The Party Sha-Laial
Morning came quickly for the trio in the tower. Just after dawn, soldiers arrived to escort them to the same unmarked warehouse. They were unceremoniously ushered inside the building. It looked as if no one but Naya had slept at all. Alvec had a particularly crazed look in his eyes, Illaria noted. She could only speculate what spellcraft he had been up to the last few hours. There were chairs situated around the table now.
"Take a seat," the Captain stated as they pointed to the chairs. Naya sat down while Mavec and Alvec glared at the man and remained standing.
"No, thank you," Alvec replied. "So, have you concluded the innocence of our friends yet, or do I need to get a few professors from the academy to vouch for my analysis?"
"That won't be necessary. Our Diviner determined that they could not manifest the devil that attacked you. I have no reason to suspect any of you since you each answered my question directly and correctly."
Alvec fought to keep the smile off his face. He wanted to gloat about how he'd broken the enchantment, but he was well aware of the repercussions of that. He'd spend the day in jail, at the least.
"Then what's the hold-up? Let them out of their cells, and we'll go," Mavec said.
"We find ourselves in a unique situation," said the Captain. "I find myself in need of those who can slay Devils, and you find yourself in need of my ability to sweep things under the rug, such as stealing reagents from Throne Land. It only took us a few hours to research where you went before returning to Sha-Laial. Practically everyone knew you headed towards the Auraman manor."
"The reagents we brought back were abandoned property. It may have rested on throne land, but it wasn't Throne Land property itself," Mavec replied.
"You very well may have a legal argument to be made there, young wizard," the Captain said. "But how many days will you spend in jail if I actively gum up the system?"
"So what, you're just going to threaten us and expect us to help you? Whatever you want, we're not interested, right?" Mavec asked.
Alvec nodded heartily while Naya and the others remained still.
"Perhaps we're thinking about this wrong," the Captain said. "This could be quite an opportunity for a young adventuring group. The spin would be simple: the devil attacked your party, and you tracked it down and killed those who summoned it. An impressive feat that would earn you a small amount of recognition here in Sha-Laial."
"See, here's the thing. If you hadn't been here. If the Gold Banner Army had done literally nothing. We almost certainly would have done exactly that on our own. Now, forget it. This is your mess; you clean it up," Alvec chided.
"I'm with Alvec guys; they could have handled this better. I'm not interested in cleaning up their messes," Mavec replied.
"But can we really be letting devils run around our city?" Naya asked.
"It's their job to handle it, Naya; we can just sit back and let them figure it out on their own," Mavec replied.
"As much as I agree, helping them is bullshit. Letting the devils roam around Sha-Laial isn't good for any of us. We'd be doing the Blue Banner wrong if we didn't at least go after ones we know about," Illaria stated. "Granted, until you let me out of this cage, I can't be of much help now, can I?'
"Really, Illaria? You really want to help them after they imprisoned you overnight?" Alvec said.
“No, Alvec,” Illaria said. "I want to kill some devils, so I don't hear some horror story a week from now about how some poor baker was butchered in the middle of the night and his intestines were hung from the cast iron fence around his house."
"That feels more like a demon move to me, but I see your point," Alvec replied.
"Nobody likes a pedant Alvec," Illaria snapped. She paused momentarily, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I do be seeing your point. Devils love their deals and contracts, and demons love destruction and suffering."
"Bait request we take a break. Want to get stink back before we go assault devils."
"How would you... no, don't. I don't want to know what you're going to do," Mavec stated.
"Fine," Alvec said, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes to center himself. "We do this, not because the Gold Banner asked us to, but because it's right. Fuck them, but also fuck us if we do nothing with the knowledge of infernals running around."
"Excellent," the Captain nodded. "It's much better for us if the public remains as unaware of our work as possible. Please do not mention us when you supply the information to the town guard. We will push the story that you took care of this on your own," the man in the golden mask said.
"How does this help you?" Naya asked.
"Simply put, it allows us to maintain our mystique," said the Captain. "The less people know, the more they imagine we can do. The more cautious they act, the more time we have to search for threats before they escalate to issues we must respond to in force."
"We'd be cat paws," Mavec confirmed.
"Indeed, but it's not without benefit for our tools," said the Captin. "You can keep anything you find and get the credit for finding and dispatching them; not a terrible trade-off for your work. Devils are known for keeping expensive items on hand to boot, so it could be rather lucrative."
"So where are they located?" Mavec asked.
The Captain slid a piece of paper across the table to them. "We've tracked them to an address based out of the forge district. We've already scouted it out and confirmed the presence of devils. How long until you depart to take care of it?"
"It's still dawn now. Mavec and I need to get some actual sleep, and I'm sure a bit more rest would help Naya and Bait; mid-afternoon would be the earliest we'd be at it," Alvec responded.
