Fires In The Deep, What Lies Beneath

[Magda Garis]

Magda had lead the party as best she knew how while Gen had been out of commission, burying her worry for him by focusing on moving forward, though it hadn't exactly been easy. The thought that they might be wandering aimlessly was one that silently troubled her but she dared not let them stop for any overly long length of time. So focused had she been on their path that she jumped slightly when Gen very suddenly spoke and her relief was so great that any smugness she might have felt at the man finally seeming to come to his senses was quashed for the moment amid better emotions.

She was smiling, she realized, her mood lightened more as it was back before Nageki had shown up though when Gen asked for her attention she got back to business. "Domerin's right. She did something to you, bewitched your mind." She wasn't sure exactly what it had been, only that she knew Gen would never have acted the way he had in sound mind. The tiefling gave the other woman a look but didn't linger on it, instead turning her eyes back to Gen.

She went over everything, from the room with the burning statue to the battle over the bridge to getting where they were, leaving nothing out though she was quite succinct in her way. "We need something better than this. We still can't even be completely sure we're going in the right direction."

[Gen Wolfbane]

At the revelation that he'd been manipulated by the half-elf's strange magics, Gen spat a soft curse under his breath. Righteous fury wracked his mind at the realisation that he'd been violated in such a way, but to his credit, he managed to keep his raging emotions in check. Of the rest of the company trapped with him in the subterranean passages of the Underhall, Magda would perhaps understand better than the others; Freeporters made little distinction between what Nageki had done and other heinous crimes of dominance like abduction, slavery or rape. In a society where freedom of mind and spirit were as sacrosanct as freedom of body, there was no logical difference. This was neither the time nor the place to deal with that issue, however.

"You're right," he replied to Magda's observation with a growl, a clear enough indication that although he'd let the transgression lie for now, that didn't mean he was happy about it. "We can't keep running blind down here, although if I had to guess, I'd say now that we ran into those... creatures back there, we must be on the right track at least. Metal weapons like the ones they were using mean we're dealing with more than just mindless monsters or semi-intelligent, nomadic hunter-gatherers. They must have a permanent settlement somewhere, and the most obvious choice would be for them to establish themselves somewhere where the ruins are well-preserved." It was what the Freeporters had done on the upper levels of the ancient citadel, after all; claimed the more "built up" areas for homes and shops, while the cavernous sections tended to be used for storehouses. This, of course, brought his attention once again to the half-elven woman. "You've got a reason for being down here, and I imagine that reason is more likely to lay in an abandoned armory or warehouse than in some half-dug thousand year old tunnel."

[EMTia]

Nageki sighed.

" If you must know, like yourselves I'm searching for something. I got a bit turned around in the tunnels and that's when I ran into this fine lot." She swept her hands in a broad motion indicating the entire group. " I'm looking for a scroll." Now, she decided to point out that she was trusting them, they way that they should be able to trust her. " I hope you understand why I didn't share that information sooner. I think now, that we know each other well enough that I can be a little less guarded than before. At least I would hope seeing as I've put myself at stake to help you all. Besides, Gen, you're right it's in *everyone's * best interest to at least be civil... considering the alternatives. Or if you'd all still rather, you can shackle me and use me as bate. Would that make the lot of you feel more comfortable? Or can we move past petty differences and proceed?"

[Domerin]

In all fairness, Domerin had been civil for most of the time that the strange woman had been with them. Well except for that one time. But in his opinion, she had started that one. After all, this was about as civil as he ever got to people who hadn't yet gotten to know him really well. He wasn't exactly best known for his people skills.

But this was the first thing that Nageki had said that he found even remotely believable. He couldn't honestly understand why she hadn't been more up front with them sooner. She could have at least said she was here on some kind of mission. It wasn't like any of them would have tried to stop her - well at least, he wouldn't have. She must be worried that one of them would try to steal the scroll from her or something like that. But to Domerin, he couldn't imagine any reason to steal a scroll from someone else. It wouldn't be of any use or value to him. Probably it was some kind of magic scroll, and magic was so far over his head that he just didn't ever bother with it. Either that or reading from it will bring about the end of the world. Suspicious as he was of her, however, Domerin didn't think Nageki was trying to bring about the end of the world.

