Lady's Grace, cutters!

 

“Everybody really belongs to the Dustmen. But not everyone knows it.”

Factol Skall

 

 

First Market Day of Retributus, 126 HR

Jana's apartment was small, but quite cozy and pleasant by Hive standards. It had a narrow bay window that let in a fair amount of light on clear days, as the sorceress lived on the sixth floor under the roof and therefore slightly above most of the surrounding buildings. Jana had built her desk into this bay window. The floorboards were in pretty good condition, there were even a few old carpets and a wooden bathtub in one of the corners. On an open hearth to the left of the front door, their hostess warmed a stew of turnips and hydra corms while they hung their wet cloaks out to dry and gradually warmed up again. Jana fed a couple of stray cats, and they talked about the day's events as they ate. But they were all tired and exhausted, so they soon lay down to rest. There was a bunk bed, the top of which Jana offered to Lereia, and she also had a folding cot lying around. Sgillin and Kiyoshi left it to Naghûl and spread a few blankets on the floor to sleep on. By the time they lay down for a few hours of well-earned sleep, it was almost three hours past anti-peak.

They only woke up a while after First Light. As it was a dull day outside, the morning hadn't sent too much light into the small apartment to tickle them awake. Jana handed out a loaf of already quite hard bread and a couple of apples for breakfast and brewed some tea and coffee. As he let the hot, black drink run down his throat, Naghûl leaned back on the simple wooden chair he was sitting on. Yes, it had been a good decision to take a break and spend the night here with Jana. Their clothes had dried, they had eaten and gotten a few hours of much-needed sleep. Now he was in better shape to go to a place like the Mortuary. They packed up their things, took their coats and left Jana's apartment to pay a visit to the Dustmen. It was cool, the sky gray and pale, as if someone had wiped it with a dirty rag. The wind drove a few clouds apart like tattered ghosts. They sensed that it would rain soon, if not the same day, then the next. They made their way to the Mortuary, but before long a dirty street urchin of about ten years approached them. He pulled at Sgillin's coat and whispered something to him. The half-elf apologized to the group, saying he had to leave for a while, that he had something urgent to do. Lereia frowned, but said nothing more, and Naghûl only nodded slightly. Sgillin had been in Sigil for a few months now and had obviously done some business in the city. He had never mentioned exactly what it was about, and Naghûl had always left it at that. Everyone had their own business, the tiefling respected that. So the remaining four of them made their way to the faction headquarters of the Dustmen. Since there was no transportation service in the Hive, they had to walk and it took them over an hour to reach their destination, about two hours before peak. However, as they didn't have to walk through an area like the Night Market, there were no dicey situations with Kiyoshi like the night before. Only the general poverty and misery of the Hive surrounded them omnipresently, evoking old memories in Naghûl and obviously weighing upon Lereia. Then the large, domed building that dominated the entire Grey District rose before them, crowned by twelve huge, metal wings and flanked by massive, blade-wreathed towers. Reliefs of bones, skeletons and skulls adorned the outer walls, and in front of the gate stood two tall bone golems, completely immobile but ready to protect the building, the faction members and the mourners at all times. Not far from the entrance stood a cart on which several corpses were lying - they could see a few feet and a limp arm hanging out from under the dirty tarpaulin covering the load. A skinny, black horse was harnessed, and a collector was sitting on the coach box, probably discussing the price of the "delivery" with one of the Dustmen. Lereia watched the scene gloomily and shuddered as they passed the bone golems at the gate. Naghûl nodded to himself. Yes, exactly, that was why he didn't like coming here. As they entered, a vast hall of gray stone stretched out before them, supported by mighty pillars and columns, roofed by a high vault. In the center stood a statue in a dark robe, a symbolic representation of death. Otherwise, the large entrance hall was almost empty - except for a few of the undead workers, skeletons and zombies shuffling around. The Dustmen turned people who sold their bodies to them into undead after their death and used them as laborers for simple tasks in the Mortuary. Anyone who signed such a death contract received a considerable amount of jink - by Hive standards. The sods who signed usually did it to feed their families and didn't care what happened to their bodies after their hard and often too short lives. If the mortal remains were not skeletonized in an acid bath, the Dustmen embalmed them carefully, as they wanted to preserve their zombies in a fairly good condition and not let them decay. This was also where the typical smell of the Mortuary came from. One might have thought that all the undead, especially the zombies, gave off a horrible stench of death and decay, but that wasn't the case. The Mortuary’s aroma was a little musty and dusty, but above all strongly antiseptic, emanating from the undead that the Dustmen carefully maintained. In addition, the smell of incense, embalming oil and wilting flowers enriched the air. Naghûl was about to turn to one of the undead workers, but then immediately reminded himself that this was pointless. All the zombies had their mouths sewn shut, as the Dustmen preferred silent workers. When Lereia saw the nearby worker's lips stitched together with coarse thread, she turned pale.