"Then I'll be sure the news doesn't start circulating till after the dinnertime rush," the man said before opened up the jail cells and let Bait and Illaria out. The two immediately grabbed their armor and weapons.
"Now, if you don't mind, we'll be leaving now," Illaria said before she stormed out the door. This whole night had sucked, and a day of what should have been relaxing and celebrating had now taken a turn towards much more work.
While most everyone headed back to the tower, Bait decided he needed to fix his cleanliness problem in the only way a goblin could. Swimming in the trash. He found the city's garbage pits by following his nose. It was guarded by two bored-looking humans. It wasn't hard to sneak past them; all he did was throw a stone off to the side to distract them a moment before scampering into the landfill. He followed his nose to the stinkiest smell and promptly threw himself into it. He breaststroked poorly through the trash, stopping every few feet to rub himself with as much grime as he could manage. Illaria would probably yell at him but maybe not make him take a full bath. Maybe only make Bait wear less offensive scents. He'd find out soon before they go kill devils in the forge. Why devils want forge anyway? Isn't hell hot enough? Why need forge in Sha-liral? Devils make no sense to Bait, but he shoot, and they die.
Several hours passed as the group got some much-needed rest. As everyone roused themselves, the sun was already descending into the western skies. Naya was nursing a giant mug filled with water. Illaria and Bait looked the most refreshed. Mavec and Alvec slouched over their respective cups of coffee, propping their heads up with their arms.
"Bait, I swear to Dahn-Daluzi, you best be standing upwind from us at all times," Illaria said, as she gave him a pointed look.
"What the hell did you roll in?" Maved asked. "A pile of roadkill or something?"
"Bait found town dump. Goblin nose leads Bait to best smells. Swam through them till stink back," Bait informed them.
"Any chance we can cover it up with the scent of smoke?" Alvec asked.
"Bait find smoke scent acceptable."
"Good to know. We'll hold a big fire for you when we return," Naya suggested.
"Only if we get to hold him over it, a safe distance, of course," Mavec replied.
Everyone headed out in front of Bait. The trip to the forge district wasn't very long. Alvec and Mavec proceeded by casting as many defensive spells as possible. Alvec added a new layer of defense he hadn't yet bothered using with this group. A spell that absorbed hits from projectiles. Specializing in a school of magic, like abjuration, meant that those spells were less strenuous and that he could cast more of them. As such, this spell was almost free. The group entered the indicated building in the forge district as armored up as possible.
There wasn't a whole lot to tell. This building was mostly empty; a few wooden boxes lay around, giving it the semblance that perhaps it was being used for storage, but the truth was in the dust. The floor had very little evidence of foot traffic, at least not human foot traffic. Naya could tell that something like a canine had passed over the floor repeatedly. In addition to the boxes, four large stone pillars reached thirty feet to the ceiling.
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Deep roaring growls and barks didn't catch Naya off guard in the slightest, while it seemed to give pause to most of the group. Her swords had been out this whole time, and she slammed magic down the blades. She could feel the extra weight, even as they moved with the same grace. Two giant beasts that could be mistaken for some strong guard dog if not for the glowing red eyes and the hellfire roiling in the back of their throats charged in. Echo pounced to intercept; surprisingly, the wolf was outmatched and quickly flipped onto his side. Naya rushed in, a whirlwind of steel cutting deep into the beast, pushing it away from her stalwart companion. The other hellhound ran at Mavec. It easily sunk its long, red, hot fangs into his outstretched arm. He screamed in pain as the creature shook him like a toy and threw him to the ground.
Illaria rushed in and stabbed the beast. It didn't release its grip on Mavec, though; it ignored the stab wound in favor of biting down harder. Mavec made the correct hand motions with one hand and slapped the beast with electricity. Just as Alvec offered aid to his companions, a hail of arrows struck him, causing him to stumble forward. He thanked his stars he'd cast that protection spell before entering the warehouse. At least four arrows lay broken on the ground behind him. Looking up at the pillars, he could see there were two devils. They were different than the minotaur-esque one they had killed last night. These insectoids had a thoracic body style that reminded Alvec of an ant, except the size of a human. In some ways, he was reminded of a centaur; its upper body was similar to a humanoid wielding a bow. Its multiple legs gripped the pillar while it reigned shots down at them.
Mavec had demonstrated his third circle magic last night, and now it was time for Alvec to do the same. Only one member of their party had the tools to take care of this situation. The tiefling rushed over beside Bait and let loose the wave of energy, hitting as many of his allies as he could. He felt as if his heart beat twice as the world around him seemed so slow in comparison. Bait's eyes widened as he followed Alvec's outstretched hand to the enemies clinging to the pillars. The Goblin's hands moved faster than ever before, seamlessly aimed, fired, and reloaded as if it were as easy as breathing. Four bullets pierced its abdomen, bisecting the first as it splattered tons of deep red blood onto the pillar. Both halves came crashing down; the legs and thorax clung to the pillar for a few seconds longer before landing with a dull thud. The pair exchanged a wicked smile. They'd be using this spell again in the future for sure.