Whatever the case, he was sure she had her reasons, and he was content to leave them to her, whether or not he could understand all the secrecy. The important thing was, they were finally getting somewhere. "If you're looking for something like that, you must have come down here with some kind of good idea of how to find it. I don't dare hope you have some kind of map, but even just having a definite direction at this point would be preferable to wandering around looking for we-don't-even-know-what. Can you lead us towards this scroll you're looking for? If it's valuable, chances are that it's probably somewhere near where the Greensburgs are being kept, if they're both in the possession of the same group of people, which I can only hope is the case." But even if it wasn't, this was the best clue they had so far, and they would be foolish not to act on it. Wandering around lost in the dark, twisting tunnels of this underground labyrinth was a sure fire way for them to all end up dead.

[Magda Garis]

Magda could indeed understand Gen's ire with Nageki after having found out what had been done to him. She shared many of the views that were common among Freeport natives and had it been her she would have felt much the same. But she knew the danger they were in right now and so let it be as well, at least until they'd found the Greensburgs and were out of this place; then she'd show Nageki what she really thought of her.

Whether she believed the half-elfs reasonings for being down here or not she kept her thoughts to herself. Madga did quite a lot of hunting after valuables, not rarely in underground places like this and knew the value of things kept hidden. She, however, wasn't above stealing what had been stolen by another if it was worth enough...

She fixed her gaze on the half-elf then. "Well can you lead the way?" It was clear that they needed something better and though she was good at searching out potential pitfalls and traps it meant nothing if they weren't getting anywhere.

[EMTia]

Nageki thought.

" Well I don't have a map, but I have a general idea of the layout. Like I said, I got a little turned around so we'd have to go back to a point of reference - say, the bridge?"

If only she'd been given a map. Unfortunately nothing in her life was ever that simple.

[Gen Wolfbane]

Freeport's militia commander pursed his lips into a grim line and slowly shook his head in response to Nageki's request. "It's out of the question. The chamber with the bridge is overrun with those creatures, and considering how close we escaped last time, we may not get out alive again." Gen rubbed the base of his neck with one hand and gazed down the length of the long tunnel that the party now occupied, into the shadows that shrouded the ground they had covered while he was out. He blinked a few times, trying to dislodge the last vestiges of the drug-induced haze which still clung desperately to his mind. That concerned him even more than being gutted by those... things; using a sleep-inducing venom like the one he'd been stricken with indicated that they intended to do something other than killing them outright. He'd rather not know what the purpose of that was.

"Besides, my memory of the last hour or so might be a bit fuzzy, but if I recall correctly the chamber where the bridge was located only had one way in and one way out. Whatever your directions were, it stands to reason that this tunnel must be the next step after crossing the bridge." Of course, what Gen Wolfbane didn't say was that he suspected the apparently pointless request to backtrack to the bridge was a ploy by the half-elf to give them the slip. Maybe that was paranoid, but all the same, he didn't entirely trust her - at least, not yet.

[EMTia]

Nageki had not been trying to give them the slip at all...this time.

"I was told that there would be a small tunnel that veered to the left somewhere near the exit of the chamber with the bridge. Admittedly I didn't get to look around very well with all the commotion. I suppose here we have two options... I can do my best to lead you from here with no promises, or someone else can lead."

She didn't mind leading them, but she didn't want to hear it if she got them lost. That's the last thing she needed was to have them all griping at her.

She tried to orient herself, retracing their steps carefully as she could in her mind's eye. She did spy a glimmer of hope. The tunnel up ahead was supposed to veer off and would eventually lead them beside the tunnel with the bridge. Hopefully she was right....

[Domerin]

"...we'd have to go back to a point of reference - say, the bridge?"

Yeah... like there's a chance in hell that's ever going to happen.

But before Domerin had a chance to offer his opinion on just how insane the mere suggestion of going back there was, Gen had neatly taken care of declaring it out of the question... though for completely different reasons than Domerin would have mentioned. Since he was trying his best to be civil, however, he decided not to mention them anyway, which was what he normally would have done.

Instead he shook his head and said, "Even if Gen's memory is faulty, and even if any of us did really want to go back there, the rope on that portcullis snapped when Gen closed it. I was standing fairly close to it, since I was the last one through, I clearly heard the rope give. That ancient rock has sealed itself firmly in place. There's no way we could get back through it.

"I think it's best you just try to lead us from here. It's all we've got and it's better than nothing." Even if I don't like it. "Hopefully we'll find a point of reference along the way that will allow you to verify we're on the right track."

[EMTia]

Nageki nodded. " I will certainly try."

She'd had a plan for the portcullis ...namely destroying it, but she chose to keep that to herself since they obviously were not alright with the idea of going back so she could get oriented.

Nageki had some time to think before Dom chimed in.