"It's best to ask directly if they still have Eliath here," Jana suggested. "I think they keep some kind of record."

"I ... can't do this," Lereia whispered, standing behind Naghûl and staring at the ground.

The tiefling sighed. So much for the “appropriate setting” in which to lay out corpses. He would have to talk to the Dustmen, then. So he looked for the first one who was still alive - at least physically. Emotionally, Naghûl was not so sure about the members of this faction. But he pushed these thoughts aside as he stepped towards a man in simple, gray robes.

"Ashes to ashes," the Dustman greeted as he approached him.

"Dust to dust," Naghûl returned the greeting, as was customary.

The Dustman nodded, looking almost satisfied.

"May I ask you a question?" the Sensate got straight to the point.

"Ask it," the man replied calmly.

"Do you have a dead man named Eliath here?" the tiefling wanted to know.

Lereia curled her fingers into her robes, he could see it out of the corner of his eye. Jana tried to place a reassuring hand on her forearm.

"Try to relax a little," he heard her whisper to Lereia. "I know how bad it is at first, from my own experience."

Lereia nodded, grabbed Jana's hand and held it tightly, then breathed a little calmer. Naghûl forced himself not to be distracted by their quiet conversation, but turned his attention back to the Dustman.

"I don't know," he answered. "I'm not involved in funeral matters this month. When was he supposed to have been delivered?"

"The day before yesterday."

"From which district?"

"He was found in the Marble District," the tiefling explained.

"Hive, then." The man nodded thoughtfully - he seemed very calm, almost dispassionate, though not unfriendly. "Toranna is responsible for this."

"Where can I find her?" Naghûl asked further.

The Dustman swayed his head. "I think she's preparing a funeral ceremony. But if there are no mourners here yet, she might have a moment for you. Shall I ask her?"

"That would be very kind," Naghûl replied.

The man nodded and then pointed to an alcove near the entrance. "Please follow me." However, he immediately stopped again and looked at Jana, Lereia and Kiyoshi. "Are they with you?"

"Yes," Naghûl confirmed. "May they join us?"

The Dustman nodded again and then led them to the alcove, above which a small, barred window let a little dim light into the hall. There were several stone benches against the wall.

"Please take a seat." He pointed to the benches. "It may take a moment."

"Thank you."

They sat down on the hard benches and waited. The Mortuary’s atmosphere was oppressive, if only because of its purpose, and the many undead didn't make things any better. So they all stared in silence as they waited, Naghûl letting his gaze wander around the hall. He thought of what he had discovered at the Gatehouse and peered, searched ... And indeed ...

"1-1-1, between the archways there!" He pointed to the spot where he could now recognize those mysterious, slightly glowing numbers that only he could see.

Jana raised her head. "A new sign? I'm losing track."

"Losing it?" Naghûl laughed. "Ha! I haven't even found it yet!"

But before they could think any more about it, a dark-haired woman came up to them. She was wearing glasses with large, round lenses and a gray robe. However, it was not the ordinary, rough clothing that many simple namers wore while working in the Mortuary. Her robe was made of good fabric, sewn with black braid at the hems and embroidered with small skulls on the sleeves. She must be an adlate, a factotum of the Dustmen.

"Ashes to ashes," she greeted the group politely.

"Dust to dust," Naghûl returned the woman's greeting and stood up.

She glanced briefly at the others, but then turned back to the tiefling. "I am Toranna. You are here for a deceased person?"

"Yes, that's right. It's about Eliath."

She raised a brow. "Eliath, I see. Seems to have been a man in high demand."

Naghûl crossed his arms and shoved his hands into his sleeves. "Really? More people have asked about him?"

"Yes, just last night," Toranna confirmed. "There were two others who asked about him. A strange couple."