The one pinning Echo snapped its jaws on his neck, biting deep. Naya again unleashed both swords in tandem on it, dealing some nasty gashes, but not enough to end its life. With a defiant growl, Echo managed to rip himself out of the hellhound's jaws and returned the favor, digging his fangs into the creature's neck. The two tussled together. Illaria continued hammering on the one biting Mavec. Another jolt of electricity through it, and it fell over with a heavy thud. Mavec tore his arm free and scrambled to his feet.
The remaining demon on the pillar fired off a few arrows at Bait. Alvec leaped in front, blocking them with his buckler. It hissed and cursed in infernal before skittering around the other side of the pillar. Bait frowned. While he was moving fast, it wasn't so fast as for him to run halfway around the room and fire off two double-barrelled musket shots. No, he'd only be able to exchange one volley with the devil. Which he did. His bullet punched a clean hole in the devil's chest, which blossomed with an ochre red.
Echo managed to get the upper hand and flipped the creature just in time for Naya to bring both blades down into it, ending its life with a whimper. The remaining devil was far out of reach of everyone, including Mavec, so they waited for Bait to finish his duel with it. It wasn't even a contest; a single arrow struck Bait in the gut, and he returned two more bullets into the creature. It struggled momentarily, readying another shot before its grip gave out, and it tumbled to the ground. The last vestiges of life left it with a sickening crunch as it impacted the ground.
"Echo, here, boy," Naya said as she quickly laid her hands on his bloody neck. Her hands glowed green as she kissed her good boy on the forehead. "It's ok, we're going to make you feel better. Just might take a few seconds." She repeated the process, her magic flowing over his skin and repairing the deep wounds. His fur still looked rather patchy, and of course, he looked disheveled as he was absolutely slick with a combination of his blood and the hell hounds.
"Any other devils?" Illaria asked, scanning the room. There weren't any threats that they could see hiding in the shadows.
"Fuck this hurts, Alvec. Can I get some healing?" Mavec said as he stumbled forward; his shirt sleeve was torn off, and blood was seeping from the deep bites.
"Sure thing, while we have a moment," Alvec said as he held the wand's tip to Mavec's arm. The warm white light slowly stitched him back together. His new skin was a bright pink, and his arm was still slick with his blood, but that would be fine now. Rem hopped off Alvec's shoulder and ran over to a section of the floor, and started scratching at it. A quick investigation revealed a fairly well-concealed hidden door and a staircase below the facility.
Alvec took the lead, sparking a mote of light between his fingertips for the two humans in the group. The staircase led into a room lit with torches of various colors. A large summoning circle was carved into the floor, and the corner of the room was shrouded in magical darkness. Alvec unhesitantly stepped inside of it. He had to be sure that the room was clear of threats. Being magically blind was unusual for him, as Tieflings could see through most darkness, including lesser magical darkness. He grasped out in front of him and eventually found something interesting. It felt crystalline in nature and was situated on a pedestal. He lifted it up gently, and the darkness immediately dispelled around him. He sighed in relief, seeing that there wasn't anyone else in the room. The relief was short-lived as his eyes came across two tapestries that the darkness had obscured. An unmistakable image of an Eirinyes was in an almost stained glass mosaic style. The furies, fallen angels known for their wrath and cruelty. They were very direct schemers who offered straightforward bargains when willing to offer a deal at all. Alvec knew all too well about them; the devil that was his grandmother was an Eirinyes, which set his mind ablaze.
Once was a fluke, and twice was a pattern. A devil appearing outside his new residence was strange enough. Being coerced into dealing with devils in the same city, straining coincidence. Discovering a shrine to what might be your infernal grandmother shattered any illusion that these events were unconnected. He took a deep breath, trying to recompose himself. He didn't need to freak everyone else out. For the moment, no one needed to know that anything was wrong. He rejoined Mavec, who was taking a look at the summoning circle. Alvec pocketed the purple multi-faceted gem the size of a softball and looked at the ring himself.
"You seeing what I'm seeing?" Mavec asked. This circle was old, well-used, and meant for large-scale purposes. Additionally, the lack of casting from the devils they had faced made it clear that whoever was maintaining this circle... they weren't here now.
"I think so. This isn't new," Alvec said as he pulled out a pencil and began sketching the runes used for the summoning. It was best to detail all evidence he could before they destroyed the circle. A nice gouge on the floor should be enough to disrupt it temporarily. Then, the guards could work on smashing up the tile afterward. Making sure no more devils could use this as an entry point.
"IF they only just found out about this, then there are a LOT more devils operating in and around Sha-Laial than I'm comfortable with," Mavec said. Alvec nodded in agreement.