" Well, If I'm right, if we continue forward this path should veer to the right and take us to the chamber behind the one we're aiming for. Maybe we can do this backwards."

Nageki began to lead the way. The chamber they were in shrunk to a small hallway-like path that did indeed veer to the right.

[Gen Wolfbane]

Gen couldn't say he blamed the others for their wariness. In fact, he had a difficult time believing there was anyone among the group who was more suspicious of Nageki than he was. Given the current situation, though, they didn't have much choice but to trust in her guidance - and as the de facto leader of the rescue mission, he didn't have much choice but to play peacekeeper in all of this. That meant leading by example, and that was precisely what Gen did when he grabbed one of the torches and moved after Nageki.

As it turned out, that trust, tenuous as it was, served the party well. The path that the half-elf led them onto was practically a labyrinth of twisting tunnels, collapsed passages and chambers of questionable structural integrity. On their own, it probably would have taken the team hours or days to make their way through this half-fallen section of the ruins. With Nageki's directions, however, they made it through the crumbling maze in just over two hours' time with few setbacks. The final passage ended abruptly into open air, overlooking what was clearly an artificially-crafted chamber so vast that its far end was beyond even Magda's sight. The ceiling, hundreds of feet high, was braced with massive columns each the size of a tower, and from their vantage point the party would be able to make out clusters of buildings clumped around their broad bases - an ancient city, likely from the days when the Underhall's original builders inhabited it, though from the flickers of torchlight below it was clear that someone had taken up residence down there once more.

Below them, one of the tower-columns seemed to have fallen ages ago and now leaned against the next one down the line. At this range, they could make out windows around the surface of the column, indicating that they were not simply used for structural support. The toppled column bore a cruel gash in its outer wall some distance along its length, and it would not take much to guess that the tunnel they presently inhabited at one point connected to the massive structure at that point. "I think we've found our civilization," Gen announced with a low grunt as he pointed at the toppled tower. "We should start by trying to get inside there. Who's got rope?"

[EMTia]

This was not the chamber that Nageki had been looking for...it was the next chamber. However she kept her mouth shut. She also didn't have any rope, so she couldn't chime in helpfully there either. Nageki looked around the cave. It certainly didn't look like anything the Dark Elves would build. She quietly speculated on what sort of race would have built the ruins in front of them - Dwarves? Some other sort of Elvin people?

[Domerin]

Domerin was just glad that they were moving forward again. More than that, he was relieved that they finally had some direction to move in rather than just wandering randomly through the dark, twisted, monster infested caverns beneath the city. It didn't matter to him whether or not he liked Nageki. So long as she didn't lead them into an ambush, the waiting jaws of a monster, or some other previously laid trap, Domerin was content to let her lead them. After all, it wasn't as if any member of the group was passing though the dark hallways without all of their senses alert, straining for any sight, sound or smell that might indicate trouble. It wasn't as if they would fall easily into a trap... and it wasn't as if there was anywhere for the woman to run to if she did try to pull something on them.

When they reached the vast cavern, with it's windowed columns stretching into the vast distance beyond, he was satisfied enough with Nageki's guidance. It had gotten them all here in one piece, after all. He may not have trusted her - he wasn't all that trusting a person to begin with - but at least he was willing to tolerate her presence now that she had proved somewhat useful.

Pausing on the edge of the passage way to peer into the vast space beyond, Domerin couldn't help but let out a low whistle. He couldn't even begin to pick out the ceiling of the vast chamber. He wondered if even Magda would be able to tell them where it was. "If I didn't know any better," he said, "I'd swear giants built this place." Of course he did know better. He had crawled through enough ruins in his life time to identify which sorts of races built which sorts of structures. He strongly suspected that dwarves of some kind had built many of these chambers. Either them, or some strange kind of creature that he was unfamiliar with. He sincerely hoped it was the former rather than the later. Dwarves and their ruins he knew how to deal with. Strange, unknown things were always a little bit harder and alot more dangerous when you encountered them and the strange things they left in their wake.

For the moment, however, he was content to concentrate on crossing the massive chamber below. Presently he stepped back from the passage's end and carefully lowered the pack off of his back and onto the stone floor. Kneeling, he gently rummaged through the supplies therein until his fingers closed around the long coil of rope tucked near the back of the pouch. It was the work of a moment to pull it free. Having undertaken expeditions like this in the past, Domerin was never one to arrive unprepared. Rope was an essential tool on these sorts of trips. He was actually mildly surprised he hadn't needed to make use of it sooner.