"Why strange?" Lereia wanted to know, and Toranna raised her shoulders.

"Somehow they didn't fit together. But then again, that's not unusual here in the Cage. She was a half-orc in red armor with a two-headed mutt. He was a well-dressed air genasi with a monodrone in tow. I think he was some kind of kami descendant or whatever they're called."

A quick sideways glance at Kiyoshi told Naghûl that the young man raised his eyebrows in interest at the mention of a kami.

"Were they relatives of Eliath?" Lereia inquired.

"I don't think so," the adlate replied. "But they didn't say anything about it either."

"Did they say anything else important? What their names were or where they might be found?"

"She called herself Garush," Toranna answered. "The man's name didn't come up. But she looked an awful lot like Red Death to me."

Lereia looked questioningly at Naghûl and he assumed that she probably didn't know what to make of the term Red Death . That this was a moniker for the Mercykillers.

Now Jana joined in the conversation. "Did they take Eliath's possessions? There must have been a letter. Is it still there?"

Toranna shook her head. "I regret to inform you that Eliath found his final resting place in the crematorium upstairs. We sent him through the portal into the fire like we are doing it with all those who do not receive a ceremony and about who we do not know to which plane they should go. All of his possessions were left with him."

"Do you happen to know anything else about him?" Lereia inquired. "Was there anything strange?"

The adlate thought for a moment, then something occurred to her. "He was probably one of those murder victims from the last few days."

Lereia nodded. "Yes, we've heard about that. We want to look into it. Are there any other murder victims who haven't been cremated yet?"

"There were several," Toranna replied. "But all of them have already been burned."

"Do you remember how many there were?"

"I think six or seven." The adlate remained very calm and unaffected by the fact that several murder victims had been delivered to her in the last few days. Then again, violent death in the Hive was nothing unusual, and the Dustmen weren't exactly known for their sentimentality.

Lereia looked to the others. "Do you have any more questions?"

Kiyoshi actually took a step forward. "Have you told us everything you know about Eliath?" he asked with a stony face.

"Yes, that's all," Toranna replied.

The young soldier looked at her very seriously. "You are lying," he then said curtly.

Astonished, Naghûl turned his head towards his companion. Whether Kiyoshi harbored a real suspicion or was just trying to bring the adlate out of her shell was not entirely clear to him. But it was an interesting starting point.

"What?" she replied, puzzled. "No. No, I'm not lying. Why would I lie?"

"I don't know," Kiyoshi retorted. "But I hope you're aware that you could get into a lot of trouble if you don't stop."

A crease formed between Toranna's brows. "What’s the point of that? I'm just doing my job here. I don't have time for this."

"And I'm doing mine." The young man took out the Harmonium's badge and showed it to her.

Now the adlate seemed to get a little nervous, which surprised Naghûl. On the one hand, because Dustmen factoti were not usually so quick to show emotion, and on the other, because the badge certainly identified Kiyoshi as a simple soldier. Who basically had no real authority in the headquarters of another faction.

"What ... what is this?" Toranna asked. "Are you going to arrest me because this Eliath is dead? That's not my fault."

"I don't want to arrest you for Eliath's death," the young soldier explained matter-of-factly. "But for resisting the Harmonium. Withholding information from the Harmonium is a serious offense."

If it had been discussed in advance, Naghûl would have dismissed Kiyoshi's actions as far too offensive. He would have pointed out that no adlate in the Mortuary would let him upset them like this. That all of Sigil's factoti knew that a simple soldier couldn’t harm them in their own headquarters. And yet, here they were, and Toranna was now visibly nervous. Whatever the reason, Naghûl decided to support Kiyoshi's game - knowing that it was probably no game at all for the soldier.

"This man is merciless," he stated with a sidelong glance at his companion and nodded seriously.

"You should think of yourself, adlate," Jana joined in.

"What?" Toranna took a step back. "You must be out of your mind. You ... are mad."

"Last chance," Kiyoshi replied curtly.

"So, this ... hello? What should I withhold?"

The soldier nodded, appearing almost satisfied to Naghûl. "I hereby arrest you for resisting the Harmonium on at least three counts. You will be taken to the Barracks."

Toranna raised her hands defensively. "Hey, slow down! Um, I'm a factotum of the Dustmen, you can't do that."

She remembered that rather late, Naghûl thought to himself.

