ablaze, and held it under the chunks of wood until they caught. 
With the fire started, he gestured for the others to come warm themselves, using his own massive wings, and thick fur to take the brunt of the wind around the flames.  He said "come, warm and comfort yourselves around the fire, we'll have some time before anyone else will be in any shape to move anyways.  it can't hurt to keep ourselves comfortable until then"  He stood close to the flames, letting the warmth wash over his front, and collect in his wings.  He brushed away the snow, set his bag on the ground and just knelt in the warmth, enjoying the feeling and letting it wash away the cold and chill of a few minutes ago.

"I'm plenty warm enough." Raffiele kicked aside a few rocks, looking over some of the more motionless bodies. The temptation to root through their pockets was overwhelming, but earning the ire of the living wasn't worth the slight financial gains at stake. "...it was night when the place went up, right?" He glanced at the others. "And here we are in the morning, woken up by the good Starshine. We're truly seeing the apex of crisis response, people." It didn't surprise him, though. If they were in one of the more densely packed cities, officials would have been hauling carcasses away and stabilizing the injured within the span of... maybe an hour or two, but at least they would have been before sunrise.

A thousand points of pain danced about his body as Tyrian's foggy mind attempted the fleshy equivalent of a system reboot.  Lingering in a half state, aware of the existence of the pain but unable to feel it, the fox resisted the attempts to return to consciousness.  The logical portion of his mind was literally screaming at him to wake up, but he feared to.  Images played through his mind of light, swirling colors interposed with images of the tavern and disconcerting sounds of chaos, destruction and death.  He lingered on the last image, one where it appeared he was laying on his side, almost looking down his own form, but not quite.  A pool of crimson fluid rapidly widened in front of his eyes, it was blood, his blood.  His vision was becoming dimmer with each progression of the tide of red.  The scene ended abruptly with a thousand explosions of light and then oblivion.  His logical side postulated that such a thing was even more reason he had to wake up, to staunch his bleeding and fight off the shock, the longer he lingered here the more likely he would slip into a coma and then death would not be far behind.  

Amid the warring psyches, a third presence entered, this one burned with ebon fire, rumbled like the deep earth, flowed like the summer tide and carried a voice like an wild sirocco, Fools are you both.  Emotional weak, logical flawed.  I know we are hurt, but another has brought our condition stable, healed the gravest of wounds.  You would do well to thank him, warlock of elements... sorcerer of natural forces.  Now WAKE!

A clap of thunder resounded in Tyrian's mind, throwing it into a wakeful state.  Red shown in his eyes and tiny beams of light shot through small open areas where his eyelids met.  He resisted bolting upright and carefully assessed the situation.  He felt bad, very bad, pain in almost every corner of his body made itself known, from his toes to knees, stomach, chest and head.  He was whole and injuries seemed to now limited to deep bruises, sprains, and the remnants of deep critical wounds hastily made whole with magic... Angel magic.  

An ear slowly rotated and caught the conversations around him.  Other survivors were waking, but he waited patiently listening to the results of their post waking conversations.  They all seemed amiable and from what he could tell, this Kassin had saved them and probably him as well.

Carefully, so as not to cause alarm, the fox opened his eyes.  He attempted to move, but the pain areas that had made themselves known when he awoke all decided to throw him a party at once, he groaned and nearly passed out again.  Breathing hard, which caused pain, Ty bit his lip and shakily came to a sitting position.  He immediately regretted that as the contents of his stomach suddenly staged a revolt and bolted for freedom, a freedom Ty could do little to prevent.  The fox bent over and emptied the contents all over the ground.

The fox stared at the mess and sighed to himself, he was such a fool for eating food, but he had so wanted to try the fish served in the Willow.  They were renowned for it, but now they were gone and their last renowned dish decorated the snow and ash covered ground.  He spit the remnants out and hoped no more remained to try another exodus, pain remained though.  Groaning, he rocked on his heels for a few moments until his stomach finally settled.

Sheepishly he gazed in the direction of the others and completed his intent, rising to his feet.  He leaned on part of the wreckage until the world ceased spinning.  He nodded carefully to the others as he approached the fire.  As he neared, the blaze reduced considerably, but sprang back in full force after a moment.

"Well... um... h*i?"  He squeaked as he found his voice again, "ahem, I mean... hi."

The presences he could feel identified the others, though he was too weak to be able to discern what they were by anything other than visuals for now.

Garis noticed the fox's slow, and rather shy approach, he sat, enjoying his fire, and gave as welcoming of a grin as he could.  While giving a sort of wave, he said, "hello, i'm Garis, come, warm yourself by the fire.  I've been up a bit and thought that we could use a little something to fend off the worst of the cold... i'm not going to lie to you, it feels pretty damn good where i'm sitting"  He gave a sly grin, and used a winged tentacle to clear the snow out of a good sized are around the fire

Kassin rushed over to Tyrian, with a worried look on his face. He spent a few moments examining him, as if a doctor looking over a patient.
"Are... you alright?" He started, he still had a but of a stutter to his speech, still not completely calm about his situation. After a short time, he started to look partly sick himself, he closed his eyes and made a soft groan, as if he were struck by some invisible force.
Kassin folded the fingers on his right hand, and they started to glow with a bluish white color. "Please... hold still for a moment", he started, obviously concerned about Tyrian's well being.

Kedered tried not to snarl at the contempt he could taste the others projecting towards himself. While they pampered themselves by their fire, Kedered started rooting around the wreckage of the inn, gesturing a simple spell allowing him to see magical residues. He was looking for any signs of what caused the explosion. Hopefully, whoever did this would be sloppy enough to leave a mark. Besides, if any magical items were in the wreckage, they should be salvaged.

Off to his left, he saw a second angel arise from the little pile of bodies. His vision still wasn't up to snuff, and he could only make out a general outline, around the same height as himself, bright white coloration, foxish, dull, practical clothes. A flare came up from the first angel, this Kassin, as Kedered felt a spell being cast. Some sort of healing or restorative most likely.

Tyrian pushed Kassin away lightly, "save the healing, I'm as good as can be expected.  I just don't eat food very often, and our ordeal disturbed my constitution a bit... and well, you know... purge.  I would have handled it fine under normal situations, but this is far from normal."

The fox stepped back and stretched his wings, a few pops could be heard as the stiff joints were forced to move.  With a slight smile and a sideways glance towards Kassin, he sat down near the fire, right next to Garis, "so, Garis is it?  Well met, I am Tyrian XuLedo.  Pardon me for skipping all the formalities of polite company and let me jump right to the business at hand... does anyone know what happened here?  Who did this... atrocious thing and whom do we need to hunt, and pay back for it?"

The fox angel's smile took on a sinister and predatory air at the part where he mentioned pay back.

"i'm as lost as you are friend, and i doubt anyone else knows much more... i woke up this morning, and found kassin a few feet away" garis replied as he collected his thoughts.  A similar predatory grin moved across his face.  "but when i find the ones responsible, well..." he paused, his smile grew more wicked "lets just say they'll find that the wrath of an Ahnasazi clansmen is not something to be sought after"  his wing opposite Tyrian folded in on itself, forming a long and narrow bladed tentacle for a second, then shifted back into a wing as Garis relaxed... he thought well, this is a rather interesting lot here,  the arrogant incubus and would be king, the demon... and some angels who both seem like rather decent creatures, though apparently the one named Kassin seems to be rather shy...

Kassin nodded, and his hand stopped glowing, aborting whatever spell he was going to cast. He glanced over at Kedered, then went over to the fire.
A survey of the wreckage doesn't locate any magical items. Some of the wooden chunks that were broken off have cauterized edges, yet otherwise the pieces show no signs of burning. Some magical residue remains on some of the pieces at the bottom of the pile, perhaps of some sort of transmutation spell, but it's impossible to tell for sure. It looks like the enchantment has been there for some time, perhaps eight hours or more. No magical residue can be found on most of the pieces or on the corpses buried within the rubble.
Kassin started to say something, yet, found his speech stumbling. His thoughts tried to paint a mental image of the scene, but there was pain... not his... it made his head hurt just trying to think about it.
"I...." He took a deep breath, still trying to steady himself. "I don't have any speculations myself... I woke up to see the Willow as it is now... I tried to rush to save those that were wounded but..." His thoughts screamed at him again for only being able to save a few. He looked at the ground again, and sat down, his eyes staring intently at the fire. A certain fatigue could be seen in his young eyes. He looked over to see that everyone whom he had healed had arisen from the ordeal, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"But, I'm not sure that we should chase after whomever did this... they might be dangerous, and... and..." His speech ended there, his thoughts indicating that he abhorred violence, and the thought of seeing someone injured... or worse, didn't appeal to him. He closed his eyes again briefly, shaking his head with the distaste of his thoughts. He looked up at the sky, watching clouds drifting above. As he examined them, a strong gust of wind blew in his face, and a gentle snowfall came down around him. Kassin stood up, and stepped backwards a few paces. He looked over everyone around them, quickly glancing at them to make sure they were still in good health.
"Regardless... I don't believe we should stay here. I know there is a village nearby named Sharakha, it should only take a few hours to walk there. It's the closest piece of civilization to this location... and I figure we would do well to seek shelter." Another gust blew in his face, and the snowfall became stronger. He closed his wings around himself, shivering in the cold weather. When the gust subsided, his wings relaxed themselves. "The roads are probably going to be snowed over...", he continued. "But I should be able to find our way there without getting lost."

"Chasing some petty bomber's pointless, so you got the right idea." Raffiele crouched next to a corpse to give it a closer look, lifting the arm and letting it flop back to the ground. That childhood fascination with prodding dead things never quite left him. "The place would be painted in entrails and still standing if someone like me did it. There'd be a few disemboweled people and soulless husks if a cubi did it. But this? Come on, this just lacks finesse. Getting the little worm responsible wouldn't even be worth it." Whoever done it was responsible for disrupting his rest and relaxation... but Rafa had no desire to run around a snowy valley just to find and beat up one person.

"Though I can jump on the Sharakha idea," he spoke as he stood tall and perused the others. "So long as we leave before some cops finally show." If and when they did show. Raffiele was never a tremendous fan of authority figures, being or otherwise.

Kassin took a few steps back, he shuddered at what he heard from Rafielle. He didn't like thinking about bloody scenes like the one he has just been part of. He took a quick glance at Kedered, but he himself wasn't interested in what he was examining.

The wind started to grow stronger, bringing it's biting chill with it. Gentle snowfall started to become more rapid and harsh. The air became colder as time passed.

Kassin shook his head. "It's the closest place I know of we can seek shelter, and I would prefer to spend as little time as possible exposed to this weather. This place is not densely populated... and much of the surrounding area is unoccupied. I don't know if the rest of you know your way around here..." He closed his eyes as a gust of cold wind and snow blasted into his face. Kassin waiting for it to pass before he resumed speaking. "I guess once we reach there, we can seek shelter, I don't think this weather is going to get any nicer in the immediate future." Another gust blew into his face, he took a glance at the fire, flickering and dancing with the winds. It probably wouldn't be able to sustain itself if the weather continued to become more harsh.

"After that...", he continued, "I suppose we could go our separate ways, for now... it might be wiser for us to make sure we stay together in this weather."

Tyrian thought the idea of the town was wise, they would need shelter and a bit of time before they decided what to do.  Nodding to himself, he stood and placed his hand out into the top portion of the licking flames consuming every bit of fire and heat.

"let us go then, we will all best be served by shelter and to distance ourselves from the happenings here.  The authorities might well blame us for this act of murder."

Despite the temperature, he was not affected as Kassin seemed to be, indeed his attire seemed rather light for someone traveling amid the heavy winter snows.

Garis eased himself up, and said "well then, i guess we ought to get moving" He stretched his body, cracking the last of his waking aches and pains away, then picked up his bag, and swung it over his left shoulder.  "i'm good to go, feel free to lead on whenever your ready kassin"

Kedered was close enough to hear the discussion, and made his way over to where the speakers were. Nodding to the demon, he said softly "You're right, this awas kind of sloppy, unless it was for some other than destroying the inn or killing people. I didn't see any attempt to keep anyone inside the inn as the spell that set off the explosion went off."

Really noticing the cold for the first time as a result of Kassin's shivering, Kedered started shapeshifting to make his fur somewhat longer and thicker. After another moment of reflection "Going to a town strikes me as a reasonable idea, certainly better than simply standing around here, although the little paranoid side of my brain is wondering if whoever did this might be watching the most obvious place to travel to."

Kassin nodded, he started to advance down a snow-covered road. The pavement itself wasn't even visible, covered in knee-deep snow. He smiled as he took glances at those that still lived. With a small nod, he simply said "Lets head out then."

After a few paces, he took one last glance at the Willow, and took a deep sigh, and continued on. His orange striped blue ears started to turn red in the cold. He withdrew his hands inside his shirt and sweater's sleeves, protecting his fingers from the numbing cold. The prospect of walking several hours in this bitter chill did not please him, but he had no better options other than to trudge along. The roads didn't make themselves clear, nor were there any road marks, other than leaf-less trees that dotted the landscape, their branches flowing with the strong winds above.

The journey dragged on for hours in the cold landscape. It was silent, with only the sound of the rushing wind that could be heard, passing through. The snow got no better as time went on, but did not get significantly worse. Kassin, despite his shivering, numb hands and ears, and overall discomfort in the chill, didn't lose resolve and kept going. He didn't say a thing, but his thoughts were still plagued by what had happened at the Willow, and they didn't make him comfortable. He tried to keep them out of his head by thinking about Atharra's geography, or what he knew of it, mostly things about Ithralia.

'I'd rather keep away from Northwestern Ithralia, that place is dangerous... constantly under assault by demons from Narukh and soldiers from Thularia, and the locals are usually paranoid and will scream at the mere sight of me... but I can barely blame them. I don't really think I can stand Southeastern Ithralia either... it's got a lot of people in poverty, and seeing that makes me hurt on the inside. No one lives in Whispwood, to the southwest of our location, it's supposed to be a scary place too. Sharakha is in Northeastern Ithralia...'

Kassin cut his trail of thoughts as he continued along, his ears at this point were almost completely numb, as snow blew by them. He took some glances around. "We're almost there..., just a little bit farther." He continued on. After a relatively short walk, some buildings came into view. Yet, the sight seemed oddly still for some reason. Sharp details couldn't be made from this distance, though smoke could be seen rising from some of the buildings.

In a flash, Kassin yelped out in pain, and touched his left hand to the side of his forehead. He fell to his knees in the snow, and touched his right hand to the ground to support himself. He continued to groan in pain, and closed his eyes. No visible force had struck him, though he continued to wail as if grievously injured. After a few moments, the feeling subsided, he took a few deep breaths, but did not get up. 

Garis took a few steps forward, and offered a hand to help the angel up.  he asked "what's going on? are you alright?"  Watching the smoke in the distance, he prepared himself for a fight mentally, but kept his outward appearance calm.  His wings twitched slightly and his ears were pivoting like a search radar, listening for anything that might be an approaching hostile.  He started feeling the pain of others, and the cold that had started to become draining left his body as he felt re-energized yet again..

"Hahah, what's wrong with you?" Raffiele chuckled and gave a slight leer towards Kassin. "Hear the sound of a crying child?" He took the notion in stride, up until remembering that angels getting hit by unseen agony was often an early warning system. Stopping in his tracks, the hyena sniffed and drew his weapons.

Nobody ever got the drop on me until last night. The tomahawk twirled expertly in his right hand. Gave me the works before; you can't do it no more.

Kedered tramped along with the group, paying little attention to where he walked or the cold outside. Much of his mental energy was invested in attempting to force the tiny shreds of information he had on the attack at the Whispering Willow into some sort of cohesive sense, and the rest of it was involved in shapeshifting. Throughout the trek, his back had looked like some pestilent ooze, distending and swaying as he walked, only to be forced down from its lumpiness into a more normal shape. Though brutal and exhausting, the reshuffling of anatomy left Kedered largely restored from his injuries in the explosion.

He kept half an ear to the running line of patter that Kassin was saying, idly noting that his description of the locals in northwestern Ithralia seemed to have their terror focused on Kassin personally, an odd factoid given that the meek little angel was possibly the least threatening person he had run across this decade. Too bad he can't thicken his fur like I did. I wonder if the cold froze his brain.

Abruptly, he was shocked into full wakefullness, the smell of smoke entering Kedered's nostrils. Almost simultaneously, Kassin keeled over and started groaning. Kedered moved towards the supine angel, but when he saw Garis getting there first, he moved to interpose himself to the village, and whatever potential hostiles might emerge from the place. A little niggling suspicion emerged in his skull, and Kedered resolved to test something when they had a moment of peace.

In the meantime, Kedered waved in some preliminary spells, enhancing his sight and hearing, trying to get a better idea what was going inside the hamlet, muttering to himself "It would have been too easy to have a warm room and a bath, huh?"

Tyrian had walked in near silence, unaffected by the cold, he played many things over in his mind.  No one should have been able to sneak up on him so easily and done what happened in the Willow without him having had some sign.

As they neared the town, Tyrian was relieved.  He hurt in many areas, and the long hike was beginning to become quite much, so much so that he had taken to leaning heavily on his staff.

With the collapse of Kassin, Ty became worried, not so much for the other Angel, but for what could have caused that.  Was it an attack?  Was it a premonition?

Not leaving things to chance, the fox wove an elemental spell of wind and ice.  He reached out with his sense, changing it to the cold, bitter wind and allowing it to fill the area around them as far as he could stretch it.  The billowing wind carried his sight, hearing, smell and aural perception with it into the town.

The others were taking up defensive positions, which was good, because this spell left him a tad bit vulnerable.

Kassin didn't take Garis's hand, after another soft groan, he rose to his feet, and started to sprint towards the town. He seemed to ignore what Rafielle said, and rushed past Kedered. He was panting heavily, as if exhausted from a vicious ordeal. His thoughts kept screaming 'Someone is in trouble, I have to go help...'. Yet, even tired, he managed to run quickly in the knee deep snow. A soft, bluish white glow appeared on his right hand.

At this distance, your senses don't pick up much. Some of the snow in the town however, seemed to be colored red, probably with blood. Some of the buildings also seemed to have burn-marks. Not a sound could be heard, save the rushing of the winds. You won't however, be able to get much more without more complicated divinations or moving closer.

You're able to see a detailed picture of the town, it's a gruesome sight. Your perceptions are focused upon a sort of 'town square', what seems to be an open central area surrounded by several buildings. Corpses dot the area here and there, their blood still somewhat fresh. It looks like some were killed by some creature's claws, others burned alive, others had holes drilled through them by some sort of twisted magic. The buildings surrounding the location look to be in bad shape, some of them have collapsed, others look to be on the verge of it, their structures generally containing several holes in them, others having burns across their surface. In the very center there is a fountain, it's waters frozen solid in the cold. Sitting atop it is a lone demon. She looks to be in her late twenties, feline based. She has dark russet fur and bright crimson hair. Two short horns protrude from her forehead. She looks to be around five foot ten. It is however, easy to spot out that her hands, and her clothing, are painted in blood, some of it still wet. She shivers slightly in the cold weather, and has a bored, and possibly annoyed look on her face.

Watching the angel sprint towards the village, garis went with his gut reaction, and took off after kassin, folding his wings into his back, and getting the bladed tentacles ready.  He had some combat magic literally at hand, as small sparks of electricity jumped from finger to finger, and pulsed around the hairs on his right hand, the left was empty, and he debated whether to ready a second spell, or go with the dagger... he figured he'd have time to decide on the sprint.  He never grew tired as his energy levels stayed full thanks to the suffering and pain of others...

Spinning out a speed enhancing spell, Kedered raced through the snow, putting a hand on Kassin's shoulder.

"If there's trouble, I shoud go first. I owe you a blood debt, and would not see you harmed."

A flick of the right wrist later, and a three and a half foot blade of flame, slightly curved and tapering to a small point, encased with enough air to give it some impact value, appeared in Kedered's palm.  He glanced over his shoulder to see if any of the others were coming with him and then dashed into the village square, wondering what other enhancements to apply.

"They are all dead, but some one still lives in the town square... quite bloody gruesome."  The Angel stated to no one in particular.  Not really feeling up to it, but desiring to know more, Ty was spurred into action.

Summoning the spirits of the air, Ty briefly became the wind, dashing forward like a howling gale.  His form was still of a fox angel, but for the time being he was made of air. 

The angel missile darted up and over a building and came to a hard, earth shaking landing in the town square.  It was more a show of dramatics then might or magic.

He straightened up to his full height, (lol, spending willpower to keep from cringing in pain from all those stupid bruises from the Willow), and regarded the figure he had seen with his magic earlier, as he waited for the others to arrive.   

"Hi there, it's a tad chilly out eh?"

"Hey, wait up!" Raffiele yelled out and began to charge after the others, bounding through the snow on all fours with relative ease. Every step closer to the village made the stench of smoke and death that much stronger, culminating into the very distinct odor of a bloodied demoness. His stride actually quickened upon deciphering her scent, as if wanting to personally congratulate the mass-murderer and treat her to a candlelit dinner before the others caused a brawl.

Darting past the incubi and Kassin, Raffiele stopped just a few feet behind Tyrian with an audible scrunch of crushed ice, still clutching the tomahawk and dagger tightly, but keeping them in a low, passive stance. "Slayer of man and woman, how goes your conquest over the weak and inferior?" Rafa hoped he could avoid an outright ugly situation by opening with a little flattery.

Garis skidded to a halt in the town square, spotting the demoness rather quickly, he noted the blood everywhere along with the fact that the others had gotten here first.  He thought i swear, if anyone has already gotten me into a fight... he cut off the thought and shifted into a new line of thought "anyone here have any idea what the hell is going on? or who she is?" he asked, while nodding towards the blood soaked demoness. 

Kassin shook his head at Kedered's comment. "Someone is hurt, I'm sure of it, I need to go help...", as they ran off towards the town.

Tyrian got there first. At his comment, the demoness yelped, and backflipped off the fountain, and landed on her feet, her hand-claws extended. She then took a quick glance at him. "Very funny," she started, "Yes it is. Anyways, are we ready to move out, I didn't find any upstart adventurers that would interfere with the pl...."

She then saw Kassin, Raffiele, Kedered, and Garis, rushing towards her. She took a few steps forward, and gave everyone a quick glance. She heard Rafielle's comment, but then started examining Kassin quite thoroughly. Kassin was looking around, horrified by what he saw, his young eyes wide open with horror. He occasionally glanced at the blood soaked demoness, but couldn't keep his eyes focused on her for more than a second. A mix of terror, horror, and apprehension filled his mind.

The demoness smiled as he looked at Raffiele, "You forgot children" A disturbing grin crept onto her face. "It goes well, very well, especially with the prize you have generously brought with you..." She focused her eyes on Kassin once again.

"I... I have no idea..." said Kassin, responding to Garis. He had trouble focusing his eyes on any one point, everywhere he looked he saw bloody corpses or wrecked buildings, all of which disturbed him greatly.

After a pause, the demoness continued. "So... that is Kassin Starshine... and I take it you guys are the touched, whatever that means. Regardless, I hope you're willing to give him up, he's coming with me, conscious or not." She put a strange emphasis on the word 'touched'.

Kassin immediately started to stare at the demoness, eyes wide open in terror. 'What does she want with me?' starting raging through his mind. He took a few steps backwards, but this only prompted the demoness to smile more widely. She put her claws out in a threatening position.

"I promise I won't hurt him too much. Just leave him to me and no else has to get hurt.", The demoness concluded.

Garis chuckled at the demoness' threats then took a few steps forward, he had a grin of absolute delight on his face as he approached her.  He said "i think we should clarify a few things first... it sees to me that you are assuming that you have the figurative high ground milady, and secondly, the only reason i'm with this oddball lot is because i happened to have been trying to pick up a rather attractive barmaid last night and got both lucky and unlucky..."Garis reforemed his wings, then flicked them back and open, then, he exposed his headwings and continued.
"but that is beside the point, for now, i am Garis, of the Ahnasazi clan, and who might i ask am i speaking to?  ... it would be absolutely dreadful for this to devolve into something less civil."  saying the last sentence in a rather sarcastic tone.  He collected the lighting spark back into his body and let his arms rest at his side, showing the clan mark on his left arm.  His grin had yet to change, and his wings were feathery for the moment, but ready to reshape the blades at a single thought and the spell ready to be discharged at the forming of a gesture.

The demoness gave Garis a harsh glare, looking him up and down, sizing him up. She displayed no lack of confidence in her speech or in her expressions.
"If you must know my name...", she started, "I am Nicha, but really, that isn't important. And no, you don't need to get involved. What is important is that you stay out of the way while I attend to that little angel." Her facial expressions were more serious now, and her eyes were focused.

Garis simply smiled wickedly and cocked his head slightly.  He replied "we seem to be having a slight communication problem at the moment... Lets try this again Nicha, you want to take the person who helped me a little while ago, my personal honor won't allow that.  You are making threats towards someone, who unlike yourself, has been killing soldiers and armed opponents as of late... not a group of villagers... and lastly" He paused, forming 4 very wicked looking pointed tentacles with his wings, both arms started arcing with electricity as well. "you have no idea what i'm actually capable of" with the last sentence the wolf's eyes glowed as he prepared for the worst.

Touched? The hell is she talking about? Things were already shaping up to be a misunderstanding, with him invariably dragged into it. "What's so special about him?" Raffiele leered back to Kassin, then to Garis. He was already flexing in front of this woman, and nothing elicited violent responses from demons like a show of physical prowess. "Let's back up for a second: my name is Raffiele, I admire your handiwork, and I can assure you that my only affiliation with these men is one of convenience and pure happenstance." Though part of him wondered why he should even bother being formal. With the way his companions acted, the whole thing would go to fisticuffs no matter what he said or did.

First the inn, and then the next logical place for them to settle at went up in a slurry of blood and ashes. There's no way my luck is this bad. Something's up. Assuming they lived through it, he had some very serious questioning in store for Mr. Starshine.

One didn't need to be a 'Cubi to feel the tension. For Kedered, the sensation was like a million tiny beetles trying to force their way through his skull and into his brain. He could draw some sustenance from the emotions, but mostly they were distracting, and he erected shields for them.

Keeping his sword burning, Kedered took up a position in between Kassin and this new demoness, this Nicha, with both her and Raffiele inside his field of vision. He stood on the balls of his feet, his blade held low, but ready.


Staying calm, authoritative, Kedered spoke, enunciating each of his syllables clearly. "M'lady, perhaps you should inform us what is so important about this angel, and what seems to have happened in this village. You'll have a tough time convincing me you found the place like this."

Kassin looked even more terrified at the exchange, he took a quick look at Raffiele. He was too terrified to say 'You admire this madness?!?', but he clearly thought it out loud with a mix of fear and disgust. He was also understandably terrified of the blood-stained demoness.

Nicha didn't seem happy about being kept away from Kassin. She started growling softly, claws extended, with an almost feral expression on her face. She seemed to ignore Raffiele's words as she become more enraged with Garis and Kedered.

"I don't need to answer to you!" She started at Kedered. "And even if I did know everything, I wouldn't tell you, and this village? Not entirely my work, but I helped, and no-one survived." She started to growl more loudly, almost as if slowly descending into a child like feral fury. "And another thing, you don't know what I'm capable of either, and you're all marked anyways!" She lunged forward at Garis, raising her right hand, in an attempt to slash at his face with her claws.

Typical young demon, overconfident, brash, and highly undiplomatic. Now all that remains is to see whether she is going to last twelve seconds or six. 

Garis half snarled, half laughed as he whipped a pair of pointed tentacles into the demoness' shoulder and lower abdomen, non-fatal, but excruciatingly painful. he then lunged forward, pinning her to the ground with the other two tentacles which had formed into clawed hands while in flight. 
He cackled evilly as her pain washed over him, and filled him with an unholy strength.  "now, young lady... now that i have your undivided attention lets talk, because you don't hold the high ground, in fact, if i was on my own, you'd be dead already... that being said, if you value your life your going to do 2 things for me, first calm down... once you've done that, your going to tell me what i want to know, and while answering... remember that one of these could have very easily gone through that pretty little face of yours."  His eyes we're almost glowing bright white, and his smile was of obviously wicked intent.

"Wait, don't--" Raffiele stared at Garis' tendrils homing onto Nicha before placing a hand over his face. Just as he expected, things broke down into combat within mere moments of seeing this woman. All that was left was to do was ride the storm and hope they didn't rough her up beyond the point of talking, or simply kill the demoness outright.

Kedered gave out a sigh. "Why are you people so violent? Especially you missy. You should know better than to attack this heavily outnumbered." Kedered casually strolled over to behind the demon, who seemed to be in too much pain to strike out. He hollered over to Garis. "Should I break her legs? I've never really been one to think of pain as an effective deterrent. If she can't walk, she can't really hurt us."

Garis gave kendered a friendly smile and said "before we start anything worse than what i've already done, lets give the lady a chance to cooperate... breaking a leg is a much better threat when she's capable of walking away from this whole ordeal with nothing but wounded pride...well, that and a few scars to remember me by"
Turning his attention back to Nicha, Garis said in a low, level, calm voice "I can tell that what your going through must be unbearable agony, so here's how were going to do this.  You got a small taste of what i can do, and you know i could have killed you... so, we're going to talk, you cooperate, the pain eases up, you fight, the pain gets worse." nodding toward the other incubus "he wants to brake your legs, i told him to hold off on that...for now. so, whats it gonna be missy, you wanna walk away from this, learn from your mistakes and become a better warrior? or do you want my friend here to have a little fun with your legs, and we leave you here to rot with your work?"
Garis discharged the spells he'd collected in his hands straight into the ground, for a little extra show...

The tentacles hit, Nicha scremed in pain as blood oozed from the wounds. After a moment, her rage subsided, she fell backwards onto the snowy ground, hurt, but still alive. Her pride would not allow her to yelp in pain, and she tried to keep it suppressed. Despite that, she still moaned softly. She looked up at Garis, still angry, with a hateful glare. She didn't however, move her legs or arms, as she was in too much pain to move.

Kassin also didn't seem to take the display well. He turned away and gritted his teeth in agony. He touched his left hand to the side of his head, and knelt on the ground. He closed his eyes, and started panting softly, out of breath. He looked over at the gruesome scene, but couldn't keep his focus on it for long. Simply being near it seemed to place him in agony.
"N..." he started. "St... stop... please, you... you're... you're...." he started, he then looked down at the snow, and put both his hands on his head, as if trying to fight a severe headache.

Nicha seemed to calm down after a few seconds, still having Garis's tentacles sticking inside of her wounds. The concept that she had been beaten seemed to penetrate her thick skull, and she seemed afraid of enduring more pain. She let out a grumbling sigh, gritted her teeth, and then took a glance at Garis, Raffiele, Kedered, and Tyrian. She didn't bother to look at Kassin, who at the time, seemed to be in more pain than her.
"What do you want from me?" She softly grumbled.

Curiously enough, she has a mind shield up.
Curiously enough, she has a mind shield up.

Exhaling deeply through his nostrils, Raffiele secured his weapons and looked down at Nicha as he walked over. "Now that you've calmed down, I'd like to reiterate: just what about this guy is so important?" He pointed back to Kassin. "And why're we marked? Just because we're traveling with him?" His tone suggested equal parts annoyance and apprehension, expecting her answer to be the exact opposite of what he wanted to hear. Don't tell me I've just become stuck with a pariah, please don't tell me.

staring at the young demon, Garis felt a slight pang of regret.  He paused and turned to the group, then said "i think i owe everyone here a bit of an apology, i let my own arrogance push this whole situation into an out of control spiral... i'm used to dealing with beings, where a show of force is the easiest and quickest way to diffuse a situation.  also, while were talking, i think it'd be best if someone else does the formal interrogation... i'd rather not have something that's already blown up get worse..."

he then moved closer to Nicha, knelt down beside her and said in as nice of a tone as he could "alright, we're going to ask you some questions, and we want you to answer them honestly.  Under other circumstances, i'd have probably tried flirting first, as is, i am sorry we're like this... i can tell your cold, is there anything you want, perhaps a small fire until we get things sorted out?"

Nicha grumbled a bit, and shuffled around slightly, though she couldn't move very much in her current state. She looked up at Raffiele with an annoyed look.
"I have no idea why, I just know that mistress Firestorm wants him." She made a soft groan.
That name seems oddly familiar to you... though it's hard to place exactly.
"And I don't know why she wants you lot out of the way either... apparently he is the only one that's important to her and you're just in the way."
She groaned again, and then looked at her wounds. A gust of wind passed, her wounds stung with the cold air touching her injuries. She took a disgusted look at Kassin, who seemed to be in more pain than her.
"Manipulative little thing." She spat on the ground.
She then turned to Garis, an angry, sour facial expression took on. She gave him a harsh glare, but didn't say anything other than "shove off.", at his comment on flirting.

The snow started to get more harsh, and the winds blew faster, clouds raced above the sky... it seemed like the weather was worsening. Smoke stopped rising from the buildings, though most seemed to be damaged beyond repair. One in particular, two floors tall and larger than most, seemed to still be in reasonable condition, barring a sign that has been charred, several holes in windows and the walls, and the door having been ripped off it's hinges. It looked like an inn from the outside. If the weather gets any worse, it might be a good idea to seek shelter.

Garis got a little chuckle out of the young demoness' response.  he tried to hide the smirk by seeming to observed the rest of the group... he had a wry smile on his face when he looked back at her.  He said "you know, for someone who's been impaled twice, your showing an awful lot of defiance... if you want to know where you went wrong, it was not creating a distraction before the lunge.  next time you charge someone, try leading with a fireball, you'll get a good eight steps in before they recover... it doesn't even need to be lethal, just aimed around the face..." he paused, trying his best to keep a straight face "you know... i wasn't joking when i said i'd be flirting with you under other circumstances"

looking back to the group he said loudly to no one in particular "So, anyone think she's given enough information to warrant removing one of these" gesturing with a shoulder towards the tentacles

Kedered watched the interrogation with a sort of amused detachment, which promptly turned into distaste at Garis's lightheartedness. Kedered stepped towards the pair, crouched down next to the supine demonness, an cast a stupid little cantrip that made his eyes glow a bloodmist red. He didn't look at her except out of the periphery of his vision.
"She's barely told us anything, and if she can't come up with more, then we should take what amusement we can from her, and then slit her pretty little throat. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm curious as to..." Kedered started ticking items off on his fingers. "who this Miss Firestorm is, what her relationship is to our captive here, what they were doing in this town if it was something waiting for us, where the rest of her companions have gone, and why they'd entrust anything important to someone so obviously incompetent, why anyone would have thought she was important enough to put a mind shield over."

Kedered turned his gaze towards her, pupilless eyes able to see, although her face was stained crimson.which, at the moment, isn't much of a stretch. His voice was as cold and flat as glacial ice. A second little cantrip toughened his eyeballs, reducing the need to blink to about once every other minute. "While my friend here seems to have taken a liking to you young miss, I have no such sentiments. Now, my other friend seems to be in some distress back there, and I want to see if I can do anything for him, so I don't have a lot of time to waste. You will tell me what I want to know, and quickly, or I will hurt you, and then you will tell me. Do you understand little girl?" Kedered's now preternatural stare bored into the face of the young demon. "

Raffiele pondered the title. ...I feel like I should know this. Come on, in all those meetings I sat through, this should be easy to remember. He placed a finger to his temple, scratching methodically as he tried to recall the name. "Okay," he said, "remove one, on the condition that she spills some juicier info." Of all the people grandpa talked with, was Firestorm one of them? The question gnawed at his mind.

He looked to Kedered, feeling slightly irritated. He had no delusions that demons, himself especially, didn't deserve most of the bad things coming their way, but this was a pretty young one that thought she could just graduate from beings to creatures. To think that potential would be lost forever if she died... "Let's hold off on the whole artful slaying thing until we know more." He flicked his head in Kassin's general direction. "And get him someplace warmer. Those little noises of his are getting on my last nerve."

Garis watched the incubus and the demon go about their arguments, all the while, he was just trying sort his thoughts out i know i overreacted when we first showed up, and i should never had forced her into the position she's now in, i really don't want anyone to think i'm the bad guy here, and furthermore i don't think her blood should be spilled because of my own arrogance...
He sighed, then looked Nicha and said in a low voice, so as only she could actually hear everything "look, i'm feeling horrible about all this, and i know you probably won't ever forgive me for humiliating you the way i did, but i am honestly sorry...  know that i will do everything to keep you alive, because it was my own fault for putting you here...  maybe as a form of apology and repayment after this, i can teach you a few things, even if you plan on using them against me later... i let my own arrogance get the best of me, and i forced it upon you... i'm just really sorry for everything... " he let out a long breath, warmed the tentacles slightly, trying his best to ease her discomfort... He then waited to see what everyone else had to say

Nicha kept on the ground, still twitching in discomfort. She looked at Garis, but closed her eyes and shook her head at his comments. She obviously didn't think Garis was being sincere with his apology, especially since he still had his tentacles inside her. She turned her head towards Kedered. She left out a soft groan as a gust of cold wind blew into her wounds.
"I meant Nakata Firestorm." She first responded. She shook her head, as if she expected those around her to know who that was.

That name is easily recognizable, Nakata is one of the most powerful demon lords of Narukh. Most notably, she is the leader of an organization called the "Claws of Fire", a radical group of demons, cubi, and angels actively dedicated to eradicating the world of all 'lesser races', which basically sums up every non-demon, cubi, and angel in Atharra. Most often, their targets are beings. They often are found fighting with Thularians, but their numbers are not strong enough to actively engage in open warfare. They are mostly found operating in small groups, razing towns and causing other sorts of problems, usually involving murder and soul-stealing. They're one of the more problematic organizations in both Ithralia and Astarea. Nakata is extremely powerful, and keeps her organization in line with an iron fist. Earning her wrath is a terrible thing indeed. While she mostly tries to keep her targets confined to 'lesser races', her organization has been known to occasionally kill particularly problematic creatures, though in general she tries to avoid demon/angel/cubi casualties.

"And no..." She continued, as she took a deep breath. "I don't exactly know why she wants that angel. I only know that she does, and needs him alive and in her grasp."
"There were four others with me..." She started, "They went off in search of him", indicating Kassin. "I was told to stay here in case any adventurers stopped by and wanted to chase us after our fine work here... I wasn't expecting..." She coughed, the cold weather, which didn't seem to phase her before, appeared to start bothering her. She shook her head in disgust, "to find him, and you four...". She stopped there, and groaned in the cold weather. She made a soft whisper "touched...", but then shut her mouth and stared at the ground.

The snow started coming down harder, and the wind grew faster. Kassin wasn't taking the cold weather well, still in a crouching position. He winced as he looked at Nicha, and then started to shiver in the cold. Yet he dared not move, he was still paralyzed with fear at his surroundings. He took some glances around, looking at the bloody corpses strewn about. He closed his eyes, thinking about how anyone would be capable of such a brutal display. He tried to shut out what he was hearing, but he couldn't. His thoughts were incomprehensible and confused.

Raffiele said nothing for a moment, but Garis and Kedered could easily pick up the waves of dread nausea radiating from him. Neutral monikers like Firestorm tended to elude him, since so many people he'd dealt with had one; even members of his own family adopted similar titles. But the name Nakata was unique, and one that he and other Thom'sens never took lightly. He always remembered what his uncle Hejiras once said regarding her and the Claws of Fire: 'It's a rainbow patrol, to be sure, but one to watch out for. They don't stop, they don't take no for an answer, and they certainly don't tolerate interlopers. We stay far, far away from them and anyone they represent, and you'd best do the same if you know what's good for the family.'

As Nicha slowed and went silent, Rafa stood up and put a hand over his brow. Despite the bitter cold, his whole body felt feverish and ragged. And yet, he said nothing. The hyena merely took in the shameless slaughter around him, and imagined all of that unholy fury crashing down upon him.

Ty had decided that the others were more than capable of handling one young demon.  He also felt a twinge of sympathy for Kassin.  The angel was affected considerably by the death of the town's people and Tyrian could find little he could do to help Kassin.  This bothered him slightly as he did not know why he should care about the young feline's empathy or about helping and consoling him.

The fox pushed those thoughts away as he walked.  He had decided to check the town for any survivors, interesting things, or more bad guys.

Reaching out with a sense related utility magic spell, Tyrian searched for any lingering minds or lifeforce amid the carnage or any skulking hostiles.  His magical sense also extended to auras, identifying any items that might possess magical or residual magical traces.

Garis watched the others, and with a slow move said "alright, unless someone objects, i think she's given enough information to remove at least one of these..." he paused turned to the demoness, held out his hand and said "this is probably going to feel exceedingly weird, if you feel a slight pinch, you can feel free to grab my hand and squeeze as hard as you like, i've been told it helps a lot..." he let out a sigh, and placed his other hand right next to the tentacle in her belly.  "alright, i'll be removing it in a second, just let me know when your ready..."

Nicha didn't say anything, she refused to even look at her interrogators. She simply looked at the ground uneasily. She growled softly, some of her anger returning to her. "Alright... go ahead..." She grumbled.

The rest of the village was largely more of the same... razed buildings, corpses in the snow, and other forms of wreckage. Interestingly enough... some footprints in the snow can be found at the northwest edge of the village, they appear to be tracks of a small group of creatures, though the weather has erased most of the details.
Other than Kassin, Nicha, Raffiele, Garis, and Kedered, and yourself, your senses detect no other life nearby. Faint magical auras can be found on some of the buildings and corpses, probably residue from magical attacks. No permanent auras are nearby.

The weather continued to worsen as time went by.

Garis took a moment to shrink the tentacle before pulling it out... meanwhile, he took the one hand he hadn't offered the demoness, and began heating it to seal the wound.  he said "this is probably going to sting a bit, but it's for the best" Garis then pressed around the edges of the hole where the tentacle had been, making sure to stop any bleeding... he then started trying to heal the wound as best he could... someone else could have done it faster, and more efficiently, but at the same time, the others seemed more content with directing emotions ranging from apathy to downright hatred towards Nicha.

He held his hand over the wound, and his eyes started glowing again as he concentrated on filling the wound and restoring the muscles he'd damaged in his attack...  Smiling politely at the demoness he asked "feeling a little better now?"

Tyrian examined the footprints, dropping to all fours briefly to sniff about for scent traces like a feral fox might.  That which he found, he committed to memory.

Tyrian returned to find Garis healing the demoness of one of her wounds.  The fox wondered if this Garis was as... unusual... to all of his foes, or if it was just the one's he found cute and was trying to hit on.

Padding quietly over to Kassin, Ty keeled down bringing himself to eye level with the other angel, "come on, we need to get everyone to shelter from this cold.  Now just relax, I haven't tried to do this for centuries..."

Allowing his thoughts to drift back seven to eight centuries ago, he tried to remember his mother's instruction on the use of Light magic.  He focused on the warm, soothing feelings he could remember and summoned those up and into his hands.

He reached out and placed both glowing hands on each side of Kassin's temple.  The fox angel projected outward with his power and channeled it to Kassin's mind, filling it with warm and soothing emotions, doing the best he can do to try and ease Kassin's situation and make him mobile enough to reach shelter.

"come on now kid, let's get out of the cold."   

Squelching a grimace at Garis's behavior, while cauterizing the wound was certainly useful, the attitude of the 'Cubi towards a downed enemy was outright bizarre, Kedered licked a paw and held it up to the wind. Definitely getting colder. "The Angel has it right, let's head on over to what's left of that inn over there." Half noting that his right hand still held the flame sword, he ceased feeding power to it, and the flaming blade winked out.

The inside of the inn was a mess naturally. The broken windows had left shattered shards of glass underfoot everywhere, and Kedered was glad that of all his apparel, his boots remained in good condition. Light, it's going to be nine ways 'till forever before I can get a decent cloak. I hate traveling in tattered clothes. But other priorities await. Two interrogations, one unfriendly, and we have to scavenge for supplies. I still need a new bowstring, maybe I can appropriate some piano wire or something. Not the best solution, but it's better than nothing. Kedered decided that eliciting information from the demoness was both the most important and the most immediate priority.

They took up positions in one of the less damaged sections of the first floor, farther in and away from the fires. Kedered considered, and then discarded, suggesting that someone search for provender. If one of the Demons or Angels got hungry, they could go eat on their own. Kedered had enough fear radiating from the little demoness to keep him going, even keep him stuffed, although it wasn't exactly quality fare. She was almost like a little  beacon,  and Kedered would have been able to find her from anywhere in the building.

He motioned for her to sit, and then took a position opposite her on the scorched floor. Kedered flashed a small smile, keeping his lips together to hide his teeth.  He had maintained his redeye spell, and kept his unblinking gaze locked firmly upon Nicha's face. "Now, you're a very young demoness. I'd guess you haven't reached forty yet. Which would explain your hostility, your overconfidence, and why you're such a bad liar." He let that sink in for a moment and then continued. "Some of your narrative doesn't really click together. The blood in the snow is still fresh. Those people can't have been dead more than eight hours at the most. If there weren't defenders in this little village, no more were coming, at least not quickly enough to make a getaway. And certainly you weren't planning on spending the next twenty years in this rather dismal town. You must have had some way of contacting your compatriots. Or perhaps they're coming for you, is that so? Are you hoping for a burst of demons to come crashing in at any second to rescue you? So why don't you tell me what is really going on. I very much dislike it when people lie to me."

Garis took a brief walk around the building, looking for something to keep him busy while he worked through his thoughts...  the problem was, the wreckage reminded him of the you demoness, and he was honestly worried as to what the others were going to do with her.  He had made a promise that she wouldn't be killed, and he would back that up, but at the same time, the rest of the group seemed to be depravedly indifferent as to how to treat her... 

after a brief, silent walk, he sighed, then sat himself down between the demoness and the other incubus, forming a sort of rough triangle on the floor between the three of them... Garis decided  that if worst came to worst, he could alway impale them both, and heal them once tempers had died down... Garis didn't want to be seen as the bad guy, but at the same time he didn't have a handle on anyone yet... and as such, he wasn't going to leave anything to chance...

he first gave Kendered a friendly smile and said "mind if i listen in?" then turned to the demoness and gave her a polite bow, he kept his face blank, and waited intently to hear what she had to say...

Nicha yelped as her wounds were tended to, but after the cauterization she emitted a soft growl. Kassin also grunted in pain at the same time. Kassin felt a little better  as Tyrian applied some healing. He wasn't in ideal condition for sure, but it was a significant improvement. He was still shivering madly, but he managed to rise to his feet. He actually managed a weak smile.
"Th...th.... thanks", he replied, as he started advancing towards the entrance to the Inn. He went inside.

The scene inside... was kind of horrid.
The building itself was intact, though much of the furniture was entirely wrecked. From the point of view from the entrance, there was a 'bar' of sorts at the other end. Wrecked tables, seats, and stools were littered across the room. Bloody bodies were also inside, though the blood here seemed mostly dried out. There were doors on the far right and left ends of the room, both were smashed down. A staircase going downwards is located to the left, behind the smashed door. A staircase going upwards is located to the far right. The environment on the inside was still cold, but far more comfortable than what was outside, discounting the rancid smell of dried blood.

Kassin's mental state however, took a blow upon entering the place. The sight and smell of corpses was maddening to him. Tears started to flow beneath his eyes, and he could barely focus his vision on any one particular object. He glanced around as if trying to find some reprieve, but failing to do so. He went near one of the main room's corners and sat down on the floor, and started sobbing softly.

Nicha grumbled as Kedered continued with his inquiries. A soft growl emitted from her voice, and her face became less afraid and more angry. Mercy was making her more bold. "Look, I don't question my orders, I just follow them as long as I get to prove my superiority over beings." She stopped for a moment. "beings", she stated again with an angry emphasis, and spit on the floor. "The fresh blood was from the ones I decided to torture to death," she said slowly, grumbling incomprehensible words beneath her breath after saying that. There were however, an oddly high number of fresh corpses.
"And before you ask, there were a few defenders, they just weren't very good at it. And adventurers tend to wander around." The complete lack of weaponry around the inn, and around the rest of this village however doesn't seem to coincide with what she is saying.
"I was told to wait here in case any came," she continued. She then took an angry look at Kedered, and then opened her mouth as if to start another sentence, but then reconsidered. She didn't bother to answer how she could contact other demons or if she was expecting a rescue. She didn't however, actively rise up and attack.

Kedered stood up, "tsking". Circling around behind Nicha, he said, his tone measured disappointment. "I told you child, I do not like being lied to." Grabbing her by the nape of the neck, he hauled the young demonness to her feet, and then quickly established an armlock around her left elbow and wrist, bending her forward. "We will continue our discussion outside, where we do not have to offend the sensibilities of my companions."

Applying pressure to her arm, he leveraged Nicha to walk forward, following along and maintaining the lock, guiding her back outside to the storm. As they marched, Kedered kept talking, in a casual tone. "It takes time to properly torture someone, even for sport.  And if you weren't worried about being interrupted then, why would you assume that adventurers would come after you at some interval. You know, by my book, stupidity is a weakness. If I were to cut off your head and dump your body in the snow for lying to me in such a pathetic, obvious fashion, do you think anyone would be able to tell which corpse was the superior and which the inferior? Do not think that simply because I am..... less exciteable than the others, I would shrink from hurting you to get what I want."

He kept going, until he was out of immediate earshot of the shelter. After reaching what seemed like a good enough spot, he pushed away the hold, flinging Nicha facefirst into the snow, and waved a spell to bring back the flaming sword. "Now little girl, we are going to play a game. I am going to ask you a series of questions. You are going to answer them as quickly and accurately as you can. If you can do this, I will let you go from my custody back to the inn where it is warm and there is food. Each time you lie to me, and you do not seem to possess the skill to lie to me effectively, or hold back information I want, I am going to burn a piece of you away. I think I will start with your left wing, or maybe an eye. You do not really require both eyes, so you can be permitted a few mistakes."

He paused for a moment, let that sink in. "Now that you understand me, let us restart our discussion. You and some friends came to this village for the purpose of a little recreational murder. Your mistress commanded you to keep an eye out for my friend Kassin. You claim you do not know why he is important or how he would be coming through here. You remained, but your companions left. Tell me when they are coming back, what their abilities are, why someone put a mind shield upon you,  and most importantly, your real reason for remaining behind. You have five seconds to start talking, or I will take a piece of you."

A pause. "Five, four..."

Garis followed silently behind the pair, he had promised the girl he wouldn't let someone take her life, and he did intend to follow through. at the same time, he couldn't really deal with the angels, and the strange demon was more unpredictable than Nicha...  so, he decided that keeping an eye on kedered would be the best way for him to spend a bit of time... besides, if the demons came back, kedered would need someone who didn't shy away from combat to back him up until further help arrived... 

he kept himself in a position to observe, and intervene the interrogation if need be, yet far enough back that he was unobtrusive.  He found the cornerpost of a destroyed building, and leaned against it, wrapping his wings around him like a cloak.  He then sat by, watching and waiting to see what would happen...

before kedered started his countdown, garis sent him a message telepathically 'if your going to make your torture effective, take out a limb first, in a manner that it's repairable. i prefer stomping a knee, or breaking an arm at the elbow... it is greatest reminder to a victim that this was in their control, and they can still recover... besides, she's got a pretty face, i'd hate to see it scared when there are far more useful and effective alternatives'

While the others milled about, Raffiele was content (to use the term by the strictest definition possible) to sit quietly on one of the few serviceable chairs in the lobby. He didn't bother going along with Kedered and Garis, seeing as how they appeared capable of handling Nicha on their own. Besides, Nicha didn't seem to be more than a hired thug. Kassin, on the other hand, had already captured Rafa's fascination and contempt. He wouldn't have ended up on anybody's hitlist were it not for this one little angel who just couldn't keep from being such a goody two-shoes.

I should kill that little son of a bitch, he brooded darkly. I was better off buried under six feet of rubble. But he knew trying anything against the angel would have been foolhardy; everyone else would just turn on him. The only thing he could do was ponder over the Claws of Fire, and what to do once they inevitably crossed paths with a band of Firestorm's goons.

Nicha felt her wounds sting as she was flung into the snow. She faced Kedered, but this time, most of her confidence was gone. She tried to refrain from whimpering, her pride would not allow it, but she made a few soft moans as her face was buried in the snow. She managed to stand up, still clutching her wounds with her hands. She looked up at Kedered, terrified. She took some glances around, at Garis, at some of the corpses. Her eyes seemed mostly focused on Kedered's flaming blade, she tried to hide her terror, but she wasn't disguising well. After hearing the countdown, her defiance finally cracked.
"A..Alright j...just put the blade down!" She started, panting for each breath. She looked up at Kedered again, shook her head in disgust, then finally lowered her head.

"We were actually sent here to look for Kassin." She took another glance at Kedered's sword to remind herself of what might happen if she stopped talking. She decided losing pieces of herself wasn't worth stopping. "This place was merely on the way, and we thought he might come here. There were four others with me, three other demons and a succubus, all mo..." She shook her head in disgust as she tried to come up with what to say next. "all older than I. They left a few hours before you showed up, headed northwest..., they were going to intercept some Thularian soldiers who were looking to kill Kassin, and before you ask, I don't know why he is so important to my mistress or to the Thularians. I was told to wait here in case Kassin showed up, and if that happened, beat him down and drag him back to Narukh with me." She paused for a moment, she had to remind herself of her situation again by looking at Kedered's sword. "They didn't expect him to show up here. We thought there was a possibility though... but we thought he would have been traveling alone."
"I was told to wait here until another group would stop by, I was told they would come in three days, at which point, we would move out again to search for Kassin." She took some deep breaths. She was obviously uncomfortable being outside of shelter, raging winds blew and snow raced across the village. In the distance, one of the less stable buildings crumbled, chunks of it's structure flying with the storm.

Kassin sat still in a relatively empty corner of the inn. He was still sobbing softly to himself. Occasionally, he let out a faint 'how could anyone be so cruel' out... but largely kept from saying anything of coherence.

Garis used the silence to move in closer when he saw Nicha's obvious fear of kedereds very real threats... he was also quite interested to learn what he may be facing off against in the near future...

when she finished answering the questions, he first said to kedered "if you want anything else, feel free to ask, but she's obviously going to start losing concentration with the way your both terrorizing her, and torturing her in this weather, details tend to slip when your mind is focused on survival, and you body is screaming in agony"

he then offered Nicha a hand and said "from the way it feels on my end, you still need a bit of healing... it also seems your rather cold as well, if you want, there's plenty of room under my wings for the walk back...assuming my acquaintance here is done"

Kedered kept his face still throughout the exchange, gazing unblinking into Nicha's eyes. Out of the periphary of his concentration, he noticed Garis and his jabbering. After a moment of playing back what the girl said and how she was speaking, he nodded solemnly. "I believe you girl. We will go back to the inn now, and get you some hot food."

Kedered walked ahead of the pair of them when Garis offered his hand to the girl, give them a little privacy. However, he cast a tendril of thought behind him, knowing that Garis was adept enough to pick it up if he was communicating in that fashion. Kedered was practically dripping satisfaction. I have dealt with Creatures like her in the past. SHe is not likely to be afraid of pain, or not afraid enough to overcome her pride. She would want to undergo torture just to prove she is tough enough to take it. But that does not preclude other means of intimidation. The threat of being a crippled little creature, forced to endure the scorn of her companions is unbearable. It is all a matter of what they are vulnerable to.

A pause and then another projection. Have fun with her, although I honestly cannot understand what you see in the girl. Kedered lengthened his stride, wanting to get back in the inn. There were more errands that needed to be done.

garis fought every urge to chuckle at the message the fellow incubus had sent... he replied with his own message thanks dad... i think i can handle myself and one little demon...anyways, i can't help it that i find her attractive in some ways... impulsive, strong, powerful, and cute... besides, i started the fight, and feel a little guilty about that... oh, and let me know anything you pick up about our companions, i'll let you know if she tells me anything else... deal?

Tyrian stood at the center of the main room, eyes closed and uttering no sound for a good three minutes before the blood and gore began to change around him.  An immediate circle of 4 meters around him rapidly dried out before becoming darker and eventually crumbling to gray ash.  The same effect carried itself to the top layer of wood flooring.

The odor of burning blood and flesh was not present, it was carried out of the building and scattered to the wind as part of his spell.

Satisfied, the angel sat in cross legged fashion wrapping his tail around his left side and resting his staff across his lap.  Softly chanting to himself, the tone gradually coincided with the howling wind.  Weaving a spell of wind scrying, Ty elevated his hearing and sight to that of the wind, extending both out into a bubble of approximately 300 meters of surface area out from the Inn.  He picked up on most of the conversation with the demoness, but his main aim was security.

Silently he watched and listened, paying little mind to Kassin or Raffiele.

Nicha took a small glance at Garis, she nodded weakly. However, she didn't say anything, quite disgusted with herself for actually letting herself get into a situation like that. She growled softly as she was led inside, the position she found herself in was quite displeasing. She tried to avoid eye-contact with Garis, but often did so as she found she was trying even harder not to look at Kedered.

Kassin closed his wings around himself, still sobbing softly to himself, and enduring a mental and emotional meltdown. Though Tyrian's spell helped clear his immediate surroundings, it didn't disguise what he had seen in his mind. He took a panicked glance at Nicha as she came in, but then quickly wrapped his wings around himself to block his own view. He lowered his head, tears streaming down his face.

Your senses are able to pick some things about the Inn. The back room contains cooking equipment, most of which however is damaged beyond repair. The stairway going down leads to a cellar of sorts, it seems like there should be enough food down there to last about a week. There are bedrooms upstairs, most of the doors to them have been smashed down, others have broken appliances scattered around. It does however, look like there are enough clean bedrooms to house everyone currently inside.
The weather outside doesn't appear like it's going to improve any time soon. The weather is getting colder, and the winds are not slowing down. Aside from that, the dead village is eerily still.

Garis kept his tone light and gentle, telling Nicha "i can still feel some of your emotions, even if i can't tell the thoughts behind them.  I want you to know what you shouldn't feel as bad as you are...you are very beautiful, even if you don't accept it, and you have many admirable traits... your fast, agile, strong, and powerful, and i also believe you've got some amazing potential. you just need to get a little experience to learn how to use your own power effectively... if you'd like, i'd be more than happy to teach you some of what i know... and if not, at least accept that i did not intend to harm a fellow creature..." he let out a sigh, then added "i wish there was something i could say or do that would make up for what i've already done to you... so tell me, is there anything you want right now that i could help with?"

Garis kept himself slightly defensive as he saw the reaction of kassin.  He thought they probably think i'm crazy, acting towards a once enemy the way i am... well, whatever, they can think what they want.  I found someone i'm interested in, and i plan on pursuing that for now... besides, it's better she be under the watch of someone who does care for her, rather than someone who's depravedly indifferent... she doesn't deserve what she's already been subject to, and if someone else stays watch, it would probably have gotten worse...
He led her to a seat that was far enough away that she didn't have to deal with the others, or they, her... but at the same time, someone could easily intervene if she tried something.  He rubbed her gently on the shoulder and said "i'm going to go make some food, i'll be back in a bit"
with that, Garis went into the pantry, and recovered some usable cook ware, then went in search of something to actually cook

Without opening his eyes or turning his head in the 'cubi's direction, the fox angel spoke, "Garis, if you seek to prepare food, there is a fair amount of usable consumables in the cellar... down the stairs.  Upstairs also houses the guest rooms and there are enough clean ones to house everyone.  I do not think it is wise to leave Nicha or Kassin alone.  We should get as comfortable as possible, the weather is getting worse and I can see no end in sight."

Nicha grumbled softly. She took a quick glance over at Kassin, still sobbing on the floor. She gently rubbed her cauterized wounds, the touch stung, but wad oddly soothing to her. She then faced Garis, and examined him up and down. She refrained from smiling, and often took glances at Kassin. She say against some rubble and sighed.
"If you want to do anything for me..." she started in response to Garis, but then stopped to look around. She closely examined the others in the vicinity. "we might be best off discussing things in... private." She simply waited as Garis turned away to make some food.

The sun had set on the outside, and night fell. Pale moonlight streamed atop the dead town, giving some ghostly illumination for those inside. Snowy gale raced across, winds picking up, yet, those within the Inn were safe from it's rage. Going outside however... might not be a good idea for those who couldn't ward themselves from the chill.

Kassin stopped sobbing for a moment, tears still streaming down his eyes. He covered his face with his hands and wings, but slowly stood up. He went upstairs. He examined some of the rooms, and upon finding one in reasonable condition, he lay down on the bed. He covered himself with the sheets, still in reasonable enough condition to ward off the cold, and continued his sobbing into the pillow. His thoughts wouldn't let him fall asleep at the time.

Garis took Tyrian's advice and went to cellar, collected some bread, meat, cheese and vegetables, then proceeded to make several dishes at once, as he used his hands and tentacles to prepare several dishes at the same time.  He was lost in thought about what the young demoness had said, and the way she'd said it... because he couldn't read her thoughts, he couldn't tell if she was playing with him, if she had some serious plans, or, if she was actually coming on to him...  He took a few hours to prepare and cook the meal. it was finally ready as night fell. Garis said loudly "if anyone's hungry, all you need to do is finding something to eat it on"  Grabbing a pair of plates himself he dished out some food, then walked over to Nicha and said "if your hungry, i made a little something... personally i think it's pretty good, but you'll have to let me know what you think"  he handed her the plate then said "earlier you mentioned going somewhere private to discuss some things, where would you suggest?"

Rather than follow Kassin upstairs, Raffiele simply stayed put for most of the evening before wandering into the kitchen. Being alone with the angel would just make beating him senseless all the more tempting. "Not hungry for sandwiches," he muttered as he approached Nicha and Garis, "but I am hungry for some opinion." Rafa leaned against one of the kitchen counters, drumming his claws rhythmically on the surface. "Tell me, Garis, are you at all annoyed by the fact that we've just gone from one type of immediate danger to another thanks to this one person?" He kept one eye on Nicha as he spoke, as if expecting her to do something stupid or impulsively violent as he had his little chat.

"Myself, I'm trying to think of any reason why I shouldn't pound the living shit out of Mr. Sunshine, and my mind is drawing a complete blank right now." Being that honest probably wasn't a smart idea, but he was too flustered to really care. "Think about it: what do you do when somebody drags you into something that you never wanted to be part of? What's stopping you from just, as my cousin would put it, 'hogtying his ass and leaving him to the wolves'?"

Garis tried hard, and failed to suppress a smirk from Raffiele's obvious agitation, he replied "well, i see it as i'm partially indebted to him for saving my life, i plan on making sure he gets somewhere safe in return... but after that, who knows... as for doing anything about him right now, i really don't care what he does as long as he's safe, and unharmed.  The way he abhors bloodshed and pain has me a little concerned for his overall ability to survive though, especially the way the beings have been acting in the last couple of years... i really haven't thought the this whole situation through... my mind has been a little distracted" Garis' smirk had grown into a smile as he finished his response...
he then added "you know, while were on the topic of distractions, how the hell do you think one would get out bloodstains like that?"gesturing towards the young demoness while letting out a little chuckle

Upon his return to the shattered inn, Kedered busied himself with ransacking the place, not for food or wine, but for some sort of string that he could affix to his bow. He also wanted some time away from some of his new travelling companions, in particular Garis's attraction to that Nicha made him faintly nauseous. The girl had attacked them, and was stupid, childish. There were pretty faces by the thousand, and to become besotted so quickly was dangerous.

As he searched, he plotted. He wasn't sure exactly what to do with the demonness girl. Killing her would be a quick and permanent solution to the problem, but she had talked, not willingly, but she had talked, and Kedered was uneasy at the prospect of murdering someone who was useful. Furthermore, the other 'Cubi would not likely take such an action philosophically, and while Kedered was fairly certain he could beat Garis, or anyone else who wore their emotions so openly in a fight, that would make for irritating travelling. But the girl would probably slow them down, and would have to be watched. And she had companions......... Useful or not, if they were attacked, Kedered was prepared to behead first and worry about repercussions later. She might be stupid, but those claws in the back could kill.

Eureka! It wasn't ideal, not by a long shot, but Kedered found the remains of a shattered piano and took out some of the wires. One of the longer keys had a string that would just about fit on the bow Kedered carried. It should do for a shot or two, at least until he could acquire a real bowstring. which reminds me, I need to restock on my arrows.

Kedered became aware of the smell of fire, and worried for a second about another fire, before realizing with distaste that someone was cooking. He mechanically strode into the common room, trying to ignore the scent of roasted flesh. If I were not so busy, I would mock that little girl for having to eat, just like a being. I hope Garis isn't debasing his heritage. A few tendrils of thought, searching for emotional pain, divined that Kassin was upstairs, the direction Kedered started making his way towards. Passing the other Angel, Kedered gave a respectful nod. "I am going to check up on Kassin, make sure he is all right. If you want to do something else, I am sure I can ward him well enough for now."

Kedered finished his way up the stairs, figured out which room the Angel was in and knocked on the door. "It is I, Kedered. I would fain speak with you Kassin Starshine."

Nicha took the food, but didn't say anything. She ate slowly as she examined Garis and Raffiele, visibly expressing interest in what they were saying. She rubbed her forehead with her right hand, and kept her face down to try and hide what she was thinking. She put a wry smile on her face, as she closely examined Raffiele, and listened carefully to what he said.
With that, Nicha stopped radiating fear. Trace amounts of pain could be felt, but she had largely healed from her ordeal.
"So..." she started, but then she stopped herself. She then took a quick glance away from Garis and Raffiele, and decided to keep quiet with that. She looked up at Garis as he spoke, and then looked at her blood-stained clothing.
"Don't get any ideas." She grumbled. She then focused her vision on Raffiele.

Kassin continued to sob into the pillow.
His thoughts were a total mess. His thoughts kept focusing on the slain villagers, and the happy lives he thought they once had, all taken away in a display of meaningless violence. 'How could anyone be so heartless?', kept ringing through his head. He could not comprehend the meaning behind the situation he found himself in. Occasionally, his thoughts came back to the Whistling Willow, another scene for which he had no explanation. A silver lining of good feeling stemmed from that he was able to save some there, yet, for the one he found himself in at present, he did not. The thought stung him. 'Why?' 'Why?' 'Why?' kept radiating from his mind as he cried face first into his pillow.

Kassin turned his head towards Kedered when he heard him speak. His face was still red, and tears still covered his face. He sat up on the bed, which still looked to be in reasonable condition. Having someone around him made him a bit more comfortable, but his face still displayed sadness. He rubbed his face with his right hand, wiping away his tears, and closed his eyes. He opened them a moment after, his golden eyes tinted red from all of his crying. He nodded silently at Kedered's introduction, yet Kassin found it hard to focus his vision on him.

Kedered gave a respectful nod, before striding into the room and letting himself sit next to the distraught angel. He just sat and regarded Kassin for a moment, in a rare moment of uncertainty. Indebtedness wrestled with curiosity for dominance, and eventually Kedered justified himself.

"Kassin Starshine, the Angel. You obviously display strong empathy, the sort that you can feel the pain of the wounded and dead long after their passing. You have not developed the emotional calluses that most empaths acquire, leaving you vulnerable to stray bursts of passion, especially pain. It is very possible you are just young, but even the most sensitive 'Cubi do not generally recieve pain so strongly it incapacitates them the way it does you. Something....... is special, different about your empathy, and I want to know what it is. I have sworn to protect you, and I am the scion of house Aldoraethar. I will watch and ward, and protect you from anything that seeks to hurt you. But to perform this duty most efficiently, I need to know what you are and are not capable of, what points on you are most needing of a watchman."

While normally in an intentionally blank emotional state, Kedered gave off an impression of trustworthiness and steadfastness as he spoke. If it worked on a succubus or an incubus, it should work on Kassin, and if the angel could not pick up his projection, something else would be learned. An idle tendril of thought wondered what the others were doing downstairs.

"You soak the clothes in cold water before using something caustic to lift the blood out, and that's not really a paramount issue right now." Raffiele only ever washed his own clothing in one week intervals, but the thought of being derailed about laundry annoyed him deeply. "I've only been with this weakling for half a day and I already hate him," he said as he rubbed his right temple, "so if you wake up tomorrow and find he's scattered three places across this buildng, don't be too surprised." Though there was one little caveat to that statement. "Don't get me wrong, I realize you owe this person a great deal, but consider his potential death a kind of... severance, if you will. You could understand that notion, right?"

His wings rustled slightly. "Keeping in mind that I could have easily survived the entire inn falling on my head. There hasn't been a living Thom'sen that needed a healer to keep him going, so as far as I'm concerned, that little bastard did me a disservice." He turned to Nicha. "At least you two look like you might see where I'm getting at, which is more than I could probably say for Grand Poobah Kedered or whatever stupid title he gives himself."

Ty had nodded to Kedered when he passed and advised that he would look after Kassin for the moment.  However, he continued to monitor everyone and the outside for a little bit longer.  He observed the conversations, not out of suspicion or distrust, but to insure things were civil and everyone remained safe.  Satisfied that things were not turning hostile with Nicha, the fox stretched vigorously from his toes to the tips of his ears.  

Standing, he placed his staff in the exact place he had been seated.  The gem turned blue-white and glowed with a slight white pulse.  The spell would remain in place, but he could turn his attention away as it would alert him if anything living (or technically unliving) entered his perimeter outside.

He examined the food, ultimately shied away from it, the items caused his stomach to turn a bit queasy as the fish purge of earlier still stung in his mind.  The queasiness caused Ty to withdraw quickly back into the main room, but distracted him sufficiently that he missed the discussion the others were having, one that would have been good that he heard, but twas not the case.

He eventually headed upstairs and ducked his head into the room Kassin had occupied, "don't mind me, just checking on you Kassin, you should get some rest."  He nodded to Kedered and continued on down the hall to let them get back to their conversation.  The angel took the room just down from Kassin's.  He unbuckled his belt with his swords and other item pouches, dropping it on the nightstand.  The fox then unceremoniously flopped onto his stomach on the soft mattress, dangling his paws off the end and laying his head on the pillow.  His tail swished from side to side as he gathered his thoughts.  

Garis was again beaming with delight at Nicha's response, he said "you should know that it is a bit to late for warnings about ideas... but as it were, i'll keep my thoughts to myself on that subject... " his face turned more serious as he addressed the other demon, "Raffiele, i don't wish to be rude, but even if you were to try something that stupid..."
Garis sighed, then tried again "wait, sorry, that came out wrong... do you have any doubt that Kedered, a fellow incubus, is probably going to be standing guard.  He's a much heavier magic user than myself.  the other angel, who didn't display much at all is also up there, and we don't know what he's capable of, for all we know, he could be the most powerful of all of us who did survive... "  he paused, and collected his thoughts, feeling a little uneasy at what the demon was suggesting
"personally, i don't want to see anyone else killed, not kassin, not Nicha, and most certainly not myself, for now i'd be willing to bet everyone thinks i'm crazy for getting attached to someone who tried to take my face off" he turned to nicha and continued with a smile
"quite literally i might add..." he was grinning from ear to ear when he turned back to Raffiele, and said  "now, again, i don't want to seem rude but she had asked me to talk in private for a bit... and i'd like to hear what she has to say... but before you go, i'm assuming everything we've said has just been idle chat between friends, and as such should be treated as gossip... forgotten, or stored away until we meet again"

He turned back to Nicha, still grinning and said "so, where would you say is more private?"
(OOC, added) He kept the expression on his face while sending a thought straight to Kedered 'Watch the demon Raffiele if he comes near kassin, we had a rather interesting conversation and i don't really trust him around our rescuer... i'll keep an eye on the girl... if your going to tell the other angel, tell him quietly, as in, i was not involved in this, quietly... subtlety is going to be key here, and if i can get more information because he trusts me, then all the better... '

Kassin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he was still recovering from the ordeal he had been through. Though physically fine, his mental state left much to be desired. He sniffled slightly, and then wiped his face with his right hand again. He was still thinking about what had occurred, and felt terrible about it. After another deep breath, he mustered the will to respond, despite his stressed condition.

"I've been able to sense others discomfort as far as I can remember..." He began, "I've been told that it's unusual for Angels to develop such a sense, but I've never thought much of it..." He stopped abruptly, and looked at his left hand. "But yes, I can't bear to see others in pain. I try to help those I can..." he abruptly stopped again, flashes of deceased townsfolk invaded his mind. "How can anyone be so cruel?" he thought. Kassin found it difficult to speak, often taking deep breaths between words, and flashes of the gory scenes his young mind couldn't articulate the meaning of.

"I've never thought of my empathy as special. I know I'm a competent healer, but, then again, so are many Angels that choose to. It does help in some cases, I can easily know when someone needs aid, so I can give it. My empathy is actually, how I was able to find you." His mind painted a picture of him at the willow, he woke up, face first in the snow, outside of the wreckage. Pain assaulted his mind, he knew he could feel someone inside, trapped, dying, needing his help. His. The picture then showed him rushing, digging through, pulling out who he could and healing them. When he did, his mind got a little better, yet the feeling did not pass until he saved everyone he could. "I could feel you underneath the wreckage of the Willow." He paused and took a deep breath, he didn't want to be thinking about the Willow, the thought of all those he didn't save struck his mind.

"But, I've never thought about my empathy as directly aiding my healing abilities. It's a possibility I suppose." He sniffled softly, then continued.
"Another part of it I suppose is that I cannot bring myself to hurt anyone, it would feel like I was harming myself, if I did. I..." He shook his head. "I wouldn't do it, I don't even think I could if for some unfathomable reason I ever wanted to." He took a pause, his stomach growled with hunger, he hadn't eaten all day.
"Why would she want me? I never thought I would be put in a position to need a guardian..." He shook his head again, as Nicha's words rang through his head. "I promise I won't hurt him too much. Just leave him to me and no else has to get hurt."

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Nicha nodded, but still took an active interest in Raffiele. She continued to look at him closely, displaying active interest. She turned back to Garis. "Maybe one of the rooms upstairs, preferably one that is some distance from the ones the others are inhabiting?" She took another bite of some food, still a bit hungry. "I'm going to stay down here for a bit..., I think it's going to be a long day tomorrow..." She stopped as she took another bite. Her eyes remained curiously affixed on Raffiele.

Garis nodded, "don't be too long, i'm bringing the weakling some food.  I'll see if i can't tell you a little more, and i'll see about getting a room... " again, a smirk was brought to his face as he didn't quite say what he was thinking...

He gathered up a plate for kassin,  then decided maybe getting some bread for the other angel might be a good idea as well... so with two plates in hand, he went up stairs... He knocked on Ty's door and slipped some bread and water inside by the nightstand, then closed the door.  Garis then moved over to Kassin's room and knocked gently, he heard the talking inside but couldn't make out the words, he decided he'd make sure the other 'cubi had gotten his message, he eased in and said to kassin in a soft voice "sorry to interrupt, but i thought you might want something to eat before it gets cold... i want you to know that no matter what, i will let no harm come to you when i am nearby, you have my word on that..." he paused then turned to Kedered and asked "did you get it?"

Kedered heard the bundle of thoughts and emotions even before the soft patter of footsteps. The bulk of his attention was still on Kassin, and resisting the urge to cuff the boy-angel across the ears like his father would have done to him had Kedered engaged in a spate of whining like this.

"Kassin, I know you are distressed, I know you are away from home and hunted, but you have to have realized that your empathy is not normal. How long has this been going on? I am sure other angels, your family did not feel sharp stabbing pains every time someone in the city stubbed their toes."

Kedered broke off his line of conversation as Garis finally made his way into the room. Outwardly, he tried to ignore the other 'Cubi as much as possible, and trying to feel out his emotional state as he made his declaration of defense. After a brief probe, he projected, My thanks for bringing him some food. I recieved your message, although it does not take much to be suspicious of that demon. He strikes me as...... unstable, and if we continue travelling together we might have to take steps about him.

Kedered returned his attention to Kassin, saying "You really should eat." Disgusting fleshling addiction! "We are probably going to have to travel some more, and you would want to keep up your strength." He wanted to say more, but was uncomfortable pumping information within audiable range of the other 'Cubi. Information was power, and Kedered had not yet come to trust any of his travelling companions.

Tyrian's ear rotated back into normal position and then laid flat on his head as he prepared to test the boy's empathy.  Taking the bread he had been left, the fox consumed the whole plate of it.  Releasing his pain suppression, he hoped the boy was a acute as Kedered appeared to think.

When back at the ruin of the Willow, the fox had said he was fine, that nothing was wrong.  This was not entirely true, he had said it to not tax Kassin, practically Ty could cope and it was not known whether they might need the blue tiger's power.

As he had calculated, his system was still too injured to hold food and agony radiated from his stomach, maybe this wasn't such a good idea... I really don't like throwing up...  He fought it off, but the more he tried to keep it down the worse the pain got until he could not stand it any longer.  Ty leaned over the bed and purged the contents of his stomach into the waste bin next to the nightstand.  The act was over quick, though it dragged on for an eternity to Tyrian.

He rolled over onto his side huddling up into a fetal position, holding his stomach and groaning, oh gods, it seemed like a good idea on paper...

Kassin nodded at Garis's words. The added company seemed to make him more comfortable, though his state of mind was far from ideal. "Thanks.." Kassin nodded as he took the plate, but didn't eat.
"I've been empathic since birth, but... none of my family possess that trait." He stopped for a moment and closed his eyes. He didn't want to talk about his family, his relationship to them was strained. He hadn't seen his parents in some time, and his last encounters with his siblings were not pleasant. He paused, but was later interrupted when his sense felt a jolt.
Kassin, in a rush, put his plate down, got off the bed, and rushed over to the room in which Tyrian was inhabiting. He focused power on his right hand, which started to glow with a bluish-white light. He rushed over to Tyrian, and gave him a quick glance. "Please, hold still..." he crouched down over near Tyrian, ready to give aid.

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Nicha paced over to Raffiele. She gave him a haughty, arrogant look. She took some glances around, and making sure that Garis was out of ear-shot. After she was confidant that she wouldn't be heard, she looked at him, and reduced her voice to a whisper.
"I'll level with you, I know you hold no good-will towards Kassin and want to kill him, but I still have a job to do. I need to get him into Narukh intact, and I'm not going to stop now. If you want to go ahead and kill one of the others, fine, I'll be sure to grab Kassin and run before they can stop me, but don't get in my way, got it?" Her facial expression was demanding, odd, considering how easily she was subdued.

Garis felt the arrogance flowing from downstairs and said in a near whisper "i'll be going, i don't think leaving just the demons together is such a good idea..." he paused and sent Kedered another message if things get ugly, just know that i've got your back as long as you've got mine... we need to keep things quiet for now though... I'm going to try and pump the young demoness for any more information before something happens... i'm assuming you feel that same arrogance and pride dribbling up from downstairs... he closed the door and disappeared. He then examined some of the other rooms, and found one that matched what Nicha had wanted rather perfectly. far enough away from the others to be private, yet still in tact enough to actually sleep in.

He walked down stairs and said, "well, if i haven't missed anything important i'd just thought i'd let you know that i found a private room.  Besides that, it seems the others are settling in for the night, and i'd recommend we do the same... the later we stay up, the more it seems were conspiring... and it's always impossible to disprove a negative"

Tyrian opened his eyes and met the gaze of Kassin, "you... certainly do... have quite a... sense there."

He winced once, stifling a dry heave and panted, "I... would appreciate... if you... could fix my... stomach problems... don't need to eat normally... so I suppressed... the pain and lied to... ya, but I... thought we... might get it taken... care of since... we are safe."

Arguably the sick feeling had passed and the pain was lessening, but he might as well solve the problem immediately instead of waiting for slow healing.

Kassin nodded as he touched his glowing hand to Tyrian's shoulder.
At once, a soothing, relaxing feeling courses through you. The cold of the environment is replaced entirely with a gentle warmth. As Kassin takes his hand off, the warmth starts to fade, but the refreshment stays.
"Are you feeling any better?" Kassin asked, with a worried look on his face.

*********************************************************************************************

Nicha relaxed her facial expressions as Garis came back in, she nodded silently and started to head upstairs. She took a quick look at Raffiele before exiting the room she was in.

Garis pointed out the room he'd found that was out of earshot of the others, he led the way, sitting down on the edge of bed, and waited for the young demoness to enter.  Once they were together, Garis closed the door with a winged tentacle, then created a mind shield for himself just to be sure that this conversation was truly private.  He then asked "so, what is it that you need such secrecy to talk about?"

Tyrian was immediately surprised and sat up, he was hundred percent better than a second previously, "wow, that is such a strong power... it seems different than Angel light magic... how do you do it?"

His pain was gone and even the fatigue of the recent ordeals had melted away.  The rush of invigorating power raised his spirits considerably and without thinking, the fox hugged the tiger.

"thank you... you are quite unique Kassin.  I believe I should help you and protect you.  Where you go I shall go as well."

Tyrian released Kassin and laid back down, "I am going to get some real sleep for now, I do not know how long it may be before we can rest like this again... I sense danger in our future."

Kedered had followed Kassin along, staying to the shadows, the background, watching the exchange between the two angels, breathing in the soot and grime that was still leftover from the charred remains of the inn. One of the more sturdy rooms creaked, as weight was put upon its floorboards, and a blank space in the mentalic perceptions that Kedered fostered appeared. Raffaiele was unlikely to search for privacy, so that left Garis, and probably Nicha. Idiot.

Still, Kedered was satisfied. The two Angels seemed to get along, and Tyrian's proclamation to defend Kassin made his own burden lighter. He still wasn't sure where Garis stood, and Raffaile seemed openly hostile to the point that Kedered was unsure why he still remained with the group, but Tyrian was silent, and therefore potentially dangerous. Still, it would not do to wake him, and information could be pumped later. He tapped Kassin lightly on the shoulder. "If you do not mind, I would like to continue our conversation."

Kassin seemed to enjoy the hug that he was given. A smile came onto his face as he was held, Kassin seemed markedly more calm now. After being let go, the calmness stayed. His right hand stopped glowing.
"I've never thought about where my abilities came from, they're instinctive for me, I had always assumed that most magic is like that." He paused for a moment.
"And.... thanks... I appreciate that." His calm demeanor suddenly felt a shock as he remembered what Nicha said, a slight frown crept onto his face. He shook his head, he couldn't believe that he was being hunted by anyone. He thought of nearby settlements, about beings happily living their lives, part of him was concerned for their well being. 'Maybe when the storm clears, we should go warn them.', he thought. His trail of thought was interrupted by Kedered. He turned around to face him. He took a quick glance at Tyrian, then turned back.
"Alright,.." he started, then he took a quick glance at Tyrian. "I think we should give him some privacy." He started to slowly walk towards the room he had initially occupied. Once inside, he sat himself back down on the bed. He picked up the plate that he had left there, but didn't eat yet. A certain fatigue could be found in Kassin's eyes.

********************************************************************************************

Nicha didn't sit down, and looked at Garis with a serious looking expression. Most of her confidence had returned.
She looked at Garis square in the eyes. "I want to know why you're so loyal to Kassin." She said, and abruptly stopped. She stared straight at Garis, examining him closely.

Garis fought every urge to chuckle at Nicha... a big grin still crept through despite his best efforts to put up an emotional mask "my my, young one, where did you ever get the idea that i was loyal to anyone? all i said was that i felt partially indebted to the boy for saving my life... if he remains unharmed until he gets somewhere safe, i care not where that safe place is, or who takes him there"  He stood up, and flexed his entire body, stretching his wings to full length, and cracking away the stiffness he'd been feeling for some time.  Feeling far more relaxed, he then added  "now, if there's anything you wish to propose, then think these questions through very carefully before you say anything... what is your plan of action? and what might i ask is in it for me?"  He was grinning, practically ear to ear as he awaited Nicha's response.