Rather than presenting the rope to Gen, Domerin went to work right away, pulling a metal hook free of a padded pouch and carefully affixing it to one end of the rope with a sturdy, well crafted knot. Then he pulled a few special clips free of his pack before returning it to his back. Returning to the edge of the passage's end, Domerin carefully judged the distance, squinting for a few moments at the window that was their destination, lining up his aim before he finally motioned for everyone to stand back, swung the rope around his head a few times and let it fly.

The hook on the end settled over the stone work of the window a moment later with a satisfying clang. A triumphant grin spread across Domerin's face as he gave the rope a savage jerk, ensuring that the hook jammed itself into place. Testing his weight against the rope for a moment or two was enough to ensure that it wasn't going anywhere, and he turned back to his companions. "Who wants to go first?"

[Magda Garis]

Magda had been quiet and somewhat sullen after the party had decided to follow the lead of the half-elven woman. She knew quite well that Gen didn't trust her but she hated, with all her experience in this sort of thing, to have to rely on someone like Nageki to get them to where they needed to go. She never complained aloud but followed and tried her best to ferret out any dangers that might have been lurking in wait for them. The lack of any, and the monotony of it all began to grate on her as well.

Still, they got somewhere eventually, as grudging as was to admit that Nageki had done something useful. So she was silently glad when they reached the huge chamber, awed as well despite herself. It wasn't often, even in her line of work, that she saw something as expansive and clearly well built. It was amazing what certain civilizations could do with enough manpower and time. But now wasn't the time to get distracted, and she stood back as Domerin drew out his rope and secured them a way up.

When he posed his question she gave a nod and spoke before anyone else had a chance too. "I'll go first." She was the most use when scouting ahead and she knew she could trust Domerin to keep an eye on Nageki if the half-elf decided to try something else and besides that she just wanted something new after all those hours of walking. The tiefling fetched a pair of gloves out of her bag and slipped them on before taking hold of the rope, not pulling to to test as she trusted Domerin's own strength. "Keep hold of the bottom will you?" She asked before pulling herself up and starting her climb.

[Gen Wolfbane]

The climb across to the open wound in the ancient, half-toppled tower was not an easy one. The angle of ascent was severe, but not straight up, forcing Magda to shimmy over the edge of the ruined bridge where the rest of her company stood and into the yawning chasm, where a slip of a hand or a foot would spell certain death for the tiefling. Then there was always the worry that the thousand or more years-old stonework that Domerin's grapnel was hooked onto might crumble or slip from her weight. Nonetheless, Magda made it across without issue, and upon reaching the rough gash in the old structure's face, she entered a sharply-slanted room whose floor one would have to scale across rather than walk. A dozen stone shelves, each of which must have held several times as many scrolls, were piled in an unceremonious mess of a pile at the lowest part of the chamber, likely fallen to that side of the room when the tower-column fell however many ages ago.

Back on the platform Magda had left behind, Freeport's militia commander cast a sidelong glance up at Domerin with a nod of approval and a slight smile. "You came prepared. Not the first time you've done this, is it?" he said to the elf, then stepped forward and grabbed the rope. "Just be sure not to make disturbing ancient tombs and ruins a habit while you're here. It seems to me that we've riled up the local monster population enough as it is. Alright, I'll go next, then Nageki, while you bring up the rear. Agreed?"

[Domerin]

Before Magda committed her weight to the rope, Domerin arranged it carefully in his grip, holding it carefully in one hand, then passing it behind his back and holding it in the other hand so he could brace the full weight of his body to keep it from slipping. Patiently he stood, solid as a rock, while she made her way across. Not once did he appear to falter or slip and the rope remained steady throughout her difficult climb. People could say anything they wanted about Domerin and his disposition, but injured or not he was obviously a highly dependable person to have around in this kind of situation, and it was obvious that he knew what he was doing.

It was only after he was sure that Magda had made her way safely across the rope to the other side that he turned his attention back to the rest of the group and offered Gen a small, sheepish sort of smile. "I used to get paid to do this sort of thing, actually." He admitted, though he hadn't done it in quite a long time. That had been one of the first things Sesha had put a stop to... not that he really minded anymore. He'd found more important and productive things to pour his energy into... though of course he was never opposed to a bit of an adventure if someone's life was in danger. After all, if you knew how to do something and someone needed your help, it was only right to put those skills to use, wasn't it? "Hunt dangerous creatures and and the occasional rare artifact in ancient ruins, caves and wild areas. I preferred the monster hunts, to be honest. Felt more like I was doing something useful." Not to mention the fact that it was usually much more exciting. That, and he always felt a bit creepy about searching for ancient artifacts... like he was robbing someone's grave or something.

