<El-Cideon> Back at the inn, the group finds Ron methodically poring through Wilfrid's research notes, watched over by Battersby with the limitless patience of the undead. "Greetings again everyone," Ron says, looking up briefly from a stack of paper to acknowledge your return. "Was your day enlightening?"
<Franceska> "Horrifying fits it better."
<Julia> "It got better towards he end," Julia insists. "Rosemund even got to see Ione's face and live to tell the tale, so I'm sure she's happy."
<El-Cideon> "It did not seem polite to say so, but the eyes were actually rather frightening," Rosemund admits.
<Steph> "It was all pretty great! We confirmed we're every bit a match for the heroes of yore!"
<Franceska> "It does make you wonder which of us will go crazy with age."
<El-Cideon> "That is encouraging if it is your intent to combat one," Ron observes.
<Julia> "Even without that it's nice for the ego," Julia smiles.
<El-Cideon> "I do not see why any of us has to go crazy," Rosemund says to Franceska. "We should learn from her bad example not to do crazy things!"
<Steph> "Maybe we're already crazy, but in the right ways?"
<Franceska> "Well, I certainly hope the one going dangerously crazy is nice enough to leave a warning not to try and stop her rather than jumping straight to betrayal."
<El-Cideon> "It would be very considerate, so that way the rest of us could jump straight to stopping her," Rosemund agrees.
<Franceska> "Yes, something like that."
<Steph> "I'm not sure we'd bother," whispers Stephanie to Julia.
<Julia> "It would surely be a trap," Julia agrees just as quietly.
<Steph> "So, hey, Ron! How's the book-learning going?" calls Stephanie, walking over to her favourite Modron.
<El-Cideon> "In compiling the wizard's research notes I have personally recognized several subjects from the experimental facility on Arcadia," is Ron's first admission. "The obvious relevance of this information is that he is now engaged in recruiting the various interviewees of his older research for use in Polaris's project. Quite aside from the original intent of his research, the information gathered now constitutes an extensive list of fodder for their current goals. Hundreds of spellcasters of diverse and varying abilities from across the planes are listed here in sufficient detail for the wizard to find them again in case of further inquiries. The conclusion is that he is in fact seeking them out in conjunction with Polaris, albeit one presumes he is now done with asking them questions."
<Julia> "Yes, those notes are old so we have to assume he's actually done all of that now," Julia agrees.
<Steph> "Is Aria Granville amongst those names?"
<El-Cideon> "Not all of them," Ron is able to verify. "Aria Granville was indeed among the participants."
<Franceska> "How about other people we've come across?"
<El-Cideon> "I do not possess a comprehensive list of individuals you have met throughout your travels," Ron confesses.
<Julia> "Hmm... are any of the listed names resident to Solata?" Julia asks curiously.
<Steph> "Leah better not be on there."
<El-Cideon> "There are not," Ron says. "Wilfrid's research was ongoing through the end of your war. One concludes your local mages were lacking in the time and luxury to travel across the planes to facilitate social research."
<El-Cideon> "I do not remember Auntie Leah ever traveling out of Solata," Rosemund recalls for her part.
<Julia> "I think most people we know would be too young to make the list, then. But there's no telling how that list has been expanded over the years after Wilfrid left here."
<Franceska> "Delightful."
<El-Cideon> "Speaking practically, many of his subjects would now be notably older," Ron confirms, "though one speculates based on the wizard's theories that their children would be likely to manifest the same talents."
<Julia> "I don't suppose it says anything about particular sites being more useful for the type of... research, he's interested in?" Julia asks, hoping for a lead on another one.
<El-Cideon> "He drew extensively from the elemental planes, but also from the outer planes," Ron says. "His belief was that manifestation of spontaneous spellcasting ability was sort of a residue which principally stemmed from some minute piece of a god or the plane itself residing within a mortal, and thus his interest was primarily in mortals descended, however distantly, from planar residents. Hence his extensive interest in the ancestry of the participants. Only negligible representation arose from the Prime."
<Franceska> "How about Baator?" Franceska asks curiously.
<El-Cideon> "Baator is famously bane to spontaneity," Ron observes. "Participants of fiendish heritage were much more likely to be descended from abyssal entities."
<Julia> "Well, that makes Baator slightly more appealing I suppose?" Julia posits hesitantly. "Oh wait, it's probably just all from men and succubi, isn't it?"
<Franceska> "Does it change our next move any? Or are we still heading for Pandemonium?"
