Returned

"Look look, I get it, yeah? Contemplation, meditation... he's busy busy." More like the acolyte simply doesn't like the look of Halani. She's bruised, smudged, smelling faintly of sulphur and brimstone, and if that wasn't all... her hair is in disarray from the wind outside. "This is -important-. He'll want to know, yeah? So.. please get him, or at least tell me where to go?"

It is about at this time that Seldan enters the main Temple from one of the doors leading to the private areas, looking as if contemplation and meditation were the last possible thing on his mind. Even in the chill wind, his alabaster-fair skin is flushed with warmth, sweat beading the edges of a hairline that is tousled but rapidly pinned back with the thin silver headband she had seen him wear on their journey. He pauses just inside the door and states quietly out of deference to the faithful and clergy here, "_Alacha_." The plates and panels of the full-plate armor he wears clatter as they find into the shape of the heavy steel brooch that now pins his cloak, revealing a simple, sweat-drenched shirt and trousers beneath.

"Ah! Looks like he's done! Thanks for your help." Maybe it's sarcasm, maybe it's not... her islander accent makes it hard to tell, and nobody here knows here well enough besides. She gives the acolyte a light thump on the shoulder, then weaves around one of the pillars to make her way towards Seldan.

Seldan raises a hand, seeming to be about to do something else, when he abruptly catches sight of the bruised-looking brawler. His eyes go wide, and he strides to meet her, stopping only a pace away. "Halani. You are safe. Quickly, did the demons cure you?" His tone is low, urgent, and holds a measure of wariness, a volume and tone not meant for other ears.

Halani's expression turns vaguely pained at Seldan's question, and she glances about. There may be noone close enough to hear the low tones he greets her with, but she still seems out of sorts. "Hah. Safe. Hah. Ehh... is there somewhere private we can go? This one... I think I did something very bad." And yes, she does not seem afflicted with the symptoms of the plague any longer.

Something in Seldan's expression falls, but not out of surprise so much as sadness - and remorse. "Yes, come with me. That place is not here." The expression he wears appears to be enough to tell the acolytes present that whatever this is, the Silver Guard knows what is afoot, that it is serious, and that it is very much his concern, for they make no further effort to stop the pair as Seldan holds open the door he just came through, gesturing for Halani to precede him.

He does not waste time, finding a private alcove in the library with a table and two chairs in it. He pulls out a chair for her, then claims his own, and once she has done the same, draws several sigils in the air. The last one he draws is Eluna's symbol, across all of them, and they all burst into silvery-golden-white life before him. He speaks several arcane phrases, then gestures with flat hands. The sigils seem to follow that gesture, laying down flat on the carpeted floor and arranging themselves in a circle, shimmering at the very edges.

When it is done, he nods satisfaction, watching Halani closely for her reaction as he speaks. "A ward against evil," he explains. "It will prevent them from being summoned within its area, and if they have shackled your mind, it may help you break those shackles, for a time."

GAME: Seldan casts Magic Circle Against Evil. Caster Level: 11 DC: 18

Halani shakes her head slowly. "I don't think they shackled me," she admits, her accent thick. "I... so I figured part of it out, I think, but.." she keeps speaking as she sits down. And notes Seldan's expression. "But this part you already know, I think, yeah? They're collecting favours."

"I did not, but it explains a very great deal." Something in Seldan relaxes at Halani's lack of reaction, and he settles back into the chair. "I would hear your story, from the time you were spirited away, to the time that you were freed. Your secrets are safe with me, and I will not judge your decisions while within their grip, but any piece of information may aid us in eradicating this plague and saving Alexandria."

Halani lets her chin drop, eyes looking at the table. "Maybe the favour was just me. Maybe this one is just an idiot.." Then she shrugs. "Don't know where he sent me, yeah? It was like.. some hall or court. Full of bads. Demons, devils, I don't know. Some appearing, some disappearing. Couldn't see a way out. And there was a big one, on a throne." Her voice has dropped, not low enough to be considered a whisper but not the boisterous tone she usually wields. "Then Giggles showed up. Uh.. that's the priest demon, yeah? Anyways. Says I owed him because he transported me there. Wished me there. And he was giving my debt to Bigness. And Bigness offered.. well, offered to cure me for a future favour." She looks up at Seldan. "I was gonna refuse, yeah? But there was no way out. And.. well, I figured you all would be trying to find me, but.. Look, I'm a good fighter. Very good. But I wouldn't have lasted long with what was there."