"Anyway," he added with a slight shrug, "You don't have to worry much about me stirring up that kind of trouble. My mate isn't too keen on the idea of me doing these sorts of things any more." Though it was obvious he was still quite skilled at it.

The next demonstration of his skill, in fact, came when everyone else had joined Magda on the other side of the chasm. Domerin stood patiently waiting while each and every one of them crossed the rope, asking only a few moments in between each crossing to catch his breath and steel himself for the next crossing. The line never faltered in all the time he acted as it's guardian. When the last of the party had made their way to the other side, Domerin went to work to make his own crossing. Unwinding the rope from the grip he had used to brace it for the others, he now wrapped it around his waist, using one of the special clips he had removed from his pack to hold it in place in a way that kept the rope from slipping off of him but allowed the rope to feed through one of the clip's compartments so that he could release slack in the rope when he needed to. Then he pulled a certain amount of slack into the rope and knelt down to work at the stone beside him. After several minutes of chipping at the stone with a knife from his boot, he fastened another clip, this one of a different kind, to the stone, using his knife to be certain it was pounded in securely. When he was finished he had fashioned a sort of device that held the rope firmly into place on his end of the chasm without needing someone to hold it. He leaned backwards heavily, testing that it would hold his weight and nodded in satisfaction when the clip and the rope didn't budge.

Turning and making his way to the edge of the chasm, Domerin gathered up the rest of the rope in one hand, coiling it carefully. Then he took hold of the rope stretched across the chasm and eased himself over the edge, allowing the rope to slowly take hold of his weight. He paused a minute or two to make sure his rigging would hold and then slowly began to make his way up the rope to the other side of the great chasm. As he went, he slowly let out the rope he held in his hands; it slid through the clip which he had used to fasten it around his waste and let out slack as he went. This kept the rope tight in the clip that held it in place without allowing it to escape and send him spiraling into the chasm below. By the time he had finished crossing the gap, the rope stretched double across it and there was still a small length of it coiled in his hand.

Once Domerin had pulled himself up on the other side of the chasm, he unfastened the rope from around his waist and reached down to pull the grappling hook free of the place where it had fastened itself. It took a few moments to shake it loose, but he somehow maneuvered the rope so that he had some slack on the side where the grapple was. When he was finished detaching the hook, he held the two ends of the rope, one in each hand. Carefully he crouched near the edge he had just climbed over and contemplated the rope, then he gave a sharp jerk, twisting each end of the rope a certain way in his wrist before he let one side of the rope slide free of his grip. The rope slid free of the clip on the other end, leaving the small piece of metal still connected to it's place on the rock they had left behind, while Domerin was able to pull the rope back across the gap, recoil it's entire length and return it to his pack.

When he had finished, Domerin once more shouldered his pack and glanced in Gen's direction. "Where to next?" He asked, figuring that Magda must have successfully scouted out the next part of their route in the amount of time it had taken him to free his rope. As usual, he was anxious to keep on the move. Even having crossed from one side of a chasm to another where no bridge existed, Domerin didn't trust that they were completely safe from the creatures which had attacked them before... not to mention the fact that there could be other creatures laying in wait that they just hadn't discovered yet.

[Gen Wolfbane]

Gen scaled the line across the perilous chasm to the tower after Magda, somewhat slower and more cautious than the the fiend-blooded young woman who preceded him. From what he could tell, this was something Magda had done at least once before, but it was quite new to him. The young militia commander kept his fierce gold-hued eyes ratcheted firmly on his destination to avoid glancing down, and had to stop along the way twice to steel his nerves and calm the vertigo-induced trembling in his hands. It was slow going, but Gen made his way across and into the lopsided tower's open wound without much trouble. The moment his feet were back on - well, relatively solid ground, he was greeted by Domerin's voice.

"Where to next?"

It was a question that everyone in the rescue party was undoubtedly asking themselves, Domerin merely being the one to put it to words. It was the pivotal problem that they now faced, and one that Gen didn't have a solution for. What could they do, after all, but grope about blindly until they found more information about their surroundings. They had no idea where they were, little clue as to the cavern's layout save for what they could see from the mouth of the collapsed tunnel-bridge they had left behind, and no way of knowing where their objective - the missing Greensburg family - might be. Time was a factor, of that he was very aware; both for the women and children lost down here and for themselves, not having brought enough supplies for an extended foray into these caverns. Rather than overruling the need to move forward cautiously, though, that only made it painfully frustrating.