<Julia> "We don't have any clues from those notes, so we may as well."
<Steph> "Unless we head there," notes Stephanie, jerking a finger towards the ugly portal to the Abyss. "See if we can catch up to Granville. Bad plan?"
* Franceska shudders.
<El-Cideon> Rosemund frowns. "Going there is always a bad plan! But it might be that she is being hunted right now?"
<Steph> "Yeah, that's what I thought!" replies Stephanie. "But, yeah, she clearly knows what she's doing. Or who she's doing it with," she mutters. "Succubi can turn into guys, you know."
<Julia> "I don't know... I mean, I suppose we could, but none of Galina's former friends are in the Abyss so we won't get much else out of it, will we?" Julia says with a light shrug. They keep hearing about Aria wherever they go, so she'll surely still be a step ahead of them if they go to the Abyss.
<Steph> "Yeah, we'll stick with Pandemonium. That's much better! It's not engineered to make us suffer. It just does that."
<Franceska> "It does hate everyone equally," Franceska says with approval.
<Steph> "No, no- deaf people are fine."
<Julia> "It's about time they caught a break."
<El-Cideon> roll 1d10
<Serith> El-Cideon roll for Serith < 10 >12 [d10=10]
<El-Cideon> The party retreats to their hammocks to rest up for tomorrow's travels--however, early in the morning, more immediate concerns than Pandemonium are doubtless on their minds as Rosemund jolts out of sleep with a wrenching, bloodcurdling scream that draws itself out until she's out of breath, panting and staring in stark terror at nothing.
<Steph> Stephanie's eyes open wide, and she falls out of her hammock in a crouch a moment later, seeking out interlopers!
<El-Cideon> There's no one in your room but you and your friends, and in truth Rosemund doesn't look focused on anything particularly present.
<Franceska> "What? What happened?!"
<Julia> For some reason bloodcurdling screams don't arouse any shock or panic in Julia, but she still figures they're probably under attack, so she floats up confident in Leslie's ability to protect her from any assailants. Battersby's right outside too! "There's no one here... bad dream, dear?" she asks, floating towards Rosemund.
<Steph> "Couldn't blame her for that," mumbles Stephanie, still consumed by adrenaline.
<El-Cideon> "So many knives," she whispers. "So many knives!" She startles into a sort of awareness, looks down to examine herself in fright. Checks over her chest, arms, legs, looking altogether astonished to find herself in one piece...though she plainly looks pale and drained from some terrible experience. She nods to Julia, blinking herself awake to the others' presence.
* Franceska looks around for hostile magic, doing her best not to appear unnerved.
<El-Cideon> Aside from a decidedly unwholesome aura around Rosemund, Franceska detects nothing active.
<Julia> "I'll make something to help you sleep better," she reaches out to pat down Rosemund's disarrayed hair in a comforting manner before she floats over to where she keeps her things, mixing up a light sedative.
<Julia> roll 1d20+13 heal
<Serith> Julia roll for Serith < 15 >12 [d20=2]
<Franceska> roll 1d20+16
<Serith> Franceska roll for Serith < 17 >12 [d20=1]
<El-Cideon> "It was not like other dreams, though," Rosemund insists. "I was--I really felt as though I was somewhere else. Somewhere awful!"
<Julia> roll 1d20+16 arcana does that sound like a particular nightmare spell?
<Serith> Julia roll for Serith < 33 >12 [d20=17]
* Franceska grimaces. "It's not like other dreams," Franceska echoes her, gesturing towards Rosemund. "Dispel!"
<Franceska> roll 1d20+10
<Serith> Franceska roll for Serith < 29 >12 [d20=19]
<Steph> "Well, the knives there don't seem to cut any better than regular dream knives?" says Stephanie, glancing back and forth. "You think it's on purpose? Who'd do it, though?"
<El-Cideon> Despite her best efforts, the spell proves alarmingly resistant to Franceska's magic.
<Franceska> "Oh come on!"
<Steph> "Umm. So it's like an attack? Not one of those prophetic visions?"
<Julia> "Oh... oh dear." Julia abandons her efforts to mix up some medicine. "That tree in the asylum? It can curse the one who killed it with nightmares. Only very strong magic can dispel it, as far as I know. As in 7th circle magic, like a small wish. I'm sorry, Rosemund, it just didn't register at the time."
<El-Cideon> "I was--there was a sky like blood, and everything else was gray and dead and dreary," Rosemund goes on, stammering a little as she recalls. "And there were these horrible shriveled old women and they had me on this stone table and they were laughing as they peeled me apart and--" She shudders.
