Some Things Are More Important Than Demons

The Residence, afternoon

Sometimes it's like herding cats, trying to get together. Especially when you're not trying to organize a party, but instead trying to save the world, defeat the villains, that sort of thing. Still, if you can't multi-task a little bit as an adventurer you probably need to rethink your profession, and Telamon is no exception.

Currently, Tel is seated on the couch, studying a manuscript with a furrowed brow. His expression is thoughtful, his dress casual -- light cotton tunic and slacks, with slippers. Hunter, the kitten, has discovered that while Telamon is a slender man, he is also a clever and comfortable one, and so he is curled up in Tel's lap dozing and purring happily. Tel pauses, looking down at the small furry fellow there. "You," he says with mock severity, "sound like a horribly mistuned goblin mechanism. I cannot believe you are sleeping."

There's a rap on the front door, the footsteps leading up to it fairly slow, heavy, and deliberate, and the rap itself fairly quiet.

Telamon glances up, then down at the kitten again. He starts to move, only for the kitten to meow at him. "Oh all right," Tel says with a grin. Casually, he scoops up the kitten on one hand, carrying him easily as he walks to the door to open it.

"Dolan!" The fact that Telamon is (a) dressed down a bit, and (b) carrying a kitten is hopefully not going to confuse the other man too much. "Come in, come in. Verna will be down in a bit, there's some news... well, it's not bad, but it IS interesting."

As it happens, Dolan brightens on seeing Telamon so dressed-down, _and_ carrying Hunter. That means that Verna found them, and for that, the inquisitor is well-pleased indeed. Still, lines on the mobile half of his face suggest that today is not the best of all possible days. "Brightest of days, Tel." The mobile half of his face quirks up into a half a smile at wee sleepy Hunter, and he's got a wrapped, slim longsword in his hand, one that Telamon has not seen since the room in the secure part of the Temple, with quillons and pommel of burnished steel and a black leather-wrapped hilt. His shoulders and hood are damp, rain droplets glistening off of the cloak on his shoulders.

"News? Let's hear it."

Continuing the trend in more casual dress, Verna descends the stairs in a house-shift and barefoot. Her hair is damp suggesting either recent time in the rain, the bath, or a combination thereof. "Telamon, is all we-"The sounds of activity in the lounge are then explained as she notes, "Dolan. Good eve and welcome." Her lips then upturn in a brief smile(?) before relaxing to a more firm neutral. "We have news of import I wished to share with you, so the timing of your visit is most fortuitous."

Once Dolan is inside, Telamon shuts the door while his fuzzy cargo paws at his tunic. Carefully, he helps Hunter perch on his shoulder, where the kitten looks around with sleepy eyes but firmly clings to his perch. At Verna's arrival, he smiles, before nodding to Dolan. "You'd best sit down. This is a heck of a tale."

Once the trio are ensconced in the parlor, with Hunter resuming his spot in Tel's lap and being petted, Telamon nods to Dolan's wrapped sword. "Good. You still have it." His eyes flick to Verna. "You do the honors. It was your communing with the Harpist, after all."

Dolan is not slow to come inside and lay the damp cloak aside, laying the sword down by a chair as close to the fire as he can get and slouching casually into it. He, too, is not overly formally dressed, but the sheepskin jacket and leather brace he so often wears are very much in place. "Thanks. Sounds like shit happened," he offers. "So let's hear it. Should I write this down?"

"I was but a conduit," Verna counters to Telamon. "All was Cor'lana's keen wit for the most important inquiries and The Harpist's wisdom for the answers." She then looks to Dolan. "I can provide you a copy of the information. Cor'lana was also wise enough to scribe the record."

"Succinctly," Verna begins as she takes a seat on a chair, "the lycanthrope camp is within The Vast, co-located with the portal. Thus, we now know where we need strike, though this may imply greater defenses. The lycanthropes yet control The Red Maw which is also present in that vicinity. Contrary to what we suspected, the device empowering the portal is NOT one of the totems. This device is in joint custody of Dace Zinskas and Marsward Seraquoix. The two also appear to be at odds with one another, which may work greatly in our favor."

Telamon hands Dolan the manuscript he was perusing, without hesitation. "Lana really was thinking fast on her feet." He grins. "If my father heard of this, he would most certainly ask if she'd be interested in a diplomatic post. But yes -- Zinskas and Seraquoix are at odds, and with them all concentrated like that..." His smile is a hard curve.