"The first thing we need to do is make our way down to solid ground and get out of this tower," Gen finally answered Domerin's question once everyone's equipment was secured and they were ready to begin moving again. As he led the way through the fallen tower, carefully climbing through doorways and slipping through holes in its crumbling walls and floors on the way down, he explained his reasoning to the rest of the group. "This chamber is different from the rest of the citadel system. From the looks of things up on the bridge, this was probably where the main city was when the Underhall was still in use. Whoever lives in the citadel now likely claimed this as their home, too; migrating populations tend to make use of abandoned urban centres rather than going to the trouble of building new settlements as much as possible. Judging by the smoke columns I saw back on the bridge, probably from house fires, the creatures we ran into a few hours ago are no exception." It was times like these when his Imperial education came very much in handy, although the only insight he managed to impart on the rest of the group in this case was the fact that they just might have stumbled straight into the wolves' den. "In any case, if this city is populated by those things, there's a good chance that we'll find the Greensburgs here, if they're still alive."

Shortly before the party reached the half-way point of their descent down the perilously leaning tower, the militia commander's speculation proved eerily prophetic. A dull roar, which had persisted like the rumble of distant thunder steadily growing louder and clearer as they made their way through the dilapidated structure, revealed itself as the deafening chant of a crowd when they came upon a hole in the outer wall. Through the blown-out section of the tower, the company would see a large plaza laid out beneath them, lined with thick stone columns on either side and overshadowed by an impressive structure whose architecture was about as imperious as the Underhall's original, notoriously austere dwarven inhabitants ever got. The floor of the plaza was packed to the brim with hundreds, perhaps thousands of the mottled-skinned creatures that they had encountered earlier, though their previous animalistic savagery was now replaced with order and obedience, as if having shed the hides of wild beasts and become soldiers, or slaves.

Row by row, column by column, they stood prostrate before the looming structure some forty yards across the plaza from the toppled tower, chanting in their strange, throaty language. The low droning stoked to a fevered pitch when the crimson curtains covering three stone arches on a balcony jutting out from the structure's wall drew open, and out marched two pairs of armor-clad and spear-bearing figures. Though they shared the same bluish-grey tone as the flesh of the throng on the ground far below them, that was where the similarities end; these beings were tall and noble, rather more human-like in the structure of their strong, graceful limbs and the smooth contours of what could be seen of their features. Where the heads of the bestial masses below bore roughly-severed stumps, those of the four on the balcony were crowned with a pair of long, curving horns prominently adorned with charms and fetishes. The most striking thing about these four individuals, however, was gleaned from the swell of their cuirasses and the particular way they carried themselves: each of them were female.

The four armored warriors fanned out as they emerged to take up positions on either side of the balcony and snapped to rigid attention, stoic and unwavering in the face of the raving, half-mad masses below them. The chanting having become a wailing, now completed its transformation into the unintelligible shrieking of thousands of fanatics driven to the brink of insanity in their fervour. At the moment that the wave of madness crested in the plaza, a column of flame erupted, seemingly from thin air, at the center of the balcony. The self-contained blaze burned for but a moment, before blowing apart in a rush of hot air that reached even the adventurers in the tower, and where fire once raged now stood another horned and blue-skinned woman, wrapped in flowing white raiments which would strike the more attentive members of the rescue party as being rather familiar. At once, silence fell upon the plaza like a thick blanket smothering the fires of near-violent fanaticism.

The fifth woman, apparently a priestess of some kind, raised her arms high over his head, revealing for the whole of the crowd an ornate knife in her tightly-clasped fingers, the red jewels embedded in its broad serrated blade gleaming in the torchlight. She spoke not a word, and judging by the deeply reverent reaction of the suddenly-silent mob arrayed on the ground below her, it seemed that the gesture itself, whatever its significance, had more effect on her audience than any speech. As if on cue to the very same motion, the curtains at the rear of the balcony drew aside once more, and a second quartet, this time of the misshapen creatures that presently clogged the plaza, shoved two human women - one roughly middle-aged and the other in the prime of her youth - and two young boys through into open sight.

The priestess spoke a single word, and a mad roar of anticipation arose from the mob that chilled Gen's blood in his veins. The language was alien to him, but the meaning of that word was nonetheless terrifyingly clear. "It's them," the militia commander hissed, practically choking on his own breath as a tidal wave of mixed emotions crashed over him. "Gods above and below, she's going to kill them!"