<El-Cideon> She shakes her head. "It is not your fault, Julia! It was the tree's fault! It was a bad tree!"
<Julia> "I think we should forget about Pandemonium until we get this fixed. Err... Aria Granville is supposedly a powerful spellcaster isn't she? More powerful than us?" she asks sheepishly, since they might have to go to the Abyss after all.
<Steph> "Surely there's someone here who can pull it off! Let's go ask the Concordant folks?"
<El-Cideon> "The church is right here!" Rosemund agrees, seizing on this opportunity not to go to the Abyss.
<Julia> "Right, lets get dressed and freshened up then," Julia says, going to do just that. "This curse is not something to take lightly." Best not share the too grisly details though. They won't let Rosemund die anyway.
<El-Cideon> Rosemund is visibly unnerved as you float across town, shaking periodically in recollection. At the Union temple itself, you are unable immediately to find the reverend in charge, though her perpetual shadows, Anya and Mercy, can be located talking quietly in one of the gardens.
<Steph> Stephanie hovers about Rosemund, ready to hold her hand (or, in fact, give her a hug) if she seems to be on the verge of a breakdown.
<Julia> Julia's own shadow stays well hidden inside her other shadow!
<El-Cideon> Sister Anya looks up at your arrival. "Oh, welcome back," the pretty blonde priestess says. "Come to retrieve Vigilia, or have you other business today?"
<Steph> "We have a curse that needs breaking, but it's a strong one," replies Stephanie. "Um. A tree is giving Rosemund nightmares."
<Franceska> "We have urgent business, and despite how dumb it sounds this is a very evil magical tree from the lower planes."
<Julia> "Unfortunately other business of the most dire sort," Julia explains further. "We recently explored the asylum and found a Night Twist within. Rosemund here dealt the killing blow, and was cursed in turn. I believe a limited wish to be the absolute minimum for relieving her of it."
<El-Cideon> "A tree?" she says seriously, somehow sounding neither incredulous or skeptical. "Well, breaking curses is an ordinary service for us--though not one we have to indulge in with frequency, thankfully. Reverend Bernadette is mediating a factional dispute at the moment, but perhaps I could help you?" She quiets and listens to Julia. "Ah, Remove Curse won't do it, then. Well, I believe I can still offer some assistance."
<El-Cideon> "If you'll follow me?" she suggests, leaving the quiet little acolyte with a bow and wending her way through side passages. "The asylum, was it? Whatever was such a vile creature doing so close to Azure?"
<Steph> "I think they were stuck there. They were like shades conjured up by the asylum itself," replies Stephanie. "The whole thing seems a bit alive."
<Julia> "Unfortunately although the duchess was killed, her spirit lingered," Julia elaborates.
<El-Cideon> "Detestable monster," Anya says. "We should've purged that pit years ago, but everyone's too busy arguing about who crossed whose territory." She sighs. Eventually you find yourself in a cramped office/bedroom. There's a modest cot in one corner and an awful lot of books lying about shelves and drawers and pigeonholes full of scrolls. Anya goes about rifling through these, looking for something in particular and expending some effort digging through her dubious filing system.
* Franceska frowns disdainfully, but concern for Rosemund ends up winning in short order and she keeps near her.
<El-Cideon> "Ah, here we are!" she says at least, pulling one scroll from an obscure corner of the office. She turns and looks over her patient. "In light of your friend's generous contribution," she says with a nod towards Stephanie, "and past assistance to our friend Vigilia, I think we will call this recognition of valiant services rendered, yes?"
<Julia> "That's very generous of you," Julia says in grateful surprise.
<Steph> Stephanie looks a little flustered, though she's soon armed with a sheepish smile.
<El-Cideon> She shakes her head. "You gave of yourselves without expecting anything in return. I think that worthy of reward." She coughs and looks aside. "Although, ah, please don't make a habit of expecting payment for charity," she adds before anyone gets any ideas about exploiting her temple's beneficence. "We do have to pay for materials like anyone else."
<Julia> "Of course. And we are very grateful," Julia says firmly.