"There's more, though. Zinskas is making overtures to Lana -- my guess is that he wants to see how much she hates Seraquoix and how he might benefit. But read the bit about dream-items."

From Dolan's expression, the news of Seraquoix and Zinskas being at odds comes as no surprise to him, nor does the camp and portal being concentrated in the Vast. Of more interest is the mention of a device in their joint custody, and he sits up a little straighter at that. "That might explain a dream I had," he mutters. "Zinskas is making overtures to Lana, though? She'd best watch herself. That one's up to no good."

He leans forward, reaching out with his right hand to take the communing manuscript, scanning through it with furrowed brows.

Verna nods. "I advised caution as well, yet Cor'lana also thought to ask of Zinskas' intentions. He does not intend her harm. If he could be convinced to provide information on the artifact, or to relinquish it..." She does not complete the sentence, yet her tone is hopeful. "She can be quite .. persuasive. Even so, their location is known, so we can act. That is not to claim such will be simple: we must remove the artifact to close the portal, and the portal must be closed before The Red Maw can be banished. All of which The Red Maw and the lycanthropes will wish to prevent."

Telamon scratches behind Hunter's ears gently. "Don't worry -- I have no intention of letting Lana face Zinskas alone. Even in a dream-meeting." His dark eyes glitter. "I wonder if he's feeling a bit anxious after last time we met. He almost died, after all."

"So the task is 'simple' -- for definitions of such. We need to close the portal. That means securing or destroying the device. Cut the Red Maw off, it'll be weakened. Then we banish it -- again, not simple, or easy, but our chances are better if it's softened up a bit. Once that's done..."

Meanwhile, Dolan is perusing the manuscript, scanning in silence. "Shit. These dream-items might be able to banish the Red Maw? Shit, that was _worth it," he breathes quietly. "You never did tell me what you were able to learn about these things, only that you wanted to look at the blade, and then that shithead Seraquoix laid waste to your house."

He looks up, then. "You know what that device looks like at all, or what it is?"

Verna shakes her head. "I do not, unfortunately. That could be a key point for Cor'lana and her meeting?" She looks to Telamon pointedly with the inquiry before turning back to Dolan with a nod. "The utility of the dream-weapons could be significant. We will need any and all advantage; even with it weakened, I do not relish the battle with the beast."

Another glance to Telamon and back, between the men. "What think you both of plan and timing? I believe we should act as soon as able."

"I want to at least see what Zinskas has to say. I doubt he's ready to turn his coat -- if he does I will be positively shocked -- but he may drop something useful without realizing it during the meeting." Telamon steeples his fingers. "Once that's done -- one way or another -- we need to hit the portal, and the camp, with everything we have. So far everything we've done has been playing catch-up; time to start actually dealing with the problem."

Tel rubs his chin, regarding Dolan. "I'd like to do a couple tests -- divinations on it. Legend lore, detect magic, that sort of thing. But I do know this much, Dolan: that staff I drew out of the dreaming? Seraquoix used it to try and bash holy hells out of my house, and he made a huge mess -- but the staff never broke, never -bent-. I find that very interesting indeed."

"That's pretty damned interesting, yeah. There's three totems that we still need to find. Zinskas has one, Seraquoix has one, and Jal'goroth has got the last one. Supposedly Eluna's asking people to go after the last of the totems, and close down this summoning circle in the sewers. That'll be a damned bit of work, if it's as big as you say it is. I was planning on focusing on getting to Jal'goroth, and talking to Magpie." Dolan's becoming a bit more animated as the warmth of the hearth-fire begins to sink in. "As for the sword, yeah, sure. Do what you need. I'm no mage, but I'm pretty damned sure that something that's conjured by the power of a divinely-made artifact isn't going to be your garden-variety weapon, yeah?"

Verna's lingering hint of smile finally fades at mention of the circle in the sewers. "I may be able to provide further insight into the summoning circle, as one of a few with intimate knowledge of its original function and activation. Once the portal and related are no longer a threat. It is best to focus upon and complete one task at a time." To Telamon, she adds, "If you wish any aid in regards to the study of the items, consider it granted."