Kedered escorted Kassin back to one of the less shattered rooms and indicated for the angel to sit. After he took a seat on the remains of a broken bed, Kedered, as casually as he could leaned against one of the walls.  He waved his little spell to reduce the need to blink on himself. He hesitated a moment before speaking. What tone to take.......... He's young.......

"It would not be a very good idea to warn nearby villages. This town was attacked because Nicha's masters thought you would be coming here, and I suspect the attack on the Whispering Willow was an amateurish attempt to get at you. If you want to save those people, when the storm clears, we should bolt to somewhere that is capable of withstanding a full scale attack, a large city, preferably with high, thick walls." A single blink of the eyes.

"Have you been attacked recently, before the whispering willow? And do you know who might have reason to fear an empath? Nicha called us "touched". Do you have any effect on people you heal, or perhaps simply travel with for long enough? I realize you might not have the answers to these queries, but I need to know as much as I can if I am to get to the bottom of this mystery, and any data you can provide would be helpful."

Rather than say anything to Nicha as she left with Garis, Raffiele simply gave a throat-slitting gesture to express his discontent. At least with them gone, it left him with a nice, quiet room to ponder in and judge his compatriots.

If anybody besides Kassin had earned his contempt, it was Kedered. His feelings towards Garis were ambivalent, Tyrian seemed decent enough, and Nicha was just some young demon fronting and trying to establish herself. Hell, he had three little sisters at home just like her. Just being under the same roof as Kedered, however, kept him mildly agitated. The incubus hadn't directly insulted Raffiele or made any odd remark that could be construed as one, but... he irritated him. Most of the reason was simply his origin: the prodigal son of cubi family that got bested by normals. And at the inn, he'd been trying to recruit others to help him take back the former Aldoraethar haunt. Why can't these jackasses ever learn to move on?

He sauntered back to his former seat, settling back down slowly. With nothing better to do, he closed his eyes and slowly began to nod off.

Kassin closed his eyes and nodded as he heard Kedered's inquiries.
"Attacked?" He sounded a bit upset at this, the mere thought of violence seemed to make him shiver. "I've had a few adventurers attack me, often blaming me for their problems, but nothing that was ever concentrated. I don't ever recall being attacked by a demon. I try not to do anything that others might consider offensive.." He shook his head. He took a deep breath as he decided to continue.

"My empathy?" He shook his head, he couldn't think of any reasonable reason why someone might want to hunt him for that. "I'm able to feel the sorrows of others and sharply so, I don't see why anyone would hate me for that. It's actually helped me feel those who needed help." His thoughts trailed off, thinking of several beings he encountered, had healed, cured of illness, disease, wounds, even a few cases of malnutrition and near-starvation. He shook his head again, trying to find sanity in madness yet failing miserably. "My senses have not ever hurt anyone else."
'Touched', he thought... 'what could that possibly mean? Was that demoness simply mad, that seems like the most likely possibility, if she found something so abhorrent as killing admirable, then it may very well be that she is simply demented.' He shook his head again, then faced Kedered.

"I've never heard of a case of healing magic having unintentional side-effects. I don't believe I have ever exerted influence over those I'm around. I honestly can't say what Nicha meant when she mentioned you were 'touched'. Maybe she is simply mad."

Kassin was getting tired, the night sky had a creepy luminescence of moonlight, and he went through a lot today. Travelling in a snowstorm getting to what he knew as a nice little village, only to have it utterly destroyed didn't do much to raise his spirits. He started to think about what Kedered said about warnings, he didn't like the idea of leaving them unprepared. Yet, he understood that it might be best to go to a city. He started thinking about local geography. He knew there were a large concentration of cities in Southeastern Ithralia, but the thought of travelling there did not appeal to him. Those places were generally poverty stricken, with large concentrations of wealth in the hands of the few, hoarding it away while many starved around their feet. Kassin shuddered at the thought, going there, while he would, he should be able to help those who couldn't afford to eat, his empathic sense would play against him, paralyzing him before he could even come inside. Northwestern Ithralia didn't have many cities, and was incredibly unsafe.

He lay down in the bed he was in, and put the covers over himself, still in reasonable condition.
"I think there is a place that might be safe... but, cities don't really have a reputation for being friendly to creatures." It's to the Northeast of this place, if I recall. There are some suburban settlements around if I remember correctly as well, travel shouldn't be too arduous if the weather clears up." He settled himself into the sheets on his bed, trying to get comfortable. He looked at Kedered again, blinking with his tired, young looking golden eyes.
"Do you need anything else?"

*****************************************************************************************

Nicha lowered and raised her eyes as she looked at Garis, trying to gauge his responses. She touched her hands to one of her wounds, it stung a little, but it was a quick reminder to the last time she tried anything with him. She looked like she was about to say something, yet was unsure if she wanted to say everything. After sitting down on the bed in the room, she gave Garis a squint, but decided not to continue.
"Look, it's late, I'm tired, and I've utterly failed to do my job, thanks to you. I can't do anything until the weather outside clears, I don't think he would be able to survive out there. Just don't get in my way in the morning and we'll be alright, okay?"
She lay down on the bed and covered herself with the sheets.

Garis replied "alright, you answered neither of my questions, but i suppose that can wait till morning... if you want me, i'll be in the chair over there..." nodding towards a large stuffed chair in the corner of the room.  He then sat down, wrapped himself in his wings and started to meditate on what had happened.  Getting a little rest, while keeping his sense sharp enough to detect any signs of trouble.

Tyrian dozed off, he was not particularly worried enough to keep alert, but if anything did happen out of the ordinary, his staff would alert him.  While hovering on the edge of sleep, he ordered his thoughts, trying to fathom why what happened at the Willow could possibly have anything to do with Kassin.  He also wondered what his role, and those of the others, would play in the coming days.

Kedered nodded at Kassin, signifying that he didn't have any other queries to make. "Pleasant dreams, Kassin Starshine." Kedered ducked out into the hallway, keeping an eye on anyone who would want to go to this level, and putting out a short auditory enhancement spell. Given the state of the blizzsard outside, he was not very concerned of people coming to assualt the town, but some of the others, especially Raffaiele.......... He stood extremely still and simply watched, waited, listened.

Night came and went quickly, as the storm raged on the outside. The night was quiet and dark, with only the pale moonlight to provide illumination, and only the sound of the raging winds outside to be heard.

Hours later, the sun rose up, basking the dead village in it's radiance. The chill remained, and the storm had not ended, but the weather was calmer outside. The winds were not so furious and the snow was gentle, less harsh than it was in the night. Dawn had come.

Kassin woke from his sleep as sunlight passed into his room, he awoke in a flash, immediately getting out of a lying down position to sitting on his bed. He was out of breath, panting, trying to breathe deeply but couldn't. He touched his head, as if in a headache. He could feel no one else, yet, felt as though he had been through a rough ordeal. He looked around, and wanted to believe that what he had seen of Sharaka was a nightmare and nothing more, but he shook his head as he rose to his feet.
'But what I saw? Is it any more real than this village? I hope it was just a dream... please just be a dream...' he thought. He clutched his hand over his heart to try and steady it's beat, yet, all he could do was wait for it to calm down.

Nicha rose from her slumber. She groaned softly as she examined her surroundings, her wounds hadn't completely healed yet. Immediately after rising, she started walking towards her room's exit, without saying a word.

Garis heard the movements before his other senses kicked in, he shifted slightly and said in a soft tone "before we get going, you and i have a few things to discuss Nicha... as i said last night, i was willing to wait till morning, but if you think your just going to sneak off, particularly in the shape your in, your very sadly mistaken... i'll tell you what, let me finish healing those wounds, and you can tell me what you were so hesitant to say last night... sound alright?  maybe afterwards i'll go cook up some breakfast... i'm sure grabbing a bite to eat couldn't hurt too much... besides, kedered is just outside... didn't anyone ever tell you that cubi don't actually need sleep"

Morning has come and Tyrian awoke slowly.  The fox stretched every inch of his body before rolling out of bed.  The floor was cold and the heating was poor, as it appeared no one had maintained the central fire.  Magical heating systems still need something to run off of.

A simple magic spell of refreshing took care of his grooming and hygiene, normally he found such uses of magic frivolous, but for now, he did not know if he had the luxury of spending a few hours on personal grooming.  They were still in a dangerous position with many unknown factors sleeping in rooms around him.

He buckled on his belt and weapons and gathered the last scattered bits of equipment he had before exiting.  His first stop was Kassin's room where he knocked quietly, "Kassin?  Are you awake?"

Kassin groaned softly as he began to become fully awake. He slowly paced towards his room's door. Kassin opened it without saying a word, he glanced around to see Kedered and Tyrian outside. He nodded softly at Tyrian's query. He had trouble focusing his eyes, and his thoughts troubled him.
'Just a dream... just a dream... just a dream...' he thought. He closed his eyes and shook his head, he turned his face back to Tyrian.
"I'm awake..." he took a deep breath after speaking, his arms and legs ached, yet, he didn't want to spend any more time in this dead village, the mere thought of what had occurred here made him shudder.
"I'll be downstairs, I think we should get moving soon..." He shook his head again. "I really don't want to stay here, and I think the storm outside has cleared up, the sooner we get moving... the better." He slowly paced downstairs, went into the main room, and found someplace that wasn't obstructed by rubble to sit down. He silently waited, hoping that everyone would wake up and come down so they could figure out where to go next. He had an idea...

******************************************************************************************

Nicha stopped walking for a moment, and looked at Garis with a serious expression on her face.
"I'll be direct then, I still intend to drag Kassin to Narukh, I originally thought you might help me in that regard, but I don't think you will, considering how you feel indebted to him. So now, I'm just asking you to stay out of my way, or if you want, you can help me, I really don't care, but the weather has cleared, and I have a job to do."
With that, she continued walking towards her room's door, her claws started to extend and become sharp...

Garis sighed... he was being forced to either betray someone he owed a debt to, or betray someone he was interested in, no mater what happened it was looking more and more like a no win... he looked up at nicha with sad, yet serious eyes, and said "you'll get yourself killed if you try that in here... i'm not saying that to try and persuade you to try something different, merely pointing out that your injured, albeit slightly. your going into close quarters with a heavy magic user, where you don't have the room to use your agility to avoid his spells, and your outnumbered... if i'm not mistake the other angel is also up... so please, just come here, and lets talk things over... i really don't want to bring this up, but you should know that you stood a better chance against me outside, than you do against kedered inside"

he let out long, breath and collected his thoughts on how to go about rationalizing his concern in terms that he thought she would understand...
"if your going out there, i can't say that i can guarantee that you'll survive, but i'll do what i can to keep them from killing you outright if you wind up wounded again... just know that my physical attraction only goes so far in what i'm willing to do for you..." Garis paused and awaited Nicha's response

Tyrian followed Kassin down the stairs, his footfalls were barely audible.  He broke away from following the younger angel long enough to retrieve his staff and cancel his spell.  The staff stored the night's activity, but as he skimmed through it at lightning speed, nothing stood out as unusual.

The fox really did not have the patience to review hours of visual and audio data, so the interesting discussions of the night went largely unknown to him.

He approached the spot where Kassin had chosen to sit and stood his staff against the wall before taking a seat right next to him.

"So where will we be heading Kassin?  I will be with you for quite a while, whether or not you desire it.  So I hope you can come to trust me."

Kedered hadn't slept, but his attention was not fully on the corridor stretch that he was guarding. Some of his energies were spent in a bit of minor magic, washing the dust and grime of the day's events from his clothes and body, and then enacting a minor scent.  Mostly, he was concerned with the events of the past few days, trying to establish some coherency between a scattering of data points, albiet to little effect. He still only had a vague idea as to the extent of Kassin's abilities, and no clue at all when it came to who, besides Thularians, would want to eliminate such an obviously harmless creature.

And then there were his companions. Kassin seemed completely incapable of taking care of himself, and he wasn't too sure of the Angel's evasions as to his whereabouts and doings before the whispering willow. Tyrian was an enigma, although obviously quite capable, Garis a skilled warrior with those dangerous tentacles, but perhaps a bit flighty, and seemingly vulnerable to a pretty face. It would be far safer all around if his attraction to Nicha was severed, perhaps along with her aorta, but the 'Cubi was far more dangerous than the demoness, and Kedered wasn't going to kill her if it meant earning the other Incubus's enmity.

As for that demon, Raffiele....... Kedered broke his usual reserve and allowed himself a brief, private moment of indulging in dislike, a mixed cocktail of anger and contempt. Part of it was simply a reciprocation for the demon's obvious distaste of himself, but quite a bit of it was for his own sake. Bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed, forsakeing gain simply to get a kill had always irritated Kedered, and it seemed a trait that the demon indulged in. His motives were unclear, and the most plausible reason Kedered could ascertain to the demon's presence was to give Kassin a beating, simply for kicks. Besides, the odor of stale sweat and what seemed to be fish emanated from his clothes and body, making Kedered glad he had an empty stomach.

With a shake of the head, Kedered forced himself to be calm. The words of his father rang once again in the halls of his mind.Remember boy, who your real rivals are. Not necessarily your enemies, but your rivals. Keep an edge on them if you can. They'll always be probing at you, but that doesn't mean you have to make it easy for them. The walls of discipline mended and thickened, and Kedered found that he could plot details of an incursion into Thularia with only the barest of emotional twinges, lost in the newfound sensations as the others awoke.
Perhaps I should have peered into Kassin's dreaming. I do not like to invade the privacy of someone I am protecting, but it is for his own good.... No, it is not yet critical that I possesss more data.

With a sniff, he made his way towards one of the broken windows, hoping to get a feel for what the weather would be like this day.

On the outside, the winds were calm, and the snow had become much more gentle, but it was still cold. A  few inches of snow still covered the ground from last night's fall. It seemed as though traveling would be possible, if not entirely pleasant.

Kassin looked at Tyrian, his mind still playing through what he should do next.
He took a deep breath before responding. "I'm not entirely sure..., Kedered said that we would be safest inside a city. There is one not far to the northeast, and if we leave soon, we should be able to get there before the day has gone, but after that... I really don't know, I just hope that the girl was incorrect in saying that I'm being sought..."
He stopped looking at Tyrian and looked at the ground, deep in thought. 'What if it's dangerous, was what I saw in my dream really true?.. No... just a dream, just a dream... but that mysterious lady used the word 'touched', and mentioned five, wanting to eliminate four yet leaving the first alone, and calling out these four by name... That demoness called my companions here 'touched' as well, maybe I'm just projecting, but that seems too coincidental, maybe my mind is just projecting things... I think that must be the case... nothing more than a fantasy... is all...'
He took another look at Tyrian, took another deep breath, then continued. "Regardless, I think we should get moving, I'd rather spend as little time here as possible. Even if we don't go to a city, the road to the northeast should branch off in several directions, so I guess we could decide on the road."
He took some glances around, watching the empty room. "I wonder where the others are..." he started, but didn't finish.

***************************************************************************************

Nicha stopped, and her claws retracted. She sighed and took a stare at the ground, apparently reality hit her like a thunderbolt, she knew that she couldn't take on everyone else in the ruined inn.
"Well then, I guess I need to get moving. There is no sense in staying here, I might as well go home." She walked away from the room's door and towards a window. She went over and opened it. She took a look outside, the ground was still covered in snow. She took some glances out, and took another back at Garis. She again looked outside the window, closed her eyes, and shook her head, in admittance of defeat.

Garis caught the look and said " i understand you feel defeated, but it doesn't mean you have to go now... as i said earlier, if you want to spend a little time learning a few tricks, i really don't care how you use them... i feel i owe you something for earlier"

he got up and approached the young demoness then continued in a soft and gentle voice "besides it really is cold out, even without the storm... perhaps stay long enough to at least get something to eat... you know, i really do like you a lot more than i should... and i really hope that you can forgive me for what i've put you through... if nothing else, just sit and talk for a bit, let me make you some breakfast and after that, if you still want to disappear after that, i won't stop you..."

Having roused himself early in the morning, Rafa took it upon himself to scrounge a small roll of dried salami from the cellar before going outside and scaling up to the rooftop. Not that it wasn't incredibly frigid and covered with snow, but at least it was silent, and gave him a wide expanse to survey as he perched upon a corner like an onyx gargoyle.

With the heavy snowfall of last night covering most of the carcasses, it was a bit easier to scope out potential unfriendlies making their way towards the village. Not that he banked on anybody to actually be bearing down upon them; if one were to launch a sneak attack, they would do so before sunrise. ...unless, that's just what they wanted Raffiele and the others to think. They're biding their time. New kids trying to do something different, see if they can't get the jump on us. In all likelihood, he was just being too paranoid. But with the way things were developing, he couldn't help but consider each little contingency.

Nicha silently growled, angry, possibly at herself, possibly towards how she was being treated. She shook her head, jumped out the window, and landed on her feet in the snow. She got up, shook her head, and then started running in a northeasterly direction. She didn't look back, or say any farewells. She silently muttered under her breath, cursing at her situation.
It might be possible to catch up to her if pursuit is given.
You're able to see Nicha running away.

****************************************************************************************

Kassin stood up, stretched out his wings and arms. He made a soft yawn, the day was still young. Despite his rest, he still felt weary. He turned towards Tyrian.
"Do you know where the others are? I'm not sure if everyone here knows their way around this land..."

Tyrian raised his head looking up at Kassin.  He pondered the question for a moment before closing his eyes in concentration.  He once again asked the favor of the wind spirits as he elevated his sight and hearing like the times before.

"It appears that the others are still in this inn.  Kedered remains upstairs about where we last saw him... Raffiele just walked by, completely ignoring us or oblivious that we were sitting here, twice.  Once as he went into the cellar and the other as he walked by and out the door.  He is now on the roof.  Garis is still in the room he took with Nicha.  The demoness Nicha exited the inn and I suppose she is running back to her masters."

The fox grinned wide as there was little that could elude him with this spell in use.

Kedered silently ghosted down the stairs after Tyrian and Kassin. Fellow Angel or no, Kedered wasn't prepared to leave Kassin alone for long with a Creature of unproven loyalty. He kept some distance, not wanting to be obviously seen or heard, and waving on an audial enhancement spell as he went, to keep track of what they were saying. From the top of the staircase he made out Tyrian's speech, and resisted the urge to resort to profanity. Time to clean up this mess like I should have done earlier. Guessing that Kassin probably was not going to be attacked in the next few minutes, and thinking of the problems that could result should Nicha warn her companions, Kedered slapped on a speed enhancement spell, and rushed to the nearest hole in the wall, leaping out in a roll. As he came out, he quickly allowed his backwings to project out, using them to glide to the snowy floor, thankful once again that he managed to retain his sturdy boots.

He raced off at prodigious speed, tracing after the emotional state of the Demon to track her down.

Garis didn't follow, he walked out of the room, and down the stairs... he kept thinking, i should have known better than to try and get involved with a demon...

once downstairs he saw the angels, and decided to pull up a chair... he look down at the ground first, then looked back at the two with a crooked smile... he said "you know... that was probably one of the stupidest things i've ever attempted in all my life... trying to pick up a demoness who would probably prefer my death... why didn't anyone say something?!"

Ty smirked as he stared at his chair, in a low voice he responded to Garis, "with age comes wisdom, to gain wisdom one must do.  If you do not make your own mistakes, you will not grow.  Even Kedered shall become wise some day.  I wonder what he plans to do to Nicha?"

Garis nodded then replied "as great as it is to be able to learn from one's mistakes, it is also helpful to point out when one person's emotions are possibly endangering the group as a whole... honestly i wasn't thinking things through very clearly at all... " Garis turned to kassin "i'm sorry if i put you through anything awkward or unpleasant... and i'll try and avoid doing things like that in the future..."  he then talked to both of them " if anyone's hungry, i can go and whip something up in a few minutes... after that, any idea as to when were going to get moving... or were were headed?"

It doesn't take much to catch up to Nicha, you're able to get close within less than a minute.
Nicha continued running. Upon hearing Kedered coming after her, she turned around and jumped backwards. She held her hands up, and her claws started to extend. She slowly paced backwards, displaying fear.
"What do you want?" She said in a demanding tone, trying to display confidence, yet for the most part, failing.

*********************************************************************************************

Kassin shook his head, he wasn't hungry at the time. He didn't want to think about Nicha, yet, his thoughts kept distracting him. His eyes displayed a worried expression, and he found it hard to look at his companions in the eye. He took a deep breath, then finally managed to weakly speak.
"I'm not hungry... and we should get moving as soon as possible. Considering Ithralia's general geography, Northwestern Ithralia is dangerous, a lot of hostile beings populate the area, and aggressive demons like to roam there, most of Southeastern Ithralia is a .... " he shook his head at this. 'All those starving people, all the destitute, I wish I could help them but I can't, and it hurts to know that there are those who could help them yet refuse...'. With another deep breath, he managed to continue. "Depressing sight... I think we would be best of heading in a north-easterly direction, I think we should be safer in some of  the more densely populated areas...". Something about his facial expressions however, made him seem unsure of himself.
'But what if that dream of mine is true?' he thought, 'Doing that would put them all at risk, I barely know them, it's not right of me to tell them to risk themselves for me like that... I know, he... he's on the third page, I was on the first, and he is on the fifth..., but who were those people anyways that were talking about me and the touched, and what did those insignia mean?' He closed his eyes with his thoughts, trying to shut them out, he didn't want to believe what he was thinking.
'No... it was just that, it can't be true, just a vision, is all, an extension of my imagination... I hope.' He opened his eyes after thinking about that, he took a look outside.
"Come on, " he motioned to Garis and Tyrian, "We should get going." He slowly started walking towards the entrance of the ruined inn.

Garis followed Kassin out into the cold... looking around, he felt the fear radiating off in the distance... Kedered had probably caught up to Nicha, either that or some poor fool had wandered into the demoness... Garis contemplated the situation, then mentally shrugged it off... he thought 'i gave her a chance and she ignored it. now whatever happens is her own damn fault, and it's her problem to deal with...

he walked along with Kassin, wrapped in his massive wings and enjoying the sun... He'd picked up some of Kassin's thoughts, but to Garis they were incoherent, and seemingly unrelated... although this confused the incubus, he let no outward sign of it show.  Trying to make a little conversation, Garis asked in a soft, and pleasant tone "so, anything you feel like talking about?... you seem a little confused, perhaps a little unsure of yourself?"

Kedered, still wrapped up in his speed enhancement spell, heard Nicha's demand for his purpose like it was being strained through water,  and he dropped it momentarily. His pride would not allow him to simply cut her down without a bit of gloating first.

"Really my dear, I am quite disappointed in you. You did not honestly think we were all so slow and stupid that this pitiful attempt at escape could possibly succeed? I suppose I would have prevented you from contacting your friends back with your mistress, but really, an escape attempt like this is just insulting. Stupidity is the only universally capital crime."

Kedered wrapped the speed about his form once more, and ignited the flaming sword in his right hand. Held low, he rushed at her, and when she appeared within range he swiped a quick lateral slash at the lower end of her neck.

Kassin took a quick look a Garis, and then looked at the floor. He took a deep breath before coming up with a response.
"I...." he started, "You're right, I am a bit unsure of myself, I mean... if this town was destroyed because someone was looking for me, is it my fault that it was destroyed? I was thinking of going to a city to be safe, but what if it isn't, what if they're not welcoming towards us, or they get attacked? I..." He closed his eyes and shook his head, "I think that recent events have been taking their toll on my mind, I need to... need to..." He stopped talking for a moment, trying to calm himself down, he had trouble getting gory scenes out of his head. In a moment, he clutched his neck with his left hand, fell to his knees on the floor, and yelped in pain.

****************************************

Nicha extended her claws, but her limbs were somewhat stiff from the cold. She wasn't fast enough to evade Kedered's swing entirely. A step back prevented her head from being severed entirely, but it still cut across her neck. She didn't blink once struck, and fell to the ground, crashing against the snow.

****************************************

Kassin managed to regain his composure relatively quickly, the feeling passed, yet it's sting remained. Kassin got up and sprang outside, darting into the cold landscape. He stopped when he could see Kedered, his limbs froze, and his eyes were locked onto Kedered. Kassin's thoughts were a confused, cluttered mess.

Child's play. Stupid chit.  He let the spells go, and then washed what blood came out of the girl off of his clothes and fur by heating up a bit of the snow.  Hygene accomplished, he started to head back to the inn, but could sense the jumble of confusion and nausea heading towards himself that could only be Kassin. He waved towards the angel. "I am all right Kassin. I hope that you are well?"


He continued striding evenly, sedately, until he was within arm's distance of the angel he was committed to protecting.

Upon first seeing Nicha dive out the window and make her mad dash through the snow, Raffiele simply stared for a brief moment before shifting attention to some of the other ruined buildings. There wasn't any racket to indicate fighting just prior to her escape, and what was she going to do if she somehow managed to locate her former group? Tell them that she'd gotten herself flattened by an incubus in about two seconds of combat and admit to the shame? Once again, he couldn't help but look at her like a wayward little sister that didn't know what the hell to do surrounded by semi-hostile strangers.

And then Kedered took the charge, gracefully carving a swath right across her throat (or what he assumed was the general vicinity of her throat, given the distance and view). "Hey!! What the shit is going on down there?!" Without further pause, Rafa leapt from the rooftop and tumbled across the snow in an awkward recovery, quickly getting to both feet and approaching the incubus angrily. "What the hell just happened?!"

Tyrian followed along, keeping pace with Kassin and walking to his right.  Though he trod over the ground like Garis and Kassin, the fox left no paw prints to signal his passing.  He enjoyed both the sun and the cold, earning a strange mixed sensation that would be difficult to convey to his environmentally vulnerable comrades.

He crossed his arms and simply stared at Kedered as he approached, "must you do things to trouble this poor child?"  Ty indicated Kassin as he spoke.

Garis was in the process of forming a response to what kassin had said... suddenly the angel collapsed again  Garis felt the pain, but in a far different way than he imagined Kassin does. 

watching the angel bolt, Garis followed outside... he felt a sudden burst of anger from somewhere above and behind him, great, i go from having to deal with the fairly cute, horribly inexperienced demoness to what might be a skilled warrior... i really don't want to get involved, but i owe kassin a debt... to ease that job, i'll need Kedered or Ty to help me out... which means i now have to keep them alive too... damn it, what the hell did i do to deserve this

Garis kept his outward appearance fairly calm, but, he was already preparing a pair of simple fireball spells.  His wings unfolded from their cloak position, into something more like a cape... covering his back, and arms, but no longer intertwined in the front.  Garis lowered the mind shield he'd put on earlier and immidiatly began trying to communicate with Kedered, sending 'If the demon tries something, i need to keep you alive if we're getting this Angel somewhere safe, i'm not sure where Ty stands, but he seems alright for now... if something goes down, and you think your starting to loose the upper hand, move out of the way, and i'll start showing you what i'm really capable of... 

A predatory smile grew on Garis's face as he was aware that some type of confrontation was about to start, and if it escalated... he was prepared to do whatever it takes to make sure that kassin makes it though safe...

"I....I...." Kassin meekly started. He paced over to Nicha's corpse, she was clearly dead. He sighed at the sight, then turned back to Kedered. He closed his eyes.
'Did she really have to die? What she did was inexcusable I...' he thought. He closed his eyes, thoughts leaked out in an incomprehensible mess, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. 'I think I've seen enough death for a lifetime...' He thought. He paced back to his companions, trying to shut the images out of his mind.
Kassin wasn't oblivious to the tension between his companions, yet, he felt some helplessness as there was nothing he could do to diffuse it. He took quick glances between all of them, particularly Raffiele and Kedered.
Kassin started pacing off, eyes closed. 'I've spent too long in this place already...' his thoughts concluded. After he got some distance from his companions, he made a motion with his right wing, indicating he wanted them to follow.
"Come on, we should get moving, the less time we spend here, the better."

Kedered watched in a vague sense of amusement as the entire group quickly made their way to the scene and started babbling, demanding knowledge, satisfaction, his account of what happened. He raised his arms, palms down, to indicate that he wanted some calm, and when the voices died down, he spoke, directing a flow of soothing emotions towards Kassin, and shrugging in a half apologetic tone. He "heard" Garis's mental projection, but gave no indication that he would respond in kind. He already distrusted his demonic companion, and turned to face him more than the others, ready to bring back his sword if needed.

"She was an enemy, in case anyone had forgotten, an ineffective and stupid enemy, but someone wishing us ill and willing to act violently to ensure it. She was attempting to flee, and I for one have no desire to be dodging her friends throughout this journey if I can avoid the necessity. I suppose I could have captured her again, but what would be the point? She would need to be fed, guarded, and possibly dragged along with us, slowing us down and diffusing our attention. And what would we do with her? In fact, Raffiele, one wonders why you are so concerned with her welfare?" A pause, as if to gather his thoughts, although this was a deliberate cessation. "  But Kassin is right. I do not believe there is any reason to tarry here longer. We should head somewhere that isn't likely to be attacked by marauders."

Garis kept himself between Raffiele and Kassin, and he kept his magic a mere flick of the wrist away, he was also prepared to launch his tentacle if need be... he kept himself ready, and alert, paying extremely close attention to the emotions of the others.  He got closer to Kassin when Kedered refused to respond...

he thought to himself 'typical arrogance, one day he's going to need help, and if he doesn't learn how to ask now, he'll get himself killed when he gets in over his head

Garis increased his pace until he was a few steps away from Kassin, once there he matched pace with the angel, and kept his tone gentle and polite... he said "is there anything i can do? i can feel your apprehension and i can tell something is bothering you... if you want to let it out, know that if you want this to stay between you and me, you can trust me... i owe you a debt, and if there's anything you need that will make your life easier, or better, let me know... i swore to keep you safe, and unharmed, and i intend to fulfill that promise to the best of my abilities"

Tyrian listened to Kedered's rant and justification of murder.  There were so many creative ways of handling the situation, but Ty had to stop himself, children always resort to violence and murder, but hopefully it will serve as a statement that we are not to be trifled with... if her body is discovered.

Tyrian turned away from the incubus and continued to follow Kassin without a word.  He matched pace with Garis and eyed him questionably, "you play an interesting game Garis, but you can only use the same plays once before one can no longer trust it.  Earning trust is important.  If Kassin wishes to talk, let it be at his own terms to whom he chooses.  Though I advise being wary of those that play off of emotions, be sure you can truly trust them before you divulge too much."

Garis snorted a bit at Ty's little rebuke... he replied in a polite tone "i'm trying to ease this child's obvious pain and fear... we're all a little on edge, and i'm trying my hardest to change the initial impression everyone here probably has of me as being the one who is quick to resort to violence, and is of little use beyond a simple bodyguard... i meant no offense Ty, just trying to make the journey more peaceful for everyone... especially the one i owe the debt to... speaking of which... I know that Raffiele has a particular dislike for our young angelic friend, i'm pretty sure Kedered has a similar feeling of loyalty to young Kassin as myself, but were do you stand?"

Garis let out a sigh and released the magic he'd been saving back into his body... Looking back at Nicha's body Garis knew he should have chased after her... but the past cannot be change, and we must move on... He shook his head slightly and said in a near whisper "such a waste... whatever this mistress firestorm wants, it's not worth this kind of mess..."

Yeah, ineffective and stupid. That's exactly the reason you went all out, isn't it? But hey, I can't blame an Aldoraethar for being too piteous and weak to confront something more than a novice combatant. Raffiele knew in the back of his mind that Nicha was going to meet her end sooner or later, but the fact that Kedered was the one to do it really grated on him. Would it have been practical to carry her around? No, but knock her unconscious and tie her with chains, dump her off in some jail in the next county, something, anything other than rub out such young potential.

He didn't say anything in response to Kedered's last statement other than looking aside and thinking one last, quiet thought. Poncy little bastard.

Kassin eyed his companions with fright, he didn't like the idea that they might come to blows. He gazed over them, and took a few steps back, afraid of what might happen. He wanted to try and defuse the situation, yet, he wasn't confidant of himself, his thoughts strained with what he thought might happen in the future, his present situation didn't help.
He paced back to his companions. He looked at Tyrian. "I... he's right... there has been something bothering my mind, I have  tried to convince myself it's nothing but..." he looked at the ground, finding it hard to make eye contact. "I'm not so sure, and I'm afraid it is something that might put you all at risk." He took a deep breath, as if ready to make a long speech.
"Last night... I had a dream, I've never dreampt so vividly before,..." He took another sigh, 'It's nothing, just a stretch of my imagination, I'm sure... but... it might help them calm down... maybe they won't go after each other's throats... I don't think I can stand to watch any more violence.' He took another deep breath before continuing.

"I had a dream, it took place in some kind of office, there were some beings, a canine at a desk, a feline in a blue robe, and there was another canine, who looked to be in poor condition. They were talking... about us." He closed his eyes and shook his head for a moment before continuing. "They put bounties on us, primarily on me. The one in the blue robe, she said that I was responsible for what happened at the Whistling Willow, was behind all the murders here in Sharakha, and said I was the mastermind behind various soul-stealing crimes in Southeastern Ithralia. She put bounties on you all, saying that you were my accomplices and helped me commit such horrible deeds. The one who looked haggard, he claimed to be a survivor... an eye witness who saw me, and the rest of you kill everyone here. The one at the desk, he made a pamphlet and said he would distribute it, it was a bounty notice on us. I was on the front page, and the bounty for me was much higher than the rest of you." He stopped as he made a glance towards Raffiele. "You were on the second page,", he then turned to Garis, "You were on the third..." He closed his eyes and shook his head before finally looking at Kedered, "You were on the fourth...", and finally he looked at Tyrian "And you were on the fifth. He said that he would get these distributed to adventurers throughout Ithralia as soon as he could manage it." He stopped for a moment, and looked at the ground. He had more to say, yet, he found it hard to say what he was saying. With another deep breath, he mustered the courage to continue.

"It continued, after the blue robed lady and the wounded canine left the room. They went somewhere else, somewhere private... I think, they continued their discussion, but not before the blue robed one, cast some kind of enchantment, or dispelled one, and the canine looked strong again, his appearance changed too, different hair and eye color, height, everything about him. He then asked her if she had doubts for being dishonest to the other being, she replied that..." He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, as if in disbelief of what he had said, and was about to say. He continued, "That I was the most dangerous creature in Atharra. She said that if I wasn't killed soon, there would be far reaching consequences, but... she didn't specify what those were. They then talked about the 'touched', she said that you four had to be eliminated as well. The canine also mentioned someone called the 'first touched', and asked if he should be eliminated, yet, at this she seemed interested in keeping him alive, and said..." He took a deep breath at this, trying to recall her exact wording, a woman's voice could be heard in his mind, as he finally said, "Remember what you stand for. We cannot do such a thing, we'll not become like the creatures that ravage these lands. I believe that he will be a great hindrance to our plans, and maybe the Claws will kill him, but we cannot harm him. Doing so will also have other consequences, and will assuredly weaken our foothold in Ithralia. At that, another being came in, he was wearing heavy armor, and had some kind of insignia on it. He told the others they were ready to move out, and that's where it ended."

Kassin exhaled deeply, with some relief that he got that off of his chest. "I'm pretty sure that my dream is nothing more than an extension of my imagination, but, it's been what has been giving me doubts." He smiled. "I think I feel a bit better now though." He paused, waiting for reactions.

Garis nodded, and put his hands on kassin's shoulders, looking him in the eye with a gentle gaze, he said softly "if it was all just a dream, it shouldn't worry you so... if it was premonition, or some other type of vision, then i think our troubles have really only begun... i don't want you to misinterpret this, but if it is the latter we very well may need to do more killing... i understand you abhor violence and bloodshed, and i'll do my best to keep both to a minimum, but if we are truly hunted by the beings, then we very well may have to carve a bloody swath through adventurer infested lands to stop further attacks on us... and if that is the situation we find ourselves in, we're going to need to find a way to sever that empathetic link of yours... not because i don't want you to feel for others, but because, if i need you to run while i hold off several beings, i can't have you curling into a ball, waiting for a rouge arrow to kill you..." 

Garis sighed, realizing he was probably causing far more problems then he was fixing... he put on a genuinely friendly smile then continued in a far more cheerful tone "seeing as it probably was just a dream... lets get moving, after the last few days, i'm ready to go enjoy a warm room, a nice meal, and perhaps the company of some pretty women..."

Raffiele didn't bother to look at Kassin as he spoke. He merely stared off into the distance with the same agitated expression. Though as the angel went into more and more detail, the fliers and pamphlets in particular, he... continued to stare out into the snowy wasteland, but with his face as blank as a granite slab. He knew that there was something not quite right about Kassin; people like him didn't just have dreams with such specific, normal details. It had to be a genuine vision.

If either incubus were to peer into the demon's thoughts (which they no doubt would, given his recent disposition), they would not hear words or voices, but a very high-pitched tinking sound, like someone repeatedly playing the "Trick or Treat" chant on the upper scales of a piano. His head twitched slightly, and he turned around to face Kassin. Both hands began clenching and unclenching slowly, his chest fluttering and head swimming as he wondered, just how could I kill this person and get away with it?

Kedered was about to deliver a blistering remonstrance to the rest of the group, about how this girl had been an admitted mass murderer and that their sympathies were better placed elsewhere when Kassin gave his spiel. He listened, cocking his head, trying to puzzle this new information in with some of the odd phrases the angel had uttered recently.

Juggling his priorities, and guessing that calming Kassin down was the highest priority, he spoke in a soothing tone. "It was probably just something brought on by stress and lack of good food. Even Ithralians are not so dense as to put an enormous bounty just on the say so of a stranger. They will probably investigate, and there is no evidence to connect you, or us to any wrongdoing. Let us depart this villiage, and go somewhere where you have friends who can keep you safe. Or, a trip to Astarea might be nice this time of year. It is a lovely country."

The fox allowed the question on where his loyalties stand fall flat.

Tyrian listened quietly to Kassin as he dictated his dream.  Inside, his heart skipped a beat, the dream was profound and either the product of an over-active, young imagination or a prophetic revelation of great importance.

"If this dream holds truth, then it would explain the destruction of the Willow, the murder of the town, and the reason the demoness' friends are searching around."  Tyrian massaged both sides of his forehead, just behind his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, "as Garis has already stated, we may need to destroy quite a few adventurers and hunters.  If this proves true, then we will need to deal with this blue robe permanently.  However, I am curious as to how you can be such a threat to them.  If this is true, I wonder what it could be."

Kassin looked towards the sky. "I really hope it was just my imagination." Kassin paused after this, he didn't like what he was hearing, he didn't want anyone to come to harm, and the dream, if it was true, only raised more questions in his mind than it answered. He gave himself some peace of mind by refusing to believe in his dream. "Regardless, there is no sense in staying here." Kassin walked towards the edge of the town, and motioned for the others to follow. Within minutes, Sharaka was out of sight, nothing more than a bad memory.

The weather was much more pleasant now than it was before. The snow was light, the weather was cold, yet not bitter, and the winds were more calm. Yet, there was an unexplainable air of tension in the air. The snow covered roads seemed barren, no life could be seen other than leafless trees. An eerie stillness could be sensed, yet not explained.

Kassin kept his eyes on the horizon throughout the journey. He didn't say much, other than a few words for directions here and there, but otherwise, kept quiet. His thoughts were fairly quiet as well. Hours passed as he trudged through the snowy land.

'Such a nice trip...' he thought, basking in the facade of tranquility. 'I suppose I can look forward to the days to come unhindered by madness or worry...'.

At that, someone in the distance yelled. "That's him! Get them!" An arrow was fired, and landed right in front of Kassin. Kassin yelped as he took a leap back, he took a glance down the road, two figures could be seen, one had a bow in his hands, one had a sword. The one with a bow pulled another arrow, ready to shoot again. Kassin then yelped, and rubbed his left hand across his forehead, he took a look to his right, looking at a small clearing in the surrounding woodlands. There was a small hut there, which looked to be set on fire. Two demons exited the hut, they looked like a young pair of feline demons, one boy, one girl. Both of them seemed shocked as they looked at Kassin and his companions.
"Come on, lets get out of here!" One of them exclaimed to the other. They nodded, and rushed towards the woods, soon out of sight.
Kassin felt another shock, in a flash, he darted towards the burning hut and rushed inside.

With the shout, Garis got worried, when he saw the arrow, Garis was just plain pissed... he thought fighting with a bow, such a cowards weapon... i wonder how they managed to suppress their emotions to the point of going unnoticed...no matter... looks like it's lunch time for me...  He gave a very evil grin at that thought.

Exploding into a dead sprint, Garis took off at an astounding pace, moving in a zig-zag towards the would be attackers... His eyes glowed as his right hand burst into flames and his wings formed a pair of very long, bladed tentacles... He grabbed his dagger in his left hand, underhand style, as he approached... when he'd covered half the initial distance, garis let loose the fireball, aimed straight at the chest of the bowman... he followed the fireball straight in, and when he was about 30 feet out, let the tentacles whip in from both the archer's left and right side...

Tyrian instantly shifted to action, a seamless and calculated change that hinted to one of disciplined experience.  Seizing the air for no apparent reason, the fox in one motion appeared to yank something and move right into a throwing motion.  Amazingly, all the fire of the burning hut was forcefully torn free and hurled as a fast moving stream right at the bow and sword attackers.  Tyrian was heedless of Garis as this torrent of fire was hurled at their attackers.

"Kedered, I trust you can protect Kassin," the fox said out loud, from outside assailants or from within our team. He thought at Kedered alone.

Without checking to see what result his hurling fire had, Tyrian was absorbed into the very ground.  Traveling faster than any land creature could run, and now possessing of a tremor based sense for those things that strode upon the soil, he darted off after the two young demons.  The angel erupted from the ground in a grandiose display of elemental earth mastery right in front of them.

"I advise you two to stop, I have a few questions that I wish answered." 

At the whizzing sound of the arrow, Kedered wrapped a protective barrier around Kassin, and then a second one around himself. He then dropped his own bow off of his shoulders and strung an arrow to nock. The entire process took about 6 seconds. By that time, Garis and Tyrian were already hurling fire at the assailants, and Kedered nodded at the angel's directives.

Which suddenly became a world more difficult when the angel ran towards the building. Wrapping speed around his form, Kedered hurtled after the angel, grabbing him by the shoulder. "You are no warrior. Do not enter until the rest of us have cleared the building. It might be a trap, and your safety means a great deal to me."

With all the others rushing off in their own mystically enhanced ways, Raffiele simply hung back and drew his weapons, half-expecting somebody else to be circling around to flank them. But with nothing else within immediate sight, Garis engaging the assailants up ahead and Tyrian rushing the two young demons, what else was there to do but secure the rear? ...I'm supposed to report back in three days, he thought quietly. Guess it was a nice gig while it lasted; room and board, good pay, just scouting around and beating back troublemakers. Now there's this. So many new enemies made, and with the potential for more and more if any adventurers they killed had vengeful friends and family.

The demon slowly walked over towards Kassin and Kedered, tomahawk and knife still gripped tightly. The temptation for slaughter was still in his mind, and growing ever stronger with each step. Please, please give me an excuse.

As the adventurer with the bow was readying another shot, he was hit with the fireball and the bladed tentacles. He screamed as he fell to the ground, in flames and bleeding profusely. His companion gasped, shocked at what had happened. Shock soon turned into rage as he gripped his sword with both hands, yelled "This is for you soul-slayer!", but before he could respond, he was struck by Tyrian's blast. He fell to the ground and tried to douse the flames in the snow, with only limited success. 

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The two demons seemed surprised at Tyrian's appearance. Both were panting heavily, their stop gave them a few seconds to catch their breath. At first, they stared at him intently, then they gave each other a glance and nodded. They decided that the best way to answer his inquiries was through excessive violence, the girl muttered "This ought to be fun". They both smiled as they extended their claws, the boy rushed at Tyrian's face, while the other went to sweep at his legs.

Young demons apparently never learn..., it shouldn't take much to render them harmless though.

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Kassin tried to get Kedered to let go of him, struggling without success. "There's someone inside, he needs my help!" A shock came to him, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Two inside", he corrected himself. "They're in bad shape, I'm sure of it."
A shock came to him as the adventurer Garis had struck fell to the ground. Kassin groaned and took a brief look at what was happening, but his attention was focused on the hut, which fortunately, wasn't in danger of being burned to the ground anymore.

It took a second for Kassin's words to penetrate through Kedered's skull, wiht most of his attention on either the battle, or Raffiele's edging closer to the angel's back. When he did realize what Kassin said, and more importantly the odd edge in the Angel's voice, he had to resist the urge to utter profanity.

"All right, if you feel you have to. But I go first. Give me three seconds to get the attention of anything in there, and then you go in, ok?" Still wrapped up in his odd speed and hoping Kassin could understand him, Kedered dropped his own bow, ignited a flaming blade, and rushed into the building.

Garis grew weary of the flaming mans screams, he shifted one of his tentacles into a point and speared the swordsman through the head... He took a few seconds to let the shock sink into the other mans head...  he used the same pointed tentacle, still dripping blood from the first victim, to impale the archer through the belly... he then brought the man closer, holding the adventurer's arms and legs in place with his other tentacles, garis began a basic healing spell to stop the bleeding...

Garis held the man in the air once the bleeding had stopped, and forced him to a face to face.  Garis felt his hatred of this pathetic being... he snarled and snapped his fangs a few inches from his victims eyes.  In a hateful roar Garis shouted "who the hell do you think you are pathetic little being, and why are you trying to kill my friends?" for added emphasis on how serious he was, Garis twisted the tentacle in the wound

Then continuing "tell me everything i ask, and maybe i won't devour your soul" Garis lifted the man up and away slightly, then ignited his right hand again, making sure the being understood just how over his head he really was.

Tyrian's expression switched to annoyance as the two demons made attempts to attack him.  The boy bounced off of Tyrian, having impacted with what felt like the hardest of stone.  The girl's claws raked across his legs, but she found them to be solid granite.

"children children, I appreciate the effort, but really, I haven't the time."  The fox sunk into the ground just as the boy landed back on his feet.

Tyrian appeared between them as suddenly as he had disappeared into the ground, but they had little time to mount a response as both each found a stone hand erupting from the ground in an attempt to restrain them.  The stone hands were nearly as large as then demon kids themselves.  

Unfortunately, the adventurer died before the healing spell could be applied, the impaling process was instantly fatal, in addition to the other damage he had suffered. Their last emotions were those of utter loathing.
Hopefully, there might be something on one of their corpses that could be useful.

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The hands grabbed both of the demons, they made some motions to attempt to escape, but they were held firm. After a few moments, the boy stopped struggling, and growled "What do you want?" at Tyrian, still clearly angry. The girl however, continued struggling. Her right hand started glowing black, probably to cast some spell.

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The inside of the building was a mess. The hut was composed of one semi-circular room, with a door to another room on the left, though the door had been ripped off it's hinges. Random paraphernalia strewn about, some on tables, some on the floor, much of it is broken. There is also a comfortable looking rocking chair, or it would look comfortable if it wasn't blood-stained. There is a corpse on the floor, an old looking being in a threadbare outfit. It looks like he has been only recently killed, by someone with a truly sick imagination. It looks like he was torn apart by someone's claws, far after death as well.
Kassin rushed inside after Kedered, soon, he felt another shock as Garis slew the second adventurer, and his view of the corpse didn't help his state of mind. He clutched his belly, trying to prevent himself from vomiting. After recomposing himself, he rushed towards the door to the other room...

Wrapped in his speed enhancement, it wasn't difficult to anticipate what Kassin was up to and cut him off to the door.  Kedered called to the angel behind him,"Me first, remember?" Kedered held his blade low, kicked the door open, and rushed in, blade held ready, eyes and mind scanning the area for potential threats, nostrils dilated in case Raffiele decided to follow them in.

Garis grew annoyed that the being failed to answer any of his questions, then he noticed the blood dripping from the man's nostrils and mouth... he sighed, then let the corpse drop off his tentacle.  He kept himself ready, searching for more targets, tentacles extended, and right hand still in flames... he sheathed the dagger, and used his left hand to rifle through the dead man's pockets, seeing if he couldn't find any clues or useful objects.

He also took the quiver of arrows from the mans back, figuring that they'd help supplement Kedered's own supply

Garis didn't notice the spattered blood across the silver fur on his chest and face...

Tyrian smiled sadly and shook his head as the girl struggled.  Summoning a bit of the light magic he knew, his forefinger glowed.

"Be still child," he touched her forehead and willed her to sleep.  Satisfied that her struggling had ceased, the turned full attention to the boy, "I wish to know many things, like what were you doing here, why were you surprised to see us?  However, I have others who are better at obtaining information than I.  They do not have moral objections to torturing children."

Tyrian turned back towards the hut and began walking slowly, the hands of stone following him effortlessly.  Any amount of struggling would cause them to tighten until one could not move at all.

When he arrived, he waited patiently for the others to finish whatever tasks they were involved in.

Searching through the adventurer finds some standard traveling gear, some money, a few weapons. There's also a small pamphlet. It's a bounty notice. There's a picture of Kassin on the front page, below it is some writing. It details a lot of crimes he has (allegedly) committed, including the destruction of the Whistling Willow in and the murder of everyone inside, and of Sharaka. It also lists him as the mastermind behind many soul-stealing related crimes in southeastern Ithralia. There is a reward listed for his death, it's exceptionally high. The other pages have several other bounties posted, featuring pictures, and a note saying that they're accomplices to Kassin in the aforementioned deeds, all are listed as extremely dangerous. Raffiele is on the second page, you are on the third. Kedered is on the fourth, and Tyrian is on the fifth. The rewards on these pages are certainly significant, but much lower than the one for Kassin. A contact page is on the sixth page. It says to bring proof of any of the targets deaths to 'Commisioner Brady'. There is an address given, it looks like it's to a city in northeastern Ithralia named Dhallon.

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The boy struggled more, but the hand held him fast. He took a quick look at the unconscious demoness, he seemed quite angry with his situation. "We were out on a date, and having fun, fun until you showed up and ruined everything!" His expression became more angry, and his left hand started glowing black, channeling dark magic into it, preparing to unleash some spell.

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Another semi-circular room seems to complete the hut. Again, random paraphernalia can be found, most of it is broken, scattered about on the floor, most of it looks like it was broken recently. There are two people in here as well, a ringtail being and what looks to be a feline angel. Both of them are covered in blood, and look to have been repeatedly clawed, and looked to be entirely inert. Kassin gasped as he took a look at them. 'I hope I'm not too late..' he thought. Without another moments hesitation, Kassin's left and right hands started to glow with a bright yellow light. He rushed over and knelt down, placing his right hand on the ringtail and his left hand on the angel. He closed his eyes as he put all of his energy into healing them, a tear streamed down his left eye, hoping that he wasn't too late. He held on, and continued pouring energy into them, but finally, with a gasp, he stopped, he looked both of them over, their wounds glowed a faint yellow, then closed.
A faint, feeling of comfort returns to you. Feelings of coldness, fading away, they last occupied your mind before fading into darkness. The cold slowly returns, yet, with a subtle warmth to it, feeling returns where none were before, exhaustion in the place of inertness. With a labored breath, you realize you can open your eyes...
A faint, feeling of comfort returns to you. Feelings of coldness, fading away, they last occupied your mind before fading into darkness. The cold slowly returns, yet, with a subtle warmth to it, feeling returns where none were before, exhaustion in the place of inertness. With a labored breath, you realize you can open your eyes...
P.S: You're in angel form at the time.

Garis sent Kedered a message before collecting what he could carry 'we've got a slight problem... it looks like what Kassin saw last night was actually some type of vision, and not just a dream... i'll show you what i'm talking about when we meet back up... this could very well throw the demon into a rage, so watch your back.... also, i've got the beings arrows if you need some more'

once sent, he sprinted off towards the hut, carrying the pamphlet and the arrows, leaving everything else for whoever wants to deal with robbing the dead... While running his tentacles expanded back into wings, and he did his best to hide his concern... when he arrived, he had his emotional mask on and he was ready to break the news... Kedered probably knew something was wrong...

Garis ran into the others outside before he could break the news to the other cubi... he turned to Tyrian, though addressed both he and Raffiele "uhh... we've got a very serious problem... and i really don't want to be the bringer of bad news... but it seems our angelic friend was in fact having a vision last night" holding up the pamphlet "they were nice enough to include a return address" he added with a smirk, then continued "looks like i'm off to Dhallon to meet with a 'Commissioner Brady' to get this sorted out"

If you asked him how he was doing, you could bet money he'd say he'd been better.

None the less, as he slowly felt his life and powers return, his mind sprang into action and he quickly tapped whatever reserves he had, and scanned about.. There were a number of sentient around, and a few had ramshackle defenses around their minds. Cubi, he noted. There was one near him, an angel it seemed, and that was the fellow who was healing him. He opened his eyes, and regarded this fellow a moment, before he quirked an eyebrow inquisitively at him..

"Mr. Kassin, I presume?" He asked. "I suppose I should thank you for saving my life then, although now it would seem that my suspicions concerning your character were quite correct."

Searching around the room revealed no threats other than two comatose figures, so Kedered let Kassin go about his healing. Shortly into the process, he received a telepathic sending from Garis. After a moment internalizing the news, he sent a response. I do not really need arrows, but if their bowstring is in reasonable condition, I would be indebted to you for the equipment. As for the bounty......... I think we can turn this to our advantage. If the bodies of our foes are not too damaged, see if Tyrian can modify them to look like us. Then one or two of us go in incognito and collect the bounties. The money would be nice, but even more important, it would throw the hounds off our trail, at least until the deception is discovered.


Kedered had little doubt that the deception would be discovered. If the scene that Kassin had included the destruction of the town before any news could come out, then whomever was posting this had arcane means of divining information. They also had to be based relatively close by, if these pamphlets were already in distribution. Or perhaps simply able to speak to agents in multiple places in the country. Either way...........


Kedered was snapped out of his reverie by one of the supine figures starting to speak. Being, by appearance, but Thularia had taught his family that Beings could be dangerous. Re-igniting his sword, he held it over the prone man, while thickening his magical defenses. "While I would certainly hate to waste my companions work, I would be very, very interested how you knew his name without an introduction. You would do well to speak the truth, I hold his safety in the highest of priorities."

Raffielle kept his distance from the hut and Tyrian, looking over his quarry silently. More youngin's causing problems, but at least they weren't Claws or some other kind of death squad. "Fucking kids," he grumbled upon noticing the male demon charging up some mysticism in his left hand. Any other day, I'd be happy to defend you little bastards, but you've caught me in one of my bad moods. He wouldn't want them outright eviscerated, but Tyrian was too levelheaded and calm for that. I at least hope you break their legs, teach them something that'll linger.

Then Garis ran over, no doubt to report back on what he'd found on the recently deceased adventurers. The demon turned away for a moment, but just barely heard the incubus' confirmation: Kassin's visions were, in fact, the real deal. "...excuse me, Garis, but could you repeat that a little more loudly?" He gave him an unsettling stare. "I'm not sure if I heard that right. Did you just say something about your savior's premonitions being legitimate?"

Kshar coughed and sputtered into life.  Whole again, and unmarred, beautiful blue eyes looked up at Kassin and those who were close by.  The one standing behind Kassin was threatened in some manner by the other unfortunate on the ground beside her.  She rolled over, stretching and fluffing up her angelic wings, confused but happy to be whole and looked at the ball of worry that was Kassin.  'Kassin is what the other on the ground had called him, and the standing one was threatened by this.'

She stood, slowly, not wishing to cause undue attention, but smiled warmly at Kassin.  "Thank you."  She voice was like silk and there was a sense of comfort that seemed to radiate off of her, and confusion.  Kshar couldn't remember how it was she had come to be here, or just who everyone around her was, nothing seemed familiar, her left ear dropped drastically.  "What happened?"  It also hadn't occured to her that she was mostly naked and her new freinds were not.  It was a strange sight, a beautiful white angel well endowed with fluff and other stuff, splattered with blood that was her own but now without wounds to cause it.

The Weight of the belt around her torso was the only other distraction to be had, somehow she knew what would be in it and did not reach for it, it was a salve of some manner.  She looked around, something of the moments before coming back to her, "Where is the hermit?"  Kshar attempted to look past the other Creatures in the room, attempting to see a stashed Hermit hiding behind them.

The ringtail turned his gaze from Kassin for a moment, and narrowed his eyes at Kendered. "Considering the fact that I have just been nearly killed by a pair of demons, I am not in the mood for an uppity Cubi. Goodbye, Mr. Aldoraethar, I shall speak to you later." He said, and immediately set his mind into action.

He formed a physical, yet invisible barrier of energy between himself, and the sword that the cubi was brandishing. He hardened it, and then promptly stood it upright, forcing it against the flaming sword, before he promptly propelled the barrier clear out of the house.

For anyone attempting to discern the attack, it was devoid of any magical energy whatsoever, merely a solid barrier of energy.

Zanfib sighed as he felt the power exerted in the barrier slowly return, and then looked at Kassin again. "While your traveling companions would seem deserving of the bounty placed upon their heads, you do not seem so inclined. So, instead of attacking you outright, and in light of your recent actions, I will ask you, Kassin, why have these charges been leveled against you?"

It was only then that Zanfib took notice of the sentient next to both himself and Kassin, and he broke his gaze on Kassin long enough to peer over at the strange being, or was it an angel? "And who might you be? You were not here before, at least not best that I can remember.."

"Things are becoming very unusual very quickly, I believe.." He said as he slowly stood up, stretching his aching body a bit..

At the first impact of the odd barrier the being had formed, Kedered let out a mental alarm to Garis. Assailant inside. Engaging. No visible magical emanations The instant later, still wrapped in his speed enhancement spell, he rolled away from the force, hit the floor and rolled back to his feet.

"Kassin, get out of here while I deal with this hostile."  Not waiting to see whether or not the angel obeyed his directive, and not willing to to gamble on more indecision, Kedered let out a two pronged attack, both lunging with his blade and letting forth a torrent of depression towards this newcomer. Kedered was pretty sure that he had some sort of mentalic abilities, if he was creating a barrier like that, and since beings were rarely themselves subject to mental trauma....

Bounty??  Charges?  Demons?  Mr. Aldoraethar??  Kshar looked at them all one after another She opened her mouth to answer but stopped short when Aldoraethar did not leave.  Kshar watched him stagger under some unseen force, and again just stared as he ordered Kassin out of the building.  Apparently she had come to be unconscious next to someone who was a hostile.

Confusion overcame any hope for action, there was just no telling who was going to lose their minds, literally or figuratively.  She looked to Kassin for some sort of clue as to what to do, her earlier questions evaporating in the face of the sudden arrogance and aggression of the others around her.

Kshar backed up against the wall ... and promptly fell through some burnt portion of the building.  The shock of snow on her furry fluffy tail made her call out and she scrambled about in the broken off portions of the building and amongst her own wings, unable to co-ordinate her limbs to prompt action.  The white snow blended flawlessly with her white fur and even started to clean off some of the blood. 

Zanfib's attention darted back to the persistent incubus, and he quietly muttered under his breath. But his first action was to quickly erect a similar barrier between himself and Kedered. This one did not move, nor waver. Instead, it fell between the two like a wall as Zanfib concentrated on it, hardening it against the assaults from the incubus, which sent an odd, ringing noise through the air each time it was struck, although there was no sign it had hit anything at all... except in Zanfib's mind, where each blow taxed his reserves.

But when the wave of depression hit, Zanfib actually paused for a moment, seemingly between shock and bemusement. "What was.. that?" He asked, slowly grinning.. before he started to laugh, loudly and earnestly.. The attack had washed over his mental barriers like the tide against the rocky shore, fierce and yet ineffective against the psion's trained mind. You see, years ago he and his tutor had engaged in such battles on a weekly basis, as a means of gauging the younger psion's progress. Zanfib had learned well in the art of psionic attacks, such things that normally only worked on other psionicly sensitive sentient. It was a given in the realms of psions, the same as a warrior and their weapon of choice. The two were inseparable.

"That was pathetic, incubus!" He called after his laughter had abated, although he was still grinning. "Tell me something, Kedered, would you like to end this fight now, or shall I give you a real lesson in the powers of the mind? It would seem that from wherever you of the cubi hail, they are not teaching you nearly well enough!"

It seemed he'd entirely forgotten about the strange being and Kassin entirely. Silly ringtail.

Garis received the message from Kedered and started slipping around to the back of the hut, he shifted his wings into 4 very nasty looking pointed tentacles, and his right hand started crackling with electricity.  As he reached the house, an angel fell through a hole in a wall... Puzzled at first, Garis tried to seem less intimidating by lowering the tentacles that were reaching over his shoulders.  He didn't want to start fighting until he knew someone was hostile, at the same time, Kassin was in a room with a total stranger, and that stranger was keeping Kedered out...

forming hands with his tentacles, Garis gently pulled the angel out of the way without a word, then flowing through the hole.  he said with a wicked smile "knock knock" as his tentacles reformed their points... his right hand pointed at the beings head, still arcing with and pulsing with electricity

Using the same power he had on the girl, Tyrian drew his light magic into his hand and touched it to the boy's forehead, "sleep now, if I leave you awake, I may have to inflict harm on you.  I do not wish that to happen until we determine what has happened here."

With both safely unconscious for many hours, he turned his attention back towards finding Kassin, only to have an altercation break out.

The fox sighed and with a resounding crack he struck the tip of his staff to the ground sundering the earth around him.  The ground heaved and cracked, a wave of fire washed over everything and everyone present.  The fire incinerated all vegetation in a 1000 square foot area, completely destroyed the hut and laid waste to the whole area.  No one was in the least bit harmed, felt the heat of flame, nor the sting of shrapnel from the incineration of the hut.  Even the corpses were spared.

A voice augmented by thunder itself resounded through the area, "Enough!  There will be no more violence here!  We will talk and discuss this like civilized sentients unless you wish to test my mettle!"

Tyrian emphasized the last part by striking the ground with his staff again causing the ground to quake and split even farther.

The stranger pulled Kshar away from the hole, depositing her not too far away.  This was madness!  What had she gotten herself into?  What was going on?  Where was the hermit?  She looked down at the blood stained snow and at the bloody face and chest of the stranger who just moved her.  A quick look around and she was able to spot a horribly mangled body, and possibly a charred one as well.  Whatever the case may be these were murderers.

And in born sense of wrongness overcame her, she looked down at her hands, then back at the stranger.  His wings were malformed, changing into tentacles that reached and stretched.  It was a terrifying moment in which an authentic rage filled her.  Her body rippled with a rainbow of color, "Stop it!"  She screamed, her voice echoing through the silent snow.  Kshar leapt forward and gripped the stranger by his shoulder from behind, "Stop it!"  She continued to scream.

Kshar had no reason to believe that anyone would listen to her, but each effort was necessary, there could be no more violence until she knew what was happening.  She couldn't just stand there while someone else would end up like the bloody piles in the distance.  

And it was then that the fire washed over her.  Fear filled her and she released the Stranger's shoulder, hiding herself in her wings.  When the rumbling voice rattled the ground beneath her she leapt into the air and took wing, there was no more snow on the ground, only muddy ground, but she had a clear view of what had been in the hut.  The body of the hermit made her cry out.  She fell to the ground behind Aldoraethar and hugged the body to her tightly.  A great despair filled her, the hermit was the only being she had known, and then only for the briefest of moments.

To those who could feel an emotional sink hole seemed to open up, sadness, confusion, loss.  An undefinable and undeniable sense of loss, her blue eyes watered and spilled over.  It wasn't about the hermit, something more decided.  Kshar all but ignored the happenings now, let it all unfold around her, obviously it had done so before, and violently. 

Kassin held still as events unfolded around him. He took a first shock as he realized the being he had just healed knew his name, then at the sudden outburst of violence between Kedered and Zanfib. Kassin closed his eyes, sat down encased himself in his wings, trying to comprehend the rapidly changing environment strewn around him. He was concerned with Kshar's health, yet, he didn't even know their names. His mind didn't take the recent surge of violence well. 'I just healed him and he's already trying to kill me?' went through his head, yet, he was too afraid to look. 'I never wanted this... I want... I want...' He felt another wave of fear as the hut burned down around him, and much of the area had been cleared. Fear eclipsed his young mind, the ground shaking and the outbursts of those around him only worsened his rapidly fragmenting mental state.
Kassin sobbed silently to himself, tears streamed down his face. He shivered in the cold weather, yet, his mind only focused on his surroundings. He continued whimpering, trying to cut out the surrounding chaos. His crying then became loud enough to be easily audible. His mental state desired tranquility where none could be found in the chaos. 'Please let it stop... please let it stop...' rang through his head as he cried into the snow.
The weather seemed to be getting colder as well.

Garis kept saying "i have to keep him safe" as the strange female kept pulling on his shoulder, he was in the process of getting the other stranger's attention when everything seemed to burst into flames...

it was a strange sensation, the area seemed to disappear, yet the fire wasn't a hot flame... it seemed like the illusion he was playing with back at the Willow, only this flame had destructive power... when it was over, he reformed his wings, and took a second to ponder what Ty had done... he then felt the sudden sadness coming from the female, and decided that Ty was right, and things should be handled more civilly.

He ignored Kassin at first, and choose to approached the female instead. He knelt down next to her, and gave a gentle smile, he put a hand on her shoulder and said in soothing, and gentle voice "things got a little carried... and i'm sorry for the way i treated you... the angel over there is someone who i owe a great deal to, and i promised to keep him safe, no matter what... I got worried when the other incubus i am traveling with told me that there was a hostile being inside the hut... and with the man i swore i'd protect... it doesn't excuse our earlier introduction, but perhaps we should start fresh... my name is Garis, of the Ahnasazi clan, and who might i ask is hiding behind these wings?" he gave a wry smile and cocked his head at the question

Kshar looked up at Garis and said nothing immediately.  Her blue eyes locked onto him.  And then she thrust herself into his arms, squeezing him tightly.  "Kshar."  She said softly, the word itself harsh to say, even in the silken voice of the angel.  "I don't understand what's happening.  Why is there so much blood on us?"  She wrapped her fluffy tail around one of his legs, clinging to him almost comically.  Kshar looked at the incubus and something like recognition washed through her, but was gone as quickly as it had come.  There was only an empty feeling, her sadness replaced with unknowing. 

The fox bit his lip when he saw the state that Kassin was in, but he continued with his line of thought for now.

"Ah, much better!  Now if we can sheath our overly large weapons and pointy minds, then perhaps we can come to some understanding.  There is a horribly mangled corpse there... judging by the clothes and all the blood on the angel and on the ringtail here, these two were almost to that level."  The fox said with an air of diplomacy.  He gestured behind him and the two large rock hands brought the demon kids forward.

"these two were found exiting the hut, and the male admitted that they were on a date and having a bit of fun.  If this meant tearing up this old being and these two, then we have a bit of a justice issue that we must address.  However, a thorough interrogation of their minds will be required to determine what has happened."

Having finished his little speech, the fox walked to Kassin, and kneeled down.  He wrapped his arms around the feline and whispered in his ear, "I'm so sorry I did that, I just lost my patience with the others and got a bit too flashy in an attempt to silence the situation.  Now please relax and stand up, you are making everything colder."

Rafa had just gotten up from stopping, dropping, and rolling across the ground, Tyrian's semi-false fire having panicked him for a brief moment. At least he'd kept himself out of the little altercation with the hut's residents. "...look, are we done protecting the helpless and downtrodden yet?" Since the adventurers showed up, he kept expecting some other warparty to follow. "Just tell me we won't have to get involved in every little thing that pops up." This is going to be our downfall: acting like adventurers when we're a bunch of frigging outlaws.

He looked to Tyrian. "You, you seem pretty enlightened. Surely you can understand that it's a bad idea to stop and play judge, jury and executioner on every ne'er-do-well we stumble upon when there're at least three different factions hounding us." His tone was none too pleasant, not that he much cared.

Garis collected the lightning spark he'd been saving in his right hand, and released the energy back into his body, once sure he wouldn't cause any harm, he embraced the angel and tried to think of a way to explain the situation... all he could think of saying was"you don't have to worry, no one here is going to hurt you... your safe now" 

Garis just let his mind go empty, as his immediate goal was now to try and calm down yet another young lady he'd made a horrible first impression with... though it would seem the second time around was far more enjoyable than when the demoness had tried to take his face off...

wrapping one of his massive wings around the angel, Garis figured he'd wait for things to settle down so he could actually answer her questions...  He said in a gentle voice "i'm not entirely sure what happened, but with everyone here, i think we can figure it out... just let me know if you want or need anything"

Tyrian decided it best to pick up Kassin and move him from the carnage.  With the feline in his arms, he stopped to address Rafa, "it is difficult for us to continue if we do stop and help everyone along the way, but I am not a monster, I will see to the defense of creature and being alike."

The fox paused, closing his eyes and speaking in a weary tone, "I am also committed to the protection of this one, and he seems to rush into these type of situations without regard for himself."

Tyrian gestured with the young angel in his arms still to all around them, "As a demon, I'm sure you understand power.  Part of this young one's dream has proven true and I am willing to bet the rest as well.  This one causes such fear in those that hunt us, they are willing to fabricate this great ruse to kill or take custody of Kassin.  We have also been referred to as the touched, and I wish to know what that literally means."

A wry little smile crept to his muzzle and he spoke in a half joking tone, "I also want to know why I'm fifth... unless its an escalating scale of power."

Kshar untangled herself from Garis as everything seemed to settle in some fashion, she looked warily from Zanfib to Kedered.  Whatever was happening these creatures thought themselves innocent of wrong doing, largely.  To see someone else as kindly treated as herself calmed her considerably, they were not monsters to one another.

Zanfib did scare her though, if only because the others seemed so off put by him.  She could feel the tension at the violence and the unease at his knowledge, She carefully wrapped her fluffy tail about herself to keep warm and folded her wings back, thinking deep thoughts.  At least Tyrian and Garis were kind enough in word and deed.  'If only I knew what they were doing.'  Why had so many come together?  They were wanted because of Kassin and his dream.

Blue eyes fixed solidly on the body of Kassin, 'What dreams may come of this mind that he should be hunted?'  She reached into her pouch and pulled free the jar and it's salve, looking it over for clues.  'The Touched'  Kshar looked carefully at Garis, Zanfib and herself, each splattered with blood and without wounds to prove it.  Surely they had all been woken by Kassin from some nightmare, but she still felt as though she were dreaming.

A heavy but resolute sigh escaped her and her gaze dropped away from the salve and to the muddy ground.  "That fire ... All the snow is gone."  She squished some mud between her naked toes.  "Maybe we should talk elsewhere."  She looked up at the sky, Kshar was not afraid of being caught in the open, the sky was rather comforting, but if they were wanted by someone the fire would be like a bullseye pointing to them.  Her ear dropped as her thoughts played over lighter topics, could their hunters even see from the sky?

Garis stood up and took a few moments to go back over what had just happened, and what had been said... he suddenly realized that he had quite a bit of blood on his chest, and probably some on his face too... he took a few moments to remove it with a quick spell.

although usually quite conservative with his use of magic, he figured that a clean appearance would go a long way toward getting into a village without having to slaughter the entire population first...

once cleaned, he figured he'd at least try and give the ringtail a chance... Garis knew he'd reacted even more violently when he first woke up... now that things were calmer, he'd see what the strange being had to say for himself... maybe he was still groggy, and as such, had some major trust issues... besides, a being might be useful, especially one with enough power to stop Ked... even if only temporarily

Approaching Zanfib, Garis offered him a hand, and said in a polite tone "hello, any chance we can start over... sans hostility... soo anyways, what's your story?"

Kedered followed Tyrian and Kassin, but waved in an audiatory enhancement as he saw Garis move towards the newcomer. Sending a stray burst of thought at the fellow 'Cubi Find out how he knows who we are. He might be dangerous., he made his way in on the other conversation. "Altruism is all well and good, but we seem to be hunted ourselves, and keeping a low profile might be in order. Especially after that little display of yours Tyrian, anyone with eyes for magic is going to know something big happened here, and I for one would rather not be here when the investigative team arrives."

Sudden fire raining from the heavens with little to no warning was a tad surprising to the ringtail, especially consider he was so used to being the first to foresee any action. It threw him off guard to the point that he dropped any attack he had been planning to mount on the Cubi, and exerted every last bit of energy he had into his shield, fearing an impending, burning assault. However, this left his sensory abilities down to passive only, which did little to help discerning the source, power, or intent of the attack. For once, the ringtail had to rely on his eyes.

Luckily they weren't entirely useless..

While the building burned, the bodies burned, and the vegetation was consumed, he could tell, more or less by the lack of screaming, that the other sentient were unharmed. Was it an illusion? No.. even on passive, Zanfib could tell there was real, tangible energy in this strange show, not just a projection of silly arcane magic. Who was doing it? No way to tell, Zanfib could barely even pick up on the Cubi near him, until a booming voice demanded peace, and an end to the violence..

Zanfib peered about curiously afterward, and when it seemed that the battle was truly over, he slowly lowered the barrier, reabsorbing the energy he had used. That's when Kassin's latest actions caught his attention, and he turned a curious gaze towards the sentient. "This..?" He asked as he reached into his torn robe, withdrawing a pamphlet, a very familiar looking pamphlet to those who had refiled through the adventurer's belongings, and flicked it open, not even seeming to mind the fact it was stained in his own blood. "This is the sentient responsible for.. let's see here.. Murder, arson, soul-stealing and so much else? I believe my master would forgive me if I went out on a limb and said he does not match the profile I had expected."

He become so focused on his internal inquiry that for one, he forgot to reroute energy to his sensory abilities, and two, allowed a particular incubus to practically sneak up on him.

With a small jump, he blinked up at Garis, before registering who he was looking at. "Oh. Hello there. I suppose we all got a little jumpy there, didn't we?" He said, promptly taking Garis' hand. "Zanfib is my name, and psion is my calling. You would be.." He said, looking back at the pamphlet, and flicking into the rear pages a moment, "Garis! Hrm.. some twenty odd counts of murder.. You didn't exactly greet me like a murderer, now did you? None of this is adding up." He said, and waved the pamphlet briefly at Garis. "You know what else is strange? They seem so very descriptive of this Kassin, as if they had a chance to sit down and have a nice friendly chat with such a sadistic and terrible creature, and yet there's nary a word concerning you, Mr. Garis, or the others. Just a tad on the odd side, don't you think?" The ringtail said, his long tail starting to curve about in the air as he spoke..

Garis nodded politely at the odd being... this was turning out to be a rather intriguing adventure already... and the off beat humor of this Zanfib was only making it better... garis smiled and replied "you are quite correct about a great many things already... it would seem that some unknown forces have conspired against a rather harmless creature, Kassin... i wish i knew more, but it seems information about what is going on is rather closely guarded, and difficult to obtain..."

Garis paused to send a message to Kedered 'i'd say he seems pretty much harmless, if you don't recall, i myself was rather violent when i first woke up... and if what i'm guessing happened is the actual case, surviving a mauling from a young demon would have me waking up rather upset as well... just try and make up, forgive and forget if you will... and if you can't do that, just stay out of each other's way until we find somewhere moderately safe to reassess the group...'

Turning his attention back to Zanfib for a second he said "well, under the circumstances, i'd say we should probably get everyone introduced, i don't see a problem if you want to travel with us until we get somewhere safe... "

with that he strode off to see what the others were up to, and maybe learn a little bit about the other creature, Kshar.

Tyrian put Kassin down under a tree, away from the carnage and stepped back more towards the group, but making sure he could keep an eye on the blue tiger.

"We can worry about my bouts of altruism after we come to some sort of consensus about what to do about the demon kids.  Depending if they are responsible, you may find that I am a bit cruel in my punishments."  The fox gestured for the hands to come forward, within each still slumbered a feline demon and demoness.

"Can someone please verify their guilt or innocence, so we may mete out what road justice we agree upon and get moving.  I do not wish to take them with us."

Tyrian crossed his arms and his face took on a stern visage as his tail slowly swished back and forth. 

Kassin continued whimpering for a while, however, when things calmed down, he cleaned his eyes and stopped. He managed to rise to his feet, and took a cursory look around the barren locale. He was however, more interested in those around him. He tried not to look at Zanfib, thinking that things could return to violence at any moment, and he was quite afraid of the ringtail. Kassin edged over to Kshar, still worried about her well being. He tried not to look too closely at her, he didn't want to embarrass her. 'I hope she isn't cold... I hope we can get her some heavier clothing when we get the chance...' he thought. He took a cursory glance at the two unconscious demons, then turned his attention back to Kshar.
"Are you alright?" He softly asked.

Seenig as how Kassin was occupied, Kedered took it to respond to the other angel.

"Who cares about concepts like guilt, or innocence? After all, they attacked us, did they not? The ones that matter are safety and power. If they can be useful to us, we should use them, however we can. Good and evil are things best left for philosophers." Since Garis seemed not to have mentioned his idea, Kedered decided to broach it. "Do you have the kind of magic that could say, transform a corpse so that it looks like one of us? I can shapeshift myself, but my attempts to do so to others is limited. We have two dead adventurers, and if we add the demon corpses here, we'll have four. We make one look like Kassin, the others like three of us. We take away any of those bounty notices, and leave the corpses for someone to find. It probably will not throw all of the hunters off of our trail, but the news that the bounty has already been collected ought to take some pressure off of us. If you are squeamish about killing them, we could mke the ruse with the two dead adventurers. I am certain they would be all for making a little money, especially if the alternatives are less..... pleasant."

"I question just how efficiently we can operate when we're screwing around like this," Rafa spoke tensely, "and, really, I don't see the point in arguing over these two kids' death sentences when it's extremely obvious I'm the only one who'd object. Fine, go ahead, do whatever with them, just do it fast before someone else catches up to us." He glared over to Kshar and Zanfib. "And don't tell me we're taking those two along. We're traveling slow enough as it is!" Besides, as far as he was concerned, the ringtail seemed capable of looking after himself. Kshar, he wasn't so sure about, but it wasn't his obligation to look after damsels.

"If we don't get our asses back on the road in the next ten seconds, I swear I'm going to scalp every single one of you and make myself a patchwork wallet." And he sounded as though he meant it.

"I think I am going to stay with this group with a while.. At the very least, guilty or no, this particular group seems to attract attention of all kinds." Zanfib said, starting to follow after Garis, right as the fox began to speak. Zanfib blinked at the fellow, and looked back at the pamphlet a moment.. "This is.. Tyrian! Guilty of.."

"Grand Theft Livestock!?"

The pamphlet lay in the dirt as Zanfib followed after Garis.

Garis listened to the arguments of his original companions, and decided he might as well throw his thoughts into the mix as well " i disagree with you on several points Raffielle, one, unless we can use the bodies to appear as one of us, then no, i don't think we should outright kill them... break a bone perhaps, but keeping them alive and angry.  In that state they could be rather useful... their destructive nature makes them a natural target of adventurers, and if they wander too close to a village, although it would mean terrible things for innocents, it would also mean fewer adventurers for us to deal with... i don't want to sound cold or unsympathetic, but the less people we meet while traveling, the smaller the overall body count is going to be... and that also means that we'll get less overall attention from the beings... because we won't be getting blamed for several hundred 'murdered' adventurers... "

Garis took a second to breath, and think through how to approach the next part of his argument.  Once ready, he continued "the other thing i'm going to disagree with you on  taking extra people with us, if need be i'll carry Kshar, the female... and as for Zanfib, he's seems a rather stalwart fellow, and i'm sure he could prove some value... as a being he can go places safely, that we cannot."

Kshar smiled and nodded at Kassin, very glad to see things taking a strange turn for the better.  "I'm fine, just confused."  She wasn't really, it felt like at any moment she might fall over, her balance was off somehow.  Kshar considered that she might have had a blow to the head at some point, but shook it and figured, 'If he could close all the other wounds, why couldn't he have healed my head?  It must be something else.'  She sighed and offered him the jar to inspect, "There are ... holes ... blank spots, I don't know where I got this, or what I am doing around here."  She shrugged, squeezing her tail like a safety blanket, "That jar is my only real clue and the hermit was suppose to help me understand what's in it and maybe where I came from." She shifted nervously a moment, then simply asked, "Would it be alright if I came with you?"  'Being with them ought to get me noticed, maybe someone will know ... '  She looked around as the others were speaking of her.  "I won't slow you down, I can walk and even fly!"  She got excited and took a few wing beats to get into the air, hovering a moment before plopping back down.

Kshar looked over at the two demons, she knew they had to be responsible for what had happened to her.  "The Body of the hermit would make five if you can make them look like you guys," she offered cheerfully.  "And then Zanfib could take them in himself and possibly appease his master!"  She beamed proudly with the plan, and turned that supreme happiness on Kassin, though her eyes demanded something a little more serious too.  "But we better find out if we can or not quickly, and if we can't then maybe erase the demons memories if we can do that."  She looked expectantly at Zanfib.

Tyrian shook his head with a heavy sigh, "I'm afraid I cannot do that with my elemental magic, I would need significant practice with dark magic, or some type of fleshcraft... I might be able to do it with my angel light magic.  I'd have to bring the body back to life though, but... I'm not very good with light magic."  He gazed at Kassin for a moment, but shook his head, no, he could never do something like that.

"I have a slight different opinion on what we should do with these kids.  Among demon society, it is acceptable to go on rampages and kill lesser sentients.  To prove you are stronger, for a challenge, or even for fun.  I do not find that practice among demons to be an endearing trait, but it is their nature.  To not be this way, means they would be deviants and killed or at least shunned.  It is hard to fully fault them for what they are.  Having gone up against stronger creatures, they normally would have been killed.  To that I say we injure them severely and leave them with the bodies, if other adventurers come along looking for their friends, so be it.  If the two of them can crawl away to safety and survive, then they will know of mortality."  The fox seemed very solemn and gloomy.

"In my lands, our punishment for murder of such cruelty as what they did to the hermit and might have done to those two, would have been a slow agonizing death.  If you must kill them, then I suggest it be done painfully, death alone is not enough for that type of sadistic murder."  Though he appeared to be sickened by their actions, it was a veil that he hid great sadness and disappointment behind.

Kassin took the bottle and inspected it for a moment. After shaking his head 'no', he gave it back, indicating that he didn't know what to make of it. He took a glance at the hermit, and breathed a sigh. "I'm sorry... I would have saved him if I could." He shook his head sadly and looked back at Kshar. He was somewhat taken aback by her desire to travel with him. He took a few steps back, and took a deep breath before continuing.
"I... don't think that would be a good idea... I seem to be a target for unwanted attention, and I wouldn't like to see you put in harm's way because of me. But..., I won't stop you if you truly wish to, miss..." he took a brief pause, and found that he didn't even know her name. With a slight blush, he turned away, he would rather not embarrass the other angel if he could help it, or himself.

Kassin turned towards the others. He glanced at the two unconscious demons, concerned about what his companions might do to them. 'I'll feel it if they come to harm..., yet, I cannot condone what they seem to have done, it's a sickening disregard for life.' He gritted his teeth and glanced away, as if trying to mentally prepare himself if his companions decided to harm them. 'I just hope that if they must be killed then it is done quickly.' He didn't decide to say anything on the matter though, other than give the two demons one last glance before closing his eyes with a sigh.