"It's certainly something we'll have to keep an open eye for."
"You guys find anything useful?" Illaria asked.
"Just a crystal I think we can sell to the academy... after I write them an apology letter," Alvec said.
"Oh, yeah, they told us what you did. Thank you for the concern, Bait, and I really appreciate it," Illaria said. "Though, maybe you don't traumatize the poor late-night desk attendant next time," she said with a wink.
"Hey, I didn't set out to traumatize the kid. It's not my fault I was covered in devil's blood. In fact, if I remember correctly, it was your sword that sprayed me with so much blood in the first place," Alvec replied.
"So, what exactly will we tell the town guard?" Mavec asked.
"I think it's pretty simple, right? We tracked the devils back here and killed them. Straight forward and simple. The Gold Banner should be happy about that."
"Less so about the bit where we think the person or persons using the summoning circle weren't killed in our attack, and worse yet, it looks like many infernals came through here," Alvec said.
"We could omit that information?" Naya suggested.
"We could, but we'd be endangering them in case the devils wanted to strike back at them for revenge," Mavec replied.
"No, we definitely tell them what we were able to figure out," Illaria said.
The group nodded in agreement. They left the warehouse and sought out the first guard they could. "Excuse me!" Illaria said as she flagged them down and waved them over. "Pardon me, but we really need to speak to the Captain of the guard. Could you please fetch and send him to the warehouse over yonder?" She said, pointing out the building they had attacked.
"What's this all about?" the guard asked.
"We found a den of Devils. They're dead, but I thought someone might want to know," Mavec said tersely.
"Shit, I'll go fetch the captain!" He said as he jogged off down the road. It was a good half hour before a contingent of guards arrived. Thankfully, it was the same guard captain Illaria had met up with the other day.
"Well, I can't tell if you're lucky or cursed. The same goes for me, of course; I get to see you cast against the setting sun... with the caveat that I've apparently got a mountain of devil corpses to deal with. How much truth is there to that?" he asked, addressing Illaria only.
"Ah, captain Siros," Illaria said as she gave hima curt salute. "I wouldn't be saying you have a mountain of devil corpses, but you do have about four of them."
"Four too many. What else can you tell me?" he asked, stepping beside her and motioning for her to follow as he entered. The corpses he looked over indifferently. "Foot soldiers here. Not one of them has the arcane power to pull off a summoning circle. I'm guessing you've got some bad news for me, right?" he asked.
"Yes, sir, my wizard friends don't believe the summoner is among the dead, and this particular circle has been active for a long time."
"I was afraid you would say that," he sighed. "I've already told the boys to bring the big hammers. We'll remove the circle and keep pieces of it for evidence. The last thing we need is for someone to come along and mend the floor back together. I won't be having them regain a summoning circle that easily. Lieutenant! Make sure we bring a piece of the circle to every barracks in the city." he snapped as a man ran beside him, barking yes, sir.
A good ten guards went down with them and began hammering up the floor. Alvec marveled at the man's forethought. Mending was a simple spell that could have fixed superficial nicks in the pattern. Still, even a spell-like make whole, a much higher circle of magic, would struggle to recreate the loop if the pieces of it were spread out enough over the city. Granted, it was also possible for someone to use shape stone and recarve the runes, but it certainly would be more time-intensive. Even the slightest variation could cause the spell to falter, and it would take serious practice or know how to get it working again. It's why big summoning circles were uncommon. A simple gateway for a single small devil made much more sense than a gate this size. Yet here we were, watching the town guard smash the stone floor to pieces and cart bits of it around the city.
"You certainly know what you're doing," Alvec replied with a bit of awe.
"I didn't become a guard captain for nothing, kid," he replied.
"I can see that."
"Is there anything else you lot can tell me about this?" he asked.
"Nothing you don't already know," Mavec replied. The man nodded in agreement.
"Yup, this is really bad. I'll have to redouble patrols. May even have to officially invite the Gold Banner Army to assist us. Gods above and below, I hate doing that."
"They do seem like a mite bit of trouble to work with," Illaria said, trying to agree without tipping her hand. The poor man didn't need to know that the Gold Banner Army was already actively in the city and entirely aware of the situation. However, it bothered her that they hadn't provided any reconnaissance information. Outside of giving the location and confirming infernal activity, they hadn't done much at all. Were this a Blue Banner operation, they would have scouted it out, determined a rough number of combatants, gauged their favored tactics, and deployed countermeasures accordingly, like a scalpel or a well-placed dagger. Instead, the Gold Banner had acted much more heavy-handed and wielded the group like a simple cudgel.
Alvec was right to call them incompetent. Unless there had been some secondary objective the party wasn't privy to, this operation was a success not due to tactics or talent but due to their powers alone. An alarming thought if true.