<El-Cideon> Anya unrolls the scroll, clears her throat. "We bought a couple of these from the Brothers years ago," she explains. "For things even the Reverend's blessing couldn't dispel. We're, ah, usually more like social workers than arcanists. Well, here we go, then. Calm yourself, child, all will be well soon." Rosemund bows her head and Sister Anya chants from the scroll. Though rendered in celestial, those given to understand the language and magic should recognize arcana at work in the wording of the spell, as Anya works the powerful magic of a limited wish spell to unweave the dire curse surrounding Rosemund. Momentarily, Anya finishes her chant and peers closely at Rosemund. "How do you feel, child?"
<El-Cideon> "Well, I am still tired," Rosemund admits sheepishly. "But--" she rallies, "--I do not any longer have the feeling that someone awful is watching me and planning to do unspeakable things while I sleep! I will not--I will not have other dreams like that, will I?"
<Franceska> "Sometimes, horrible dreams still happen. But probably not from evil tree magic?"
<Steph> "No more than the rest of us, I'm hoping."
<El-Cideon> Sister Anya smiles sweetly. "No, child, I do not think you should. But take greater care in fighting evil trees in the future, yes?"
<El-Cideon> "I do not plan to fight more evil trees," Rosemund insists, "but if I must, I will be prepared!"
<Steph> They should get one of Julia's minions to kill it, muses Stephanie. "Do you want to spend another day relaxing before we set out, Rosemund?"
<El-Cideon> Rosemund nods. "I think that I would appreciate a very long nap," she admits, with only a little trepidation at the thought of more dreams.
<Julia> "Yes, lets all go back to bed?" Julia agrees. Floating is less tiring than walking, but still it had been a long day.
<El-Cideon> Back at the inn, you find someone waiting for you--someone is speaking to the innkeeper in the common room, and the innkeep points him right in your direction when you walk in the door. The visitor is a pleasant young man of dark complexion dressed in a somewhat familiar uniform: black velvet doublet, white wing insignia, recognizable as the same worn by the courier you met on your way to Azure. "Ah, there you are," he says politely. "You ladies keep on your feet," he says with a smile of recognition at the habit.
<Julia> "It has been a busy day," Julia agrees. "You are?"
<El-Cideon> "A messenger," he says simply. "I have been sent on behalf of Mercurius Deliveries with an offer of employment that my supervisor believes should be of mutual benefit to your own inquiries."
<Steph> "Mercurius Deliveries is pretty damned well informed," notes Stephanie.
<Franceska> "I like the sound of mutually beneficial offers," Franceska muses, for her part. "Let's hear it?"
<El-Cideon> He nods to Stephanie. "We listen when people ask questions," he says with a wry smile. "I am not tasked with considerable detail myself," he admits to Franceska. "I am given to relay to you that Acting Manager Corso Malaga will receive you at the Mercurius head office if you are interested in being compensated for continuation of your previous inquiries."
* Franceska glances at Rosemund critically, asking, "Right now?"
<Steph> "We don't all have to go," points out Stephanie. "I can go hear them out?"
<El-Cideon> "My employer believes that time is a sensitive concern in this matter, but of course we would not dictate your schedule for you. Acting Manager Malaga would be most appreciative if you could entertain his offer within the next forty-eight hours, however."
<Julia> "Lets go after we've all slept? Sounds like there's time enough for that."
<El-Cideon> The messenger nods. "I may notify my employer to expect you this evening, then?" he concludes.
<Franceska> "That is acceptable."
<El-Cideon> He bows. "Your patronage is appreciated. Fare thee well for now," he says in parting before floating off to report to his employer.
<El-Cideon> After a solid night's sleep, albeit in the morning, Rosemund looks much better. There's a healthy blush in her cheeks again and she wakes up smiling in sharp contrast to the morning proper.
<Julia> "You look much better today," the ever-pale Julia notes approvingly at the sight of Rosemund's cheery demeanour.
<El-Cideon> "Oh, yes," Rosemund happily confirms. "No evil tree dreams this time."
<El-Cideon> In sharp contrast to the native blue crystal of most Azure buildings, the Mercurius Deliveries office is a traditional wood-and-stone construction, albeit still designed with an eye towards visitors floating about rather than walking. It's an elegant amalgam of diverse building materials plainly demonstrating the owner's reach for items exotic in the context of Air. You are expected by the main receptionist and soon ushered into a tastefully lavish office wherein sits a handsome, sharp-featured man wearing a restrained business suit. He looks principally human, with highly alert green eyes and a smooth mane of golden hair, though there is a slight grey tint to his skin and a minor suggestion of points on his ears. "Ah, good, welcome after all. Please be seated if you like, I understand some of our offworld visitors take some time in adjusting to subjective gravity."