Kassin looked around at the corpses, he felt terrible about the casualties that were had. Even if the adventurers tried to kill him, they truly believed they were chasing a monster. This trail of thought bit the back of his mind. The other one he didn't even know... yet still he felt terrible that he was a victim of senseless violence. 'I only wish I could get Eilan's help...' he thought. 'Maybe Kyirri knows where he is, I wonder if my companions would trust them though...'
With that trail of thought, he took another glance at Zanfib. Kassin was afraid of him... his reactions towards his friends after being healed didn't help him, plus he knew his name and about the bounty. Kassin spent some moments trying to contemplate whether he could be trusted with what he was trying to articulate. 'I should give him a second chance... but... what if he uses it to try to harm me? No, I can't be dishonest with the rest of them... I hope their idea works, I would certainly prefer to have fewer hunters trying to kill me, I don't wish anyone harm.' He had trouble concentrating. He took a brief moment to muster his courage, then addressed the rest of his companions.

"I... I had a fear in the back of my mind that my dream might be true, I tried to shut it out but, if we can't disguise the bodies, then I have an idea of where we could head next." He paused for a moment, trying to get everything in his head ordered. "I have some friends nearby that care for me... one of them is an adventurer I've known for some time. He may be able to pull enough strings to get the bounty on me... and the rest of you removed. Another friend of mine has a house nearby, and I should be able to get there through the surrounding woodlands, as roads would be too dangerous to travel on. From there, I should be able to inform them of my current situation." He glanced around at the others, as if unsure of himself. "Besides, it's likely to be one of the few safe places we can go, I don't think going to a city or other densely populated area would be a good idea." He took another look at the slaughtered hermit, sighed and continued. "And I don't wish to stay here."

 Stupid child talking to himself. That is a habit he needs to rid himself of."If we cannot use them, there is no real purpose in killing them. If our descriptions are going to be plastered along every tree and rock in Itharia, we might as well just make sure we are not followed and slip away. Whatever friends Kassin can muster can be helpful, of course, but lets look at this rationally. Thularians would likely kill us on sight simply for being creatures, we are hunted here in Ithralia, and I am willing to be that miss Firestorm is going to have demonic thugs looking for us in Narukh, if Nicha is in any way reliable. That means we need to find a way to get to Astarea, and the closest way is through the Whispwood. Which means that we need a guide, someone to navigate us through those wastes. Plus, few people would be insane enough to chase us there, although it likely will not shake the more determined pursuers."


Kedered paused, gathered his thoughts. "What are we going to do with our two newest aqcuisitions? I for one do not trust the being, and want to know why he answered a simple question with violence. And as for the other angel..... She seems none too stable. Can we really afford to have her along?"

"I'm standing right here."  Kshar crossed her arms, mimicking how she felt.  "What are you afraid I'm going to do being so unstable?  Attack you?  You can clearly handle yourselves ... Make a scene and draw attention?  I don't think I could do anything so attention calling as that wave of fire ... "

Kshar sighed to herself.  "The first Wingless being I trusted sent me to the hermit, where demons attacked me and I would have died.  If you won't have me with you then would you point the direction I must go in to find safety?"  She folded her wings about her, now looking like a being with a luxurious coat, a white pillar on the snow.  Her muddy feet were freezing but she didn't really mind it.

'If they won't take me with them then I will have to simply follow them.  It's not like I know if I'm a criminal or not, they know where is safest for criminals with wings, surely I could find something in their wake.' 

Garis chuckled... then added "do you really think any of us are all that stable, i'd like to think so, but really, if we look at the definition, i'd say probably not... Mind you, we have redeeming qualities to make up for that particular flaw, such as Kassin and his ability to heal what seems even the most grievous of wounds, or myself, with my abilities in combat, and shapeshifting... Besides, unstable or no, i'd find it rather cruel to leave Kshar by herself, especially with how disoriented she seems to be...  as for the being, well, i think your distrust of Zanfib is because he attacked you... not that i approve of him attacking the group, but at the same time, he seems to be a genuinely well intentioned fellow... and furthermore, he seems to have may qualities that could prove useful if you'd just give him a chance, though i'd like to hear his side of the story before we make our decision... i don't see why either should be disqualified from joining our little party simply because upon introduction, everyone over-reacted... besides perhaps the least stable of us all... "

quickly turning to the demon Garis said "no offense Raffielle, but from my views so far, you aren't exactly the pillar of stability amongst our party..."

turning back to Kedered "another issue i have is your idea that we should run away like scared little being children fleeing the very sight of a winged creature, even if that creature means no real harm... I have a feeling we could accomplish more by seeking out this 'Commissioner Brady' than by running... at the very least he could provide information... and furthermore, the man has been kind enough to provide us with a location where we can find him"

Zanfib chuckled softly at Kshar.. such a strange sentient, that one.

"Well, if this Commissioner possesses a weak mind, I could very well convince him that five badly burned corpses are the party, and he would never be any the wiser. I am not sure what you mean by my master being pleased by such actions.. He would simply nit-pick at my style., as he always does." The ringtail said with a roll of his eyes.

But then the psion turned a wry grin on Kendered. "Going to run away to Astarea, eh? You would probably need a guide.. or someone who just came from there."

"Well, ultimately, whatever you nutcases decide to do, I suggest you make a quick decision. Whoever is after you is putting quite a bit of effort into finding you."

Raffiele looked as though he was going to retort, but simply threw up his hands in frustration. All these little arguments were costing so much precious time. After a few short moments, he regained the nerve to speak. "...look, assuming we get the carcasses looking like us and have a couple of our guys dump them off, how long will that take and how far out of the way do we have to go? How do we even know the place we unload the bodies won't have just the kind of things needed to weed out ruses like that? So what do we do, separate and have some of us go ahead while the others hang back? We're wasting too much time already!"

"We do what's fastest, and that's getting the hell out of here and to someplace we can lie low."

"While we probably will not be in immediate danger if we linger for a few hours, Raffiele is correct. This place is not safe, and we do not really have the means of bluffing with the bodies. Even assuming that this Brady has no defenses against mental intrusion in place, we would have to get to him through the city of Dhallon. I am certain that in a city of what? Ten thousand people? Someone would recognize us, and we would not even be able to get near them. The demons are likely irrelevant. We should simply ignore them, and run. But we should not run scared. We have been reacting to circumstance far too often. We need to come up with a plan to get safe for real, and to find our enemies and strike at them. I still think we should go south, towards Astarea."

He turned to Kassin. "Unless these friends of yours that you mention can shelter us, at least for a little while. A chance to send out feelers for information should not be turned up."

"I think we should see Kassin's friends and then decide where to go from there.  If you all wish to avoid any further encounters, we could just fly you know.  I don't have these feathery wings because I am a fae in disguise you know.  Not a lot of adventurers have flying means, whether technological or magical.  Someone would have to carry Zanfib though, if he comes with us."

The fox released the stones hands, allowing the demons to slump to the ground.  They would be unconscious for a few hours still, he felt slightly relieved that they did not wish to kill the young demons.

"Let us go, we can talk more as we travel."

She had a heading of some manner now that someone had said it.  South.  She leapt into the air and beat her wings hardily, to Kshar it was a nice at home feeling to be in the sky in such a manner.  She waved to the group and speed off southerly, taking a moment to check the sun and the moss of the trees before heading that way.  There was no point waiting for them, there might be a chance that she could make it on her own to this far off place, and if she didn't she wouldn't have any memory of doing better to scold herself for.  "Besides' she thought, 'If I'm not here when someone else discovers the bodies then they can't blame me and write me up as one of Kassin's friends, nice though some of them are.'

Kshar kept the nagging desire to wait for the others to accept her or not amongst their traveling party, but if she were to get any place any time soon it was clear that she would have to get there on her own at the moment.  Though she had flown well enough before she did take a leisure pace in case one of them should take off into the air as well, potentially getting to watch someone else use their wings was exciting.

Garis just nodded in agreement, "true, charging off into a city the way we are is a bad idea... but Kedered, i am a shapeshifter, and assuming you've practiced it, you should be too... but i beleive Ty is right yet again, we should find Kassin's friends, and formulate a plan from there."
Turning to Kassin, Garis said "lead on whenever your ready"   With that, Garis took 3 quick steps while stretching his wings out to their full length and began a rythmic beat to get ready for flight, on the third step he seemed to almost crumple, but then launched off the ground with a wing assisted jump.  Beating the enormous wings, he gained some altitude, then began circling the party.  Starting to feel a little arrogant, he used some magic to create a rising pillar of warm air, and started gliding while still gaining altitude... He circled over the party, awaiting what actions the others would take

Kassin looked towards the sky.
"Astarea,... I've heard it's a beautiful place. Yet, I'm not sure if we could make it there. Going through Narukh is a bad idea, for obvious reasons, and the Thularians have a blockade set up along the Ithralian border to Astarea, which would mean only a being would be able to get through. It's one of the most heavily fortified locations in Atharra, I don't think it's possible to break through."
"As for Whispwood..." he paused a moment before continuing, the thought of Whispwood made him shiver. "That place scares me, and I don't know of anyone who could navigate the place. Besides, I don't even know if a route to Astarea exists in those woods, plus, I've heard that several dangerous and malevolent creatures live there, I wouldn't feel safe in those woods. Very little lives out there..."

He looked up towards Tyrian and Garis. "Flying..." he softly said, he made some soft motions with his wings, sighed, and then looked towards the ground. "I can't fly...". He looked at his yellow feathered wings, and made a soft motion with his right wing. "Besides, I'd think we would be easier to spot if we're in the air."
He took a look back at Kshar. I'd feel terrible if she got hurt because of me, he thought. but then again, Ithralia isn't known for it's endless bounds of tolerance, so maybe she would be safer staying with us, at least for the time being. I would probably be a bit more comfortable around her if I knew her name though....
"Lets keep moving then, there should be some lightly forested areas we can move through without too much hindrance. I don't think it should take too long. We should enter through the back entrance, I'd rather not be seen if we can help it. I should enter in first, Kyirri is quite easy to startle. Once there, I suppose we could hide in the basement while I try to contact my other friends."

Kassin motioned for the others to follow. Doubt plagued his mind, uncertainty that he would even survive to see the sun rise the next morning. Yet, he continued on. His companions worried him, he didn't want them to suffer because of him, yet, he had no other choice than to trust them. Kassin needed to. The journey was fairly short, and uneventful, the woods weren't inhabited with sentient life. The sky started to darken, dusk had come.
Kassin eventually came to a strip of houses, they looked to be in good condition. There were wide, grassy spaces between them. A road could be seen in front of the strip, to which another strip of houses could be found. Trees dotted the landscape, though became more sparse as the houses were approached. The place looked deserted however, most people must have been inside at the time, as lights were visibly on throughout. "It's that one, we should be able to get in the back entrance undetected, we can use the trees as cover." It was a moderately sized house, and looked to be made of white-painted wood. There were two floors worth of windows, indicating it was two stories tall. The door itself looked to be plain, the only remarkable thing about it was a window at waist height, and it's knob was at waist height as well.
Kassin took position behind a tree, folding his wings backwards to help conceal himself. He quickly glanced about to make sure no one was looking, then darted for the door as quietly as he could. He knocked softly on it, and then crouched down to make sure his eyes were on the window.

A moment later, the door opened, there was a small kangaroo rat being behind it. He had messy looking blond hair, blue eyes, looked to be around three foot one inch tall. He was wearing plain clothing. His ears and eyes were quite large. He also had a long tail, with rich looking yellow hair at it's end. "Come on in," he whispered to Kassin. Kassin made a motion to his companions, indicating it was safe to come inside.
The back entrance entered into a kind of living room. The floor had green carpet lining it, with a few fuzzy looking rugs along the floor. There were two couches around, they actually looked to be made for a normal sized being. Some lamps and other appliances were scattered about. The place was electrically lit. There were two doors on the right wall, aside from the entrance.
Once inside, Kassin relaxed his wings and wiped his feet on one of the rugs. He looked at the being. "Kyirri, I would hate to ask, but... do you know where Eilan is?"

With that, another voice could be heard. "Kassin, I would have thought you would have expected me to get here first." Another being vaulted over the backs of one of the couches. He looked to be fox being, standing around five foot eleven. His fur is bright orange, in contrast to his short black hair and dark brown eyes. His tail looks to be about three feet long, it is bushy, and looks somewhat disheveled. He looks well muscled, and has a slightly lean body. He is wearing a deep blue shirt, brown pants, and snowy white shoes. Two sabers hang from his belt, encased in simple looking scabbards.
Kassin seemed surprised by this, but, it was a pleasant surprise to him, rather than the unwelcome ones that he had endured recently. "Eilan..." he began.
"If it's about the bounty..." the fox interrupted, "I already know. Did you come with anyone?" Kassin nodded affirmatively. "You should probably head downstairs, I don't want you being seen by some odd passer by looking through one of the windows. Besides, I want to know..."
He stopped for a moment, the three of them looked at the doorway, Kassin made a motion for the others to come inside.

Before Zanfib entered the home, he reached out with his telepathic abilities and carefully scanned the home. He was being particularly through about seeing how he had recently been ambushed by a pair of demons, and was not taking any chances this time.

Pending finding that the home was safe, Zanfib followed after Kassin. "A lovely home, Mr. Kyirri, although I am curious about your lighting fixtures.. They are, what is the word.. that funny lightning element, yes?"

Raffiele walked in slowly after Zanfib, both wings folded neatly and hands kept at his sides. With Kyirri and Eilan being the only helpful people they could rely on for the moment, he wasn't about to do or say anything in the least bit threatening. He even went so far as to bow politely, saying something in a foreign, halting tongue before standing straight. "...family-speak for 'you have a respectable abode.' It really is nice."

He looked over his shoulder, just out of paranoid habit.

Kedered stood outside the doorway, studying the structure. It was only wood, but the craftsmenship was fine and the second story bespoke some importance. Almost immediately he began looking over where the widows were and other possible points of entry, but viscerally shoved the thought aside. This was a haven, and if they were discovered a mere house would offer only scant shelter. Once any organized pursuit came after them they were done for, so silence and stealth were the orders of the day.

Still standing outside, he faced and bowed at the waist towards the short Kangaroo rat. Kyrri he thought he heard Kassin call him. "I am Kedered Aldoraethar, and I beg leave to come under your roof." He straightened, and after a few seconds the host gave a sort of bemused nod. As he crossed the threshhold, he reached into one of his pockets, bringing out a tiny emerald and passing it into Kyrri's palm. "My thanks for entering your hold. I will offer no offense to you or your kin while I am here." He strode forward, until he drew abreast with Kassin, waiting to hear what else, if anything, this Fox-being had to say.

When no one else seemed to take to the sky,  Garis took a moment to catch up to Kshar and inform her that they were walking, as it would seem flying was either not possible, or not recommended... once he was close enough he said "it seems we're walking, if your planning on joining up with the party, i'd recommend walking, although flying is faster and easier, it would seem we've got some problem that has the others staying on the ground. we should land and wait up for them"  with that, Garis still felt like showing off... he took a near vertical dive, when he got just above the treeline, he flared his wings, slowing himself down considerably, then formed the tentacles to swing himself gently to the ground by grabbing several branches, and letting himself down...  He waited for the rest of the party up ahead, keeping his senses keen, and ready for problems...

He followed along, keeping silent and observant, making sure no more archers would try to ambush them again.

Once at the house, the fact that Raffiele had entered before the others caught Garis as odd, but, he figured he'd follow the demon's example, and try and minimize problems, hiding both his back and head wings, Garis appeared as a wolf being, rather than an incubus... Bowing his head as he entered, he took a few seconds to observe his surroundings, then turning back to the beings Garis said "you have a very pleasant home, and i thank you for your kindness"  He walked over, standing a little behind Kassin and Kedered, he could still hear everything that was said, but felt he'd be a little less obtrusive that way

Kshar nodded her understanding, thankful that Garis had alerted her.  She remained on the wing a moment and watched him descend, then swing through branches with tentacles that appeared from his wings.  She followed his example, catching herself on the wind just before hitting the bottoms branches of the trees.  Her wings twitched in anticipation of catching herself as Garis had done, but no tentacles came from hers as they had from his.  Instead a burst of feathery down exploded from them, shrouding her in a small cloud. 

Though unharmed Kshar was thoroughly embarrassed and folded her wings back delicately, there would be no more need for acrobatics, especially if the others couldn't even get off the ground.  Thankfully she was at the back, and had held back a moment, not wanting to presume that she was welcome.  So when she discovered that her wings where suddenly full of color her gasp of shock went unnoticed.  They were indigo now, with her primary feathers turning a darker blue, she no longer hid effectively amongst the open snow.  She was thankful that she no longer had to be out in it.

The trees provided cover and as they walked through she did her best to hang back, this sudden change might confuse her new friends, it was sure confusing to her.  And what was more so confusing was that, half way through the trip, she noticed that her hair was catching on low hanging branches than she though possible.  It was then that Kshar discovered two tiny head wings, feathery with the same new coloration as her back wings, she did her best to bury them beneath her fluffy hair.

Scared but without a change of plan available she followed as one of the last in the building, clinging to her tail for warmth and comfort.  The sudden changes in life were unsettling, not horribly so, but she had no desire to cause another fight to break out.  The mud that had caked on her feet had long since washed off, so she merely dried them at the doorway, lingering for only a second as her eyes laid smack on the two beings who had apparently been waiting for them.  As she had seen the others do from her safe hiding place in a bush out back she bowed and took some of the gold coins that had been in her pouch and offered it before following the rest to the basement as directed.  "I am Kshar ..." She said softly to the Kangaroo Rat and the Fox, "I hope it's ok for me to be here."

Kshar nudged as close to Garis as she could get without stepping on him or causing any manner of pile up, though she felt the extreme desire to surround herself with those endowed with wings.  Beings caused immediately fear in her, and that they were headed underground made her even more nervous.  'If only their wings hadn't been somewhat ornamental, surely we could've flown extra high and never caused a problem.'

She cursed her need for their company and smiled at anyone who looked her way, not realizing that bowing had knocked some of her hair from the carefully piled camouflage, exposing some of the bright blue feathers from her newly sprouted head wings. 'I'll have to ask Garis if he knows anything about this weirdness.'

Zanfib was in the midst of speaking to the being, when he bgan to ntoice something.. unusual.. He could not quite focus his mind on it, but something was tugging at his senses.. There was a strange energy about.

While doing his best to pay attention to the kangaroo rat and his conversation with said being, he swung his senses around, scanning for the source of the oddity. He was only half and half surprised when he discovered it to be the unusual sentient that he had woken up next to back in the hut.

However, even once he had narrowed down the source, he could still not quite make out the sensation he was reading off of her. He likened it some manner of transformation, but he couldn't be certain. He managed a glance to the side without interrupting the conversation he was in, and noted.. feathers?.. spouting from her head. Also, he picked up on her thoughts amidst the mental noise in the room and decided that perhaps the best way to figure out this occurrence was a very direct method.

And what.. came Zanfib's voice inside of Kshar's head, .. might this weirdness you are so eager to speak to the incubus about be concerning?

Kshar's wings jerked a little at the intrusion in her thoughts.  She somehow knew that it was Zanfib.  She took a steadying breath and tried not to make any other outward signs that she had heard anything.  It would take great effort to think of nothing at all so instead she took to looking around the house, counting the walls, the furniture, the colors used for each and together, the lights, the people, anything but thinking about the feathers on her head, or about the need to ask for assistance.  Zanfib was unknown to her, a wingless being, his thoughts were an intrusion into what she had thought to be a private conversation with herself. 

She did her best to remain focused on counting, there was too much happening now to try to do anything, too much she wanted to keep her attention on.  Kshar hoped that at some point there would be a lull when she could speak to both Zanfib and Garis, preferably together.

Tyrian was noticeably dejected at the declination to fly, for a fox he so loved to travel on wing.  Unfortunately he found himself still trudging on footpaws through a small section of forest.   

He followed intently, pausing here and there to examine a tree or small flower, until they reached a small set of houses.  He was the last to enter, being slightly apprehensive about buildings after the Willow incident.

Ducking into the small doorway, he made it a point to not to track the dirt and grime from the journey into the dwelling. 

He bowed upon entering to his gracious hosts, "thank you for allowing us to enter your dwelling.  I am known as Tyrian, and I apologize for any inconvenience taking us in may cause now and possibly later."

He followed the others to where ever it was they were being led.

Kyirri seemed to be uncomfortable with the prospect of taking Kedered's emerald and Kshar's coins. "Thanks... but, really, it's not necessary." He smiled softly, not taking what he was offered. He seemed somewhat surprised at Kshar, largely at her outfit. I wonder how she didn't freeze herself solid wearing that..., he thought. I think I might have something less revealing upstairs though.
"I'm Kyirri...," he started. "You're all welcome to stay here." He smiled. He took a quick look over the lights. "Nothing is wrong with them is there?"
Electric lighting is quite common in Astarea, and most buildings are electrically lit. Magic can generate electric energy needed for appliances like these quite easily. Some lights are magically lit on their own, though it doesn't appear that these are, and it seems doubtful that they run on magically generated electricity. There are non-magical ways of doing so, but there are usually problems with such methods.
Eilan examined everyone carefully, looking them up and down. He seemed particularly interested in Zanfib and Kshar.  After briefly scanning everyone, he made a small nod. "I'm Eilan." He paused before continuing. He looked over at Kyirri and Kassin. "You two should head downstairs." They both nodded. Kyirri opened the closer door on the right, and both went in.
Elian's thoughts were difficult to read, often thinking about playing cards and fencing maneuvers. It's pretty obvious that this wasn't what he was really thinking about.
"I do however, have to ask you all a few things, particularly, I'm interested in how you all came to travel with him, as well as what's happened since you've gotten here. There is a lot about this situation Kassin is in that I haven't figured out."
"Though, we'd best do that downstairs..." He looked over at Kshar. "And get you some proper attire." Eilan headed downstairs as well.
The basement was a reasonably sized room. There was a table in the center, and a small couch near it. This place had dim electric lights, though some of them weren't working. There were two doors down here. Eilan paced over to one, which revealed a closet. He took a small blanket into his hands, and stood near the table.

Kshar kept her coins thankfully and expressed her gratitude softly.  Then looked down at her lack of clothing, the belt and pouch and her fluffy tail the only thing between her and the cold.  It was true she had been very cold but hadn't minded, other pressing matters had been rather attention consuming.  In fact, as the warmth of the abode got to her parts of her began to hurt and sting, aching from long exposure to the icy cold.  She gingerly stepped after Eilan, hoping that Kissan's favor in them was not ill placed.

'Attire?'  Kshar looked at everyone else, indeed they were swathed in something colorful or warm or both.  Her ear dropped in thought as she scanned back to her first waking moments, no wonder they had treated her so differently.  'Not just was I some monster to them, but also a naked monster.'  But the thought seemed strange, why should she need to wear attire?  'Maybe it just because of the winter ...'  She eyeballed Zanfib a moment before approaching the table downstairs.

Blushing, Kshar tugged at the tip of her tail, embarrassed to be explaining herself to this being, and not a little nervous to be underground and in this being's home.  "I am Kshar ... I have more name I think ... but I cannot remember it.  I woke up near some town north of here, I had these things on me."  She emptied her pouch of it's white feathery down, the coins, and the salve.  "I was scared and lost and this," she picked up the salve and opened it, "was all I had with me that might tell me where I was from.  ... I remember some things, but mostly because it feels right or wrong, not because I recall strong memories of what or where ..."  She paused to dig a little bit out of the jar and put it on her tongue, she immediately stuck it out of her mouth and spoke around it, "Thisth tasth nasthty."

There was a moment where she looked like a dog licking peanut butter off the roof of her mouth.  "It makes my mouth numb a little, the beings sent me to a hermit, said that he might know what it was and give me a clue.  I flew out to the hermits house and ..."  Her eyes welled up the slightest bit and she took a moment before continuing.  "Then something happened, I didn't even get a chance to meet the hermit or even see anyone else.  Just ... I woke up later with blood on me and wounds closing."  Kshar fingered some of the new scars that had formed under her fur, exposing them for Eilan.  "Kassin was over me and everyone else here was around me.  The little building was on fire ... demons and beings had attacked ... they killed ... the hermit."  She frowned again.  Unbeknownst to her her numb tongue began to slip out of her mouth, not much, but enough to take away from the sadness she felt.

Kshar shook her head, entirely forgetting about the need to hide her head wings from the others, if she was going to tell all, she might as well tell all here and now with everyone present ... except Kassin that is.  "And some short time before we got here I tried to use my wings like Garis and this happened!"  She spread her wings and tugged at her new little wings.  "I was completely white before, and I didn't have these little ones."  The way she said it was piteous, as though she were afraid of being scolded by the being before her.  'I hope this fox is going to help us, and not ...'  She didn't even finish the thought, somehow she couldn't.  Kshar looked at Garis miserably and wrapped her arms around her thawing body.

Somehow being out in the cold had easier to coup with than being in a warm place after being very cold.  A little puddle of water was gathering around her feet where snow and ice she had not managed to kick off was melting.  She barely noticed.

Rafa gave Kshar an abject leer as she spoke, going over her story in his head. As kind a person as she seemed, it was evident she would be a liability. He made no attempt to even mask his thoughts. Oh, fantastic. So not only did we drag two more people along, but one of them's a complete neophyte. Joy of joys. He couldn't fault her for being a nice person, but niceness wouldn't get them very far against soldiers, mercenaries and adventurers.

He continued to stand, occasionally scratching at his shoulder and glancing about the room for anything of interest besides the table and couch.

Walking down to the basement, Garis realized there was no longer any real reason to hide the fact that he was cubi, both sets of wings sprouted as he reached the basement.

Garis took a few moments to observe his surroundings, finding a spot where he could lean against a wall.  He picked up on Kshar's thoughts, then chuckled since he was only wearing a pair of pants. though his tunic was in his pack, it was something he only took out for occasions when formal attire was required. 

He listened to Kshar's story, and when she showed off her new head wings Garis tried hard not to start grinning.  He sent a quick message to Kedered 'it seems our new female companion isn't in fact an angel, but actually a very young succubus... either that, or she's got a horrible case of amnesia yet a very firm hold on self identity...  whatever the case may be, do you want to be the one who welcomes her into the species and go over some of the basics, or would you prefer i do it?'

Garis picked up on Raffiele's thoughts and decided he'd better say something...

looking at kshar first, then the around the group as a whole, Garis said "well, it seems we're going to have several rather interesting conversations tonight with this little bit of news.  Don't worry about it too much Kshar, I'll let you know more after we start getting things sorted out with Kassin... we should tackle the more pressing, and important issues first"

Following Kassin into the basement, Kedered glanced around and wondered what sort of occupation supported this humble, but tasteful abode. Whoever paid for this place was obviously a person of some means. Especially in Ithralia, electric lighting did not come cheap.

The fox being, this Eilan baffled Kedered for a second. His thoughts seemed primarily on the dancing swordplay that Ithralians favored, but his disconnect between the words he was saying and the surface thoughts flitting through his mind displayed evidence of having dealt with psionics before, probably 'Cubi. He was about to answer when a stab of shouted thought pounced through his head.
What is that girl doing?

It took a minute to shake off the ringing in his ears, in which Garis "spoke" to his mind in a more subdued tone. He sent back a response immediately. Are you certain? Does she have headwings and a symbol? Either way, I would not make a very good teacher. The methods I learned by........ were harsh. I would likely break her. Besides, I need to stay close to Kassin, and I would have thought that you would jump at the opportunity to stay close to a pretty female.

Turning his attention back to Eilan, he shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, breaks to my concentration. Kassin was kind enough to pull me out of a collapsed building and healed me. I owe him my life, and will stay with him until that debt is paid. How do you know him?"

A big grin grew across Garis's face as he heard Ked's reply, In response Garis sent 'it's not  like the ways i learned was all puppy-dogs and flowers you know... but, if your going to be the vigil bodyguard, i guess she'll learning how to do basic magic, and how to shapeshift her wings into whatever she needs...

on a completely unrelated topic, is it just me, or is something about the fox being a little... off?...  all i'm getting from him right now is thoughts on swordfighting and cards... but judging by his emotions, there's some deeper thought going on there.

Eilan, before responding to any of Kshar's inquiries, tossed her the blanket he took. "Here,  it's something to cover yourself with for now." He took a quick glance at Kshar's second wings before continuing. Kassin and Kyirri went to the second door, went inside, and shut it behind them.
"Those, look to be Cubi head-wings." Eilan continued, "Cubi generally grow them in their twenties. I guess they chose a rather inconvenient time to pop out. Regardless, I think you'll adjust to the changes, in time."
"As for that salve, if you don't know what it is, I wouldn't try anything with it, magic can be... volatile at times." Eilan looked at Garis and Kedered. His thoughts were still focused on cards and swordplay.
"If you wish to know, Kassin and I have known each other for a few years. We got to know each other on one of my adventures. Creatures often aren't trusted in Ithralia, and a lot of beings blame them unconditionally for their problems. I met Kassin when he was on the receiving end of such distrust, and I helped him out of it. He was out healing some beings that were ill, though, some other adventurers wanted to harm him. I stopped them, and we've been friends ever since. He's the most gentle creature I know, and he often goes out of his way to help others, he's healed my injuries more than once as well."
A thought slipped from his card-playing and sword swinging. I kind of wish more creatures were like him, I think there would be less problems in the world if that were so.
Eilan stroked his muzzle with his right hand. "He healed you, he does make a lot of friends that way. Still, I don't see how that alone would put you on a bounty list... a lot of things don't make sense to me." He paused for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. "So... where did he heal you? And did anything of note happen after that happened and before you got here? And most importantly, did you pick up any clues indicating why he, and the rest of you might be hunted? I don't think Kassin is even capable of harming anyone, let alone committing mass murder. Plus, I don't know of any eighteen year old angels that can perform soul-based crime."
He took a deep breath, awaiting a response. Another thought slipped past his poker game. Brady is normally good about verifying the claims of his sources, and he attempted to keep this matter away from me, I hope he has a good explanation the next time I see him...

Zanfib smirked a bit to himself.. Kshar's mind had become little more than numbers and darting thoughts. So be it. came his voice again. I can just watch from afar.. I have a pretty good idea what is happening to you already.

With that, he turned his full attention back to Kyirri with a smile. "Ah, Kyirri then. I am called Zanfib Black, you can probably guess where the family name comes from. Pardon me for asking about the lights, I come from a slightly rural area of Astarea, where they were a somewhat rare sight." He said, speaking while he idly swept his senses around the room..

That's when he noticed something about the fox being that irked him quite a bit. A disciplined mind, it seemed. Zanfib growled inwardly, because he hated minds like that.. Just a little exercise of will was all it took to keep a psion of his skill from probing undetected. There was the occasional break in the screen, but not nearly enough for Zanfib's taste. He hated being thwarted by such simple tricks...

During his idle scans, he noticed quite a bit of mental noise in the room, but he was beginning to suspect that not all of it was noise. He peered a bit closer, and thought that he detected some manner of communication. Not quite the same style as a psion, but something a little more.. inherent. He glanced at the two older cubi for a moment, wondering. He knew the race was thought-reading, but were they thought-sending as well??

He broke from that train of thought a moment to answer Eilan's questions.. "Myself and Kshar are the only ones not yet hunted. We were recently added to this group after an attack from a pair of demons. I myself was following a very unusual bounty notice, one I am sure all of you already know about. A very high bounty, I mgiht add. But from what I have observed, neither Kassin nor his companions match any of the charges claimed against them. So, now I am following as a means to investigate the matter further."

Tyrian trod quietly over the flooring and came to stand with the others.  He smiled somewhat knowingly at the thought of soul-based crime, "indeed, eighteen is far too young to be able to able to have the magical might necessary to separate a soul from another's body.  Souls are quite interesting things to deal with.  They can be personally contained within one's self to tap as power reserves, or consumed entirely to increase one's own power.  One alone is very powerful, but thousands are exponentially so.  Souls can be bound to objects, or forged using... special techniques... into objects of power.  There are countless things to be done with souls, not to mention the husk from which they are taken.  Take myself for example, a powerful sentient could extract my soul... say when it was young... take that soul and forge it with many lesser ones to create an amalgam of potentialities.  With the right combination of course.  The husk can be preserved, enhanced... improved.  Then the two can be recombined and made into a creature for a special task by an ancient dragon, tri-winged succubus, a curious fae, or any number of others.  Such a creature can bide, ply his tasks and rise against his own masters... take their souls and learn from it... from thousands of others... and... well, such a thing would seem beyond Kassin and so against his personality... oh!"

The fox stopped his little rant and stared intently at the electrical light, "I see, is it so very tight in there?  Interesting, quantum space... rather fascinating stuff.  Would you like to escape?  It would seem so boring to be stuck in a closed system... really?  Well alright then.  Tell me a little more about this "foamy" quantum space-time..."

The fox continued to hold his conversation with the electric light bulb. 

With everyone starting to focus on Kshar, Garis realized he'd never introduced himself to those who were giving him safe haven.  Turning towards the fox, Garis said in a slightly apologetic tone "i'm sorry, it seems i forgot to introduce myself earlier, I'm Garis, of the Ahnasazi clan.  My story is fairly similar to that of Kedered, Tyrian, and Rafaielle, we were all staying at the Whistling Willow, when the entire place just exploded.  No idea what caused it, or how it happened, but i woke up in the morning and Kassin was there tending to us.  I doubt i'd be here talking to you if it weren't for him"

Turning to Kshar, Garis picked up what felt like a hint of embarrassment, along with quite a bit of worry, he said " you don't have anything to worry about, under the circumstances i guess i'll be taking the time to fill you in on a basic history, along with teaching you a little bit about the abilities your going to start to gain...  but that can wait for a little bit, at least until tomorrow... i'm a little more concerned with what we can do about this bounty on Kassin, and the rest of us."

Like Garis, Rafa realized he hadn't introduced himself properly to their gracious host. "And I'm Raffiele, Clan Thom'sen. Like Garis and the others, your friend dragged us out from the inn's rubble." He tried to keep himself from sounding completely acerbic as he continued. "Unlike the others, however, I didn't need rescuing, but got caught up in this escapade all the same." He visualized what it would have been like if Kassin weren't there: complete silence, a dead Aldoraethar, the entire place to himself... he'd brush his shoulders off, loot the corpses and leave a happier man. ...If only.

He looked to Garis and Kshar, tapping the incubus on the shoulder. "Look," he whispered, "could you, Ked and I have a little chat soon?"

Kshar gratefully took the blanket and wrapped it about herself, tightly enfolding her wings and her neck, then sitting down on the couch.  The cacophony of thought that followed, about her, about the rescue, about asinine other things, filled her head.  She listen and got quieter as each person spoke or thought or did as they would.  The sense of unwelcome was strong, only Garis seemed to be openly friendly, but the rest were neutral, like Zanfib, at best.  Her own head filled with how to be useful to them.  She had only an inclining of what she was capable of, truly even the strangers she just met (for the first time?) seemed to know more of what she was capable than she.

As each described their stories she practiced listening in on their thoughts, trying to overcome the desire to stare at each as she did so.  People on the run had to look inconspicuous, staring would not help the fact that she was covered in wings.  Kshar had little money, for all the good it would do a Creature such as herself, and no skills.  Her only grace was her at home feel in the air, even staggered by near death she had been able to leap into it, embraced like a familiar lover.  She would need to know more about everything before she could help anyone.  'Kassin was unable to fly.'  She rolled it over in her mind, considering carrying him.

Why stay with Kassin?  Why stay with the others who had little interest in her being with them?  Warming now she turned her thoughts to a more pleasant light: she was cubi.  The others who apparently shared her race had clan names they mentioned, perhaps her clan was out there, looking for her.  'I'll have to find a way to travel with them to Astarea.  Then I won't burden them so.' 

As she thought over the others thoughts something Zanfib had said earlier that day clicked.  'Brady.  As in Commissioner Brady?  The name on the bounty?'  Panic almost gripped her, almost ripped her out of the seat and into flight.  Two things stopped her: The first was the ceiling which was the floor of the house, the second was the pressing need to be helpful to the others who had been the kindest, if not always the most welcoming.  She would need everyone's help, Kassin seemed unable to defend himself much.

That last thought caused her to look around for him.  The others didn't know these two beings, and they had separated Kassin from them.  She looked at Kedered, worry plain on her face, and concentrated hard.  'You care most for Kassin.  Is he safe?  Do you know that these people are trustworthy?'

Eilan took a moment to let what he was being told to all sink in. He gave a cursory glance at Tyrian, at first, quite freaked out by his monologue on souls, and then by his behavior. He raised an eyebrow, rolled his eyes, then looked towards the others. He also gave a quick look at Raffiele, though he didn't decide to say anything. He rolled  his eyes again and looked towards the others. He rubbed his right shoulder softly with his left hand, he looked at the ground, as if to gather his thoughts. He then picked his head back up, and put a more alert look on his face.

"So... Kassin was at the Willow. I guess the best lies have a grain of truth to them." He faced Garis. "You were all at the Willow? Five creatures in one place, all caught in the same calamity... that's an odd coincidence. Did any of you know each other prior to meeting at the Willow?" He took a pause, he didn't like repeating himself. A thought slipped through his barrier. Two demons on a seemingly unrelated instance... I wonder where the connection is... "Also, did any of you find anything that would indicate why you would have bounties placed on you?"

He stopped again, re-playing what he was being told in his head. He took a stern look at Zanfib. "Also, is there any particular reason you said you and Kshar were not yet hunted?", putting a strong emphasis on the word 'yet'.

Kedered gave off a nasty chuckle, both at Garis's obvious inquiry and Eilan's more naive one. He gave the answer to the former off as a dull thought, just on the edge of what he gauged Garis's perceptive ability to be. He is trying to hide what he's really thinking. I am surprised you have never seen the tactic before.

At the same time, he languidly drawled out to the fox-being. "Well, I am uncertain about the others, but the crimes that are listed against me are rather obvious fabrictaions. If they wanted to get a real bounty on me, all they would have to do is go to any Thularian record keeping base and look me up. I would guess that the reason that Zanfib said yet is the obvious one. It seems that we are hunted because Kassin is the primary target and we follow in his wake. If Zanfib and Kshar do so, they would likely be added to subsequent updates."

Kedered then half turned to Raffiele, whispering "I haven't forgotten you, but I have this niggling suspicion that Eilan is building up to some sort of a plan. I want to hear what it is. Is what you want urgent enough that I should cut him off?" Halfway through his speech, he winced, as Kshar's mental message hurled through. Responding in kind, he sent a much more subdued line of thought back to her.

Please do not shout like that. I am uncertain if the others might have heard. As for these people? Well, Kassin seems to trust them, and I doubt the ability of one seeming adventurer and a midget kangaroo rat to seriously threaten us. Warn off some authorities yes, but I doubt they pose much of an overt threat. We should be as safe her eas we are anywhere in Ithralia.

He then turned back to Eilan, back to real business. "Kassin is only eighteen? I realized he was young, but he should not be off of his mother's apron strings by that age. Why is he allowed to wander out more or less alone? He does not really have the skills or the temperment to defend himself.... It is somewhat of a minor miracle that he managed to survive."

Garis turned to Raffiele, and said "i'm with Kedered on that one, i have no problems chatting, but i'd like to hear what our hosts have to say before we start discussing things like the relative lack of experience of some of our current party members"  Garis' mind started to wander a bit, and he was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with Ty holding a conversation with a light bulb.

To ease his discomfort, Garis created a small ball of light, and started rolling it around his arms, up his wings, and basically just played around with the control he had over the small ball, changing it's brightness and color.  He eased his mind with the little ball, then, as promptly as it had appeared, a few moments later it disappeared back into his palm.

After his little show, Garis turned back to the fox being "sorry, i got a little distracted, as far as i know, none of us knew each other personally, the only one i even knew existed was Kedered, but that's because we share the cubi heritage...  i saw the others that night, but i hadn't met any of them before..."

"Well obviously we shouldn't talk right this second, I mean--" Though he stopped short as Eilan mused further. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't noticed any creatures besides Kassin, Garis, Tyrian, Kedered and himself. What were the odds that five people from three different species would meet up and fall into the same mishap? "...I knew a little about Kedered from my grandpa's lectures and debates on the Aldoraethar, but everyone else was a total stranger before the inn blew up."

The bounties placed were another matter. "The fliers are baffling, though. I'm listed as an accomplice to soul-stealing, but that's not a racket we Thom'sens get in on. Brings too much heat." If anything, it'd be listing murders from over fifty years ago.

Tyrian finished his little conversation with the light, speaking a few words in a language that was quite alien.  It had the sound of meat sizzling on the fire or more accurately electricity arcing from a severed wire.

Turning to the rest of the sentients, he noticed at least a pair of odd stares and Garis had moved a considerable distance from him.  He chuckled slightly, "all natural forces have a dimensional reality tied to it specifically.  Earth, air, water and fire make up traditional elemental forces in this area of the world.  In the cosmology of the universe, these planes of forces have denizens, elemental entities.  They have language and culture, and can be interacted with if one knows how.  Sources that draw from these realities, or represent their element on this plane can be used as a medium to communicate or draw such a being here.  Now what does this have to do with me holding a conversation with this illumination fixture?  Well, where the natural elemental planes border with the two energy planes of Light and Darkness, a hybrid existence is created.  Lightning, or what Being sages... scientists call electricity, is formed from air and light.  As mechanical, magical and natural means of generating this energy are found, one can interact with these hybrid elemental entities.  So therefore, I am talking to the electricity."

With a pause he checked to make sure everyone was still awake before continuing, "so what are we doing to rectify our situation?  What options do we have?  I am not really from around here, at least not in the last four hundred years or so..."

The fox closed his eyes, remembering a time a hundred or so years before the others were born.  Images of fire, mangled bodies and armies rampaging across the land, and a fox dancing through carnage with fire and blade destroying without mercy or remorse and a look in his eyes where hollow and soulless.

"Those times were different then they are now, and most of my memories are chaotic of the land, its peoples, or the culture."   

Eilan looked at Kedered. He nodded as he listened to what he was being told. His eyebrows edged up and down, his thoughts still shielded as to what he was really thinking. He sighed as he decided what to say, he briefly looked at the floor, then mustered his confidence and looked at Kedered.

"Yeah... Kassin is eighteen. As for his mother..." He paused and shook his head for a moment before proceeding, and took a deep breath. "His family is a bit of a... touchy subject to him. He hasn't told me much about them. I've gotten the impression that he doesn't get along very well with his parents, or his brother or sister. He doesn't like talking about it, though I get the impression that they're not a pleasant bunch. I wouldn't press the issue on him unless you had a good reason to, as I don't think we'll be getting their help any time soon. Regardless, I think he either left them or they kicked him out some time ago, but, I really don't know."

He glanced over at Tyrian. He looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Otherwise, he kept his facial expressions and thoughts shielded. He only listened to parts of his speech, trying to dump out what he didn't consider practical.

"Rectifying your situation... that, won't be an easy thing to accomplish, though... I have had an idea. I'm sure that you've read the contact information on the back of that pamphlet. Anyways, Brady is normally pretty good on making sure the claims of his sources are verified, he has an occasional slip up here and there, but generally, he's never put obvious fabrications out." He paused for a moment before continuing. "He also actively tried to prevent me from finding out, and there's a part of me that thinks he's not being entirely honest with this bounty, especially since it's so large. I've known plenty of adventurers who would be willing to sell their ethics for a large enough sum."

"Anyways, I was thinking of having a nice little chat with him. At best, he would remove the bounty, though he may slip his source, and then whomever that is can be dealt with. I'm not a mind reader though... and I'm not entirely comfortable doing it alone. So..." He gave a glance towards Kedered and Garis. "I was wondering if you two could shape-shift and come with me. He's bound to have some mental protection, but not a perfect shield. If my suspicions are correct, you may be able to find something out that I won't be able to. Both of you can shape-shift and read thoughts right? I figure that you two would change forms, and then we could go over and talk with him." He looked over towards Tyrian and Raffiele. "I'd like someone to keep Kassin safe, in case anything went wrong in between the time we go over there and the time we get back, plus I don't think going near Dhallon without a disguise would be a good idea. I think you two should stay here, the outside isn't really all that safe, and..." he looked at Tyrian. "I wouldn't want to disrupt your conversation with the lightbulbs." He looked at Zanfib and Kshar. "I suppose you two could stay as well, I wouldn't want to burden you with our troubles. Plus..." he said, motioning towards Kshar. "Kyirri should probably get you a change of clothes as well."

Eilan stretched out his arms and legs. He made a soft glance towards the door that Kassin and Kyirri had went behind, then looked towards the others in the room. "Does this sound good to everyone? If so, I suggest we get moving as quickly as possible, time is not on our side."

Garis listened to Eilan's proposal, when he asked if it was alright, Garis gave a polite nod and said "i'm alright with your plan... though depending on when you want to leave, it might be a good idea for me to find something a little warmer, i've got a formal tunic, but a coat, or cloak would be a nice addition to the disguise... and some boots will be required as well... other than those few needs, i'll be glad to come along..."

turning his attention back to Kshar "well, looks like basic lesson are starting tonight after all... i'll start you up on a few things you can practice until we get back... once this is over, we'll go find some spot where i can get you started"

he then sent a quick message to kedered 'if we both go, i'm slightly concerned about kassin's well being around Raffiele, do you think Ty will be enough to keep him safe... Zanfib seems to be well intentioned, but if he ends up wanted, who knows how long that will last... and Kshar... no question about it, she needs us more than we need her... but at the same time, if she becomes even mildly proficient in the use of her wings, she would become more of a match for most beings in one on one combat... '

Ked listened to the fox's proposal, and thought it had some merit. After a moments consideration, he guaredly said "I agree, taking this bounty off of our heads is certainly a good idea, but you know this commissioner, I do not. What would make you think that this is out of place, and what sort of pressure is he pliable to. Is this something we can realistically talk our way out of, or are we going to have to se mental intrusion to force him to change his mind? If it is te latter, I would suggest Zanfib instead of one of us. However, my short time with him seems to mark him as one who would rather use his ower, even if more subtle alternatives present themseves. If w an jst reason with him, Garis and I might make a better team, although I worry somewhat for Kassin's safety. How likely is an adventurer to openly assault this home? Normally, I would like to leave early morning tomorrow, but if it is not safe, maybe we should hide out in the woods while our envoys get moving now."


In a short aside to Garis, he projected,essentially, I agree with your analysis. However, I do not thin that Zanfib isgoing to be openly hostile, more of an upstager, and I do not think that Raffiele is the type to betray us to the outside.If he has a problem, he will assault Kassin himself, something he is unlikely to do with even Tyrian alone as a deterrant. No matter how much his head is in the clouds, I am certain he would notice an attack. And we have to balance it out against the reward. Getting this bounty off of our necks is supremely important if we are to be active in Ithralia. We should be out for what? A day? Two at most? We need to put our most reliable people forward for this mission, and at the moment, I think that is us.

At Eilan's suggestion, Raffiele gave a slow blink before looking over to Garis and Kedered. With them out of the scene for a little while... then again, he'd have Tyrian and Zanfib to contend with if he tried something against Kassin, and both had enough non-physical prowess to crush the demon like a bug. Those were still better odds than contending with two incubi. Cubi were such a total pain to fight, if not for the tentacles then the possibility of getting held down and having your brain throttled six ways to Sunday. "...I would love to be Kassin's bodyguard." He spoke in a calm, neutral tone. "Though you three should probably hurry up. Bad things could happen if you guys dawdled."

Really, he didn't have much hope of killing Kassin, and though the thoughts were pretty obvious on his mind, they were becoming more and more dismissive. His best chance of wasting the angel would've been when they first met, and that time had long passed. It was all he could do to just stay with the group and make sure Kassin didn't get them into more trouble.

Zanfib smirked at Eilan, and said, "Well now, if mental intrusion is the call of the day, then leave the cards in my paws. I am a psion by trade, and telepathy is only one of my many skills." Zanfib said as his lengthy tail swayed and lazily swung about in a pompous, self-assured manner. "You mentioned a bit of shielding, yes? Unless he is a true psion himself, I highly doubt he will be able to keep me from learning everything we need to know, and maybe even influencing him a little in the process. And all without him any the wiser as well!"

As the others spoke, Zanfib picked up on thoughts here and there, but he kept noticing the unusual noise in the background, and concentrated on it for just a brief moment to try and discern what exactly it was.. And just in time to catch Kshar's outburst. While loud, it was still just noise, but now the ringtail was near certain that he was picking up on cubi 'transmissions'. He spent a little of his energy to strengthen his senses further, and begin to listen intently, swinging his perceptive powers across the spectrum in a scanning tactic.. And then, he could swear he heard Kedered whispering to Garis! But, it was only that. Whispering, and softly at that. Nothing that the psion could make out, but now he was intrigued. Fascinating.. he thought to himself within his shielded mind.. It would seem that they are not so much sending their thoughts, but merely transmitting on a level in which their minds inherently pick up on.. Hmmm, Master never did speak much on cubis, despite they seem to be the only sentient capable of any psionics beyond us.. He would only say they were stupid, arrogant creatures.. but.. that's a dragon for you..

He kept trying to adjust his telepathy, seeking out this strange and mystical racial thought wave, and the next time the cubi in the room made an exchange, he picked up the odd syllable and word here and there, but it was broken and incomprehensible at the very best. He tweaked his senses a bit further, but found the room had gone quiet for now.. He would simply have to wait, and hope he was getting close to cracking these secret transmissions.

While all of this was in the silent and subtle way of the telepath, Zanfib was not so experienced as to hide his efforts.. His ears kept instinctively flicking towards the cubi every time he was 'listening in'. It might not have been much of a cue to his clandestine efforts, until one considered the fact that his ears were easily the most noticeable feature of his entire head...

Eilan turned to Zanfib, a bit surprised. "You're a mind reader too?" He paused for a moment, trying to come up with a way to use that advantage most effectively. "Well, if you're doing anything more than a passive search, just make sure to not apply too much pressure. If he finds out, he'd probably assume you to be a cubi and try to kill you, and that would mess up any efforts at diplomacy. As far as his shielding... I don't think he has an actual mind-shield, but he's dealt with cubi before, so he has some discipline in trying to keep them from reading his thoughts." He paused, with a smile, and continued half-jokingly. "Plus, you probably don't want to read all of his thoughts pertaining to his paperwork, it might send you comatose."

"At any rate, I don't think it would be easy by any stretch of the word, he knows that I'm friends with Kassin. As far as conduct goes, try not to be overly aggressive with questions, he may get suspicious if you do, even more so with my presence there. Just stay calm, try to press him on any factual errors he might present, but keep a calm demeanor. I figure he hasn't investigated the charges against Kassin very thoroughly, and if we're lucky, we might be able to press something on him with that. He also might slip out his source in one of his thoughts, though he will be pretty tight lipped on the subject. Also, it would also be wise to invent a cover story, he probably won't recognize you so be prepared with something in case he asks who you are. We can discuss this more on the road though."

Eilan went over to the door Kyirri and Kassin went behind, he knocked on it. Kyirri opened the door from the other side. "I think Garis and Kshar will need some clothing, could you take them upstairs?"
Kyirri nodded, he moved over to Raffiele and Tyrian. "Could one of you keep Kassin company please? I don't think his mental state is in very good condition. He's calm for now, but he might start getting unstable if he's left alone."
He then turned towards Garis and Kshar. "I shut all the blinds upstairs, so you shouldn't be spotted if you come on up. There's a room on the second floor with a lot of spare clothing... hopefully there will be something that fits you."

Eilan motioned towards Kedered and Zanfib. "I'm going upstairs to get my things, we should get moving as soon as Garis is ready." With that, Eilan headed upstairs, soon out of sight.
Kyirri made a small motion with his hands. "Come on, lets get going." He headed up to the top of the stairs, and headed towards the second floor.

Garis went to follow, and sent Kedered a quick message while walking 'if zanfib is coming too, do you think one of us should stay behind to keep an eye on kassin? if i stay, i could teach kshar, but you don't seem too fond of the being... and i'd be concerned for his heath if he screwed up... if you stay, i know Kassin will be safe, and at the very least you can make sure Kshar doesn't slack off too much on what i'll start teaching her tonight... if we both go, i don't think the 3rd mind reader would add all that much to our overall mission, and the more of us there are, the more attention we'll get... so i think it should be just 2 to accompany Eilan for this little journey...

Following the beings up the stairs Garis turned to Kshar and said "for now, i'm going to get you started on learning how to use your wings to form into just about any tool you could ever need, it's a racial trait of ours that will prove rather invaluable throughout your life... and you've already witnessed a little of how it's done" he said the last bit with smirk, remembering how he'd swung through the trees with great ease... and she had, not...
"anyways, i think we ought to get some more appropriate clothing for the weather, and i'll get you started with some things to practice until i get back in a day or so..."

It seemed like everyone had finally decided on a course of action, and Garis was offering to teach her!  The excitement was building and she felt ten feet tall.  Wrapped in the blanket she followed Garis and Kyirri up the stairs to the clothing.  "Form any tool?"  She spread her wings around until she could see them, the feathers looked like feathers still.  Different colors mind you but feathers non-the-less.  She frowned and concentrated, nothing happened.  "How?"  Big Blue eyes looked up at him hopefully, the excitement of getting to learn still raged in her, but mixed thoroughly with a grand confusion that seemed to prevail most of the time. 

Kedered leaned over to continue his whispered conference with Eilan, when an image, one that he had not ever directly experienced but was simulated for him repeatedly bby his father appeared. Dragon! He spun, spells dancing at his fingertips, before noting that there wasn't the crash of a huge body or the immense sense of presence that accompanied one of the scaled beasts wherever they went.

Returning to his more natural pose, he nodded, somewhat shamefully towards the fox-being. "My apologies. The past few days have left me a little jumpy. How long do you think this mission will take? I am unsure how long it will take to reach Brady. Part of me  thinks that it might be best if only the two of us went. It would leave more bodyguards around Kassin, and perhaps as importantly, fewer people to trip an alarm when we go to see him. Some of my companions can be a little hotheaded, and besides, the less people, the easier it will be to blend in. When were you planning on leaving for this journey, anyway?"

Kyirri led Garis and Kshar into a large room upstairs. It was somewhat messy. There were large piles of various clothing scattered across the room. Some of them were on shelves, in drawers, on hangers, some were in boxes on the floor. The room looked as though it hadn't seen much recent use.
Kyirri pointed towards some sections of the room. "Men's clothes are over there," pointing to one section of the room. "Women's clothes are over there," motioning towards another part of the room. "Take what you need, I don't think my parents are going to notice... or care if you grab some things. I hope there is something to your liking here."

*******************************************************************************************

Eilan rummaged around, he didn't turn to face Kedered, but responded to him nonetheless. "I'm hoping to leave as soon as possible, as I said, time isn't on our side." He put a jacket on, and wrapped a longbow around his back, and grabbed a quiver. He spent some time gathering supplies. "The trip... I think we'll spend about three hours in transit total, possibly a reduced amount if one of you can give us some kind of speed enhancement for the trip. Then there's the conversation with Brady... I figure, factoring in some time for unknowns, it might take four or so hours to go there and back." He paused as he inspected himself, making sure all of his gear was in place. He blinked, then looked at Kedered.
"Before, you asked if there was anything Brady was pliable to, I probably should tell you that his workings pretty much run on his good reputation. If you can somehow pressure him in such a way that he thinks his reputation might be at risk, take advantage of it, I feel he will be more agreeable to our inquiries if we can make him believe we have a way to damage his image."
Eilan paced towards the exit. "Change your shape, we're leaving as soon as everyone who's coming is ready." Eilan took a brief look outside. It was still snowing, but it was somewhat lighter than before, though still frigid.

Garis smiled as Kshar tried her best to form her wings into something... he shook his head gently, and grinned.  Cocking his head slightly, Garis said "now now, it's not like you can just will them to do something, your wings work at a much more subconscious level... try focusing on you objective, rather than your wings, actually, here... try picking up some clothing, and bringing it to you, rather than you walking to it... here let me demonstrate"

Garis stood just inside the doorway, as his wing formed a long tendril with what looked to be a hand at the end.  The tendril extended to a cloak, plucked it from a pile, and brought it back to the incubus... with a smile he said "alright, see if you can't try the same, and remember, focus on your objective, and let your wings do the rest"

looking over at Kyirri, Garis said "i'm sorry that i've turned this into an impromptu lesson, but i think it'd be a good idea to get the girl going on something while i'm away... it is most gracious of you to lend us your home, and i really do hope to repay your kindness one day Kyirri"

Tyrian stayed by Kassin, waving to Eilan as the being headed for the door, "do not worry, I shall stay with Kassin and protect him."

The fox angel settled down in a comfy chair.  He summoned the familiar wisps of arcane power used in the ruined inn and shaped them around this cottage.  He spent his time exploring as much of the home as he could.  Areas that were touched by the air, the earth, or water were open to him if he sought to explore such.  The contents of the pipes, the potted plants or the garden were of no interest to him, unless something unusual caught his eye.

For the moment he sought to observe the young angel that was their charge for the time being.

Rafa stayed downstairs as the cubi and beings left the room, scratching the back of his neck before muttering to Tyrian as he went to keep Kassin company. "I need some air, be back in a minute." In reality, he just wanted to get away from the others to continue his brooding. It seemed like Raffiele was only ever happy in solitude. At least he had enough sense to hang out by the back door than step right out into the lawn.

The demon looked out to the other houses and fields silently. If all that was keeping him along for the ride was peer pressure and the thought of being found by some goons, then why didn't he just run for it? Three of them would be leaving while the others screwed around inside, so making a mad dash for freedom wouldn't be so hard.

...he took another look left and right, checking for any nosy neighbors staring into the yard.

Kedered was glad that he spent most of his time posing as a being. Safest, when one spent considerable time along the Thularian border. He rarely kept his headwings out in the first place, so it was a simple process of retiring to a washroom, removing his shirt, rolling in his backwings, and then using a touch of magic to modify his apparel to a wingless status.

The next step was to alter his face away from something that would be tied to himself. After a moment of thought, he twisted his features into those of a more solid furred feline, and a second moment's effort removed the spots over his body.

And now for a disguising touch. After the basic transformation was complete, he cast a dark birthmark, a purple blotch over the left side of his face, concentrated around his eye and cheekbone.  Kedered had experimented with deformed disguises, and noticed that people tended to overlook all other aspects of him. His biggest worry was that his accent, the cultured tones of the pre revolutionary territories that are now Thularia, was something that he couldn't disguise without magical aid, which oculd also be detected. But nobody ever looked for the point of origin of a freak. They'd see the wine stain birthmark, and look little further.

Putting his shirt back on after a brush of magic to close the wingholes, he stalked up to Eilan with his bow over his shoulder and hip. "I am ready to depart if you are. I do not think any of the others will be accompanying us. But I do question the wisdom of leaving at this late hour. I do not have your experience with this commissioner, but I doubt he would appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night, no matter how urgent this mission is. Would it perhaps be better to wait for daybreak?"

Kyirri silently looked at the floor while he let Garis and Kshar dress themselves. He turned away, not wanting to embarrass them. "There's a bathroom down the hall if you need some privacy." Kyirri turned back to Garis, then jumped back to repay me, I suppose you could consider this my thanks for keeping Kassin safe." I just hope Eilan isn't getting impatient down there, he silently thought.

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The exterior was cold and quiet, and it was snowing lightly. There was however, activity to be heard in adjacent houses, and lighter activity could be heard coming from the road. It doesn't look like you would be spotted in your current position, but going onto the road is bound to get you detected. There doesn't seem to be any activity coming from the woods, and it would be easy to slip inside undetected. No neighbors could be immediately spotted, but their houses had their lights on.

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Kassin slouched on a couch in the basement's back room. It was small, but functional. Kassin seemed calm, though there was a worried look to his eyes. He frequently closed them and gritted his teeth, only to return to a more relaxed pose a moment later. When Tyrian entered the room, he seemed more calm, and put up a weak smile. Yet, his expression soon after exchanged to a worried one.
Kassin looked at Tyrian, he started to say something, but he found himself stopping prematurely whenever he wanted to say something. "I..." "Do...." You...". He stopped himself short each time, then took a sad look at the carpeted ground.

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Eilan turned to Kedered, looking at his disguise, then nodding in approval. He then paused a moment to think about his inquiries before answering them. "Night comes early this time of year, but Brady's hours don't change to accommodate, so I figure that he should still be in his when we reach him. We shouldn't wait, I wouldn't feel safe keeping Kassin in one place for too long, though I figure this is probably a better hiding place than most. Still, I would prefer to clean up this mess sooner rather than later, and I'd rather not risk the chance that we might be found if we linger for too long, and subsequently interrupting our opportunity for meeting with Brady."
"I'll be outside, let's get moving." Eilan strode towards the front door, opened it up, and stepped into the snowy exterior.

With the neighbors keeping inside, his own associates busy with preparations, and night fast approaching, this seemed to be Raffiele's golden opportunity to run. Nobody would just be staring out their windows at early evening, and even if they did, what were they going to do about it? This was a time for idle relaxation, dinner, fireside chats and all that; nobody was about to run outside and dog some stranger.

And with the addition of a young succubus to the team, the odds for further screwups had increased exponentially. The psion, he wasn't nearly as piteous, but young cubi were emotional beings and prone to causing friendly fire or other problems. An untrained creature like that would be their undoing, he just knew it, and that was his clenching point.

So long, suckers, he thought as he planted his knuckles into the ground. Have a nice life, or whatever little will be left after the cops jump you. Off he went, bounding into the woods and kicking a fair amount of snow in his charge. I only wish I could've stuck around long enough to see some more skulls cracked, but you people are on the road to agonizing failure.

Tyrian opened his eyes, focusing on the young angel.  He shifted his position to take the spot next to Kassin.  With his paw he lifted the young one's head so he could see his eyes, "what is it Kassin?  What do you wish to ask?  Do not fear, you can ask me anything and I will do my best to answer you."

The fox did his best to sound reassuring and comforting.

Garis let Kshar try her best while he threw on the cloak, he added some encourging words, and before he left, he told her, "now try playing around with your abilities as long as you feel comfortable doing it. if something seems wrong, you can feel free to stop. when i get back i'll go and get you some real practice in, but for now, as much as i'd love to spend some more time teaching you, i've got to go and get this bounty removed so we aren't perpetually hunted... once that's done, instead of worrying about being attacked, i can get you started on some more advanced techniques"

... in his search through the piles of clothing Garis found some leather bracers and a nice adventurer's shirt...

with the clothing now donned, Garis headed down stairs to get ready to go... while walking he changed from a black and silver wolf into a snow white tiger, the sharp contrast of black and white was almost painful, but it seemed to draw attention away from his red clan mark.  to add a little something to the disguise, he changed his eye color to blue, added a ragged mop of blond hair to his head, and added a scar directly along the path of his clan symbol... figuring he could explain he got the 'tattoo' to try and hide the scar.

Nodding toward Ked and Eilan, he said, "well, looks like we're good to go, hopefully Kshar gets the hang of things while were gone... but i think it's more important that we get moving as fast as possible. if we can get this bounty removed it'll make moving around a lot safer for all of us... even those of us who are no longer with us"  he smirked, hoping Ked had also picked up the fleeting thoughts of Rafielle before his depart.

Eilan quickly turned around to Garis. "Wait, what do you mean by no longer with us?" Eilan took some glances around. With a resigned sigh, he decided not to press the issue. "Oh forget it, lets go." Eilan motioned to his companions to follow.

Travel took around an hour, much of the stretch was open road, though some parts had housing complexes on the sides of the road. The snow was manageable, light, though at one point a flurry of snow passed by them. Eilan however, didn't take the snow too harshly, and he kept going. He was silent for the journey. He kept up a stressed expression, in part of anger, in part of helplessness. Eilan looped through what he thought would happen in the conversation in his mind, though in most, Brady ended up not being pliable at all. Some of his thoughts pertained to how Brady could ever let Kassin's bounty go through, he had usually been good about his sources, Eilan had even taken several jobs from him. Eilan shook his head, none of that mattered to him, just how he could pry Brady into either giving up his source, or into convincing him to take the bounty off.

"Here we are, Dhallon." He looked around, observing activity inside the buildings that surrounded him.   He walked at a fast pace, adrenaline rushing through his system in prospect of the confrontation between him and Brady. He continued to try and convince himself not to do anything rash, though with his level of stress, there was the distinct possibility he might lose his temper. After some more traversing through the streets, he eventually came to a building. It was 2 floors high, and the structure seemed sturdy. The smell of alcohol could be smelled from outside the door.

"Adventuring lodges like these tend to double as mini-bars. The more administrative side is on the second floor. Try not to attract too much attention if you can avoid it." Eilan opened the door.

The inside seemed quite loud and active, adventurers, so it would seem, drinking around tables, having dinner, telling tales. Many of them were loud, much of their speech was obnoxious as well. No one came to greet Eilan as he and his companions went through. Eilan crossed through the bar, no one came to stop them. He went down some hallways, upstairs. The environment on the top floor was much different, it looked to be more of an office and none of the walls had beer-stains, or the smell of alcohol fumes. There was however, a lot of activity up here. The hallways were small, but often decorated with paintings, pictures, or medals. Eilan eventually came to a door. "Here he is..." He knocked on it.

"Ehhh, who is it? I don't have any appointments at this time." A voice from the other side said.
"Well, now you do, so open up!" Eilan replied, gritting his teeth. His fingers twitched, as if he were barely holding on to his anger.

A sigh could be heard from the other side, with a resigned tone, the voice said. "Come in..."

Eilan opened the door into Brady's office. It was a simple looking office, and had chairs along the sides, and decorations on the walls. A canine being was sitting at a desk, covered in piles upon piles of paperwork. He has brown fur, and looked to be in his late thirties, or perhaps early forties. His clothing is remarkably well polished, and his black cephalic hair is well groomed. If he were standing, he would probably be around five foot eleven. He wore an exasperated look to his face. From a name-tag on his desk, it was pretty clear that this is Brady.
His thoughts were cloudy, currently thinking about documents, letters, paperwork, and other forms of bureaucratic nonsense, keeping track of payments, bounties, and contracts dealing with many individuals. It's boring beyond belief.

Brady took a sigh, closed his eyes and shook his head, looking disappointed. He turned his gaze to Eilan. "I really had hoped you wouldn't find out."

Eilan let out a soft growl as he looked at Brady, his fingers twitched more rapidly. He looked at Brady with an uneasy stare.

"But..." Brady continued, looking at those that were with Eilan. "I thought you would have come here alone..." Brady stood up, his thoughts were still focused on his paperwork. "but... it appears you have not.. and I have not seen any of you before..." He raised his left eyebrow, implying that he would like to know who they were.

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Kassin calmed himself down and smiled. Still, the topics on which he wanted to speak were anything but joyous. However, keeping them inside only served to make him more cranky.

"I've been thinking... about what has been happening since we met at the Willow, one calamity after another. I just can't piece any of it together, and I keep thinking, is this my fault? I can't shake the feeling that it should be something I can control, something I haven't been doing that I should be, or should have done to prevent this disaster from happening. Now..." he shook his head and paused for a moment.

"I know those two hunters that came for us before... I could tell, in their hearts, they really believed us to be monsters. I don't know... can they be blamed for feeling such a way, even if it lead them to try and harm me? I can't shake the feeling that more would suffer... and I'm indirectly at fault."

"But... I think I'm most worried about those that have decided to aid me, I truthfully don't feel comfortable attracting that kind of devotion, I know that friends help one another, but I kind of feel that a restricting bondage of the kind that has been forced upon us isn't fair to you, or to any of the others. I mean, I know I did aid them all at one point, but... I don't feel comfortable having to have placed them in the situations they are in now. And, all of this, devotion, suffering, I feel as if I am responsible for it all, even if I know I can't blame myself for it."

He turned to look Tyrian in the eyes, his young, golden eyes betraying a certain sadness. "Do you feel the world is a just place?"

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Kyirri briefly glanced at Garis, he nodded, then turned back to Kshar. "I'll be outside of the room to give you some privacy. We should probably head downstairs when you're ready, even at this hour, I'd rather not risk you accidentally attracting attention." Kyirri walked outside, leaving Kshar alone for the time being.

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You spend about an hour traversing through the woods, though it is difficult to measure time. The place is unfamiliar, and a tad confusing, however, you are somewhat confidant you're not getting lost. The journey is quiet, only with the sound of light snow and the waving of the leafless trees to the winds. The sound of wild animals is strangely absent.
You eventually come to a small clearing in the woods, a spot of open land with only grass and snow standing upon it. The snow, in a flash, started to get more intense, blocking your vision, the flurry only lasted for a moment, then the weather resumed to normal.

An angel stepped behind Raffiele, at the opposite side of the clearing, appearing after the gust of snow. The angel looked at Raffiele with a disproving stare.

"You know, of all the things that you have, brainpower certainly isn't one of them.", he said in a sardonic tone.

He looked to be a tiger angel, around 6 feet tall. His fur was dark blue colored, though he had dark orange stripes under his eyes, across his ears, and on his tail. His cephalic hair is black, and looks well groomed, with a parting to his right. His wings display an odd attribute, his right wing is white, while his left wing is black. He was wearing black colored boots and pants, and a jacket over his torso. The jacket was black colored, with white lines weaving into very intricate patterns. It looks expensive, and quite comfortable. A white collar could be seen coming up from the neck-line.

The angel kept his hands to his sides, and never let go of his stare.

Zanfib had stayed in the back of the group, and kept his expression utterly muted during the initial dialogue, while his mind was anything but.

He quickly swept his senses over the mind of Brady, but did not probe yet. He was peeking about, searching the surface and exterior of the fellows mind to try and find any manner of protection that their foxy friend had been hinting at earlier. If he found the being's mind lacking in defenses, he would begin to probe, launching feelers into Brady's mind, like searching roots, delving past the surface of his mind. Zanfib was careful not to press his intrusion too quickly or powerfully.. He was not so skilled as his master, and had to be careful not to alert the being to his probing.. But, in the case that he did find defenses, he kept the feelers at bay, and kept scanning instead, looking for gaps in the barrier, or, perhaps, a way to bring it down with Brady none the wiser..

Either way, Zanfib set a small portion of his mind aside, and privately contact the others in the room. Steer him towards the contracts.. Came his voice in their minds, Even if he stays calm on the surface, he will bring his memories closer to surface, thus rendering it easy for me to snatch them..

As far as Raffiele was concerned, going in any direction for long enough was bound to bring up some landmark or small town to get his bearings in. He hadn't even really considered direction at all, too distracted with the childlike joy of getting away with something so easily. It was like a kid ditching school during lunch recess. Just need to keep clear, ask the next guy I see for directions. Then it's aaalllll smooth sailing... barring the weather. He slowed his trotting just as he hit the clearing's edge, the sudden flurry of snow blinding and irritating the demon. "Oh, come on!" He held up an arm, trying to keep the ice out of his face. "Goddamned wind, can't you do this later?!"

Though inclement weather was the least of his worries as the intruding angel made himself known.

...Shit. Rafa drew his weapons and spun around to face the stranger, taking a strong side forward stance and assessing the potential aggressor. "...who are you?" He eased up slightly as he looked over the tiger, noting the fur color and patterns. It certainly seemed resembling... but he couldn't jump to that conclusion so soon. "Actually, forget it. I don't have time to talk, so if you're going to make some moves, get on with it."

Tyrian's gaze did not falter as Kassin asked his question, he is so young and innocent... it is not fair for this child to carry such serious burdens.

The fox held his comments for a good few minutes in silence, doing nothing more than staring into those golden orbs.  Finally he sighed, an expression of one burdened by a great many things.

"Do I feel the world is a just place?  The world, our world, the one of creatures is one where might and power make right.  Yes we have rules, there are consequences of actions, but only for those without influence, power, or wealth.  Justice, the rule of law, social order and morality are being constructs.  However, even their nature has base weaknesses that they find difficult to overcome..."

The fox's voice trailed off, his head lowered and his ears drooped down.  His gaze was fixed to the ground, a single knot in a wooden panel became the focus of his vision for a few moments of silence before he continued, "but that is not what you asked..."

Breathing out, his tone was raspy and strained, as if the words he were about to speak were bitter beyond belief, "No... no, the world is not just at all.  Not at all..."

Kedered walked the trip to Dhallon in silence, soft boots making little crisping noises on the snow. He didn't use magic, just a bit of mental discipline to ignore the flurries that frequently assailed his face, wrapping himself in his identity, one that would not buckle to a bit of snow. Reaching the town provided some welcome relief from the wind, although at a risk of having to keep his eyes on the ground to avoid stepping in the local culture.

The smell of alcohol told him where they would be going. Something about the dangers of adventuring life drove many of them to their cups, a sentiment Kedered could never fully understand, the job was hazardous and more, and anything that dulled the reflexes...... Kedered himself only drank for social purposes, and then usually utilized a neat little spell he had learned in Astarea to counteract the effects of the alcohol.

He nodded to Eilan when he heard that Brady was likely on the second floor. He sent a flutter of thought to Garis. Stay down here. Order a drink, make an awkward advance to some pretty girl. I would like to have a backup man that Brady would not necessarily recognize

Not checking to see if his suggestion was followed, he headed up with Eilan,  glancing at their newcomer with some distrust. He still didn't have a full measure of Zanfib, and this sort of mission called for a delicate touch.

He listened to Brady, with both his ears, and his mind, a fleeting, soft touch, picking up only administrivia. If he had some sort of defense up, and Kedered was certain that he did, he would pick up too heavy of a probe. The hostility emanating off the man was almost palpable though, so Kedered decided to give off a name, and try to steer the conversation towards the bounties.

He gave a florid bow to Brady, and said "My name is Lugh, an old word meaning Light. Light is my magic as well. I make my way as a mild entertainer in taverns, working a bit of minor magic to entertain. It's a decent cop. I can put on a performance for you if you like, you look like you could use a bit of cheering, a bit of fun to ease way the concerns of life, the vissictisudes of work, the demands of honor, the machinations of those that call themselves friends. What do you say?"

Tyrian's gaze did not falter as Kassin asked his question, he is so young and innocent... it is not fair for this child to carry such serious burdens.

The fox held his comments for a good few minutes in silence, doing nothing more than staring into those golden orbs.  Finally he sighed, an expression of one burdened by a great many things.

"Do I feel the world is a just place?  The world, our world, the one of creatures is one where might and power make right.  Yes we have rules, there are consequences of actions, but only for those without influence, power, or wealth.  Justice, the rule of law, social order and morality are being constructs.  However, even their nature has base weaknesses that they find difficult to overcome..."

The fox's voice trailed off, his head lowered and his ears drooped down.  His gaze was fixed to the ground, a single knot in a wooden panel became the focus of his vision for a few moments of silence before he continued, "but that is not what you asked..."

Breathing out, his tone was raspy and strained, as if the words he were about to speak were bitter beyond belief, "No... no, the world is not just at all.  Not at all..."

Garis send Ked a quick 'Can do' then went to go mingle with patrons. He found an open seat at the bar and proceeded to listen in on the boasts of 'fellow' adventurers, talking of the horrible creatures they'd slain, or the maidens they'd saved.  He made idle chat with those around him to pass the time.  He flirted with the bar maids, bought a few drinks and had a little fun shouting out his own "oh really, because one time I..." then told some story from his past, finishing with a "Try and top that!"

Kshar tried to pick up the garments and found moderate success at first, tentacles stretched out and ripped a dress to shreds.  She frowned and apologized to Kyirri before trying again, this time sitting down and giving it her full concentration.  Her very next attempt was a great success, her wing tentacles lovingly bringing a robe and skirt to her.  She even managed to dress herself using only her wings to wrap it around her.  Of course there was a hitch here or there: The clothes were very small, she had made no effort to find something that would fit her larger size; and she didn't know exactly how to go about wearing it.  But after words of encouragement from Garis and Kyirri taking his leave she took her time to think things through.  Clothing was not something she had done before she decided by the end of the session. She had managed to pull on a small skirt, which ended instead of around her ankles around her knees, and a small robe.  The robe covered her upper body instead of the full length of her.  And though he had left before she had managed the feat herself she had watched him transform himself into a being.

This, she thought as she melted away her wings, is something I have done before. It came too easily to her.  She was almost sad to have gotten rid of her main wings, but it felt familiar, it didn't occur to her to do the same for the little head wings, but then she barely remembered they were there at all, having put so much effort into tasks Garis had given her.  Now, fully clothed, she peeked out the doorway and beamed at Kyirri, "I'm all done.  Sorry about the dress."  She offered him tattered ruins of clothing that had once been the dress, her first attempt.  "But it was the only casualty.  Promise."  She drew an X over her heart and then gave him a big squeeze, stepping through the door completely.  It was awkward without her wings, she felt too light, and was so thrilled to have accomplished both getting dressed and using her wings and changing her body that she scooped him right off the ground.

As she cuddled him her stomach growled loudly.  She quickly put her host down and blushed, "You wouldn't happen to have some food I could steal would you?"  She knelt down to be on his level and pleaded with her eyes, though she could go for a while without food for a while she preferred to try to eat amongst the civilized, she didn't want to hunt out in the wild. 

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Eilan continued to stare at Brady, though Brady was, at the moment, far more interested in Kedered and Zanfib. His mind was filled with with bureaucratic nonsense, though his actions suggested there was far more activity in his head.
"I know Eilan... but where are you from Lugh?" Brady raised an eyebrow, he didn't seem interested in a lightshow. "And as for you," he said, turning to Zanfib, "I'd like to know the same." He paced back to his desk and sat down, though he never took his eyes off of either Kedered or Zanfib. There was a dry seriousness to his voice.
"And while I know why he is here...", indicating Eilan when he said 'he', "I would like to know how you two came to travel with him."
His mind has no magical or psionic shields keeping his thoughts hidden, however, he is 'disciplined', so to speak, sort of like what Eilan has, though you get the sense that Brady's is stronger willed. It probably stems from dealing with Cubi, a lot of persistent Cubi-fighters learn techniques to mask their thoughts behind a facade of others. The shield of beurocratic nonsense would work well against most Cubi, they tend not to take boredom very well. This form of discipline would also grant some alertness to having a lot of mental pressure applied from an external force.
On the other hand, such a defense does have it's weaknesses. Notably, it requires that the person keep their mind active at all times, so provides no defense while sleeping or otherwise inactive. Such shields are also imperfect, often leaking stray thoughts with enough exposure. Such leaks would likely increase if other factors were occupying his mental energies.

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The place was quite loud, adventurers drinking, boasting, and chatting. Most of the activity was placed near the bar. A bartender, a bald, somewhat pudgy feline tended to the place. It's quite noisy. There are tables along the back, however, most of them are unoccupied. A large congregation were located closer to the bar. A surprising number of their thoughts were concerned with the bounty on Kassin, as is much of their talk.  Popular topics are how large the reward is, Kassin's extensive number of crimes, and something about a 'new henchman'.
The tables further away were far more sparsely populated, usually with only one person sitting by himself. One of the beings there, and old looking one in a threadbare robe, had mind shield up. There were a few other loners in the back, most of them simply had their eyes faced down at whatever table they were sitting at, and were completely silent.

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Kassin frowned, he edged himself up against the side of the couch he was sitting on, as if it somehow provided shielding from a cold cruel world. He let out a sigh before looking up at Tyrian.
"It's just... I can't convince myself that the world we live in is so badly designed that it wills the innocent be punished, and the cruel be aided, for no other reason than behaving the way they do. I don't know if there is some logic to it that I just cannot see, or if there is no logic to it at all." Kassin breathed a deep sigh, and closed his eyes.
"It's simply not fair... not to you, not to me, not to those that have sacrificed to aid me, yet... while I feel uncomfortable sharing my burdens with them, I realize I cannot reject their, or your aid. But... thanks for everything." He smiled, but didn't open his eyes.
"Do you have any ideas as to why I might be hunted? I just can't believe that this whole mess is a matter of coincidence."

Kyirri smiled, "really it's al..." his eyes opened wide as he was squeezed, though he felt strangely unfazed by such a display, he was probably used to it.
"Yeah,... there's food in the kitchen, I can make something for you I guess... though you should head downstairs... it will be safer there." He walked down, and made a motion for Kshar to follow.
Before he could reach the stairs, a loud knock could be heard on the front door. Kyirri's carefree expression suddenly turned serious. He whispered towards Kshar. "Hide, I'll be right back."

The knock could be heard from downstairs as well. Kassin's eyes opened, with a frightened expression to them. "Wh.... what was that?" His head faced the ceiling.
Your senses are able to pick up three beings at the front door, but it doesn't reveal much else about them.

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The mysterious angel's deep blue eyes never let go of his stare. However, the look became more disappointed as he heard Raffiele, it was impossible to miss the disciplinarian-like look to his eyes and tone of his voice.
"You really don't have a single functioning brain cell do you? If I really wanted you dead, I would just let you go. Where did you think you're going anyways? It's not like anywhere in Atharra you can reach is actually safe for you. I hope you do realize that you are one of the touched, and that there are a lot of people who will want you dead for it."

"Do you really think you can hide here in Ithralia, all on your own? At best, you would probably starve to death, because you wouldn't be able to go near any civilization without being attacked, not to mention the possibility of running into hunters, or a group of Thularian soldiers, and they won't parley before slicing you in half. Or were you planning on going home to that hell-hole Narukh? I suppose if you're wanted dead by one of the most powerful organizations that operates there, going right up to their doorstep is a perfect way of getting yourself killed. None of them even have to get you in a fair fight either, one night, you might go to sleep, and never wake up. Don't think that you can run free to Astarea either, you would either have to go through Narukh, in which case, you would probably be tortured, sodomized, and cannibalized before they would end your miserable existence, or you could try running the Thularian blockade, in which case there wouldn't be enough pieces left of you to actually bury your corpse."

"Maybe you're just legendarily thick, or maybe you don't have a good sense of self preservation, I honestly can't tell. However, because I apparently care more about your personal well being than you do, I would suggest running back to the one group of people who would take you in and protect you. Goodness knows, you might actually survive what is to come."

Kshar caught the seriousness of his pose and the caution in his tone of voice.  She nodded quickly and quietly dashed to the bathroom, flipping the light on as she had seen the others do for the bedroom and basement and securing the door behind her.  No one would interrupt her in the bathroom, at least she hoped they wouldn't.  She looked around for another place to hide within her new hiding place, but there were none that made her feel great about life.  That was when she caught herself in the mirror, her head was still adorned with little wings.  Panicking she quickly pressed them down, as if pressing them would make them disappear.  There was a few more moments of panic, which would end just as Kyirri would decide to open the door.

As she could hear the door open she calmed herself, now was not the time lose her mind, now was the time to shine.  She concentrated, hard, like her life depended on it, for all she knew it did.  Her little head wings melted away, but not entirely, she couldn't get rid of the little blue and purple streaks in her hair, no matter how she concentrated.  It occurred to her that she might have similar patterns on her back from her larger wings and took another deep breath.  She couldn't master it in time.  Considering it good enough she took another deep breath and held it, listening for her host's new guests, trying to feel for their thoughts, trying to feel what they felt, trying not to move a muscle.  She looked into her own Blue eyes and held that gaze.

Garis decided he'd go and see why someone would have a mind shield up in a place like this... given the general crowd seemed content with making boasts and claims which were obviously gross exaggerations, Garis sauntered over to the old man while keeping up his rather upbeat disguise.  Figuring he'd try flattery first, Garis sat down next to the old looking man, and said with a grin "greetings old timer, any chance you could impart some wisdom upon a relative newcomer to the trade?"

Got to get him laughing. Or relaxed somehow, make him drop his guard. Even angry will do, most likely.