Telamon nods to Verna. "I'm not turning down any help. I know the legend lore spell I tried with my staff... fizzled. It didn't just return a kind of 'blank slate' like you'd get with an ordinary object; it sputtered out. But magical detection, and spells cast on the staff, suggested it -was- in fact magical." He snorts. "A mystery, indeed. And one I can't afford to get sucked into because we're all busy and there's things to do."

"And I think you're right, Verna. Too easy to get sidetracked. Let's stomp out the portal first, then turn our attention to this summoning circle masquerading as a sewer system. Although," his mouth turns down in a grimace, "we'll also have to deal with its guardian at some point."

"Guardian?" This, at least, is news to Dolan, and he tilts his head. "I've got a guess to what that key looks like, but that's something I didn't get a chance to tell anyone about. Dealing with some other shit right now." He waves a hand dismissively. "What's this guardian? Something we should know about the sewers?"

Verna nods to Telamon's discoveries concerning the staff; even the lack of desired results is informative. She then looks to Dolan, inhales a long breath, holds it a moment, then exhales it before her respiration returns to normal. "The circle was originally created by the fae queen Salina, The Endless Winter, to bind the Archfiend Eclavdran to her bidding. The vampire Kol Demontry was also in her service at one time, I believe. Time was not a barrier, nor liner, to her or some of her servants; the circle was built into the very sewers as they were constructed in Alexandria's distant past. With it, he could arrive in the city undetected, and possibly his many minions as well. Yet he was also bound by it and to it. I once attempted to make use of this bond to entrap him, though we only succeeded in delaying him."

"From what I was told, there is some semblance of him that now, or still, dwells in the sewers. A simulacrum, or some other construct with his likeness... and perhaps some fraction of his power. I have yet to encounter it, but I would gladly see it destroyed as with the original."

"It's there." Telamon's voice is like hammered iron. "We found it. Seldan, Lana and I, along with others -- Magpie, and the clerics Simony and Harkashan -- went down to explore the sewers and find the circle. I didn't realize the sewers -themselves- were the circle, which... complicates deactivating it. But the presence of... Sir Seldan called it an echo, of an archfiend, well... it was very tense for a bit. It really didn't like me blocking it off with walls of force, so we opted to leave once Sir Seldan had gotten a good read on it."

Tel looks down at his lap, where the kitten has happily rolled onto his back for bellyrubs. "Scared the shit out of Simony too. She was rattled pretty badly by it."

"You think he knows about what Verna said?" Dolan looks between the two. Somewhere in this, he's sat up, and leans forward intently. "You think this archfiend could use it again, or who else might be using it?" The questions are rapid-fire, intense, and intent. "We need to deal with this circle. I knew it was there, but not that it's the whole fucking sewers. I can try to find out how it's constructed, but Seb's finally coming around," he goes on. "Reckon best if I leave the circle to you and go after this cult, and probably Jal'goroth's totem."

"The Archfiend was destroyed utterly," Verna notes with some certainty... though that firmness fades shortly with an exhaled sigh, "yet his influence lingered. It seems it yet lingers. No more should fear his name or deeds in the present and there should be no legacy of suffering."

She forces off the melancholy of the moment. "It is my hope that it is only a shadow of a threat in his name, but will receive full and undiluted attention in short order." Verna nods to Dolan. "The totem and Jal'goroth remain a priority second only to the portal and the other totems."

Telamon offers Verna a sympathetic look. "Sir Seldan was absolutely certain what's down there is not the true fiend, but just... a shadow of what he was. Going through the motions. He sensed no evil from it, not truly. No better than a golem, I suppose." He tilts his head. "I suppose it's not -impossible- this echo might be able to do more than that, but I'd be surprised."

He looks wryly at Dolan. "When I realized the sheer -scope- of the problem it set me back on my heels. How do you disable something like that without wrecking the city infrastructure?"

"Damn good question," Dolan mutters, leaning back into his chair. "You'd know better'n I, but I can try to find something in the libraries," he offers. "If you'll have a look at the sword, I'll come back for it in a day or two, if that's all right? If it can banish the Red Maw, I'd like to keep it handy."

"I am confident that we can discover the means to disable it without requiring its complete destruction," Verna notes. "Even a small disruption to such a diagram can render it impotent." She then rises from her seat.

"One matter at a time, however. On that note, I must excuse myself and retire to bed. For the first eve in a month it is not empty, and I would spend every spare moment, waking or not, with my wife. I trust you both would understand. Good eve." With that, she turns to make her way to the stairs to ascend them.