"Four counts," Kiyoshi explained.

"I ... there will be repercussions!" she groaned. "Our factol will not stand for this."

"Five counts. Further charges will be brought to you by the Fraternity of Order."

Now Jana intervened again, apparently deciding to take on the role of the good officer, as they called it in the Harmonium. "Wait, may I perhaps ..." Her tone of voice sounded gracious. "Kiyoshi, are you willing to give me another chance to mediate? Assuming she would talk now, we wouldn't need to take her with us, would we?"

Kiyoshi eyed the quasi-arrested woman with a serious, pitiless expression. "Do that. Last chance."

Jana looked at Toranna. "Think about yourself. Just think how emotional those lies are making you. You move further away from True Death with every lie."

Naghûl nodded slightly. Not a bad approach, trying to grab her by her faction philosophy. Toranna stared at Jana for a moment, her expression unreadable, then she nodded slowly. "You may be right. Can I search for a substitute to represent me in my duties? There would be a funeral party waiting for me."

"Send one of the workers," Kiyoshi dismissed her request. "You are no longer available." Toranna's expression darkened again. "You have no right to do this!"

"The Harmonium has, by all means," Naghûl corrected.

Jana smiled narrowly and Toranna crossed her arms in annoyance. "All right ... But you won't be able to prove a thing."

"You are under arrest," Kiyoshi insisted. "That means you're not going anywhere except the Barracks, the City Court and, if you're unlucky, into the hands of the Mercykillers. I have three witnesses here for the sixth resistance against the Harmonium. It's adding up."

Lereia didn't really seem happy with the whole situation and now turned to Toranna as well. "Why don't you talk to us? Maybe he'll leave you be."

"And what could I say?" the adlate replied tensely. "I mean, Eliath is dead. He came here and was burned. That's it."

"Nothing about his possessions?" Lereia asked. "His origins? What was wrong with him? Anything?"

"I don't know who he was. And I don't know who he knew. He didn't have anything on him either, except this letter and a tinderbox. He was a madman, like so many in the Hive."

"Have you read the letter?" Naghûl inquired.

The adlate raised her shoulders. "Yes, I have read it. It was from a woman called Derioch. She wrote that Eliath should come back to the Gatehouse, that he was not well."

Kiyoshi now put on an even sterner face. "What was so special about Eliath that you risk seeing the inside of the Prison?"

" Nothing ," Toranna snorted, but then interrupted herself. "Well, I mean, who knows ... After all, the other two were looking for him too. I don't know why."

"What did you say to them?" Naghûl wanted to know.

"The same as I told you. I mean, the horc acted just like him." Toranna pointed at Kiyoshi. "She asked questions similar to yours."

"Well, we do have Retributus, after all," the tiefling remarked. "Did they give a reason for their questions?"

"No," Toranna replied sourly. "The woman didn't seem used to giving reasons. The man was more polite, but she didn't let him talk much."

"I'm not surprised," Naghûl said dryly. If the woman had really been a Mercykiller, this behavior pretty much coincided with his imagination. Not that Kiyoshi was acting so differently, but it served a purpose at the moment.

"Do you know anything else?" Lereia asked further. "About the murders? Or the other victims?"

"The murders? No, I have no idea. I don't know anything."

Toranna was becoming more and more defensive, but Naghûl wasn't quite sure if that was for a specific reason or just because of the way they were cornering her.

Lereia also seemed to have doubts. "I can't shake the feeling that you know something more," she stated.

Kiyoshi now shook his head resolutely. "That's enough. You're coming with me. Now ."

"Alright," Toranna replied, now more angry than nervous, "That won't change anything."

"She's still hiding something from us," the Harmonium soldier decided. "We'll go to the Barracks, bring in an interrogation specialist and maybe the factol. Then she'll talk."

Jana listened suspiciously. "An interrogation specialist?"

"What's that?" Lereia wanted to know.

"I believe less religious communities also speak of torturers," the sorceress explained, looking at Toranna.

"Torture?" Startled, Lereia looked at Naghûl. "I don't want this woman to be tortured!"

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and noted that the shock on her face seemed genuine. Perhaps she had not actually understood that this was a bluff. The Harmonium could certainly be accused of many things, but illegal torture was certainly not an option since Lady Juliana’s and Sarin's factolship. On the other hand, Lereia was new and inexperienced in Sigil and therefore not yet able to assess such situations with any certainty. Soothingly, the tiefling placed his hand on her arm and nodded reassuringly. She seemed to understand now, because she relaxed and returned the nod unobtrusively.