Bowing low, almost to the point of mockery, he said in a grandoise stage whisper "From? I am from all places and none. The road is my home, the inns of a thousand villages my washroom, the chambers of tenscore sighing maidens where I take my repose." As he spoke, he spun a bit of minor magic, creating five little balls of light, that he began to juggle. There was no real trick to it, other than to keep his hands near where the balls were supposed to be, as they moved with his thoughts directing them. "Is there any particular song you'd like me to perform?" 

I dislike the using of contractions, but it helps my disguise. "Or perhaps a bit of tumbling would be more to your taste. I am a man of many talents. Switching the juggling to his right hand alone,  Kedered began to unlace his boots, one at a time, until he stood barefoot. With a "roll" of his shoulders, he sent all 5 of the balls into the air, and then did a quick handstand, "juggling" with his feet. "Come on, I know a thousand tales and more, surely there must be one you like Mr Brady, something to take your mind off of yer work, which I must be realizin, from the awful mess in yer office, should be weighing down on yeh something hard. Perhaps the tale of the milkmaid  and the errant knight, if you have a thing for bawdry."

As he spoke, he broke into the brogue that he half remembered what few serfs fled with his family speaking, before they either died or assimilated into Narukhian dialects. He kept his facade up, his mind probing Brady lightly, but with focus.

Tyrian shrugged, "perhaps you are a nexus of change, or a fragment of a powerful entity's soul that others can use to their benefit, maybe you are actually an experiment... an artificial, but living creation of an ancient race.  You may even be an artificial soul, distilled from something like a Fae and placed into a Hollow.  I really do not know to tell you the truth, you are such a gentle teenage boy and quite the deviant among angels.  There is no doubt that there is some greater plan..."

The heavy knocking on the front door above, caused the fox to pause.  His ears swiveled about, "three beings at the front door... these people we are staying with are known associates of yourself, they may just be checking to see if you have turned up here... could be unrelated.  Be prepared to hide, but keep calm and quiet for now."

Fearing the worst, Tyrian expanded the sphere of his spell to maximum, catching a fair amount of area around the building they were in.  He searched for others approaching, hiding in the surroundings and/or entering from an opposite area.

He then focused the spell on the three at the door, trying to discern what they were and more physical details.  He also wished to witness the encounter between Kyirri and the three at the door.

"Hey, just who the fuck are you telling me my business?" Raffiele smacked his chest with his knife's handle. "Once I hit home, all I have to do is stick to the down-low somewhere. Our family's got plenty of hideouts! Hell, if crossing the border's too much then I can think of at least two in this tri-county!" Though even Rafa had to admit that if it was this easy for some angel to get the drop on him, actually getting anywhere without being followed would be a problem. But here was this angel, quite possibly related to Kassin and thus part of this grand scheme, not giving him any kind of definitive information. Politics and warfare hinged on one group knowing more than the other, and this person was purposefully keeping Rafa in the dark.

That irritated him to no end. "In fact, if you're so smart, why don't you tell me just what's so important about a Thom'sen thug that the entire continent is after him?" He started to close the gap, gripping the tomahawk as if he would throw it straight for the tiger's head at any given second. "Enlighten me."

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Brady looked at Lugh with a surprised expression. However, he wasn't amused. He let out a sigh, and kept his eyes on Zanfib. He let a thought slip Either that Lugh is completely insane or there's a lot more to him than meets the eye, probably the latter.... His head soon filled itself up with paperwork and other contract nonsense. "Fine, if you two don't want to tell me anything..." Brady started, however, Eilan interrupted him.

"Business before pleasure, how about you start by explaining this." Eilan pulled out the bounty notice he had. Brady's expression went from passionate-angry to lethargic and resigned. He paced back over to his desk. He looked at the table.

"I was hoping you wouldn't find out Eilan..."
"Well, a heck of a lot that did, how about you actually start explaining how he managed to get on there." Eilan's facial expression was incredibly tense, and he kept his eyes locked on Brady. Brady however, was much more relaxed, he straightened his position in his seat, and looked to be quite comfortable.

"I'm sorry Eilan... I know he's your friend... but I did investigate the charges against him, and I found them all to be true. It's why I didn't want you to find out, I know what it's like to have a friend turn on you, and all that you believe in." Brady shook his head with insincere regret. "Kassin... should answer for what he has done, same as any monster or criminal, and I'm sorry that he has used your friendship to influence you." Brady pulled out a pen and started twirling it around in his left hand. Besides, he is an angel after all, manipulation is their favorite game., Brady thought before flooding his mind with administrative waste.

Eilan however, looked furious, his fingers started to twitch more, and his stare got even more intense. He looked to be only a loud noise away from losing his cool.

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The odd old man looked at Garis. He looked to be an old feline, grey fur covered his face, with some missing patches to it. His cephalic hair was graying as well. He had an eye-patch over his left eye, though his hood kept most of his close features obscured. There was certainly something odd about him though.

His look was something of disapproval. He examined Garis closely for a moment, then turned his head away, facing the other direction. He let out a gruff "Go away.", before pretending to be interested in the patterns of beer stains of the walls.
Charming fellow.

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Kyirri headed towards the door. He took a peek out the waist-height window.
The three beings appeared to be adventurers, one male canine, one female feline, one male feline. They all had swords at their belts, and were dressed warmly.
Kyirri let out a deep sigh as he looked at the three adventurers. Still, he greeted them cordially. "Yeah, what is it?"
"Could we come in?" One of them asked.
"No, sorry, I'm not expecting guests, and my parents are out... I'm not allowed to let anyone in, sorry."

The three adventurers started talking amongst themselves, trying to decide whether they should come in. Eventually, they decided to come in. The girl cast a spell to unlock the door. They came on in.
Kyirri was furious, he started screaming at them, his screaming could be heard throughout the house. "HEY! I didn't say you could come in! And how did yo..." There was a short interrupt in his speech, as the girl picked Kyirri up and hugged him tightly, however, this didn't help his mood. "PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!"

The canine turned to Kyirri, "sorry, we just need to check this place for angels, I hope you don't mind." The other feline motioned to his companions, apparently, the girl would restrain Kyirri while the other two searched the place. However, Kyirri wasn't very happy with this arrangement. "You're all ridiculous, and you're breaking and entering into my home, now get OUT!!!" The feline holding him reassured him by calling him cute, and rubbing his head. However, this only seemed to make Kyirri more angry.
The two adventurers nodded to each other, after a brief survey of the first floor, the feline went upstairs, the canine went downstairs.

The feline adventurer walked around the hallway along the upper floor. You could hear his footsteps as he came by, growing louder with every moment. The adventurer caught the sight of the lights being on in the bathroom, he went up to it and knocked on it's door. "Hello? Anyone there?"

The canine adventurer opened the door to the downstairs set of rooms. Kassin immediately started to panic, the sound of footsteps, and Kyirri's screaming could be heard easily. He looked around. The basement's back room only had a door leading to the other room in the basement. Kassin glanced around in a panicked frenzy. A shiver went down his spine, and his eyes bulged with worry. He glanced around for something in the room to hide himself with, only to stop short and give in to panic.

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If it were even possible, the angel's tone of voice and facial expression became more sardonic, and irritated. However, he remained fully alert, small wisps of dark energy came off of his right hand, as did wisps of light energy on his left, ready to launch a spell in case Raffiele tried anything.

"You really don't get anything do you, even if it's launched right in front of your face? As I have said, and no doubt you have heard before, you are one of the touched, and there are many who will want you dead for it. Besides, even one as crude as you has their uses, if only as a sponge for a bladed weapon that would have gone into someone more important otherwise."

"And really, do you think you can hold off the entire world on your own? How many times have you been attacked already? Two, Three? Doesn't matter, and those that chase you are only going to come after you with more vigor once they realize you're alone, and they will find out quickly. And I'm confidant that they will be able to find you very very easily, wherever you chose to hide, simply because you don't think ahead. Those that chase you, do, and I suggest you let a slip of reason go through that thick skull of yours. I was able to find you very easily and quickly, and I can do the same in the future, but maybe you won't get lucky and you'll come across someone who will just kill you instead. Your arrogance won't shield you from the foes that hound you, and I suggest you cast it off before it is too late."

Garis smiled at the man's anti-social behavior, obviously he was trying to hide something... trying to pick out his emotions among the rest of the patrons, he tried pressing him further, this time, being a little more blunt on his second try. Garis said in a low voice "alright, if you don't want to talk, fine... but why would someone have a mind shield up in a place like this? perhaps your one of the very folk we've been searching for."
Garis took the pamphlet he'd retrieved from the adventurer, and slapped it on the table... oddly, it opened to kedered's page, so Garis figured he'd keep going.  saying slightly louder "maybe i'm having a chat with the not so great Kedered Aldoraethar right now."
at the same time, Garis focused his senses on the man's emotions, and kept a careful watch about his appearance, hoping that if he was a creature, he'd loose enough concentration to let something slip.

Tyrian's ears flattened against his head as the adventurer came downstairs.  With his spell he could tell it was the canine, a variety with good sense of smell and good hearing.  Every adventurer had the potential to be a magic wielder, so this limited his choices to the unobtrusive magics or the old and powerful ones that were beyond all but the most dedicated of being wizards.

Quietly he stood and turned to Kassin, bringing his finger to his mouth.  The fox spoke in a very low voice, "shhh, do not panic... if you do, I will have no choice but to kill this adventurer and the others.  They have not harmed Kyirri, the girl thinks he is cute.  He will remain unharmed as long as we are not forced to fight.  I hope that Kshar can hide.  Now please come here and do not resist this spell, it will not harm you and it will not hurt."

Tyrian pulled the feline to his feet and hugged him close with one hand.  The other held his staff, which he twirled around both of them in a swirling motion.  A small gust of wind engulfed both of them and as it did, Tyrian brought his muzzle to the feline's left ear and in a low voice spoke a few words, "we will become the wind, do not wander too far from me if we are separated, and remember I want to save their lives not harm them."

He finished speaking with more instructions, "you can speak and I will hear you, it will sound like the wind to those not like us so try not to talk.  No matter what do not leave this building, no matter the urge you may feel to run free, you will be lost in this World's winds and may never return.  Most importantly, you must trust me."

Tyrian moved away from the entrance and to a cold, dark corner of the room, still holding Kassin.  The fox did his best to try and calm the young angel, but did not release him.  He lurked quietly, nothing more than the air itself.

There was a frantic moment as she realized that the light was giving her away.  Nothing to be done now.  Kshar looked around frantically as the footsteps came closer, then dropped her skirt and sat on the toilet.  The knock that came at the door surprised her, she only replied, "Occupied."  Even if the guy barged in she only hoped that her ... position ... would embarrass him to leave her be for a moment.  All she needed was a moment to calm down.  The panic was rising in her throat like bile, she wanted to throw up, they were supposed to be safe.  But even Kyirri wasn't safe.  She could imagine that Kassin and his protector would be safe, that they would've been smarter than her at hiding.

If they could convince these trespassers they were normal they might only have to deal with a robbery, 'but what if I have to deal with a fight?  What if we can't just fool them?' She took the only spare moment she might have to take a calming breath, the adventurer on the other side of the door still had to open it, if he wouldn't wait for her to "finish".  She flinched as she took it, realizing that she had heard no thoughts, had felt no emotions.  Either this person lacked both or was protected, might even be able to sense what she was, might even be able to see through her transformation.

She only hoped that her disguise would fool them.

Zanfib flattened his ears slightly, and responded, "They call me Sharon. Sorcerer by trade, and little else. I will not be entertaining you, and I would much rather discuss business than all this nonsense about relations with the criminal." He said flatly, while he continued to try and probe the fellow's mind. He steadily sent his probes deeper into Bryan's mind, looking for the information they had come for.

A more direct approach may be in order. I would rather not have to break this fellow, if we can avoid it. He sent to the others..

Although Kedered was used to keeping his thoughts under an iron control, he let his juggling balls slip a bit, and they slowed their rotation around his bare feet. Why hide behind a woman's name?

He quickly resumed his antics however, laughing lightly. "As for your other question, I encountered Eilan here on my travels, and sought to accompany him. It's easy to spot an adventurer, it's the stance, and there is safety in such company. Shame, shame, what lie has come to like these days. You'd think that the monsters from Narukh had free reign over this country. Why? I was at the Whispering willow a mere two days before your pamphlet said, what was his name? Kessin? blew it up. That almost was me blimey. It's good to see people like you take the defense of good, honest Ithralians seriosuly. Why, from reading your pamphlet, you must have been printing them out the very day it happened. How do you get to be able to do that? If I could learn things like that...... why? I'd find out which taverns have the best tippers, make my way twice as well as I do now? Are you sure you don't want to hear a story? It really doesn't tax the juggling to speak. In fact, I can spin in a few more balls if you like."

As Kedered spoke, he shapeshifted ever so slightly, pushing a bit of blood back into his center body and legs. It wouldn't do for him to pass out from his stance.

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Brady gave Zanfib an incredulous look. Sharon??, That's a woman's name... but he's a man.., and has an attitude problem too... He looked at him with distrust. After a few more thoughts of boring paperwork, he let another sentence slip. Either Eilan is incredibly desperate that he's taken a bunch of loons as company, or... no... he's not dumb... I wonder if they're.... Brady turned to Lugh with an icy stare. If it were possible, his thoughts started to get more boring as well. His facial expression was entirely humorless.

"Will you cut that act out already? You're not amusing anyone." His voice was gruff, and had a certain passive aggressiveness to it's tone. He closed his eyes to calm down slightly, and to refocus.
"I did get it out quickly, normally it takes me around a week to get it in circulation, but my source helped me a lot in that regard. I suppose it's also easier for me to get it distributed to locations close to home. Once I let it go public it spreads out rapidly, though I do admit, in this instance, it wasn't all me."
Eilan also had a humorless, cold stare, focused on Brady, however, his mental guard was still up, meaning he still had some focus in him. "Well, who helped you distribute it so quickly then?" Brady however, was not amused with the query. He sighed, then continued in a less hostile, and more exhausted sounding tone.

"Eilan... I really shouldn't have to tell you, I'm under obligation not to let the sources of the bounties out into public, it's standard procedure. They're usually compelled by the entirely reasonable fear that whomever they want dead will come after them."
"Or have a shady reputation." Eilan retorted. Brady, at this, seemed less relaxed, his voice became more aggressive sounding.
"Eilan, I've already told you, I investigated their claims, and I found them to be legit."
Eilan took a step back, his fingers stopped twitching, he brought his right hand up to his face, and looked at the piles of Brady's paperwork in deep thought. Eilan widened his view towards Lugh, and transmitted some thoughts to his two companions.

Whomever his source is must be someone that is powerful,... influential, and has very good organization. Try to keep him pressed on the topic. He paused for a moment, trying to come up with what to say. He's getting dangerously suspicious about this arrangement though, keep in mind he's under no obligation to answer our questions.... Eilan kept a focused stare on Brady, as Brady tried not to look at the others in his office.

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The old being gave Garis an annoyed look. He examined Garis more closely with his right eye. His facial expression displayed few emotions, other than slight irritation. At sight of the pamphlet, he pulled out his own, and opened it up to your page. He placed it on top of Garis's pamphlet. He brought his hands up to his face, his old, bony fingers twitching softly. He turned his head away, as if to not let Garis see his face.
"Tell me... what do you think of Cubi?", he asked, and then was silent. His tone however, was quite demanding. 

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Kassin didn't say anything as he became one with the wind, however, it was pretty easy to tell that his mental state was still on the verge of panic, and would likely eject himself from the spell given the slightest stimulus. Hopefully, his hypersensitivity wouldn't aggravate him either. He refrained from saying anything, probably out of fear.

The canine adventurer came down, he quickly glanced across the first room, and checked each door. As  he came to the back room, he took another glance around, checking behind furniture. After a cursory check, he decided that nothing was to be found, and headed back upstairs.

The second adventurer kept her tight hold on Kyirri, refusing to let him go. Kyirri however, was becoming more and more angry with this arrangement, and started flailing about to try and escape the grasp that held him, to no avail. "I SWEAR WHEN I GET OUT OF THIS HOLD I'M GOING TO SHOVE YOU DOWN A WELL!", Kyirri shouted. However, his captor kept her hold firm.

The feline adventurer stood outside the bathroom Kshar was inhabiting. He didn't decide to peek inside, however, he did give a curt reply. "I'm waiting then, you have to a count of ten...". He stood outside, waiting for Kshar to come out. Failing that, he decided he might as well just barge in.
You notice that the door isn't locked, he could come in at any time unless you lock it.
The adventurer started silently muttering to himself. "Ten...... nine...."

Garis shrugged, then replied, "haven't had too much experience with them myself, from what i've been told, they're usually a rather nasty lot.  More clever than demons, and a hell of a lot more vicious than angels.  i also hear they're shape shifters, and have an affinity for stealing souls ... other than that though, i'm sure they're a lovely bunch..." shrugging again, Garis smiled and extended his right hand "Alexander Whitehaven, pleasure to make your acquaintance"

While playing his role, Garis sent a message to ked 'how's it going with Brady, i've found a rather suspicious fellow in the bar, he's got a mind shield up, and is trying his best to keep his face hidden. my guess is he's actually a somewhat inexperienced cubi.  I'm going to see what else i can figure out about him, but the way he keeps hiding behind his hood, i've got a feeling i've found a lead... if i don't get anything out of him, i'm going to head out for a few minutes to see if he follows... i'll keep you posted'

She took the seconds she needed to calm herself then pulled up her skirt, washed her hands, and opened the door.  She did her best to look upset, not a stretch of the imagination, and growled, "Who are you and what are you doing here?  Where is Kyirri?  What are you doing to him?"  She stepped out but not passed him, looking to see if she could see him.  All the while she kept her concentration on her disguise, weak though it was she didn't need to hide her form, only what she was.  She made a quick glance over the adventurer's gear as she looked around.

The thought of just being a meat shield for some strangers didn't appeal very much to Rafa's sensibilities. "...you're an angel. You people live for giving cryptic knowledge so people can avoid disaster at the last possible second." He gestured to himself. "I, by contrast, don't give a rotten Goddamn about looking and sounding important, portentious, or otherwise mysterious. Now that we've established that, why don't you do me a favor and tell me why I should trust you?"

The tomahawk dropped a couple of inches in the demon's grip. "If you don't, then... yeah, I'll go back to the others. I'm gonna die sooner or later anyway, so why not? I'll just be sure to cave in your little brother's skull when his back's turned. Or is it your little nephew?"

With mock scorn, Kedered let his juggling balls dissapate and put his boots back on, using a bit of prestigitation to tie the laces. He set out a few snippets of thought. To Zanfib he projected I still think we can get a bit more with the velvet touch. Please try to calm Eilan down., while to Garis, he put in. Our kind are pretty rare outside of Astarea, but if  you think so..... He is taking something of a risk being this close to a Thularian satellite. You might be able to play on his fears.


After his communications were over, the guise of lacing up his boots finished, he went back to his pressing of the policeman. "Begging your pardon sir, I might only be a poor entertainer, but I don't see how this is possible. The date you have listed for the destruction of the whispering willow is the same date that these pamphlets started being distributed. It's a day's walk to the willow, perhaps a bit faster if you have mounts. I do not see how anyone could have reported the incident this quickly and certainly not how anyone from your employ could verify it in time for the publication date."

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Brady looked up at 'Lugh' with an annoyed expression. "I have my ways, and I don't need to tell you. Rest assured, they're reliable and efficient, but it would be bad business to let you know."
Eilan made a soft grunt. "Yeah right." He rolled his eyes, then continued as he stared at Brady.

"How exactly did you verify the claims so quickly? It took, what, two days to verify and distribute the pamphlets, and that's not including the delay in how your source managed to find out about the claims. So, how exactly did you do it. Normally, it takes you a bit more than a week to get the whole thing in circulation, and that's when you're going fast. However, getting everything in order in two days is quite a stretch, so which part did you skip out on?  It certainly wasn't the distribution, and your source likely reported this mess the instant they happened, so how long exactly did you spend on verification? I'm amazed none of the other hunters have noticed how odd that is, but I guess their moralities are flexible when you shine enough money in their eyes."

Brady was understandably furious.  He focused his attention on Eilan. The anger coming from him was even stronger than before. He glanced back at 'Lugh', raising his right eyebrow, then gave a similar glance towards 'Sharon'. His expression relaxed, and he focused on Eilan. However, his mental discipline held firm.

"If you must know, my major source of verification, and I do have other ways, came from three witnesses, each described Kassin in very great detail."

"Yeah..." Eilan interrupted. "Because someone can imagine a picture this detailed", he said as he pulled out the pamphlet, showing Kassin's picture. "while they're fleeing for their lives. I'm sure their testimony is worth it's weight in salt. Of course, if we could see them..."

"Out of the question!" Brady interjected. "Our source takes their safety very seriously, and I wouldn't want to put them at risk. Plus, despite being from different disaster zones, their stories and descriptions matched quite well. Are you done making baseless accusations against me Eilan? I thought better of you."

Eilan looked furious. His fingers started twitching nervously.

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The old man looked at Garis with a scowl. "That's not your name." He turned away, he looked at the ceiling, as if trying to observe something that couldn't be seen from above. He kept his elbows on the table, in a slightly tense position. After a brief pause, he grabbed his pamphlet back. He turned it over to the front page, Kassin's page, and laid it down in front of Garis.
"I know you know where he is, touched one."

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The canine adventurer paced over to the one holding Kyirri. "There's nothing downstairs, do you think he'll find anything upstairs?"
"Who knows?" Said the feline, she tightened her grip on Kyirri, who was flailing with more energy. "I've heard this little guy gets a lot of strange guests." The canine went over to Kyirri, lightly rubbing his chin. "Awww, he looks so cuuu...." It took a moment for Kyirri to kick the adventurer in the gut. The adventurer gasped, stumbled a bit, but then regained his composure. "Whoa,... feisty little fella.." said the adventurer that was keeping him held firm.
Kassin however, felt the discharge of the adventurer's pain. He panicked, and managed to escape from your spell. He branched away, managed to regain his form, and slammed himself face first into one of the walls. Kassin made a soft groaning noise, as he rolled onto the ground. He rubbed his head softly, barely conscious. The collision made a banging noise.
"Are you sure no one is down there?" The canine gave an exasperated facial expression, as he decided  to come back down, to check what the sound was. His footsteps could be heard as he came down the stairs.

The feline examined Kshar closely, noting physical anomalies in his head. However, something about him remained uncertain. She doesn't look like one of the ones we're after, but it could be one of the cubi in disguise. He pulled out one of the pamphlets, flipped through the pages. He then put it away, and looked at Kshar straight in the eyes.
"I'm going to have to inspect the palm of your right hand, and your left forearm. Please cooperate." His hands moved towards Kshar, as if he were trying to inspect her for something suspicious. His sword dangled on his belt, it looked quite threatening.

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The angel's expression didn't change. The wisps of energy around his hands became more substantial as he kept his icy cold stare. He showed no signs of being intimidated in his situation, and kept his intense stance up. He raised his left eyebrow. If he was getting angry, he didn't show it.
"You would betray someone who has saved your life and then go right up to the doorstep of someone who wants you dead? It might actually be in my best interests to let you go, since your immaturity and allergic reactions to rational thought would probably end up endangering everyone around you."

"And please, I don't expect you to trust me, though I do expect you should trust common sense, and realize that if you were to attack Kassin and his companions, then there would be no one in Atharra you could reach who could shelter you safely. Unless you separated yourself from your rational self interests, or your brain, I think the choice is pretty obvious."

"That, and if you harm Kassin..." The angel stopped for a moment, the black wisps on his right hand focused, and then formed into a gleaming sword of black energy. The angel kept the blade low, but ready. "You can trust that I'll kill you and suck your soul and either eternally torment it, or just devour it if it won't cause too bad of a case of indigestion. I don't even have to get you in the light of day either. Just go to sleep some time, you won't wake up, assuming I'm not too late to call 'dibs'. I do keep his safety in the highest of regards, and that's exactly why I need you."

Zanfib raised his eyebrows slightly. This fellow had a very stubborn mind, indeed. Then, a communication came in from Kedered, and Zanfib was quite distracted for a moment.

He sent on a completely different level than he receives! I believe my master was wrong about cubi.. their psionic abilities seem far more advanced than he originally let on.. He thought to himself. But, as his attention snapped back to the matter at hand, he realized he'd completely released Brady's mind. With an inward obscenity, he started to probe the fellow again.

In the meantime, he sent a thought over to Kedered and Eilan, Actually, I believe Eilan here is on the right trail. This fellow does not seem to like being caught in the lie he has fabricated. I would suggest pushing him on that topic, like so.

Zanfib stepped forward then, tapping Eilan on his shoulder.. "Eilan, let's stop wasting our time here, this guy is an obvious liar. I mean, have you seen this bounty? That's a small castle right there! If it weren't for the fact you said this guy was your friend, I wouldn't even believe this Kassin even exists. I'm surprised the other hunters are even buying this load of dead cattle."

For once, Kedered was glad Zanfib was along, it gave him a perfect opening. Putting a casual tone into his voice, he chimed in to Eilan, knowing that Brady would hear the subtext. "It's easier than that. The logistics simply don't pan out. There isn't enough time for a fleeing witness to get here, describe the "suspects" get a pamphlet printed, and for those pamphlets to be distributed in the two days that the incidents are alleged to happen. It is quite obvious that these witnesses never were at the Whispering willow, and likely not at the sites of any of these other alleged crimes."

Kedered put a mock mournful look in his voice and facial expression. "No, it seems quite obvious to me that at the time these incdents supposedly happened, if not before, someone was here in this office telling Brady what to put on these pamphlets. The question that is foremost in my mind, is whether it was the Thularians, or demons out of Narukh that did the prompting. The witnesses are probably reporting to their own masters about the success right now."

He half turned towards Brady, gesturing with his left hand for him to join in the conversation. "Eilan here was so sure that you would be able to clear things up. He would go on, and on, and on, about your incorrigibility, your sense of honor, and openness, how you never sicced the dogs on the wrong person.  You can understand why he's so mad, with his illusions shattered so. 'Tis truly a shame."

Garis gave the man a subtle nod, whispered "well, pleasant evenings, i've got other things to attend to." He then smiled, sent a quick message to Ked 'i'll be back in a few minutes, he's either a creature, or an overly pompous adventurer who needs to crawl into a corner and die... either way, i'm off to have a little fun, and maybe get some information. The wolf in disguise then walked out of the door.

Once outside, Garis made his way through the town and out into the woods nearby.  Once he knew he was out of sight from the town, he took off the shirt, bracers and cloak, folded them neatly, and left them by a tree stump.  Next, Garis adjusted his dagger to be just off his left hip, making it easy to grab. He felt the area for the presence of the man from the bar, and readied a speed enhancement spell as well as a lightning spell.  He also took a moment to bring his wings out, and stretch them.

Although still in disguise as a white tiger, Garis' wings were almost pitch black, and he knew they'd be difficult to see at night.

Tyrian sighed as Kassin panicked and cringed as the feline attempted to fuse his head with a nearby wall.  The fox released his spell and knelt down.  The right index finger on his hand glowed white as he touched the teenager's head, easing the pain but doubling the effect the head trauma had on his consciousness releasing him temporarily from the waking world.

Foot steps could be heard descending again, causing Tyrian to swear lightly under his breath.  Using a simple cantrip he called a summoning, not vocally but instinctively.  He was rewarded by the appearance of a turquoise and orange arachspearian as it emerged from behind a stack of boxes in the opposite corner of the room. 

Quickly grabbing a bronze figurine from the table, he deposited it on the ground.  Scooping up the docile arachspearian as it approached, thanks to the summoning, he deposited it on the bronze figurine. 

He lifted the supine Kassin into his arms and softly padded over to the closest wall.  Taking a deep breath, more due to the fact that he hated merging with amalgamated materials that were not wholly natural then anything else, he melted into the material of the wall.  As long as nothing damaged the physical wall, he and Kassin would be fine.

Rafa's own expression of snide contempt didn't waver in the slightest under the angel's threats. "Oh, look at you," he chided, "big man, putting anyone's life at risk but your own to keep family alive." He put aside the tomahawk, freeing up his hand to gesture with. "You can threaten me all you want, but there's one glaring flaw with this: you say you need me, but I need you like I need a hole in my head. Double goes for your emotional wreck of a cousin." He roughly jabbed the angel's chest with an index finger to push that little sentiment further.

"So if that's your big statement, fine. I'm not going back, I'm not cooperating, and I'm sure as hell not going to be some meatshield for Kassin or any of your worthless-ass relatives." Rafa turned and began to leave, rewrapping his scarf around his throat. "Have a nice, sanctimonious life, asshole."

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Brady was furious, he looked at 'Sharon' with a hateful stare, he gritted his teeth, he looked quite prone to shouting.
"Oh, I'm a liar am I?" His voice was thick with resentfulness. "Never mind the fact that I have been doing this for years, without any slip ups. I take my job very seriously. If you wish to continue making such accusations against me, I suggest you find some proof before you do. Now get out of my sight, you three have long overstayed your welcome, and I am very busy. The door is that way." He pointed towards the exit of his office, then looked at his desk, starting to write on some papers. When he heard 'Lugh''s comments, he raised an eyebrow and cast a hateful, suspicious eye on him.
Those two are definitely Kassin's cubi companions..., he thought. Still, why did he mention that name, do they already know my source?. He paused for a moment, filling his thoughts with more bureaucratic nonsense. But still, if they don't have any proof for it, I should be safe, and they'd probably all get killed trying to get something like that, which is a definite plus.. He turned his head back to his stack of papers, engrossed in what he was doing. He refused to acknowledge the presence of the others in his office.

Eilan continued staring at Brady after he went back to his paperwork. He turned towards the door, and slowly paced towards it. "Come on, I think we're done here." He passed a view at Kedered and Zanfib. He let out some thoughts. Did either of you get his source from his thoughts?

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The old man didn't even look at Garis as he went. He turned his attention towards the ceiling. He didn't say anything else.
Time passed by as you left yourself to the cold outside weather. No one came to visit. No minds could be felt, no sound except the rushing of the wind.

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The canine adventurer came down, he looked around both rooms with a casual glance. He took a look at the second room, but found and heard nothing. The arachspearian stayed silent, probably for the best. With a sigh, he headed back upstairs. "I'm sure there's nothing down there."

The feline upstairs glanced for a few moments. After a period of silence, he decided not to bother with formalities. He inspected Kshar's right hand and left forearm, after which, he simply turned and left for the downstairs.
"There's a creature upstairs," he said to the others. "Not one of the ones we're looking for though, not one of the cubi either, she didn't have the clan symbols."
"So... what do we do?" The canine asked.
"Well, who is she?" The feline asked Kyirri.
"A friend, and I'm sure if you don't put me down RIGHT NOW then you're going to become friends with a chair of mine, now get OUT! You've overstayed your welcome here!" Kyirri angrily responded.
"Lets just go," the one holding Kyirri said. "Simply existing as a creature isn't a crime, he apparently does get some strange guests, so if something happens, we know to pay this little guy a visit." After that, she let go of Kyirri. Kyirri growled at the three of them, "Now GET OUT!! OUT!! OUT!!" The three of them turned away and exited through the front door. After they left, Kyirri slammed the door shut and locked it. After he couldn't see them anymore, he rushed downstairs into the back room.
"Kassin? Kassin?" He said, he glanced around from wall to wall, looking for him.

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The angel looked at Raffiele with a resigned glance. The sword in his hand collapsed.
"I suppose if you are intent on having the worst case of cranial rectalosis recorded in history, then I can't stop you. But I figure you're just a danger to yourself and everyone around you, so it's not like saving you for another day would benefit anyone. Hopefully Miss Firestorm's goons will be able to teach you what I cannot, or perhaps some Thularian soldiers would, assuming help arrives before they tear you limb from limb. Regardless, I suppose if you don't want to act as a meatshield I commend your willingness to act as a decoy. I really should say farewell, because if you're smart, then you won't have to see me again until the time is right. If you aren't, and I think that is the much more likely option, then you should be seeing me again shortly, or maybe I'll be too late and you'll already be dead. A loss for sure, but one I can manage."
The angel turned away, in a moment, he vanished into the darkness of the woods, and was gone.

After waiting in the cold for several minutes with no sign of anyone, Garis hid his wings, and got dressed again.  Although mildly disappointed that the old man wasn't stupid enough to follow, he figured maybe he could try and help the others out.  Returning to the bar, he walked back in, and found an empty seat.  He sent a quick message to Ked, 'it sees that my instincts were at least somewhat right, he knows far more than he should, try pressing the old man once you get down here... judging by the emotions i'm picking up, i'd say either things went very well, or horribly wrong... probably the latter though... want me to give it a shot?'

ordering another drink, Garis sat back, and waited for the others.

Tyrian was only vaguely aware of Kyirri's presence.  With supreme effort, the fox withdrew from the safe, comforting embrace of the elemental earth. 

He strode from the wall carrying the unconscious Kassin.  Bowing and speaking in an apologetic tone, the angel addressed Kyirri, "my apologies, but the young Kassin panicked and slammed his head into a wall.  I merely capitalized on this unfortunate event and removed the pain, but intensified the effect it had on his conscious state."

Quickly he glanced around, noting the arachspearian remained on the bronze statue, "and in all that effort I made to create a elaborate ruse to explain the noise, and the adventurer missed it completely.  I take it they left then?  Excellent, I really had no desire to have to fight and kill them." 

Carefully, the fox laid Kassin out on the couch so he might rest.

He carefully picked up the arachspearian and showed it to Kyirri, "interesting aren't they?  A cubi once told me their thoughts are very odd, constant chatter not unlike the lines of some unknown play.  They aren't sentient as far as I know though." 

Kedered gave a sardonic bow, and turned his heel, motioning for his companions to follow him outward. Knowing it was foolish,  yet unable to restrain himself, he whispered, and used a touch of a spell to send the message back into the commissioner's ear. "An innocent man denies the accusation. The guilty deny the evidence."

As he made his way downstairs, he whispered into Zanfib's ear. "Not by name, but it is almost positive to me that it is some consortium of demons from Narukh. We have run into trouble with Nakata Firestorm's people earlier. It is almost certain to be one of them. Try not to asscociate yourself with me, I will be doing something stupid"

Bounding ahead of the other two on their way down from the staircase, Kedered vaulted over to the bar, ordered a drink at random, and decided to forget the faux-juggling act. Enough of the adventurers would be jaded enough to be uncaring for the entertainment, and magic users always seemed to look down on that sort of prestigitation.

After a moment sipping his beverage, he sidled over to the old man that Garis obviously indicated. Bowing low to him, he said unctiously. "Good sir, they call me Lugh, of the road, travelling entertainer, for all sorts of yer worships. I make my living on my skills to entertain, and a greybeard like yourself, especially in such a hazardous line of work, why, you must have all sorts of stories to tell. Perhaps a bit of music or minor magic might loosen your tongue?"

Zanfib gave up with a snort.. This fellow must have been incredible shallow and focused to produce such a profound shield. Anyone with any depth or intelligence always had something lurking beneath the surface, and so the ringtail concluded that this Brady was little more than a tool of someone else.

He sent his thoughts to his companions, He is a liar, and a stubborn one at that. Unless you would like for me to break him, none of us will be able to glean anything from his mind.

Afterward, he listened closely to Kedered, and flicked his ears curiously.. Nakata? I have never been there before. He thought to himself, before sending to Kedered, I cannot say I have ever met them before. Should be an interesting encounter. Oh, and try not to get the place burned down around our ears. I do like my fur.

The psion took a seat towards the back, away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd, and assumed his usual routine of passive scanning the room. That's when he noticed both Kedered and Garis seemed unusually interested in an old man in the corner. Inwardly, he half-wished he hadn't been distracted by Brady, for he might have been able to learn more about cubi communications, and perhaps what was going on. Outwardly, he began to scan the man, preforming the same routine that he had used on Brady.. Check for defenses, and if they exist, examine them to find a flaw. If they do not, then start probing.

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Brady pretended not to have heard Lugh, he continued working on his papers. As he left his office, Eilan passed Brady an obscene hand gesture, though Brady ignored that too. On the way down, Eilan was entirely quiet. He stared at the floors, the walls, but wouldn't look at any living person. As he went downstairs, with a shake of his head, he let out Let's wait till we're outside the city before you tell me any more.

The odd, one eyed old man sat still at his table. He had already taken his packet back. He gave a brief look towards Eilan, but then returned to staring at the table. His mind had a shield up, a strong one too. It would be impossible to access his thoughts without first removing the shield. On the other hand... the process of removing it isn't always a subtle process, which could attract unwanted attention. The bar was also infested with the thoughts of the drunk and of braggarts, many of which were undignified.

The old being gave an irritated look at Lugh when addressed. "Go away.", he said, with a sharp tone. The old being turned away.
Eilan gave a glance at Kedered. He squinted his left eye, as if puzzled by what he was trying to do. He let out some thoughts to Kedered. However, it didn't appear as though Eilan could receive sent thoughts. What are you doing? We should get going as soon as possible.
With that, the old man gave a quick glance at Eilan, then stood up. He slowly paced towards the exit.

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Kyirri gave a concerned glance at the arachspearean. However, after a moment of shock, he decided not to do anything with the spider. He shook his head, and faced Tyrian.
"Yeah... the adventurers are gone.., I waited till they were out of sight before I came down here."
Suddenly, the spider blurted out, facing Kyirri.

"Thou liest, abhorred tyrant; with my sword, I'll prove the lie thou speak'st!"

Kyirri was understandably freaked out. He jumped back, and fell on his read, he looked at the arachspearean with fearful eyes. He slowly paced back, and then he looked at the door, ready to bolt outside on a moment's notice. When Kyirri's face was turned away, the arachspearean continued.

"My voice is in my sword: thou bloodier villain than terms can give thee out!"

Kyirri gave another glance at the arachspearean, however, he quickly got to his feet, bolted out the door, slammed it shut, and rushed upstairs, wailing in terror.

Garis approached Eilan with a smile, he whispered to the being "he's following a lead i started, but wasn't able to continue. if you think there's anything else Brady knows, let me know now, if there isn't, i'll head out with you. if there is, i'll pay him a visit, and see about getting things sorted out."

Zanfib's eyebrows raised slightly, but the smirk never left his face. He sent out a thought to his three companions, He has a mind shield up. Very likely a cubi. Let him give him a mental knock.

With that, he sent to the odd, old man, very loudly and strongly, using a bit of psionic force to amplify his transmission. And where are you going in such a hurry? So many here seem dreadfully interested in you..

The thoughts were followed by the 'knock', which was basically a harmless bash against the fellow's mindshield. Its only purpose was to show the recipient that who they were dealing with was skilled in the mental arts.

Trying to decide whether to press ths grumpy old man or simply leave, Kedered was astounded to hear Zanfib's take on the situation. He tried to articulate a response of warning away of this sort of thing, but before he could frame the thought properly, he "felt", the psionic tingle of Zanfib pushing against the shield.

Broadcasting to his companions, he didn't care if there was a trace of fear in his tone. We are leaving. Now. Zanfib, you and I will have words assuming we survive this.

He stood up, taking a sip of his drink and making a face. He tossed a copper onto the bar, grumbling loudly enough for nearby people to hear "If I am going to drink river water, I can go outside and get it for free."

Not needing to feign the anger decorating his face, he stormed out of the building.

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Eilan turned over to Garis. "Don't bother, let's just go." He decided not to elaborate in public, though he let the rest of his trail of thought out. He is likely in his office, and he was quite tight lipped on the subject, I doubt that he's going to be in the mood for another interrogation, and he'll be no closer to letting anything out. If we're going to get the bounty off, I think we're going to need to prove Kassin innocent. I think I know how we might do that, but we should head back home first.

The odd old man gave no direct response to the mental query. Either he couldn't hear it, or simply ignored it. However, he could certainly sense the mental assault directed against him. He softly muttered "Lousy whelps, no one has respect for the elderly these days...", as he left. Soon enough, he was out of the building, and out of direct sight. Fortunately, the rest of the place was busy with their own revelry, and couldn't detect direct mental assaults.

"Come on." Eilan started, as he left the building. The street was wide, but dark as night shined above it.  "The fastest way out is over here." Eilan started off towards that direction. The odd old man could be seen walking in the opposite direction, and would soon be out of sight. Eilan turned his head back towards the adventuring lodge's entrance, waiting for his companions to follow.

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Kyirri rushed upstairs, he lauched himself onto one of the couches up there and lay down in fear. He then paced towards the kitchen, grabbed a knife, then headed downstairs.
The arachspearean waved it's legs around, yet was oddly silent after Kyirri bolted out the room. The spider then crawled up onto Kassin's face. Kassin didn't notice, he was still unconscious from his ordeal. He didn't make any motion as the spider came by. After a period of silence, it began reciting something while on top of Kassin.

"What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness. to catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great; Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it: what thou wouldst highly, that wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false,"

Kyirri rushed back downstairs, shakily holding his weapon. It was a kitchen knife, not meant for fighting. Yet, he had a strange fear of the spider. He silently hoped that Tyrian would dispose of the spider, but didn't want to take chances with Kassin's safety. He came downstairs, and listened at the door to the basement's back room. At this time, the arachspearean started talking again.

"We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it: She'll close and be herself, whilst our poor malice remains in danger of her former tooth. But let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds suffer, ere we will eat our meal in fear and sleep in the affliction of these terrible dreams that shake us nightly: better be with the dead, whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace, than on the torture of the mind to lie in restless ecstasy."

After hearing this, Kyirri entered the room, he looked at the spider, but his eyes and hands trembled in fear. He held the knife in his right hand shakily, yet, was on the verge of panic with the spider so close to Kassin.

"That's a lot of words when a simple 'fuck you' would have sufficed," Raffiele muttered as he continued to stalk away. If that's his family, it's no wonder he's estranged. Couldn't belong to a nicer guy, though. But that made him ponder even further: this angel, this almost omniscient individual had been watching them since the start, or at least most of the time... He knew who Rafa and the others were and their whereabouts. Yet, he hadn't lifted a finger to help them in either case of them being attacked, whether by Nicha to start with or the adventurers and demons they'd run into on the way to Eilan's house. What did he think everyone else was, a tool? Fuck him, that pious son of a bitch, Rafa thought bitterly. Get some other patsy to babysit your kid brother. If everyone else knew, they'd get out while they still could.

The demon continued his trudge, waiting for any road, shack, or other sign of civilization to make itself known. He wasn't about to give up on his escape plan on the say-so of one angel.

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Travel along the wilderness takes some time, you're not sure how long it's been, though the sun has since set. The weather gets mildly better, still cold, but the snow is lighter, light enough to not obscure vision. You eventually come out of the woods, onto a road, it seems to have not been maintained in some time. Woods surround the flanks of the road.

You spend some time traveling here, towards where you think would be a safe location. It doesn't take long for this to go horribly wrong. Some time during your travels, you spot three demons walking side by side. A bull demon in the center, a feline demoness on his right, and a canine demoness on his left. You're able to spot them easily, they look highly dangerous. Unfortunately, they spot you as well.
They take a quick glance at you, then take a short look at each other. They nod.

The feline blurted out to the others, "That's one of the ones mistress Firestorm wants dead!" With that, the bull demon roared "GET HIM!" With that, they extended their claws and rushed towards Raffiele. The canine, during their rush, charged energy into her hands, then threw a bolt of lightning at Raffiele.

Garis headed out, when he saw that his guide was headed one way, and his prey in another, he figured he'd better follow the lead before he lost it forever.  As he passed Elian, he said "wait up a bit, i'll be back in a few minutes."

He bolted after the old man, knowing that anyone who knew who he really was, was at the very least, a massive hazard, and with the possibility of gleaning some information seemed well worth the risk involved.  At least in Garis' mind.

All that time, Raffiele had contented himself with the silence and eerie beauty of a dark road less traveled. The three demons, however, would see his enjoyment cut short. "Shit!!" Rafa instinctively ducked and rolled to his right, the electric arc narrowly avoiding the side of his head. Okay, you want a fight? I'll give you-- Rafa stopped himself short of drawing his weapons. The one thing he'd taken note of was that while Garis, Kedered and Tyrian has killed or at least wounded others over the course of their travels, he hadn't laid a finger on anybody. If he was going to weasel his way out of anything, it would have to stay that way. "Hold it, hold it!!" The hyena raised his arms in a defensive gesture. "Don't kill me, I know where the angel is!" With Kassin being worth the most out of the entire group, Raffiele could only hope he'd be able to convince the demons to break off their advance in exchange for valuable information, or a walk back to the town he'd fled from.

Don't be stupid, don't be stupid, listen to me first--

Tyrian passively observed the spider creature as it gesticulated and orated.  "If one can believe the words of spiders than this is interesting indeed."  Shifting Kassin's weight to his one arm, he reached to lift the spider off the young angel's face, but paused at the exposed neck.  Sighing he scooped up the eight-legged wordsmith, "I am wont to be the puppet of greater designs.  Those born to walk upon this soiled earth, have but one spark different... freewill.  The choices I make are my own."

And with that, the arachspearean gestured with its legs, but spoke no further.  The fox blew lightly on the spider and it disappeared, cast several miles away.  Tyrian waved the index finger of his now free hand at Kyirri, "you should not wave such implements about unless you plan on using them.  As I said, the spiders are harmless... unless you try to harm them.  Now, do you have someplace I can put this tiger?  He is not light, despite being a bit scrawny." 

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Eilan looked at Garis, and let out an aggravated sigh. With a soft grumble, he let out to Zanfib and Kedered, "What is he doing? Can one of you start making sense?". He looked at Garis as he pursued the odd being. With another sigh, and a shake of his head, he began again. "Come on, I don't want anyone to be left behind, and I can't risk him getting lost."

The old being, noticing Garis's pursuit, quickened his own pace, not to a full run, but a fast-walk. Eventually, he turned onto one of the streets as he went, going into what looked to be a residential area.  He walked up to one of the houses, it looked to be small, and somewhat poorly maintained, but still functional. He went up to the door, ans pulled a key from one of his pockets. Faint grumbling could be heard under his breath.

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Kyirri looked at Tyrian, still in a half-panicked state. A wave of relief came over him as the spider vanished, though he was still quite shaken from the experience. His hand that held a knife stopped shaking. He pointed the blade towards the floor, as if not to appear threatening, however, his facial expressions indicated that he had not fully calmed down, neither did his tone.

"Harmless? That thing threatened to kill me twice, crawled onto Kassin's neck, recited what sounded to me to be very threatening sentences, not to mention that in the past few days Kassin has become one of the most wanted creatures in this lousy country. I also don't recall having crazy talking homicidal spiders in my basement either! So please forgive me if I think a bit of paranoia given the events of the last few hours is healthy." Kyirri's tone was tense, he was panting heavily. It took him about a minute to get his breath under control and calm down. With a shake of his head, he finally spoke in a more controlled tone.

"It's best if Kassin stays down here. I'd rather not risk anyone seeing him if he were upstairs. I suppose you could move him to the other room in the basement, but I really think he is safest down here."
Kyirri looked at the ceiling, a streak of worry came across his face. "I wonder where Eilan and the others are... I hope they haven't run into any complications..."

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The demons keep their claws bared, however, the possibility of finding out where Kassin is sorely tempts them. They surround Raffiele, the bull in front, the others covering ground in a triangle like formation, blocking easy escape through the back or on either side. The bull made a few steps forward, closing in, he kept his claws held high.
"Tell us where Kassin is, and we'll let you live." The other two demons held their claws in a ready position, poised to lunge at Raffiele given any reason to.

Garis approached the old man, and when in talking distance said "where do you think your going in such a rush... we never got a chance to finish our little conversation"  Very calmly, he felt for the emotions the old man was emanating, hopefully he could pick up something since he couldn't read the old man's thoughts.

Slowing his pace as he approached, Garis made no outward change in his appearance, but had prepped a lightning bolt that would require a mere gesture of the hand to cast.  he kept his arms crossed so the man knew that he wasn't reaching for his weapon.  "I'm only going to ask politely one more time. why are you wearing a mind shield? and what is it that your trying to hide?"

Kedered was too irritated to speak as he exited the lodge, and spent the walk out trying to get his anger under control. With a surge of will, for the most part he succeeded, driving back the red wall with a barrage of reproachment and images of his father. The seething was still there, a faint current roiling in his upper abdomen, but he had it under control, it no longer colored his thinking.

However, it stalled him long enough to miss out on a chance to stop Garis from pursuing that old man. By the time he had noticed, Garis was already moving away from the town gate, and Kedered whirled and accelerated to follow him, although refrained from using magic. Despairing of catching the other 'Cubi, he risked sending a burst of thought in his general direction. Desist! We must get away from this place before they start sending hostiles at us. We cannot fight an entire city with just the four of us. Do not provoke a fight.

Tyrian shook his head as he deposited Kassin on the couch, arranging the angel as best as he could, being mindful of the wings, "that is their method of speech, as far as I have been able to discover they are no exactly sentient.  They do seem to speak, and it consists of strange words of poetic worth.  The words do not generally mean anything."

The fox tapped his amulet and his wings shimmered for a few moments before disappearing.  He then deposited himself on a smaller couch and put his footpaws up on the table, "I suggest keeping an eye out for more adventuring types and other troubles.  If we are attacked by bounty hunters or such, you will have to fend for yourself Kyirri.  I am charged with protecting Kassin, I cannot split my attention between the two of you."

Raffiele's eyes slowly glanced to his left and right as the demons surrounded him. The former Claws of Fire might have kept by their words, but if Nicha had been any indication of their more recent goon stock, these demons were too undisciplined and impulsive to be trusted. Just keeping his mouth shut would guarantee a fight, though. "Look," he spoke stoically as he looked up at the bull demon, "I'm just an enforcer for some troglodyte named Adell Delani. I'm minding my own business, then this inn I'm at blows up. Now I'm stuck in this giant mess with some pussy angel who's in over his head." He exhaled slightly. "He's back the way I came in some pissant 'burb. White house, two stories, waist-high window and doorknob. Just kill him nice and painful-like so I can go home and forget this whole thing ever happened."

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The old being faced Garis with an irritated scowl. He noticed the prepared lightning bolt, but he didn't look the least bit intimidated. His tone was irritated, slightly sardonic.
"I like my privacy. That, which your incessant prattle is violating. Now if you don't mind, I have nothing to say to you. Go away." With that, he unlocked the door, went inside, slammed it shut, and then locked it. The building had no windows.

Eilan rushed over to Garis, he wore an annoyed expression on his face, and was softly grumbling to himself. "Now if you don't mind, could you tell me what was going on? We can't afford unnecessary delays, and I'd like to get moving as soon as possible." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. I just hope Kassin is alright..., he thought.

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Kyirri looked at Tyrian with a somewhat incredulous gaze, he was quite skeptical about what he said about the arachspeareans, but he didn't really care, now that it was gone.

"I'll be alright, I don't think most bounty hunters go around attacking those that don't have bounties on them... it gets them a bad reputation, and usually killed. Though... I truthfully didn't expect those three to break and enter in here... there are laws against that sort of thing." He took a glance at the knife he was holding. He frowned as he looked at the dull blade. "Then again... I don't really think this lousy country is very... lawful... to say the least, mostly runs on vigilante justice, and it's even worse out in the Northwestern parts."

Now that he had calmed down, he decided to go back upstairs into the kitchen, then put it back where he had found it. He went around, briefly looking out the windows, the sky was darkening. Only a few pedestrians could be seen on the roads, none of which had any interest in Kyirri's abode. He then decided to come back downstairs to check on Kassin. He paced over to him, and put his left hand on his forehead. He turned his face to Tyrian.

"Are you sure he'll be okay?"

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The bull demon put on a disturbing smile, but his body language was no less threatening, he seemed overjoyed.
"You've saved us the trouble of torturing you for information. I suppose now we can freely do so for pleasure before we decide to end your miserable existence."
With that, the three of them lunged at Raffiele, claws bared, ready to sink their claws into him. All of them converged at once. The bull slashed at Raffiele's face, while the others went to strike at his back.

Garis gave the man a sardonic smile, and was about the press the man further when Eilan came over.  He looked at the Fox, and shrugged apologetically "sorry, i was seeing if i couldn't goad him into doing something stupid, a lot of young cubi panic when they're disguise has been discovered.  I was hoping to get him to make some obvious move.  But, your right, lets get going. we don't have time to waste"  He left the house, and followed Eilan

Zanfib merely smirked as he followed along, watching Garis harass the old man. He didn't bother to try and contact the fellow again, and merely observed the going-ons. He walked over to Garis and Eilan, and said, "I could try and punch his mind shield in, if you are intent on pursuing this fellow? However, I will say this. I have not known cubi to be capable of such developed mind-shields. Mayhaps with proper training, but I am yet to see that either."

Garis shook his head softly and said "it's not worth the time, effort or risk anymore, if he didn't break under threat or intimidation he's either a clever or powerful cubi, or a very powerful magic user.  whatever the case, Eilan is right, we don't have any more time to waste.  We should get back to Kassin as soon as we can."

Kedered's disgusted thoughts filtered through to the two other telepaths with him. Or he paid someone to put a mind shield around him, or he has an item that duplicates the effect. We have no evidence that he knows who we are, or is a 'cubi, or is anything other than a cantankerous old man.  We are close enough to Narukh for people with the resources to take such precautions. We have no basis for intimidation, not with a whole gang of adventurers within shouting distance. W have already compromised our position, perhaps fatally. We need to return to Kassin as quickly as feasible. 


Kedered lengthened his stride, heading purposely towards the city gates, and speaking to Eilan. "Come on, let us get back. We have been away too long". He didn't look behind him to see if Zanfib or Garis were following along, and at least for a red hazed flash, he didn't much care if they died in this stinking town, as long as they didn't compromise the position.

Even in the face of such an attack, Raffiele wasn't about to let himself lose his temper and slaughter the demons. But with those only fractions of a second to react, what was there to do?

Simply put, nothing. He allowed the demons to strike at his body, the bull's claws ripping through his jaw and cheek as the demons behind him shredded his back to confetti. It hurt, a lot, but it wasn't the worst pain that he had even been privy to. Still, he had to make it look like they'd gotten him good. He let out a choked gurgling as his lower jaw was nearly torn from his head, body stiffening from the back-blows before he slumped to the side, falling to the snowy ground as his eyes stared vacantly into the distance. Feigning shock took an incredible amount of concentration: his eyes couldn't move an inch, nor any muscle in his body lest the ruse be given away. All he could hope is they wouldn't try to gouge his eyes out afterwards, and just leave him to "die" as they went back for Kassin.

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Eilan gave a surprised glare at Garis. "Cubi? How did you kn..." He took a deep breath. He took a few glances around to make sure no one was listening. "Never mind, even if he is, it's not a crime, though I certainly don't know what he would be doing so close to an adventuring lodge. At any rate, assaulting him, or breaking into his home, would cause this place's guards to rise against us, which would greatly interfere with proving... his innocence. At any rate, we can discuss things in more detail when we get back home." With that, he headed towards the exit, then home.

The journey back was quiet, the snowfall had gotten lighter, though the environment was colder. Eilan was completely silent, though one thought kept leaking through his head. Narukh? That doesn't make any sense.., Brady himself had fought creatures from there, I can't believe that he would be working for them now. He was visibly agitated, his fingers twitched near his blade-hilts as well, as if wanting to pull them out and swing them at his frustration. However, he kept his sanity firm. The roads were quiet too, no other travelers were about at this late hour. 

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Kyirri, after holding his hand to Kassin's head for a few minutes, decided it was time for him to head back upstairs. "I figure I'll make something to eat, I know Kshar said she was hungry, though, she has been quite quiet lately..." He shook his head, and went upstairs
Hours passed, nothing of note happened, Kassin didn't wake up.

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After their lengthy period of travel time, Eilan came back to Kyirri's house. "Alright... we can enter through the front." He went up and knocked on the door, he squat down so that his face was at the waist high window. Kyirri rushed over to the door, took a look outside. Seeing Eilan's face, he opened it up.
"How did it go?" Kyirri asked.
Eilan was somewhat drained of energy, his eyes had a fatigued expression to them. Yet, he found the energy to trudge on. "Not as well as I would have liked..." He paused for a moment. "How is Kassin?"
"He's asleep downstairs," Kyirri responded. "Tyrian is watching over him."

"Alright, thanks." Eilan nodded. He turned back to Kedered, Garis, and Zanfib. "Let's head downstairs.  First, I'll want to know, in detail what you managed to pick up from Brady's thoughts, and..." he said, turning to Kedered, "how you came to the conclusion that his source was someone in Narukh. Then, we can plan our next move, I think I have an idea." With that, he headed downstairs to the first room, before settling in, he went over to the basement's second room, and opened it. He took a brief look at the unconscious Kassin, but then focused his attention on Tyrian. "We're back... I think you'll be interested in what the others have to say about this mess..." He breathed a deep sigh, then went back into the basement's first room, and waited for the others to follow.

Kyirri rushed upstairs. I haven't checked on Kshar in a while, I wonder if she is still getting changed... He rushed up to her. "The others are back, I think you should head downstairs... I think Eilan and the others have something important to say to you."

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The three of them looked at Raffiele. "Pfft, pathetic." Let out the feline. She went over to his body, touched her hand to his neck. "Still breathing, I say we make this as agonizing as possible.", she said it with a child-like glee. The bull moved over to restrain Raffiele's arms, just to make sure he didn't try anything. "Make it slow," said the canine. "He might not scream loudly, but it should be entertaining nonetheless. We can slit his throat after he passes out."

The two demonesses tore into Raffiele with their claws, they did it in such a way as to make it as painful as possible. The process is excruciating, as they rip through your body with ease. They make it last a while, you lose track of time, but they certainly extend the process well beyond the point of good graces. They laugh as they watch  your blood trickle into the snow. Eventually, you pass out from the experience, the last thing you feel is the touch of one of their claws nudging against your neck, poised to slice into it. Darkness overtakes you.

You wake up some time later, it's much darker out now, so it could have been a few hours. But the demons aren't around you, and there isn't a lot of blood in the snow. Your most grievous wounds have closed, but the pain from them still rings, and some of them are still open, bleeding lightly.  The cold snow and air bites as it rubs against your wounds, aggravating them. You also feel awfully weak, fatigued, your arms and legs feel as though they barely have the strength to lift you, your wings are completely numb. You also notice your surroundings are different, you're in a wooded area, the road you were on is nowhere in sight.

You hear a sigh, coming from someone standing above you. "Wake up.", he said, in a demanding tone.
However, you recognize the voice, it's that angel you met before.

Garis followed Eilan downstairs, and took up a place on the couch.  He relaxed, and let go of his disguise.  He looked around the room, and wondered what had happened to Rafielle.  Looking around he asked Ty "any chance you know what happened to the demon.  Have you heard anything since we left, or is he long gone?"

The distinct lack of the white furred succubus suddenly attracted Garis' attention.  He hoped to have a little time to go over quite a bit with her before things got interesting with such a large bounty on their heads.

Raffiele refused to let himself scream during the bloody ordeal, the demonesses ripping through his flesh like so much tissue paper. But the pain... it was so excruciating that holding it in made him feel like internally hemorrhaging. The final straw came as they prepared to slit his throat, at which point he fell into blank and merciful slumber.

As he stirred hours later, Rafa couldn't bear to open his eyes. Everything hurt so badly, as though he'd slept while impaled on a bed of spikes. His own healing factor could barely tolerate the biting cold and searing agony bearing down along his spine at once. ...well, at least I'm truly alo-- But the sound of the angel's voice put that little hope on the wayside. "...oh, fuck off."

Tyrian opened his eyes and stretched.  He had not ignored Kyirri, he had just taken a quick nap after expending so much energy on casting spells, as both dweomers were very complex.

However, he found Garis there and he was asking about Raffiele.  The fox shook his head as he answered, "I believe he left, as his presence was not in the house when the adventurers barged in." 

A wry little smile graced his muzzle as he reveled in the well placed dramatic pause after his statement.  He continued as if the matter of storming adventurers was some passe nuisance, "yes, a band of inept beings managed to barge in on poor Kyirri.  One had some magic, enough to open a locked door, but the others were mere martial practitioners.  We did not fight, I concealled our precense, but Kassin here did his best to try and be caught.  He knocked himself silly in a panic and I merely... helped... him render himself completely unconscious."

Waving a paw he attempted to dissuade any questions to his methods, "do not worry, I relieved the physical damage he inflicted on his own head by impacting it on a wall.  I merely intensified the effect it had on his consciousness, not so much to drive him into a coma, but enough to keep him quiet for a few hours."  He paused and then called out, "so what have we discovered?"

     

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Eilan gave a surprised glare at Tyrian. "Wait... Raffiele? You just let him leave? Doesn't he know it's dangerous out there, that he has a bounty on his head? He could be getting himself killed right now!" Eilan took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, he shook his head, wearing an annoyed face. After a few moments of staring at the floor, he raised his head again, ready to speak.

"This place was inspected... that means we should probably get moving as soon as possible. Will Kassin be able to travel soon? I figure it's best if we travel by night and rest by day, there should be less activity on the roads that way. Of course, we can't just wander aimlessly, we'll get caught eventually that way." Eilan paused for a moment, putting together his thoughts before he continued. He closed his eyes and shook his head sadly.

"Brady... refused to remove the bounty, though I got the feeling that he didn't bother verifying the claims of his source. Considering the way he acted, I don't think he was acting entirely in good faith, we pressed him about how he got the information and distributed things so quickly, but he wouldn't tell us. He didn't let out the name of his source either... though I hope Kedered or Zanfib might have picked it up. Kedered thought it might be someone in Narukh who is the source... but that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. However, I should probably wait until he gives a full explanation."

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The angel let out an exasperated sigh. He shook his head before looking at Raffiele, and then stomped his left foot on Raffiele's back. "You know, most people show gratitude towards those who save their lives. I suppose I shouldn't expect sense from you. After all, I did say that if you were smart, you would never have to see me again, and now look where you are. I would have hoped that being faced with your own mortality would have taught you something. I guess not."

"But my initial question remains, where will you go? You have proven to yourself that you cannot survive on your own, not without someone protecting you, and believe me, I was almost too late to save you. Those weren't even the toughest of the claws either. If you wish to go to Narukh, you will die, it's that simple. Moreover, if you stay here in Ithralia, do remember that you still have a bounty on your head. You cannot head towards civilization, you will be attacked. Staying here means waiting until someone finds and kills you, or the prospect of starving to death."

With a snap, he made a quick gesture with his left hand, a shimmering white blade appeared in it, the blade made a soft hum. He made a similar motion with his right hand, calling forth a shadowy black blade. The angel brought both of them up against Raffiele's neck. "Or, if you prefer, I can kill you right now, if you're so eager to die. I took the liberty of carrying an empty gem which I could store your soul in, so that all of this effort of mine wouldn't go entirely to waste. Considering how you act, I figure I might as well save the world the trouble."

Kedered had spun out a simple memory enhancing spell at the first interrogative out of Eilan. He gave a short shrug as an apology, as the spell tended to take a while, and it focused him inwardly, allowing only for a vague sense of what was occurring around him.  Turning to the others, he said, decisively." I was able to discern neither name, nor face, out of Brady, merely a confirmation that he knows he is up to something underhaded. He is taking orders from a singular source, and was worried that we had found it out."

He took a deep breath, and started pacing around. "I am sorry, I did not think of this in time to bring it up at Brady's office. Kassin, a few nights ago..... had an odd dream, probably oracular. He related it to us the following morning. In it, two figures put Brady up to putting the bounty on our heads, which he goes along with quite readily. They then retire to some other place and continue discussing, at which point they say," Kedered's voice took on an odd intonation as he quoted, almost like a crude facsimile of the angel whom he protected voice. " Remember what you stand for. We cannot do such a thing, we'll not become like the creatures that ravage these lands. I believe that he will be a great hindrance to our plans, and maybe the Claws will kill him, but we cannot harm him. Doing so will also have other consequences, and will assuredly weaken our foothold in Ithralia. "

Kedered, while still pacing, slowed, and his features drooped. "My....... apologies for not remembering this at Brady's office and confronting him with it. I have failed. But this is not the way that Narukhians would talk. It is almost certainly the Thularians that put him up to the bounty idea, although such tactics are far from their usual methods. I am uncertain how able we would be to change this charge. The words of outlaws are not readily believed. My recommendation is to acquire someone who can guide us through the Whispwood and flee to Astarea. We should leave quickly. It is quite possible that Raffiele is selling out our location at this moment."

Zanfib went ahead and relayed what little he had managed to glean from Brady's mind, nothing more and nothing less. "It would have been much easier-" He added, "- just to crack his mind open. Killing him afterward would have meant one less bureaucratic monkey on our backs as well." He said, before looking to Kendered.

"And just what are your plans in Astarea?"

Despite the aggravations that this day ad presented, Kedered kept his emotional state in an icy calm. Not bothering to turn towards Zanfib, he nonetheless addressed him. "Is there something about being able to peer into the minds of others that causes atrophy in one's own brain? How many adventurers were in that room below? You offer psionic violence, and it is certain to be detected. There were four of us there. Do you honestly think that you are so powerful that you do not need to be subtle? If you are so puissant Sharon, just reach inside my mind and pluck them out."

"Up yours, you inbred saint-wannabe." Rafa hadn't even bothered to open his eyes or even move a single muscle. "If you really wanted me dead, you would've just cut my head off while I was passed out. But I'm worth more to you as a living pawn than a bright light stuck in a jar, aren't I?" The whole situation had already gone from making him grievously annoyed to strangely apathetic. So many dull aches clouding his judgment, no doubt. "'I took the liberty,' 'Effort of mine,' 'Have your uses,' me-me-me I-I you me I-- Just what the hell is so important about me that I can't just die?"

The hyena still kept motionless. "Apparently, you're such an asshole that the people you rope into your little scheme can't just opt-out under penalty of death; it's under penalty of something much, much worse. How willing would the others be to follow through with this escapade if they found out some selfish son of a bitch like you was calling the shots? Not too willing, because people don't like being played." He scoffed. "Honestly, I thought angels would be a little more deontological than utilitarian, but big whoop. You've got yourself three poor bastards to doom, so who cares about their wellbeing so long as you get what you want?"

"You're not better than me." He grumbled and shifted ever-so-slightly. "You're just a low-life in a fancy dress."

Garis shrugged, he was tired of these pissing matches between Zanfib and Ked, and furthermore, if things kept up, he figured he'd take some time and have a little fun with some lessons for Kshar.  He sighed as he went through the emotions he'd picked up, and the fragments of thought throughout the bar.  "well, besides a lead that dead ended, the only thing i can say for sure is that i know Brady is lying, and if he continues this ruse. i hold him personally responsible for every death that results... he already has 2 on his head, and if there were fewer adventures, i'd have shown him how i treat people who lie like that... one who gets others killed because of a fabrication has forfeit their right to life... "

Tyrian waved his finger at Eilan, "my duty did not extend to Raffiele, and though his leaving could cause problems for Kassin, it is not something I could avoid.  Kassin should be waking up soon, and you are right that we best leave."

Disregarding the spat developing between Ked and Zan, the fox stood, coincidentally separating the ringtail and jaguar.  "We should go after the head of this conspiracy, but I am not really sure how to go about that, as I am not from these lands I do not know my way around them."

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Eilan looked at Garis, Zanfib, and Kedered, he looked angry, almost on the verge of losing his self control. He first addressed Zanfib and Garis.
"No! We're not going to kill Brady, or the host of bounty hunters that would come after us right after such a thing was done. We're at a bad enough position as is, and going on homicidal rampages is only going to make our situation worse, assuming we could even survive such an encounter. We're trying to prove them wrong, such a display would only prove them right. Furthermore, it wouldn't actually slow the hunters down unless we removed their source. We can't afford to get overly aggressive, and I won't allow that. We're not going to kill anyone unless we absolutely have to." He turned his attention to Kedered.

"As for you, didn't I ask before we left for Brady's office about what happened in between the time you met him and you came here? I thought you guys were hiding something, apparently I was right. What else haven't you told me? If I'm to help you guys out of this mess, I think I might want to know something like that! That goes for all of you." He took a stern look at the four of them. It took a minute or so for him to calm down and continue.

"No, Whispwood is out of the question I can't navigate through  those woods, and we would need to find someone who could navigate the place but also wouldn't betray us at the worst possible point. I suppose we would be better able to fend off the predators in there than most... but it's still not something I want to risk Kassin's safety on. I think we would be safer in Astarea, but I don't see how we can feasibly get there."

"Thularia as the source, that would make a lot more sense than someone in Narukh being the source... they certainly have the inclination to do such a thing, as well as the power, influence, and wealth to put this scheme up. I do agree that they normally just handle creatures they want dead on their own. I suppose they would put this up if they, for some reason, wanted Kassin dead more so than other creatures, and thought that they would need help in order to kill him. Of course, I asked before, got no response, so I'll ask again, did you find any reason why he might be hunted?"

With a soft grumble... he sat down on one of the couches. I just hope Raffiele isn't getting his soul sucked out or something... he thought.

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The angel closed his eyes and shook his head. "Can't just die?... Suit yourself." With a disdained expression he quelled the sword in his right hand, and touched that hand to Raffiele's neck.
At once, you lose the ability to feel your surroundings, your hands, legs, all go numb. You can't even feel your heartbeat. You can't see either, but something in your senses sees you leaving your body... but alas, soon enough, you can't feel anything. The last thing you feel is the sense of your self rubbing against a gemstone, a kind of ruby, and then being stuck inside... but once again, you return to non-feeling. All goes dark. Nothing exists to you.

Yet, something happens, at once, you can feel your heartbeat again, faint, but there, your arms still feel tired and weak, and you don't feel fully in control of them. Your head hurts with a splitting headache, it's like you're not entirely in control of your mental functions either. However, you do feel the presence of that angel who was there before, still standing over you, and somehow holding you in chains, but not physical chains.

"I'll admit, I didn't think I'd find any genuine feelings of sympathy in your soul towards anyone but yourself, but I suppose even one as crude as you can feel for family. I truthfully didn't think you actually cared about them, maybe you don't, and they probably don't care about you, but I don't know that. Regardless, I feel obligated to give you one more chance." His voice was stern, he looked at Raffiele coldly. His speech was slow, powerful, making sure that every word was heard. He held a small ruby in his right hand.

"I'll be direct, I know you care about Bart. Frankly, I wouldn't like getting him involved, but your role is important no matter how hard you try to deny it. I read from your soul where he is, I can find him very easily, and from what I gather, hurt him easily too. Cut off his head, suck out his soul, devour it, or shunt it miles below the surface. I don't want to hurt a relative innocent, but lets put it this way: if you don't start co-operating, I will. And believe me, this is for your own good, as much as you try to delude yourself."

Garis sat in silence, the slowly replied "whether he dies now or later is of no consequence, i am merely stating my opinion that putting people in a position to get killed over false charges... and knowing that the charges are false... means that he too needs to meet justice...   as for you other question, the demon, Nicha, she kept calling us touched... i have no idea what it means, or if it was meant to just throw us off... whatever the case may be, that's all i really know... and unless someone has something more useful for me to do, i think i'll be continuing Kshar's lessons."

The wolf silently left the basement, and went off in search of Kshar and Kyirri

Zanfib seemed unphased by Eilan's tirade, and merely shrugged, quite uncaring. "So be it, if you want to hold the moral ground, then amuse yourself with that for as long as you wish. I won't be joining you there, as I would rather not drown in the inevitable flood that your enemy will unleash upon you. I would simply remind you that only the victors write history, and if you want to be remembered as some righteous paladin, I suggest you aim to win, no matter the cost."

"But as for you, you ignorant fool.." Zanfib said, suddenly turning a steel gaze on Kendered, "Did it ever occur to you, just once, that perhaps I was earnestly inquiring about your plans in my home, where I could very well have an extensive network of friends and contacts? Did that once, maybe just once, flicker through that empty head of yours?" He said as his tail lashed about a moment, betraying his otherwise unreadable state. "And let it stand that the only time I will ever enter your mind is to eradicate it, completely and utterly, until you are little more coherent than a vegetable. I could well be doing your entire race a favor by erasing such a blemish upon their kind."

He turned his gaze away from Kendered with a haughty huff, and propped his cheek in his paw with a somewhat bored expression. "But it would seem I am missing something here. What is all this about the whole lot of you being touched? I am beginning to suspect there is some truth to the incidents that occurred at the Inn after all."

Tyrian put a paw to his head as his tail lashed about in frustration, "in Shazarelamith's name!  You are both insufferable in your arrogance and self-importance.  Let me know when you wish to discuss our next move, until then I will be watching over Kassin in the other room."

Tyrian checked the angel's forehead, scooped him up and without further discussion entered the other room, slamming the door behind him. 

The fox gently laid the tiger on the couch and took a seat next to him, "with allies like this, we are doomed to fail.  I hope I can protect you when those two turn on one another, the other one wanders off randomly following some stray thought or pretty face and the fox-being, paralyzed with misplaced friendships and loyalties is cut down by those he would call friend."

He gazed up at the ceiling, "I can always take you to the main continent, but what then?  Life was so much easier when I was alone."

Raffiele went from disorientation to outright panic within the span of five seconds as his spirit was transferred to the tiny vessel. Nothingness, and for those tense moments, all he could do was wonder just how long it would last: a minute, an hour, a year? He would have flipped out entirely if his feelings of touch hadn't returned so quickly. Even then, there was no sight. Everything felt oddly detached. All he could do was listen to the angel speak.

And hear him threaten his favorite little cousin.

Bart wasn't of much consequence to anyone else in the family; above-average intelligence, weaker than a purebreed and born a freak from one aunt's poor impulse control. He had no symbolic or prophetic importance, and yet... he was family. More of a brother than Rafa's actual brothers were, in fact. And he would stand absolutely no chance against this relative of Kassin.

"...are you seriously going to kill and torment him for all eternity if I don't go along with this thing?"

Eyes closer to the floor than his face, Kedered responded slowly, critically to Eilan."I was not certain of the veracity of Kassin's deams until after the encounter. I did not tell you of the number of leaves on the trees we walked past, or other trivia, as I discounted them as irrelevant. I do not understand the extent of Kassin's talents, or why any would wish him harm. He has been.... evasive as to questions of a personal nature. In any case, I did not draw the correct conclusion until just now, and for that, I am sorry."

A pause, to gather breath and thoughts. "I am uncertain how to combat this. Thularians will not care whether or not these charges have merit, and are in a position to lean on Ithralians quite a bit. Short of dismantling the entire country, a proposition far beyond our capabilities, I see little means of stopping the bounty. I recall  you mentioning trying to disprove these charges, but will the Thularians not just trump up more? Still, we cannot stay here long.  How much longer do you think we can wait for Raffiele? Or should we simply revive  Kassin and head out now?"

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Eilan let out an annoyed sigh. He watched Garis and Tyrian leave. "Where the h..." He abruptly stopped himself. He shook his head, wearing an irritated facial expression, and smacked his right hand to his face. "If only Kassin were awake I wouldn't have to grit my teeth on rock-cement to get what I need to know..." he grumbled as he turned his attention towards Zanfib.

"I hope you do realize that we are on the losing side of this battle. We can't fight an entire country by ourselves, and if Thularia is the one behind this, that would make two countries, and the most well trained army in Atharra. We would need an army to defend ourselves from that, something that we don't have. As is, our only chance of surviving this mess would be to get the bounty called off, so we can at least step into civilization without being attacked."

"For one, killing Brady in particular would do nothing towards solving our situation, the source could just get another bureaucrat to handle paperwork, and we could very well get ourselves killed in such an operation. Neither would going out of our way to kill every bounty hunter, there would just be more. For two, do remind yourself we have no place to run and hide, Narukh is dangerous, the Thularians kill creatures on sight, and they have ways of seeing past magical disguises. They also blockade the way to Astarea, which would be the only safe place we could realistically reside in. For three, going on homicidal rampages would sabotage any chance of proving their innocence. Plus, raising notoriety like that would only make the public more determined to have us all killed. And even if the casualties are not entirely innocent, that's how it would be perceived. I have no desire to have a bounty placed on my head and I doubt you would want such a thing as well." Eilan took a deep breath after saying that, he had calmed down significantly. He closed his eyes, piecing together his thoughts. He turned to Kedered.

"The Thularians don't control the country, though they do have a significant amount of power. Having the bounty removed, while creatures aren't well trusted, would allow us entry into cities, villages, and the like, without being immediately attacked. It won't stop the Thularians, but I believe it would be a starting step towards getting Kassin safe. Thularians have a somewhat mixed reputation here, even a lot of beings resent what they do, though part of that depends on the region." Eilan's facial expression however, was greatly concerned. He rubbed his forehead lightly with his right hand.

"I'll admit, anything we try to do would be attempting to break all odds. However, Brady hasn't let the public know that Thularia is the source, so if that can be proved, it would certainly throw their claims into speculation. It probably wouldn't eliminate all of the hunters after us, and definitely not the Thularians themselves, but it would be a start. I suppose they could always add more claims against us, but I figure that if we can solidly disprove one, it will put all of their others into question."

"As for how we can do that..." He shook his head. "I think we should start with some of the charges listed against us. I believe the Willow is a dead lead, if you were already there, there isn't likely anything we don't already know. Sharakha is going to be crawling with interest, a wiped out village certainly does much to provoke public outcries. The other thing we can chase after, I think, are the soul crimes that he is accused for, I know of the three most recent. Hopefully, we can investigate them, and gather some clues without putting ourselves in too much danger. It's a long shot, I know, but I don't see any other decent options."

"And... if Raffiele left, then we're not likely to see him again, he might be dead already."

Kassin was still out cold. However, there was something tense about his slumber. His face betrayed a certain sense of unease, and sometimes twitched. However, he didn't show any indication of actually being awake.

Kyirri started to head downstairs, when he saw Garis coming up. He looked at him with a surprised expression. "Err, is something wrong? I thought you would be downstairs with Eilan..."

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The angel looked at Raffiele with a stern expression. His voice had an emotionless severity to it. "Yes, I will. And if you harm Kassin, I will do something even worse, like force feed his soul to you and then watch you go mad. Now then, will you co-operate, or should I simply stuff you back in that ruby I have?" The angel rubbed his hands together in anticipation of Raffiele's response.

"...whatever you say." So many loud curses and insults he wanted to fling, but the angel had shown that he wasn't at all afraid to commit one of the most personal and heinous kinds of assault on another person. Now was the time to just shut up and do as he was told. "Nothing will lay a finger on your precious cousin, I'll make sure of it. Just..." Raffiele kept his eyes closed. "Just don't hurt my family, okay?" Being roped into a plot by an angel: the very idea was kooky enough, but to actually be shoved into a proverbial corner like that was just humiliating on so many levels. At least his relatives weren't around to see it.

"And when this is over, I really hope you have some kind of reward for us. I've probably lost my job now thanks to you and Kassin."

Garis shrugged, he'd been picking up the gist of the conversation downstairs by listening to the thoughts, and started to turn around when Kyirri showed up.  he smiled at the small roo rat and said, "well, i didn't think i'd be needed and was going to continue Kshar's lessons, but it seems that that's changed.  I'll be heading back down now actually..." 

so saying the wolf let out a slightly aggravated sigh and sent Kedered a message 'can you please stop your pissing match with the psion, he's a little arrogant, and odd... but you don't have to constantly bicker with everything he says... know that i have your back if things go down... but please, just live with your own irritation, rather than spreading it around.  I don't want our party turning on each other just before a swarm of Thularians comes charging over a hill...' 

he sighed again, and headed back to the basement, posting up on the wall.  He said "alright, if we're done bickering, i think we can move on to more important issues... Sorry about that Eilan, i apologize for my rudeness to you earlier..." the wolf gave a slight bow of his head, then continued, "Please, if you have any pressing questions, try asking, and i'll see if they don't jog any memories i might have missed"

Tyrian's hand brushed Kassin's brow and he sighed, "it is best if I wake you."

Using his inherent magical talent, the fox concentrated on rousing the teen's mind from its slumber.  In the back of his thoughts, Ty remarked about how he has used his light magic now more than he has to before the Willow.  Something within him also worried that he might get a bit of use out of the soul magic as well.

"Come on now, young lad time to wake, you shan't sleep the whole day away will you?"

Eilan seemed to be pausing, gathering his thoughts perhaps. It left Kedered free to respond to Garis's thought projections floating from wherever he was towards himself. He spent a moment considering and was about to send his response when Garis entered the room. While it probably shouldn't matter to mind to mind contact, Kedered had always found it a bit simpler to send to someone he could see.

I disagree with his ideas because they are foolish, and possibly suicidal. You saw how many people were in that bar. We would not have lasted a minute against just them, and if they called the guard? While I realize the need for cohesion, in case we are assailed, we also cannot afford a loose cannon. I do not know where Raffiele is, but he might have given away our location. While I do not think Zanfib's loyalties are suspect, I do question his judgement. We need to hide, and he wants to strike. It would be hard to call a blow back after it is struck.

A pause, and another transmission How is Kshar?

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Despite the spell that was applied, Kassin did not wake. He seemed to be more tense as well, shaking more frequently. He somehow seemed troubled.

Eilan looked at Garis as he came back. He nodded silently.
"You mentioned a demon, and I take it that the encounter was... violent. Where did this happen? Did you get the impression she was on her own, or was she working for someone else? Did she have any particular interest in Kassin?" He took a deep breath, after which, he looked at the ceiling, at no one in particular.

"Before you got here, I was looking up the last few soul-stealing incidents. I figure if we can prove that whomever is behind them is the real culprit and not Kassin, we may have a solid chance of removing the bounty." A look of concern came onto his face, worry plagued his eyes. He looked at the ground. "I'll admit, I do have reservations about putting Kassin in more danger, but with the lack of a feasible alternative, I don't really see another option."

"I know about three of them, and where to get to them. The first was actually at a cubi's mansion, the victim was a six year old. I don't think that we will find too many adventurers investigating that one." He stopped for a moment, he let out a soft grumble as a thought slipped through his shield. Because having a six year old getting her soul sucked out isn't important in the eyes of most just because she has wings.... He shook his head and continued. "Yet, I'm not optimistic we can find anything there, while her being a target does raise some suspicion, as soul-stealers tend to go for more vulnerable quarries, and her parents were killed yet not soul-sucked either, part of me thinks we won't be able to find anything there."

"The second I know about happened in one of the slum-cities in Southeastern Ithralia, called Pauperta. I've been there before,.. it's a rough place. However, it is a large place, and there should be enough abandoned buildings and streets that we should be able to sneak around if we're careful. I'm not sure if what we are looking for would have already been  picked up, but I suppose it might be a place we can get some clues, assuming we keep Kassin's presence quiet. We'd also have to do something about him as well.... he doesn't have good reactions to that place." He closed his eyes and shook his head. His sensitivity isn't going to help us sneak around there, I suppose one of the others could carry him but I don't feel exactly safe doing that. It's risky too... really risky

"The third,.. happened on the farming land in Southeastern Ithralia. A family of farmers were the victims. I think that one is going to have the most heavy concentration of adventurers investigating. Again, I don't know if what is found there is going to help us or not, and we'd be at a high risk of being caught."

"I know this probably isn't as sound a plan as I would like, yet, in lack of a better alternative, I see it as our only choice. We can't just keep hiding forever, and for the time being, it looks like we're stuck in this country. I don't want to frivolously risk Kassin's safety, or yours, but I think we will need to take the chance."