<Julia> They've long passed that adjustment period, but Julia still takes a seat for appearance's sake.
* Franceska takes her proffered seat with relief.
<Steph> Stephanie is happy to do the same. "So, what can we do for you, Mr. Malaga?"
<El-Cideon> "It was explained to you that we wish to further your existing inquiries, yes?" he says, pouring a glass of wine for himself and anyone else interested. "Our purpose in brief is this: you wish to find Miss Granville; we wish you to find Miss Granville."
<Julia> Do they actually wish to find her? She keeps coming up where they go, but it's more of an idle curiosity to Julia.
<Franceska> "Towards what end?"
<El-Cideon> He purses his lips thoughtfully. "She is of personal significance to the proprietress of Mercurius Deliveries, who in turn considers her of importance to our community. We do not wish to see her claimed by the Abyss, and even more wish for her expected purpose there to be fulfilled." He smiles, somewhat ruefully. "She is not one given to ask for assistance, so we do so on her behalf whether she wishes it or not."
<Steph> "What's she even doing over there? Who'd be that crazy?"
<Franceska> "Do you actually have a way of tracking her down? Merely going to the Abyss and asking around is not the best of ideas."
<El-Cideon> "Madness and bravery are often conflated," he says. "She does not confide in me to the extent that she would to my employer, who is as so often the case offworld researching new markets, so when she stopped here she communicated only enough to demonstrate a shared suspicion that a resident of the other side is at work in Azure fostering discord among the city factions. Aria no doubt means to eliminate this manipulator."
<Steph> "But wouldn't it be way easier to catch the agent here, instead of over there?"
<Julia> "They'd just get another agent."
<El-Cideon> "I am led to believe that she did such and through interrogation gained something of a lead--but yes, Miss Astin is correct. They will simply try again."
<Franceska> "And who are 'they'? Where might 'they' be, specifically?"
<Steph> "Oh, great! In the best case, she kills some demon boss, comes back, and... there's still a huge portal to the abyss, so it's only a matter of time until someone tries again anyway!"
<El-Cideon> He frowns. "I admit that when she visited she was in a state of great agitation, which in itself is telling as we are unaccustomed to recognizing in her any degree of distress. She was not as detailed as I would have liked--as I said, she explained enough for me to communicate the situation to my employer, not to ask for assistance. She did mention a labyrinth, which raises the obvious suggestion of Baphomet, though she immediately refuted this. No, whoever she seeks is nearby on the other side, or she simply would've Gated her way out. I believe she wished to make rather a show of things as well, for those pursuing her."
<Franceska> "So if we were to head over and avoided an immediate, horrible end at the hands of the demons on the other side, you believe it would be easy enough to pick on her trail?"
<El-Cideon> "One aspect of Miss Granville that even her severest detractors would not deny," he says wryly, "is that wherever she goes, she leaves an impression."
<Franceska> "And the matter of compensation?"
<El-Cideon> "We are prepared to offer each of you seventy-five hundred gold, and cover resurrection costs for whomsoever might meet an unfortunate end on the other side, provided that you be on task before tomorrow has run its course."
<Steph> "Not enough. See, we're interested in Granville, but you've been badly misinformed if you think we were planning to jump in that hole after her," notes Stephanie. "Takes us out of way by quite a step. And this is the Abyss! We get killed there, there might not be anything to resurrect later!"
<El-Cideon> "Is there an alternative incentive you would prefer?" he presses calmly.
<Julia> "Maybe a little break from chasing after Polaris's old friends would do us some good?" Julia shrugs, not finding the terms overly objectionable.
<Steph> "What's the cost of a resurrection around here?" muses Stephanie. "How 'bout you pay us that times four upfront, and we collect the rest on return?"
<El-Cideon> Malaga considers this for a moment. "The Union charges ten thousand for this service," he recalls. "I understand this merely covers their expenses and is thereby cheaper than most providers of such a service. Forty thousand to distribute between yourselves, then? Yes, that is an acceptable figure for us."
<Julia> "It works for me," Julia says.
* Franceska inclines her head in agreement.
<Steph> "Deal."
<El-Cideon> A nod, and he goes to work writing up a formal contract. "I should hardly need to suggest you exercise extreme caution," he notes as he writes. "I may be able to answer some questions about what awaits you on the other side, however."
<Julia> "What's the most powerful demon or one with the most authority over the area on their side of the portal?" Julia asks first.
