Session 9: The Rise of the Emissaries Arc 1

With a new day, a new purpose comes. The group, untrustworthy of Cas but still convinced of a shred of innocence, decided to lock him inside his on home for the time being until they could come up with a better solution. Reluctantly, Casimir agrees, and the adventurous leave him to go talk to Neles at Katelyn’s request.

But before they could reach the house, Cicie, who was accompanying the group for the last day, shocked at unfolding of events that lead to her friend's being brutally murdered, except for Cass, who was manipulated into committing one of said murders, now had her heart shattered. She confessed to Valsali, the one she was closest to, that she felt impotent, incapable of protecting her friends, but now that she had lost so much, she could not cowar any longer. Inspired by his carefree attitude and unapologetic nature of being proud of who he is, Cicie admitted that she too had a past, that was now ready to embrace once more, if he could help her, that is. The couple of shortlings went on a little detour to cicies house, where she explained her family business, set by her loved greatfather. As she unearths a chest buried in the basement, she explains that she had to flee from her past, for the shame and fear were too much to bear. The chest opens, and from inside crawl out two black fanged daggers, that danced in familiarity to Cicie`s light touch. She was an Assassin by trade, plagued by the past, searching for solace in a new beginning in a distant land. But the past never stopped chasing her, and as such, kept living in fear of what she was, even in this new life. But no longer, for it was time to pick up the blade and fight for something righteous, for the first time ever.

Reunited once again, the group informs Neles, the village leader, of their findings. They explained their confrontations with the bandits, their adventures in the caves, and the two bodies belonging of the missing girls. Such as Katelyn predicted, Neles did not seem convinced of the existence of a demon, regardless of Susana’s parents’ suspicions. So far there was no proof that a demon or something supernatural was at ploy, for the dreams of the villagers could be forged with magic, and the appearance of those same dreams coincides approximately with the appearance of the bandits, who were most likely behind it. The corpses could be part of a ritual yes, but said ritual could also, in fact, be practiced by these vile people.

When Neles exclaims that spreading stories about monsters and demons would send the village in unnecessary disarray, affecting their mining exploits and create a bad image for the village, which would make impossible to create an economical connection with the Kingdom of Angar, Rhyia explodes in frustration, claiming that he was more concern with money than the safety of the people he was in charge with. The hostility’s rouse, and Neles, in an imperative tone exclaimed; "regardless of a demon or something else, you brought nothing that proves its existence, and even if there is, it is no lie that the bandits have been stealing our precious stones that we shed sweat digging out, so they are a problem regardless, a tangible problem, a simple problem, that I heired you to solve, but instead you spent your time chasing something else, and have nothing but stories and conspiracies!!! I AM running this place the best I know how, and the best way I know how to fix a problem is to focus on what I can see and change. Unlike you!"

This battle of wits was interrupted by the screams of terrified miners, running for the safety of their homes as the village was being invaded by group of bandits, led by a terrifying hulking woman with purple blazing eyes, shouting as loud and menacing as she could muster: "Bring me the outsiders how killed my Husband!! Bring me the murders of Josef!"

An Epic battle ensued, were our heroes and the bravest of the villagers came together to defend the defenseless. Botas dispatched their marks with deadly accuracy from a distance, while Rhya and Cats unleashed the wrath of nature upon the invaders, spreading chaos among the bandit's vanguard. Valsali, concerned with the safety of the civilians, used its magic to paralyze the brigands who were trying to force their way into locked houses, filled with terrified women and children. Accompanying him was the new member of the party, the now late retired assassin Halfling, summersaulting her way through the shadows of white fences, slashing the jugulars of bandits open with surgically accurate throwing knives. Later in the battle, came the veteran Cooking Pot with a thunderous arrival, picking up a massive brute like a sack of potatoes, crushing his back against the ground, only to be lifted up by the legs by the raging tiger, which swinged his victims face against a sharp corner of a cobblestone wall, smashing his skull open. The only other noteworthy participant was a young boy by the name of Jeremy, known by the village not as harden Warrior, but an aspirant troubadour with dreams of greatness. His act of heroism ended as one might expect, were it not for Rhya's assistance, he would not have survived this conflict.

Without any casualty on their side, the group surrounded and defeated Illia. Although the victory was short lived. For when the last hit was stroked, the lifeless body of the bandit commander was, in an unnatural way, resembling a puppet being pulled by string at their deadweight joints. The corpse was ripped in two, revealing an imposing figure of a feminine Tiefling, with crimson skin, dark long air and a reapplying physic that made Valsali question whether or not he was fighting for the right side. The more prominent feature of them all was that this figure had one of her menacing eyes burning with an incandescent purple.

"Greetings at last" said the devil lass in an uncomfortably casual tone "It’s a pleasure to meet you at last. I am Seraphim, one of the emissaries and I came to recover something that isn’t yours. Now, the book please"

"Wow" Valsali replied "if the book wasn’t as nasty as my thoughts, I would gladly hand you, but I have a varied of other things in my collection if your interested, lets see, there is an old teddy bear, my nail collection, uh, the embalmed foot of one of your men, if your…"

The titaness punches the Verdan headfirst into his open chest, resting one foot on the closed lid. "Gosh, he never stops blabbering, does he? How about you?" She points to Rhyia "Come on, Sis to Sis, can you give me the book so I can bounce? I am a busy gal and hate when things like this go slow… Honestly, I hate anything that is slow to be honest… Oh well"

Rhyia responds impulsively "Oh yes, and I would like a foot rub. As if we’re ever going to give it to some crazy demon with a fake lollipop voice and clearly anger issues"

"Anger Issues?" Said the demon, with her eyes wide open. BOOM, the sound of thunder stroked their ears, and a single spark of lightning fell, hitting Jeremy in the left arm, ripping it open. "I don’t think that you understand exactly who you’re talking to!! Here is what’s going to happen. My camp is south of here, around a two-hour walk. Bring me the book by then, or I will raze this village to the ground to find the fucking thing, alongside anyone how stands in my way!!"

Another flash of lightning, roaring thunder, and Seraphim just vanished. In the aftermath, with great effort, Rhyia was capable of reattaching the arm of aspiring single, shocked by the events, how decided to hastily chase his dreams, with fear that he might not have any more chances. Neles came for them with rage and demanded answers. Luckily, one of the bandits survived the skirmish, being paralyzed by Valsalis magic since its beginning. Neles used violence and the sharp edge of a blade to interrogate him but was hastily stopped by the rest of the group. Striking a deal for the bandit’s safety, he gladly revealed that Seraphim was not originally part of her group. *"One day she came to our camp, killed Ilia and then said that she was the new leader…and everyone accepted it without question. *"As the man told his tale, the confusion in is face grew substantially, as if he had just woken up from a senseless dream, slowly detaching is consciousness from it. "She as a way of making you do things. She just says something out loud, and you do it, you don’t even feel force to, you just…do." The party asked about her title, the Emissary, but to what exactly. The bandit did not know, but he heard her talking to three other women, all shrouded in shadows, so he might suspect that there are four of them.

Neles demands that the party finds this book as a deterrence, and face Seraphim in any way they wish, so long as it is outside the village, and ensure that that thing never hurts Blackstone again. With the help of a little magic, Valsali finds out that the book was hidden in the same place he lost it, in the prairie with the lonely rock, but underneath said rock. Below they found a small tunnel with a pedestal lit by candles, with hundreds of scribbles in the wall, and on the pedestal, the book, with a note on tope of it "I hope you enjoy the reading as much as I did. Signed: L"