Even with the entire bar calling them. Corvayne had to check if Wick had really returned to her senses, and wrapping her in a hug was well worth an elbow and a string of swears to confirm she was back to normal.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Hari was smiling. “You worried us you idiot! When we stepped into this Tower instance, you started acting like someone else! You didn't swear at all, or scan anything, and it was like... you forgot about me. Us. Sorry Corvayne, it was bothering me almost as much as you!”
Corvayne rubbed his still sore ribs. “Well, I can tell you it's her. Now, what's on the list for this time?”
Wick dug in her bag and pulled out a list.
“The Corvayne questions: How do you navigate the Towers and Portals? Where are the Seekers? What's the Pilgrimage? What does it do if you complete it? What's the best way to do it? Who is The Magus? How does one remove his curses? Where is he? What's he up to?”
Nyx rolled his eyes. “Didn't you get answers from some weird woman under Cascadia on most of those? Why bother paying good gold?”
Wick tisked. “Because we can't trust she's telling us the truth. Mysterious imprisoned beings who only speak to one person are NOT up there on the list of things I'd listen to. Possibly lower on the scale than the voices in my head.”
Hari tugged the sleeve of Wick's robe then. “You are making yourself sound crazier than you are, Wick!”
She ignored the elf and tugged her sleeve back, poking Corvayne's note pad. “My questions: How big are floors? Is there a system that organizes The Tower? How many floors are there? What's at the top?”
Corvayne nodded, taking notes with a pencil. “And your emerald core thing?”
Lady Blood Claw hissed, “Don't be a fool and tell them we have it!”
Nyx nodded. “Sooner or later I expect the Baron to sic bounty hunters on us. Assuming that whatever chaos preventing them from helping Argle settles down. I'll check the bounty hunter and find someone from Tripic.”
LBC glared at him. “Double fool, reminding anyone there-”
“Tut tut. If what happened on Cascadia happened there, then the nobles will be scrambling to try to find and secure all those portals. That's why I want to find someone from the capital. If I can't find someone who isn't a minion from a noble house, then the portals are still on lockdown. I want to also see how much the information spread.”
Corvayne knew that Old Town Cascadia had nearly emptied and that he had bartered for food with gear a few times in those weeks leading up to leaving. “Do portals scale with population? Nyx actually might ask that.”
Hari thought about it. “The portal I went through to The Tower was in a ruin pretty distant from people, and The Source is nowhere as well, so I'm going to say no to that.”
Wick turned to the noble. “I like Nyx that you're checking up on Tripic. I have mixed feelings about possibly discovering Seru is going to be who historians point to as setting off the chain reaction that destroys The Collective.”
Lady Blood Claw pointed a finger that had turned faintly orange at Wick. “You helped her do it.”
Wick just smiled at that. “Meet back at the table... oh yeah Hari's old boss-”
“I am her MENTOR you moon-child!” Undine snarled back.
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Wick barely paused to let her speak. “This place has people who you can pay gold or... other things to answer questions.” She held her hand out to the barroom, as if to show off the odd green wood floor and sturdy tables and dim lights all seeming to go off further and further the longer Corvayne looked.
Nyx smiled. “As you move through it, your desires determine what you stumble on. So-”
Undine held up a hand. “I got it pretty-boy. So, what are the dangers?”
Corvayne turned to Lady Blood Claw, who saw she was on the spot. “Fine, since Corvayne missed it last time... Don't leave this space with people you don't know.” She turned to Nyxion and paused while looking at him, while the Noble simply cleaned his fingernails as he and the chair he was sitting in floated near their table.
“The Inn and the rooms are also safe ground, but if you agree to something then what happens in private rooms won't trigger The Bouncer. I've heard of people getting things stolen, so watch your wallet. Be careful of deals you make, and don't give people names. Make up a-”
Wick cleared her throat. “Standard fae bullshit! Stay five minutes if you need a refresher.”
Lady turned a sharp shade of orange before she returned to gray skinned and repeated what she had started saying before Wick interrupted her, “Make up a code-name. I'm probably fine because my name sounds fake, but just call me Lady if you have to. Don't assume anything about things you meet here. Everyone has things they lie about.”
Corvayne caught Lady Blood Claw's head move a little to where Wick was leaning against another table before she kept going.
“No matter if someone lies or steals from you, do not start a fight. If possible avoid fighting back until The Bouncer shows up. Be respectful to Stabby, The Barkeep, The Innkeeper, The Bouncer, Barmaids, Waiters, Cooks, and any Tower-Folk who show up. Don't order a drink that will kill you. Use protection if you decide to go have alien sex. When you're ready to go, come back to the table. Deal?”
Nyx stood up, suddenly looking a lot more awake. “What time do we come back?”
Hari looked at everyone. “How expensive is it to sleep here?”
Lady Blood Claw shrugged. “Meet up after you wake up. Rooms starts extremely cheap, but you get what you pay for. I'd say drop at least... what's about 200 credits?”
Hari did some quick math. “Maybe 1 or 2 silver?”
Nyx cleared his throat. “Just drop a few gold pieces, where else can we spend it?”
Corvayne had heard enough. “We should all have enough money to stay, Undine I'll cover your room if you didn't plan on spending the money.”
She waved her hand. “I've got a dragon's horde hidden away. If a gold gets me a soft bed and a good bottle of win that's all I need as an adventurer. That and a good pair of boots. See you all in the morning.”
Nyx nearly crashed into her as he floated off, rubbing his hands.
Wick took Hari's arm. “We'll meet back at the table for dinner... LBC you mind going with Corvayne?”
“Not at all, I just question why we wouldn't move as a group.”
Wick turned to LBC and put on a big smile, her voice extra scratchy as she spoke. “I have sensitive questions, ones that Hari needs to know too. Girl stuff!”
Corvayne heard Lady Blood Claw growl a little, and saw Hari wave her arms. “Lady you're very girly too, Wick was just making a joke!”
“I'm not bothered.” LBC said while Corvayne could see hints of almost glowing orange peeking through her gray skin layer suggesting she was, in fact, very annoyed.
“Lady shall we?” Corvayne took a step back and gave her the sort of bow servants in plays and movies used after cleared a chair out of her way. For her part, Lady Blood Claw closed her eyes and tipped her chin up. She coughed a little.
“Yes, let us take our leave, Sir Corvayne.”
Lady Blood Claw started walking past tables then slowed to take his hand. “Don't get distracted.” Perhaps for a good reason: lots of girls sitting at the tables around them looked like Wick, with one blonde elf sporting Wick's green pigtails and fake glasses.
As he walked with Lady Blood Claw, he saw lots of shadows sitting at the tables they were walking around. Some were wispy dark smoke, others were glitched messes, with static distorting them or shifting faces that sounded like a tv laughing then crying then snarling.
“What's wrong with them?”
“Perhaps because the desires I have are vague things, formless like these half remembered people I've lost.”
Corvayne squeezed her hand. “You're our friend. If you need something, we'll help you get it.”
“Thank you, but we should keep going. There's nothing here for us.” Lady Blood Claw pulled him along a little faster, not slowing until they reached a booth, dimly lit.
“It's empty.” Corvayne said, then immediately saw something moving, shifting across the floor. It looked like grit, dust, sand, slithering in a gray line and hissing as it rolled up the padded booth to fill out a shell of a person. It went both fast and slow, only moments passing before the last bits of dust formed a wide-brimmed straw cap. Pure black eyes opened, then with an electric twang a bright blue sin-wave formed and shifted to form slit eyes, and the dusty face looked amused.
“Come Seru's friends. Sit. You have questions, and I have answers you cannot afford.”