Jana, on the other hand, had already understood on her own and joined in again. "You're making a mistake," she explained to the adlate and gestured to Kiyoshi. "I know him. He won't rest until you've convinced him."

"Then I guess he won't rest," Toranna replied irritably. The threat of torture had intimidated her less than hoped. "I won't say anything without a lawyer."

"We'll see," the soldier replied curtly and gestured towards the exit of the Mortuary. "Go on."

Jana looked at Kiyoshi, shrugged her shoulders and fell back a little until she was walking next to Lereia and Naghûl. "Shouldn't we go to the Gatehouse to possibly still catch this couple?"

She had a point, and Naghûl called forward to Kiyoshi. "My friend from the Harmonium."

"Yes?" The young man only gave him a very brief glance before returning his gaze to his captive, who was walking slowly ahead of him.

"I’m worrying that she only wants to delay us," Naghûl said with a nod to the adlate.

"I'll hand her over to a comrade outside as soon as we come across a Harmonium patrol," Kiyoshi explained and then turned to Toranna. "Of course, your superior will receive a detailed report on why you were absent from your duties without providing a replacement. Come now."

The adlate just shook her head and walked on, looking quite tense. Naghûl wondered more and more. He had thought Kiyoshi's behavior was a good attempt at intimidation, but had not expected Toranna to actually come along. A factotum who let a simple soldier take her away from her own faction headquarters? Something was wrong ... Lost in these thoughts, he followed Kiyoshi and his prisoner. Outside, the soldier asked Jana for the shortest way out of the Hive, and the sorceress pointed to a narrow alley next to the Mortuary. Actually they had wanted to wait for Sgillin, but now the first priority seemed to bring the suspicious adlate to the Barracks. The tiefling winced as something creaked to his left ... loud and strange, as if metal was moving. He looked up, expecting to see a badly oiled modrone pass by. But the deserted alley was completely empty at the moment. When the noise sounded again, he realized it was coming from higher up. The tiefling raised his eyes, trying to pinpoint the origin of the sound. Then Lereia pointed to one of the front doors, and sure enough, the creaking was coming from that direction. Naghûl tilted his head and approached the entrance. Above the doorframe was an ornamental metal visage, as they were found often in Sigil. Not the Lady’s countenance, but a monstrous, hideous face made of brass. But then the tiefling froze. The grimace at the top of the archway moved its eyes ... then its mouth ... It twisted into a grin.

"Is this common here?" Lereia asked uncertainly, while Kiyoshi remained calm.

"Ah, a kami," he stated, as if that was completely normal.

Maybe that's what it was in his world, Naghûl thought to himself. He had heard many a story about spirit beings in realms that seemed to be similar to Kiyoshi's prime home. But here in Sigil, as crazy as the city often was, house decorations did not usually come to life.

Toranna was equally confused. "Kami ... What? No, that's not normal!"

The grimace rolled its eyes and seemed to look around the alley, then its gaze lingered on Kiyoshi. He looked up at the metal face with interest. Then the grimace's mouth moved, opened ... and the face spoke, in a creaky, ancient-sounding voice and in a language that Naghûl did not know, that did not seem even remotely familiar to him. Jana walked closer, fascinated, her eyes fixed on the grimace, while Kiyoshi listened attentively. And then similar words actually came from his lips. It seemed as if he was answering. Naghûl held his breath. Was the young man speaking the mysterious Old Tongue? The grimace's eyes glowed briefly, then it continued speaking.

"Are they talking?" Naghûl asked, looking from Kiyoshi to the grimace and back again.

"Looks like it," Lereia replied quietly.

Kiyoshi looked intently at the metal grimace, and strange, ancient-sounding noises came from his throat. Then the face spoke again and its eyes glowed once more. Its tone now sounded somehow more unctuous. Lereia kneaded her fingers as she watched the scene and Naghûl hardly dared to breathe. Kiyoshi seemed to answer something, then the grimace spoke again. A few last, mysterious words before it froze and appeared as lifeless as before.

"That was very interesting," Kiyoshi explained matter-of-factly, as if they had only asked for directions.

