“There is nothing you can give me that will repay the pain we have suffered. You cannot buy back the time stolen from us with gold or baubles, only by taking your life will we gain back but a portion of all that was robbed of us!”
This exclamation snaps Linnix out of her own vindictive state. To her shock, the orc crumbles before her as her dagger slides out of it, coated with its blood. Her hand trembles. This isn't right. What was she doing?

She glances over, intending to look at Aelistae, but the auctioner is seen first. Moment of realization forgotten, Linnix's eyes go flat. You will die! she silently screams, or was it aloud? Linnix isn't sure, and she doesn't care. That man had wrecked her evening, just as the other man had ruined her night. They both will pay with blood and death! Linnix steps to the side of the man, lashing out with her dagger.

Aelistae’s eyes watered in pain. The keen edge of the slaver’s sword had seared into her back and had left an inky residue behind that had burned further into her flesh. But the pain she felt was more for the young woman she had seen brutally cut down before her. She had helped them without any thought for her own welfare, and to see her still form wounded Aelistae more deeply than the auctioneer’s blade.

‘Don’t die,’ she willed, ‘I will save you. Just don’t slip away…not yet.’
The drow priestess edged back out of reach of the slaver’s weapon, and fell into the simple words and gestures of a spell.

OOC: Aelistae is taking a 5’ step back our of range of the auctioneer’s falchion and is casting cure moderate wounds on herself. She’ll cast it by substituting out cat’s grace from her spell list.

The auction house grew suddenly quiet with the quelled patrons and would-be-buyers. There were still two active threats in the room, but the odds had turned to favor those held against their will significantly. Arcsheva had paid a heavy price in trying to aid the strangers around her, and was now unconscious at the feet of the faceless mage she had tried to subdue. That same enemy now turned his sights on the already wounded Nash, the closest threat to the dangerous caster.

With a quick incantation, he set forth another pair of magical bolts towards the fearsome shrouded warrior, the darts of force biting nto his shoulder, but if it harmed Nash, he did not show it, his teeth were in a constant grit, as he stalked towards the caster.

Aelistae stepped back as Linnix circled the Auctioneer for a strike. While Aelistae’s blessings from above were granted with healing energies, (Aelistae 23/30) Linnix would once more be gifted with extreme fortune as her blade flashed across the stunned Calims***e’s throat, drawing a deep gash as he stared wide-eyed as his assailant. (Another critical!) (-10) His left hand came up to his throat which was steadily bleeding between his fingers as he lunged at Linnix in anger. (under effects of ‘wounding’) The falchion whirled over Linnix’s head, a clear miss as the auctioneer was more focused on his own ebbing liquid of life.

Nash approached the caster, and gave a swipe of his sword, though the caster narrowly avoided the bloody blade. Surely this battle would be over soon.

The battle was over, or very nearly so. The Calims***e swung futilely at Linnix after the young woman opened an ugly wound across his throat, and Nash had penned the mage into a corner. Aelistae, for her part, closed in to swing her blade at the Calims***e’s back while his attentions were diverted elsewhere.

[5’ move to provide flanking bonus for herself and Linnix, and then a melee attack]

Immediately after the auctioneer fell, Aelistae focused on the woman she had seen cut down a few moments before.

“Still alive,” she whispered thankfully, after she pressed her ear to her chest and noted that her heart was still beating. “Come back to us,” she added, as she pleaded with her Goddess to heal the human’s wounds.

[Casting Cure Moderate Wounds. Aelistae will swap out Silence to cast it.]

Black flames still wreathed around Nash like a shroud as Aelistae finished her work. She was barely sure he was still Nash – or at least the same man that she had known. Bloody gore dripped from his two-bladed weapon, and his face was still contorted with maniacal glee. But, even still, Aelistae was not ready to give up on him.

“Nash, fight it. There is no one left to kill. And we need you. ...I need you.”