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The angel smiled as he had finally broken Raffiele's will. He put the ruby he held inside his jacket, hiding it from plain view. "Good choice." He said. "But don't blame I or Kassin for what has happened to you, you can blame those who put the bounty on you, and the claws who hunt and nearly killed you. I assure you, you'll get your chance for revenge against them."

"Now then, while you're still docile, I might as well go over a few things with you. One, when I healed you, I also took precautions. You're probably feeling weak right now, part of that is due to your recent ordeals, though that won't cease. I coursed negative energy through your body, and you will continue to feel weak while it remains. I can also use it to tear a hole in your heart if you later decide to become difficult. Don't worry, it's removable, I'm sure Kassin will be able to, though I doubt too many others who would willingly help you could."

"Secondly, you will serve him, unquestioningly. This is for your own benefit, those that wish him harm wish you harm as well, and if he dies, they won't stop coming for you, don't think yourself safe on your own, you're not. Rest assured however, that they're only interested in you, not your family."

"And finally, I know that deep down, you will want to seek revenge on me, for the humiliation I have caused you. You will plot it for now, brood until you have the perfect chance to cause me harm. That point will come, whether you decide to take that action is another matter."

He crouched down to Raffiele. "And most importantly, you shall not be free until I release you. Normally, I wouldn't resort to such tactics, but this is for your benefit entirely. There may be rewards for you at the end, depending on the paths you take. Ultimately they will not come from me, but from elsewhere, and you will have only me to thank for that." He wore a sadistic smile on his face.

"Spend some time thinking on this, but we're running late."

Garis thought through the conversations he'd had with Nicha, and replied to Elian, "The demoness claimed to be working for Nakata Firestorm, part of a small band actively looking for Kassin... from the talks i had with her, it sounded like Ms. Firestorm wants Kassin alive, though she didn't say what for."

As Elian laid out the possible sights to investigate, Garis decided to share his opinion, "well, i see the farm house as probably being the first place to try, although crawling with adventurers, if you haven't noticed, we've got a rather large and powerful collection of creatures... not that i'd like it, but really, unless we run into a large collection of the Thularian Military, we can handle ourselves quite well...  and with that many people around, information will be much more free flowing that at the other sights..."

pausing with a sigh " besides, if kassin were to become paralyzed though his empathetic link, someone would have to stand guard over him the entire time... which effectively rules out the slum... and given that both parents are now dead, that means that information on the first site is going to be nearly impossible to gather... really, it seems the farmhouse is the only place with enough possible information to warrant the risk"

Kedered nodded at Garis's comments. "If I recall what Kassin said of his dream correctly, I was under the impression the Thularians wanted him alive as well. We are really no more in danger further south than we are up here, and staying on the move ought to provide some sort of cover. Furthermore, we should get away from Kyirri, keep him away from the danger that we attract. The farmhouse also is the logical place to start. Less contact, less chance of a chance spotting of us. To be honest, I like it for an inverted reason of Garis's. I would feel much safer tangling with a few mercanaries than the Thularian army. They are not individually powerful, but they are extremely well organized. If they see us, and do not think they can handle our party, they will whistle up reinforcements, by the thousands if necessary."

Tyrian's expression grew concerned as his spell did not wake the troubled youth.  He half stood, intending to seek Eilan, but he paused and turned back to Kassin.  He produced a large sized blue gem and placed it on the tiger's chest, holding it by the top and bottom.  The fox spoke aloud, "give me sight beyond sight..." 

Tyrian used the coveted and secretive techniques of ancient soul magic, angel soul magic.  The tale he wove about souls prior to the group heading to Brady was not one of delusion and fancy, but of cold logic.  Tyrian peered into the gem, viewing the contents of the young angel's very soul.

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Eilan stared at Garis, eyes open wide, in a mixture of horror and shock. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, trying to suppress the urge to snap at him. Her? Leader of the Claws? Why did they not mention that before?! Of all the things they could refrain from telling me, it had to be that!. He made a sigh as he tried to quell his anger. He took a few deep breaths, trying to figure out where this pulled into everything. Damnit,... why would they want Kassin though, they're a group that almost exclusively targets beings, and Kassin isn't so aggressive as to actively invoke someone's wrath, especially theirs. I don't even think he's been to Narukh. He paused for a moment, trying to get his thoughts back in order.

Eilan took a few more deep breaths as he tried to figure out how to express his surprise. "The Claws are after him? The Claws?. That doesn't really make a lot of sense. They're a group bound by their hatred of all 'lessers', which is pretty much everyone except for Demons, Cubi, and Angels. Unless he's done something to anger them, I can't imagine why they would want him. Still, that... complicates things. They're one of the most dangerous organizations in Narukh. Even if they want him alive... I doubt that they mean him well." He shook his head.

"It doesn't make sense that the Thularians would want him alive either,... they're fanatics, utterly devoted to destroying all creatures. I don't know why they would go through all the effort of putting a bounty on his head as well if they were concerned about not killing him."

He grumbled softly, silently pondering to himself. Still... there has to be some reason why they want him so badly... I can't believe that they would spend so much effort hunting down an eighteen year old angel unless they knew something about him that we don't. Either way, I don't really think there is a feasible way to find out, charging right at them would get us killed if anything. He paused for a moment, and shook his head. "I'm going to need to gather up some supplies for the trip, we would probably be safest traveling by night and resting by day. We might want to take the opportunity to stay under shelter, but.... your call I suppose, depends on how fatigued you are." He went upstairs.

Kassin's soul is bright... radiant... like looking into the heart of the sun, but with no harshness to it. Nothing appears damaged, or otherwise out of the ordinary.
Kassin suddenly wakes up, panting, as if he'd just gotten no rest. He still lay down on the couch he resided on, stared directly at the ceiling, imperceptive to the world around him. His breathing was heavy, after a few moments he began to slowly speak. "That eye... that eye...", he took deep breaths in between his speeches. "That eye..."

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The angel still stood over Raffiele, motionless. His eyes never came off of him.
"Also... if  you're wondering what happened to those three demons that attacked you, they're dead. I also took the liberty of striking their corpses with your weapons. Shall I assume you know what the Claws do to those who slay some of their number? Because they'll think that you did that, I made sure of it." A sinister smile crept onto his face.

I disagree with ... because they are foolish, and possibly suicidal. You saw how ... were in that bar. We would not have lasted a ... just them, and if they called the guard? While I realize ... for cohesion, in case we are assailed, we also cannot afford a loose cannon. I do ... Raffiele is, but he might have given away our location. While I do not think Zanfib's loyalties are suspect, I do question his judgement. We ... and he wants to strike. It would be hard to call a blow back after it is struck.... Kshar?

The psion could have cared less about the message's contents. He was feeling rather smug with himself for having cracked the telepathic communications of the cubi race.

Zanfib had stayed quiet, and seemed rather bored as he listened to the conversation. "Well, at this rate, it won't matter which route you take. Your enemies will be lying in wait for you, so you best act when you are prepared." He said, but then flicked an ear towards the room where Kassin and the others were as he picked up a sudden flood of jumbled thoughts. "But I think our most-wanted angel is awake. Shall we?" He said, before heading into the room with the others.

Garis felt the mix of confusion and horror coming from Eilan,  he gave a mental shrug as he heard the fox go through his bit, then said, "all well and good hiding out... i'd like to get going in the next few days, i'll get Kshar going with her lessons, but really, i think it'd be best if she stays somewhere safe... if you wouldn't mind kyirri, i'd like to ask if she can stay here for a little bit while we're off helping kassin?  she's really not in any shape to go on an adventure like this... and i'm sure she could help with keeping future invasions out... especially once she gets going with more complex lessons..." pausing, he waited for a response.

"i'll get going on her lessons, let me know what we decide to do."   Garis gave a wave, then headed upstairs, mentally preparing as short a history of the race as he could pull together, along with putting together some training techniques she could practice that would keep her busy for at least a few weeks.

Raffiele struggled to get to his feet as the bad mojo coursed through his veins. In spite of the heavy fatigue washing over his body, he still managed to glare at the angel with the most "I'm going to kill the shit out of you" expression his face could muster. Should he even get to the bottom of Kassin's problems and survive the whole "Touched" situation, the Claws would still have him on their list. There just was no winning here.

"You crossed the wrong demon, you son of a loose bitch," Rafa snarled as he clenched his fist, "and when that perfect chance comes, you'll wish you'd never pushed me around like some leashed animal." But until then, he had to keep Kassin in one piece. "Take me to the others. If I have to look at your face any longer there's no telling what I'll do next."

Tyrian lifted his gem away from Kassin, his face exhibited a bit of awe at what he had seen.  The feline's soul was pure, innocent and without blemish.  The young angel had never performed a selfish or questionable act in his life. 

Ty pocketed his gem stone, strangely satisfied at what he had seen.  Though he had very little doubt the charges against Kassin were false, this only proved further that some mysterious reason prompted these bounties. 

Gripping the young angel's shoulder firmly, Tyrian spoke in a low soothing voice, "shhh, you are safe here.  What eye do you speak of?  And please do not say it has something to do with a ring and a fellowship..."

 

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Eilan kept silent, as he gathered together supplies for the journey, bedrolls, food, some maps, and his weapons. He was extremely worried though, constantly afraid that what he wanted of Kassin and the others would put them in mortal danger. "No..." He whispered to himself... "It has to be attempted..."

Kassin shook his head, he looked dizzy. He managed to weakly look up at Tyrian. "Wha... ring?" He let out a soft groan, as he placed his left hand against his head. He got himself up into a sitting position, and rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. It took him a few minutes to get himself coherent. He let out a deep breath. "Another dream...". He took some deep breaths to regain his composure. He stretched his wings out, with a tired yawn. "The last one of mine turned out to be true... I..." He shook his head again. "Need a moment... just..." He lay back down on the couch, though he still made attempts at eye-contact.

"There wasn't as much to this one as my last... unfortunately." He looked around, he took a glance at Zanfib. He probably isn't going to like what I saw in the first part of my dream... if such things can be believed... Still, I would feel guilty putting him in danger for my sake... we haven't known one another for a long time.. He shook his head, and looked at Tyrian. "There was an incubus, crocodile based I think.., looked strong, angry, his wings were green, bat like. His left eye was the most distinctive part of him. It... it... it..." He shook his head.

"He was able to hurt someone... just by locking eyes with them. The eye, it looked like it was made out of fire... and emitted concentrated malevolence, it flared as he jus...." He paused for a moment, trying to bring himself to terms with the horror of what he saw, he took a deep breath. "It was a terrifying sight, one which I don't want to see again. Someone there called him "Chareye", I think..." He fell silent, still trying to get the troubled images into some sort of cohesion.

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The angel's facial expression didn't change, however, his tone suggested that he was slightly amused. Slightly.

"I'm amazed at how resistant most demons are to rational thought, and yet so pliable when senseless violence is applied. Considering how easily you've been put in this situation, I don't think you're in any position to be making threats. And really, everything I've done has been for your benefit entirely, even if you cannot comprehend that."

The angel waved his left hand. "Don't worry, the others will come to you, but we had best get going, and I think you'll be easiest to move while you're unconscious." In a moment, your heart feels faint, weak. Fatigue rushes over you, you almost immediately black out.

You eventually wake up, you're in a different place, still a wooded area, but you know you've been moved. You're not sure how long you've been out. You still feel horribly weak, and your arms and legs are numb.

Kedered turned, sullen, towards Eilan. "You know the boy better than we do. He is either ignorant or unwilling to divulge his own obvious oddities. I am still uncertain how he heals or is empathic to the degree that he is, but it seems like any search for why the interest in him could start there. But excuse me for a moment, I should be checking up on him."

Striding over to the part of the house where Kassin was, Kedered spied Tyrian leaning over the still supine form of the boy angel. He was awake, although looking woozy. In his bones, Kedered knew that Raffiele had betrayed them, that he was sending hindering forces, perhaps those Firestorm goons the last of which he seemed too concerned for...

Unsure of whom to address, Kedered searched for a query that could equally apply to both, finally settling upon, "How fit are you to travel? We might need to vacate, and quickly."

With the others preparing for a trip, Garis was more concerned with getting Kshar going on additional lessons, she'd need to learn how to change appearance, along with different uses for her wings and other abilities.  A history of the race couldn't hurt either...  He started her lessons again, commenting on her technique, and giving pointers where necessary, he figured he'd get her going with as broad a starting base as possible, and let her hone all the skills he'd show while he was away... 

He continued with all the basics he could until someone came to get him, as fun as it was being a mentor to a rather attractive young succubus, Garis had larger responsibilities elsewhere.

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Kassin stood himself up. He yawned as he rose to his feet. He looked quite worn down, his eyes betrayed fatigue. "We need to leave? I... I'll be fine... just... give me a minute..." He stretched out his arms and wings, then looked at the floor, clearly quite worried. He didn't look to be a seasoned traveler though, as his eyes also betrayed a certain sadness of leaving a zone of relative comfort.

Traveling again, I guess I should enjoy the comforts of home while I can, a nice bed... good food, chocolate milk, I suppose I should give my farewells to Kyirri as well. With a soft groan, he managed to prevent himself from dozing off into a state of half slumber, though he still looked prone to collapsing from exhaustion.

Eilan finished packing his supplies, longbow on his back, and in his travel gear, he came downstairs. He looked at Kassin and the others, he seemed to still be quite alert, even at this late hour. "What's the verdict? Are we staying for the night or going immediately?"

Ty offered a small amount of input, just the obvious for the moment, "we are likely unsafe here.  One party of adventurers has been through here, but we have to assume that Raffiele has betrayed us whether voluntarily or involuntarily.  Going out alone with all that is aligned against us is folly, and showing no love for any of us... especially Kassin, he would not hold our position here as secret."

The fox paused briefly to dexterously slip under the blue tiger's arm, taking his weight as the young one looked almost ready to collapse, "however, this one here is barely holding himself upright and needs rest.  If we leave now, he will not make it far."

Considering things for a moment, Ty eventually offered an opinion, "I think we need to go though, I can carry Kassin for many leagues, the boy is not heavy... he probably needs to eat more.  Whatever is decided, I will abide by the decision." 

As soon as Kassin had glanced at Zanfib, the ringtail's telepathic abilities immediately went on alert. The psion was never quite sure why just a glance was enough to trigger this mental reaction, but it had served to catch a liar or a mugger in the past. This time, however, the message was entirely different. Has he seen something concerning me in his visions? Are his powers even real? Zanfib thought to himself for a moment, All of our world is tied together in a web of fate and destiny, but the web is never set in stone.. The ringtail sighed, and decided on a simple course of action. He sent a message, not directly to Kassin's conscious, but more into his subconscious. The message would not be directly heard, per say, but more like.. remembered.

Such things are best said aloud, Kassin. I, as a psion, know that being and creature alike have the most annoying habit of saying the most senseless things, while merely thinking of that which is truly important. I followed this group, knowing that danger would find them. Come and find me later, we shall speak/

Zanfib knew it would take time for the message to drift into Kassin's thoughts, and he half wondered what the angel's reaction to 'remembering' hearing someone else's voice inside his head would be. For now, he focused on the matter at hand.. "It does not truly matter which path we take. I suspect that, at this point, our enemy is waiting to see what we do, and will react accordingly." He said, and did a quick mental check on himself. He was still tired from the constant traveling they had done that day, but he merely focused for a moment, and forced some of the fatigue out of his body. Mind over matter, old scales always used to say..

Kedered nodded respectfully at Tyrian's claim. The angel could probably back it up if necessary. "I have yet to take a vote, but I am for leaving as quickly as possible. The longer we remain, the more hostiles have the time to gather against us." After a second's consideration, he added "And our continued presence puts the little owner of this domicile at risk. I am certain Eilan would want to leave, but I will sound out Garis and Kshar."

Kedered padded silently upstairs, making little to no noise as he made his way upstairs, towards where he last saw Garis heading with Kshar. Idly wondering if he was training or bedding her, Kedered walked upstairs, a little relieved at the silence. Entering the room with them, he nodded to each figure, and then stated softly. "We will have to leave this place soon. Are you in favor of going now, or of waiting for a few hours?"

Garis picked up the random thoughts that ked was giving off before he entered the room upstairs.  The idea of bedding kshar was rather amusing to Garis, he himself had held the notion a possibility up until he became her teacher and temporary mentor.  Facing the door while instructing Kshar in the use of her wings, he said "now focus on your goal, remember, visualize what you want done, and let your wings do the work... don't try and think out each movement."

as Ked entered and asked about leaving, Garis gave him a shrug and said, "i'm rather ambivalent at the moment, i've got Kshar practicing the basics, but really, if i'm going to teach her anything advanced i'd need weeks, if not months of rather intensive training to get her to preform the skills at a semi-competent level... as is, i think it'd be best if she stays here... she's not wanted yet, at least as far as i know.  And she can work on the skills i've taught her until we return.  Really, it seems safest for everyone...  so, if you want to leave now, i'll say my goodbye and head down, if you want to leave later, just give me a heads up, as my duty is to Kassin, first and foremost."

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Your arms and legs still ache, and have a disturbing numbness to them. However, they are capable of small movement, and you think you can speak. You can certainly hear however, as you can hear that same angel's voice...
"You're finally up?" He started. "Good, I think your companions will be along shortly. Don't try to move for now, you really don't want anyone else to find you. Now then, I need to set up a beacon that only they can find, and I think this will do nicely." You can't see his face, but considering his tone of voice, he is probably grinning. In a flash, you feel a sharp sting go through your left leg, you get the impression that he stabbed it with your own knife. With that, he got back up to his feet. "Believe me, this is for your own good. And if you have not the sense to figure that out, remember what will happen if you dare to disobey. I suppose I should be saying farewell, we shouldn't see each other again... until the time is right. With that, he vanished, the chilly weather stung as cold air blew through your wound. Your arms and legs are too weak to move, though you are able to speak, hear, and move your head a little. Time passes by you as you lie helplessly in the cold weather...

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Eilan sighed, he closed his eyes and shook his head as he looked at the ground.  "If you thought he would betray you, why did you let him leave? I suppose it doesn't matter though, it's not likely that we're going to see him again, either he's dead already or running to Narukh in that case." He paused for a moment. Raffiele should know it's dangerous out there, he's either incredibly deluded... or maybe... Kassin's being chased by the Claws, maybe he is one of them? I kind of doubt that's true though.
"I've got all of my and Kassin's supplies together. Make any last minute preparations you need to, we're leaving as soon as we can. I do think, however, we should probably stop to eat. The supplies we can carry are limited, I suppose I can always get more on the journey but I would rather not rely on it." With that, he headed upstairs.

Kassin gave no indication as to have heard your message. Non-psions can't hear mental messages, and suggestions don't usually work without an additional outside stimulus. His current state of mind probably isn't helping either.
Kassin softly grumbled as he got his senses together. He yawned and headed upstairs. He, Eilan and Kyirri took this chance to eat together, Kyirri had prepared some food. They ate quickly, realizing that time was important. When they were done, Kassin picked up Kyirri and gave him a firm hug, they seemed to enjoy it. "I promise I'll see you again." Kassin let out as he put Kyirri down. He headed for the back door.

Eilan started to head out, then turned to Kyirri. "Look, this is important, whenever you can, probably tomorrow morning, head out, go to Dhallon, hide yourself in an Inn, and take the girl with you, try to avoid crowded areas. If the Claws are after Kassin, there's a chance they'll head here. If they do, I don't want you two to be here while they are. After that, I suppose you two can part ways."
"But what about my parents...?" Kyirri responded.
"They're going to be out for the rest of the week, if this place gets attacked, it should be in the next day or two." Eilan replied. After that, he opened up the back door, he and Kassin went out. The sky was dark, pitch black almost, it was either midnight or close to it. He made a soft motion for the others to follow along. "We've got a long ways to travel, let's go."

The journey felt like it took ages, yet, only a few hours passed. The night sky made it hard to see, and it was freezing outside. Heavy snowfall made sight even worse. Eilan insisted on traveling in areas of heavy vegetation. However, he never got lost, and was able to travel swiftly despite confusing terrain. He looked tired, worn, yet, he kept a certain fortitude as he walked, he seemed completely alert.

Kassin on the other hand, looked like he was prone to falling asleep given a strong breeze. Yet, despite his obviously fatigued appearance and questionable coherency, he managed to keep going. Occasionally, he'd stop for a moment with a shiver, shake his head, cover his body with his bright yellow wings, but he managed to keep going. Both of them were eerily silent, the only sound to be heard was the roaring of the rushing winds.

Eilan and the others came to a heavily wooded area, hooting and chirping of birds could be heard,  which gave a pleasant counterbalance to the rushing winds. Kassin, who looked even less coherent than before, suddenly yelped, and rubbed the back of his left leg with his left hand. In an instant, he looked far more alert, albeit no less fatigued. He started to rush off, and got some distance before Eilan grabbed his hand. "Wait! Where do you think you're going, it's dangerous out here." Kassin didn't say anything, but pointed to a direction off to the distance. Eilan squinted his eyes, and was quite surprised with who he saw.

"Raffiele? What is he doing out here?" He growled, and shook his head. "Kassin, stay there, I'll approach first." He paced over to Raffiele, he looked to be in bad shape, and had a knife sticking in his left leg. He took some sharp glances around, he didn't spot anyone amongst the trees. He kept his hands on his blade hilts, ready to bring them out in case anything went wrong. "Clear... I think,.. and he's alive." Eilan sighed deeply, and turned his attention towards Raffiele.

Your limbs feel slightly less numb, and you think, with effort, you might be able to stand. However, you can also feel a small tug on your heart. After a moment, it stops, but that angel's spell is still in place. The knife wound still stings.

Everything was hazy to Raffiele as he awoke, somehow feeling even more lethargic than before. He could barely make out what the angel was even saying. That is, until the knife was jammed down into his leg, eliciting a brief scream of agony and snapping him back to reality. "...fffuu--" Never had a stab wound been so painful in his entire life. To make things worse, his healing factor was hardly responding to it at all.

"...what'd you do to me, you bastard--" Rafa crawled forward, managing a whopping two feet before his arms gave out completely. Unable to stand, too tired to crawl, and in just enough pain to keep him awake, the demon waited for someone to pass by. And it was quite a wait.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Until the others' arrival, Rafa entertained himself by staring blankly at the trunk of a nearby tree between the bouts of seething rage he felt toward's the mysterious angel. He didn't even bother to look up as Eilan approached. "...please pull this knife out of my leg. It's getting quite uncomfortable." The tone was insincere to the core, as though he'd go berserk at any given second.

Kedered silently followed Kassin, right behind Eilan. He nodded in quiet approval that Eilan at least, seemed to be able to keep Kassin back when potential trouble loomed.

Entering the clearing revealed that Eilan had been right. It was the dark form of the demon that traveled with them, supine, blood about him in the snow. He heard the request to tkae the knife blade out, and since Kassin was on hand to fix up the bleeding that would result, Kedered stooped over, and pulled the blade out and examined it. He asked the demon "What has happened to you?  How did you get out here." He was suspicious, and a little surprised, but he kept his face blank, schooled, his surface thoughts on trivialities.

At the house, while everyone was getting things together, Garis ran through a brief history of the cubi race with Kshar, then told her to take care of Kyirri.  He left by giving her a hug and telling her that he'd keep going with lessons, if she wanted to, once he got back.

At the clrearing Garis just stood back, keeping between Kassin and Rafa, he silently slipped his left hand onto the hilt of his dagger. the other hung loosely at his side, fingers flexing in anticipation of the demons next move.  Unlike Ked, he knew he could use his tentacles to attack from a standoff range, never actually allowing the demon to get close enough to harm him or Kassin.  He sent a brief message to Ked 'keep your weapon ready, if he tries something, go for the torso and ask questions later.  I'll keep Kassin safe, so no worries there.'

Once established in a protective position, Garis said to Kassin, "keep close to me, once your ready to approach, let me lead, and be extremely careful... as far as i can tell, he still holds no good will towards you..."

Kassin edged up to Garis, and looked over his shoulder at Raffiele. His face betrayed obvious concern, with a mix of fatigue. Yet, despite his concerns, he didn't immediately rush over to heal the wound in his leg. "He doesn't look to be in good condition..." Kassin started, while rubbing his left leg. He kept silent after that. I wonder who did this to him? And whether they're still around... He took some sharp glances in between the trees, though he couldn't see anything odd, especially with the snow obscuring his vision. He looked quite uncomfortable.

Eilan kept alert. He examined Raffiele closely, noting that he looked horribly beaten up. It didn't make sense to him that a small stab wound would have debilitated him so. He fingered the hilts of his blades nervously, and often took glances around, as if expecting someone to come out of nowhere to attack him at any moment.
"I think you have some explaining to do Raffiele. Who did this to you? Are they still around? And why did you leave, knowing full well the dangers that awaited you? Unless, you've already forgotten that you're wanted." Eilan paused after that, still keeping his hawk like gaze on Raffiele, pondering how he got to be like this, and how unlikely it was that they saw him again. I'd best not bring up the possibility of him betraying us though, if he did, the mind readers should pick it up, and if he didn't it's best not to sound accusitory...

Garis felt Kassin's discomfort, along with Rafa's pain, he radiated as pleasant emotions as he could, while watching the same area that Kassin was.  As the angel started peaking over his shoulder, Garis said, "if your feeling too tired, you can lean your weight on me... or, if you'd prefer, i can carry you."  he felt the angel's discomfort grow... he gave a quick glance with all his senses, and figured the area was safe enough.  Looking back at kassin, Garis said, "if healing him will ease your own pain, then lets go, i can hold him down while you heal, or if you trust him, i'll trust your judgment... if the demon tries anything, i will be right there and i will keep you safe."  he then gave kassin a warm smile and awaited his response.

Raffiele's body tremored as Kedered deftly extracted the knife. "...thank you." Though he continued to lie on the ground, half-exhausted and half-overcome by the shame of being discovered. "Some of Firestorm's goons jumped me and left me for dead after I ran off. No idea where they are now." He couldn't even look Eilan in the eye as he spoke. "With the way things were going, I figured breaking off and running to a hideout would work." That might have been a satisfactory explanation for Eilan. But for the incubi, Rafa would have to give the truth. Ked already seemed leery, and the last thing he wanted was someone probing his skull with some tentacle.

He had to think as loudly as possible. We're all being played. Yeah, I got beat up by some thugs, but Kassin's asshole cousin is the one who left me here and probably the same one who made sure we all got together in the first place. The goons? He killed them with my weapons, and said that if I didn't play along with his scheme, he'd kill my little brother. But what's it matter now? Once those bodies get found, they'll think I did it and every fucking Claw in the region will want me dead. Even if we clear our names for everything else, I'll still be a wanted man. Rafa gave a withering leer in Kassin's direction. Now you know why I was so eager to leave. We're just pawns while his family watches and pulls the strings.

Kedered nodded, at both aspects of Raffiele's story. Still, some things did not jar well. Fool. The Claws already want us dead. She might not have been effective, but that girl did not mean us well. It is such a shame you cannot hear this. Gazing unblinking at the ebon skin of ther Demon, Kedered slowly articulated "What were you doing out here at all in the first place? It hardly seems to be the most inviting of locales."

Kedered, after speaking, glanced at the knife, using a little edge of magic to try to probe it. He was not sure as to the full extent of Raffiele's regeneration ability, but it seemed odd that he would not have simply mended the knife wound and pushed out the blade. After all, the demon was alaways boasting about how he didn't need Kassin to pull him out of the rubble of the Whispering Willow, and he did not seem the sort to bluff..... The report of Kassin's "cousin" was disturbing, perhaps alarming, especially given the angel's reticence regarding his family. Perhaps when they next slept.

Standing at the sidelines of the whole situation, acting as Kassin's protector, and support, Garis laughed slightly at the different thoughts bouncing through the air.  He sent a message to Ked, 'tis a shame the demon can't be in on our little conversation... but going back to Nicha, she honestly didn't mean any of us real harm.  She was strictly interested in Kas for her mission... besides that, she was rather intimidated by me after our initial meeting, i doubt she would have openly attacked us if she were still alive... '

'on to more pressing matters though, do you wish to play good cubi, or bad cubi in our attempt to gleam a little more information in this sudden new turn of events?'

Tyrian paid little heed to the situation with Raffiele, he instead focused on the protection of Kassin.  No doubt there would be psychic communications going about, it was obvious in young cubi's body language, but even the old subtly betray such tells.  If they choose to inform us of what they discovered, then so much the wiser.  If not, then oh well, if they survive the consequences such omissions can have in the long term, then they will certainly be wiser for it.

The fox continued to scan the surroundings looking for any sign of trouble or anything out of the ordinary.

Eilan looked at Raffiele, and listened intently to what he said. "But wait,.. the Claws don't..." He abruptly stopped himself, and took some glances about, as if expecting someone to come out of nowhere to try and eviscerate him. After that, he took a brief moment to calm himself down. "No... that would have meant that they expected us to come down here. Either way, I'm surprised that they would leave you alive, the Claws are unpredictable, but they tend towards gruesome displays of violence, usually involving torturing their victims before killing them. Though, they do tend to avoid harming creatures when they can..." He stopped himself again. But the Claws, even if they engage in random acts of violence, even against creatures, it's not like them to leave their victims alive.

Kassin stepped forward, getting closer to Raffiele, his face betrayed concern, he was likely entirely oblivious towards the spite Raffiele showed against him. He let out a deep breath. Eilan turned his head towards Kassin. "Go ahead," he said abruptly. Kassin nodded and then paced over to Raffiele, and crouched down so he could reach Raffiele's injury.
"Please hold still..." he said, a faint bluish white glow came to be on his right hand. He touched it to the stab wound. There's a warm feeling to it, as if life is being flown into you as Kassin heals your injury. After the wound is closed, Kassin withdrew his hand, no longer glowing. The cold, weakening feeling returns as soon as he withdrew his touch, though for now, the wound is sealed.
"Are you feeling any better?" Kassin asked with a concerned voice and face.

Kedered caught Garis's projection, and as he sidled up to Kassin, he responded to it. I disagree. Nicha, inept as she was, was a Claw, and the first to identify us as these "touched". In the eyes of the claws, we are abnormal, and until it is demonstrated otherwise, we have to assume we are targets as well as Kassin.

He leaned over the shoulder of the young angel, murmering words of praise for how swiftly and almost impossibly well he healed. Dropping his tone still further, he whispered in the angel's ear. "I have need for secrecy. Can you tell me about any relatives of yours? Someone powerful enough to defeat a trio of demons? It is important, I think."

Standing a few feet behind Kassin, Garis was tense while the angel healed Rafe, his wings were curling in on themselves at the edges the entire time. When ked approached, he let the other cubi take over, as he felt that letting Ty in might help with making a proper discussion.  It seemed Ked had some bizarre love of keeping secretes.  Walking over to the angel, he said, "we need to talk about Rafielle, and Kassin.  Apparently it was Kassin's cousin who left the demon here... or at least, that's what he's thinking... i" he paused, considering his next words, "I think i need the help someone who is wiser than myself to try and figure out where this piece of the puzzle fits."

The demon protested slightly as Kassin approached, but shut himself up as the healing touch mended his torn flesh. Much to his dismay, the bad mojo still coursed through his veins. ...son of a bitch. It dawned on him just why the sinister angel had done such a thing: he wanted Rafa to depend on Kassin, if only for one favor. As much as he wanted to stay proud and free from the Angel's help, remaining in such a pathetic state just wouldn't do with thugs and adventurers lurking around.

...later. Shakily, Rafa got to both feet, snapping his fingers twice and holding out his hand. "Knife, please."

Kassin kept his concerned look as he stared at Raffiele. He still doesn't look like he's in good condition, I just hope he's better in the morning. He abruptly turned to Kedered as he heard him whisper to him, he let out a soft 'yerk!' as he was taken with surprise, but managed to calm himself down to a half-asleep stupor. He seemed uncomfortable with his question, his face and emotions displayed it. He breathed a deep sigh before whispering back.

"I.... I'm not sure why you think that's important, or why you need not tell the others, as what concerns us concerns them as well. Regardless..." he stopped for a moment, cycling through his known family in his head. Fighting off three demons? I've never seen any of them do anything like that, I'd just be guessing, I'm sure Mommy and Daddy could... I think my brother could as well, I'm not sure about my sister though... He shook his head as he replied. "Yes, I do think some of my relatives could fight decently, but... I don't know why it matters. The last one I've seen is my brother... and that was nine months ago." He stopped himself again, he drowsily looked at the snowy ground. "I... I don't really want to talk about them though,.. it's a... touchy matter, and I don't think any of them would help me anyways... they're... they're..." He stopped himself again, and paced around, sad eyes looking at the ground. We didn't leave on a good note... but... I can't return, they don't care for me... Conflicted feelings filled his heart, though his thoughts were barely coherent.

Eilan noticed Kassin's discomfort, but kept his attention focused on Raffiele. After noticing how drowsy Kassin was, and Raffiele's condition, he shook his head. "Speaking of which..." Eilan said, after looking over a seemingly uninteresting lump of snow. He bent down to rummage through it, and pulled out a tomahawk axe. Your axe. "I take it this is yours as well?" It's blade was quite bloody, it was mostly dried though. He stood himself back up. Shrugged, and dropped it to the ground again.

"I figure we should probably set up camp. With the way Kassin and Raffiele are doing, I think we'll need some rest before we continue, we're in a fairly remote area, and I don't think it's likely anyone will come by while we sleep. Oh, and I hope the rest of you that need sleep brought your own equipment, I brought a portable tent, but it's only got enough room for me and Kassin. I hope those of you that need to eat also brought your own rations as well, I have an extensive supply but I'd rather not have to make too many trips to stock up." With that, he pulled the pack off his back, and after a moment of rummaging, pulled out what looked to be a foldable tent. Bags of holding sure are useful devices... he thought to himself as he set the small thing up. "Kassin," he called out. "Come inside, we'll need to rise early tomorrow." A drowsy Kassin nodded, and crept inside. He turned to face the others. "Oh, and whatever you do, don't create a campfire, I know it's cold, but we can't risk being detected."

After weighing the possibilities for a moment, Kedered decided that the amount of damage Raffiele could concieveably do with this knife was negligeable, especially since he didn't really have any claim to keep his tomahawk away. Stepping backwards, to guard against some sudden treachery, Kedered casually reversed the blade, and tossed it lightly, hilt first, towards the demon, expecting him to catch it.

I do not trust him, although he seems no less trustworthy than he was before. Shall you watch him tonight, or I? And what do you think of the angel's evasiveness? Perhaps I should take a peek into his dreams tonight.

Making the motions of a perimeter guard, Kedered wandered around the campsite, after waving in a quick spell to enhance his vision and hearing. Ideally, he would wait for Eilan to sleep before trying to listen in on the dreams. The being and the other angel were likely to be the biggest impediement to his plans.

Raffiele snatched the blade short of hitting the ground, giving it a quick polishing on his raggedy cloth robes before securing it on his sash. "Thank you," he mumbled before hobbling over to retrieve the tomahawk, gripping its hilt as if the whole thing had been submerged in raw sewage. Covered in blood he hadn't spilled... it felt dirtied. Just having the angel touch it was bad enough. I bet he couldn't even hook any wrists with it. The fucking clod probably just cleaved into them.

He looked up to Kedered before securing his beloved handaxe. His family is toying with us. I don't like being toyed with. He looked at the tent with a vile sneer. Get him to talk about his family. If it was his brother that did this to me, then find out what his brother's weak to. The next time I see that asshole I'm gonna rip his wings off with my bare hands.

Kedered smirked at the demon's thoughts, knowing that he had a better way of prying open Kassin's bone box, one that required a little patience, but was safer, simpler.

Waiting until the crude camp had settled in, Kedered volunteered to keep watch, wrapping the appropriate auditory enhancements about himself. He always had difficulty telling time, but there was a bit of moon, and he judged that it was a few hours after dark when he made his move.

The first step was to throw on a camouflage spell, turning his form the dull green and brown of the forest interior, and the second was to put a silencer around himself. It didn't stop all noise, just in case he needed to vocalize a spell, although that was something he did only at the rarest of circumstances, but it did muffle things, preventing most sound from travelling far. Kedered knew he wasn't woodcrafty, and didn't want to step on a stray twig and ruin this scheme.

With as much stealth as he could muster, Kedered crept towards the tent that Eilan had set up for Kassin and himself. You needed to be close to tap into another's dreams, but a few inches of canvas wouldn't stop his probing. Kedered held himself still for a few minutes, waiting for the camouflage spell to take in his new settings, and then sent a little tendril of himself past the canvas, looking for the sleeping Angel's dreams. There was likely much he could learn there.

Eilan and Kassin retreated inside the tent. Eilan got two bedrolls out, one for him, the other for the angel, they drifted off into sleep, exhausted from the ordeals of the previous day. Night had already come.  Kassin seemed calm at first, though tensed up at some points, yet, he remained fast asleep throughout the night.

Vertigo, the feeling of being lost in a storm, it's all too familiar with dream tapping. His dreams at first seemed stale, endless black mist. Nothing of note happened for a while, only the mist remained. It must have taken about an hour into tapping into his dreams did something of note materialize. The place was blurry, it looked like some kind of cavern, though the walls seemed insubstantial. The details of the floor, ceiling, the walls, the air, they were also blurry. There was also an odd fog to the dreamscape, the air was thick, but at the same time, had an almost insubstantial feel to it. Voices could be heard, however, their speech was slurred, words couldn't come out in a coherent fashion. This continued for a while, the same scene appeared to be replaying itself over and over again. It's hard to tell how long this continued.

Eventually, the scene became more clear, the location no longer looked like a cavern, rather a small, stone building, moss on the walls could be seen. The floors had no pavement, no grass, only covered in dirt and were wet with melted snow. The sky could also be seen, a dark, winter night, wind raged across the landscape, bringing it's rushing roar with it. There was a table, at it sat three cubi, one sitting at the head of the table, two at his side. The features for the two were blurry, it was hard to tell what species they were, or what their wings looked like. Yet the one sitting at the head was clear. A crocodile incubus, probably around 6 foot 2 tall, looked strong, well physically fit. Green, bat-like wings protruded from his back, and from his head. He had no cephalic hair, and had an eye-patch over his left eye. His right eye, bright red in color, gazed around, almost as if bored. He wore a scowl on his face, as he glanced around.
Almost immediately, the weather seemed to become more clear, less morbid. The crocodile smiled, as a demon could be seen walking towards the table. A strong looking wolf demon, power radiated from his body. He fluttered his wings, he looked closely at the crocodile incubus with his bright red eyes. His other features were quite blurry, but the aura of power emanating from him was unmistakable. The crocodile looked up at him. "Ah, Bel, you honor me with this visit, please, take a seat."
Bel sat down, in front of the incubus. He made a soft nod. "I suppose we should just cut to business Chareye." The incubus nodded.
"Mistress Firestorm would like an... unusual service from you." He pulled out a pamphlet, it looked similar to the bounty notice, yet it was different. "There is someone we want, captured."
"Kidnapping?" Chareye responded. "I suppose it wouldn't be beyond our capabilities. My expertise is in soul-stealing but it shouldn't be so hard, depending on the target."
"This angel..." Bel started, pulling the pamphlet to a page with his picture. "We want to capture him, Firestorm wants him, alive." Chareye looked at Bel oddly, but took the pamphlet, and examined the pages.  "The pay will be generous, even more so than previous contracts, and sales."
Chareye looked at Bel squarely. "An angel? A young one too? Is there some reason you want him?" Bel looked at Chareye sternly.
"We just do."
Chareye looked through the pages, it looked like they had pictures, Eilan and Zanfib were next, Tyrian, you, Garis, and Raffiele came after. "And what of the others?"
"As for the beings, kill them, there will be a small reward for their deaths. The others, I don't really care what you do to them, kill them if they make capturing Kassin more difficult. The angel is our primary concern, the one onf the first page that is."
Chareye smirked, "Consider it done then." Bel stood up, and left. The other two incubi looked at Chareye. He shook his head softly.
"I suppose we can spend effort on trying to find Kassin, on the other hand..." He stopped himself for a moment. "The Claws wouldn't waste energy if he were just an ordinary creature... I have a feeling there's more to this than meets the ey..." With that, the scene started to get blurry, voices slurred. In a moment, the scene was gone, replaced with another.

Another scene opened, it looked like it was some kind of farmer's market. Foods of all kinds were gathered around, farmers, shoppers, merchants, gathered around. Yet the mood was incredibly tense, there was a large presence of armed beings there as well. Guards, adventurers, and paranoid civilians. Many of them were muttering about soul murder, how it had happened to one poor family of farmers. Two names continued to come up, "Darrins" was one of them, "Kassin" was the other. The former spoken with a tone of sympathy, the latter with one of hate. Many questions flied around, rumors were spread. It was hard to hear individual threads of speech, and the scene was also somewhat blurry as well. It faded out, and was replaced with another.

Wind rushed around in a small, basement area. Cold, smooth, grey stone covered the floor, roof, and walls. A small red mat was situated on the floor. An old looking being, wearing a blindfold sat cross legged on the mat. She looked to be a feline, greying hair, blackish grey fur. Her other features were blurry, as was much of the room, she seemed to be mumbling to herself, but some of her speech was clear. "Oh angel... what I would give to see into you, birthed of malice, treated with avarice, yet never letting such forces scar you." She stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing. "If nothing else, I can give you what is rightfully yours. Just remember... be true to yourself, and you shall find what your heart seeks." The scene went blurry again, and quickly formed into another.

The place looked to be a small house, yet a scene of a horrible crime, there were two bodies on the floor, they looked like children, they were covered in blood, their eyes quite vacant. A door slamming shut could be heard. A creature could be seen, squatting over the bodies, he held his hands around one of the bodies. Black, feathery wings protruded from his back, yet, his other features were kind of blurry, though it was clear that the bodies, and the creature, were some form of canine. He was crying, quite heavily, sobbing into the corpses. The scene went on for a few minutes, muffled words came from his mouth "why.. why?" another sob, "please don't go, please...". A door could be heard slamming open, but the small creature kept sobbing into the corpse. A larger cubi came in, behind him, that same crocodile incubus that you saw before. Tendrils formed from his wings, grabbing the other creature. He vainly struggled, but was held firm. Chareye gave a stern stare to the crying creature. He shouting at him, "Now where *IS* that paper?!" A tendril could be seen, branching off from his left wing, it touched his eye patch, ready to take it off. The small grappled creature continued to sob. "I said... where IS IT?" Chareye, demanded, more forcibly, he removed the eyepatch, the last thing that could be heard before the scene went dark was a scream from the other creature. The dream came to an abrupt stop.

Kassin woke from his sleep, panting, sweat rolled down the sides of his head. Tears could be seen forming from his eyes. He made a soft sniffle, and covered his face with his right hand, trying to calm himself down. He looked up from the canvas, a beam of sunlight penetrated through. Morning had come. He shook his head, and stepped outside, he sat down in the snow, and stared intently at the ground.

A few minutes later, strand beams of pale sunlight penetrated into Eilan's tent. With a soft yawn, he woke up. He rolled up the bedrolls, and put his tent back into a more portable form. After putting everything back, as to make it ready for travel, he woke everyone else who was still asleep up. He took a brief look at the sun, bright, yet it's radiance felt dulled somehow, as if insignificant next to the snowy background in which he stood.

In a tree above the camp, Tyrian, who never sleeps, noticed the young angel emerge from the tent.  He was in a similar state to the other time before, a nightmare likely.

Dropping down from the tree, the fox angel used his wings to descend gracefully.  His paws touched the ground next to Kassin and he settled down into a sitting position, using his right wing to hug and cradle the distraught tiger-angel.

"Ohayo Gozaimasu Kassin-chan.  You look as if you have had a rough night.  Please, tell me about it.  Talking about such things will help."  Tyrian paused, "also, such things are known to be prophetic with you.  The insight will help us... the sooner we deal with this, the more innocents we can save."

Zanfib came out of his meditative slumber, and went through a mental checklist before he stirred, checking off each distinct power of his mind. He finally opened his eyes some time shortly before dawn, idly looking about a moment before he rose and packed his things. He then sat down, cross legged in front of the camp site, his elbows in his lap and his hands out in front, fingertip to fingertip as he lowered his head slightly, preparing his abilities for the day.

He lowered his mind shield, a necessity to charging up his mental energies. There was a brief moment of thought and emotion from him, but it was quickly silenced in a sudden growing torrent of noise, much akin to that of a tornado to those who were sensitive enough to pick up on such things. The racket died down just as quickly, and Zanfib's mind was wrapped in its stoic barriers again, leaving no trace of thought or emotion..

Presently, he opened his eyes and sighed softly, looking about the encampment again with the same bored expression as ever.

Garis had been mildly tired, and choose to sleep in a tree, he used some magic to weave a bed of branches and leaves.  Wrapped in his wings he half slept through the night, while keeping an eye on what everyone was doing.  He dozed off with the observation that Ked was tapping into Kassin's dream...  Waking up in the morning, he felt the others before actually rising out of his 'bed' and the warmth of his wings was much more pleasing then the act of getting up.  Eventually he worked up the force of will to get up and going.  He silently let himself onto the ground using his tentacles, and then proceeded to see what everyone else was doing.

Kassin let out a deep sigh, and closed his eyes. "I suppose I should... I still do not think what I see is truthful, but, I suppose if it was once..." He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, recalling what he saw during the restless night. "There were four..." He briefly stopped again, checking to see if everyone was listening.

"The first, I think it was at some castle, but the landscape was too blurry for me to make out accurately. I was able to overhear part of a conversation, between an Incubus named Chareye and a demon named Bel, I think they're both Claws." The mention of the Claws piqued Eilan's attention, he rushed over, and  stood to Kassin's left. "They were talking about having me captured and the rest of you killed." He let out a deep sigh. Is the fact that they're all in danger my fault? He shook his head and continued.

"The next scene, it was at some marketplace I think, it was a very tense environment. I couldn't make out specific strands of conversation, but, I kept hearing two names, mine, and someone named 'Darrins'  I think."
Eilan soon interrupted. "Darrins? That's the last name of the family that got soul-murdered here." Kassin appeared alarmed, his eyes seemed to bulge, his facial expression was one of surprise, and fright. "No doubt, if such things are to be believed, they were spreading rumors, and they were likely blaming you." Eilan shook his head, "Farmers... I suppose spreading rumors is something they do on their free time."

Kassin was still quite alarmed at what Eilan said. He never told me the name, how could I have known? With a frown, and a shake of his head, he continued. "The next..." Kassin stopped himself, for a moment. Noting his hesitation, Eilan came over to him and rubbed his shoulder, which seemed to calm him down. "The next scene, it was in the basement of someone's dwelling I said, there was some person sitting there, I think she was blind, and said..." He stopped himself again, looking around at those around him, necessity cracked his resolve however, and decided to continue, after a brief pause. "Oh angel... what I would give to see into you, birthed of malice, treated with avarice, yet never letting such forces scar you. If nothing else, I can give you what is rightfully yours. Just remember, be true to yourself, and you shall find what your heart seeks." Kassin took another deep breath, with a pause. "She didn't say who she was referring to." He glanced away, trying to give the implication that it wasn't himself, or that his vision was somehow faulty.

"And the fourth, I think it was in some kind of farmhouse, it was a disturbing scene, I saw someone, a young incubus I think, must have been six or seven, crying over the corpse of a being. After that, the same Cubi I saw in my first vision, came over to him, grabbing him, asked him 'Where is that paper?'. The child didn't answer... and then Chareye... hurt him..." He shuddered at what he saw.

"And that was the end of it." Kassin let out a deep breath after his recitations.

Eilan put his right hand o his muzzle, trying to make sense of it all, and trying to separate possible truth from fiction, but not immediately coming to any conclusions. He stood there silent.

Kedered resisted the urge to give into obscenity. While the dreams he tapped were interesting, they were not of the sorts of information he was after. His attempts to chanel them towards the thoughts of family and home failed miserably, and since the young angel didn't seem to have any of the requisite mental awareness to alter his own dreams, Kedered was under the conclusion that what the angel talked about was prophecy. In a flurry of disgust, Kedered disengaged from the Angel's mind, shortly before dawn.


It was useless, a waste of a fine night. The guileless creature would doubtless share the experiences, or cry over them in the morning. I need some way to pry Eilan away. He won't let me apply the force of persuasion I'd need to get the little guy to squeal.


He wandered in a roundabout route back to where the rest of them were, hearing the edges of Kassin's descriptions. They were vague, and filled with his own doubts.What a whiner. Still, I gave oath.

Purposely stepping on some twigs to announce his presence, he asked the gathering "Are we all ready to go? And we should have some sort of plan worked out as to how we are going to investigate this stuff. I doubt Kassin can show his face in public, and the rest of us are iffy to."

Garis was again amused by Ked's attitude. sending a tendril of thought his way One would think you would ask your fellow cubi for some assistance in separating the pair, a simple solution, seeing as we can change forms, one of us should be in charge of guarding Kassin while the others are off hunting for clues.  Simply put, we are capable of keeping Kas hidden because we can deceive, we can influence, and if need be, slaughtering an adventurer isn't going to cause either of us to lose any sleep... not that we need that either...

Calmly walking around while kassin told about his dream, Garis figured that staying put was a bad idea.  "Hey, kassin, are you in any shape to travel, not that i'm trying to rush you or anything, but staying in the same place for long strikes me as a bad idea.  If your still tired, i can carry you, or if nothing else i can scout ahead either on foot, or on the wind."

Kassin rose to his feat, gave a slight shudder, and brushed snow off of his wings. "Yeah... I think I'm ready." He stretched out his arms, and made a soft yawn. "Don't worry, I can move on my own."

Eilan turned to face Kedered. "Well... I figure our first destination will be the scene of the crime, hopefully we can find some clue that would give us a new lead, though, I am somewhat afraid that what we may be looking for may already have been found, and taken. If we're lucky, we'll arrive when no one is there. If there is an adventuring group there when we arrive..." He paused himself, going through the possibilities. "I suppose the best option would be to go in, disguised. I won't raise an alarm, neither should Zanfib, and they shouldn't be able to detect cubi shapeshifting, it would mean splitting up again, I think, if it does come to that. We might be able to learn something from them as well. Though I do admit, I do feel a bit uncomfortable splitting up, especially since Kassin wouldn't have a place to hide this time around."

"The other possibility..." He scratched his forehead, and had a look as though stumped by a complex puzzle. "Would be to try and find if there's something we can extract from that dream of his. I'm hesitant to give much weight to such a thing however, divinations are often untrustworthy, and somewhat chaotic. Still, it might help put us on a more solid lead than the one we are on." He looked around at those around him. "Any ideas? I find his second vision quite obvious, though I'm particularly stumped by what his third vision might have meant." Kassin seemed to shudder at this, displaying an obvious discomfort. It wasn't me... she wasn't talking about me... I know, I'm not born of malice, I'm *not*! he thought.
"That aside, we're ready to go, as soon as the rest of you are." Eilan concluded.

For the entire night, Raffiele had settled himself against a tree, only moving to shake off the snow and cold from his leathery wings. With the poisonous magic still in his veins, dreamless slumber would came and went in short intervals of about 90 minutes, not unlike a being with the flu or a cold having trouble staying asleep.

His mood certainly wasn't the better for it. "If the visions are true, it means he's a horrible pariah. He causes bad things to happen to everyone around him. Look at us, we were in the wrong place at the wrong time and now we're wanted men. Hell, him just being at the inn was probably what made it blow up." His brows were furrowed slightly as he stared ahead.

People wonder if the world would be a better place without them... there's no question there'd be fewer deaths in this whole county if Kassin was never born.

Kedered started walking south, moving slowly so that the rest of the group could take notice and follow. As he marched, he projected to Garis  You are correct of course, and I apologize for my solitary actions. I do not often work with confederates. But my problems are more iwthin our group than without. I am concerned about Kassin's relatives, and his own oddness. I tapped his dreams last night, but learned little that I probed for, simply the probably oracular dream he related to you guys. I also was unable to guide him, perhaps some side-effect of his dreaming true. I think someone will need to press him for that information, and that will be difficult with Eilan playing nursemaid. Which means that one of us needs to distract him while the other probes our young angel. Would you care for either role?

He then turned to Raffiele. "And he has done nothing. And those of evil intent have free will. A murderer would still murder, and you have no way of demonstrating that Kassin caused the murder in any way. But I suppose it would be characteristic of a Demon to blame the victim." Aloud, to the group as a whole "We should get moving."

He turned southwards and followed his own recommendation.

Tyrian watched Kedered begin walking away, but made no effort to follow it.  Instead he stretched and stood at Kassin's side, facing Eilan.

"Normally I would think that researching this dream would be a good idea, as I could perform a scry or a spiritual reading... I have no skill with divination.  Divination requires that one query an extra-planar source, and I am not a priest of any particular deity.  Much of the source of his history would be buried in his mind, streaked in his soul, and etched into his string of fate.  A probe of his mind could only reveal his conscious history, that part of him which begins where his mind was of sufficient form to begin constructing memories.  I do not think the Cubi or the being have sufficient ability to understand that which they find."

Ty produced a small purple gem, "I can perform a scry on his soul and on that which ties him to the fates of all of us and this world.  Not that I mean his existence impacts the whole world, more of a sense of the part he is expected to play as an actor of a large production.  This will take time and we would need to be someplace secure.  If you know of someone who can perform such research, then it would be better for us to go see them."

The fox gestured to the forest paths before them, "after you.  In whatever we choose to do, I shall stay with Kassin." 

Garis gave Eilan a shrug, then morphed forms in the blink of an eye. one seccond the tallwolf incubus was standing before them, the  next a shorter, pudgier, being, wearing a clergy like robe and displaying tatoos commonly found on druids.  "I'm ready for the investigation, but i suggest just you and i go for now.  Tyrian and Raffiele are dead giveaways above and beyond kassin.  If either Ked or myself are scouring an area where we've hidden the rest of the party, it'll help deter some real adventurers from discovering him... just a thought, though something we should consider."

turning his attention back to ked he sent his replyEither role is fine by me, though i think i'm better suited for going with Eilan.  I don't really care if you share what you find out with the rest of the party, just make aure to fill me in on what you find  he gave a sly grin and stretchedout as it seemed everyone was preparing for travel

Kassin, upon seeing Tyrian's gem, seemed to freak out. He jumped up to his feet, in an almost panicked state. His teeth clattered as he stared at the gem. Eilan gave a concerned look at Kassin, but reassured him by rubbing his shoulder. "Hey, nothing to be afraid of, it's just a gem." Kassin still looked terrified, Eilan withdrew his hand, turning back to Tyrian, with a sigh. "Could you put that away please? You're scaring him." He was still trying to take in all that he had been told, yet, was extremely skeptical, some of what he heard conflicted with what he knew.
"Extra planar? Deity?" Eilan raised an eyebrow. "I know some creatures sometimes try to set up cults with them as the center of worship, but I barely think that counts. Regardless, I've never heard of any divination methods requiring, 'extra-planar' connections, are you thinking of something else?"
"Any kind of active attempts at magical information gathering tend to be either vague or extremely error prone. Generally, with such matters, a very dedicated, active team is required for such a thing, as what they find, while each attempt may hold grains of truth, isn't reliable in of itself, and require conferring with each other to separate truth from fiction. The only places we could likely get such a thing would be a powerful group in Narukh, or the Thularian military, neither of which are feasible options. I wouldn't trust any independent scrying as absolute truth, it's simply too unreliable."

He turned away, towards Raffiele and Kedered, rather irritated by what he had heard from the demon. He turned an angry scowl in Raffiele's direction. "Kassin caused none of the events that happened around him, he didn't blow up the Willow, he sure as hell isn't the one who put a bounty on you, and it's not his fault that you decided to go run away and nearly get yourself killed for it." He made a soft grumble as he got Kassin up. And it sure as hell isn't my fault if you decide to lie to me about what really happened down there. He gave Raffiele a stern look. "Conversation over, I don't expect any of us to like the situation we've been put in, but it's what we've been forced into, cast your blame where it is due." He let out a sigh, and shook his head as he turned away, feeling as though his words might have went to one of the trees.  

"Come on, we have a lot of traveling to do, we're not as close to the place as I would like, so..." he said, turning to Garis. "You don't need to do that just yet." He kept silent after that, after that, they started to move. "Oh, also to note, we won't be able to stay in these woods forever, when we get to the farmlands, we're probably going to have to come out on open terrain. That location isn't heavily forested."

Eilan was sure to stay off the roads. The woods looked twisting, many of the passages looked similar. There was enough daylight to at least see decently well, starlight shining down upon the land. The snow had stopped, though chilly winds brushed throughout. Eilan however, knew where he was going. It was quiet, uneventful, with only a brushing of leaves to be what was heard.

Then, in a flash, Kassin doubled over in pain, let out a wail, he clutched his left shoulder with his right hand. Eilan rushed over to him, immediately alert. "Kassin, what's wrong? Kassin!" Almost in a flash, Kassin shoved Eilan off of himself, and darted deeper into the woods. Eilan looked at him with shock, but in a few moments, he was gone. "Wait for..." he shook his head in frustration. He motioned for those around him to follow, "Come on, he can't have gone far, follow his tracks. Move!" Eilan rushed after him.

*****************************************************************

Lost in the darkness, cold, bleeding, the last thing you can remember is running, running, running from a trio of savage demons, you weren't guarded, you took the opportunity. It wasn't enough, you were grievously injured, and eventually collapsed in the snow, darkness overtook you.
But in a moment, a faint feeling of comfort returns to you. Feelings of coldness, fading away, they last occupied your mind before fading into darkness. The cold slowly returns, yet, with a subtle warmth to it, feeling returns where none were before, exhaustion in the place of inertness. With a labored breath, you realize you can open your eyes...
Kassin was crouched down to Chance's level, who had been laying face first in the snow, horribly injured. He looked incredibly concerned, as he healed her wounds. Their solitude didn't last, he looked up. A strong looking, bloodhound demon stood over them, and wore a wicked smile, with claws bared.
"Oh my little girl, look at the *prize* you've brought me..." He stared at Kassin, who was paralyzed with fright.

As Eilan made his comment, Garis gave him a mischeious glance then shifted forms a few more times, just to show howeasy shape-shifting was for him.  After the 3rd shift, he stopped his bout of silliness and returned to his prefered form.  He nodded and kept silent, following Kassin and Eilan through the woods .

As Kassin gripped himself in another bout of pain, Garis unfurled his wings and kicked off the ground, flying just above treetop level.  He wasn't really concerned, given his coloring and speed, tracking him would be difficult.  At the same time kasssin radiate pain as he tore off into the darkness.  As Kassin stopped, Garis circled his location and was preparing to land when he heard a faint voice he didn't recognize, and suddenly felt kassin fear.

Taking all of a second to charge a pair of lightning bolts, Garis silently glided in, landing a few feet behind the demon.  He'd kept his senses open, looking for others, but the incubus' primary focus was on the demon hound.  As his feet touched the ground, his hand calmly leveled with the back of the demon's head, and his wings had  become pointed tentacles.  Garis said is an eerily flat voice "You so much as move an eyebrow and your dead.  Now are you?  and who do you work for?"

Zanfib had been his usual, quiet brooding self, silently following along while listening to both the auditory and mental communications. He just walked along, towards the back, and wasn't interacting with the group much at all. That all changed when the young angel seemed to have some manner of fit, and then took off running. To this, the psion quirked his eyebrow and promptly took off after him. Now, what could this curious angel be up to this time? He thought to himself as he kept pace, right behind the angel.

As he came to where the angel, incubus and demon now stood, he only took a brief glance at the three before he noticed a familiar form on the ground.. His eyes widened, and his breath stopped for a moment. "Chance!?" He gasped, before his eyes flickered back up to the demon, and he snarled softly. He condensed the energy between Kassin and the demon, covering Chance as well, until it was a thick, immovable kinetic barrier, and came running up to Chance, kneeling down at her side. "Chance? Chance! Are you allright? Chance!"

His gaze shot up to the demon, and he bared his teeth at the creature.. "What the cubi will do to is but a fraction of what I am going to do to your mind, demon. Start talking, or I will simply get the information myself. Whether or not you are a vegetable by the end of it is not my concern."

not again. Why does he have to dart off like that? Actively maintaining his emotional balance, for these children made him lose his temper far too often for his taste, Kedered enacted a speed spell, and then darted through the woods after Kassin. In thirty seconds he reached the angel, and noticed the large, stupid looking dog-demon.

Not bothering to speak, he simply ignited his flame blade, and interposed himself between the demon and Kassin. Off to his left, Zanfib gave a burst of surprise, and Kedered noted it, the first time to his memory the psionic gave off anything other than smug condescension.

Tyrian concealed the gem as he was asked, smirking slightly, so the young tiger knows to fear soul gems, a very wise instinct.  I wonder why he recoils so?

The fox sighed heavily as he recognized the signs Kassin displayed, yet another creature was hurt and he had to dash off to help them without thinking, "bloody hells, that kid is going to be the death of himself and me someday."

Tyrian became one with the snow and sunk into it, rushing off after the tiger angel, following him by his scent and body heat alone.

The presence of the demon was immediately a concern and Ty stopped at a point between Kassin and the demon, in the middle of the space intervening, and rose from the snow.  His Sylphine ice elemental state remained, a pure white fox consisting entirely of ice and snow with blue orbs for eyes, blocked the demon's view and reach to Kassin and the other target.  He crossed his arms like some smug Djin, "you are out numbered and out-classed, leave."  His voice was like that of the howling arctic wind.  (DC 20 save verse fear :P just kidding)

Chance felt the great healing warmth run through her which now had an edge of cold to it. Taking some deep breaths she opened her eyes to find an unfamiliar face over her. She tried to sit up a moment but her exhaustion still overcame her.  Just a few more minutes.. But then she heard that demon's voice, she turned over, making her muscles move,and pushed herself up to her knees with her ears back and barred teeth. "Get away from him.." She was sure the stranger was the one who saved her.. and even though she doubted she could best this demon she wasn't about to be called a 'little girl' without proving the damn thing wrong.

In just seconds others came into view.. taking different fighting stances against the demon. Then she heard a voice calling her name, turning her to bearer she found a somewhat familiar face. "Zanfib? What the heck?" With what she has recently been through she couldn't manage a better greeting than sheer confusion.

The demon glanced around, however, being in imminent and extreme danger didn't seem to faze his ego. He let out a loud, angry roar, turned his face to Garis, "Oh f___ off s___heads!" He hardened his skin, extended his claws, and curled his right hand into a fist. Fire formed around it, and with a lunge, he launched a stream of fire at Garis. His eyes started glowing bright red, and he radiated palpable anger. He did however, have a mind shield up, a strong one.

Kassin kept his hands on Chance, he tried to keep her from standing up, and away from the ensuing battle, if it could even be called a battle with the odds so starkly stacked against the demon. Kassin tried not to think about that though, as he continued to inspect Chance, catching up on healing wounds he hadn't had time to yet heal. He didn't say anything to her, he was too terrified to speak, yet, it was clear he wanted her to sit down, he didn't think she was in any position to overexert herself after her recent ordeal. She's lost a lot of blood, I think her heart rate is slow.., Thoughts of concern went through his head, and his face wore it clearly.

Eilan got to the scene last, he had his bow out. Once he saw the demon let out a stream of fire at Garis, he quickly got alarmed. Oh great, that might set this whole place on fire.., he has to use fire with all these trees around... He got his mental discipline back up, and launched an arrow at the demon. It hit him in the neck, though it simply bounced off his hardened skin. With a grumble, he put his bow away and readied his two sabres, he moved up to Kassin, and kept both blades held ready.

"On second thought, don't move and answer the question from the fellow behind you."  Ty said just before the demon turned and launched fire at Garis.

Ty put a hand to his forehead and sighed, demons could be so irrational and predictable.  He lowered his arms to his sides and drew a menacing grin on his icy visage, "perhaps you didn't just hear me... I said freeze!"

The fox drew his arms up from his sides in wide sweeping arc, bringing them together at the wrists with his palms facing the demon's back.  He drew in the snow around him and hurled a cone of frost at the bloodhound.  The force of the snow was rather strong as the snow around all of them slowly disappeared due to Tyrian channeling it at the demon.

Grim satisfaction was the only thought that radiated from Kedered, and a short mental cry of fool. When the demon turned his back to launch a fire assault at Garis, Kedered, still under the speed enhancement, swung his blade at the creatures right knee, intending to sever it and possibly strike at his other leg as well, depending on how resistant the thing's hide was to his blade.

"Gods damn them all.." Zanfib muttered softly, erasing the barrier as he placed one paw on Chance's shoulder, and one paw on Kassin's shoulder. "Hold tight kids, we're leaving." He said, and closed his eyes in a brief moment of concentration. The trio vanished in a soft sparkle of light, only to reappear a short distance away from the fight. After erecting another barrier around the three, he kept his eyes on the battle, but directed his comments to the two.

"While I suppose I could say long time no see, Chance, I think we better focus on the present for now. For example, how in the world did you get here, and what are you doing so far from Astranaar?"

Still feeling hands on her Chance looked to the tiger angel. Realizing what he wanted her to do she grumbled before laying back down - not liking one bit being in such an open position, but there were more than enough to protect them. She shivered as her muscles relaxed again, silently thankful for the opportunity to rest and be healed. Her eyes went over to Zanfib again, half unbelieving what she was seeing.. she closed her eyes and shook her head.

She was surprised to suddenly not hear the fighting so well..  opening her eyes she found her, the tiger, and Zanfib a distance away from everyone else. Smiling and shaking her head again she closed her eyes and concentrated on Zanfib's question.

Chance tried remembering what happened before she passed out in the snow.. she still had the restrainer bracers on which she couldn't take off.. and she was only able to grab her belt with one of her broad-daggers and pouch before making her escape from the three demons. Suddenly she opened her eyes again and looked back to the one demon attacking one of the Incubi.

"Zanfib! There are more! I remember three demons!" She rasply said, forcing the urgency out from her dry throat.

As the demon turned it's head Garis let loose with the poited tendrils.  He brought them crashing in from all sides as also loosed alightning bolt at the demon's head.  The hand seemed to rise in almost slow motion and he recognized what was happening.  Continuing the assault with the tentacles, Garis lept to the side in an attempt to avoid the demon's spell.

The tendrils barely hurt the demon, causing only minor injuries due to it's hardened skin. The lightning bolt to the face affected him far more noticeably. The swipe to his knee was a glancing blow, it didn't sever the limb, but did leave a nasty injury, though it did appear that the demon had a great deal of resistance to heat. The blast of frost also hurt the demon quite a bit. It roared in anger as it sustained the attacks, the demon started to stumble. It didn't look to be in any condition to continue fighting, but pride prevented it from surrendering. He didn't make another attack though, and continued to snarl loudly.

It's fire blast, though it missed Garis, struck a tree behind him, the blast largely kept to the tree, but lighted it and many of it's branches alight into a brilliant conflagration.  

Kassin cried in pain as he could feel what was happening to the demon, yet, he maintained enough discipline not to go rushing after it. After a few deep breaths, he let out a loud "Look out!" to Zanfib and Chance. Another demon had come into view, a large, vicious looking equine. It was gathering power, flames danced in it's hands. It also possessed a mind shield.

Eilan gave a look of alarm as Zanfib translocated Kassin away. Not trying to lose sight of him, he quickly glanced around, he noticed the other demon before Kassin did. He rushed at it, blades in hand. It was still concentrating on it's fire spell, when Eilan ran past it and swung at it, making a glancing blow across it's belly, and then positioned himself behind the demon. The demon however, didn't drop his spell, despite the blow and intense bleeding, and then loosed a large stream of fire at Zanfib, Chance, and Kassin.

Zanfib glanced back at Chance a moment. "Three? Wonderful. They must be scattered about, and probably headed this way-" He said, but stopped short as the second demon appeared. "And in quite a hurry, so it would seem." He said, and quickly strengthened the shield around the three. The flames came within mere inches of them, before hitting an invisible wall and washing right over and around them. While it protected the three quite well, it did nothing to douse the flames, and so one could suspect that Eilan's fears would soon come true..

Perhaps he should have put them out, but Zanfib apparently had another plan in mind. He reached out with his telekinesis, and made to grab a hold of the demon, to snare its legs in telekinetic bonds. He smirked then, saying, "Going up?" before wrenching them upward, more than likely propelling the equine demon vertically in a very sudden and violent manner. "Going... down!" He said finally, suddenly and viciously reversing the force of his telekinesis, which would bring the skyward equine plummeting down at heightened speeds.

While Zanfib waited on the results of his counter, and took a careful inventory of what power he had remaining, he quickly sent out a burst of telepathy to the others. That is two of three, watch your backs!

Rolling off the ground and launching himself to his feet.  The near miss sent an extra bolt of adrenaline through Garis' system as he moved in towards the first demon.  He retracted the tentacles while sprinting in, he dreww his dagger in an underhanded stance.  He loosed the other lightning bolt at the demon while moving in for the kill.  Once in range, garis became a flury of limbs as his bladded tentacles attempted to wrap the demon up, he brought a slash across the demon's side, sent his other hand towards the throat of the demon, and he stomped for it's Knee.  Although he felt the second demon, Garis was more intent with eliminating thefirst before moving on.

As the second demon appeared Chance growled low. This is not good.. I have to do something! Seeing the equine get struck did raise her hope but not without that hope quickly turning to dread as the stream of fire was unleashed upon the three sitting ducks. Luckily the shield protected them but she looked at Zanfib with worry, concerned how much longer he'll be able to keep it up.

Chance sat up again, more slowly this time although she was feeling better than before. Her bleeding stopped at least so she just felt like she got put through a meat grinder. Hearing the tiger cry out in pain she cringed, wondering what was happening to him. She grabbed the healer's wrists and looked at him straight in the eyes. "I'm much better now. Thank you for saving me, but I don't want you putting all of your energy into me when there are more... worthy warriors who may need assistance after this." Dropping his wrists she continued "Do you have the power to hit that jerk with a spell? If the third one comes soon I'm afraid we might be a bit over our heads." 

The tip of her long tail twitched with the agitation of having to sit there like bump on a log. Her fur was still a horrid sight from the blood and the feathers on her wings were all ruffled from the recent events. She would wait to ask for assistance with removing her restraints until after the battle, she doubted she could perform any spells in this condition anyways; starved and thirsty beyond which she's never experienced before.

Ty released his sylphine form, returning back to the normal white furred fox angel.  Most of the snow had been spent and to keep the form would have meant resilience, but fairly slow movement. 

With two of the demons occupied, Tyrian concentrated on locating the third.  He remained near where Kassin was and focused his senses into their environs.  He extended his abilities over the earth, into the trees, and even looked into the sky.  The searching took most of his concentration and it employed his staff. 

Noting its relative ineffectiveness against the first Demon, Kedered waved a minor spell, switching his sword's composition from fire to an emerald acid, that slowly collected around the tip and would drip into the forest floor, leaving small puddles of slush where snow once lay. Guessing that the demon that Zanfib tossed was still active, even after that flinging, Kedered raced over to his form, standing near the legs and studying the mind shield, looking for a way to magically snap it. He sent out a tendril of thought to anyone who could hear such things. Let's try to get a prisoner. Data collection and all that. But if you can't, it's no big deal.

The bloodhound demon, barely in a position to fight, didn't dodge the lightning bolt. He moved to defend himself, but was too slow to evade the attack to his neck, it cut clean in, and slew him nearly instantly, he fell to the ground, letting out a soft stream of obscenities before he died.

The equine demon was surprised as he was hurled into the air, however, with a brief burst of negative energy, managed to break free of Zanfib's hold while airborne. While in the air, it launched another stream of fire at Zanfib, and then came to the ground, landing on it's feet. Eilan, who was behind where it landed, made a slash at it's right flank, it cut in deep. The demon let out an angry roar, but didn't look like he was slowing down.

There was a soft breeze, normally not noticeable, but did cause the fire along the blazing tree to spread towards other trees nearby. The first tree started to wobble as well... as it's branches writhed with flames.

It's difficult to concentrate, with all of the commotion that the first two demons are causing, the screaming, the hurling fireballs. Yet, you are able to locate the third one, a large looking leopard demon. It's approaching your position fast, gathering negative energy in it's hands, approaching you. As he makes his way to your position, he jumps onto a tree.

The third demon then reveals himself, a large leopard. He stands on a tree above the action, it has a large amount of negative energy gathered into his hands. In a flash, he fired a stream of negative energy at Tyrian, wearing a sadistic grin on his face.

Garis felt as his fingers formed claws and dug into the demons neck, the slice sent a spray of red across his silver neck and chest.  His eyes started glowing as he noticed the leopard demon and began to focus.  He reformed his wings and launched himself at the demon's exposed back, he was charging another lightning bolt and let loose his bladed tendrils, trying to wrap the blades around the demon, as if the tentacles were some python from hell.

Tyrian was nearly caught completely off guard.  Had the demon closed to melee or grappling ranges, the fox would have been in dire straights.  However, he choose to be standoffish, and attacked from range.  This momentary re-positioning gave Tyrian enough time to react. 

Bringing his staff in front of him, he interposed the scintillating gem between the negative energy ray and his person.  The block was not complete and a small amount of the energy played over his body.  Ty felt a bit weak and dizzy as it sapped his strength, but that was minor compared to what it could have done to him.  He leaned on his staff for a bit as he cashed in his willpower to remain standing without aid as he hurled his rowan stave at the leopard demon's tree.

With what seemed no more than an act of frustration, Ty's staff impacted the trunk and lodged itself well.  A moment later the tree shook and wailed with a sound akin to the splintering of wood and howling wind as it sprouted sharp tendrils from the core of its heartwood.

They assailed the demon with a celerity.  Two wooden tentacles struck at his arms, each one seeking to impale his upper portion or the shoulders.  Two others sought to do the same with the creature's thighs and yet another desired to bury itself deep in the demon's lower abdomen.

If they struck, the wounds would not be immediately fatal, but they would nearly completely immobilize him and provide significant volumes of agony. 

The spell had the final effect of channeling significant life energy, hopefully enough to dampen the negative power of the creature, as the tree burned up its life force at Tyrian's command.

The fox turned his head away at the sight, a small tear streaking the fur of his cheek.  He did not shed such for the demon, but for the horrible murder of an innocent tree.

Kedered smelled the smoke from the burning trees, hoping that Kassin had enough sense to stay upwind from any blaze. More immediately, he dashed over to the side of the equine demon that Zanfib had thrown. The thing still seemed mobile, and alert to his presence, so Kedered didn't waste time trying for a leg stab, instead giving a low slice at around hip level, while probing into the shield that protected the thing's mind. If he could crack it, Zanfib ought to be able to simply kill the thing or immobilize it.

Zanfib gritted his teeth, quickly wrapping his powers around the oncoming stream of fire, and redirected it, curving it about and sending it back at its caster, with a quick mental alarm sent to Kedered. In the same instance, the ringtail noticed that Kedered was trying to punch the creature's mind shield, and decided it best to lend his assistance in that matter, launching a simultaneous attack on the demon's mind as well. He wouldn't need to use up as near as much energy as if he had done it alone, and protecting the angel and cubi was taxing enough as is.

"Chance." He whispered ugently through gritted teeth, "Think you can match this bungling fool's fire?"

Sighing, Chance lifted her wrists to show Zanfib her restrainer bracers. "These block my magic and I can't take them off, at least on my own.. but I do have an idea." She took out her dagger and went into a crouched position. She ached everywhere and was still pretty weak but she couldn't bear being still any longer. Please don't let this be a stupid idea.. With a single beat of her wings to give her speed, she lunged forward to the Equine demon and leveling the dagger out she stabbed at his groin.

The equine demon, under attack from many angles, yet still not slowing down, first caught the stream of fire redirected at him, and threw it at a nearby tree. Seeing Chance charging at him, he first he extended his claws, rushed forward, and lunged at her face. However, his assault was stopped by Kedered and Eilan. The acid blade worked well against the demon, cutting deep into the fiend. Eilan swung his other blade at it's neck, sinking in deep, but not scoring a total decapitation. It fell to the ground soon after that. Eilan pulled both of his blades out, and turned his attention towards the third demon. Chance's blade sunk into it's privates, though it was already dead by then.

The leopard demon, noting how the equine one was doing, decided to make a hasty retreat. It jumped out of it's perch on the trees, evading the lightning bolt, and kept a discrete distance from Garis. On his way to the ground, he erected a large forcefield of fire around himself, incinerating the tree branches that came to assail him. He then decided to collapse the shield, and hurled fireballs at trees on his sides, setting them alight. He rushed away, and would soon be out of sight.

Kassin wasn't taking the fight around him well at all, he could barely keep focus with all the pain he was feeling around him. He crouched low to the ground, and tried to manage it as best he could. He looked up, only to realize that he was mostly surrounded by flaming trees, which left no obvious routes of escape. They let out an uncomfortable amount of heat, and the flames, while slightly mitigated by the snow, appeared to be spreading.

Tyrian sighed at the obvious ineffectual nature of his attacks, as the demon retreated.  The fox summoned a stone spear from the earth far ahead of him hurling it at the back of the retreating creature as he turned towards the others.  He would not give chase, not after absorbing some of that negative energy, the others could if they desired to.

It was then that he became aware of the blaze in the trees, a very curious thing as hard wood is slow to catch fire and the general dampness, due to melting ice and snow, normally causes fires to smolder.  However, it was magical fire, so anything was possible, including...

"Extinguish!"  With a single word and a sweeping gesture, Tyrian squelched the magical impetus that fueled the unnatural fires.  Leaving a smoldering mess, but otherwise safe environment around the group.

Ty approached Kassin and collapsed to a seated position in front of him and Chance.  He turned his eyes and stared straight into the tiger angel's, "I'm sorry for causing you so much pain by fighting others, and leaving your side... I get... overzealous when I fight." 

A point at cusp....... Wishing he had more time to deliberate his actions, he sent a trace of thought Zanfib's way, Good job the two of you. Send my congratulations to Tyrian for the fire. I will pursue the last of them


Checking his speed spell, and throwing a bit more energy into it, Kedered darted deeper into the forest, chasing the demon, and collapsing his acidic weapon, it slowed him down to hold it away from his body, and it could be reformed at need. He didn't want it to alert any friends, and he still wanted information about this group. After a few second's sprinting, he sent out to Garis, Care to hover along at tree level and spot him out?


Wincing at how the fire would damage his clothes, and his fur, Kedered splashed on a basic level of protection and took the plunge

Garis was mildly disappointed the demon had noticed him, but wasted no time tearing off in pursuit.  He launched himself into the air again, reformed his wings and flew off just over the trees, following the demon.  He cast a spell to create a heavy gust of wind to further enhance his speed.
Sending updates location of the demon to Ked, Garis added a question to one of the updates, he asked 'do you want me to slow him down, i could drop in on top of him, making your catching up easier... at the very least, i can hold my own until you arrive.'

He ran, panting, slapping out smoldering embers in his clothes and fur, and racing along after the fleeing demon. I can catch him, unless he can move faster than he is. Do you think you can hold him alone? I should catch up swiftly if he stops to fight. I would like a prisoner though. You can only learn so much from dead people.

Garis chuckled aloud, wrapped himself in a speed enhancement as well, and sent a quick message to ked, 'Good as done my friend, i'll see if i can't wrap him up and end this before it even starts'

As he flew over the demon, Garis matched speeds and dropped his altitude to about 20' overhead... After a second of mental preparation, his wings exploded into a flurry of tendrils, tipped with clawed hands.  Garis' right hand grew long claws, and crackled with some type of arcane energy, and his left gripped the hilt of his dagger.  He fell towards the demon, and he tried to subdue the creature before it had a chance to try anything.

Chance tripped and face-planted to the ground, Ugh! Of all times! feeling the dagger hit it's mark she grinned, but frowned after looking up and realizing it was already dead from the two other attackers. Great, worthless... now I have to clean demon balls off of my blade... Feeling grateful to the others she scrapped the blade across the ground a few times before placing it back on her belt and standing, returning to Zanfib, the tiger, and the fox. She caught what the fox said to the tiger and a little bit of something clicked in her mind.. so that's why he was in pain before.. how strange.. She  she'd ask more about it later since there were more pressing matters...

"Zanfib!!!" She squealed as she wrapped her arms around in him a big hug, wincing just slightly from still being sore but wasn't about to let it hinder her."You were fantastic!" Releasing him she turned to the fox and tiger "And you two as well!" Coming back to ther present she realized something. "Oh crap, what about the third demon? Any sign of him?"

Zanfib nodded slightly to himself as the equine demon took the final fall and the flames snuffed out around him, before he projected to the two incubi in pursuit of the last demon, Get ready for him to make a sudden stop..

Zanfib focused carefully, staring off in the direction that the leopard had taken off running.. It was very difficult to form anything at such range, with little more than his telepathic abilities to guide his aim, but the ringtail believe he could erect a barrier in front of the fleeing demon. He'd often seen his mentor snag things from clear across the cave complex he lived in (several miles at the very least), but this was easily taxing the psion to his limits.. But, after a moment or two, he managed to erect another one of his invisible and impregnable barriers, right in the demonic leopard's path..

However, in all his concentration, he'd lost track of the rest of the party.. and jumped quite visibly, his tail bushing out and twitching violently as Chance hugged him. He whipped his head around with wide eyes as it took him a moment to realize what had happened. "Ack! Chance! How is it you always manage to sneak up on me?" He said, smirking as he was mildly amused and annoyed at the same time. "Well, at least this time you did not grab my tail. But, ah, speaking of the last demon.." He said, his voice trailing off as he came to the realization that he had ceased concentration on the barrier so far away..

Now it would certainly dissipate after a single impact, but given that the demon had two incubi hot on its heels, maybe that would be all that it would take..

Chance giggled at the sight of his tail being all upset, she had a certain pseudo-smugness about her from not being killed "And what would you do about it if I did grab your tail? That's right, nuthin'!" she challenged and imaturely stick out her tongue. She could almost completely forget what recent hell she's been through from the reunion with her friend from long ago. "Oops, I interrupted some sort of concentration.. didn't I?" Her ears cocked half-way down in slight regret and appology. She then showed Zanfib the magic restraining bracers."Well, if it isn't too much to ask.. do you think you could get these off somehow? If you are out of energy that if fine, I can wait since most of the danger has seemed to pass.." With that she looked around clearly for the first time since she woke up and seen the distruction. Her tail lowered as did her ears in complete astonishment and sorrow. Forests were her favorite places and now this one seemed almost completely leveled. She barely even felt the stabbing of hunger in her, though she noticed she physically felt a little better since the equine demon had died, or rather just before it had, but she was still starving - her stomach growled it's complaints within her.

Noting the third demon running away, and the two cubi running to pursue, Eilan chased after him as well, following the tracks the creature made in the snow. With no way to enhance his speed however, he lagged behind.

The third demon, noting the two cubi pursuing him, ran as fast as he could. However, he couldn't shake them by simply running, so he started to run around erratically, trying to confuse his chasers. He evaded Zanfib's wall entirely, and often dropped fireballs onto trees, setting them alight in order to try and slow his chasers down. A few minutes and a long distance later, he decided that some pain might deter pursuit.  As Garis came down from above, the demon launched a large stream of negative energy at him. Garis's tentacles scraped against the demon, though aside from some small cuts, didn't appear to be very effective against the creature's hardened skin.


Kassin looked to be far more stable, though looked as though he had been beaten up quite viciously. He took slow, deep breaths in the cold air, trying to mitigate the pain he felt. He gave a cursory glance at the bracers Chance wore, but shook his head as to him, they looked like normal bracers. With a tingling sense going through his head, he turned towards Tyrian. His right hand started to glow with a bluish white light, and he made a motion to touch his shoulder.