Naghûl shook his head at so much sobriety in the face of such exciting events. "That was sheer madness!" he exclaimed. "You have to tell us everything right away!"

Jana nodded, although obviously a little less enthusiastically than Naghûl. The tiefling could hardly wait to hear what Kiyoshi had to report, but he knew it was a rather inappropriate topic of conversation next to the Dustmen adlate. He looked at Toranna ... and faltered. She was gone. Damn! The incident with the metal face had distracted them too much, and the woman had taken her chance. But he could still feel an arcane afterglow in the air. She had probably cast an invisibility spell. He immediately muttered a magical incantation to see things hidden, and actually saw her running down the alley a little further on.

"There!" He pointed in that direction and hurriedly chased after her.

The others followed and they rushed down the narrow alley. It led into a much wider street. No ... not a road. A bank - or what one might call a bank here in Sigil. They were standing by the Ditch, the seventy-feet-wide river that separated the Hive from the Lower Ward. It usually carried so much dirt, garbage and refuse that the stench penetrated the nearby alleyways. Every few months, however, a portal to the heavenly river Oceanus opened at its source, flooding the Ditch with thousands of gallons of holy water. Then this area of the Hive was suddenly clean, fragrant and a popular destination for the citizens of Sigil. Many residents went swimming in the clean water and parents let their children splash around. Fiends and undead kept their distance to avoid harm from the sacred water, traveling merchants set up their stalls on the shore and a heavenly glitter lingered in the air. Of course, all of this only lasted a few weeks before the effects of the holy water wore off, the Hive dwellers threw their garbage into the river again and the Ditch was as dirty and foul-smelling as before. Naghûl had often wondered what would happen without the regular cleaning by the Oceanus. The Lady probably wisely opened the portal again and again so that the Ditch would not become the source of plagues, mutated monsters or worse. On this day, however, it had been months since the last opening, and a musty odor hung heavy over the entire area. To make matters worse, Toranna was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is she?" murmured Jana.

Lereia stopped and sniffed. Of course, she possessed the keen tiger senses in her human form as well. Not quite as distinct as in her animal form, but far better than anyone else in the group. However, the foul smell of the Ditch seemed to make it difficult to pick up the scent and it took her a while. But then she pointed spireward. "She ran that way."

She hurriedly sprinted off, the others close on her heels. They passed a group of dirty urchins playing with a dead bird and approached the shore. There was a broken barge lying in the mud with its bow up. On they went, passing a patch of particularly thickly growing razorvine, but then Lereia stopped.

"Crap. She must have walked in the water from here. I've lost her scent."

They paused and looked around to see if they could discover a clue after all - or someone they could ask about the fugitive. Instead, a frightened scream reached their ears from behind them. They wheeled around. Not far away, at the entrance to another alley, stood several armed figures. They had surrounded an elderly woman wearing the robes of the collectors, who was fearfully trying to flee from them. But she had her back to one of the houses. One of the thugs was drawing a long blade.

"Hey!" Naghûl shouted loudly.

The thugs' heads immediately jerked around to face them. The Sensate stared for a moment, for three of them were not unknown to him. They were the dark-haired half-elf and the two tieflings who had already seemed suspicious to him and Lereia in the Blood Pit. There was also a gnoll and a human woman standing with them. Five, Naghûl thought to himself. There were four of them, and the bunch up ahead were probably mostly simple Hive bashers. He thought they had a good chance, so he approached the group quickly.

"Stop!" the human woman called warningly, and the male tiefling raised his blade towards the old collector. "No further or she dies!" he threatened.

Naghûl raised his hands and spread his fingers for a spell. "Get away from the old woman or I'll fry you!"

He glanced briefly at the others and noticed that Lereia's blue eyes had turned turquoise and her pupils had become cat-like slits. Jana also raised her hands for a spell, and Kiyoshi took a determined step forward.

"In the name of the Harmonium!" he shouted. "Step aside or you will face the full force of the law."

"The Harmonium?" The tiefling woman spat out and laughed derisively.

Only now did the dark-haired half-elf turn to face them, while the old woman backed further away, pressing herself fearfully against the wall of the house. "Away with you," the half-elf growled. "This is none of your business!"

"If you want to harm this woman, it is!" Lereia shouted at him.

The half-elf nodded to the others, who moved away from the collector and approached the group.