<El-Cideon> "My employer's prohibitions on dealing with the other side are so strict that we functionally have no business with them, but we do maintain a minor sideline in objects d'art as a means of monitoring our neighbors' activity. Through this means, we know that the current satrap of the nearest abyssal settlement--Tenterground--is a marilith calling herself 'Tyrant Hekubah,' evidently with no misgivings about the title. Broadly speaking, the layer proper belongs to Graz'zt, though our immediate neighbors occupy something akin to a rural backwater of his realm."
<Julia> "Are there any nearby portals or passages to other Abyssal layers?" since that would suggest Aria's business is not on this particular one after all.
<El-Cideon> "The region is profuse with portals to the other two layers within Graz'zt's demesne, but I know of none to the realms of other demon lords," Malaga says, finishing up the contract and taking a sip of his wine. "You will see portals for local transit as furnaces of green flame." He frowns. "On occasion, as some poor joke, they are merely furnaces. Enact wards against flame should you need to traverse one."
<Steph> "How tolerant is that portion of the abyss to visitors? On a scale of 'probably won't murder you on sight' to 'don't even try'?"
<Franceska> "Are there any particular visitors they are more likely to murder than others?"
<El-Cideon> He chuckles darkly. "Demonstrate with rapidity that to attempt to murder you is concomitant with excessive risk of death, is my suggestion. They are tanar'ri--they will take what they wish if they believe that they can. Make a fine example of the first to try and you should have less *obvious* trouble with the others, though of course remain ever on guard for more subtle threats."
<Julia> "I'm good at making examples!" Julia says chirpily.
<Steph> "I'm hoping we're not there long enough to have to worry about the famed demonic cunning."
* Franceska nods in understanding. "Kill the ugliest demon that looks at us wrong first thing we arrive, then?"
<El-Cideon> To Franceska: "Corrupting the righteous is ever a source of glee for their ilk, of course. While parading under aura of righteousness may serve to cower the weaker demons, it may also make you a target. I leave your conduct to your discretion. Otherwise, most disfavored would be those working for the Dark Prince's demonic rivals, which of course you are not."
<Steph> "Do you know of any demons who are worth shaking down for info? Weak but knowledgable?"
<El-Cideon> He shakes his head. "I regrettably cannot assist you in that matter. We do observe them when opportunity allows. It's only prudent to monitor their general movements. But we avoid genuine interaction."
<El-Cideon> Malaga slides the contract across the table for all to sign. It is very straightforward according to Stephanie's terms: forty thousand gold up front, thirty thousand pending successful return with Aria Granville intact.
* Franceska asks for a clause to dissolve it with the return of the money in case they are unsuccessful, and another where they keep the downpayment if the sorceress had met an unfortunate end due to no fault of their own by the time they reach her.
<El-Cideon> Malaga is amenable to both of these terms--provided of course they at least retrieve the sorceress in such an event so that she might be properly revived.
* Franceska finds herself able to sign it at such terms.
<Julia> Following Franceska's lead, Julia adds her own mark.
<El-Cideon> Rosemund signs on in turn.
<Steph> Stephanie drags her signature across the line with a brief nod.
<El-Cideon> Once everyone's signed, Malaga scribbles out a note and pushes it over. "Bring this to my secretary down the hall. She'll see that your funds are properly disbursed from the treasury. Finally, you may find yourself questioned about your business by the Gate Wardens outside the portal. Express your eagerness to smite the tanar'ri and they should pose no obstacle. Their principle concern is ensuring that no demons survive transit to our side."
<Julia> That could pose a problem for poor Thing. "What means do they use for detecting demons?"
<Steph> "They don't have a thing against tieflings, do they?" asks Stephanie.
* Franceska just resigns herself to getting glared at as she leaves the city via that portal.
<El-Cideon> "They may, but they won't act upon it," he says to Stephanie. "They would have to cleanse a sizable percentage of the town if they were that sort. And the other factions in town are not keen on allowing such behavior here ever again," he adds darkly. To Julia: "The standard detection spells to identify those spiritually in line with lower planes thinking, principally."
<Julia> "I see." Nothing she can't hide, then!
<El-Cideon> He rises from his chair. "It may seem odd that I contract outsiders to look into this, or that Miss Granville should not speak to the authorities of our gangs about her suspicions. You must understand that accusation of demonic collaboration is a sensitive subject in our town. Once it starts, it is difficult to know when it will stop." He frowns at some recollection before extending his hand for everyone to shake in parting. "I must wish you good luck, and happy hunting."
<El-Cideon> ~