You're able to recognize the bracers Chance is wearing. They're commonly called 'Restrainers', and are often used by Astarean peacekeepers to subdue magic using deviants. They suppress the magical, and mental powers of those who put them on, and are very resistant to attempts to break them magically. They're also sturdy enough to be impossible to break physically by the person wearing them. They can however, be unlocked with the proper key. Without one, it may be possible to break them with adequate force, though it depends on their construction. Generally however, the two bracers have a chain, locking the two bracers together and restraining the wearer's hands. It's odd that Chance's don't have them.

As he landed, Garis' muscles twitched in agony.  The demon couldn't have know it when he cast the spell, but Garis' pain only added to the ferocity of his attacks.  Instead of slashing he eased off his attacks for but a moment, then pressed harder and extended his tendrils longer.  He used his tentacles as if they were a pack of pythons, trying to bind the demon and constrict it's movements.  The cubi's lingering pain from the demons spell clouded his mind, but Garis was a warrior and he fought through the torturous pain with force of will. In reply, he fired a powerful paralysis spell he'd been charging even while in flight at the demon.  If it hit, the demon would go limp, having lost control of it's arms and legs.

"I might as well have a look at them.." Zanfib said, eying the bracers curiously, "After losing my concentration, that demon was able to just veer around the barrier. They look just like the restrainers used back in Astranar, but these do not have a chain connecting them. How strange. What if you were a monk? These would be entirely useless." He said, slowly tracing one finger along one of the bracers. "I can break them, yes, we psions have a knack for disabling magical devices, but it would ultimately be a lot easier if we could just find the key." He said, and looked back up at Chance. "Who put these on you?"

The fox grabbed Kassin's hand by his wrist, despite his weakness he still was stronger than the young angel.

His ears dipped down a bit as he spoke and his expression was firm and scolding, "it is negative energy, causes pain and saps strength.  I don't think you can help, but even if you can, we need you strong and capable of walking on your own.  I can handle it and eventually it will pass."

Tyrian's demeanor softened as he looked into the innocent eyes of the angel, and the fox suddenly hugged the child, "don't ever change.  From now on you will be my little brother, not my my real one of course... for he... is... dead..."  He flattened his ears against his head, what is it about Kassin that makes me act like this...

Kedered felt a twinge in his mind, still peering into the other'Cubi's thoughts as he was hit with something nasty. Dropping the connection, he darted the remainder of the distance to the Demon, trusting his protection spells against fire to hold him steady.

Noting Garis's attempts to subdue the demon, Kedered took the precise method over the forceful one. Unfurling his tentacles, he kept two in reserve, and sent the other two behind the demon's head, seeking to wrap them around the carotid artery and windpipe for a quick choke.

"A monk? Pfft, hardly" She rolled her eyes at thought of it. "The demons you just fought put these on.." Then she just realized how rude she was being and she turned to the fox and the tiger. "I'm sorry we didn't meet under better circumstances but my name is Chance, and I am forever indebted to you and your companions." She offered a smile and a hand to the both of them. After the intro her smile became sheepish as she added "Does anyone happen to have a bit of something to eat or drink? I won't require much."

Tyrian pulled away from Kassin, gently releasing his wrist, trying to recover a bit of dignity from his momentary lapse of sanity.  Luckily neither appeared to have noticed. 

Trying to stand and shake Chance's offered hand, Tyrian was having a difficult time of it.  Finally he braced himself properly, digging toe claws into the cold earth, and staggered to a standing position.

Taking her hand gently he gave it a polite shake, keeping his hand steady, unlike his legs and vision, "I am Tyrian and you do not need to owe us any debt, the young Kassin is the one whom you should thank though, it is through his ability that your wounds were healed.  Please forgive me, but I am feeling quite off.  Could someone retrieve my staff?"

The fox settled back down next to Kassin.  He reached over to his pack and fished out some fine rations, a tad old, but otherwise fine, "I do not require sustenance any longer, but I do carry these in case of emergencies for others.  Help yourself."  He offered his ration packs to their new guest.

With glee Chance took the ration pack and before opening it she squealed a little and hugged the sitting Tyrian enthusiastically. "Thank you so much! And of course Kassin healed my wounds which I am forever grateful for" She smiled to Kassin quickly before looking at Tyrian again. "But even then we would not have survived if it weren't for you, Zanfib," She smiled at Zanfib again. "And the others.. Oh I do hope they are alright." Her expression became more serious as she ended her sentence.

She sat down between Tyrian and Zanfib, trying to create somewhat of a half-circle for easy discussion. As she looked with concern over the three she couldn't help but feel guilty about them getting attacked. She opened the rations and started to eat, trying to think of a way to better the situation. Finally, she started to notice the cold as she shivered a little - her halter top and skirt doing little to aid her fur in protecting against the cold. So she wrapped her wings around her, thankful for the moment of peace.

After only a minute's reprieve she stood up again. "It just dawned on me, perhaps one of the demons has the key on them, I'll go search the bodies and try to find Tyrian's staff along the way." At that she walked over to the equine demon and after a moment's hessitation she searched his body for the key.

The demon's wings started to flare with flames, in an attempt to fight off Garis and Kedered, however, the paralysis spell worked quite well, and the demon was, at least, temporarily restrained. He let out obscenities and curses when he realized that this fight was over, he growled at the two Cubi, quite angry about the situation he had been put into, and continually tried to shake off his paralysis and the tentacles binding him. However, for the mean time, he was subdued.

Kassin's eyes bulged as Tyrian hugged him, and proclaimed him his brother. He was mostly surprised, but decided to remain silent on the subject, it made him rather uncomfortable. But he let out a weak smile. It's not so bad to be loved, I guess...
Kassin turned his face towards Chance. "I'm just glad I was able to reach you in time." He breathed easily, but soon turned back to Tyrian, he could feel that he still wasn't feeling well.  
"Please... I can help you, it wouldn't be a great burden on me. We still have a long ways to go, I think, and you shouldn't be uncomfortable for so long."

A cursory search through the Equine demon's belongings reveals nothing useful, he has a bit of money, rations, some other odd ends of traveling gear, but he doesn't appear to have the key to your bracers.

Zanfib had been going between watching Tyrian with raised eyebrows at the angel's odd display towards Kassin, and watching Chance be her usual bubbly self. He kept his eternal cool demeanor up until Chance credited him with saving both her and Kassin. He cocked his head in a rather flustered way, trying to keep his calm, but his twitching tail gave him away. "Nonsense!" He blustered in a higher tone than he would have liked, "If not me, then one of the others. I just got there first."

Tyrian was quick with the rations, but when Zanfib noted the shiver run through Chance's form, he sighed softly as reached about and unhooked his cloak. He was never quite sure why he wear the thing, for his thick fur was more than enough to ward off the cold, and so he walked over to Chance's side and draped it about her shoulders as she searched the demon's corpse. "Chance, just what are you doing so far from home? You do not seem prepared for this climate at all. Were you abducted?"

Garis glared viciously as the demon tried it's hardest to inflict still more pain upon him.  His eyes glowed an unnatural white as the spell slammed home.  Rather than walk the extra distance, Garis pulled the demon towards him and Ked.  He was upset, to say the least, and the remnants of the demons spell caused stabbing pain to flare throughout his body.

His vicious gaze turned even more terrifying as his lips pulled back, revealing a grin of pure wicked intent.  Sending a quick message to ked 'this bastard is going to try and run.  And he's far stronger than Nicha was, so i'm taking absolutely no chances... none at all'

The cubi walked to the collapsed demon and planted a foot on it's knee cap, obvious rage still in his voice as he said "Time for you to tell me everything you know.  You tell me a lie, i break your leg, you hold something back, i brake your leg. Every time you even try to defy me in any way shape or form, and i break a bone, starting with your legs.  Now, why did you attack that girl? and Do you work for someone? if so, who is it?"  he added a little more pressure to the knee, causing the joint to lock for added emphasis on just how serious he was.

Raffiele had been lagging behind the others since they broke camp that morning. It wasn't just a fear of being tackled on the front lines, but the intense nausea he'd been feeling. Four combined hours of sleep were under his belt along with the bad chi still in his system, causing him to move in a staggered gait. Everyone's voice echoed, and the edges of his vision were blurred. When the melee broke out up ahead he knew better than to help them engage. Just from what he could see from back there, it was obvious they'd have no trouble taking their latest aggressors down.

...fuck you, angel boy. What did your brother do to me? Bracing himself against a tree, Rafa retched and spewed a small torrent of black bile. He fell to his knees soon after, gasping frantically as he felt another vomit-attack welling in his throat. Something about the dark magic certainly didn't agree with his physiology. Ded'ae, ded'ae, ded'ae--

Chance took the money and rations she found off of the demon, almost feeling guilty for robbing a corpse until she let herself remember what he did to her. As the memories came her tail fluffed in agitation, the end twitching back and forth. She didn't even notice Zanfib's approach until he put the cloak on her, to which she suddenly stood and spun around, ears back and teeth bared. Though it only took a quick second for her to realize who it was and she instantly loosened up but with an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry.. I've... been through a lot recently." Although all of the blood still clotting her fur could have told anyone that.

She glared back at the still form of the demon once more before turning back to Zanfib. "Walk with me to the first demon and I'll tell you. And if you could keep an eye out for Tyrian's staff too that would be great."  She set off towards the bloodhound demon, wrapping the cloak around her tighter and glad to have Zanfib near. "I left home mostly because I couldn't sit still.. but also to broaden my experiences and to hopefully mature quicker into full Cubi. I wandered around.. I had no idea how beings could misunderstand creatures so much." She shook her head. "I was prepared for this climate, but yes, I was abducted. By those three demons specifically." She figured she didn't need to go into too much detail about her stay, not wanting to subject Zanfib to the horror, so she continued. "I found a way to escape and in my hurry all I could find of my belongings were one of my long broad-daggers, my belt, and pouch. And thanks for the cloak by the way, it helps a lot." She smiled, although her ears were still half down, memories still lingering too close to the surface for her liking.

Tyrian focused his hazy vision on Kassin and shook his head, a terrible gesture he knew it, "no, please save your strength little brother... I will be alright with time.  My staff will help me get better quicker."

The fox just happened to be looking in Raffiele's direction and saw their demon companion wretch.  Raff was a short distance away and Ty pointed Kassin's eyes at their demon, "he on the other hand needs a bit of help, but do be safe... do not expend too much."

Ty cared far more for Kassin's well being then Raff's, but there was no way he could prevent the young angel from helping. 

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The demon's rage continued, despite being subdued into a position where it couldn't realistically fight two cubi off. He continued to snarl, growl, and make other crude noises. Eilan managed to catch up, he had his weapons out, but noting that the demon wasn't actively attacking them for the time being, he simply kept them ready.

The demon continued on it's obscene rant, making comments as to how horribly he would kill you after he managed to escape. He continued shouting curses, insulting Eilan, Garis and Kedered's appearance, ancestry, and the availability of their mothers. In the midst of his extensive speech, he said "Oh the rewards Mistress Firestorm will give me after I eviscerate you all!." Then continued into more cursing.

Eilan let out an exasperated sigh, he'd seen this before, but it amazed him how dumb someone could be in such an obviously helpless position. He let out a short mental note, directed to Garis, Go ahead, break one of his legs. I think we're far enough away so that Kassin won't feel too much.

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Kassin shook his head, with a perplexed stance as Tyrian rejected his aid. He decided not to press, but paced over to Raffiele. He could easily tell that he wasn't feeling well, though a cursory glance didn't show any obvious injuries. He slowly paced over to the demon, and crouched down near him. "What happened to you? Did one of those demons do something to you?" His right hand started to glow with a bluish white light. He took note of the small pool of black bile, careful not to touch it, but kept his attention focused on Raffiele.

Garis shook his head in mild disbelief of the demon's stupidity, he gazed at the demon, his face a total emoition mask, and replied in a flat tone "wrong answer."

The cubi stomped the demon's knee, and felt it give with a sickening, bone crunching, crackle.  he cringed for a second at the feeling and sound, but then regained his mask. He lightly stepped around the demon, and planted his foot on the demon's other knee. Garis said "now, lets try this again, you work for mistress Firestorm... why does she want the angel boy? and why did you attack that girl?  Unlike yourself, i can keep going all day.  So i suggest you start answering my questions... Who knows, maybe if you start showing some good enough behavior, you might actually live long enough to see tomorrow's sunrise."

Kedered looked over his fellow 'Cubi's crude torture with an air of distaste. It was not that he had any qualms about harming, or even killing a prisoner, but he was a dedicated priest in the religion of practicality, and he felt he had to air a suggestion.

Using his voice instead of just his mind to include Eilan, who had come puffing into the glade, he said simply. "This is not really necessary. Between the three of us, we should be able to unriddle his mind shield in fairly short order. Once that is out of commission, we can have our psionic ally strain his mind like a soup bowl, and find out anything we want. It will probably be quicker than breaking him as well."

Zanfib's face turned into a scowl behind Chance's back. Sometimes, being a telepath had distinctive disadvantages as well. You often could catch wind of things that were a tad too unpleasant. He calmed his visage a moment later, but the unending twitching of his tail was a dead give away to the growing rage in his mind. "Come, perhaps the second demon has the key we are looking for." He said simply, but his voice carried an edge and a lowered tone that Chance perhaps recognized. They were hints of a storm brewing inside of the stoic psion's mind.

As they moved towards the second demon, Zanfib glanced up at a mutilated tree, and noted Tyrian's staff jutting out of its trunk. He reached out with his telekinetic abilities, and dislodged the staff, before sending it floating through the air back to the angel. Do try and keep better track of your toys, angel. He sent simply to Tyrian before he continued to help Chance find the key. But he was silently planning on what he was going to do to the demon responsible for Chance's suffering.. a dark and terrible revenge indeed.

Even though Chance was not a full Cubi yet.. she still had a knack for feeling certain emotions around her.. and the emotions Zanfib was giving off (as well as the wild twitching of his tail) as they approached the bloodhound demon made her uneasy. She did let it slip from her mind his abilities.. especially the telepathy one.. so she had a bit of an 'oh crap' moment. She busied herself searching the demon for the key as she thought of something to say.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw his tail thrashing about still and before she could think she grabbed his tail and pulled it once, quickly running a few paces away, giggling. "Come on Zani! If anyone is going to be angry it's going to be me, besides your tail is driving me nuts! It always looks so funny when it twitches." She giggled a bit more but then turned slightly serious again. "Two are dead and one is left... soon I can put this chapter behind me, and I'd rather not ruin the present by thinking of the past... however hard it might be.." Her eyes went to the demon and she frowned. But then shook her head and walked back to search the demon some more. She looked back at Zanfib for a moment and smiled. "Right?"

Garis looked back at Ked for a brief moment and sent him a message, 'i don't want the demon to hear this, but i expected him to be arrogant to the end, i'm doing this more for Eilan than for information.  The spell i hit him with was powerful, but far from permanent, and i want him down and out while he's in our custody.  Doing this in kassin's presence would only lead to the angel boy's own agonizing screams...  out here, we should be able to numb this demon before taking him back to Zanfib, and he won't give us any problems if he can't move his limbs... i hope you understand, unlike Nicha, this fellow would have no problem, physical or emotional, slashing one of us to ribbons if he were to find himself suddenly unbound... i'd have preferred you raise your question over our link, as i could have explained and Eilan would be happy and dumb... now we may still have to worry about this demon if i can't finish before Eilan tries to intervene.

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The demon let out an angry wail as he felt his knee break with a sickening 'crack'. "Screw you!" He let out at Garis, "When I get out of this, you're going to be so f___ing dead, I'm going to torture you slowly, make it last for days before I finally end your pathetic excuse of a life." He continued screaming, however, he finally did decide to co-operate with the threat of more violence being applied. "J... just let me live... alright...." He breathed a deep sigh.

Eilan listened in on Kedered's suggestion. He expressed interest, and after a bit of consideration, let out  some thoughts on the matter. If that's possible, go for it, though it was my understanding that only surface thoughts could be read. If we can do that, it might be a good idea to break both of his arms and legs, I don't want even a remote chance of him attacking us or trying to escape again. Regardless, if he's got a mind shield up, it would be good to break it so it would be more easy to tell if he's lying to us, and no doubt he will.

The demon, unhappy to be in this situation, started off. "Look, as fun as killing people is, sometimes torturing someone for days on end is entertaining, and it can get boring out here, I mean, I like hearing children scream for hours before they die. Still, we get bored out here." The demon then said several crude comments on how Chance looked and what he wanted to do to her. It was quite base, and highly undignified. "That's really all we kept her around for,..." He stopped himself, took a moment to catch his breath. "May I go now?"

Eilan didn't look impressed at all. He didn't however, make any moves on the demon, but still kept his weapons ready. He let out a deep sigh, and shook his head 'no'. Sometimes I wonder if demons like him possess some kind of proto-brain only capable of hate and lust. He thought. Maybe we won't need to remove his mind shield to determine if he's lying after all.

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The bloodhound demon has a very similar assortment of items that the equine one had, rations, some money, traveling tools, the like. Overall it looks like they were packing quite light.
However, you do find the key to your bracers in one of his pockets.

Kassin stared over Raffiele, still silent. A sharp pain went through one of his knees, he gasped for air as he could feel it, but it soon passed. He kept his attention on the demon, examined him some more, but again, found no obvious injuries. His face wore a perplexed look, he could tell he was ill, but couldn't determine why.

'Did one of those demons do something to you?' Oh, that teared it. Raffiele's hand gripped the front of Kassin's shirt, pulling him down to stare directly into the hyena's face. "As a matter of fact," Raffiele spoke in a barely audible grumble, "it was your dear, dysfunctional family that did this to me. Your brother, most likely, who threatened not only my welfare but that of my little cousin's. If you don't get this shit out of my body, or if my little cuz is hurt, then I am going to rip your arms off and shove them both down your throat, get me?"

Telling him that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but with such pain coursing through his body it was hard to maintain a calm and sensible demeanor. He could only hope that Kassin's family didn't have eyes and ears everywhere in the woods.

As soon as your hand lunges for Kassin, it feels faint, losing all nervous control, and fops to the ground. Soon after, the angel's spell takes full effect, you feel a strong tugging on your heart, as if something is drilling a hole through it. It feels as though almost ready to burst, and only a moment's notice away from that. It's extremely painful, but after about half a minute, it stops. It does not however, halt your speech.

Kassin gasped, as he felt Raffiele's pain. He regained his composure a few deep breaths later, he looked at Raffiele squarely. His expression, once calm, was far more serious now. He took some glances around, trying to determine who was listening in on them. His eyes started to glow blue, he examined Raffiele more closely as well. "Oh my... why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" He took some more glances about. "Eilan's not here... hold still for a moment." He touched Raffiele's numb hand.

It's a good feeling, life returns to your hand, and you almost immediately feel better, as though you had never been cursed. On the other hand, you can still tell, it's still lying in your heart, dormant for now.

Kassin sat in the snow in front of Raffiele, keeping a distance out of arm's reach. "A negative energy curse... a powerful one too, I'm not sure if I can remove it. But, there's something I need to ask you before I try..." He shook his head, again to check for listeners. Kassin took a deep breath, he had a lot to say.

"I can sense more emotions than pain, and while these past few days have been hard on us all, I can't help but notice that you have, ever since I healed you at the Willow, have bared great animosity towards me. The others may not have been happy about our situation, but none of those with us have hated me as you have. I realize that it is unfair to us all to have been put in the situation we have, and I'm not happy to put any of you at risk, though it may be the safest for us all." He stopped himself, the mention of his family disturbed him. However, he closed his eyes and looked at Raffiele sadly.

"I don't believe you should lie about who has slighted you so. You didn't know who I was before the incident at the Willow, and now you claim to know my family, and claim that they have slighted you. Yet, before what had happened there, you held no special hate towards me, as you did immediately afterwards. You believed me to be responsible for that, I don't know why you think I'm to blame for what has happened to you, as I've shown you naught but kindness. But I don't think lying and casting false blame will help anything."

Kassin looked at Raffiele, he closed his eyes before looking at him. "So, why then do you hate me?"

Garis looked down at the demon with a look of up-most disgust.  He didn't even flinch as he smashed the other leg with a brutal blow.  Then, with the precision of a surgeon, he stepped forward and drove a bone-shattering kick into the demon's armpit, the attempt was to either dislocate the shoulder, or cause a compound fracture around the shoulder, ribs and collar bones. 

His eye's held a great deal of venom as he planted a foot on the demon's chest.  He said in an icy calm voice, "i warned you about insults and defiance... you have given me both, and as such i have broken multiple bones... either answer me without arrogance, or answer me as a total cripple... You let slip you work for mistress firestorm... so tell me, why does she want the angel boy?"

Feeling around in the demon's pockets while still looking at Zanfib, Chance felt a long piece of metal, she quickly grasped it and pulled it out to reveal the key. "Yes! Finally!" She then fumbled around to unlock her bracers, but eventually they came off. Quickly standing and hugging Zanfib she squealed, when then turned a bit into an evil laugh, she was grinning, but not kindly. "Hehe, I'm feeling so good right now.. I wonder how big of a fire ball I could make..."  She turned and looked at the deceased demon.

Not quite remembering her seconds-ago speech about not ruining the present, Chance started to prepare a fire ball. Her anger at the demon being of such great quantity she started laughing again, menacingly. She has always been very much against revenge in any form, but that was before she was captured. The little part inside of her was saying This is pointless, he's dead, move on. but the part that was mostly in control now was saying That son of a B****.. I only wish I could have brought about his demise.. of course not before causing him to go through horrible, horrible agony

Suddenly she stopped, a thought occuring to her. She canceled her spell and looked to Zanfib. "Where is the other demon.. is he still alive?" All the hatred she has been penting up was now overflowing and she was finding it hard to control it.. and even then she didn't quite want to at this moment.

Zanfib gave a startld yelp, jerking his long tail away from Chance and glaring at her, only to see she had already darted off, laughing at him. He huffed slightly, his tail now twitching out of irritation, and rolled his eyes. "Oh not that name again.." He said, covering his eyes in exasperation at the mention of 'Zani'. "Always with the pet names, aren't we Chance?" He said, following her as she searched the other demons. However, he could not come up with an answer to her statement, becoming lightly puzzled for a moment.. He was unsure if she was speaking entiely of her situation, or hinting at his own past..

He did smile when she found the key, but then carefully watched her display after her powers were unleashed. He did not need to be an empath in order to figure out what Chance was feeling. He walked up to her, and put both of his paws on her shoulders, smiling. "Chance, leave it to me. Whatever you can do to him on the outside, I can do to them on the inside." He said, grinning. "Don't worry. He'll pay. Painfully so. Let's go see if they managed to track him down." He said, gesturing for her to follow as he headed off to where he could hear the jumble of sentient thoughts in the woods..

Kedered had been probing at the mind shield, and was now fairly certain he could unravel the thing, given maybe ten minutes of work. He smiled sardonically, and then leaned into the demon's ear, his voice dripping insincere urbanity.

"We both know you do not fear and probably barely feel pain. It does not matter. I can crack your mind shield, any time I feel like it. I get a kick from watching you writhe. I do not like claws. Sooner or later we will pry everything we wish to know about you, right down to what you ate for breakfast last week. The question is this one, will you answer with enough alacrity for us not to totally wreck you? It would be amusing to drop you somewhere in Ithralia, a poor demon with no arms, legs, eyes or genitals, forcing to beg coppers for a crust of bread. But do go on, I do not like you or your kind."

He straightened, reached into a minor spell that he knew, drew forth five little dancing lights around his hands and started to juggle them, coolly eying the demon and picking away at the mind shield.

Chance narrowed her eyes slightly when Zanfib said 'leave it to me' but after hearing the rest she decided not to bite his head off (figuratively of course). She didn't bear any ill will towards him, she just wanted as big of a part as possible in this demon's suffering and demise. This was very unlike her. "I want him to suffer by my hands, I want to be the one to finish him."

She followed Zanfib into the woods and even as the last of her words came out she calmed a little, feeling just the slightest twinge of a moral dilemma at that last statement. It was easier to think rationally when she wasn't looking into the face of one of her former sick captors.

Tyrian caught his staff in his right hand, but the projected thought crashed against the vicissitudes of thought that made up the fox's conscious mind and it was scattered to the astral sea.

He examined the staff to insure it was whole and found it to be so, "what would I do with all five staffs I wonder..."

The fox watched Raffiele carefully as he rested.  The demon's words were strange, passionate and expressed in such a manner that the dense, unsophisticated, base and ignoble creature could not possibly be attempting to deceive.  It was simply beyond his capabilities to be this convincing.

He watched intently, waiting to hear any response from the demon.

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The demon's mind shield is incredibly strong, likely placed by someone much more powerful than it's current bearer. It would be extremely difficult to remove it, though with some concentration, you may be able to suppress it.

The demon roared in pain as more limbs were broken, he let out a soft stream of curses, but again, shut himself up when he heard the threat of more violence being applied.

"L...look, I don't know why she wants that angel, I just follow orders and reap rewards, I don't question em. I don't know why she would waste time trying to capture him, he's just a waste of life, probably couldn't kill even the wimpiest of beings. I don't know, okay?" The demon stopped.

Eilan decided to interrupt. "She doesn't work like that, Claws target beings almost exclusively, Nakata wouldn't want to kill, much less capture, an angel for absolutely no reason. She certainly wouldn't spend excessive effort doing so either, unless there was something about him that piqued her interest. I suppose you must really like having your limbs broken..." Eilan wore a wicked smile on his face.

"I don't know!" The demon responded. "It's like she's been trying to keep everyone's mouth shut on the matter, not giving anyone  any information on him other than that he's a sucker for pain, aside from that, I don't know anything about him."

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The demon and cubi were under speed enhancements, so they're a fairly long distance away. You can tell Eilan is there as well. It does however, seem like the four of them have stopped.
The demon and his chasers left an easily followable set of tracks in the snow, winds aren't harsh at the moment, so they may yet persist for a while.

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Kassin stared over Raffiele, still silent. A sharp pain went through his other knee. After a grimace in pain, and feeling his leg to check that his leg was still intact, he turned back to Raffiele. He breathed out a sigh.
"I'd prefer it if you could tell me before Eilan got back..." He relaxed his arms and wings. If Eilan knew about the animosity he held towards me... he'd probably want him to go... . Kassin wore a frown on his face, sad looking eyes looking at the demon.

Recovering from the verge of keeling over, Raffiele wheezed and beat his chest, just to make sure his heart was still working. "...I didn't like you because being with you put me on a hit list." His voice was still low, bordering on inaudible. "I like you even less since your brother showed up after I ran away, stuck this negative crap in me, and said he'd shove my little cousin's soul in a jar if anything happens to you. My whole family's had a pretty rocky relationship with angels, and this is just another example why."

He stood and cracked his neck, giving both shoulders a good rolling. "Just so you know, I'm tearing your bastard brother a new asshole when this is done. Don't worry, he'll stay alive long enough to consider an attitude adjustment."

Chance didn't feel like being captain bring-down at the moment so she tried to think of something for mild discussion. Tightening the cloak more around her, deep in thought she kept glancing over at Zanfib. "Heh, I still can't believe it's you. It's been too long." She looked ahead, realizing she hardly knew anything that was going on. "So what is the deal here with this angel guy? I heard the demons talk about having to capture one during my stay there.." She shuddered slightly. "..and I'm guessing they meant the one who healed me. So what's the problem? What is the rest of your group about and how did you get caught up in all this?" With the ending statement she half-looked at him with a smirk. Knowing his problem with getting into trouble all too easily.

Garis looked over at Eilan and said, "can't tell if he's lying right now, seems miss firestorm, or one of her powerful allies has put up his mind shield... think he's being truthful?"

at the same time he sent a message to Ked 'need a hand with the mind shield?  perhaps the two of us could work together to speed up the process, it's not like he's going anywhere on one arm... though perhaps i should close the cuts so he won't even have the chance of passing out from bleeding... whatever the case may be i'd rather get some input before doing anything, unlike Nicha, my only interest from this bastard is information, and if he goes unconscious, who knows how well either of us could guide his dreams....

Zanfib just smirked back at her as they walked along. His tail swished lazily about behind him as he said, "Since the academy, right? I bet those batty old mages breathed a sigh of relief after I left." He said, following the scattering of thoughts up ahead. "Well, Kassin, as is his name, is a superb healer and an empath, from what I can gather. Now, why exactly it seems half the world is after him is beyond me. The others are wrapped up with him for what I can only assume are individual reasons, and I am just following along to try and figure out the whole mess." He said and smiled, flicking one of his ears. "It's all quite strange, and now you're here." He said, before turning his gaze back to the front. "We're getting close. The others have the demon.." He said as his ears flattened a moment.. "I will strain that fool's brain for everything it is worth."

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The demon let out a few more grumbles, with both legs and an arm broken however, he wasn't in a position to start causing problems. He let out a soft gurgle "May I go now?"

Eilan let out a deep breath, and turned his attention towards Garis. "Probably not, if he knew about Kassin's hypersensitivity, he probably knows at least some clues as to why Nakata wants Kassin. I'd also say that he's lying about what he kept the girl around for, she was probably there so they could torture her in an attempt to attract Kassin." Eilan stopped himself, considering other possibilities. "Then again... Firestorm tends to work on a 'needs-to-know' basis, I suppose it's possible that he doesn't know anything, but I think we should pry him some more just to be safe."

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The footprints in the ground make them easy to find, eventually, you get to be close enough to them for them to be audible. You come in time to hear Eilan say "I suppose it's possible that he doesn't know anything, but I think we should pry him some more just to be safe."
The footprints in the ground make them easy to find, eventually, you get to be close enough to them for them to be audible. You come in time to hear Eilan say "I suppose it's possible that he doesn't know anything, but I think we should pry him some more just to be safe."

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Kassin shook his head, and breathed out a sigh. He didn't believe the demon when he said his brother did this to him before, he certainly didn't believe him now.

"You seem to be intent on blaming me for actions that I did not commit. I did not put a bounty on you, and there's no guarantee that you wouldn't have been put on without my presence. And how do you know that whomever put your curse on was my brother? Do you even know his name?" Kassin's young eyes kept up his sad expression. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes before he continued. And if he knew him, he'd realize that his actions don't speak for me. Kassin shook his head.

"And besides, if I removed your curse, what assurance to I have that you won't try to hurt me immediately afterwards?" He briefly glanced at Tyrian. Kassin noted that most of his companions chased after the third demon, leaving him with only Raffiele and Tyrian as company.

Kedered glanced over at Garis. "I can crack the shield, or at least suppress it. It is not that complicated, just with a lot of energy behind it, no tricks, just a bit of force. It is strong, stronger than this one," he jerked his hands towards the demon "would be capable of creating on his own. I suspect a higher up did it on him, which would imply that he is sent, for a specific purpose, and not just roaring out for fun."

With that, he turned his attention back to the shield, pouring more energy into his attempts to bore a hole through it.

Garis nodded first at Eilan, then Ked, he took a second to breath then started adding his own energy to breaking the shield.  A few moments later, his thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance Zanfib and the very cute, spotted white feline.  Garis reverted some energy to cleaning the fresh blood from his fur yet again.

Once satisfied, he walked up to the pair with a much more relaxed look than he felt, his wing twitched slightly as he tried to gauge how the new girl was doing.  He smiled and said, "ah, Zanfib, we could use your expertise, he's got a mind shield that needs cracking... perhaps you would be so kind as to help us crack it, and get every bit of information we can from the demon... he's not going anywhere too fast... broke both legs, and an arm..."  turning towards Chance, Garis' smile grew broader and more welcoming, he took a small bow and said, "hello, i'm Garis, Ahnasazi clan, and what name, might i ask, has been bestowed on such a lovely person as yourself."

"I just told you," Raffiele snarled in frustration, "if anything happens to you, he's going to kill my little cousin. You don't think I saw your brother? Your brother with the one black and one white wing, the blue pelt with orange highlights, black parted haircut, expensive clothes? The son of a bitch that looks like you and expresses great interest in your wellbeing, he's not a relative of yours?"

His hands were clenched, as if he were going to strangle the little angel. "...you know, that whole 'blaming me for things I didn't cause' excuse? My family took over a town with a pariah like that. Everyone felt sorry for him and believed his shtick, even as he brought locusts, raids, disease, and everything under the sun on this little hamlet." He leaned in closer. "He was the first one we kicked out, the tragedies ended, and everyone was a lot happier for it. My point is, that little 'not my fault' mantra doesn't cut it because you do make bad things happen."

Tyrian took note of Raffiele's considerable rancor regarding this brother and the amount of ill will directed at Kassin.  He also noted the demon's inability to direct those negative feelings into his typical physical means against Kassin's person, despite great desire.

The fox rose to his foot paws, as the staff dispersed most of the remaining negative energy, returning much of his strength to him.  With barely a sound of pads on cold earth, Ty stood at Kassin's side.  He remained calm, but prepared for a quick defense if necessary.  Whatever seemed to hold him back from laying hands on Kassin, almost certainly did not extend to his companions. 

"Kassin, I am no expert in emotions and do not have the ability to read thoughts, but what this beast says... he is very adamant about.  He would have almost certainly would have laid rough hands upon you if not struck you by now, almost all he understands is violence... for even some small measure of compassion exists for this cousin of his.  If it is indeed a curse, then I can show you a window into his soul... by means of a crystal focus, some measure of what occurred to make him think this way might be revealed if it dealt with his soul."

He narrowed his eyes at the demon, "that is, if you seek to trust him.  I will only do this if you wish it, as it involves the use of a soul gem."   

Zanfib eyed the group gathered around the demon, but then looked up curiously as Garis approached in an unusual manner. He listened with only mild interest concerning the tale of the demon's mind shield. BUT.. that changed quite rapidly when the coy incubus attempted to work his charm on Chance. For a brief moment, Zanfib scowled as his ears flicked back, and his tail started to twitch about again, but he quickly caught himself, forcing his features back to a calm slate and his ears back up. None the less, his tail kept twitching, and he offered a side-remark as he walked towards the demon, "I see you managed to keep yourself immaculate through the fighting, Garis, so I am guessing Kedered and Eilan did all the work?"

Why did I react like that? The psion thought to himself, All of a sudden I was so frustrated, angry.. I should have a better check on my emotions. He slowly shook his head as he came up to the demon, and did a through scan of the mindshield. After a moment's pause, he said, "Pathetic. Typical of these magically constructed shields. Static, inert, and badly designed. Charging them up with so much power only makes it easier to trick them into collapsing in on themselves. Which, I might add.." He said as he reached down, and grabbed the leopard forcibly by the head, ignoring his protests as he pressed his fingers onto the demon's scalp, ".. is very painful for the bearer." He said in a low, flat tone that held a hint of malice, right before he concentrated briefly, focusing on a particular point on the shield..

And then, like a wrecking ball slamming through a wall, he pummeled the shield with a concentrated burst of mental energy once and then again, as many times as it took to bring the shield down..

Garis smirked slightly at the jab as zanfib walked by, rather than say something he replied via telepathy 'The demon hound is near headless by my claws, and this leopard was downed from my own spell.  If you wish to complain about my appearance, feel free, but trying crude insults is not the way charm a girl... ' he smirked at the ringtail, then looked back at Chance, quite intent to learn about this new winged girl.

Chance was surprised to see another Cubi... and one that was fully matured. She straightened her back some and held her head a bit higher, just to make herself seem taller and more confident. She wasn't used to seeing other Cubi at all and she wasn't about to show weakness in front of any if she could help it.

But, unfortunately no amount of preparation she has ever done has prepared her for the introduction the suave cubi just gave. Her resign faltered for a moment with a slight giggle but she cleared her throat. Before replying she heard Zanfib's remark as he walked away and noted not only the tone of his voice but the wild twitching of his tail. Huh.. I wonder what got him all worked up.. perhaps it's just the demon.. She eyed a bit of concern after Zanfib before bringing her gaze back to Garis, straightening even more.

"Nice to meet you, Garis, I am Chance" She couldn't help but smile a bit, loosing her resolve from the big smile on Garis' face. Soon she went into a bit of a giggling fit - half from the look on his face and half out of pure nervousness. Once she could calm herself she continued. "I knew Zanfib from when we were kids. I hope I can join this group.. I'm not a full cubi yet but I can still be useful." With that thought her eyes shifted to behind Garis at the demon and suddenly her anger began to swell.

Kedered's interest was piqued enough by the new arrival to divert some of his attention to the newcomer. Letting a bit of his contrived thoughtlessness slip, he flooded his thought into words, sent them vaguely in this Chance's direction.

Greetings. I am Kedered of the Adoraethar. Why do you wish to join us? You know nothing of us except that we happen to travel in close proximity with someone you knew as a child. You are very free with your personal information and past. It would not be safe to be so on the road, especially with us as companions. We attract........ our share of trouble, and more than our share of trouble. Perhaps it is best if you were to retire somewhere......... safer.

Hearing the thoughts in her head from a foreign person her ears went back and she closed her eyes. Chance did not like being treated as if she were a child, even though she hated to admit that she pretty much still was, especially for a cubi. This reminder only angered her further and was just more fuel for her ever-changing moods. She figured since this Kedered seemed to be pretty skilled she simply thought back..

I want to join not only because I trust Zanfib but because Kassin.. and everyone else in this group has saved my life - that is a big debt. I also give out my information because if I am to join this group trust needs to be made, don't think I give it out on a whim. I thank you for your concern, Kedered, but my decision is made. 

She knew anyone who wanted to 'hear' it could but she didn't quite care. The thought of that demon being so close made her fur friz out in anger, especially her tail.  That bastard needs to pay... she thought as she started to step around Garis and toward the Demon, Kedered, and Zanfib.

Garis had heard her projection, and kept his place in front of her, though extended his arms to deter her from trying to step around again. He was still smiling though with a slightly sad edge to his eyes, as he could only guess what the demons had put her through.  He looked at her calmly and said, "your more than welcome to join us, i myself welcome you with open arms... but i cannot allow you to harm this demon... yet... he may have information that may prove quite helpful, which is what we're trying to get.  He can't run away, both his legs, and one of his arms are broken.  For now, please try and relax... i understand it must be hard for you to see your captor this close, and yet your being held from your revenge.  Please, just sit down for a few moments, and let us talk until they're done..."

Garis paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, "Once we're sure we have what we need i don't really care what happens to scum like that... but he may have something we need, so please, hold your revenge off, just for a few minutes."  as he finished, the cubi gave chance a pleading look, and tried his best to seem non-threating, and possibly even welcoming by folding his wings in, lowering his arms slightly and bringing his pleasant smile back...

"Sit down?!" Chance glared at Garis, her arms were shaking with anger. This was like a complete PMS fit. She heard the words he said, they all made sense logically, but she was still quite angry. Though, being a bit of a sucker for begging puppy-dog eyes she stepped back, folded her arms, and took a seat. "Fine." Her tail wrapped around her to the front with the tip twitching back and forth in irritation.

She knew her anger, although understandable, was highly illogical at the moment and so forcing herself to sit was probably the best way to go about calming down... or at least not screwing everything up. Which brought the thought of the equine demon and she couldn't help but mutter "...at least I stabbed his balls... bastard.."

The wave of wrath almost knocked Kedered over against it. He quickly "sent" to Garis, Here are my conclusions about the mind shield, and how to topple it. including a torrent of magical symbols that approximated how the shield functioned.

Keeping his eyes upon the demon, he instead let his focus drift towards the newcomer, Chance, and sent in a flood of happy, and calming emotions her way, attempting to jam her into a less unstable state. He took a glance at Zanfib, who seemed to be the one most likely to interfere with this plan. His eyes wandered from Zanfib to Garis to Eilan.......


Striding quickly, he marched over to the fox-being. Simply stating "The only ones left with Kassin are the Demon in our party and Tyrian. Should one or more of us go to guard him? I mislike leaving him so scantily protected."

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Eilan was somewhat alarmed when Chance and Zanfib showed up. Two more... I just hope that Tyrian can keep an eye on Kassin. He did however, act with surprise when Zanfib grabbed the demon, but simply stared and observed, he took a look at the three cubi, he didn't particularly like what he was hearing from Chance, he turned towards her. "Control yourself."
When we're done gathering information from this demon, he thought out loud. we're not going to torture him any more, just kill him. I don't want to cause Kassin any excessive trouble, and we don't have the time to spare for that regardless. Make it quick and non-painful, Kassin would react badly to us drawing it out.

The mind shield is powerful indeed, well made too. It takes a lot of effort to bring it down, but eventually, it fades, and the demon's thoughts are clear.

Eilan turned to face Kedered. "That crossed my mind as well, I think Kassin would be safer if the demon were tied up and gagged...." He then decided that he didn't want the other demon overhearing him, probably didn't matter, since he planned on killing him anyways, but it was just to be safe. Look, about Raffiele, I suspected it before, but I think this setup is too stretched to be coincidental. He claimed to have been attacked by the Claws when we had found him, but, the Claws don't work like that, they don't leave people for dead, especially creatures. They tend to ignore them unless they're a target, in which case, they kill them. The demon knew about Kassin's sensitivity,... which would play on them leaving him in a wounded state, and then, we run into these three Claws. I also didn't observe him helping us to fight them off either. He stopped for a moment. "It might be a good idea for you to check up on Kassin." And to press that demon for information, I'll let you know if we find anything from this one.

The demon looked up at Zanfib, it became clear to him that they were planning on killing him anyways. He could tell that his shield was fading, fast. However, he was powerless to resist. Maybe I should make something up about why she wants Kassin so badly, I wasn't told, but I'd have to think fast,... He then noticed Chance, his eyes bulged with surprise. "What the..." His facial expression still expressed terror, and morbid surprise.

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Kassin looked surprised, his eyes bulged and stared at Raffiele. His face's expression grew more  concerned. He closed his eyes, and exhaled a deep sigh. He turned a shake of his head towards Tyrian, and simply said "No." Kassin looked up at the sky, an expression full of sorrow. He tried to convince himself that Raffiele wasn't telling him the truth, but he knew about his wings. He spent a moment thinking of various ways which he could have found out. He couldn't find any. If he didn't know him before what had happened at the Willow, he couldn't have...

He looked at the ground as he spoke. "Yavvir.... I can't recall the last time he's shown genuine concern for me. He's.... cold." Kassin took a deep breath before he continued, unable to look at the demon in the eyes. "I have not seen him for around nine months, the rest of my family... even longer, I doubt they would care to see me again, my last encounter with him... was not pleasant. But..." He made a soft sniffle, took a few deep breaths before he continued. If he did... then... he really does care about me...

"But I know him well enough to know he's not above using people for his own ends, I doubt that my safety is what he's truly after but I know he can, and would make such a threat and make good on it as well, and I know he can wield dark magic." Kassin rose to his feet.

"Please don't blame me for what he does, or what the Claws do. The Claws revel in the senseless murder of innocents, and Yavvir... we're not close in any sense. While I appreciate what the others have done for me, I do feel guilty keeping them around me at their expense. Through doings beyond any of our control or consent, we will have to stay together, for mutual safety. I'm sorry that you've been forced into this, I would not wish to chain you so. Regardless, I suppose I should remove your curse, if Yavvir did indeed, put it on you."

Kassin's hands started to glow with a bluish white light, his eyes started to glow as well, something to help him detect the curse. "Please hold still, I think it will take a great effort on my part to remove it."

Zanfib did not seem to notice Kedered's actions upon Chance. Perhaps in his focused state his senses were slightly dull, or, like their first encounter, emotions did not register very strongly with him.

However, he did notice the demon's reaction to Chance. His cold expression changed suddenly to a smirk that sung of malice.. "Ah yes.." He said, his voice barely above a whisper, "You remember her, don't you? Note her well, demon, for I do not take kindly to those who harm my friends." He said, and then his features drew back in a horrifying, feral grin.. "Goodbye demon."

The sudden lash of psionic energy was as lethal as it was quick. Zanfib did not try to read the demon's thoughts, he tore them out of his mind with a ferocity that tore into the very fabric of the demon's mind. He crashed into the his victim's memory with abandon, fully well knowing that it could kill the demon or even worse, and that the mind of the demon would resist this intrusion.. But Zanfib was a trained, psionic combatant.. where as the demon's consciousness would likely act solely on instinct against an intrusion it did not recognize or understand. The ringtail kept boring deeper and deeper into the demon's mind, casting aside frivolous memories, pieces of his personality, and parts of his subconscious with abandon. All he cared about was extracting the vital information from the demon's mind, and whether or not the feline ended up so completely inert that his bodily functions shut down was no concern of his. Chance, Kassin, the Claws, his companions and himself, that was all Zanfib cared for. Everything else was just a barrier to be broken down and obliterated.

While the party lacked any other psions, those with the surface skimming telepathic abilities of the cubi race perhaps caught the onslaught of the attack.. which, oddly enough, gave about the same impression as someone being pounced and mauled by a vicious animal. And, in his cold fury, Zanfib had forgotten the empathic Kassin who, even at such range, would probably be affected by the sudden agony the demon was being put through.

Garis flinched at the brutality with which the Psion ripped into the demons mind.  He tried hard to focus on other things and he tore into the demon's mind as a feral cat would it's unsuspecting prey.

After a few moments, he leaned nonchalantly against a tree and focused on Chance again.  He still had a bit of a grin, but his broad smile was no where to be found, he was going to try the approach of friendly, rather than suave as he had originally planned.  Looking down at her he said "You said something a little while ago that got me interested Chance.  Something about not being a full cubi yet?  I'm curious, how much do you know about your heritage, and the abilities you should be gaining shortly then?"

His tail waved back and forth lazily, and his interest in the girl was becoming quite apparent.  He added his own calming and pleasant emotions to Keds, hoping to make sure she wouldn't do anything rash, that might destroy their chances of removing the bounty.

With the comand she wanted to explain in a very angry fashion 'I AM CRONTROLING MYSELF' but that never happened. Chance's anger, although quite strong, wasn't really a match for the good vibes that Ked and Garis were sending her. She prefered to be happy anyways so that might have ultimately aided in her calming down and becoming a bit friendly again.

She realized that she did not know the name of the fox who told her to control herself.. but he already turned to Ked, plus she felt guilty for getting so angry. She looked to Garis and smiled a bit sheepishly. "I'm sorry I snapped at you.. I'll behave now." Her smile widened, wondering if she ever did behave herself. "Well, I don't know what clan I belong to.. my parents told me it was the sort of thing we should learn on our own. As for the abilities I know of some, like mind reading and thought projecting.. and emotions are basically the food. I can feel emotions around me sometimes although I don't think they benefit me much.. at least in the way that 'food' goes. Oh! and you get head wings!" With this she squealed, bouncing lightly as she sat.

Without Garis being right in front of her she could get a plain view of Zanfib now. For some reason he just caught her eye, most likely from his tail swishing around. He looked terrible! Like someone about ready to.... oh no... she thought. Needless to say her bouncing stopped, and thank goodness there was still some freshly sent 'calm' in her because she was pretty sure she knew at least what he wanted to do to the demon, she wasn't sure if he could yet.

"Zan! What are you doing?!" She called out to him, getting to her feet again. She wasn't sure why she suddenly cared about what would happen to the demon.. perhaps she didn't, perhaps she just didn't want Zanfib to be the one to carry out terrible things.

Tyrian shrugged at Kassin's refusal and backed off a bit.  With Kassin occupied and Raffiele afflicted, he remained as the sole defender.  Turning to scan their surroundings with his eyes, the mage quickened a spell of perception from the realm of air.

He reached out in a 100 meter diameter with every sense he possessed: sight, hearing, smell... even to a certain extent taste as canids used part of that sense in tracking.  It was the best he could do and remain capable of responding to threats that might present themselves.

"Kassin, please make it quick, this area is still not fully safe.  The others have not yet returned, they must still be dealing with the other demon.  I wish not to linger too long, hopefully they return soon."

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Eilan broke away from Kedered to observe the demon, and Zanfib, standing over him. He was slightly alarmed at first when he said "Goodbye demon.", but became far more alarmed when he started screaming in agony. He raised an eyebrow, Kassin's not going to like this..., and watched. The demon continued to writhe.
You are able to see what the demon was doing, apparently, they were claws, searching for Kassin. They captured Chance in order to use her as bait for Kassin, they spent day upon day torturing her, abusing her, hoping that her emissions of pain would attract Kassin. It doesn't appear like any of them knew why Nakata wanted Kassin however, but only cared to have him brought back to her, alive.
The demon kept screaming in agony, he was undisciplined and badly injured. But finally, Eilan, now convinced that Zanfib was only torturing the demon, not extracting information from him, pulled out one of his blades, gripped the hilt with both hands, and swung at the demon's neck. The blade got stuck in, cutting deep, and was instantly fatal. Eilan put his right foot on the demon's chest, and extracted the weapon, still quite bloody from this encounter. He looked at Zanfib, visibly angry.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?", he growled at Zanfib. "We needed information, not for you to torture him! I believe I thought that loudly enough for you to hear that. I know enough about thought reading to realize that the two don't necessarily have to go hand in hand. We don't have the time to be wasting on frivolously torturing our foes when we could just cleanly kill them. Or better yet, we could get something out of them rather than senselessly abusing them. Besides, aren't you forgetting that Kassin's hypersensitive? I just hope he's still sane after what you've likely exposed him to."

With a grumble, he put his weapon back in his hilt. He shook his head in frustration. He let out a deep, angry breath before he made a few steps back. He made a motion to the others. "Let's go, we've wasted enough time already."

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Kassin nodded as he heard Tyrian. He was about to touch the demon, when he clutched his head with both hands. "aah! AaaaAAH!", he screamed in pain, and fell to the ground. He was in unbearable agony for a while, whimpering softly while feeling like his head was melting down. It continued for a while, but finally, he clutched his neck with his left hand, and let out a gasp for air. Lying down on the ground, he alternated between soft whimpers and deep breaths, gasping for air.

Rafa had kept quiet until then, simply nodding and keeping the rest of his body still for Kassin. "...oh, what the hell is it now?!" Rafa made another strangling motion with his hands, about to grab Kassin and haul him up. If only he didn't have that wretched curse placed on him. "Snap out of it and get to healing!!" The one problem with empathics: always breaking down around the wounded.

Glancing over towards the others, he yelled angrily. "Which one of you screwups set him off?!"

Torn between a desire to protect Kassin and wanting to see how the interrogation played out, Kedered hovered until Eilan executed the demon. After observing it with a nod, he wrapped himself in a speed spell and sprinted back towards the area they were attacked in.

As Chance watched her last captor be slain she shuddered. She figured she would be more angry about that being taken away from her, but she was fine. Finally that chapter has ended and she doesn't have to be reminded...

But when she seen the fox yell at Zanfib she growled low. Again she knew what the fox said was logical.. and ultimately she was glad he didn't let Zan proceed any further, but it still irked her. She did not interfere, though, instead she waited for the fox to start heading back where everything started, and then she went to Zanfib. Of course right after she appologetically smiled at Garis.

"Zan? Are you ok? What happened?" Chance stopped, realizing she was probably over doing it with the questions. "Hey, lets talk while we go back." She lent a bit of a smile, hoping he wouldn't explode... or rather pent up. She waited for him to stand before she started walking back.

Garis first replied to her apology by bringing his broad smile back and replying "no apology needed, i know what demons are capable of, especially the young, and childishly cruel ones... I'm just sorry we didn't find you sooner."

He was starting the motion of sitting down next to the cubi girl when she burst out with a shout to zanfib.  He had already shifted his weight to slide down, and Garis wasn't 100% sure what was going on, as he'd been largely ignoring Ked, Zanfib and Eilan.  He turned the motion into a shoulder roll and landed in a crouched position, wings folding in on themselves forming tentacles.  

When he saw it was just Zanfib continuing his ripping apart of the demon's mind he relaxed slightly until Eilan nearly took the demon's head off.  As Chance got up and left, he knew he didn't stand much of a chance with the girl if Zan went for her as well.  He shook the thoughts off, grinned wryly at the others, and without a word, cast a speed enhancement spell while taking to the skies and heading back towards Kassin and Ty.

The moments before the demon was slain were brief, but Zanfib did answer Chance. "Your revenge, Chance. With a little information gathering on the side." He said simply, as if his actions were as simple as baking a pie. He continued to plunge into the demon's mind, much akin to a spear, when suddenly, he felt the connection go dead. It then donned on the psion that the mind of the demon was dying, along with the demon.

After the execution, Zanfib simply glared at Eilan as if he were a mildly irritating insect. "What I was doing was gathering information. But thanks to you, all I have is a name! Nakata, and that's it. Whoever it was wanted Kassin alive, but thanks to your idiocy, that's all I could get." He said, before turning away from the fox and facing Chance.. almost as if Eilan didn't exist. His demeanor softened quite a bit when he looked at Chance though, and he said, "I saw what they did, Chance.. They were trying to use you as bait for Kassin, it seems, almost successfully. I am sorry for what happened, and sorry that this fox prevented me from exacting full revenge. Come now, I suspect now is the time to reform the party and get moving." He said, and then followed her back to the others..

Chance flinched when Zanfib mentioned how he 'saw' what they did to her, she didn't like it at all, but there was nothing she could do about it. She nodded to his notion for leaving and walked with him. "It's ok Zanfib, really, at least that part is over. Now we have to figure out how to go about this whole thing with Kassin. Even though I'm new to this whole situation, it seems to me like hiding from whoever wants him isn't working out so well. Is that where everyone is heading? To defeat this crazy person?"  She looked around, realizing they were alone and probably way behind she added "uhh.. do you think you could get us back more quickly?"

"Honestly, I do not know." Zanfib replied to Chance. "I have been following the group after noticing an unusual series of bounties on them, and all I have gathered thus far is that the Claws are after them." He said, and then paused for a bit, smirking over at Chance. "You always did like teleporting a bit too much, didn't you? Well, I am sorry Spots, but we're walking this time. Psions specialize in rapid, quick teleportation, not the long range variety." He said, and started walking off towards Kassin's group.

Tyrian swung around at first utterance of Kassin's scream, the fox's spell crashing down around him.  He did not care about that trifle and knelt down to Kassin's crumpled form scooping him up into his arms.

On a tone bordering on cloying, Tyrian whispered to the young angel as he embraced him, "shhh, it's okay little brother, it's okay... there's no pain, please come on, come back to us... it's okay.  Shhh."

The fox sat cross legged, rocking back and forth almost cooing to the tiger angel.  What the hells am I doing??!  Screamed some logical portion of his mind, but his emotional side silenced it and continued to pour positive vibes at their little empath.

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Eilan growled softly at what Zanfib said, he certainly wasn't in any mood to have a calm debate.
"Yes, thank you for finding out information we already knew, and instead choose to torture our captive. You could have pried whether he knew anything from him without having to have harmed him, and then have relayed it, but I guess a little finesse is asking for too much." Eilan grumbled. "It's lovely to see you behave like the Claws, wasteful, crude, and barbaric." He shaked his head and grunted in disgust, as he walked along. "I'm sure Kassin's good health was what was driving your thoughts after all." He said in a sarcastic tone. Eilan shook his head in disgust as he walked along.

It's easy to find the way back though, the tracks in the snow are still visible.

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After a few more deep breaths, Kassin recovered from his ordeal. "Th...thanks.." he said to Tyrian, as he rose to his feet, and out of Tyrian's grasp. A few minutes later, he turned his attention to Raffiele. He took note that there was no one else visible besides himself, Tyrian, and Raffiele.

"Please hold still, I'll attempt to remove it." His hands glowed with a soft, bluish white light, as he placed his hands on the demon's shoulders, and coursed energy through him.
It's a pleasant, soothing feeling

Kassin channeled energy into Raffiele, attempting to remove it, his first go is unsuccessful, and after briefly withdrawing his hands, he scans Raffiele again, detecting that the curse is still intact, after spending a moment thinking, he resumed it again.

"It resists... please stay calm. I hope it doesn't try to protect itself virulently." He continued to put more energy into removing it. The process  takes a while, but eventually, he succeeds in removing it. Kassin withdrew his hands.

"There, it's gone." He spent another moment examining Raffiele, eyes glowing while making sure that it was truly gone.
Indeed, it's finally gone, you can feel it.
Kassin put on a weak smile. "How are you feeling?"

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Under a speed enhancement, it only takes a few minutes to reach Kassin and the others, you arrive in time to hear Kassin say "How are you feeling?"

Under a speed enhancement, it only takes a few minutes to reach Kassin and the others, you arrive in time to hear Kassin say "How are you feeling?"

Kedered darted into the clearing, noted with relief that Kassin was all right. He was kneeling over Raffiele, odd, since the Demon hadn't been hurt in the encounter. The two of them were talking, and Kedered didn't want to interrupt. Instead, he strode over to the fox Angel and asked him. "Any problems? The last demon didn't make it, I hope we were far enough away that the backlash didn't hurt Kassin." He paused, considered. "Is there any sign of those bracers? They might come in handy." His own eyes began to dart around looking for them.

The hex certainly felt removed, but one could never be too sure. "...well, let's give it a test run." Rafa gripped the fingers of his left hand and, with a quick and dirty snapping sound, bent them back until they reached halfway to his wrist. Raffiele managed to suppress the agony by sucking a rush of air through his teeth. "Fff--" Soon after, the broken digits mended back together, good as new. "...yeah, you got it out." As much as he hated to say it... "Thanks, Kassin."

Chance flattend her ears, hearing the fox's speech as they walked along. She wanted to say something, but thought it better to just let him fume and get it out of his system. Hopefully that would be it for the arguing. In an attempt to change the mood she skipped a few paces ahead to where the fox was and tried to smile a bit at him. "I never got your name, I'm Chance." She gave a wider grin, feeling more brave after the awkward introduction. Her steps felt a bit more light and hurried the closer they traveled towards the group, so she kept skipping along. She hoped to either distract from the tension or to create a lighter mood... besides the fact she hasn't felt this good in quite some time and needed to let out some good energy.

Garis used his flight back to put his thoughts in order, he decided that if he couldn't get the girl this time, at the very least, making a new friend wouldn't be a bad thing.  His mood steadily raised as he glided on his wings, just above the treetops.  He effortlessly skimmed over branches, following his path and lazily sailing along.

He quickly found the clearing with Kassin, Rafe and Ty.  He came in quick, again feeling a bit showy of his physical prowess.  He came in fast, landed in a shoulder roll, then exploded to his feet... Garis was fairly certain his display went unnoticed, but he didn't really care.  It was fun for him and that was all that mattered at that moment.  After taking a second to get himself properly oriented, and his sense up, Garis walked towards Kassin and Rafe, making sure things were and remained civil.

Tyrian shot Kedered a menacing look as the jaguar incubus mentioned the backlash, "the unwise actions used to deal with the other demon reduced Kassin to a whimpering mess... he recovered, but whatever you did to kill it, and whatever else was happening over there could be felt by him.  Kassin is far too sensitive for many of our heavy handed approaches, we will have to be more mindful of that."

The fox rose to his own feet, and approached Kassin, "Raffiele looks to be fine, but the question is, little brother, how are you after the earlier ordeal and the cleansing of the curse?  Be honest, or I will carry you to our next camp anyways no matter what you say if I suspect you are putting on a brave act."

Zanfib, in his ever arrogant fashion, seemed to completely ignore Eilan as he walked away, only paying the fox the slightest bit of mind when Chance promptly ran over and introduced herself. He felt the same, hot rush again, before his chilly calm surfaced again, and he actually did a mental check for a moment, half-wondering if he was under some manner of hidden assault.. But his mentor had introduced him to such tactics, and this did not feel like a psionic attack at all, so what was it? As he pondered over this, he projected some of his thoughts to Chance in the form of a message. Come now Chance. Although I am sure that your warming demeanor could overcome the most stubborn of fools, that particular being is stuck in his habits, and terribly short-sighted. Best not waste your time with him.

One could never call Zanfib a hypocrite, oh goodness no! That would just be silly!

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As Chance came over, Eilan took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down from his recent ordeal. After a deep breath, he responded to the inquiry.

"I am Eilan Kalathka." He stopped to examine Chance, looking her up and down, taking note of appearance and behavioral tendencies, he found Chance's light mood, despite having been almost killed, quite bizarre. Eilan's facial expression was still serious, and alert, as if expecting another group of demons to come out from hiding and attack. After some moments of silent travel, he made a soft nod.

"I've heard you say that you wanted to accompany us. If you wish to, I will not object. I do however, feel obligated to say that doing so may put you in a lot of danger. Kassin has managed to attract the wrath of not only the Claws, but many adventurers, and possibly special animosity from the Thularians as well. If you come with us, you risk feeling their wrath as well. I wouldn't want to place you in such peril for his, or my benefit, especially after how we've met. If you wish to stay however, that is your choice."

"We should meet up with the others shortly.", he said, following the trail of footprints in the snow.

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Kassin recoiled and grasped his left hand. He let out a soft groan. When he regained his bearings, he looked at Raffiele with a pained expression. "You're welcome... but please, don't do that." Kassin took a few deep breaths, he shuddered slightly. The place felt cold to him, and in more ways than one. He turned his attention towards Tyrian.

"I'm more shaken up from the onslaught of pain I had felt recently, it felt... vile, and I can't erase it from myself, it lingers, even though I cannot feel it anymore.... I hope to put this event behind me, forgotten." He sighed, and exhaled deeply into the snow. "Removing his curse isn't what has drained me, healing, I find, I feel better after doing it, not exhausted. I don't think there was anything exceptionally brave about what I did." He stopped himself for a moment, he felt safer with more people around him. "I do think I can walk on my own though, I'll be well for travel shortly, speaking of which, we should probably wait for the others."

Fortunately, new snow hasn't arrived in sufficient quantities to bury anything beneath a new layer. A cursory search reveals them dropped near the corpse of the bloodhound demon.

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Eventually, Eilan, Chance, and Zanfib came to the others. By this point, Eilan was relatively calm. He paced over to Kassin.
"How are you holding up?" He asked him.

"I'll be fine," Kassin responded, he took a few more deep breaths. He looked dizzy, and let out a soft groan. Eilan nodded, this seemed to be enough for him.

"Now that this disaster is behind us.., I think we should move on." Eilan stated.

Kedered strode through the snow, scooping up the bracers and discarded key that went to them in time for the others to return. Astarian restraining bracers, to be sure. He idly wondered how a trio of demons such as these managed to obtain them. The thought of these three doing battle and winning against the Astarian peacekeepers was ludicrous, as was anyone who was capable of such a feat entrusting them to the same. Still, they obviously stopped this Chance incubus. Her anger was too genuine to be fake, and that meant prisoner, and that meant real restrainers.

He put a cold smile in the face of Eilan's imperative to move on, and said "not just yet." He strode over to Kassin and placed the key to the bracers in his hands. "I am not attempting to make you a prisoner, but if you put these bracers on, it should cancel out your healing abilities. It should also cancel out your empathy, which means that people can be harmed in your vicinity without you falling to pieces. Furthermore, if someone is tracking you by your power, it ought to sheild you from scrutiny. Lastly, if we have you so restrained, we can, on reasonably short notice, make ourselves look like the adventurers hunting us, with you as our "prisoner". I obviously do not wish to force you to wear them, but you will probably be a lot safer with them on. With the key, you can always take them off later."

Chance just smiled and nodded at Elian's warning, glad to know the reason for his severe behavior is just because he cares. She was glad to have the cloak as they neared the group, not just for warmth but to cover the bloody mess that was still on her fur. Making a note to clean herself first chance she got she looked at everyone with a smile on her face, practicing putting names to faces. Then she saw the demon, her face went blank and she froze in place.

What is this? What's wrong with me? Sure he's a demon but.. he can't be all that bad since he's with the group. No! I will not have a prejudice against him for no good reason.

With that she squared her shoulders and forced herself to move towards the demon. She darted her hand out to him and introduced herself. "Hi, I am Chance. Nice to meet you."

Garis watched the on-goings of the group with mild amusement, especially as Chance approached the demon.  He'd been picking up her concern with the blood all over her, and her wanting to bathe.  He waited for the introductions to be done, then approached with a wide grin.  He placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "This will only take a second, but you should feel a little better"

Garis' other hand gave off a dark mist and he traced the outline of Chance's body with it, keeping it an inch or so away.  As his hand moved over an area, the blood that had stained her fur was lifted, as if it evaporated into thin air.  He smiled broader as he finished and said "there, perhaps now you'll feel a bit more presentable for a good first impression?"

Tyrian nodded to Kassin satisfied enough with the tiger's explanation, "you are quite cute sometimes, but as you say, it is not a brave act."

He gathered what few things he had dropped to participate in battle and stood ready.  It was best that they got moving and Eilan voiced that same sentiment as he thought it.  Of all, only Eilan seemed worthy to make such decisions. 

"Indeed, we should move out.  I hope everyone is done looting the dead." 

As Kedered approached Kassin with the shackles, it was Tyrian that crossed his arms and judged the cubi.  Only a fool would blatantly play his hand and show his side so openly, but it was best to cease all trust of the cubi.

"I do not think that is wise... it is like sticking your own neck in the noose so the hangman can't place it there himself.

Kassin looked at Kedered, then at the bracers. He took the key, but stared at it perplexed, as if he didn't know what to do with it. He then looked at the restrainers. "Wha.... what are those?" Kassin asked.

Eilan stood by, listening to Kedered's points, he stopped to answer Kassin's question. "Those are restrainers, they're bracers that negate the magical powers of those that wear them. They're commonly used in Astarea by their peacekeepers on magical deviants, so they can be more safely imprisoned. They can be found elsewhere, but they're not as common. I suppose it's possible that the claws could have some, they do cause problems in Astarea and it wouldn't be too unlikely that they could have gotten a pair from a slain peacekeeper."

"Regardless..." He continued. "I doubt it would allow us to fake Kassin as a prisoner, the bounty lists him as wanted dead, not alive, and we would have to hide Tyrian and Raffiele as well, or that would blow our cover. On the other hand..." He stopped to think for a moment. Kassin seemed nervous. Eilan turned to face Tyrian. "We should consider all possible cases."

"They would prevent him from healing us, if one of us got hurt, but I suppose if he had the key, he could take them off and put them on when he wanted to. It's a similar case with his empathy, the Claws knew about it, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think our other enemies would want to use that to their advantage." Eilan continued to ponder the situation. "Your call though Kassin."

Kassin stared at the key, unsure of what to do. He remained silent.

"I think.." Zanfib butted in, ".. that for once, Kedered has a good idea. Your empathy is a weakness to be exploited, Kassin, and those bracers could effectively nullify them at your discretion." He said simply, before returning his attention to Chance. He watched with curiosity as she nervously approached Rafe, followed shortly by Garis. He watched intently, more than he meant to, as Garis removed the filth from Chance's fur. Part of his mind silently calculated how difficult or easy it would be to crush an incubi mind. Open, for their telepathy and empathy, but not nearly as well shielded as a trained psion, and hence vulnerable to psionic assualts- but Zanfib caught himself there, and again found himself wondering why such thoughts were entering his mind, especially considering it was Garis. Kendered, maybe, but not Garis!

Never the less, his tail was nearly invisible towards the tip, what with all the twitching about it was doing.

When Chance felt Garis' hand on her shoulder she stiffened slightly, still trying to get used to these new people. Once his hands started moving around her.. so close.. she kept herself as stiff as a statue, her hair standing on-end. Holy crap, what is he doing?!His hands are so close! Why do they have to be so close!

Once the process was over she looked down and around, opening up the cloak and turning once. She squealed and jumped once, throwing her arms over Garis' shoulders in a grateful hug. "That is awesome!! I can't wait to do stuff like that!" She then remembered she was in the presence of a whole group of guys, she stepped back, cleared her throat and straightened herself out. "Um.. I mean.. heh, thanks." She smiled kindly, closing her eyes while doing so.

Chance opened her eyes again upon hearing a weird sound.. "What's that buzzing noise?" She looked around to find Zanfib's tail doing it's thing again. She giggled, unable to help it from the silly sight.

Raffiele gave Chance a mildly annoyed glare, eyes darting from her hand to her face before giving a half-hearted handshake. Like, 'what am I doing shaking the hand of this vagrant?' "Raffiele." He gave her a few other looks before shooting a disapproving stare in Zanfib and Garis' direction. "Look, are we going to take in every indigent we find? In case you forgot, we're kind of in a bind here. I'd rather not have to travel with a young, female creature belonging to a race known for its emotional tendencies." Having the curse removed certainly didn't change his usual surly attitude.

"Emotional... tendencies?!" Chance was preoccupied with giggling at Zan's tail until she heard that last bit from Raf, knowing he was referring to her. She slowly turned, eyes narrowed, and looked at Raffiele. "I was trying to be nice to you, but I can see you won't have any part of it. You would think one would be thankful to be around something other than this overwhelming sea of testosterone!" She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to calm down and to not give the wrong message. Finding her center she continued, "Look, I'll try my best to not hug you, and you try your best to not be such a grumpy-butt." She smiled, returning to her normal self.

Figuring she wouldn't care much for his reply Chance quickly turned and skipped over to Zanfib. "...speaking of grumpy-butts.." She said with a smirk, ruffling her hair a bit with her fingers, trying to get back to business. "We've been here way too long, the familiarity of this place is starting to make me antsy,  but what direction are we heading?"

Although most of his attention was on Kassin, and wondering whether or not the young Angel was willing to try on the Restrainers, travelling with this group had conditioned him to always keep a part of mind focused on Raffiele, and that made him aware of the encounter between him and Chance.

Mind blank, he frowned slightly, and then let words fly in Chance's general direction. As repugnant as the Demon is, he has a point. You experienced firsthand what our enemies will do to random people just to get at us. This is a serious matter child, and your buoyancy, while attractive, is dangerous, not only to you, but to all of us. What if there were Thularian scouts in the wood while you nattered and shouted? Would you want to bring thousands of warriors upon your own head? This is no game, and if you want to, what was it you said? Repay the debt incurred by your life, or something like that. This is serious. You should be too.


A second later he added. And trying to befriend Raffiele is probably a waste of time.  His thoughts move in dark circles. If you do wish to make the attempt, it will probably necessitate a display of raw power or callous brutality. Such is his yardstick of worth.

Eilan gave Raffiele a distrustful look. Or traitorous tendencies., he thought, as he stared at the demon, watching his every move, almost as if looking for any excuse to express his distrust. His trail of thought was interrupted by Chance. "I don't see you in that way, so don't get any ideas."

Eilan paced over to Kassin to help him put on the restrainers. Kassin rolled up his sleeves, and put the bracers on. After doing so, Eilan took the key and locked them into place, then gave it back to Kassin. He pocketed the key, and, after giving them a cursory glance, rolled his sleeves back over the bracers. Observing Garis's spell, Kassin started examining Chance again, looking for any injuries he might have missed.

Eilan turned back to Chance, feeling the need to answer where they were going. "Darrins farm, we should be able to make it there shortly. It's the site of a soul murdering that Kassin is accused of. We're trying to find clues as to who is really responsible, and hopefully they haven't all been picked apart." Eilan stopped himself for a moment. "Speaking of whi...... what the?" he turned his attention towards Kassin, whose eyes were glowing as he continued to look around for other injuries he might have missed. Eilan stared at Kassin, taken with surprise.

Garis was caught completely off-guard when he was suddenly squeezed, he tensed for a fraction of a second as Chance wrapped him up in a hug, though he managed to relax and enjoy the moment before she realized she may have been acting slightly inappropriate around a group of males... he caught the hint of jealousy from Zanfib, and let out an internal smirk... The wolf had been thinking that the psion had developed a liking for the girl, and this recent little outburst all but confirmed his suspicions, at least in his own mind.

Garis was about to tell zanfib to relax when he suddenly pick up all the different concern for the girl's well-being from the rest of the group.  As he was forming a rebuttal in his mind, he picked up Kassin's sudden concern, as he began searching for what could possibly be more injured victims.  Garis bolted to the angel boy and asked "is anything wrong?!"

He was already preparing to take flight, but waited for the Angel's response before he'd take action.

Upon hearing Kedered's words in her mind she sighed. He's right.. His words, although stinging slightly, made her calm down. It was even strangely comforting in a way.. like being corrected by a teacher. She felt grateful, which she hoped he picked up on, for him taking the time to explain. She was sure it wasn't entirely for her benefit, which was fine, she certainly didn't want to get the whole group killed from her shenanigans.

Gal, I have to get my crap together. She thought as Eilan explained the mission at hand. How could anyone accuse Kassin of such terrible things? Granted all she knew about him was his gentle personality, not to mention he saved her life, but it just doesn't seem possible. But this was a mystery worth solving, no innocent soul should have to be hunted for false convictions.

The sudden appearance of Garis disrupted her thoughts. She then noticed Kassin's glowing eyes. "What the heck?"

Although Zanfib was still seething from the recent displays, his tail had, at least slowed down enough to where the stripes were visible. Even thought it was still twitching about, he managed to speak to Chance calmly enough. "Ignore the incubus, Chance." He said simply, not bothering to explain that he had been intercepting their transmissions. "In this party of head cases and fatalists, your optimism could very well be what we need to survive this." He said, and was about to continue, when Chance caught eye of Kassin, and promptly drew the ringtail's attention away.

His eyes narrowed as he noted the strange activity from the angel, and he strode briskly to Kassin's side. "Kassin? What is going on? Your eyes are glowing. Is something wrong with the bracers?" He asked, and while he inquired, he reached out with his senses, scanning the angel's mind, his psyche, and even the bracers as well to try and discern the origin of this oddity.

Kassin's eyes stopped glowing. "No,, no I'm fine, I just wanted to check everyone for extra-physical injuries... I didn't want to miss anything before we continued."
A scan doesn't reveal anything unusual.

Eilan snapped out of his surprised stance, strode over to Kassin, and rolled up his sleeves. "No... the restrainers are certainly in place, and active, yet... he's still using magic." Eilan paused to examine the bracers for a moment. "I'd guess that neither his magic nor his empathy are being negated."

"Well, I can tell that you're under a large deal of stress now Eilan..." Kassin responded.

Eilan took a deep sigh. "Either there's something wrong with those bracers, or there's something about you... I'm not a magic user though, I really can't offer much insight into this matter." He took the key and unlocked the bracers, and then pocketed the items. "I suppose if anyone thinks of anything, they can say so on the way to our destination. Regardless, we should get going, I think we've spent too much time already." With a nod, Kassin and Eilan continued along.

Travel seemed to take a while, it was early morning when they rose, and their little interruption on the road took more time than Eilan had wanted. Still, he continued on. The forest seemed to extend for a long period of time, but eventually, the journey came to snowy plains. Eilan examined the ground for footprints, but found none. Nodding in approval, he silently said "We're going to be extremely exposed here." He said with a sigh. "If any of you see or sense anyone, try to get away, or behind cover. Especially once we get near our destination." Several hours were spent lapsing through the forest, and through the abandoned looking plains, from the lighting, it was likely around noon time.

As they got closer, footprints in the ground became more common, many were mostly washed away from snowy winds, though many still remained. Fortunately, no other travelers were encountered. After some more time spent, a farmhouse could be seen far in the distance. "There it is." Eilan said, as he gave a closer look at the ground, a few moments later, he let out a brief "Stop." Eilan looked more closely at the ground, looking at several tracks in the ground.

"Four pairs, two larger, two smaller, they look recent, likely made only minutes ago. I'd say there's an adventuring group inside the farmhouse. It doesn't look like there are many out here at the time... though I was hoping to get here earlier." He paused for a moment. "Now what to do about them..." He stopped to ponder the situation. He looked over at the rest of the group. "Any ideas?" He turned back to look at the tracks.

Tyrian traveled in silence like he mostly always did, keeping by Kassin and remaining alert.  Tyrian did spend a small amount of his magic obliterating the tracks the group left in the snow and scattering their scents to the wind.  While on the open plains, he added an optical illusion to their travels.  Using the moisture and ice crystals in the air, he blurred and concealed a large part of their optical presence from observation from beyond their immediate surroundings into their area.

By the time Eilan called a halt, he was rather fatigued.  Sighing he replied flatly to Eilan's question, "I do not have any suggestions.  I am rather depleted magically, so I wish to avoid more conflict... especially for Kassin's sake.  The only thing I can do to conceal myself is to use a magical device which removes my wings, but I can't do anything about the glowy eyes or my actual appearance."   

 They don't work? What!?  For his first time in decades, albiet only for an instance, Kedered let the shock roll off of him before regaining his emotional equilibrium. He had to resort to his litany of familial obligations to regain his balance, and was glad of the order to march, taking note that Eilan still held the bracers. They might come in handy.

Speculating to himself as to their failure, as they had obviously worked on Chance, he came up with some interesting thoughts as to what exactly was the source of Kassin and his abilities, although without a direct means to prove, or even verify his supposition, he did not share his thoughts with the others.

When they neared the farmhouse, Kedered once again turned his attention externally, nodding at Eilan's caution.

"Obviously, we cannot all go in. Chance and Zanfib are not on the wanted list, as of this moment. However,if they are exposed travelling with us, they might quickly become wanted themselves, and we might want ot preserve them as aces in the hole. That leaves Garis, myself, who can change their appearance, and Eilan, who has a bit of legal weight that the others lack. I am perfectly willing to go out scouting if the others can bear to have me away. Regardless the rest of the group will probably want to sleep." Is there any shelter we can find or fashion quickly? I have rarely frequented this locale.

Chance stared at the prints in the snow. "What if it isn't an adventuring group? I guess the scouting would answer that." She looked to Ked, then to no one in particular as she muttered. "Too bad I didn't bring a fruit basket.. "

Flicking her ears some she thought a bit more, then continued. "If we need to bring them out and subdue them, whether they be adventurers or worse, I could act as bait and distraction. If they are adventurers then they would be overjoyed to help a damsel in distress, especially being 'all alone' out here." Granted she did realize that not all adventurers were good.. and could quite easily take advantage of the situation, or try to, either way it would work. "I could bounce around, hug them a few times, and while they're trying to figure out what the heck I was all about.. Surprise! The muscles come in and take over. And if they are demons or something, seeing a lone girl won't cause too much of a stir, they would get cocky thinking of how easy it would be to.. " She stopped and shook her head. "..you know.. and then.. Surprise! The muscles come in."

She didn't exactly like the idea of putting herself in a vulnerable situation like that. Granted she still had one weapon on her as well as her now-working magic, but she doubted whoever was inside would dish out what the three demons did. That and she was not alone.

Garis took most of the journey in the sky, flying just above the tree lines, sometimes skimming the branches, and on occasion, doing an overly fancy landing when he thought he spotted trouble.  He didn't really converse with anyone, as he was having too much fun in the skies.

While the other discussed various plans to investigate, Garis had some fun with his appearance,  taking his borrowed clothing from his back, he donned the bracers, and cloak, then adjusted them to match his new appearance... He hoped no one noticed that he'd suddenly become a tall, slender, and rather shapely vixen being with bright hazel eyes...  The dark cloak was turned a brilliant white, which matched the snow and the leather bracers were suddenly a bronze looking metal.  For clothing under the cloak, seductively clad would probably be the best word for it.  'She' wore a very form fitting sleeveless red cocktail dress, tied around 'her' neck with a narrow string, and ending slightly above 'her' knees, with a slit across her left side that ran up to 'her' hip.  In simpler terms... modest was not what the cubi was going for...

'She' approached the group with a sultry walk, and spoke in a soft soprano, "seems you're forgetting many of the abilities of a skilled cubi Chance, no need to risk yourself when my own element of surprise will be far more devastating than anything they would even come to expect..."  turning 'her' attention to the Eilan and Ked, 'she' added, "I'm ready to go whenever you are"

"The bracers are functioning, at least.. I would normally say that they are faulty due to the fact they are not of Astranaar make, but.. Our angel isn't exactly normal, is he?" Zanfib said, before they set out again.

At Chance's suggestion, Zanfib's tail swished through the air, and he shook his head. "Not happening. You've been hurt enough so far, we're not about to use you as bait." The psion said, although his mind seemed to have entirely different objectives than his words.

But, soon, Madam Garette made 'his' appearance. Zanfib took one look, went wide-eyed.. and then began laughing so hard that he actually collapsed to the ground. Amidst his gales of laughter, the only thing that anyone could make out is that he made some comment about Garis in his finest form.

Eilan took some time to consider some of the suggestions, but then shook his head at some of the more eccentric ones he had heard. urgh... I shouldn't have asked... He thought, but he decided to answer Kedered first.

"I suppose we could, but shelter is kind of sparse out here, just a few farmhouses, cottages, and the like, and I don't think there are too many abandoned ones around here. I don't like the idea of leaving Kassin out in the open, far too risky here." Eilan looked around as wind blew, a short break in the snowy winds revealed a small looking hut out in the distance, in a direction away from the farmhouse. It soon disappeared from view as the wind got stronger, snow obscuring vision. "I saw a hut over that way, quite a distance off though. I don't see any tracks going or coming from that direction, but if it's abandoned, I suppose Kassin and whomever can't disguise themselves could head over there while the rest of us investigated the farmhouse. If it's not, it would be safer to stay in the open, and hopefully the rest of us wouldn't take too long." He then turned to Chance, and silently shook his head. She really isn't prepared for a situation like the one we're in.

"Not going to happen. If they are adventurers, unless you hide your wings, they're not going to react well to seeing a succubus, they might even attack on sight, considering what's happened around here. Not to mention...." he turned his attention towards Garis, he wasn't amused. Kassin also looked at 'him' with a surprised glance, his outfit was disturbing him a great deal.

"What do you think you're doing? Put some less revealing garb on, you're going to freeze to death out here! And even if you don't, everyone we meet would be wondering that exact same thing! This isn't a place to run around looking like a harlot." Kassin turned away, actively trying not to look at Garis.

Garis grinned wickedly and said "alright... fine" 'he' reformed his wings, using them like a curtain he covered everything from the party's view, reappearing a few seconds laterin a fine mage's robe and 'he'd' gotten a Russian commissar style rabbit fur hat at some point too...

The robe was a dark blue, with lighter blue magical symbols embroidered across it's surface.  'He' still wore the white cloak over the outfit, and looked like 'he' might actually fit in, in such an environment.  He spun about as if putting on some type of fashion show, and asked in a slightly sarcastic tone, "there, a little better?"

Chance, still stunned by Garis's sex change, tried to stifle her giggles and gather her senses again. "Ok, I guess I'll be on Kassin duty." She thought a few moments, trying to figure out a way to make herself useful. "I could fly over to the hut and see if it is empty. Once I get close enough I should be able to sense some sort of emotion in there if there are occupants." She turned to Garis, trying to be serious.. "Do you think you'd be able to make my black markings and clothes white? Like what you did with the blood? I could easily blend into the snow to remain relatively undetected and return quickly to report." She turned to Eilan "Do you think that's ok?"

Kedered faught the urge to snort. Instead, he looked about his pack for those tattered poor traveling clothes he had somewhere. As he worked, he talked to the group as a whole."Anything that flies is easy to spot, and is instantly regarded as odd. Most of us stay bound to the earth. I would suggest a disguise as someone who would have legitimate business approaching a farmstead, perhaps a travelling entertainer, or a peddler, although I do not think we have the sorts of goods to make the latter pose plausible."

Chance reached in her pack, took out a kazoo, and held it up. "Heh, it isn't much of an instrument but it might entertain a bit, and since I can't really go up to the farm someone else can use it." She smiled, knowing her other trinkets wouldn't be enough to pass off as peddling.

