Once the meal was over and most of the villagers had dispersed, a tall elf with green eyes approached our group.
"Liscura, Velatha, I am Healer Ailuin of the Asril council," he introduced himself, "we are ready to see you, please follow me."
Ailuin led us to the community center where we found four remaining members of the council waiting for us. Agis was present as well.
"Do not mind the mess. We had to improvise a location as the current chamber cannot accommodate your transformation, Liscura. Or it would be better to say that the door does not."
"I understand," I said with a chuckle.
The council was arrayed around a circular table at the center of the room. Contrary to what one might expect, the atmosphere was relaxed. Several steaming pots of tea and snacks were on the table. All the councilors smiled warmly when they saw us enter.
"I will introduce everyone," Ailuin said. "To the left is Dain, our head scout." He pointed to an elf with short hair and sharp eyes. "Saida, runesmith and goldsmith." The woman had a leather apron over a shirt stained with soot, she tied her long hair in a tight braid. Her eyes were locked on my numerous enchanted items. "Anaelle, plant mage." She was a shorter elf with pronounced curves, her silver hair flowed freely and her smile was motherly. "Finally, Sontar, our resident expert weaver." He was a little taller than the rest with his shoulder length hair tied in a ponytail.
"Come, take a seat," Anaelle said.
I sat down on a pile of cushions once more with Vel at my side. Ailuin poured the both of us a cup of tea and there were a few beats of awkward silence while I took a sip.
"I have to admit," Sontar said first, "you are impressive up close, Liscura."
"Dear," Anaelle slapped his shoulder, "be mindful of our guests."
"Let us focus on the matter that brought us together," Dain said before the discussion could drift too far. "Agis reported that you hail from Niu and that the village was attacked alongside Nis."
Vel took my hand in hers under the table.
"Yes," I nodded to the council.
"The attack happened at night. It started with a magical attack on the inner barrier, at least one mage made use of siege spells to break through. Then, a large group of well equipped tier six humans came in as soon as the barrier fell. They were well prepared and knew the layout of the village well enough to focus on the soft targets first. Vel and I managed to kill a group and tried to defend the main shelter but there were too many of them and the best we managed was to be chased by a group."
"Did you escape by yourselves?" Saida asked.
"No. My mentor, Breknir, managed to give us an escape route through shadow teleportation before he and my grandmothers faced our pursuers and a powerful mage. Identify couldn't determine his rank but he matched Breknir easily so at least nine."
"This is concerning …" Dain murmured. "What happened next?"
"We made our way to Nis, to warn them of the attack if possible, but we were too late. From what I managed to gather, the two villages had been attacked at the same time. We waited there for a few days in case Nui had managed to repel the assault and sent scouts but they didn't."
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"Were there any survivors? As far as I remember, Nis had almost two hundred souls."
"We found none in Nis, not even corpses. I discovered wagon tracks that used the trading paths, the attackers loaded them while in the village. When we followed them, they stopped in a clearing and vanished. I strongly suspect a portal or teleportation spell was used.
"According to Elyssa and Katherine, from the adventurer group we arrived with, the attack fits the manner of operations of Crimson Lys. An organization of underground slave traders from the eastern empires."
"Are you confident about your findings?" Ailuin asked.
"Yes. I have several perception perks and spells and I scoured the village from top to bottom. Yesterday, I used a scrying spell to search for my sister. I found her inside a cell with an enchanted collar around her neck, the sensor indicated she was somewhere on the surface."
"Which spell was it?"
"The Knowledge Domain spell Scrying from my priestess class. When I attempted to search for another member of my family, my Danger Sense perk warned me it was a bad idea. I haven't tried it since then for fear the spell could be traced back to me."
"A sensible precaution," Ailuin nodded.
"Do you think they will attempt another attack?" Dain asked.
"Possible but unlikely," I said. "Their window of opportunity is shrinking by the day as well, if it hasn’t already completely disappeared. Once news spreads, an attack becomes much more difficult. I think their main strength was the effect of surprise. Their force was not higher level than most of the village. On an even ground they would have likely lost.
"There is another danger as well. The Crimson Lys are an underground organization, if they are too overt it could very well start an all out war against the eastern empires. They seem to be a problem that plagues many nations after all and it seems well known who their backers are."
"I see you've put a lot of thought into it." Dain said solemnly. "The capital must be informed as soon as possible. I will send some scouts to spread the message to nearby villages as well."
I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. Vel relaxed as well.
"You two did all that you could," Anaelle said with a soft smile. "You went through so much yet did not give up. It must not have been easy but you are not alone. Asril and the rest of the villages are in your debt. You and your adventurer are free to stay here as long as you want. Though I suspect it won't be long before you go back to your quest."
"We cannot abandon them," Vel said.
"Ah, the energy of youth!" Saida grinned. "Ready to take on the world! Come by my workshop later, I have some items that might interest you if you're willing to let me take a look at yours."
"Feel free to visit me as well," Sontar added, "I would love to work on clothes for you. This conjured armor is no substitute for proper cloth."
"Go easy on them, you two," Ailuin said. "I know you are both healers but if you wish for a second opinion about the effects of Liscura's transformation, feel free to pass by the clinic."
"Eh … thanks a lot," I said, a bit taken aback by the propositions.
"We must take care of our own," Dain said with a slight smile. It seemed the scout was not all business after all. "I gave orders to find you a place to sleep. Usually, we would offer an empty house or bed but …"
"Big spider behind," I finished.
"Exactly."
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Our meeting with the council didn't last much longer. Vel and I gave an abridged account of our travel through the jungle after we left Nis and our exploration of the temple. I didn't go into details about the transformation or the Ravri Ritual Set, I wanted to keep some secrets to myself after all.
When we left, we found the Windmire Wanderers still waiting for us at the same table.
"Vel, Lis," Elyssa waved at us, "how did it go?"
"The village will send scouts to spread the news."
"Good," Katherine said.
"We are also free to stay here for some time, that includes you guys as well. Someone will be here soon to show us where we can sleep."
"Sleepin' in a proper bed will do me a world o' good after that meal," Gwynn said as she patted her belly.
As expected, a scout arrived a few minutes later and led us to a large house near the edge of the city. On closer examination, the right half of the house was some sort of barn or warehouse. It had doors large enough for me to fit through.
"The annex is an old storehouse and workshop," the scout said, "the family who lived there moved to the capital last season and nobody has claimed it yet so it's all yours. Most of the furniture is still there and we brought some fresh cots from the storehouse."
"Thank you," Darrel said with a bow, "we will take utmost care of it." He gave the rest of the group a pointed look and everyone nodded.
"Obviously, Vel and I will sleep in the annex," I said. "Good Night guys."
"Good night to you two," Elyssa said.
"Finally, some proper sleep behind walls." Katherine yawned.