Shake the dust off your feet

[Anastasia]

> roll 1d20+55 Jessica perception
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+55 Jessica perception --> [ 1d20=17 ]{72}

You descend into the city. Here demons and Talona's faithful go about. Man are thin, battered and diseased. Coughs and the reke of disease dominates this place. Roads of old bone and stone, buildigns that lean forward to shadow the streets. Often the buildings touch and join together, like conjoined twins. Here you begin your search and you quickly find someone of note. Someone powerfully warded - wearing a heavy gray cloak and hood, face hidden. No one seems to pay him or her any mind, body distinctly indistinct, details washed away beneath that cloak.

[Ebiris]

Jessica often looks like that when she's going around sneaking places! So what's this person doing? Standing on the street? Walking somewhere? Looking out a window?

[Anastasia]

She's slipping between buildings at street level, one alley to another. She moves well, carefully and stealthily.

[Ebiris]

Pointing her out to Jessica, Marie elects to follow this mystery person herself. With surprising stealth for a balor.

[19:43] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+87 stealth, size penalty and greater heroism cancel out
[19:43] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+87 stealth, size penalty and greater heroism cancel out --> [ 1d20=10 ]{97}

She has darkstalker.

[Anastasia]

> roll 1d20+93 Jessica
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+93 Jessica --> [ 1d20=17 ]{110}

Jessica has darkstalker as well.

Jessica follows, the two of you nigh undetectable. The person glides down the alley, stops there and taps a wall once. A hand goes through it - the illusion shatters before your eyes and an archway in is seen. The hooded person goes right on in and through.

[Ebiris]

It's not bad, but Marie's illusions are better. Nigh undetectable, the huge naked balor and grimy nalfeshnee follow through the arch.

[Anastasia]

In you go. A small antechamber, where a steel door awaits. The cloak is removed, put aside. Beneath is is a nude woman, back to you and with short black hair. Human from what you can tell from the back, though shoulder nubs suggest wings and possibly some inhuman heritage. A few scars adorn her body, though she's in good shape.

Wonderful, we dressed appropriately for whatever this is. How...fortunate?

The steel door is closed but the woman kneels before it. "Master," she whispers, "I have come to do your bidding."

A voice, rasping and choking, replies from the door itself. "Reveal your true form."

Brace, Marie.

The woman's flesh shimmers. It becomes yellowed and pallid, open wounds in place of her scars that slowly leak blood. Skeletal wings grow out of her back, the wing tips with bone hands growing from them that reach out and grasp at the empty air. Growths of bone expand elsewhere, covering her in a sort of biological bone armor, going to cover everything below her neck.

You can also grasp her information from Duelist's Friend now. Her name is Ulsha. She is a half fiend that has become a unique fiend and is a known servant of Ryxis, who in turns serves Loviatar. She's an assassin of some skill, as well as a trained bare handed fighter with a dash of magical skill mixed in. She's mostly used against daemons who draw Loviatar's wrath, and it's said she has a knack at slaying such creatures.

[Ebiris]

I told you this would work.

Still, interesting but not precisely relevant to them. It could be however, if Ulsha or Ryxis have information of their own about this city and its inhabitants, they might have come across something pertaining to Yarus. She's not just going to ask them nicely, however.

Miracle to emulate Probe Thoughts. DC 44 fort negates (it's fort? Really? Would've thought will)

[16:54] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+38 SR
[16:54] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+38 SR --> [ 1d20=2 ]{40}

[Anastasia]

Jessica doesn't respond to that.

> roll 1d20+25
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+25 --> [ 1d20=7 ]{32}

Go ahead and start your questions.

[Ebiris]

Who is your target?

She's an assassin, she surely has someone she's here to kill! Although possibly she's waiting for instructions. Still, it's an obvious question to lead in with and build some context.

[Anastasia]

None at the moment, she's between targets.

"Good," The door states as it slowly swings open, showing a mist choked and foul interior, putrid gasses within. "Enter."

[Ebiris]

What can she sense in that interior with blindsight and tremorsense, by the way?

Who is Yarus?

Just see if she recognises the name at all.

[Anastasia]

Several smaller creatures, skittering along the walls. Clinging to it. One larger creature within, on some sort of seat or throne.

Yarus is a demon sometimes seen in this place, though she has not met him personally.

[Ebiris]

That's enough for Marie, this isn't a meaningful source of knowledge for her to take advantage of. The boss inside could be but that would require more aggressive measures to interrogate and while no one would blink at a balor tearing a place up, she doesn't want to jump straight to that.

We've got enough here, she doesn't know anything relevant.

Sneaking away, she'll resume her exploration of the city relying on Duelist's Friend to provide her with enough quick biographical info of everyone she sees to figure out connections that might draw them closer to Yarus.

Really it should be called Snoop's Friend.

[Anastasia]

Did you get anything useful from them?