Seldan listens intently and without interruption, nodding slowly as he absorbs the information. "No. 'Bigness' is likely to be Eclavdran, a Duke of the Hells, and deep within his court, you would have stood little chance, did you fight. It is more important that you got out alive to tell me this, for this was a thing that I did not know, and desperately needed to. Can you recall aught of what he did to cure you?"

He pauses a minute, looking down, clearly troubled. "I had intended to do so. I needed a plan, And, I needed those capable of being subtle. I needed to learn where you were, lest I repeat the mistakes I made in that town. I ... had not yet managed to formulate that plan."

Halani shakes her head. "Wouldn't have been quick enough, whatever you did, yeah? I... didn't really see him do anything. Just..." She sighs. "It maybe gets worse. I tried to tell him I never actually wanted him to cure me. Definitely didn't want to end up where I was. But I tried to negotiate. And now I owe two favours."

Seldan's eyes lift again as Halani goes on, and he goes back to that calm, serious listening mode, putting aside whatever was in his mind as he does so. "Ah well. That they cure is so readily, without you seeing any sort of action, suggests that it is of their making," he scowls suddenly, anger that is not directed at the fighter flashing through the blue eyes. But you say you owe two favors?" The scowl fades into a look of concern, tinged with rueful acceptance. "We all erred that day, Halani, I not least among us. For what was the other favor?"

"Well.. I tried to, you know, at least control it if I couldn't get out of it, yeah?" Halani says. "Wasn't alot of time, hey, and.. well, I told him I wanted to be able to find Giggles again. To tell me how. So at least maybe you could use him to hunt down the source.. which I guess is this Eclavdran." Her fists clench, and then she thumps them down on the table top. "Two favours. One he promised wouldn't go against 'my morals'.. and the other, well. The other I get to choose to do or not. But if I don't do it, I still owe the favour. In return... he cured me. ANd this." She starts to pull one of her shoulders out of her robe.

Intently, Seldan gestures that she should continue, and after a moment, stands up, both hands on the table, so that he can see more clearly what it is that she wishes to show him. "A dangerous move, and a thing I would not wish to use save at direst need, yet may it serve us later," he says as he does so, peering closely, and not incidentally keeping both hands flat on the table.

On the back of Halani's shoulder, just beside the shoulder blade, is a scar. A clearly unnatural scar for it is shaped in the form of a snowfloak. "Found that when I got back," she tell him before covering it back up. "And as for Giggles... he said he would let me summon him once. 'Celestial aid' he called it." She scowls. "No celestial that one, yeah? But I was thinking.. if I did summon him.. maybe you and the others could trap him or something."

At the sight of the scar, Seldan scowls even more blackly. "The same one Yukia uses," he spits out, the anger clearly not directed at her. "They are in league, not at odds ... and if that be so, then either one is the master, or they both have a greater master we do not yet see. Evil does not willingly cooperate with itself." He sits back down with his hands still on the table, nodding as she covers it up. A deep breath, although the pale blue eyes continue to flash. "Celestial aid, my foot. I am certain that the Warden would like a rematch, and I would certainly not refuse the chance to destroy such a one. Perhaps we will do such a thing later, but for now ... what you tell me is most valuable, Halani, even if you have put yourself at significant risk to do so."

"Put myself, hah. I suppose being dead is less risk than those deals..." Halani admits. Then she places her hands on the table and pushes herself up. "Need sleep. After the deal, he just... magicked me outside the city. Oh." Halani stops, a thought coming to her. Or a memory. "Before he vanished me, Giggles made me drink something. Said it was tea. Didn't want to, but he put a knife to Malik's throat. So I did. And then he said something about it having demon's blood in it."

If anything, Seldan's expression becomes more serious still at the description. "I know not what that means, but I will learn what I can for you. Are you hurt, and can I aid you in some other way?" He looks over the smudged, bruised fighter, assessingly. "Nonetheless, I was too slow to get to you before that happened, but you have my gratitude. There is no doubt that what you did was gravely dangerous. I will learn what I can, and see if it is possible to break such a contract."

"I'll heal," Halani says, shaking her head at the offer. "And.. I want to help you hunt these.. things.. down. But you needed to know I might be compromised. Don't know what these favours are, what this blood might do. And if you can get me out of these deals... I won't ever say a bad thing about an Elunan ever again, I promise."

Seldan nods his understanding, very slowly, and makes an arcane gesture. The silvery wards he laid down around them vanish into nothingness. "I understand. I can make no promises, as I do not know if it is possible, but I shall learn what I can, and if I can break those contracts, be assured that I will do so." That done, he stands himself, and prepares to escort her back to the main Temple. "Until then, may Her blessings go with you ... and with all of us."