Eilan grumbled, but nodded in approval at Garis's new look. He let out a deep sigh, and shook his head with mild frustration.

"Kassin won't be able to hide, neither will some of us..., if you're scouting make sure that you're a reasonable distance away from him, or that's going to blow your cover right there." He shook his head again. "Regardless, I think you'll be able to come up with something." He took a deep breath after that, it was hard for him to say that with a straight face. "We'll find you after we're done, either in that hut or outside. Avoid contact with anyone else whatever you do." With that, he took a few steps off towards the Darrins farmhouse.

"Kedered, Garis, come on, we shouldn't waste any more time."

Garis just nodded and followed with his face set in an emotional mask... though his delight at the others confusion would be obvious for the other cubi of the group.  He paused and took a moment to bring up his mind shield, then followed Eilan.  Adding, "alright, i'm good to go"

Rafa kept quiet during Garis' initial transformation, stifling an audible headsigh. The second disguise was, thankfully, less obnoxious. "For all the great things I hear about you 'cubi and your shapeshifting, why the hell does it have to be so obvious? Can't you turn yourself all one color, blend into the background while you watch the dumb bastards mill around?" The demon fidgeted with his tomahawk. "But if you're going to end up blitzing their asses anyway, at least give us some kind of warning. If we're going to bail you out of some four-on-one fight, you'll need another one of us to stick closeby."

"...better yet, why don't I just go?" It was certainly an odd declaration, given how much self-preservation Raffiele exhibited in any other scenario. "With our luck it'll just end up in another fight anyway, and I can take an arrow or stabbing; prettyboy here, not so sure about. Besides, I'm tired of stopping and bullshitting around because of some mortal lunkheads."

Kedered went about changing his clothes into something more threadbare and travel-worn. He senses that further debate amongst the companions was not likely to lead anywhere productive, and was resolved to go scouting, alone if need be. He could follow the others if they moved away from this place, they left a pretty wide trail.

Once his clothing change was complete, he cast a small spell over his travelling pack, making it appear more worn and stained with mud than it had been previously. Mentally reviewing his spells for making the little juggling balls of light, he announced. "I will go and check out the farmhouse. I should be back shortly, or at least send a message."

He strode off in the direction of the building, casting back a line of thought, to their newest companion. Do you wish to come, child?

Heh, someone needs a hug.. She thought in regards to Rafe's perpetual grumpiness. She looked to Tyrian, worried slightly and tried to think on how to go about going to the hut, until she was interrupted mid-thought by Ked. She froze, blinked a few times, and looked in his direction. Thoroughly surprised, Chance pocketed her kazoo and jogged to catch up, calling over her shoulder with a smile,"Zani, stay guard ."

She knew he'd want to come with her, silly ringtail, but she was mildly curious as to what prompted Kedered to welcome her along. Plus she didn't trust the demon, for obvious reasons, and with Ty being so worn out someone had to protect Kassin. Once she caught up to him she matched pace and looked ahead, feeling slightly awkward.

"Uh.. So... "

Zanfib had recovered from his wild bout of laughter, and had been merely lounging on the ground, quietly listening to the plans of the party, when he intercepted the sent thoughts of Kedered, which caused him to scowl a little. Child, he says. Chance is twice the cubi that ignorant dolt will ever be.. He thought angerly to himself a moment as he stood up to follow them, when Chance's command caught him off guard. He froze in the midst of taking a step, and watched the two head off, his tail angerly lashing about.

He sat back down again, crossing his arms and huffing softly. He decided to spread his senses around, and slowly pushed his telepathic abilities outward, scanning the area but more importantly, keeping an eye on Chance..

Eilan suddenly turned back to the rest of the group as Raffiele spoke. He was surprised, but more alarmed. Giving himself another opportunity to run away... possibly to alert the Claws again... He shook his head and snapped at the demon. "No, you're staying where at least one of us can keep an eye on you." He turned away, deciding not to express the full measure of his distrust.

He swiftly caught up to Kedered. He shook his head again, in mild frustration. I really hope Kassin will be safe with this setup... His thoughts were interrupted again when Chance came with them, he looked her up and down again, noting that she still had her wings out. He had only expected Kedered and Garis to come with him. While they marched along, he put his hand in front of her, and let out a brief "Stop."
"I thought you were going to be with Kassin?" Eilan paused for a second. "Regardless, if you are coming with us, you will need to hide your wings. I know there are adventurers in there, I don't know what they're like. They might show immediate hostility if they see you like that."

Kassin watched Eilan and the others as they went. Regardless, he felt calm as they went. He looked over the others with him, particularly Tyrian who had seemed oddly worn out. Kassin had a worried look on his face, he could sense the tension that many of his companions had, it wasn't pleasant for him. After a moment spent watching them, he slowly paced towards the direction of the hut Eilan saw. "We should get going, I would not wish to spend extensive periods of time without shelter if we can avoid it. I think that a brief rest might help us feel better as well."

Tyrian let out a soft sigh, the concerned look he received from Kassin made him aware of the toll the negative energy was having.

Taking a deep breath, the fox gave the best fake smile he could muster and gave a thumbs up to the young tiger angel, maybe I'm miscalculating his age at bit...

Shrugging off his facade, the august fox strode out in front of Kassin, "yes, rest will be good for us all.  I think I would like to sleep, but I fear we are not safe enough for me to do that."

Especially not with your only other 'protector' being Raffiele.

Kedered turned and responded to Eilan, collapsing his wings into his back, and passing for a being once again. " My apologies. I was travelling with those who knew my heritage, I shall not falter again. But you should not come, or at least not come overtly. Four approaching a farmhouse speaks intent, and I do not think that posing as a travelling entertaining group will pass muster with all of us. Why do you not take Garis and crouch somewhere hidden as backup in case it turns rough? Or perhaps reinforce Kassin's position. Tyrian looked tired, and I am uncertain as to the wisdom of leaving him and Kassin alone with the Demon and Zanfib."

Chance took her Kazoo back out and grasped Eilan's outstretched hand, placing the kazoo in his palm. "I'll go hide in the bushes as back-up, Zanfib can take on the demon if need be and Tyrian is no threat to Kassin. Oh, and in case you don't know you just put the smaller end to your lips and say "oooooo" not as in surprise and alarm.. but as in impressed and awe."

With that she pulled the cloak tighter around her, crouched low, and skittered off to the right until she reached some bushes. She would follow the group at a distance, remaining far enough away to be undetected but close enough to be able to help.

Eilan clenched his hands in frustration. It would certainly be easy for us to pass as a traveling circus. He turned to face Kedered.
"A traveling entertaining group? In case you forgot, the farmhouse we're approaching is a soul-murder site. I don't think a group of clowns would have anything to gain from going to that place." He let out a soft sigh. "It's probably going to be more believable if we pose as adventurers, if nothing else." He also regarded the request to go alone suspiciously. His left eyebrow rose, as he examined Kedered's face more closely, trying to detect any suspicious ulterior motives. Besides, I'm not sure if I can trust him to tell us about everything he finds... "And I think it would be better if I came along to investigate the farmhouse." he said abruptly.

Eilan turned the back of his hand to the offer of Chance's kazoo. "Not happening, stay with Kassin. We can't afford a possible screw-up, and you wouldn't be helping us anyway if you were just hiding." He shook his head with mild frustration. I swear, I think these Cubi live in an alternate reality...


Kassin looked at Eilan, view of him growing more faint, he then turned back to Tyrian. "If the hut is abandoned, I suppose we could sleep there. I don't know how long Eilan and the others plan on spending at the farmhouse, but I suppose you could take a nap inside, if you would feel comfortable doing so. I'm not fatigued myself, though I have a feeling this will be a long day..."

Garis shrugged and cocked 'his' head slightly, "would you prefer i stay with kassin as well, or would you prefer me here with you... from the way things are going, i don't know what i could provide anything that Kedered isn't capable of. unless  you wish someone to be there to distract the adventurers i think it'd be best if i scout the farm house ahead of the other.  They're all wanted, and if someone raises an alarm, all of us will be forced to abandon our search here."  'He' rested his hands on 'his' hips as he continued to play his role rather convincingly.

Chance's ears went back, flat against her head, and she said through clenched teeth to Eilan "Just.... hiding??" She had to close her eyes to calm herself before she lost it again, her fists tightened from the effort, but then she looked to Eilan. "If you weren't so hell-bent on being such an ass you would have noticed I've come a damn long way on my own, some of which was not done hiding." She took a deep breath and became more calm. "Fine, I'll go back to Kassin... but I swear the minute I suspect any danger around here I'm coming back."

With that she quickly turned and jogged back to Kassin's group, thinking along the way: Heh, good luck guys..... and with her emotions coming a bit more stable again she added, please be careful... She didn't like the idea of three against four.. even with two Cubi.

Upon returning to the group she poked Zanfib in the side lightly and stuck out her tongue. "I guess you're all stuck with me for now." Gaining her bubbly self back she spotted Kassin and skipped over to him. "Thanks again for healing me so well and saving my life." She smiled before hugging him and going back over to Zanfib.

Figuring on how Kassin's an empath she guessed he could probably benefit a bit from having a good mood around instead of all the grumps. Which she was reminded of when she caught a glimpse of Rafe.

Ked nodded at Eilan's proposal, although he still thought that the entertainer scheme had merit. People didn't always expect gleemen, but they usually welcomed their presence. Adventurers, on the other hand, could be little better than thieves.

New role in mind, Kedered concentrated on his appearance, making himself shorter, stockier, and sprouted scars over a bit of his face, including one that went from his right eye socket to the left corner of his mouth, twisting his lip slightly. He brought his bow from his back to in his hand, and half drew an arrow on it.

Casting out a line of thought to Garis With Chance gone, I would appreciate you staying with us, but on the other hand, with her moods she might be less than reliable. This scouting mission can afford to fail and does not need a huge amount of muscle. Kassin's safety, on the other hand........ But I leave the choice to you.

Turning his voice to Eilan he said. "You should lead the way, I look like an archer, so to the back is where my place is. Besides, you can talk like a real adventurer better than I ever could. I can stay back and probe thoughts as well as keep my ears open."

He took a place about five feet behind and two to the left of Eilan, and waited for him to march.

Eilan sighed as he saw Chance leave. I just hope she doesn't decide to come back and blow our cover when we're inside.., she seems either unable or unwilling to shape-shift her wings into hiding. He turned to Garis. "No, I'd prefer it if you stayed with us, I think that a third set of eyes and ears might help in our search. I'm hoping that Kassin and the others won't run into anything while we conduct our search. Plus, for the quarry we would be allegedly hunting, three would be a far more believable number than two, there are five on your bounty after all." He turned towards the farmhouse, and headed on over.

The walk there was slightly unpleasant, deep snow on the ground, flurries of snowfall in the air, coupled with strong, cold winds. Eilan squinted as he moved towards the farmhouse. It was however, a swift journey. Once at the door, he pressed his ear against the door. Then, with a motion to follow whomever was with him, he opened the door.

It enters into a kind of living room. It's rather spacious. Unadorned, old looking wood covers the floor, with only two pieces of furniture in the room, a wooden rocking chair, and a small couch. There are doors on the left wall of the entry point, and one to the back, off to the right. The most eye-taking feature of the room are two corpses. They're wolf beings. They look to be around eight to ten years old, one boy, one girl.  Both of them have large wounds on their torsos, from some sort of slashing weapon. The blood from those wounds looks dry, at least a few days old. Both have their eyes open wide, with a terrified, frozen look to them.

There was also another being there, a feline. She wore long, blue robes, a warm looking cloak, with elegant designs to them. She appeared to be examining the two corpses. When Eilan entered the room, she rose to her feet, and stepped away from the bodies. She appeared surprised, yet, it quickly passed from her. She gave Eilan a cursory glance, gave a nod, then spoke. "I take it that you're more adventurers come to track those responsible of this horrible deed?"

"Indeed," Eilan responded, giving her a similar examination. He said nothing else though, for now.

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Kassin nodded towards Chance. "I'm just glad you're well. I'm sorry you had to go through so much, no one should have to go through what you did." He let out a soft sigh, and looked up towards the sky. "S...sometimes I wonder why some can be so cruel. It's hard for me to understand such things, I feel pain very keenly, it's hard for me to imagine someone feeling joy from causing harm, yet..." He paused. "yet it continues." He stopped, he looked at the ground. "I've seen enough death for a lifetime in the past few days, I can only hope it stops, and soon. But..." He said, with a smile. "I'm glad to see that you're well, despite what has happened." He looked towards the horizon, the hut distant, but in sight. "We should get moving, it's a long ways away."

The journey there was short, if a tad unpleasant. The snow on the ground was deep, and flurries of snow flew through the air. The air was cold enough to be uncomfortable. Yet things remained calm as the hut came to be more visible in the cold landscape. The place seemed barren, unoccupied. No tracks could be found in the snow either.

Kassin seemed alright, though recent escapades had been weighing down on him. When the hut came into clear view, he clutched his neck with his right hand, and let out a soft gasp. He looked up at the hut, someone's in trouble, but without further adue, he charged at it, rushing to get inside. As he rushed towards the hut, a feline demoness, with fresh blood on her hands, came out, also running outside. The two brushed into each other momentarily, but didn't stop for each other. The demoness let out a "Urrgh, jerk should watch where he's going...", but continued running. She stopped momentarily when she saw the others however, she seemed surprised to see them.

Inside, Kassin took a brief look around, there were two creatures on the floor, bleeding badly. Without another moments notice, he went over and tended to the two of them. They were separated, he tended to Ketet first, healing the most grievous injuries. He did it quickly however, so only stabilized her. In a rush, he tended to Chiyo next.
Feelings of coldness, fading away, they last occupied your mind before fading into darkness. The cold slowly returns, yet, with a subtle warmth to it, feeling returns where none were before, exhaustion in the place of inertness. With a labored breath, you realize you can open your eyes...
Ketet gurgled softly, she felt cold, feelings slipped away. She felt an odd warmth, yet, she still felt like she was fading away. She collapsed back into unconsciousness.

Zanfib just smiled when he saw Chance return, and watched her prance about for a moment before he grinned. "You're absolutely right, you know." He said, alluding to the thoughts she was having concerning Kassin. "I'm not a ray of sunshine myself, and I think it would be good to have someone of your upbeat character around for his sensitivities."

Soon, however, they were on their way to the hut, and as the episode unfolded, Zanfib followed Kassin the best he could, but his eyes popped wide at the sight of the demoness. It was only a brief moment, however, before his mind snapped into action, and threw telekinetic bonds around the demoness, clamping down on her like shackles, stubbornly immobile. "Oh no you don't. You've got some explaining to do, missy." He said, before turning his head briefly to Chance and saying, "Check on Kassin, please."

Caught by surprise...the story of Chiyo's life. Albeit, in the past few decades she had gotten a lot better at being behind the surprises instead of being caught by one. Either way, she hadn't known what to expect when she had walked into the room. Her intent had been to chat with Ketet, to admire her 'shinies' a bit more and perhaps get her paws on one or two.  But the claws from the demoness got her first and then there was nothing but darkness and coldness followed closely by nothingness.

And then suddenly there was something. Her dreams and thoughts swirled together like a kaleidoscope, meshing and mixing until she was unsure of what were her actual thoughts were amongst the dreams. She felt cold. She remembered shinies. She remembered a dragon. She shuddered as she remembered the demoness.

With a harsh gasp she woke, sucking in the air as if she had been underwater instead of simply unconscious. Everything seemed to blur together for a moment until she was looking up at what must have been her savior. She laid still then, her body still cold, her thoughts still murky, she still out of breath as though she had run a marathon. Better to rest now and regain her strength while she could rather then to try and ask questions and say thanks when they could easily wait for later.

Sticking by Kassin and the others, Rafa did his best to keep a proverbial ear to the ground. He didn't even bother giving an indignant sigh as the angel charged off to play field medic again. The demoness' sudden appearance was actual cause for alarm and triggered a sudden reflex in the demon: a headlong charge and tackle to the feisty creature. Zanfib's mental attacks had her immobilized anyway, but there was never such a thing as "too much force" when it came to demons. "Don't move don't move--" Whump.

Zanfib blinked once as he saw the massive form of Rafa shot past him, and he tried to shout a warning to the demon, but too late. His fur and tail bristled under the sudden strain that Rafa's impact put on keeping the telekinetic bonds in place as he gritted his teeth before letting out a quick gasp and trying to reaffirm control over the bonds. It was only then he thought of the plight of the demoness.. such an impact must have been like being between a wall and a semi, even if the bonds held or not.

Chance nodded at Zanfib "Right" and ran far around the demoness, shooting a glare at her as she went by. She readied a good fire ball just in case as she neared the hut what the hell is wrong with these demons?! She stopped at the door and peeked inside, seeing two new people.. and girls too! Before she let herself think of pajama parties and pillow fights she turned and sood in the door-way, standing guard and watching the battle.

Without turning she addressed Kassin, "Will they be ok?"

Garis just sat in the back, trying to skim the beings thoughts, 'he' leaned nonchalantly against the door frame behind the others, watching the being more closely than the corpses or the area around him.

Tyrian should be used to this by now, but he resigned himself to the fact that more were in danger and their troupe was going to grow yet again.

Allowing Zanfib and Raffiele to take care of the demoness, the fox followed Chance into the hut.  One of the victims was awake, but the other was still unconscious, "Kassin, this one is still injured and she continues to slip away."

Kedered entered the hut, behind Eilan. He kept his mouth shut initially, not certain what sort of tack to take, and wishing they'd actually rehearsed this adventurer scheme. But the fox being wasn't talking for some reason, and after buying time by a long glance around the room, Kedered opened his more battered than usual mouth and growled out.

"The details were sketchy except for the soul crime committed. But these are children. Where are their parents? And what is the closest point of support to this farmhouse? I'm up from the Thularian border myself, haven't come down here."

Kedered hoped his unfamiliar use of a contraction didn't make his speech distinctive, memorable, and waited for a response from the other supposed adventurer.

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The being turned to face Kedered, she shook her head with sadness. "Their parents are both dead, soul murdered as well. They're in their bedroom, over" she pointed at the wall to her right (your left), "that way, down the hall, past the children's bedroom. I had one of my companions inspecting that pair of corpses, but I suspect the story is the same there as well."

Eilan decided to jump in at this time. "Any idea on what the exact cause of death was? Was it an Angel? Demon? Cubi? Some other creature capable of soul-murder?"
She replied "Judging from placing and depth of the wounds, I'd say they were from a Cubi's tentacle. They were likely killed after they had their souls sucked out. I didn't find any sort of magical residue on the bodies, so either it dissipated or none was used, well, barring the soul-sucking and the shapeshifting likely involved." She paused for a moment, putting together geographical locales together in her head. "There's a town a few miles away, it's a few hours away by foot though. There are a few other farmhouses nearby but I don't think that's what you're looking for."

Eilan looked intently at the other being's facial expressions intently, trying to gauge how agreeable she was, whether she was more mercenary or more altruistic. Eventually, he opened up again.
"So... have you picked apart any clear leads?"
The other being sighed with regret. "No..." She started. "Not directly from these, how they died doesn't tell us where their killer is. I have my companions checking other parts of this place out, so maybe there will be something." She glanced back at the corpses, eyes laden with regret. I just hope my companions are able to find something, they're certainly a gruff lot though.

Eilan turned back to Kedered and Garis. He contemplated thinking his thoughts out loud to them, but he wanted to speak them out, so it wouldn't look odd. "It seems like there are three places to check, there's the parent's bedroom, children's bedroom, and whatever is behind that other door, probably the kitchen. I think it would be best if we split up to search each location, cover more ground more quickly." He stopped for a moment. "Any preferences?"
The other adventurer seemed absorbed into examining the corpses again, though had a feeling that further inspection wouldn't reveal anything.  

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The demoness certainly wasn't in the mood to be stopping, the mental assault and Raffiele's charge took her by surprise, and was pinned to the ground. "Uurrgh!" She growled as she struggled to get him off. "What's wrong with you? Get off! Shouldn't you just mind your own damned business, I've got family waiting for me." She continued to grunt as she attempted to break Raffiele off of herself.

Kassin, alarmed, nodded at what Tyrian said. Comfortable for the moment with Chiyo's condition, he ran over to Ketet, and quickly tended to her injuries. They were quite severe, but he managed to stabilize her condition as well. "I think they're stable,.." she responded to Chance.

Sprawled on the ground where she was struck the brutal blow, Ketet's body woke up a split moment before her actual mind did, switching over into instinct mode. Her wolf being body heaved up dramatically, hands and feet scrabbling for lift and purchase on the blood-slicked floorboards, as if she were a quadruped instead of a biped. Kassin lost his grip on her at this time, and fell rear end first onto the floor. He watched Ketet with an alarmed look.

In a mindless attempt to launch herself all four feet away from Kassin and whoever else was present and awake in the room, she lurched away abruptly out of Kassin's healing touch. It was almost amusing, if it hadn't risked undoing all of Kassin's good deed when her four-legged awkward mobilization sent her crashing painfully into a wall. Kassin clutched his head at this, it felt as if he had launched into a wall himself.

Kit's mind eventually woke up good and proper to a splitting headache of her own doing.

"Ah, ah! Oh by the gods that hurt," was her first few words. They came from a sore and scratchy throat as the wolf rubbed the section of her head where she'd banged it quite hard. It was surprising that she was actually still awake. That headlong rush into solid wall could've knocked most beings unconscious. Then again, the webbed wings sprouting from her back denoted her to be of creature descent. There was a small moment where Ketet whined for a little bit, trying to rid herself of the headache, then she seemed to remember something.

The lady...!

Ketet sprang to her feet, then steadied the world with her hand as it seemed to defy her will to be vertical. Gasping with pain and dizziness, she tried to look around frantically.

"The lady...! Is... is she alright?" she muttered to herself, before suddenly realizing there were furres in the room. Strangers, one of which had the strong tang of her own blood on his hands.

"Who are you and why are you here?" she snarled, tensing suddenly, unaware they'd just caught her completely ignoring them and talking to herself like some madfur.

Kassin looked at Ketet, more alarmed now. He rushed over to Chiyo, and placed one of his hands behind her back. He briefly scanned her for more injuries.

Nodding at Kassin's reasponse Chance continued to watch the battle outside. She heard shuffling around behind her, and then a loud bang, followed by a new voice. She turned to find a winged wolf girl covered in blood, trying to stand as best she could. Once hearing the snarl her ears went back slightly.

"Calm down, we're just here to save you two, or rather he is." She nodded towards the tiger angel, now checking on the other girl. "And you should thank him for saving your life."

She didn't like how stern she sounded to herself, but she was starting to feel regret after snapping at Eilan and that didn't help her mood. Plus she was starting to get a bit of a headache and she didn't want to cause Kassin any more pain.

Garis shrugged, gave a soft sigh, then said "i'll check the kitchen... You two, try not to make too much of a mess while looking for something"  'he' looked at the being with a bit of a smirk as 'he' went to go about his search.

Kedered, still unused to talking with his companions, strode into the parents bedroom, resisting the urge to use any sort of magic unless he was alone and unobserved.

Tyrian was not surprised with the disorientation or violent initial response of Ketet's revival, what he did find odd was the strange manner at which she first reacted in her instinctual response.  He passed it off as resultant of the extreme trauma she had received.

He gestured towards Chiyo, "the lady is being tended by our gifted healer, who has mended your considerable injuries as well.  We came only seeking shelter and instead encountered a demoness and found your dying bodies."

Zanfib did not seem the slightest bit impressed with the demoness' babbling. Instead he only concentrated for a moment, tightening the bonds around here. "You can leave her be, Rafa, she is not going anywhere until she starts explaining herself." He said, before turning his attention to the hut.. "Is everyone allright in there?" He asked Chance as soon as he caught sight of her.

"Shut the fuck up," Raffiele snapped as he gave the demon a rough jostling. "We all got family. The difference is, some of us might not be going back to them. Get me?" Petty threats really weren't necessary, especially with Zanfib around to keep her down. Rafa still kept on top of her, just in case. "Now, you can either tell me what you're doing here, or my friend can skullfuck you with his little mind powers. Take your pick."

It took a few minutes before Chiyo registered what was actually going on. She panted slightly as she was left alone, she fighting ever urge to disappear now while she had a chance while everyone was focused on Ketet's little outburst. But then, she too was worried about Ketet. There had been so much blood! She stood up then and looked around before her eyes settled on her Dragon friend.

"Hey, are you ok?" She asked, concern on her voice. She jumped slightly though as she felt someone touch her back and she gasped, taking a step forward. "Hey, what are..." She paused though as she saw it was the angel. She frowned faintly. "Oh, you...no don't worry, I'm fine. I can take care of myself. Really, thank you for saving me though..." She felt awkward, she had never been in this position before. Most of the time she dealt with others it was to steal from them, or running from them because she had stolen something she hadn't intended to.

She heard the commotion going on outside the hut though and frowned, she putting her left hand to her neck. "Is that...demon still out there?" She asked, but she was already heading towards the door to find out what had become of the demon.

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You travel down the door to the left, then make a right turn. There's a door almost immediately to your left, that's the children's bedroom. Eilan goes into that one to investigate. Further down a narrow hall, you come to the parent's bedroom.

Their bedroom is quite wide and spacious, a large double-bed is situated in the center, wooden furniture situated at it's back. They look to be drawers for storing clothing. The floors are made of old wood, and several drawers are situated on the walls, it looks like they're for storing clothing as well. There is also a bookshelf situated on one of the walls, most of the books are turned inwards, though on the top shelf, there's a leather bound book, with no apparent title or author.
On the floor near the beds, there are two bodies of wolf beings, their injuries look very similar to the ones on the children in the first room.

There's also another being in this room, another feline. She wears what looks to be a sturdy leather jerkin, and has a blade strapped to her belt. She seems to be examining the corpses. When she saw Kedered, she looked mildly irritated, but said nothing. Great, another adventuring group, I hope they don't find anything, I'd hate to not get paid for all my hard effort...

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Upon taking the door, you come to what appears to be a set of two rooms. It looks like what you're immediately in is a dining room, there is a table with six chairs at it, one on each end and two on each side. Other than that, the dining room is rather unadorned, and quite dinky. To your immediate right, there's a half-wall, that leads to what looks to be a kitchen. Food is stored there, cooking tools and utensils in drawers are also present. The drawers look like they've been searched through recently, it wouldn't be a surprise if several items were missing as well.

There are also two beings in this area, a burly, vicious bull being, he has a greataxe strapped against his back, and he wears heavy hides. He has a golden ring in his nose, and his head has vicious looking horns on them. The other is in the dining room, a large equine. He carries a large sword on his belt and a shield strapped on his back. Neither of them look very pleasant.

In a moment, the bull came out of the kitchen, the equine turned to face him. "Find anything?" He asked.
"Course not", the bull snorted. "You?"
"N..." he started, then appeared to notice Garis coming in. They both faced 'him'. Neither of them looked happy to see 'him', but weren't openly hostile. The bull decided to approach first. He let out a snort before starting.
"This is our claim, you'd best go back the way you came, we don't appreciate poachers."

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The demoness continued to struggle with both the bonds and Raffiele. Threats were a language she could understand however, and she decided to respond, she appeared terrified.

"Look, I was just out here for some recreational murder, it's something you could easily understand, right?" She said, raising an eyebrow at Raffiele. "So, I just decided to stop in and rip apart an old lady and her guests, then I'd just return home, I didn't plan on meeting anyone else out here." She paused for a moment, trying to come up with what to say next. These guys mean business, I wonder who they are, and who that angel was, not like I care. "It's not like I've killed any of your relatives, so I don't know why you should care."

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Clarity seemed to rush to Ketet's mind as time went on, she felt dizzy, she was barely listening to the others, yet, she remembered three in there before, she heard her scream.
"N...No,, not her, not her! I heard her..!" She shook her head, and without a moment's hesitation, she darted for a door on the side and rushed through it, her footsteps clearly audible throughout the place.

Kassin took her hand off of Chiyo, satisfied that she was alright. "You're welcome." he said softly, but he was still clearly concerned about Ketet. "I... I don't know.." He said, before chasing after Ketet.

It was only a short walk to the old lady's bedroom, the person who had taken her in for the night. Her bedroom was small, yet, the other appliances seemed small next to her. She came crashing through the door, crashing through it, which fell to the floor. It had already had it's hinges ripped off, yet, none of that mattered when she stared at the bed, she gasped in horror. A few tears started to fill her eyes.

Kassin came in a few moments afterwards, the sight made him sick. An old feline being appeared to be lying on a bed, she was soaked in blood. It looked like someone with a truly twisted imagination had been clawing her extensively, her chest was bloody and torn, and had some claw marks on her neck. The sight made him feel sick. He could barely stand to look at the corpse. He turned away as well. I wasn't able to save her... He sighed as he looked at the ground, he could see some small blood stains on the floor.

Zanfib snorted at Rafa's crude methods, and strode up to where he was standing over the pair. "Rafa, if you could save your mating rituals until later, I will simply tell you she has no idea who our angel friend is. Now, get off her before she becomes any more aroused. I can hardly stand the flood of lewd thoughts in her mind as is." Zanfib said with a smirk, before turning his attention to the demoness... but he was careful to keep tabs on the demon's mind just in case!

"Ahhh, yes, recreational murder, a fun little game, is it not?" The psion said, idly pressing his fingertips together in a mock, thoughtful manner. "I find it to be quite thrilling when the subject is a far more durable subject, like, say, a demon." He continued as a slow smirk crept across his face as he peered down at the demoness, "Have you ever seen a demon hurtled repeatedly into the trees until they die? It's quite the spectacle, and your kind can take so much punishment before you pass the mortal coil as well."

The Vixen calmly ran 'his' finger across the table, walking in the the slightly sultry style 'he'd' taken on since assuming 'his' current form.  Walking closer to the bull 'he' flicked 'his' bangs out of 'his eyes' and replied in the soft voice 'he'd' used earlier, "Someone has some serious testosterone issues, or perhaps it's just an alpha male complex."

Garis strolled closer still, "why, such a lack of subtlety and respect will land you in trouble one of these days my young warrior acquaintance.  Such blunt tactics may work for hunting demons, but Angel's and their ilk have a tendency to put games inside of games inside of games..." 'He' paused, resting a hand on 'his' hip, "or perhaps you think being able to swing a large axe is all it takes to have a successful hunt.  Leaving the real brain-work to those with the knack for it."

Garis continued his stroll around the room with a continued confidence that encroached, and probably crossed into arrogance.  'He' made his observations of the area carefully, making sure these over-compensating sword swingers knew 'he' wasn't intimidated but such displays of stupidity and bluntness.  'He' Also looked for signs of claw marks in corners, or other obvious signs of a struggle that an incubus or demon might have caused.

Hearing Zanfib she quickly turned her head back out of the door way and yelled back "As good as can be right now." She then felt someone walking over and turned again to find one of the victims approaching. Chance stepped over to allow her better view of what was happening outside.

"Yeah, but don't worry, there's no way she's any match for the two out there. Oh, and by the way my name is Chance." She smiled warmly at the feline and negated her prepped fire-ball. The pain in her head worsened as soon as the power went back inside. She grimaced as she tried to push it aside. "Sorry... my head is acting strange.. I never get headaches..... So do you have any idea why a demon attac-GYAH!"

As she was finishing her sentance her knees gave way as a sudden burst of strong emotion slammed into her. The pain was intense but very short and felt as if somone shot her with an arrow on either side of her head. Her hands went to her head in reflex from the quick jab of pain and felt two new objects there.. attached to her head.

She finally got her head wings.

She nodded her head as she stopped outside, she looking towards the demoness and the demon that held her down. She frowned faintly. "What...what are you going to do with her?" She asked. Sure, the demoness had tried to kill her...but demons were demons. She didn't really want to see her killed on her account! "I don't know why she attacked...but she's a demon. I suppose that's reason enough. I'm Chiyo..."

Her thoughts were cut short though as she was quickly drawn to the feline Chance. "Oh hey..." She caught her before she could fall to the ground, she surprisingly strong. She lowered her down though and smirked. "Oh hey, you got your head wings...congratulations!" She said easily. She put her hand to her head to numb a bit of the pain, her eyes glowing softly. "I remember when I got my head wings...my father threw me a party." She said with a happy grin. It seemed so long ago!

She wasn't all that phased that she had almost just died. She didn't die, she was fine, so she didn't dwell on it.

Zanfib took a moment to glance over at Chance, and he genuinely smiled. "My my my, would you look at that. Our little Chance is all grown up now, and me without a camera." He said jokingly.

Tyrian was rather wide eyed at this sudden turn of events, but quickly shook it off and followed after Kassin.  The sight of the dead feline sickened him and he spoke his thoughts out loud, "that demoness did this?  What a horrible creature she must be to be able to do such a thing.  Since we have her outside, I should want to know her motivation for such heinous acts."

Approaching Kassin he asked softly, "are you alright?"

Chance slowly stood back up, glancing to Zanfib and quickly darted her tongue out. She muttered "He'll pay for that..." then she looked to Chiyo, feeling the top of her head again with a smile, all she felt was a small bit of throbbing which quickly fadded. "Wow, thanks!" Unable to contain herself, despite a nearby demon being throttled, she hugged Chiyo greatfully.

"It's nice to meetcha! But we should probably go back inside.. and check on the others.."

She was worried about Kassin.. he just got through another ordeal and she didn't mean to possibly put him through yet another.. which reminded her.. She tried to focus a bit and sent a thought to Zanfib.. Ok smartass... just remember to not hurt the damn thing

She went back inside the hut to find the room empty.. she started to panic.. Great move Chance...great.. you were suppose to watch Kassin.. and now you don't know where the hell he is!.. But then she saw an open... or rather crashed into door way. She rushed to the opening where she was first greeted by the safe sign of Kassin, but then the smell of blood and death came through her nostrils. She looked around at the scene of complete and utter carnage and she gasped, putting her hand to cover her mouth and nostrils. Never before has she seen anything so... horrific... her mind went blank and she was frozen.

Not addressing the other adventurer before being spoken to, Kedered silently inspected the bodies, trusting the robed female in the other room's assessment. These did look like wounds from 'cubi tentacles....... Kedered once again turned his mind to Kassin's odd dreaming, and knew, even if he couldn't prove it, that the crocodile incubus was responsible for this atrocity.

Frame a suspect, now look for proof. There wouldn't be any identifying marks on the bodies, nothing to tell one tentacle from another. Perhaps a better line of inquiry would be to discern why these people were attacked. Hopefully, it wasn't just random chance, of having been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thinking it the only other oddity in the place that yielded to his casual scrutiny, Kedered silently drifted over to the bookcase and drew out the leather covered tome, flipping through it and hoping that there were some clues contained.

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The leather-bound book appears to have no title, or author, no distinctive marks label the outside. It's a heavy book, thick paper within it's volumes. With a few pages of inspection, it becomes clear that it's a journal, likely of one of the parents. The script is large and course, and the text looks like it was written by one with only cursory experience in writing. It's a very extensive work, it's not clear how far it extends back. There's also a lot of blank pages near the end, likely paper the writer was planning on using at a later date. None of the passages look very interesting, most just seem to describe the bland, daily activities a farmer concerns himself with, usually noting what their children have been up to, usually mischief.

Nothing catches you as unusual, but, between where the written sections end and the blank pages start, a closer inspection reveals that some of the pages have been ripped out.

The other adventurer examined 'Kedered' closely, she seemed somewhat nervous while he was checking the book. She soon started silently pacing towards the door. He's probably figured out, I guess I can just say they were like that when I found it, I wouldn't want to give him a possible lead after all...

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An examination of the two rooms doesn't appear to lead to anything conclusive. No clear evidence of a struggle is present, no blood stains, no scorch or burn marks. The cabinets in the kitchen look like they've been recently and thoroughly searched, and five of the chairs at the table seem to be extensively used as well.

The bull adventurer let out a soft snort, and then a growl. The equine one started off. "Listen, only one of us is getting paid for this job, and that's me. Whomever gets to kill Kassin is going to be bloody rich,  and I don't intend to have that hard earned wealth robbed from me by some hot-shot lady who manages to get the first swing in and claim all the credit. So why don't you go home and cry in a corner and let those who can really take care of themselves handle this."

The bull one didn't seem satisfied, but then he turned to the equine, but spoke loudly enough for Garis to hear. "Maybe we should show her what this career is really like, let her bleed a bit, maybe chop something off, pain is a good deterrent."
The equine one didn't seem impressed with this, he responded in a slightly hushed voice. "Cut it out, I don't like the competition either, but openly killing another adventurer will leave a bounty on us."
The bull crudely responded. "Didn't mean kill, maybe just disfigure her and leave her outside in the snow to bleed."
Both of them turned to face Garis, both expressed interest in having 'him' leave.

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The demoness was incredibly surprised, and not in a pleasant way, to see Chiyo outside. Damn it, I should have been more careful, I knew she was a cubi, should have been more careful. Didn't scream like the other one though.... With that, she appeared irritated, also noticing another Cubi gain her headwings. She didn't really care however, and had more pressing concerns. "Now if you don't mind, could you get the hell off me and pretend we never saw each other? Thank you." She started growling softly, poised to attempt to break out of her current restraints. Too many, I'd better just leave...


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Kassin shook his head, and closed his eyes, he felt sick to the core, he couldn't stand to face anyone. He let out a depressed gasp, and softly responded. "I've seen enough death for a lifetime in the space of less than a week. This..." He stopped himself. "Nothing like this..." He paced over to her, and touched his right hand to her neck, his fingers became wet with her blood. After feeling her for a moment, he withdrew his hand and shook his head sadly. "There's nothing I can do for her..." He breathed out a sad sigh.

Ketet looked at the dead old lady with sad, almost pleading eyes. No... No... Not her... Not her... She felt that she had failed herself somehow. Without another moment's hesitation, he fopped to the floor, and stared intently at the ground. She covered her hands with her face, and let out a soft sob. For the moment, she was static.

Garis just glared at the pair, "such threats are meaningless, do you honestly think i'd let a couple thugs like you get close enough to get a swing in... your talking to a mage, not some ditsy little pretty thing, who gets scared off at the slightest sign of trouble.  I suggest you correct your tone before it gets you in more trouble..."

'he' was intentionally goading them into something stupid... angry people often let things slip into their minds, things that could in turn, give Garis a lead...  He smiled wickedly at the pair, focusing on the Bull,

"So little cow, do you really think being the one who deals the death blow is sufficient to be the one to claim the reward... I wouldn't be surprised if one of your so-called allies didn't stab you in the back, leave you for dead, and collect the bounty themselves.  Especially if you're all stupid enough to be fighting for a winner take all type reward... don't forget, you need to present the body of the angel boy to collect the reward, dead warriors can't collect rewards."

The 'vixen's' grin was exceedingly wicked at this point as 'her' face bore a mild look of disgust towards the bull, with his blunt and inefficient tactics. 

Kedered moved, not suddenly, but quickly, to the door before the adventurer could make it outside the room. Still holding the diary in his right hand, his left reached out and tapped her on the shoulder. "The tears in this journal are much more recent than the murders in the room. You would not happen to know where the missing pages went, would you? Because the motions in your face give silent testimony against you. How about you either give them to me or tell me where they are, and I will buy you a drink in the closest tavern?"

The fox sighed and carefully turned Kassin to face him eye to eye, "you can't save everyone little brother, it is noble of you to try... and I doubt I could say anything that could possibly dissuade you.  It is fine that you just be you.  Perhaps we should bury her?  Would that be the right thing to do... I am not familiar with the customs here."

Tyrian noted that this new girl seemed especially distraught over the older female's death, "did you know her well... miss?"

She watched as the demon that had just tried to kill her lay helpless on the ground. She knew the old woman that had showed her and Ketet such wonderful hospitality was dead. She knew that she and her dragon friend would be dead now too, if it weren't for these strange travelers. But she was still a lover and not a fighter. Death was a...well it was a very permanent answer. And she didn't like permanent. She moved forwards slightly though.

"Uh...excuse me..." She said nervously, she looking towards them where they held the demoness that had tried to kill her. "Uh...what...well what exactly are you going to do with her?" She didn't think what the demon had done was right. After all, it had been her life and she wasn't ready to die yet. But she didn't think the demon wanted to die just yet now either. "You aren't going to hurt her, are you?"

"...wait, what?" Rafa seemed surprised by Zanfib's comment on the female demon's arousal, not that it was very surprising; demons typically thought power was sexy, so why wouldn't this particular one feel any differently? He quickly stood, dusting off his hands but never breaking eye contact with her. "...why shouldn't we hurt her? I'm not finding many reasons to not hurt people anymore." Rafa glared at Chiyo for a moment. "What do you care, anyway? Did you forget that she just mauled you five minutes ago?"

After the shock of the scene before her wore off she shook her head slightly, feeling the great emotions being emitted from the girl on the floor. She went over to her, slowly, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm.. sorry.." Was all Chance could muster to say.. and even though she had never really done it before she tried to 'eat' the terrible emotions the girl was expriencing, trying to leave her feeling relaxed and calm.

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The adventurer raised an eyebrow at Kedered. He noticed, fortunately, there isn't really much he can do to me... I might as well find some place quiet and read it over. "It was like that when I found it, likely taken by the first group who searched the place." She was nervous, though she made sure her face didn't express it. She silently went towards the door, reached her hand out for the knob.

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The equine and the bull gave Garis a vicious stare. The bull made a soft snort. "That's a good idea actually..."
The equine interrupted him. "Don't even think about it. If you did that, you'd wind with a bounty on yourself, and on the run. There are consequences for murder. And believe me, there are ways of finding out. People like that don't last long." The bull let out an angry grunt.
"That doesn't mean however," The equine said, turning to 'Garis', that we need to be civil, courteous, or helpful. It's a competitive field out there, so scram. We don't need the help, and we don't want to waste time dissuading you away from our kill. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to searching this place. I certainly wouldn't mind if you went outside to search the snow, mind you." He stopped there, staring at Garis intently. While he was trying to be intimidating, he felt somewhat uneasy. It probably won't work, there's really nothing I can do to force her to leave that won't have large consequences.
The bull however, looked like he was barely keeping himself in check.

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The demoness brushed her arms off after Raffiele got up. She quickly glanced around, but said nothing. What are they doing? I would have expected them to either kill or release me a while ago... She waited for an opportune moment. When she noticed Raffiele turning his attention towards Chiyo, she broke off the telekenetic bonds holding her, and bolted off, running away from the commotion gathered around her. She didn't look back while she ran.

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Kassin shook his head and closed his eyes. "I suppose you could, though I would prefer not to partake in that activity. I really don't want to be near any more corpses... I... I..." He shook his head again. "I hope you understand." He strode over to Ketet. Her dismal mood was rubbing off on him.

Ketet sniffed, she couldn't be consoled. "She... I...." She had trouble articulating sentences in her grief. "I only knew her for a night, yet, it felt like I've known her for a lifetime, I..." She stopped herself again. "I'm a wanderer... but everyone in this locale... (sniff) hated me on  sight, they... they... (sniff), everyone except her." She soon fell silent and stared at the floor again.

She sighed as she found the girl inconsolable and her unskilled powers lacking, but she still wanted to help. Chance knelt down in front of her and wrapped her arms around the girl in a comforting hug. "Please, I'm sorry... maybe we should move back into the main room and we can talk some more.." She released the hug but still held her shoulders and shook them lightly, looking at her with a more determined stare. "You must be strong.. I'm sure she wouldn't want you to mourn for her so. So you have to keep moving."

Zanfib merely let the demoness go, because his interest was now focused on Chiyo.. "That is an interesting stance to take, Chiyo. Are you akin to our angel friend then? You wish no harm on anyone, regardless if they would harm others?" He asked curiously.

Chiyo found herself in a situation she didn't want to be in. She ticked her tail from side to side nervously. Just her luck, they would think she was in league with that demoness. She looked from one to the other, what if they turned on her now? She closed her eyes slightly but looked to Rafa first.

"No, of course not." She said, she putting her hand to her throat. She had been rather close to death for her liking. "I didn't forget what she did..." She frowned faintly. "But killing her would make me just like her, wouldn't it? An eye for an eye soon makes everyone blind and no one wins that way. Death is very final. I just think it should be used as a last result. That's all." She explained to him, hoping she made sense. Perhaps she was stupid for thinking that way.

She looked to the other man then and rubbed the back of her head slightly. "Akin to an angel?" For a moment she was confused. She didn't know any angels. But of course she did. Her hand went to her throat again but she shook her head. "I don't know what you mean about him, I don't know him well enough to say what stance he would or would not take." She paused a moment but then continued. "What I do know is that killing is wrong."

She watched as the demoness escaped, she shaking her head slightly. What did she believe, then? "I don't know all the answers. I wish I did. All I know is that it just doesn't sit right with me...even after what she's done. Demons live a long time. If we ended her life now, well their would be no room for her to change." She believed people could change. After all, sometimes that thought was the only thing that kept her going about herself and her little...'hobby'.

point of cusp. Act now.

Kedered lengthened his stride, not running, but hurrying over to the doorway before the adventurer could make it. He then turned around and dropped a little, bending his knees slightly, making no aggressive move, but barring the door from egress.  Glancing over at the adventurer he drawled out. "I dislike being lied to by amateurs. I will not hinder your own investigation, but I really do require that information for mine."

He waggled his fingers, put a very subtle touch of a spell his father taught him to make him seem more imposing and authoritative.

"You will hand it over to me, now."

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The adventurer was momentarily startled when she was accused of lying, withholding information. He already knows I have it... I wonder how he found out... no matter. She took some deep breaths, but didn't panic. "And what would you do with it, keep it for yourself and deny me what is contained within? I got to it first after all." She stopped herself, realizing what she said could be used as a kind of admission of guilt. Still, she didn't lose her cool.

"And just why should I? We're both after the same target, and I'd rather be the one to cash in on it. You certainly can't do anything to force me to give it to you. There's nothing you could hold me accountable for, and if you attacked me, you would find yourself hunted. Besides, you wouldn't give it back." She kept her eyes locked on Kedered.

She put on a wry smile. "So give me one good reason I should give it to you."

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Both of them stared at Garis, awaiting a response. The bull was growling softly, almost like a rabid animal.

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The demoness didn't look back as she ran away. Quite soon, she was out of sight, disappearing into the snowy horizon.

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Ketet took a deep breath, and with a hand motion, cleared the tears off of her face. "N... N... No,... she couldn't have expected this... she... she..." Ketet stopped herself short. "Please I... I need a moment... alone...". She stopped herself, closed her eyes. She was breathing slowly, still trying to shake off the hysteria.

Kassin, observing Ketet, decided to make a soft nod. "As you wish, I'll be outside." Kassin paced towards the main room, not deciding to go back into the snowy exterior just yet.

Garis just chuckled softly at the pair.  "whatever, there's nothing of value here, besides the few pieces of silver you looted... one can only hope you have as much respect for eachother as you do for the dead."  'he' shook 'his' head as if disappointed, then left. planning to head back and meet up at the shack since nothing more seemed to be gained from this particular area.

Zanfib just listened quietly, but shook his head at the end. "Killing is a necessity of our world. There are both creatures and beings alike who will not listen to reason and logic. The only way to prevent the harm of more enlightened sentients is to eradicate those who would wish them harm." He said, turning his slightly in the direction of the fleeing demoness.. "I let her go this time, only for your sake. Next time, however, her execution will be swift." He said, before he lazily strode inside.

He sought out Chance's mind, and came upon her with the others.. "I sense a lot of confused thoughts. Is everything allright?"

Chance nodded to the girl, her wish being very understandable. She stood and exited the room to see Zanfib in the main area of the hut. She offered a slight smile but shook her head. "It's the other girl.. she's... grieving.. there was a.... slaughter that happened here." She couldn't help but again be surprised at the utter... barbarianism that demons could demonstrate. With this thought she found a new sense to how lucky she actually was.

Her brow furrowed some as she looked to Zan again. "What became of the demoness?"

Inclining his head, Tyrian acknowledged Ketet's desire for solitude and padded after Kassin.  He approached the others, "what has become of the demoness?" 

The fox focused his gaze on the other new female, Chiyo, "more importantly, how do you fair...?"  He let the last part of his question hang, as he did not know her name.

Kedered blinked slowly, twice. "I require that information for my investigation. If you give me the papers, I will read them, memorize them, and then hand them back. I will not need them further. If you doubt me, I can read them while you look over my shoulder."

He paused for a second, and then lowered his stance slightly, bending his knees. "If I do not have it, I will need to do analysis upon the data already obtained. I do not have much, so I will have to sit here and calculate. It might take all day, it might take longer. If you try to push past me, well, I consider an unknown hand upon my person an attack. You would not attack me, for fear of the bounty and all that. Assuming you live long enough for such things to matter anyway. Why not just be pleasant and let me read?"

Seeing how everyone was heading into the hut she followed quietly. She smiled faintly and Zanfib and nodded her head. "Maybe there wont be a next time." She remarked. She didn't really want to see any more death. She knew it was a part of life and the world they lived in..but that didn't make her like it any much more.

She smiled though at the fox, she nodding her head. "I'm Chiyo...and I'm fine, really. Thanks for asking...?" She didn't really know anyone's names but Ketet's and Chances. She looked out the way she had came when he asked about the demon before she looked back to him. "She got away..." She said simply.

"...Tyrian, well met Chiyo."  He frowned a bit at the mention of the demoness's escape, "allowing her to live insures that someone else will share the old feline's fate, but there is always hope this experience will change her."

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The adventurer looked annoyed. "Why? Because you would then have a better chance for catching Kassin, and I'd rather be the one to kill him." She turned away, looking for another route of escape, or a secluded area. Search after search didn't reveal any additional clues, or find any hidden places. She turned a disgusted look towards Kedered. Bloody extortion, I've at least given the contents a cursory glance... I just hope it's enough to go by. I just hope he keeps his end of the bargain and doesn't try and destroy them after he's read them.

She let out a grumble, and pulled some dusty looking sheets of paper out. "Fine..." she said in an exasperated tone. "You win, lousy extortionist. It won't help you reach him first, I promise." With that, she handed over the sheets to Kedered.

The sheets look like they're of the same poor quality paper that the journal used. The handwriting is also of questionable quality, it looks as though the writer wasn't well educated. Still, it's readable. It appears to start about four days before the murder incident.
Entry 1: Weather has been kinda cold, I kept myself and my kids inside, we'll prolly start plantin as soon az is stops snowing, fortunately we've got enough food and supplies to get by through the winter. I have the nigglin littel feelin that there's an ill omen about this winter, seems cold, lots o problems in the news, townfolk are all paranoid to the extreme, many of em I call friends gave me a cold shoulder a few days back. It might jus be  nuttin but my gut is rarely wrong about these kinda things. News seems to be gettin worse, at least my wife an kids are happy, about all I can really ask for. I just wish they hadn't broke one of those toys a while back, it's kind of an inconvenience to keep supplyin em with em. Heh, kids...
Entry 2: Snows lightened up, weather seems warmer, but still cold. The kids wanted to go out an play, we let em, wasn't much to do around this time, I donnae think we can plant anythin in this weather. Me wife made sure to make them all wear sweaters, hand knitted by her, before we let them out, and hats. I don't want any of em comin back an icicle. I suppose they're tough little buggers, but they're still kids, reasonable precautions should be taken. They'd be out all day, I wager.
Entry 3: Well, the kids got back, late at night, I have no idea where they've been playing, certainly off the farm, I guess they like to explore to play. But I swear, they're a crazy bunch. All, 'ooh ooh daddy! look what we found!' Apparently some papers, at first, I thought it was something they wrote, they like pranks, I thought this wouldun be different. Then I take a look at em, at first I don't believe it, the contents are all crazy and stuff. It talked about souls, and affinities, some kind of experimental healing, control groups, things and terminology way over my head I'd think it were made up on the spot or made by some kinda crazy mage. I initially dismissed it as a prank, but the kids insisted I take a look at it, I had nuttin better to do, I suppose.
But then there's something wrong with it, it's nice paper, really nice, someone would have to travel far for this kinda stuff, nice lookin ink too, and the handwriting is what really got me, neater stuff and far more educated than I would ever be, an it makes me doubt if my kids made something like this. Still, I suppose they could have gotten some cook to try and make this, I suppose I'll be checking to see if my kids laugh themselves to sleep at night. They insist they found it while playing, but this doesn't really make a lotta sense.
Entry 4: I keep getting this bad feeling, but somehow, that paper isn't making it any better, if anything, it has my attention and thoughts drawn to it all the time. Mey wife cant figure anytin out from it either, but the structure of it is superb, so she's convinced that it's not the kids who made it. Probably some notes from a mad mage or something that got dropped and buried beneath the snow. It's funny, everyone feels so tense all of a sudden, the townfolk, my wife, though my kids are their happy little selves, but I just can't shake these feelings. I might want to check on my brother to see how he's doing. I might want to have those papers inspected but I can't figger out who to give it too, some seer that's just as likely a fraud, most mages are too self absorbed into their books, cann ever do anytin useful with their lives, and would just snub me off. Maybe my extended family might know what to do with it, but honestly, I'm just not sure. I just feel like this thing is cursed somehow.
But eh, I figure my kids could sense my tension easily, I suppose it would ease my mind more if this were just one big, elaborate prank. I'll survive, I guess.
Apparently not.

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The equine and bull seemed happy to see Garis leave. They put on a wicked smile as she turned away. "I suppose we can resume now.", the equine said to the bull. Both of them nodded.
Out in the main room, the feline adventurer was still examining the bodies, but also took some time away to study the other features of the room. She stopped herself momentarily when she saw Garis, she gave a small face of concern before returning to her observations. I certainly hope those two weren't too repulsive towards her... She gave a silent sigh, then stared at the corpses some more.

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Kassin was happy to see that Chiyo was alive and well, but failure crept into his mind like a plague. He couldn't console the other, nor save the life of the third. He had conflicting feelings about the fate of the demoness, he despised the sight of violence, yet, the thought that she could harm others gave him no comfort either. "I simply hope we don't see her again." He let out, before staring at the floor. Unease wracked through his nerves. "I've seen too much death.., I'd prefer it if we weren't in a rush to cause any more." Kassin went over to a nearby couch, and sat down.

"One would think that if creatures could feel death so keenly, we'd be a race of pacifists..." He shook his head sadly.

Zanfib sighed softly, idly leaning up against one wall. "I somehow doubt she will learn. Creatures are, ironically, creatures of habit." He said, before looking about the room. "What are these thoughts of a burial concerning?" He said, before he briefly wondered how their scouting party was doing.

Kedered scanned the pages quickly, and then once again more intently, committing the contents of the scrawl to memory. After he had finished, he flashed a small smile at the adventurer and handed back the cheap paper, murmuring "happy hunting." As an afterthought, he went back to the bookshelf and took the rest of the journal. A more thorough search might reveal something.


His head buzzing with information, Kedered strode back into the living room, and went looking for Eilan.

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The adventurer looked surprised as she was handed back the papers. She eyed Kedered suspiciously as he left, and then paused to read the papers.
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Eilan strode into the living room behind Kedered, he surmised that the investigations of his companions were, momentarily complete. He paced beside Kedered, and gave a glance at Garis. He was however, careful not to use their real names.
"A moment if you two would," he said, calling both of them over. "There were two corpses in the parent's bedroom correct? And none in the kitchen, right?" Please tell me this niggling suspicion of mine is feasible... He thought.
The other adventurer in the room gave a brief glance at Eilan, but decided not to say anything. She resumed looking at the walls, floors, and the bodies. It would be rude for me to interrupt. Still, I don't seem to be finding anything else, no burn marks, no magical residue, I don't know what else I can find here...

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Kassin looked at the floor, and breathed a deep, defeated sight. "There was one I was... not able to save. I suppose they would have been concerning her. She... I'd rather not think about it." A flash in his memory remembered her, mostly concerning a very graphic image of her murdered corpse. It made him sick. "There's another in there, still mourning for her, I think we should give her some time, she... wasn't very stable. I got the impression that the two of them were close."

Chance started to slowly pace around the room as she listened to everyone. Every now and again she looked out of the door way to see if the three were coming back. She was starting to feel uncomfortable about the time they've been away. The tip of her tail twitched lightly and she would absentmindedly fiddle with her new headwings, still trying to get used to them, and trying to distract herself from feeling too much dread.

Then her mind went back to the gal in mourning. She felt so bad that she was so powerless to help her, but sometimes things needed to take their natural course. She wondered what this meant for the group..

Finally, getting annoyed with herself, she sat down with her back against the wall near Zanfib. She was not used to being in such a mood. Anger and happiness, yes, but this unease and sadness was almost intolerable. She shook her head and tried to think of a way to brighten up to the mood, granted at the moment it didn't seem appropriate given the corpse in the next room.

"She... helped me when I needed a friend," came the winged wolf's voice. It was soft and a bit croaky. Ketet had finally come out of the room, but this time she was carrying the old woman's body carefully wrapped in some clean linen she'd found in the drawers. It looked small in her arms. Her mind radiated sorrow, but she managed to pass the others and out the door in a coherent manner.

She noticed others out there vaguely, but her intent seemed obvious enough. She turned to the side of the small cottage. The winter air seemed to do nothing except ruffle the fur on her body and frost a bit of her short-sleeved shirt. Once she had walked a small distance away from the house, she did something strange.

With a deliberate sweep of her tail, a large patch of the deep snow drift heaved itself to one side, leaving the brown earth underneath clearly to be seen. Ketet carefully set the body on the ground before touched the snow beside her. There was the sound of breaking glass, and Ketet stood with an icy shovel in her hands. It looked so brittle that whoever was watching would probably expect the shovel to break the moment Ketet rammed it into the ground, but instead it came away with cold earth as the wolf methodically began to dig a hole, periodically clearing the snow around it with a careful twitch of her tail or a complex wave of her hand. All the while, she kept muttering to herself - or to the dead.

"I'm... sorry ma'am. I should have been there for you. I - I failed your hospitality..."

Garis shrugged and said, "not a bloody thing in the kitchen besides those neanderthals, they're soo dense i'd be willing to bet they couldn't find their own way out of a paper bag with a map and detailed instructions."

'He' paused for a second, "soo, what'd you guys find?"

Kedered nodded briefly to Eilan confirming his corpse count. Speaking softly, he said "I would like to get out of earshot before discussing what I learned, and more importantly what I guess. I do not want this to get out of our own group."


Beckoning to the others, he headed outside of the house.

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Eilan let out a sigh. "Alright." He strode outside with Kedered, and awaited Garis to follow. It was cold outside, and snowing with a reasonable amount of ferocity. Eilan seemed to be slightly irritated by the cold, but it didn't seem to slow him down.

"I think we're out of earshot." He paused, looked around, double checking that statement. "In the children's bedroom, there were three beds, and three sets of furniture. I inspected them, there were three sets of pants, different sizes, all of them kid sized."

"Now, if I'm correct, that means there were three children living there, that would make five people total. There were two bodies in the living room, and apparently two in the parent's bedroom. Unless the fifth is somewhere outside where we haven't looked, with his parents, or in the kitchen, there's a missing body."

"Unfortunately, I have no idea where he or she could be, alive or dead." He paused for a moment, awaiting what the others would say.

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It was easier for Kassin to see the body wrapped than in her previous state. Still, it brought him little comfort. Those around him were silent, and for good reason. He didn't decide to go after Ketet, he didn't want to spend any more time around the dead than he had to. He couldn't help but look at the ground, wondering how some people could be so cruel. The place depressed him. His wings drooped, eyes sullen, ears low, his tail held low.

After taking a deep breath to calm himself, he looked at the others. "Well... now what do we do?"

Kedered glanced around for Garis, and nodded at what Eilan was saying. "I did not find any bodies, but I did get my hands on a journal. I did not have the time to read through it exhaustively, but I did find mention of a brother to the father of this household. Perhaps the child might be located there, although I am unsure how to track down these relations. Furthermore, he mentioned receiving an odd piece of paper, some notes for magical research or the like, shortly before the attack. Thanks to our oracular little friend, I am reasonably sure, even if I cannot prove it, that this Incubus Chareye is the one behind this attack, and I am certain that the paper has something to do with this little slaughter in the farmhouse."

Chiyo watched as Ketet came out with the body, she lowering her ears slightly. The woman HAD been good to them. She would have liked to been able to save her...but well, there was no chance of that now. And she couldn't bring herself to the point of remorse like Ketet. After all the deed was done and now it was time to move on.

Her silent thoughts were interrupted then by the angel who had saved her. "Good question." She murmured more to herself then to the others. What now indeed. She looked at the small group that was standing around, one incubus with new head wings, a demon, two angels,  Zanfib, which she was sure wasn't a demon or a cubi or an angel, so she was still unsure as to what he was doing here, and of course, the dragon outside. Many questions were brought to mind as she looked at the strange group but she decided to keep them quiet.

"Well...it's not the type of way I like to meet new people...buy for all you that don't know, I'm Chiyo, Chiyo Alura." She said lamely. She knew Chance's name and Tyrian's, but that was all. Perhaps the best way to start was with introductions.

The simple grave was dug out quite easily, and soon Ketet had laid the old lady's stiffening body into it. She'd made sure it wasn't so shallow that wandering animals could dig it up. Now, she bit gently on her lower lip to stop herself from bursting into tears again as she rapidly filled up the hole. In her state of mind, the ice shovel cracked easily, but the wolf managed to get the last piece of dirt in before the magic residing in the item shattered, causing the ice to melt into water that trickled through Ketet's white fur and onto the recently-turned ground. What was left of the dried or frozen blood on her body mingled with the flow of water, cleaning the wolf vaguely.

There was a woodpile stacked next to the small hut. Retrieving a piece and making it a crude headstone was simple enough. Then giving a moment's silent contemplation at the grave Ketet turned away, trying hard to recompose herself despite her puffy eyes and other small signs of mourning.

She met Kedered and the others outside the house just as he was discussing something about a journal. Startled, she realized that she had been so shocked by the attack and the death of the lady that she had completely ignored newcomers. The tiger - the one that healed her - was there, looking sullen and sad. When Chiyo introduced herself to the others, the wolf looked rather sheepish.

"Ah - um... I'm sorry about my behaviour towards you all," Ketet managed clumsily to Kassin, "I couldn't tell you from friend or foe. I'm Kit, by the way, or Ketet if you want to use my longer name," she finished lamely.

Garis followed the others outside, heard there bits then added his own.  "Besides running into a pair of exceedingly dense adventurers, with which i am sorely tempted to dispose of... there was nothing i could see that indicated anything.  The adventurers were busy looting the silverware, but really, nothing of value could be gained for either area."

Chance looked up and smiled at Chiyo's introduction. What a nice gal. She thought to herself. Then she seen the wolf come back in an introduce herself. Chance stood up, her mood lightening with the introductions, and she walked over to Kit, giving her another big hug with a big smile.

"Hi Kit! What a cute name.. my name is Chance!" She was desperate to move from this scene and hoped to brighten the mood somewhat since the corpse was no longer inside.

She backed up to give everyone else a chance at introductions, once she reached Zanfib she pushed him a bit roughly and thought Come on.. go hug some ladies!

Zanfib had stayed quiet, merely observing the interactions of his party members, and didn't show even the slightest hint of becoming involved, quite content to just be a shadow on the wall until Chance over and acted like, well, Chance.

The sudden nudge threw off Zanfib's calm composure, and he gave Change a quizzical look for a moment, before he said, "Insanity really is genetic to you cubi, isn't it?"

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Eilan turned a harsh glare towards Garis. "Don't even think about it." With that, he turned towards Kedered.
"That might explain a few things, but I'm not sure how reliable his visions are. Such things have a tendency to be erratic, inaccurate, or uselessly vague."
"Still..." He went on, "unless the journal you found can tell us where Mr. Darrins's brother can be found, we don't really have another lead to follow." He paused for a moment. "I suppose we could head back to the others with that journal, and see if we can find another lead inside it. We could also go back inside the farmhouse and see if there are any clues we might have missed."

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Kassin took a deep breath, then looked at Ketet. His eyes still displayed sorrow, his wings still drooped along, as if they had the life sucked from them. "It's alright..." He softly said. "I'm Kassin..." He momentarily stopped, casually examining Ketet. "I'm glad to see that you're well." He stopped at that, and again looked at the ground.
"But... I still wonder, what do we do now? I don't feel comfortable staying here, not after what has happened." He stopped himself again, he looked more closely at Chiyo and Ketet, but said nothing. "Yet, I know not where to go... it's still cold outside." He shivered slightly. It was also cold inside, but not nearly as much.

Zanfib listened to Kassin for a bit, before turning his gaze to Chance. "I don't suppose you're adept at conjuring temporary shelters through magic yet?" He asked. "I was thinking maybe that would give us a respite from these gloomy conditions."

"Oh.. the all-powerful psion can't do that? What a shame." She said, mockingly, but then shook her head; being serious now. "I'm afraid not, you know I only excelled at fire magic.. but I guess I could hold a flaming ball to heat up this place.. without wood there shouldn't be smoke right? So our hideout will still remain relatively safe.

Chance moved to the center of the room and sat down, in no time she held a good sized ball in her hands of flame, slowly ebbing the cold from the room.  Geez, why didn't I think of this sooner? Bah.

Kit's body stiffened in Chance's embrace. She was unused to sudden outbursts of emotion, but that was easily explained when Zanfib retorted to the succubus' physical actions. It didn't stop until the other female released Kit. Only then did the wolf relax.

To the problem of shelter, Kit looked around. The hut reeked of death and blood. The wolf didn't want to go in there, but then again, she didn't seem the least affected by the weather at all. Still, concern wrote itself across Kit's face when she realized that Kassin was shivering and looking far more down-trodden than he had been when she'd first awoken.

"I'm still a bit weak, but I remember sleeping under the snow before when I didn't have a place to go. It's not the best, but it's actually quite warm with the addition of body heat, and the cold outside keeps the shelter's shape. Maybe a shelter made out of ice?"

Kit was careful when she bent down. She was still slightly unsteady on her feet, though she had the strength to carry and bury the old lady. The digging and burying cost the wolf some of her remaining strength, but Kit wanted to show them what she was capable of. These furs... she felt she could trust them.

The snow rippled and heaved itself up like a small wave - the beginnings of what looked like a wall. Kit stood up and patted it. It looked and sounded quite sturdy.
"I can do this a little bit at a time, I think. We can move away from this place and build a small hut to rest in."

Perhaps it was her history of crime and running, but Chiyo could only think of one thing. Getting out of the area.  "I'm not sure staying here would be the BEST idea...the old woman is dead and the villagers don't like new comers as it is...not to mention we have no proof that a demon killed her." Of course that was HER fault, but death didn't always have to bring more death. It was unfortunate that others didn't believe in that idea. "What are you all doing here anyway? I mean, were you looking for shelter here as well?" She asked curiously then, maybe they were just passing through. If that was the case she would be happily to  travel out of the area with them. Safety in numbers, after all.

Rafa kept to himself after the demoness' fleeing and appeared to be muttering some small mantra. As the others gave their introductions, he glanced over his shoulder and gave a dismissive wave. "Raffiele Thom'sen. Clan of the speakers of truth, progressives, et cetera." More people. I'm getting really tired of these hanger-ons bogging us down. Did the Great Father ever have to put up with this? At least Chiyo seemed to have the right idea. "I agree with the vagrant, let's get out of here before some vigilantes or mob show up."

Zanfib snorted lightly and smirked at Chance's comment. "I will have you know, succubus, that we psions are far better at handling the powers that be then you silly mages. However, you magic users have became quite adept at shaping the energy into something else entirely, seeing how you can't handle it in its raw form." He said as his tail swished arrogantly through the air..

However, at Chiyo and Rafa's suggestions, he glanced over at them and said, "And just exactly where do you suggest we go?"

Still holding onto the flaming ball Chance simply rolled her eyes at her ego-inflated friend.

"We still have to wait for the rest of our group to get back, though I do like Kit's plan of moving into a more.. fresh shelter. Whatever we do we should stay close." She couldn't help but shake her head at Raf. Grumpy butt.. it'd show him right to get a proper hug... "And if an angry mob comes we can just send Zanfib after them." She said with a smirk towards Zan.

She then looked to Chiyo. "Say.. mind if I call you Chi? Anyways.. Yeah we were basically searching for shelter, we didn't expect anyone to be in here." She didn't know what else to say to say on the subject. Afterall it wasn't her place to be giving out details.

Casting out a thought to the other 'Cubi, Kedered kept his face still. As irritating as those adventurers were, Eilan is right. An incidental skirmish will not get us anything, besides the possibility of raising an alarm. Switching to his voice, he went back to his conversation with Eilan, walking back towards the last known position of the others.

"I did not have time to read the journal thoroughly," glancing at the reasonably thick volume, "but it is possible that something is mentioned in it. I will read it when we have a bit of leisure. Even if it is not, it should not be too difficult to ask around at a few neighboring farmsteads and ask where a seemingly normal family resides. I doubt anyone is taking any serious effort to hide this child or the unnamed brother, and in the worst case scenario, we can spread a little silver around to loosen some tongues. I doubt that it would take much to buy an address from these people."

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Eilan nodded. "I suppose so... if we do that, it would likely be wiser to check in a town rather than at someone's home, strangers tend not to be a welcome sight. Lets just hope there's something that can be put to use in there." He looked towards the horizon. "Lets head back, I'm sure the others are waiting for us." He looked up at the sun, trying to gauge the time. We should get back well before nightfall...

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Kassin felt a bit uncomfortable staying, still, Chance's words swayed him. "We can't travel too far without the others knowing, or we might lose them. I suppose..." He stopped. "As much as I'd like to, we cannot leave, though..." he turned to Ketet and Chiyo. "You two could." He stood up, and stretched his wings out. His expression however, was still quite dismal. He remained silent for the time being. Hours passed by...

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Kassin's ears raised as he heard a bustle in the snow, the weather had calmed down somewhat. It was however, still cold, and snow continued to pile on the ground. In the distance, he could see three shapes. The others returning however, still brought him little joy. His alertness faltered moments afterwards, as he stared at the snowy ground, as if he hadn't the courage to face anyone in the eye.

The journey back was uneventful, trudging through the snow wasn't too terrible of a venture, only a mild irritation. Eilan kept alert throughout, as if half expecting to be jumped by a band of brigands or demons throughout. Still, he kept focused and found his way back to Kassin. He stopped by the hut he saw earlier, only to see everyone outside... and with company he had not seen before no less.

He immediately got a lot more alert. He scanned the place, what looked to be an icy shelter they were creating, and the hut. Eying the hut, he noticed what looked to be small bloodstains near the doorway, he turned his attention back to Kassin and the others, checking them for injuries, but notably checking Kassin thoroughly. Eilan could tell he was in a dismal mood, but the bloodstains, as well as the two creatures he hadn't met before made him curious. He approached the group, and softly asked, "What happened here?" He raised his left eyebrow.

Emerging from his meditative state in the snow, which notably did not melt under him though he did emanate normal body heat, he greeted the returning others with only a nod.  The elementalist fox faced the warrior fox and his speech was even, nonchalant, "random acts of 'recreational' murder by some demoness.  She still runs free, as even our dour Raffiele did not dispatch her.  These two were victims of the rampage, and a third... did not survive." 

During the walk to meet back with other, Garis took a few moments to shift himself and clothing back to his normal appearance.  He was smugly satisfied with the fact that he'd gotten away with playing the role of a member of the opposite sex without raising suspicions.

As the wolf reached the little hut, he let the others take care of security while he went to go and meet the new people and check on Kassin.  When Elian took care of the later, he approached the cubi girl first.  He approached the female with his broad smile, and he said, "ah, always good to see a brother or sister, Garis, Ahnasazi clan." he approached with an outstretched hand.

"Others?" She asked quietly, there was more to this group? That was strange, just how many were there? She frowned faintly when she was told she could go...she not sure if she should stay or go. She lingered a little while though, she wanting to see just what was going on. Curiosity sometimes did kill the cat and all. She glanced at Chance as she asked that though, she smiling. "Oh yeah, sure. My friends use to call me that all the time. Go for it." She said easily. She looked to Raffiele and grinned. "Nice to meet you, too." She said happily. She DID enjoy meeting new people!

She was standing about waiting when the others returned. She was surprised though when the one cubi walked up to her so boldly. She raised her eyebrow slightly at his introduction but smiled easily. "Chiyo..." She said as she took his hand. "of the clan Alura clan. It is a pleasure." She said with a smile.

Ketet's fur rose in static alarm when Eilan approached cautiously. Smoothing down only after the others' peaceful reaction to this new group, Ketet tried to back away a little bit. She wasn't used to so many creatures like this, and her mind was still on the horrifying incident just this afternoon.

She still hadn't thought much about what Kassin had said. Whether or not she wanted to leave was uncertain to her. She found comfort in large numbers, but now if she wished to enter settlements or attempt to find lodgings, it will be harder due to the large number of creatures in the group.

To be mentioned of as a victim put Ketet off a little bit. She flinched and laid her ears back at the fox angel, but she didn't say anything, only watching the way he handled the chilly winter day with ease in mild curiosity. She knew angels were gifted with incredible healing and light magic. Is this one of the side-effects? An immunity towards hostile environments?

In the presence of so many more furs, Ketet suddenly felt horribly self-conscious. She took a quick look at herself and her garb. It had survived the attack, but was still spattered in her own blood. With a discreet look towards the others, trying to make sure they wouldn't notice, Ketet tried to get as much of the mess off as possible with a bit of water magic.

Chance smiled at Chi's reply, she was really going to like this girl. When the others returned she extinguished her fire ball of warmth and stood, smiling even more and glad they returned safely. Although seeing Eilan made her feel a little self-concious, given how she acted the last time she saw him, and her expression changed.  Her headwings and ears drooped slightly as she spoke to him.

"Uh.. Eilan.. I'm sorry about what I said earlier. The emotions just built up too much." She scratched the back of her head, uncomfortable. "It won't happen again.. Oh, and did you guys find anything important?"

She didn't want to dwell too much on the past, but she figured an appology was in order for her to give.

Eilan looked quite upset at the news, he gave a glance over at Chiyo and Ketet again. "She got away? Gnnnrgh..." He grumbled, as he looked at the snow, and started doing some calculations in his head. His fingers moved as he counted with them, gauging how far a demon could have gotten in a certain time frame. He was briefly interrupted by Chance, he paused his calculations, noting that she grew her headwings in the time that she was away. Good thing she didn't come with us, those would have given her away immediately... "Never mind that..." he responded, as he swiftly returned to his thoughts. After a moment of silence, he spoke again.

"Even if that demoness didn't exclusively want to hurt us...  she is still an information leak, she can tell those that do. We need to move from this location, and soon." He stopped again, ready to relay what had been found in the farmhouse.
Kassin seemed relieved to hear that Eilan wanted to move out, the place wasn't helping Kassin's emotional stability. He got closer to Eilan, and asked "Where do we go next?" Eilan responded with a short "I'll get to that." Kassin nodded, as Eilan continued.

"We found out that the family there had a third child, whose body was not at the murder site. We also found a journal, which mentioned that Mr. Darrins had a brother, and that his children found some odd paper shortly before the murder. We did not however, find out where they could be located. We did keep the journal with us... so maybe where they can be found is in there." As an afterthought, he also added "We may have time to read through it thoroughly before anyone else shows up here... speaking of which..."

Eilan's attention drifted away from that topic, and onto the two other 'victims' as it were. He began to examine both of them, Garis had already motioned towards Chiyo, so he decided to look at Ketet more closely. He suddenly became alarmed when he saw her tail, a look of perplexed surprise on his face.

Kassin noticed his distress. "Is something wrong?" He asked, Eilan said nothing.

Oh no!

Ketet was more alarmed than Eilan when he started at the spikes on her tail. The tell-tale signs of her true form couldn't be hidden completely at her juvenile stage. Sheknew she wasn't a very good liar, particularly in front of other creatures. Raising her hands out and shaking them in a harmless fashion, she spoke.

"I - I'm not going to do anything bad! It's just easier travelling like this because of the increasing hostility in the area," Ketet spoke truth into every fibre of her being.

Kedered hung back when the rest of the group entered the building, sniffing the air. Something seemed off from their approach, but Kedered couldn't discern what it was. Striding into the building, a bit behind the others, he noticed quickly that they had picked up two new arrivals, another incubus, and judging from the spikes on the tail, a dragon. Kedered's eyes narrowed. Dragons did not customarily visit Atharra, and he wondered what this one was doing here.

His mind whirred, and decided to glide over to Eilan. Not whispering exactly, but speaking softly, he said "We are now ten, with the new arrivals. We need to work out some sort of system for traveling.  We will attract attention, even just coming to a city together. We might want to spread out into several subgroups, not out of sight or earshot, but enough that we do not appear to be traveling together at a glance. I will of course, read the book tonight, or sooner, if the hubbub dies down."

As he spoke, he cast a tendril of thought to Chance, Congratulations upon reaching your maturity. The headwings are indicative of responsibility, but I do not doubt that you will handle it. It was far simpler to think a lie than to say one. If I should forget and call you a child, pray correct me. It would be unseemly to insult you so.

He marched over to the pale blue wolf, letting his stance show a bit more aggression than it did when approaching Eilan. He used one of his own cleaning spells on her clothing, further scouring off the blood. He smiled, coldly. "If you wish, I can teach you the spell. It is simple enough. It is odd, however, to find someone who does not know such a simple bit of magic. A dragon should be able to do much better than this. What are you doing in Atharra?"

He did not turn his head, but he cast his thought out to the new incubus. Greetings unto you, Chiyo of the Alura. I am Kedered, of the Aldoraethar. How goes it with you, sister?

The hostility towards Ketet was easy to pick up on by Chiyo and the fur on her tail stood up on end and it began to twitch with agitation. She didn't know Kit THAT well but after the display of how she felt towards the old woman she was sure that this dragon meant no harm. She smiled politely to Garis though and put herself between Kedered and Kit. She didn't like his tone or the way he mocked her with the promise of  teaching her spells in one breath and in the other mocked her for not knowing it in the first place. "Kit is my friend." She said cooly. Perhaps it was having a near death experience with her, who knew? Chi certainly didn't. She just know she didn't want anyone distrusting her.

My name is Chiyo of the Alura Clan. It is wonderful to meet so many brothers and sisters all at once... She glanced to Garis then Chance but then looked right back at him. But I would go MUCH better if you did not insult my friend here. She replied oh so sweetly back to him. She was not a fighter but she could throw a bluff as good as any.

Ketet visibly shrank back. It didn't require a 'Cubi to know that the wolf/dragon was visibly fearful of the sudden aggression and was trying to very carefully pick her next words. Kedered scared her, that much was certain, and the notch of trust she'd formed for the group loosened a bit. She radiated gratefulness when Chiyo - a 'Cubi she'd only spent half a day with - stood up for her. Still, with two people already openly wary of her, maybe staying in this group would be a bad idea?

Kit backed away from the intimidating incubus, a hunted look on her face as she stammered, "I-I'm sorry. I just travel around this province, and got in somebody's way... got somebody killed... I... I just like tuh-travelling. I'll leave now if you find my puh-presence alarming..."

Garis glared at Ked and Eilan with a look of contempt, much like demons, Garis felt that dragons, especially young ones, should be given a chance before someone showed such open hostility.  His actions were further fueled by the fact that the new cubi girl was openly defending the dragon.  If a cubi were willing to defend one of them, then they were clearly not openly hostile towards cubi.

Garis gave Kit a friendly smile and gently put hand on her arm, barely touching her, he said in a calm, almost cheerful voice, "while i don't speak for the others, I, myself would be glad to travel with you at my side.  I would be saddened if the narrow minded views of some of those i travel with would drive you away."  Removing his hand from her arm, he tried his best to radiate soothing emotions to try and counteract the negativity between Ked and Chiyo.  Continuing to Kit, he said, "I am Garis, of clan Ahnasazi, and i am glad to have made your acquaintance."

he sent a tendril of thought towards Ked and, while his focus was now on the succubus and dragon, he kept his mind opened for ked's response.  'Do you really wish to pass up an opportunity like this, to bridge the animosity between our peoples, simply because you cannot see beyond the ways of the past.  Even if it were a dragon that was responsible for your clan's tri-wing's death, this is not that dragon.  Furthermore, if a succubus is willing to defend this dragon, who, i might add, has clearly barely reached adolescence.  Then surely you can at least maintain an air of neutrality.  Even a young dragon has inherent power, and although we are getting to be a rather large party, i might also point out that it would take a far larger party of beings to even attempt to challenge us now.'

Like Ketet and Garis, Raffiele became rather annoyed by Kedered's body language towards the young dragon. "Look," he said as he took a few steps forward, both hands folded together in a semi-thoughtful gesture, "we got enough problems as is. Don't start acting like a thug to the new kid, alright?" And don't give me an excuse to scalp you. Start throwing down with her, and you're the one I'm targeting first.

Kedered kept his mind smooth, unruffled, although it was now four that cast disapproving glances his way. Did none of them see the problem of endless addition to their company? They would already attract attention as it is, and adding two more, two more he could not be sure he could depend on, made the risk exponentially greater.

He smiled at the hyena, considered clapping him on the shoulders as if they were friends, but decided against it. With a tone oozing with honey, he stated. "Any time the Thom'sen is ready, I am as well, to duel. Or even something a little less formal. I have not forgotten your... absences."

As for you. his mind flared, a tone slight irritation, and a trace of amusement. You misguess my motives. Falstad Aldoraethar died over three thousand years ago, at the hands of the Troyagath. Do not go looking for them, our reprisal was complete. My distrust stems not out of her species. Look at her, with your 'cubi eyes. Yes, you too Chiyo. Can you not smell the fear radiating off of her? To Kedered, it was thick, musky, poor fare. But dragons have not lived in Atharra for time beyond memory, and I distrust the coincidence that she just "happened" to be here. I do not worry about her directly, but I do worry that she will attract more eyes than is safe, that she will not be able to keep her head down when it needs to be. Look at her bangles, her lights. And if she is afraid of me, what will she do if she sees Thularians firing crossbows at her, simply because she's a dragon? They will not challenge us on the field of battle, they will snipe and worry, unless enough of them congregate that they can snuff out our magic and let a hundred blades or bows do their work. Can you look me in the eye and tell me she is really worth the risk? I bear the child no malice, but we fly from danger into danger, and would be little served by a potential encumbrance, especially if it paints a target on her back.

Zanfib, forever aloof, had stayed off to one side merely watching the going ons, giving off neither a thought or an emotion to show any care for the interactions between the party. Despite all this, he was listening in on the mental communications going back and forth, and as Kedered issued forth his statement, he smirked slightly while quietly moving to Chance's side.

He leaned in close to the succubus, and whispered to her, "It would be interesting to introduce them to Fazshmere, would it not? I wonder if they would die of fright before the crazy dragon had a chance to explain himself."

Garis was like a ray of walking sunshine in the middle of the storm, and Kit almost melted when the Incubus barely touched her. The mild blush that spread across her pale muzzle was certainly a clear sign the wolf/dragon had become instantly smitten with the 'Cubi wolf. Her stammer came from a different source now, though she still eyed Kedered kind of warily.

"Ah, and I-I'm Ketet, from the Sky family Tari. We, um, used to travel here to Atharra until Thularia, uh, began to treat us with increased hostility. Your friends still don't really... like me, though I'd like to travel with you... but have I, um, offended them?" she managed to stammer shyly. The rampant fear Ketet had radiated dulled a bit with the sudden attraction.