Kiyoshi walked forward without hesitation until he was in the front row. "In the name of the Harmonium!" he repeated. "Stand back or feel the power of the law. This is very much our business."

He stroked an amulet on his neck, and Naghûl felt a surge of arcane energy, probably a buffing spell. Then the two tieflings, the gnoll and the human woman charged towards them, and Naghûl released the magical power that had already been twitching between his fingertips. Several glowing projectiles hurtled towards the thugs and struck the gnoll, who yelped in pain. Jana did the same, only her target was the human woman. Kiyoshi rushed forward and faced the tiefling in hand-to-hand combat, coming at him hard and determined. As he conjured a second spell, Naghûl heard a sound behind him, like the tearing of cloth and the cracking of bone. Then a hiss. Lereia ... She must have transformed. And indeed, shortly afterwards, a large white tiger leapt past him and pounced on the tiefling woman. The old collector took her chance and fled into one of the alleys, but where was the half-elf? Naghûl scanned the row of houses near the Ditch and spotted him just as he disappeared into one of the other streets. The bastard had made off. But at least the old woman had managed to escape into another alley, so Naghûl hoped that she was safe. So he released another hail of magical projectiles from his fingertips, causing another yelp from the gnoll. Before he even reached him, he slumped to the ground - whether unconscious or dead, the Sensate could not tell. The human woman went down under a spell from Jana at almost the same moment that Kiyoshi struck the tiefling down - and he undoubtedly breathed his last. Lereia had knocked the tiefling woman down and stunned her with a powerful paw strike, but had not torn out her throat. When the fight was over, Naghûl immediately looked around for the others and was relieved to see that they were all safe and sound. Only Kiyoshi had suffered a cut on his thigh. But the wound didn't seem too deep and Jana was already handing him a healing potion. The Sensate was about to say something, but was interrupted by a noise. A clapping coming from one of the houses. A young man with fair skin and blond hair was leaning there, dressed in a beautiful dark red tailcoat and good boots, too noble to be a Hive dweller. But his skin had an alabaster glow and his hair shone golden. He had to be an aasimar.

"Very well done!" he called over as he applauded a few more times. "I'm impressed."

"Askorion," Jana murmured. Then she straightened up and walked towards him. "What are you doing here?"

When it was clear that Jana knew him, Naghûl relaxed and stepped next to his companion. The man addressed as Askorion pushed himself away from the wall and came a little closer.

"Quite a fuss you're making here," he noted with a smile towards Jana.

"Sorry," she sighed, "I think this has somehow gotten out of hand. What brings you here?"

As he came closer, Naghûl realized that he had two different colored eyes. One was bright golden and the other of a vibrant turquoise. However, both had slit pupils like those of a cat. The young man's movements were elegant and of feline grace.

"I was looking for you," he replied. "Factol Terrance wants to see you. Well, more like all of you, I suppose."

He looked around, and Jana stepped nervously from one foot to the other. "Right now?"

Askorion nodded. "Yes, he said it was urgent."

Lereia, who had listened quietly, now ran a paw over her robe, which lay tattered on the floor due to her sudden transformation. She hissed softly.

Fascinated, Askorion looked at the tigress. "So it's true."

"What's true?" Jana asked, confused.

"That she's a weretiger. A white one. That's very rare." The aasimar smiled. "How noble, impressive. Ambar was full of enthusiasm."

Despite his warm words, Lereia hung her head. "But I have nothing to wear now," she stated. Fortunately, even in her animal form, she was able to speak.

"I think you're quite well dressed," Naghûl comforted her. "Stay like that."

"With the Athar?" Lereia said uncertainly. "I don't know ... Wouldn't that be bit conspicuous?"

Askorion laughed. "We only have something against gods, not tigers." He looked to Kiyoshi to make sure that the healing potion had worked and that the young soldier was mostly back on his feet. Since that seemed to be the case, he nodded. "I'll take you to the meeting place then."

"Meeting place?" Jana listened up. "So we're not going to the Temple?"

Askorion shook his head. "You shouldn't go to the faction headquarters as a group too often ... Not yet, at least." He was about to leave when they heard a shout behind them ...

Sgillin.

 

 

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played March 8, 2012

Sgillin's player wasn't there that evening, so the half-elf had to go to a secret meeting unexpectedly. Only much later, in Elysium, would the others find out who he had met.