Garis almost choked on the laughter he managed to suppress, as Ked sent his message.  Although there was still a tinge of fear coming from the young dragon, it seemed a combination of lust and infatuation had become the main emotions the girl was radiating... Given the way she sheepishly introduced herself, Garis was fairly certain he'd become the target of the girl's affection.  

His friendly smile broadened a bit, and he replied to Kit, "I wouldn't worry too much about those 2, Eilan is overly-cautious about everything and everyone... which can be a good thing, but in your case, i have a feeling he's just being paranoid... As for the incubus who seems so overly negative, he's always been like this with new people.  He usually has the others best interests in mind, though he seems to prefer to be abrasive, rather than welcoming with new people.  I wouldn't pay too much heed to him..."

Garis paused for a moment, as his face shifted into a more serious, and less cheerful expression.  He continued, "though i feel i should warn you that Kassin has a considerable bounty placed on his head, and seems to be the focal point for not one, but at least 2 grand conspiracies... those of us who travel with him have had bounties placed on us as well...  But i can assure you that every accusation against myself and kassin are false, and, given the nature of my comrades, I'd say those are false as well."

His smile was back as barely brushed her arm again, "so Ketet, with everything in the open, would you still wish to join us on our journey?"

Sending a response to Ked, ' Clearly we have our disagreements about how this situation should be handled.  Even before these 2 joined, we were being sniped at.  With the addition of a dragon and another cubi, we clearly have a larger advantage, furthermore, Chiyo, as far as i can tell, is a fully mature succubus, and although Chance will need training, she too can pick up thoughts and emotions... Now, even if Ketet were merely a being, that is still extra firepower, and thus a further deterrent from attack.  I welcome the girl with open arms, and if she wishes to join, i don't think you should try and push away yet another member who could help us with our own cause.  I agree that we should not travel as a whole pack.  Though if the party were to break into smaller groups for the purposes of travel, just make sure you and her are not together if you're going to continue to flaunt your own silly arrogance.

While sending the thoughts, his eyes never left Kit's face, and he was astonished to find that he, himself, was attracted to yet another pretty girl... Garis tried to make a mental note to try and ignore pretty faces... it was a vain effort and the thought was forgotten almost as quickly as it had formed.

She listened to Ked's speech and agreed with him about how Kit reacted, but she still shook her head. I can't really blame her though, she was very shaken by the old woman's death. I would have acted out of fear when two new people came and acted the way you and Eilan did. She couldn't say she blamed either of the two for acting that way either. Distrust with dragons has good reasons to it...but she knew Kit, well sort of, and she wasn't like others she had met.

She watched though as Garis and Kit interacted and she put her hand over her eyes as she rolled them, she shaking her head. "Oh dear..." She muttered quietly to herself, she shaking her head and walking away from the two. Be wary of the charms of incubus, her mother had always warned her. She watched as infatuation radiated from Kit and was amused to find that a little came from Garis as well.

I don't think any argument of Kit staying behind would hold up with him not matter what at this point. She sent to Ked with a silent chuckle, though she turned towards him more. I am sorry for the way I acted towards you. I must admit I get a little defensive when my friends are put on the spot like that. I understand your concerns and find them to be quite valid. She paused a moment, she trying to digest all the information she had gathered from both him and Garis. I don't know where you are heading or what you intend to do, but I would be grateful if I could tag along for a little while. It hasn't been easy finding safety in this area as a cubi and I would feel better traveling in a group. I don't know what the angel did to have a price on his head, but to me he seems innocent. After all, I doubt a murderer would rush in to save two lives he doesn't even know. She wasn't worried about getting a price on her head, that was nothing new for her. She kept that little thought safely guarded though. With so many that could read minds she would have to be more on guard then ever!

Kassin appeared surprised at the ruckus that Ketet was causing. He looked surprised when she heard that Ketet was a dragon, though a look of concern soon overtook it. She's a dragon? There aren't many of those around... I suppose she must be lonely. Kassin was more concerned however, with how tense those around him were getting. Something about this situation made him terrified.

While coming up with a way to rationalize the situation, Eilan listened over at what the others were doing. He gave a brief look over at Raffiele and Kedered, he softly grumbled. He then turned his attention towards Ketet, still surprised to have found a dragon in this locale, but then heard Garis speak of Kassin's bounty.
NO! His thoughts screamed, but before he could interrupt, he already let it out.
"Don't T...." He stopped himself, he let out a grumble. "Ggrgh...", he said, as he put his right hand into a facepalm, quite angry at what Garis let out. "Too late..." he let out, before he turned to face Garis.
"Excuse me..." He started, "But I really would take at least *simple* precautions before letting things like that out. Just because those two are innocent in this case, doesn't mean that they can be trusted. Besides, asking them to come with us is a very tall order, and I'd think their desire to come with us would be at least, a bit suspicious, especially considering what we've had to deal with. We've only known them for a few minutes at most, I can't see how you can trust them so thoroughly." He decided to stop there. That cubi can hear my thoughts, I'll have to be careful what I say... and think. "What if you told someone who would desire to cash in on us?" He took a deep breath, then turned to Ketet and Chiyo.

"Before you do anything rash, I'd like to know that you two can be trusted,..." At this Kassin came over and interrupted him.
"I trust them." He said.
This seemed to get Eilan to calm down, he looked at Kassin with a questioning stare. "Are you sure? How can you tell?"
"I can feel it in them, I have confidence they wouldn't betray us, if they wished to share our company." Kassin replied.
Eilan nodded, this got him to relax a little, he turned back to Ketet and Chiyo.
"Well, if you two do wish to accompany us, I'd like to know why, and what you've been doing here first. Also, I feel obligated to warn you it could be dangerous." He pointed at the blood stains near the house. "This? It's only the beginning, it's likely to get worse. You should think on that before you commit to your decision." With that, he turned away towards Kedered and Raffiele. I've got to break this up, or maybe...

He approached Kedered. "Speaking of which, could I have that journal? I wouldn't want our next lead's source to get damaged if you two come to blows." He held out his hand, as if to take it. And if he does decide to get aggressive, don't kill him, I'd like to interrogate him first. Some of his behavior has not made sense.

Kassin, noting Eilan dealing with Raffiele, decided to turn his attention towards Ketet. His wings relaxed, he seemed calm, at least momentarily. He asked her softly, "Is it true that you've been lonely?" his young eyes showing concern for her well being.

Chance smiled as she heard Ked's congratulations. She wouldn't dream of correcting him if he ever called her 'child' again - it almost seemed fitting with it coming from him. His presence reminded her that of a big brother, albeit a stern and somewhat grumpy big brother.

Suddenly everything became really tense concerning Kit.. and even Chi. She didn't exactly know what to do with so many people arguing, no doubt also communicating through the mind. She could almost pick up on the mental messages, but it was just a low mummer to her.

Then Zanfib came up, mentioning his old dragon master, and she grinned. "Heh, I suppose so.." She was somewhat aloof from all the happenings going on. She was relieved once Kassin said he trusted the new gals - she wasn't sure if she fully trusted them, but she did enjoy their presence.

With that she gave Zanfib a poke in his side when she noticed the air between Garis and Kit. "Ooooo, looks like more girls joining us might not be such a bad thing huh?"   She winked and stuck out her tongue at him. 

Kedered handed over the journal to Eilan, murmuring, "When you sleep, I would like to peruse the item. No sense wasting those nighttime hours."

He stood for a minute or two, head tilted at a thirty degree angle, eyes slightly out of focus, calculating hard. Ten was far too large of a group to pass by unnoticed. This new succubus seemed to have a good head on her shoulders, and the dragon child, she must be a child to act like she does, might or might not depending on nerves. That was something he'd have to watch for. Eilan, himself, Garis could all be trusted to split off from the party and either take point or rear guard.  He didn't trust the Demon's loyalty on his own, and had reservations about the judgment of the psion and his girlfriend. Perhaps needling him was in order. The other angel would probably not want to be separated from Kassin, and with his elemental power, it might not be such a great idea anyway.

Still, if these two new ones were going to travel with them, he might as well give them what aid he could. Relaxing his features into a bit of warmth, he returned to the part of the room with Chiyo and Ketet. He had never heard of a dragon without the ability to see a spell as it was being constructed, and a small, domestic focus might calm her down. Speaking in low tones, but not at a whisper he said, "Let me show you that trick." He spun out skeins of magical "thread" wove them around his own attire, wiping the dust and grime of the day's traveling from them. "Using pure water does get some stuff out, but it leaves too broad a stroke, keeps one from using the finer touches that magic allows. I can keep this construct before you as long as you care to study it, if you wish."


Formulating a suspicion as he talked, he cast out a tendril of thought to Chiyo. I did not hear of how you came to join us. By any chance, were you injured, and did Kassin, the tiger angel over there happen to heal you of your wounds?

"Bounty?" Ketet mused carefully. Looks like she'll be getting into more trouble than she'd expected. Then again... there's this dashing wolf here...

"I think I will be able enough to handle this as long as you all have done so. I apologise if I appear to be of such a burden so far, but I'll do my best to be effective, if you would allow me to follow you all," she added shyly, carefully watching Garis. Kassin approached her, and the wolf/dragon was slightly taken aback at the angel's words.

"Ah, um, I don't think I've been lonely, though my particular race tends to travel around in large families. I've just been more interested in seeing the world of beings and adventuring, though I have started missing the company of friendly furs after the hostilities."

To Kedered, the wolf/dragon was instantly on a bit more guard, though Ketet relaxed when he approached without aggression. She eyed the spell with interest. But while she mimicked the hand gestures all well and good, and the threads of magic looked effective, they rapidly degraded before she had the chance to complete the skein and set the magic into work. She gave a bit of an exasperated whine as she tried it again, only with the same result.

"I'm sorry. I've never been any good with spells other than air and water-based magic. I guess I'll have to do it the normal way..." Eeeugh, I hate transforming. It's always so hard getting back into the alternate form again.

Garis was going to reply to Eilan when everyone else seemed to take the situation in stride... given that he found both girls rather attractive certainly didn't help... but he had a feeling things would work out.

He first address Chiyo and her apparent concern about his liking of the dragon girl, 'you know, for one so concerned with your friend's well being, you clearly don't seem to warn her much about her current target of affection.  The whole, known for skills of seduction and the like... quite honestly though, i was merely trying to be nice, and win you over... as is...'  His thought's trailed off as his own emotions oozed with a combination of amusement and general happiness.

As Kit was asking about letting her join, Garis nodded and said, "i really don't see any problem with you traveling with us."  He glanced around, noting that the others seemed visibly less hostile towards the dragon. The wolf incubus then smiled warmly at Kit.

When Ked and Kassin moved in, in what seemed to be a more friendly nature, Garis headed off to see how everyone else was doing...  Craning his head back in, more to reassure Kit than anyone else, he said, "i'll be back in a moment."   He walked out the front door into the cool snow... he visibly relaxed as his shoulders drooped slightly, and he let out a mental sigh of relief.  He noted Ty, ever vigilant, yet always aloof.

Garis himself just sprawled out into a snowbank, adjusted his fur color to match the snow, then closed his eyes and went to collect his thoughts behind the protection of as strong a mind shield as he could put up.

Chance basked in the tenseless air while it lasted. She was sure it was only a matter of time before something else happened. Motion caught her eye as she seen Garis head outside. She decided to follow him so she skipped outside and ploped herself onto the snow beside him. Luckily she saw him right before he changed color, otherwise the job might have been slightly more difficult.

"Hey, do you think you can teach me how to do that before we start moving?" Her head wings perked up and her tail twitched at the end slightly. She layed on her stomach, parallel to him, and held herself up on her elbows so she could look at him lazily.

As the young succubus follow him outside, Garis had hoped he could just fade out of existence for a moment, and bask in the emptiness that the outside allowed him to feel.  Instead she'd been just close enough to catch him before he'd become one with the snow.  For those who hadn't seen where he was, the silver and black wolf seemed to materialize from the snow bank.  He propped himself up on an elbow to also maintain a relaxed pose.  He smiled and shook his head thoughtfully,  then replied, "i'm sorry young one.  It would takes several hours of intensive training just to get the basics of changing your appearance taken care of, that's not even maintaining a change for extended periods of time.  To truly appear as someone else, as i can, takes months of intensive training to maintain every subtle detail that is required to sell the truth, that you are in fact someone else... "

"As for the color changing trick you just witnessed, i could spend a few moments showing you how to change your colors, but really, it will be extremely temporary, because it takes a certain focus and mindset, which you have yet to learn, and then further built upon, before you can even come close to mastering the technique."

He eased to his feet as he gestured for Chance to do so as well.  He then said, "now, as for changing your color... think of something with which you can very vividly picture, such as a flower, or the snow we stand in.  Hold that picture in your mind, wrap yourself in that picture, believe you are part of that picture... now... focus deeper, imagine yourself as part of that object with which you're imaging... closing your eyes often helps, especially early on.  Now, once you think of yourself as part of the object, focus on it's color, while slowly removing the other properties, and replacing them with your own... when all you have left is that vivid color, but it is part of your own body, then open your eyes."

Chance stood and listened intently to his instructions. As he was explaining she did as he adviced. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let it out. She envisioned a flower, a nice pretty flower with bright yellow petals. I am a flower.... I am a flower.... She believed herself to be part of the petals and focused on their bright color. Her brow furrowed some from the effort she was putting into it.

Slowly, her hair started to change to a bright shade of yellow, then her face and neck followed suit. Hard to tell underneith the cloak but Garis could probably see her arms, tail, and legs turn green. Aparrently she was still focusing on the whole flower instead of just one part. Of course with her mind the way it was she wondered how much better a blue flower, a red flower, or even a purple or orange flower would look like. The color of her hair and face started to dance in a meld of psychedelic colors for a moment before she opened her eyes and her fur went back to its normal color.

"Bah, I can't seem to focus on one thing.. I'll work on that, but thanks for the lesson!" She jumped up and gave him a grateful hug. "Oh, did anything happen?" She wasn't aware of feeling much different during her first run on trying to focus.. or really she was focusing so hard on the colors that she couldn't feel her fur change.

Zanfib had followed Chance about, content to leave the others to their own mechanisms.. It might have been for the best, because he walked out in time to miss Kedered's thought of Chance as his 'girlfriend'.

Outside, his pragmatic, logical mindset found itself once again pitched into a battle with a strange urge to throttle Garis, merely on Chance's affection. He shook off the strange desires, he watched Chance try out her new training with mixed bemusement. After the interesting spectacle was over, he promptly sent her a mental image of the entire thing.

"And here I thought you were going to go for hot pink." He said, smirking.

Eilan took the journal from Kedered. To his request, he responded. "As you wish." With that, he turned away from the rest of them. I need a place to focus..., he thought, as he went to a secluded place outside, and sat up against the walls of the hovel. After that, he opened the journal, and began reading through it, scanning for useful information. Looks like there's 700 or so pages in here, this might take a while... I hope it's worth it.

Kassin looked mellowed by Ketet's reply. His wings drooped downwards. "Well..." He started, "I guess you came to the wrong place at the wrong time,..." He sighed. "I wouldn't say that hostility towards creatures is characteristic of all beings, and I certainly hope any hostility you have been shown doesn't make you think that..." He paused again, looking towards the sky. "I sometimes wonder how often their fears are justifiable..." A glance at the bloody entrance stopped him, then he looked back at Ketet, eyes glazed, as if somehow distracted.

A voice played inside his head, it wasn't his own, it was more a memory, him listening to someone else, someone he trusted. Creatures make for more of a convenient scapegoat than anything else. Take a look at some of the problems this province itself faces, crime, poverty, starvation, disease, and that's only a few. All of these things have had creatures blamed as being the cause, yet many are entirely unreasonable. It's true that creatures do sometimes go on murderous rampages, but beings also can do the same, the only difference being creatures attract more attention. There's not plausible justification for blaming creatures on poverty, that also goes with starvation as well. Disease is a similar case, in fact, this is mostly caused by a lack of sanitation and medical care. Ultimately, I believe that creatures are more of a scapegoat which allows beings to distract themselves from a more pressing problem that causes all of these and more: A lack of strong social order.

He stopped, focused again on Ketet. "Well... I can't guarantee travels through this locale will be pleasant... though I suppose it might grant some insight into the lives of beings that live here, if that's what you're looking for."
"But... part of me thinks that you might be better off not knowing..."

Kedered forced another smile at the dragon and said "Another time perhaps. It seems we will be traveling together for a while, so there is no hurry. but another duty calls."

Kedered was vaguely surprised that Eilan let Kassin out of his sight. Nothing he did was going to hurt Kassin, but he was pretty sure the fox would disapprove of information pumps. As for the other fox........... He also did not seem to be in the building. Kedered kept his face smooth, but was thinking furiously. The two of them were even more protective of Kassin than he was.


Still, an opportunity like this would probably not come for some while, and to be honest, he was not looking forward to frightening Kassin for a nighttime interrogation, and peering into his dreams had been..... odd.

Two strides took him to where he needed to be. Tapping the angel on the shoulder, he started with what he thought was a safe topic. "Kassin, I am bringing back memories of how we met, and something occurred to me. We were all badly injured by the inn's destruction, on the point of death, with only Raffiele standing a chance of survival without you. But you, you were unharmed. How did that happen?"

Chiyo smiled as Kassin vouched for trusting them. She liked that...no one had ever trusted her before. "I am a lover, not a fighter, you don't have to worry about me causing trouble. And I know how to keep silent as well...your...bounty is of no concern to me nor would I be after it. I'm good at keeping secrets." She said with a grin.

She turned her attention to Garis then and she grinned. Why warn her? I am sure if she does as much traveling as she says she does she already knows how tricky you cubi men can be She said with a mental grin, she merely teasing him a bit. Besides, if you are willing to speak on both of our behaves to allow us to stay, well that makes you ok in my book.

She looked to Ked then and smiled softly, her hand going to her neck. A demon attacked the house...the old woman that used to live here was killed, Ketet and I however were saved by the angel. She explained to him, remembering how close to death she had been and not enjoying it. I feel as if I owe him something in return...though I admit alot of my reasons for wanting to stay are selfish. It is not safe to travel alone, even for someone like me. I enjoy being around others...it has been some time since I've traveled in a group.

Chiyo watched as everyone seemed to split into little groups about the house. Chance, Garis, and Zanfib outside, Ketet, Ked, and Kassin speaking to one another a little ways off from her too. She suddenly felt slightly awkward at being the loner so she looked around until she found someone else who seemed to be by themselves. Raffiele.

She smiled faintly as she approached him. "An odder group I have never seen..." She remarked. She looked around, her eyes settling on Kit for a little longer then she probably should have, though it wasn't actually Kit she looked at, but the sparkly gems that she wore. She shook her head though and smiled slightly, she looking to the demon. "Mind if I call you Raff?" She asked, wanted to get to know everyone better...it just seemed everyone else was rather busy doing there own things at the moment. She also figured it would be best if she stayed away from Kit during idle times. She would end up doing something she would regret if she didn't.

As the colors dazzled before him, Garis smirked. His facial expression grew even more snarky in light of the mild agitation Zanfib was producing.  He sent the psychic a tendril of thought 'clearly you can't read emotions too well then... if you didn't notice my interest is far more focused on Kit, and to a lesser degree Chiyo than your precious Chance... If she is going to survive in this world, she is going to need to learn how to use her abilities to their potential, rather than fumble along and hope for the best...  If she goes to me as her teacher, i'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable, but at least accept that it is a good thing that she wishes to learn... many Cubi her age reject their ancestry outright, and try to avoid learning anything about the Cubi.  Especially those who are adventurers.'

Chance squeezed him, which he tensed for a fraction of a second, before returning the gesture and replying, "young one, you have much to learn, but it was a very good first try.  If you wish to try more, feel free to ask for lessons during a quiet time... or at night.  While the others need sleep, you will soon find that you do not... and in fact, it makes us much more productive when we need to be."

With his moment of instruction and wisdom over, the wolf headed back inside with a much more lively appearance then the way he left.  He found the dragoness and slipped in quietly to hear what the others were talking about, he moved in quietly, getting next to her as unobtrusively as possible and flashed her a friendly smile when he caught her attention.

When Zanfib replayed the sight of her attempt at changing the color of her fur in her head she went stiff. Her cheeks turned a slight reddish hue, somewhat embarrassed from the show. But then at his little jab she just stuck out her tongue. "Just you wait..." She wasn't exactly sure what she was threatening.. but she would think of something.

Chance smiled to Garis, she hoped her hugs might become more comfortable for him latter on. Not only him but everyone else. She fluttered her headwings at his bit of praise and replied "Thanks again, I'll do my best to practice!" and then he was off. With him gone she poked Zanfib in the side.

"With you being the mighty psion and all, do you detect any signs of life coming our way? I have to admit I'm a bit worried at the steady feel of everything.. plus I'm sure my little show didn't help.." She knew what powers she had in the realm of detecting people (and their emotions) at a distance was still challenged.

"Well... I can't guarantee travels through this locale will be pleasant... though I suppose it might grant some insight into the lives of beings that live here, if that's what you're looking for."
"But... part of me thinks that you might be better off not knowing..."

Kit's tail flicked at what Kassin had to share. It was true she suffered more at the hands of beings than at creatures, but only because they knew more the bad than the good of creatures like her. If she were in their position, physically defenseless and weak like the prey she hunted in the wilderness, she'd probably hate those stronger than her too.
"I have... been around for a little while now, and I intend to stay longer here in Atharra. I have still not yet fully grasped the world of Beings, and I feel that in order to understand them more, I have to live among them longer. I... thank you for helping Chiyo and I. Otherwise I couldn't have given the old lady a decent burial, or met nice creatures and beings in your group," Ketet added solemnly. She managed a small grateful smile, which turned a lot more shy and sweet when Garis came around again. Oh my, I can get used to that nice scent of his... AH what am I thinking?!

"Are we going to move on now? If you are hunted, then maybe it is best we lose ourselves in the wild for a bit. I can make a natural shelter for us to rest in once night falls to escape detection."

Zanfib's tail bristled. He'd let that little part slip, hadn't he? Damned emotion radar. Perhaps it was denial, or perhaps his own pride, but he quickly formulated a defensive response to Garis' observation..

I know Chance's clan well enough to know they do not wantonly commit murder or steal souls or even generally cause trouble, but I do not know that of your clan, Garis, hence my cautious and suspicious ways. As far as I know, you are only training her to get her to drop her guard. You cubi have been well known for your own infighting, and I do not intend to allow Chance to become tangled up in it.

Soon though, Chance managed to catch him off-guard again with another one of her silly pokes. He jumped a little, shook off his internal battles, and then grinned at her. "Ahh, typical. Just as soon as the all mighty power of magic fails, everyone comes running for the humble psion, don't they?" He said, and then poked his tongue out at her. "Just pulling your tail, Chance. I can easily become a look-out tower for the rest of us, and I can maintain it indefinitely, but you will have to watch my back, because I do so by weakening my short-range capabilities." He said, smiling at her before he slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and concentrated.

He stretched his telepathic abilities a great ways out, roughly half his total range, and swept them about like a net in every direction, forming a great sphere sensitive to the thoughts of all creatures and beings alike. Even the instinctual and simple thoughts of insentient animals popped up in his radar as but tiny blimps, where as a true sentient would be far louder. In doing so, however, his more acute short-range abilities deadened considerably, leaving him unable to scry another's thoughts at mere will alone, or precisely pin-point someone near him.

"There.." He said, opening his eyes. "That should do it. I will be able to sense anything with a thought in its head from a good ways out, perhaps even judge their intent well before they are upon us. Will get a bit fuzzier if they get very close, however."

Kassin made a quick response to Ketet, he simply smiled. "You're welcome..., though... I have to admit, I would feel uneasy if you were injured for my sake..."
"Though I don't think we will be moving until Eilan finds something... or nothing in that journal." He noticed Kedered trying to get his attention. "Please excuse me miss..." he said, turning his attention to Kedered. Recalling that night brought him no joy, but he felt obligated to respond.

"I wasn't entirely uninjured, though, now that I think about it, I wasn't harmed as badly as you were." He paused to try and collect his memories, and after a short deep breath, continued.

"My recollection of the events at that place are sadly incomplete." He frowned. "It was dark out, and I recall going to sleep, at the time, it seemed most of the place was still awake. I had thought nothing of it. When I awoke, I was outside in the snow, I had some bruises, but nothing life-threatening. However, I could keenly feel a lot of pain beneath the rubble of the inn. I decided that my minor injuries could wait, and rushed towards the wreckage. I pulled out and healed who I could, while I could still feel them. I managed to get you, Garis, Tyrian, and Raffiele out, but the others inside, I didn't get to them. It was still in the middle of night when I awoke, though I cannot say exactly when it was. You were still out cold, and I couldn't help that. After that, I tended to myself, and waited."
"And then you awoke." He paused himself.

Kedered nodded, suspicious, if Kassin wasn't as meek as a mother's milk, that he was hiding something. How could anyone be so sanguine? But of course, he had seen full measure of the little angel's naiveté, and had marveled how someone so obviously empathic could go through life without developing emotional callouses that even the coarsest 'Cubi grew. Still, the thoughts were far away from his line of inquiry, and he diverted the bulk of his attention there.
"But, almost certainly you were the target of any attack on the inn. If anything, you should have been at the center of it, not at the periphery. You went to sleep inside, right? How would you manage to get outside while still remaining asleep? "


"I don't know what makes you think I was the primary target of that attack, but I'm afraid I cannot say how I got outside. I could speculate a few reasons, but I have nothing concrete."

After all this, yet do you not believe? You are the core to everything child, why can you not open your eyes? His tongue ran almost ahead of his thoughts, and he was netting out a web of suspicion almost before it had fully formed in his mind.
"I have one myself. Your brother, or cousin, or whichever one Raffiele mentioned tailing us. Normally I wouldn't believe it, but let us be honest, our group is large, and hardly circumspect. Things have been far too quiet for someone that the Thularians, Claws, and any random adventurers are looking for. I think this mysterious relative is quietly dogging our steps, removing obstacles. Sound like anyone you know?"

He had no doubt, that that part at least of Raffiele's story had some validity to it, and if the Angel had been watching them recently, why not further back. Indeed, it was almost absurd to suggest that Kassin could survive long in Ithralia without someone to watch his back, obvious about it or otherwise.

Kassin looked surprised at the thought that his family could have been responsible for what had happened at the Willow. "I..." He paused, then continued. "If you must know, I don't have any cousins, and..." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "I'm not really sure I would trust anything that he says, his feelings... they're hostile, I worry about him." His normal voice resumed. "Besides, as I understood, adventurers only started hunting for us after what had happened at the Willow, the Thularians hate every creature, and I'm no different in their eyes, just another target. And the Claws, they pride themselves upon making others miserable."
"But that aside, I doubt that any of my immediate family would have been there, or have manipulated events so. They're.... they're cold... they wouldn't care for my well-being." He paused, and let out a sigh. "I have a rather strained relationship with them... I'd prefer not to speak of it. Suffice to say, I doubt that they've been active, I doubt they even care."

Kedered blinked at Kassin's rambling speech. He reminded himself, with exaggerated patience to settle the tiny twinge of irritation growing in his chest, that Kassin did not take in the sort of family power mongering that was bred into his bones. Even if his family despised him on principle, there was something odd about this Angel child, and they would at the very least want to keep his movements under observation.

"I would not be so certain, young Angel. Think, for a moment. Remember Nicha? She was waiting for you in that village before the Willow blew up. She knew that there was something special about those you healed, what? A day after it happened? And she probably had been informed before that as well. Yes, Thularians hate creatures, but they have been going out of their way to pressure Ithralians here to hunt for you specifically, and us almost certainly by association. I am convinced they are looking for you, and that you are somehow different. The only things I can think of offhand that would mark you so are your dreams, which do seem to contain some insight, and your healing ability. You never did speak all that much about that either, reticent child, I do not have much of a knack myself, but your cures seem to be almost miraculous and instantaneous, far better than any I have ever seen. Angels might be good healers, but your talent is exceptional almost to the point of being suspect. I mislike that term she used "touched". I think your healing marks one somehow, is different from the usual run of Light Magic. When was the first time you healed someone consciously? How did it happen? What were the circumstances? And when was the first time you had a dream that you thought might be clairvoyant, or predict the future? This can be very important.


Kassin shuddered, memories filled his head. "I'd... rather not remember that place,... it was horrible..." "Maybe Nicha was just talking about things she doesn't know about, but... I suppose..." He shook his head, but he decided to answer Kedered's further inquiries.

"I'm not sure if there's anything exceptional about my healing abilities. I'm afraid I don't know a good baseline for comparison, I don't know how good my family is at healing, nor have I met many other angels. Regardless, my powers are innate, I really can't explain them, they just happen. I suppose I have had some practice in molding, controlling them, but for the most part, they just... are. I wouldn't even know it if there were something odd about my powers, yet I've never considered there might be something wrong with them." He paused, and looked at his right hand. A bluish white glow surrounded his hand, but in a moment, it collapsed. "I'm not sure what Nicha meant by 'touched', maybe she meant something, maybe she was simply babbling. I'm not aware of any side effects my healing would cause... I certainly wouldn't wish anything harmful on those I have helped." He paused for a moment, to answer when was the first time he had used his healing powers. He cycled back through what seemed to be an extensive list. Happened soon after I ran away... "The first time I recall, I think it was around four years ago, I was traveling along... some road, I don't remember where. I know that was when I first met Kyirri, he was with his parents, incredibly ill. They were going to go see a doctor, if I recall, none of them looked happy about it." Since medical care in this country is so lousy... might as well not exist, I can't imagine any healer caring more about wealth than about the health of their patients... His trail of thought stopped there. "I rushed over and cured him of illness. Again, it just seemed,.. natural."
"As for my dreams... the first one I've had was the one at..." He paused to recall the place's name. "At that inn, the town at which we found Nicha... the name escapes me at the moment."

"But I must ask, why do you think the Thularians are pressuring people in Ithralia to hunt for us in particular? I must admit though, my knowledge of the political structure in this regard, or lack thereof, is lacking." He stopped, and thought Maybe Eilan would know more...

ahh, so that is why the little rodent being was so helpful, even obsequious, when the rest of the country would see us spit up the middle. Interesting to know, although hardly useful. But how can he be so blind?
"Kassin, can you not see how that is already far beyond the ordinary? Most Angels develop their powers in their mid to late twenties. And even then they're weak, fledgling things at best. I do not know what Kyirri had, but if it was bad enough that a doctor probably could not help. Well, I admit the general ineptitude of Ithralian medicine, but still, to heal someone dying? At fourteen. How can you possibly think that is just normal magical healing? I would not rely on just the assumption of ignorance or stupidity on part of our enemies, not when you display some very odd, and very powerful talents."


Kassin looked surprised. "I do not know what is the norm for an Angel's natural powers... I did not think that my abilities were, in that way... odd."
"Still... even if I am an exceptionally talented healer, for my age, I can't see why that would make the Claws want to capture me, or why the Thularians would take exceptional measures to kill me over any other creature. I'm sure there are others in the world with more power and skill than I."

This time, the flare of irritation was more than minor, although Kedered smothered it after a second. Idiot child! He is not old enough to be let off of his mother's apron strings. I should. No, he was not the angel's father, and it would not be beneficial to anyone would he try to assume that mantle. Fixing his features into serenity, he murmured to Kassin. "I would not be so certain."

He then deliberately turned his heel and strode out. He needed to speak to Eilan.

"My close family calls me Raff. You call me Raffiele." The hyena didn't even bother to look at Chiyo. Odd group. Yeah, it gets even weirder when a dragon's mixed in. "We're also a very dangerous group. Haven't you seen all our pretty faces on a wanted poster?" Being such a bastard, Raf wasn't about to just flat-out tell her that being around them was pretty foolhardy. "Or do you want a mugshot of your own, maybe get your head cut off by some vigilante?" He turned to face her, red eyes narrowed contemptuously.

Garis' facial expression didn't flinch when the thought was thrown about the room for those capable of reading them.  He did inch a little closer though.  When she asked her question, and the others seemed to busy themselves with their own agendas throughout the small hut, Garis himself gave a mental shrug, and figured he'd go and do the same.  Again, speaking in a soft, soothing tenor, he replied, "Doesn't seem like we're quite ready to leave yet, i'd say find somewhere to make yourself comfortable, because that journal Eilan is flipping though seemed rather large..."

He paused, looking around the room for somewhere to sit down. Spotting a thick, fur rug, Garis pointed it out and started moving towards it, hoping the Dragoness would follow, He smiled back and said, "if there's anything you'd like to know about me, Ketet, i'd love to get to know you a little better while the others seem occupied." As he finished, he gave the girl a pleasant grin, and motioned for her to come sit by him on the rug.

Garis folded his wings behind him, which revealed that he was wearing just a pair of pants, and the heavy leather belt that held the broad dagger across his back. 

She grinned slightly as he spoke to Raffiele. "My what a charming personality you have!" She said dryly before she leaned in, she looking him up and down for a moment. She smiled though and put her paws up under her chin and batted her eye lashes. "I do believe my face would look pretty good on a poster." She said easily, she flicking her tail back and forth. "I'm an incubus. This face on a poster will not phase me." She remarked, hinting that perhaps she was already hiding her true identity. "Besides, from what I've come to understand, you guys aren't the bad guys." She paused though smirked. "Well, the group anyway. You, I'm not to sure about." She remarked. She liked him. She looked towards Kassin though. "He doesn't seem very dangerous. Neither do any of the cubi. I think I'd rather take my chances traveling with you then traveling alone where some adventures will kill me with out thinking twice." She traveled with out her wings and head wings, but still, people could recognize her if they tried hard enough. She turned to face him more, her hands on her hips as she mimicked the face he made as she narrowed her eyes. Were all demons this way or just this one? At least he wasn't trying to kill her.

Kit hesitated for only a small fraction before happily complying to Garis' invitation. Having a male that responded to her attraction dulled the trauma that had happened earlier. She pushed most of her sorrow from her mind. There will be a time to mourn later, when she's calmed down enough to sort through her thoughts.

Ketet closed the distance between Garis and her quite quickly, though she seemed to do it with as little effort as possible. It wasn't as much gliding as just moving as conservatively as possible. She was a bit nervous, though. Clearly, she knew Garis to be of Cubi origin. Why would a fur so nice and handsome like he be pleasant to his adversary? Is this another plo--

Then Garis folded his wings and Kit's train of thought derailed and rode down a mental waterfall. There was the tiniest but isn't he cold?! that was barely detectable under the sudden increase of emotional attraction. The wolf/dragon sat down tentatively, clearly trying to hide a rising flush.

"You said you were of a Clan. Does that mean you are Cubi, like Chiyo is?"

Eilan raised an eyebrow as he saw Kedered coming over. He kept his eyes on the journal he held, and flipped a page as he came. He continued reading it as he spoke. "No... I haven't found where either of them can be found yet. The journal did comfirm my initial suspicions, the family did have three children, Gavin, Yara, and Avair, who were ten, nine, and eight years old respectively." He paused, cycling through what he had learned from the journal, while weeding out useless information. "It also made a mention that Mrs. Darrins had to custom make Avair's shirts, though I haven't found a specified reason." He stopped again.
"It might take me a few more hours to read the rest of this." Eilan stated as he turned another page. "Unless it's an emergency, which, from your stance, I don't believe it is, I'd prefer to get back to my task." He soon relocated somewhere else secluded and continued reading.

Kassin looked at Kedered as he saw him leave, he could certainly sense his irritation. He sighed as he looked to the ground. He softly contemplated his position. I know he's trying to help, but I can't believe that I'm something special like that, and not know about it either... He looked over at the others near him, silently wondering why they didn't pick up from where he had left off. He chose to be quiet, and silently contemplate over what had been said. It's hard to believe the world would be so badly designed as to make everyone hate someone innocent, but... maybe there is something more, and I just don't want to be... He continued to stare at the ground.

What had seemed like hours had passed, the place was still like ice, solid, unmoving, unforgiving. The cold wind continued to blow, snow continued to fall, but not in a gentle stream, but had a strange harsh quality as though it were hailstones that fell instead of snow. Amidst the silence, Eilan eventually finished reading through Darrins's journal. He paced to the front of the abandoned hut, and motioned towards the others, interrupting any conversations they might have been having. "Everyone inside, I've found our next lead."

He paused as he went in, and waited for the others to come in as well. Once he saw everyone there, he started off. "I didn't find where Mr. Darrins's brother lives, but I did find some interesting notes. First thing, he dyed his hair blue, I'm not sure why, but a blue haired wolf should be easy to spot should we find him."
"The next thing, it said that he often spent his nights at a bar called the 'Festering Oubliette', and I know how to get there. If we head there, we might be able to find him inside. Failing that, he's one of the regulars, so we should be able to find someone who knows where he lives."
"However, there are some issues, it comes straight off of a major road, it's very close to a town, and there aren't any other structures or other sources of thick vegetation to hide ourselves. It means that we'd have a very difficult time hiding ourselves there, plus there are likely going to be a lot of people coming through around the place, and if any of them spots us, it wouldn't take them very long to raise an alarm and we'd have to vacate." Eilan stopped himself.

"We're going to need some kind of a plan..." He paused momentarily.

Chance skipped over to the hut when Eilan bekoned for everyone to gather. She shook the snow off that seemed to have piled up on her at the doorway before going all the way inside. Of course at the site of the shirtless Garis her eyes widened some and she had to stifle a few giggles before she looked to Eilan, however hard it was to concentrate at that moment. She listened as intently as she could.

"I think we should split up, as Kedered said before.." She blurted out, eager to help come up with a plan. "How about having two groups of three and one with four, all with a strong mind listener at the head of each group? That way we can stay in touch fairly easy without having to be right next to eachother. Granted.. that doesn't exactly help with the faces... but scarves might help. Add an air of mystery and danger so hopefully people won't get too pokey in our business? And not everyone would have to wear a scarf either.."

No matter what it was going to be a tricky task, and the tip of her tail ticked with the presentation of the challenge.

Garis innocently stretched his arms, wings, and let his headwings pop out and do a little stretch as well.  Durring the stretch he brushed his hand across Kit's shoulder, and tensed a little, saying a soft, "sorry."

He lightly scratched his chest, then adjusted into a comfortable lean towards the dragon/wolf, leaving his hand a small fraction of an inch from her own.  He smiled while tilting his head, giving her a playful look.  "Why yes, i am an incubus... i do hope that doesn't trouble you..." He replied in a soft voice.

It had suddenly dawned on him that he may be just as smitten, as if a lovestruck puppy, with her, as she seemed to be, with him... he found the whole situation amusing, to say the least, as he gave himself a mental grin.

Tyrian never sleeps, unless he needs to heal for some reason, but for whatever reason, he embraced the frigid chill of the snow.  Had anyone bothered to check, he would have been ice cold, and quite literally passable for a corpse brought about by exposure. 

This was not the case, and the missive from Eilan to assemble brought him instantly out of his torpor with the soft crunching of ice under his foot pads to signal an approach.  He made it a point to shake ice all over the inside of the hut as he did not wish to be wet if it melted, having others wet was not something he cared about.  The exception was Kassin and Eilan, whom were magically avoided by the spray of ice crystals.

He approached and stood by the side of the boy angel, and since he appeared gloomy, the fox hugged the tiger.  No longer cold, his normal core warmth had returned.  Though he did not read minds, he felt compelled to say, "just be yourself Kassin... all blue and orange... both primary colors you know... of you."

"A plan, yes, I have thoughts on that.  However, I wish to hear the others and their input first."

"Oh! Not at all... It's just that... well... when I used to travel outside Atharra, there was some trouble between the general dragon and 'Cubi races... And, well..." Kit's blush went deeper, dusting further the pale fur on her cheeks. She glanced at him, slightly nervously. The light touch again almost made the dragon jump out of her skin.

Garis couldn't but hear the worry in her tone, and the embarrassment at almost leaping out in shock to his lightest touch. With a gentle smile, he replied.
"The Ahnasazi Clan is not a clan you would hear of in the Cubi-dragon war. We are a rather open and accepting clan."

"Well, I guess that's very good then," Kit stammered out some more. It was clear she was getting a bit nervous, and the two sat there in an awkward moment of silence.

"Ah uhm," Kit started again, "I'm sorry if what I asked was offensive. It's just that... well, this is really only the first time I've been in the company of so many 'Cubi and I got a little worried because my particular species tend to avoid such widescale hate and conflict and--"

Kit didn't seem to run out of breath as she hurriedly tried to clumsily correct herself in front of Garis. There was the faint 'smell' of magic that surrounded Kit's throat that derived itself from some form of air magic. She seemed to be unconsciously using it in her rapidfire talk. After what seemed like a long while of her explaining the Tari family's quirks and unique outlook on life, Kit realized she was blabbering on too much and decided to shut up, looking embarrassed.

Festering Oubliette? What kind of a name for an inn is that? Can you only get in through the roof or something?

This call to council interrupted Kedered's plan of getting Eilan away for a little interview, but if nothing else, 'Cubi could be patient. Or at least they should be. Haste is for fleshlings.  He considered Chance's plan, and noted Tyrian's guarded outlaying. Probably going to claim that whatever is decided was his original idea all along.

Kedered fought down a shrug. As long as the boy Angel remained safe........

"Chance's plan has some merit, although I would split up along different lines than three relatively equal groupings. Right now we have two interim objectives, finding out more at this 'Festering Oubilette" and to keep Kassin safe. The former group will need to interact socially, so anyone who has their face on a bounty notice is flat out. That puts Kassin and Raffiele in their own group. Creatures who cannot disguise their appearance will also likely be added to the bounty notice, given that our enemies seem to have some sort of arcane method of divining our presence. I do not need to remind anyone how quickly those bounty notices appeared after the alleged incidents, far more rapidly than it would take to have someone go over to the disaster sites and then run back to report. That means that Chance and Ketet also should be with Kassin and Raffiele. I do not believe that any of the four of them are capable of telepathic or arcane communication over long distances, so that would probably require either Zanfib or Tyrian in the group to coordinate. That group should probably go to ground somewhere reasonably safe, perhaps in the wilderness. The rest of us would go to this inn, use whichever one of Tyrian and Zanfib that did not go to keep in contact with the other group, and find out what we can. Once we have the information, we regroup to plan our next move".

If anything Kedered stood even straighter at the end of his speech, face and mind carefully blank, as he extended his senses out to try to pick up what other people thought of his plan,

Garis grinned as Kit started talking about her family, and the various quirks.  While not particularly pertinent, nor interesting to the incubus, he nodded thoughtfully and followed along as she seemed to be venting some of her embarrassment through talking.  When she stopped rather abruptly he quirked an eyebrow and replied, "My, what an interesting family you have... and really, it was quite fascinating to hear about things from what many cubi consider 'the enemy's' point of view... It doesn't take my innate natural abilities to tell your tense... you should calm down, there's nothing to worry about."

Garis flashed another smile as he laid a hand on Kit's upper arm and gave her the softest of squeezes.  He leaned in a little closer and softly said, "You need not worry about offending me... I am an open book, anything you wish to know, i will gladly tell."  The wolf-cubi paused... His smile grew broader, and a faint bit of embarrassment could be felt by the other cubi in the room, he said in almost a whisper, "there is nothing i would wish to hide from you... and i think you should know... i think i like you... a lot."

With the admission, he gave a her a crooked smile.  He then gave the dragon-girl another playful look and eased back into the lean he'd assumed earlier.  His own heart rate was racing, as he realized he might have said too much...

As Eilan solicited suggestions, he gazed across the room, some were silent, others active, others active in ways he did not appreciate. He turned an angry glare towards Garis and Ketet, upset that they didn't appear to be taking what beset the rest of them seriously. "Hey, pay attention you two! This is an important matter, I expect you to treat it as such." With a grumble, he turned his head away, then with another glance towards Garis, he let out "And put your shirt back on!"

Kassin nodded mutely at Tyrian, he closed his eyes and nodded, then returned to his contemplations. He still appeared uneasy.

Eilan thought over what had been said a bit more. After a period of silence, he began. "I don't think scarves alone will work, the first thing people look for when spotting a creature are their wings, and I know Kassin can't hide his. Plus, those bright yellow wings are specifically noted in his bounty notice, and those can be spotted at a distance, unless the weather gets worse. Next there's the facial traits, bright colors, again, that's going to mark Kassin clearly, blue isn't a normal color for a being."

"I think that splitting into three groups would make it too hard to coordinate,..." He paused, as he started mapping out the geography of the area in his head. He turned to Kedered. "The biggest issue with splitting up however, is that the locale in which we will be going to is, for the most part, wide open plains. There's a town nearby, but we wouldn't have a safe place to go there. Unless the storms outside get worse, standing out in the open means we would be easy to spot, and I don't think there is thick vegetation in the area, not for at least two miles. Another consideration is that the location is not obscure like this place, there's going to be heavy traffic."

"Plus, we can't seperate too far, or we'll never find each other again. We don't have a safe place to stay either, this location is likely to be swimming in Claws soon, maybe a few hours or a few days." He stopped there, contemplating more movements along wide spans of terrain, calculating distances, how far one could see out in the snow. "Speaking of mental communication, how far can you do it? Farther than one could see?" He stopped to think about this method of coordination, contemplating how it could be used to their advantage. I just have to keep in mind that non-telepaths wouldn't be able to hear thoughts...

Zanfib had been watching Chance again, when he turned his head slightly and quirked an eyebrow at the young dragoness and the incubus doddering along. He smirked slightly, and decided a little prank was in order. He adjusted his telepathic powers carefully, and sent a simultaneous message to the both of them, assuring that both Garis' open, and hence sensitive, mind and Kit's closed, and hence insensitive mind caught the message loudly, and clearly.

Get a room you two!!

"If communication is an issue.." Zanfib said, breaking his usual silence to the rest of the party, ".. then I can perhaps alleviate that problem. I can, if needed, set up a telepathic network between the entire party, or perhaps just select groups, so that they would be able to communicate between each other over a distance." He said, tiredly checking over his claws as he spoke, "This would, however, come close to taxing my abilities to their limit, considering the fact I am already playing watchtower." He said, finally looking up at the group. "What would you prefer I do?"

Chance desperately thought hard.. there had to be some solution to this. She liked Ked's revamp of the grouping, but didn't know about how to hide the group she would be in. Then came Zan's idea and she looked to him, trying hard to not roll her eyes at his seemingly uncaring demeanor. She wanted to prod him in the side so bad...

"How far of a distance are you talking about? Perhaps we could stay wherever the cover ends, those who can change their appearance can go into town, and Kit can make a nice ice hut for us to wait in. I don't like the idea of splitting up over a large distance.. but I'm not sure what other choices we have."

We have to keep Kassin safe...

Kit jerked away from Garis' touch at the sound of Zanfib's voice in her mind, and Eilan's rebuke. She clutched her head with a yelp, wondering where the hell that thought came from. Looking around bewildered, Ketet remembered Eilan said something about planning a trip into dangerous areas.

She also remembered 'Cubi were telepathic, or at least thought-readers, and her blush deepened as she struggled to turn her mind towards the important situation at hand.

"It won't be a hut as more of shelter shaped like a snow drift. It will keep us from prying eyes, but not prying magic."

Oh, Kedered's idea is very interest... oh bother...[snap]  Mental obfuscation and white noise returned to the area of Tyrian's consciousness.

He patted Kassin on the head and turned his attention to the matter at hand, if he had been asked to lead an army he'd have better ideas, but he was never in the sneaky special creature forces.

"All in all, I only really had a few ludicrous ideas involving turning you all into small, precious gems and posing as a jeweler... or changing everyone into air and skulking about invisibly."  The fox sighed, "I cannot change shape, though I can hide my wings magically... and submit to a dye job if necessary.  I can also provide tokens that can be used for magical communications, as well as networking it.  Like Zanfib, I can act as a sentinel, observing all in a sphere out to a distance dependent on how much I wish to tax myself."

The fox's eyes shifted their focus to some point to the side as he frowned, "a telepathic network, I wonder what type of protocol that uses... TCP/IP?  Telepathic Control Protocol... Intelligence Protocol..."

He shook himself out of his pondering and focused on the task at hand again, "our current size is a liability, that is indeed an agreeable fact.  With a fledgling cubi and an inexperienced dragoness, we are at an added disadvantage.  Those not on bounty notices should be able to wander relatively unmolested with the exception of being creatures known to rampage.  Not saying any of you do that sort of thing, though it was fun in my younger days, but beings are prejudiced.  As for snow drifts, I can turn people into air... it's much better for hiding and less cold.  Safe as long as you don't try to fly or wander too far away."   

Kedered kept his eyes and mind open and his mouth shut. He had no compunction about using someone else's ideas, and the one about that the snow shelter had some merit. Snow was cold, but he understood that it had some insulative properties.


"The shelter idea is a good one, provided you can keep it hidd en. And if you can work out someway our returning members can notice it, it would be all the better. But I am starting to think a different plan is better. It would not take half our strength to investigate this Oubliette. We are there to ask a few queries, not fight a battle. Two, maybe three ought to be sufficient. Eilan, because he knows how to reach it, and perhaps two of the 'Cubi. The rest should stay with Kassin, because he has the greater need for guarding.  As a backup, if the group going to the inn cannot locate the rest immediately, we might want to link up the whole of us, perhaps back at this or another area, at a predetermined time, perhaps noon tomorrow."

He cast out another line of thought, a brief spark of irritation forming that he could not transmit so to Tyrian.  Raffiele will almost have to stay here. He is too......... visible to take to the tavern. And he has shown.. reluctance in the past to fight with other Demons, most especially Claws. Perhaps we should deal with him now, before he can cause trouble with Kassin's safety on the line.

He lowered his stance slightly, bending his knees, but not dropping into a crouch, waiting for responses.

Several things happened at the same time as the party seemed set on not letting Garis continue his flirting with his current target of affection.  The Wolf first gave a bit of a glare at Eilan when he told him to pay attention, and then managed an indignant look when he mentioned wearing a shirt.  He replied, "clearly you haven't been nearly as observant as i'd thought, i haven't been wearing a shirt, i merely formed my wings into a cloak... or if need be, whatever clothing i need."

While his attention was still focused primarily on Kit, he heard Zanfib's projection... Garis responded in kind with something just for the ring-tail, 'You become defensive when your precious Chance comes to me for help, then you act snidely when i show affection for another girl... one would think you'd be relieved that you don't face any competition, and would encourage rather than discourage our little infatuation induced intimacy... For a master of the mind, you really do only think in the very short term...'  He turned his head and gave the psion a toothy grin.

With his responses made, Garis addressed the group as a whole, "I'm rather ambivalent about plans at the moment, once we agree upon something, just let me know what you need me to do."

There was a sudden bit of tension in the air that Garis noted while speaking.  His wings twitched slightly as he received the message from Ked.  He replied, 'You're playing a dangerous game, particularly in such a confined space with such power about you... if you truly wish to have your fight with the demon now, then i must ask you to so as far away as possible, you of all people know how sensitive the boy is to pain.  While i have no qualms with you hurting or killing our... 'friend' i would prefer you do so without causing rather massive agony to the angel boy...  Besides, further away means it will be easier for use to keep him safe... in here, there is too much risk of hitting someone who wishes to remain uninvolved.'

Kit visibly bristled when Tyrian referred to her as an 'inexperienced dragoness'. She was not inexperienced (in her opinion at least, having spent at least 200 years here in Atharra), just a little shellshocked after the random assault that almost cost Kit her life.

Whatever was left of the melted snow that the angel had shed on the inside of the hut snap-froze on the ground around the fur rug. Ketet looked away from the group and fiddled with her fingers, but the mild annoyance could be seen in the fur and ears.

"I suppose more than two hundred years spent living here in Atharra and five hundred more elsewhere is not good enough to be 'experienced' in your eyes, mister Tyrian," she muttered, trying hard to hide her annoyance at being underlooked, "but last time I recall, maintaining your form while in an air form is difficult and has a high energy expenditure for both the caster and the recipient. If low detection magic can be used - such as moulding a simple shelter out of the abundant material at hand, I'd rather conserve my energy and still be able to fight an enemy, then relocate rather than face an enemy handicapped. I have been to permanent housings created entirely out of ice, and they are surprisingly warm and well-insulated within, so there is no worry about freezing within such insulated shelters should that be your main concern."

Kit startled from her own voice. It sounded offended and sulky, and she looked visibly surprised she'd say such nasty things. Maybe I am inexperienced?

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't jump to conclusions about age and experience, Mister Tyrian. I just think that it'd be a better idea having a shelter that can be warded from detection would be simpler as opposed to something as complex like removing our presence through airweaving," Kit hastily added, "I'd rather not go into populated districts after today's events though, so staying away and and protecting my rescuer-" here she gave a small smile to Kassin "-would make me more than happy."

Eilan gave an irritated glare towards Garis. However, he decided not to express his irritation, and focus more on matters at hand. He started cycling through bits of information that he thought would prove important.

"The Oubliette is around ten miles away, it would take us around three and a half hours to get there, provided the weather does not worsen. "

"Long range scrying is thankfully unpredictable and unreliable, but a large discharge of magic would be more easily detectable.., definitely give our position away easily enough.

Kassin interjected as he heard suggestions going around. He gave Tyrian a concerned glance, but said nothing. He thought *WHAT* was fun in his younger days!? He remained silent on the matter, but did interject on the thought of turning into air. He briefly recalled what happened when something similar was done to him, and finally spoke. "I'd advise against turning ourselves into air, it's a hazardous procedure. We would be especially vulnerable in a snowstorm... strong winds could easily scatter us and we would not be able to easily reunite."

Eilan, gathering all that was being said, glad to see a coherent plan formulating. He smiled. "I'd agree that if Ketet can create a shelter out in the middle of the snowy plains, we should do so. It's a place Kassin could hide, and we could easily return once we're done at the Oubliette. It should be easy enough to set it up somewhere that is out of the way. I'd caution against using a lot of magic in it's construction, as that could be detected. We'd also want to set it up at the maximum range of long distance communication, if we can manage it, so that we can notify each other if one group has to move hastily." He turned over to Zanfib and Tyrian. "I'll need a more exact figure of how long you can project your communications."

With that, he started off towards the hut's door. "If that's all, I suggest we determine who stays with who, and head out."

Tyrian smiled pleasantly at Ketet, something he seemed to only ever do for Kassin, though there was an edge of condescension to it, "indeed, seven hundred years is very good for most creatures.  To Dragons, however, that is a grain of sand to a desert of age.  Someone your age shouldn't yet be out from under the wing of their family matron quite yet, but individuals vary I imagine.  A dragon's age has a vast influence over its power... that is what my previous, ahem, employer always told me.  He was a young, adult dragon.  I suppose you are right about the ice shelter, but I don't like working with ice much as it lacks temperature durability.  Though, now that you mention the term, airweaving would be much simpler then what I was going to do."

The fox considered the inquiry from Eilan, "as long as you are not requesting that I extend the communications range to include the moon, or the Fae realm, then I can maintain simple communications networks for months.  The initial outlay for network creation is large, but it can be set up in smaller chunks to eliminate a large spike in magical energy." 

Perhaps to Garis' surprise, he was met with a very smug look on Zanfib's face. Is that what you think? Came his reply, which lacked the usual crystal clarity it usually possessed, Did it occur to you that perhaps I was ensuring you would stay away from Chance? Here, allow me to demonstrate.. He projected, and promptly grinned.

With much of his focus dedicated to watching the surrounding countryside, Zanfib was not able to enact his little prank as precisely as he would have liked. You see, magical mind shields are positively horrid in comparison to a psion's protection. They are static, often flimsy things, and more often than not, they have holes and cracks that a master of the mind can slip past, bypassing the shield entirely. However, since the ringtail's short-range telepathic abilities were drained at the moment, Zanfib did not have the option of probing Garis' mindshield. He was, however, positive that it was not perfect, and that there had to be a hole or two somewhere...

.. so when Zanfib started broadcasting compelling whispers into Garis's mind, he was certain that the incubus would soon begin feeling a growing urge, suffice to say a compulsion, to give Kit a kiss on the cheek. It was subtle, definitely harmless to the cubi mind.. but still there, persistently so.

With that bit of psionic buffoonery done, Zanfib turned his attention back to Eilan. "Over several miles, indefinitely so with perfect clarity. I do not possess the higher ranges of the magical means that Tyrian possesses, but my network will provide faster communication, with the added boon of it being nay undetectable to any means of magical scrying. They would have to be looking for psionics in particular, and here in Furrae, it is rare to even know of psionics, much more to detect it."

"So the idea is we got one lead at one location, and our best bet is having some stay behind to babysit Kassin while the others search out some guy." Rafa crouched in a sitting position, both hands folded with index claws pointing out to tap his forehead. "Is this person just going to point out some other fool for us to find? And if a bunch of saps like us could find these things out, who's to say the people tailing us couldn't either?" As far as he was concerned, the only person that knew anything was Kassin's asshole brother. Good luck getting him out into the open. "We're going on a giant fucking goose chase here. Isn't there some higher-up we could be targeting?"

His mind rankled with a particularly loud thought. Kassin's brother for one. We need to bait his ass out and jump him.

Eilan started intently at Tyrian and Zanfib. He was skeptical as to whether they actually could make long distance communication easy, with few complications. He briefly recalled the difficulty to which others did such a feat, notably the Thularians. However, he kept his skepticism to himself. "One of you set it up then. Once we're set up, contact the rest of us if you need to move and under no other circumstances."

With that, he turned away, still waiting for the others to decide who would come with him and who would stay with Kassin.

He was briefly interrupted by Raffiele, he looked at him with a disapproving scowl, and let out a soft grumble. He eyed him closely, trying to use something with which to vent his suspicions. However, he found nothing to go after. He replied with an abrupt. "Do you have a *better* idea?"

"In case you haven't been paying attention, we're at a disadvantage here, the people tailing us are everywhere, and have all of our easy escape routes cut off. They're interested in finding us, and yes, if we're not careful in tracing our steps then we will be found. Information is power, we don't have it, they do, or can find it as easily as we can." He stopped for a moment, he let out a grumble, but was careful not to let his suspicions out. Assuming of course, you didn't *help* anyone find us... He resumed. "And we really don't have any 'higher-ups' we know that we can go after. The Claws are after us, but charging straight into Narukh would be nothing less than suicidal." Going after the Thularian military would be even worse... He stopped, and kept a suspicious eye on Raffiele. He really needs to bathe too...

Ketet nodded thoughtfully to the flowing conversation. Her eyes hardened when Eilan finished talking with Raffiele, and she rose gracefully from the rug before approaching Kassin. With a slight bow, she managed a bigger smile to the young angel.

"If what Eilan says is true, then whether or not I even had a choice in distancing myself from this situation has been nulled from the time you saved my life, and not from when Garis gave voice to your bounty," the words were soft, and lost the uncertain stutter in them, "I cannot run from enemies that will use me to get to my saviour, if they have the means to find me like they have you, so I shall protect and help you to the best of my abilities, Kassin. You have my promise as a member of the Tari Family."

Even though the last words might mean nothing to the group, the way Ketet used her family name radiated with a bond stronger than a blood oath. Given the way how open and honest the dragoness' mind already is, it seemed like she was going to keep it.

Then, with an easier smile that seemed to wash the sadness and seriousness from her face entirely, Ketet's eyes flicked briefly towards where Garis sat, before meeting Kassin's squarely (or trying to at least), "Besides that, I'm glad I could make friends amidst the sea of trouble. I'm ready to go whenever you are."

She couldn't help but watch Kit and listen to her address Kassin.. however rude as it was to eavesdrop. When the dragoness finished, Chance bounded over and huggled her playfully from behind. "All right! Team Kassin is in formation!" She quickly released the poor gal and smiled. Besides just being her bouncy self she was hoping Kassin would cheer up some from the good vibes between her and kit. If she couldn't do much else at least she could try to pick up the mood.. if not annoy or embarrass some people.

As the Psion tried his best to force his will upon Garis, the Cubi just sat back and fought every urge to laugh.  It seemed that Zanfib had some serious ego issues for one, and also horribly underestimated the level of self control the cubi was capable of.  Instead of doing as the psion willed, the wolf cubi just sat back and watched as Kit went and tried to help comfort Kassin.  A grin crept across his face as Chance bounded up and squeezed the dragon/wolf in a tight hug.

He eased himself to his feet, and headed over to the group, he wore a smug grin as he walked behind Kit.  He laid his hands lightly on her upper arms, and rested his chin lightly over her right shoulder.  He said to Kassin, " You are clearly brooding on something that is weighing heavily on your mind young one.  You should relax, and put your worries at ease.  You find yourself in the company of friends here, Kassin."

He then backed out of his gentle yet affectionate position with Kit as he made his way towards the psion, he sent a message so that all the cubi could hear as well, 'if you try and influence my mind again psion, especially over something as stupid as a bruised ego, you will find my retribution most unpleasant.'

He shifted his communication so that just Zanfib could hear it, 'Even if you do not with to admit it, you clearly have feelings for Chance.  Your actions are childish at best.  I have clearly demonstrated i do not see your friend in a romantic light, and now i am telling you outright, i wish to neither harm nor bed your precious Chance.  So... can we now stop these silly games? or do you truly wish to test me?'

Shifting his appearance to that of a large, white tiger.   He added clothing and shifted his wings into a long, flowing cloak. He donned the bracers he'd worn earlier.  He adjusted his hair into a short, feathered look, and changed it's color to a bright, sunny blond. He changed his eye color to a brilliant sapphire blue, then added little bits of black to the tips of his ears, and some additional quirks to his tail.  He changed his voice to a thick, and growly baritone.   Once finished, he glanced around and let out a smug grin, "i too, am now ready to travel".

Kassin seemed to get a bit calmer. "Thanks..." he replied to Ketet. "But... we should get going." He remained quiet, he chose not to voice his concerns for the tension he felt in those around him.

Eilan, once everything was ready, called to everyone, "Let's move." He was quiet as Kassin followed, he expected the others to do the same. They were silent as they traversed into the snowy landscape. Eilan mentally kept track of the geography of the region, after deciding on a safe location to set up, they set off.

The weather worsened, it grew colder, the snow fell harder, the winds picked up pace. Kassin's ears seemed to turn red as they were exposed in the snowstorm. He looked to be struggling through it, he shivered as the snowflakes threw themselves against his face. Occasionally he would close his eyes when a furious flurry of wind came over him. He tried to cloak himself in his wings when it got too cold for him. Eilan seemed to have been taking the trip in no better fashion, yet, he was more accustomed to strenuous conditions, and carried on.

What seemed like endless stretches of snow seemed to go on for what seemed like an endless journey. The raging storms slowed travel down, much to Eilan's dismay. They went for about three hours until Eilan came to a snowy plain, which appeared to be like every other that was traversed across. He stopped.

"Set up here, the Oubliette is around an hour's distance away, a bit less than three miles. Don't move from this location unless you absolutely must. We'll be back as soon as we are able." With that, he motioned for those who were coming with him to follow. He made a mental note to the cubi that were coming with him to alter their appearance to look like beings before coming with him.

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Kassin watched Eilan as he and those with him left. He sat himself down in the snow and covered himself in his wings, to the best of his ability. The snow wasn't letting up, and exposure to the cold was wearing on his endurance.

After the others were out of sight, he stood up, and brushed the snow off of his wings and clothes, which was soon replaced by more that fell from the skies. After a brief moment of silence, he spoke to the others. "I suppose we should get started..." He looked around, but saw nothing in the distance but more snowy plain. "I'm not sure where we should start though..."

Almost as suddenly in his pause, he felt a choking sensation, he coughed for a moment, as if gagging on toxic air.

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Eilan led those with him to the Oubliette, the weather seemed to worsen as he went. He was able to take the weather with great endurance, but it was clearly wearing on him. After an hour's travel, the Oubliette was in sight. From the outside, it looked to be a simple wooden building, it was unadorned, it's windows were all closed shut, and covered in a thick layer of snow. A rush of morbid enthusiasm went through him as he neared the entryway. He gulped and stepped inside.

The inside of the Festering Oubliette was bustling with activity. There were many tables spread about, a bar near the front. The stench of alcohol fumes was overpowering, Eilan gagged for a moment on the putrescent atmosphere. The patrons were loud, many of them drinking large, fuming mugs of vicious alcoholic liquid, and make long, obscene rants. The front of the bar seemed to house the most volatile of patrons. Behind it, the portly bartender tended to orders, he wore a scowl on his face. On the tables, various crowds seemed to be spending their time. Two burly looking bouncers stood mutely, silently, but alert at possible problem causers. There was a table at which people appeared to be playing cards, and gambling. Some of the tables appeared to have armed travelers, possibly dangerous ones.

After a moment of scanning through the patrons, Eilan saw a blue haired wolf at the front of the bar. He looked at him intently. That's him,... right there. He thought aloud. Finally, something fairly simple for once...
As he entered the place, trying not to choke on the atmosphere, he saw Mr. Darrins pass an empty mug to the bartender, who then passed him a new one, filled with a frothy, fuming liquid. He took another drink from it. His movements appeared jerky, sudden, and somewhat floppy, as if he weren't in complete control of his motor functions.  Then again... Eilan thought as he gritted his teeth in silent frustration and started moving towards the front.

Ketet remained frozen for a bit even after Garis released her gently from his careful grasp. Inside, the dragon/wolf mentally swooned into a pile of jelly, her mind becoming a small, fuzzy glow that lightened further the ambience in the room. She barely managed to rouse herself when Eilan wandered out, trailing after him and Kassin like a lost little puppy.

~~

The cross-country trip certainly snapped the dragoness out of it. Despite her attire, Ketet did not seem to mind the blizzard weather, rather walking a little bit light-footed on the snowdrifts that blanketed the cold earth instead of sinking into it. When she saw Kassin struggle in the cold, she came over and walked in front of him, her pale snow-covered tail lashing to and fro. It had a mild effect on the cold flakes that whirled and danced into their faces, forking and tumbling aside as Ketet's water-warding parted the sheer film of falling snow. It was akin to that of an invisible umbrella's effects, though the cautious energy Ketet used meant that not all the snow was diverted. Still, it was a bit of a reprieve from having snow full in one's face.

Once they'd stopped at the prospective location, Ketet set to work. Her movements were fluid like a river as she danced across the cold surface, first lowering the snow level before working on the walls of a shelter. Every movement she made - whether it was the flick of a wrist or the turn of the head - wasn't wasted as she caused the snow around her and Kassin to rise like rippling waves. Packs of snow heaved upwards, curling and rising as she 'washed' more packed snow upon the first wave. The magic Kit used flowed and ebbed around her gently, as if inhaling and exhaling in synchronisation to every layer of shelter she built.

Ketet didn't finish off the shelter's domed roof before Kassin began to choke, leaving the open ceiling and allowing snow to drift in. From the outside, it had definitely taken the look of a relatively medium snowdrift. Her graceful dance stopped abruptly as Ketet rushed to the angel's side, eyes full of worry.

"What's wrong! Is there somebody out there?"

The stench of ale fumes assaulted Kedered's nose as he got within thirty feet of the Oubliette. Nope, just a normal door after all. He didn't drink in the aqueous sense, and Kedered couldn't even comprehend why someone would willingly take something that dulls the senses and the intellect. There's no accounting for Fleshling taste.

Still, one had a part to play. He had shifted back into his "grizzled adventurer" guise that he used back at the farm, both to back up in the odd case that someone had noted him and reported here, of all places, and because a middle aged adventurer, a somewhat rare sight in any case, would very likely be drowning himself in ale. A simple spell, waved over the mug, would break the alcohol down into sugar and water in any case.

Although the sanitary conditions of the place left him doubtful that drinking anything in this bar could be safe.

Still, he stomped up to the bar, sat in a stool nearby the wolf being, and bellowed, "The house ale, and quickly", as he slapped a handful of copper onto the table. As he waited for his drink, he eyed the Darrin surreptitiously.  I wonder if anyone plays cards here. I should be able to recoup the monetary losses on this drink, at least.

Chance grasped the cloak tightly around herself as they traveled. She noticed how the cold was effecting her less but the wind still was cutting through. All in good time I suppose... The trip was wearing on her - only a small part from the traveling and the weather, but the majority came from the boredom. Somehow along the way she found peace with it and calmed her twitching tail. Things are just going to get more and more serious... and I have to be ready for it..

Sad to see part of the group leave again she was glad to be distracted by Kit's intricate dance. How beautiful.. She would've been content on watching her for hours until a choking noise cut into her dreamy haze. Noticing it was Kassin she rushed over to his and Kit's side but looked around the area.. trying to detect anything out there.. she also took out her dagger and redied a fireball.

"Kassin, are you ok?? What's goin on?" Her eyes kept searching as she spoke.

The cold and snow didn't seem to bother Zanfib much at all. Perhaps it was some sort of psionic meditation that kept him impartial to the chill, or maybe it was just his thick fur coat, but he followed along at a leisurely pace, and stayed behind with Kassin and the others. He had watched Ketet's dance with a passive interest, noting it to be a very unique way of concentrating energy, but all came to an abrupt end when Kassin suddenly began choking.

Mentally checking his telepathic abilities for any nearby sentient minds, Zanfib spoke to the group, "He usually does this in reaction to someone else's pain." as he continued to scry about.

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After a moment, Kassin recovered from the ordeal, and stood on his feet. "I'm fine... thanks... it passed." He took a few looks around. "I don't feel anyone else around... but..." He paused. "Thanks for the support, I appreciate it." He turned a smile towards Ketet, and Chance. A gust of wind blew down his face, and then he looked towards the distance in the snowy plane, in a direction they didn't come from, nor did Eilan traverse.
You don't sense any other thoughts nearby either.

"Over there..." He started. "I thought I felt someone, but the signal was faint,.. it must have been a long distance off, I don't know how far it is." He looked up towards the sky, he didn't recognize the area, but he was certain he could locate what he felt. "I don't know what it was,... but it felt unpleasant... I think I felt..." he stopped again, his mood seemed to droop as he turned his head towards the ground. "...someone die." Kassin took a deep breath.

"Normally I wouldn't hesitate to investigate..." Kassin continued, "But... Eilan told us to stay here. I'm sure I could get us there and back, but I'm not sure if we should." He turned his attention towards the horizon once more. He shivered as a cold wind blew past his face. He took a few steps towards that direction, but then turned to face the others, as if silently asking them for their thoughts on the matter.

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The barkeep briefly looked at Kedered, at once, he gave him an unsettling look. "Oh everyone these days is always in such a rush, always running blindly ahead rushing to get whatever gleam is in their eyes. I tell you, back in my day, things weren't like that at all, people would stop, sip a little, have a chat, they got along like family, now everyone's all Rush Rush Rush with their ale, always glubbing it down like they're trying to fill a bottomless pit or something. No one wants to just sit back and relax these days, now it's all glug glug glug! Never there to sit back and enjoy the fine beverage, I swear it would take ten mugs nowadays to satiate what one would have done back so long ago..." His tirade continued for a while. Eventually he put down a mug of vicious brown liquid in front of Kedered, and took the coins. The fumes coming from the mug are palpable, strong enough to make a normal person nauseous from being in close contact with it. A layer of foamy liquid appears to cover the top, settling down, but making an uneasy hissing noise while doing so.

Eilan briefly looked over at him, he raised an eyebrow, but then put a more serious look on. He thought out loud I really would advise against drinking that... He then turned his attention towards Mr. Darrins, trying to figure out a good way to question him. I just hope he isn't too drunk for questioning... I know Kassin could detoxify him but... He stopped and pulled up a seat next to him. He started to address him. "Excuse me sir..."

Darrins interrupted him. "Git ye hence (hic). Just when I think I can enjoy a fine mug someone has to come over and act all friendly, all friendly, oh back in the day they were really friendly! Oh, they'd come here to relax, relax! But now I can't do that, always people pestering me about this and that and that and that...." after that, he took a swig from his mug, his arms flying wildly as he took it to his mouth. The fumes from the drink appeared to be making Eilan uneasy. He briefly withdrew to consider what to do.

Garis had been careful to wait back while the others had entered the bar.  After a few minutes had passed, he entered in his feline disguise.  He took an empty seat and waved for the bartender, when approached he said, "what would you recommend?"

While getting his drink, he started surfing around the various thoughts that the patrons were casting.  He was particularly interested in those who focused on the newcomers.

"You're welcome." Chance smiled back to Kassin. She negated her fireball and returned her long/broad dagger in its sheath. Suicide.. maybe..  "Eilan did tell us to stay put.." She looked to the group, then back at Kassin. She was pretty restless just hanging around until they got back.. and it should take a while for Eilan and the others to do what they need to. Then again... "..and our first priority is your safety, Kassin. Although I feel the need to give whoever died a proper burial, even though it's winter.. we shouldn't move from this spot."

She was never one to tell anyone what to do (other than Zanfib), so she added. "But... I'll follow you wherever you need to go."

Kedered cautiously accepted the mug from the bartender, sniffed distastefully at the contents. and then spun out a little spell to break apart the alcohol in the drink. He gave it a few seconds to take effect, and covered it by another glance at the mug, and then cautiously took in a mouthful.  The ale almost sizzled as it went down the throat, a taste of offal and a texture somewhere between sandpaper and hydrochloric acid. It made his stomach feel queasy, but there was an odd sense of accomplishment after it came down, like beating some sort of onerous task.

Feeling a little elated from the experience, he strode a little to his left, and leaned over Mr Darrin's shoulder.  "A whisper in your ear Master Darrin. I had a business proposition for your brother, but he was.... unable to accept, and you seem to be the best chance of this achieving a satisfactory conclusion. Why don't  you step outside with me, so we can talk it over in private."

Ketet, away from the influences of 'Cubi gushingness, was more level-headed and firm in her resolve. Lifting her hand, and twirling it, she finished closing the gap in the open roof of their shelter while speaking carefully, completing her task. The icy shelter seemed to warm up slightly even as she spoke.

"I would suggest delaying your desire to go investigate for the moment. Our group is split, and death in a direction not in Eilan's way may be a ploy to lure us out into the open. I can now see your sensitivity to others' pain, but we should wait and voice our concerns after our friends come back from the tavern," Kit's blue eyes took on a fierce, protective look before she turned to Zanfib.

"Zanfib, was it? You said you had powers of detection. Is there anything out there?"

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Kassin approached Ketet and Chance, and nodded. "That is an astute point, the Claws took advantage of my hypersensitivity once before, I suppose they could do so again. We'll remain here then." He paced back and forth across the snow, he didn't go inside Ketet's shelter yet.

Time passed by, the snow didn't let up, but Kassin seemed warmer, more alert, confidant. After a long period of silent waiting, he turned his attention towards the horizon, something appeared to grab at his senses. Different direction. He glanced around, but saw no one. Feels lost... tired, scared... He kept glancing around, before finally letting out. "I think someone's coming, I'm getting some odd signals, faint ones though, but they're getting stronger. That way, I think it's a lost traveler, but I can't be sure." Kassin almost reflexively shivered, he wasn't sure if he was feeling cold or was feeling someone else feeling cold.

"Whomever it is feels lost, they're coming this way." He looked around, noting that their tracks had been covered by the snow. "I'll be inside, I can't be seen..." He turned around and went inside Ketet's ice shelter, and looked around to find some place to hide. Tyrian and Raffiele can't be seen either... the others, I'm not so sure...

You pick up some faint thoughts, at this distance, it's hard to tell what they exactly are, but they're becoming more substantial, whomever it is will be in visible range shortly.


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Many of the thoughts around are loud and obnoxious, and often completely incoherent. The sheer magnitude of the traffic however, makes it difficult to get precise readings.

The barkeep turned his attention towards Garis, when asked for his recommendation, he started on a tirade. "Oh people these days can never make up their mind. I always wonder what happened to the good old days whence people had their hardy ruggedness about themselves. Now everyone's so dependent on everyone else, I swear most folks couldn't tie their shoes without getting someone else to do it for them. Now people come yapping to me and go 'well what do you recommend?' Bullocks if I know! I can't go inside people's heads and know what they like, and each and every persons tastes are different, at least that's how it used to be. Now everyone's just trying to copy everyone else, almost like they think all people are just generic replicas of the same exact mold. Bah! What ever happened to the times when people weren't so soft bellied and actually tried to make something of themselves..." He continued for a while in this vein, appearing as though he could go on all day if need be.

Mr. Darrins turned over to Kedered with an irritated, drunk look to his face. He gritted his teeth, quite angry, apparently he resented being reminded of his brother. "Go away! Don't you know what happened to him? I suppose you just love the feeling of rubbing that in my face don't you? Well beat it, I came here to relax, not to hear some jerk I don't know rub all my problems in my face. He took a deep drink from his mug, his movements appeared to be under less and less control. He turned back to Kedered and made some rude, highly obscene comments. He concluded with "I'm not interested in business, I already have money. And I'm not going to go outside with some guy I don't know, now beat it!" He turned back to staring at his mug, mumbling to himself incoherently.

Eilan kept observing Mr. Darrins, noting his hostility. He took a glance at the two bouncers behind the bar, both seemed to be oblivious to their surroundings. He re-focused his attention on Mr. Darrins once more.

Garis held up a white furred hand to hide his agitation.  Rubbing his eyebrow for a moment he then replied, "Alright, if you don't have a specialty, give me a pint of mead, 2 shots of whiskey and if you have some, a splash of me de' menthe."

After scanning the crowd loosely and coming up empty, with little more than clouds and jumbles, Garis tried the approach of focusing on individuals who seemed somewhat out of place.  Those who were clearly adventurers, particularly older ones, and those who seemed to carry far too light of weaponry.  He focused on then and tried his best to glean their surface thoughts.

Zanfib has been gazing towards the oncoming sentients, but he turned his head slightly to regard Ketet. "Originally, no.. but someone has just come within range, and I suspect we will be able to see them shortly. I would suggest you all hide inside." He said, before looking to Chance. "But you can feel free to join me in meeting them if you hide your wings?" He said.

Kedered sneered slightly at the wolf's diatribe. He paused, seeming to draw himself up in indignation, but spinning a little spell about himself, making himself seem grander, more authoritative. Nonetheless, he kept his voice low, too low to be overheard easily over the hum of the inn. "I am not going. You are not staying. You know what happened to your brother? I know who did it, and I have my suspicions as to why. Do you think staying here, in this pit of alcohol, will keep you safe? Do you want to duck and hide for the rest of your short life? Only striking at your enemies will make you safe, and I offer you that opportunity."

He intensified the spell, screwed it tight around his voice. "Come with me now".

Chance frowned a bit and shook her head. "Sorry, I still don't have the skill to do that.. and I doubt I can make it look like I'm just a hunchback." Her wings twitched slightly under the cloak.  "Chi or Kit would probably be better to accompany you. Just make sure you tell me if something starts to go awry.." She took a few steps back towards Kit's shelter before turning and walking the rest of the way inside.

Kit turned her head and finally noticed that her wings had been out the whole time. She registered mild surprise and irritation that she hadn't had enough control to remove them after transforming. No wonder she'd received hostilities...

With a frown of concentration, the wings writhed a little bit before sinking into her back, disappearing altogether and making the dragoness appear a lot more... 'normal', save for the fact that she was in summer garb. Ketet shook her head a little.

"Looks like I'm going to have a hard time explaining my tail spikes and my outfit. I'll head in and make sure the shelter is secure. Holler if you need any help," Kit finished before loping into the shelter.

Kit waited until whoever was left that wanted to hide out of sight of strangers to come into the shelter before carefully closing the entrance with natural snow. With skill and precision, she punched a few breathing holes that were near-invisible to the outside, allowing enough airflow to enter and exit, and a relatively insulated temperature meant that the ice didn't melt, but it was comfortable to sit within the shelter.

Then Kit sat down with her eyes closed, waiting with body and mind tensed and strung enough to allow her a quick reflexive action in order to erect a suitable defensive shield or magic in case of trouble.

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A being approached, a feline, around 5 foot eleven, he had grayish-black fur, brown eyes and hair. He looked exhausted, his breaths were heavy and slow. His face was also covered with bruises. He wore a jacket that covered his arms, though he wasn't wearing gloves or a hat. A gust of snowfall and wind made him shiver. He looked quite uncomfortable, and briefly had his right hand grab his left forearm, and made a pained grunt. He looked to be struggling through. He looked surprised when he saw Zanfib,  and his eyes went wide when he saw the snow shelter, though at this distance, he couldn't see the details, or notice that it's entrance had just been closed. He did however, keep his composure, he took a few deep breaths, he made a faint wave to him, and managed a weak smile. Someone out here? Maybe he'll let me stay in that shelter there for a bit... oh my arm hurts... damned adventurers...

He addressed Zanfib briefly. "Well met, it is not often I see someone else along these plains while not traveling upon the roads." He paused, gave Zanfib a cursory glance. I can't let what happened last time get to me... "Normally, I would not like to impose..." He stopped and coughed for a few moments, and rubbed his left forearm some more. After a sharp breath, he continued. "But alas, I'm in poor condition for traveling in this clime, would you mind if I stopped by for a while inside that shelter in the distance to regain my bearings? I am lost, and do not know my way home from here."

Inside Ketet's shelter, Kassin kept calm, though he was leery of possible danger that lay outside. He reduced his voice to a whisper, that it might not get outside. He felt a sharp pain upon his left forearm, but managed to contain it. "The stranger outside, he's injured, tired, and scared. I think he's seen better days, and I think he'll want to come inside to warm himself up." He paused, trying to get more readings. "I wouldn't like to be insensitive to his plight, but if he were to come inside, he would likely panic upon seeing me, Tyrian, or Raffiele, and might hurt himself, or give away our position." He stopped momentarily, trying to get his thoughts together. "Do any of you have any ideas on how we could get him to leave this location? I'm afraid I don't know this place well enough to direct him towards civilization. I also think Eilan's trail has also been blown away." He kept quiet after that. If that injury of his is as bad as I think it is, and it isn't taken care of, it might get infected, and he wouldn't be able to get it treated either...

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The bartender looked towards Garis. "Specialty... he could have said that first... bah..." He continued on a mumbled rant. After a moment, he passed Garis a mug filled with a vicious, fuming, brown liquid, apparently discarding his request. The smell from the liquid starts to make you nauseous from close exposure. The top of it bubbles with a sick, hissing sound. Overall, it smells and sounds rather unpleasant.

With the traffic, it's still difficult to make out any specific inquiries. You do find out that most of the people here aren't armed, but there's nothing oddly suspicious about their thoughts. The small contingent of adventurers occasionally share thoughts about Kassin, painting him as a mass soul murderer, but none of them appear to have any interest in Mr. Darrins, and don't have any good leads.

Mr. Darrins, about to take another drink, abruptly placed his mug on the bar, he turned an irritated glare towards Kedered, he gulped air down a few times, as if trying to shake off the effects of dangerous amounts of ingested alcohol and other unpleasant substances that happened to be in those drinks. He made a coughing sound, and curled his right hand into a fist. Remembering the bouncers, he relaxed his hand and gripped the handle of his mug. Who does this guy think he is? Come over and threaten me like that... saying that I'm not staying and saying I'll have a short life,.. someone ought to teach this guy some manners.

"I'm not going to be intimidated by thugs like you, you're just a wet behind the ears punk who thinks he's tough. I ain't going nowhere that I don't want to and you're not going to force me, and you can go and stuff your offer, like I don't already know what happened there. If you want to try anything, the bouncers are right there. Now if you don't mind, get lost. I was enjoying myself before you happened to come along." He turned his face back to his mug.

Eilan looked over at Kedered and Darrins, and glanced at the bouncers, both of whom appeared large and brutish, but at the moment, were passive. He kept a critical eye on both of them, but saying nothing at the moment.