Aelistae was feeling somewhat refreshed, and Linnix was in the one as far as combat was concerned. With the Auctioneer in a weakened state, both women advanced with the grim task of dispatching him evident in their steely gaze. Dagger flashed, and Court-blade arced, and both blades struck true, ending the Calims***e’s fell lifestyle in a gargled scream of blood and spit. As the large man fell, his body hitting the wood floor revealed Nash’s form, raising his arms to strike at the wounded mage. The mage defensively cast a spell, an aura of shimmering force appearing around him, hoping to stave off Nash’s blows. No such luck for the faceless creature, as four times the double bladed weapon came in vicious spins and arcs slashing his legs, his torso, and finally, with a reverse spin, the longer blade came back around and completely severed the head of the faceless mage clear from his shoulders, which lolled a bit before coming to a stop some five feet away on the floor.

Aelistae rushed over to Sheeva, checking for life, and finding it, she prayed once more for more healing. Seeing fit to grant her request, Ellistrae poured the healing power through her vassel, and Arcsheva’s eyes shot open as breath found her once more in a gasp of renewed life. (Arcsheva 5/22)

Aelistae turned to Nash, who without any actual enemies around to fight turned on Aelistae and Sheva before him. The female voice reverberated from his lips once more towards those gathered. “You dark one. Our champion has done well by you it seems.” Nashs eyes turned to Linnix and bore into her. “But you, you we will keep our eye on, you carry a familiar fire, and it pleases us.”

From somewhere beyond the black curtain came shouting and the all of the town guard. “By Tyr’s divine grace drop your weapons, we have you surrounded! You’ve got to the count of ten to come out and surrender or we’ll be coming in. Another voice quickly chimed in beside the first. “Careful captain, there is an evil aura most foul in there, the likes of which could only be… oh no… It’s the…” The voice faded to a whisper, and the Captain could be heard forming his men into ranks ready to storm the room.

Nash turned from the curtain to the women, and the female voice laughed heartily. “It would seem now would be the time to make our exit, fear not though, we will keep a watchful eye on you.” With that the black flames around Nash left him, and formed a hole in the side wall, but what lay beyond the portal was not another room or hallway, but a barren flame scorched wasteland with red skies split with black lightning and all manner of fell shadows moving in the background. As Nash moved to step through it, he turned his head, his eyes no longer filled with hellfire, but returned to those piercing emerald orbs which had captivated Aelistae from their first encounter. However, this time instead of being filled with confidence and strength, they were filled with a sense of sadness, and as his lips moved as the portal enveloped him, one could swear he was asking for help.

Sounds. Dim light from behind closed eyelids. Smells of blood and gore. A deep breath, with gratitude for the ability to do so. And from that effort there was PAIN !! The deep breath was cut short by the grunt the pain elicited from Sheva's gasping mouth. Biting her lower lip until the wave of pain subsided somewhat, and without opening her eyes -- yet -- she cried weakly, "Aaaah, Kitsaa! Where are you, my friend? We're not done with each other. No, not yet."

And other voices registered now:
"... and we need you. ...I need you ...”
"... drop your weapons, we have you surrounded! ..."
“... careful captain, there is an evil aura most foul in there ..."
" we will keep a watchful eye on you.”
With effort, Sheva opened her eyes to see a dark figure above her, kneeling over her, but not looking at her. The female dark elf with the bright hair was looking beyond her, at something else ... Sheva turned her own head in time to see a male figure step through a dark-rimmed portal of some kind to what seemed to be a place of fearsome waste and dread. His face seemed to show -- resignation? pleading?. Sheva wasn't sure. But she remembered a fleeting glimpse of him wreathed in dark fire and fighting like a dervish, or a berserker, with deadly accuracy and seeming to revel in the combat.

She was brought back to herself by the arrival of Kitsaa. Having skirted what pools of blood and entrails he could, and raising his body to clear what he could not avoid, he finally came to his companion and walked around her head before settling across her neck under her chin. He briefly nosed the wound on her chest and, deeming the smell of it distasteful, rested his head on her shoulder. This brief attention to her wound by her companion brought the burning sensation of the wound to the forefront of Sheva's attention for a moment or two. Beyond the mere pain of a blade-wound, healing or not, there was a burning sensation she knew to be acidic in nature, but not astrngent. A wicked weapon indeed was that which the sword-wielder used!

Her brief self-appraisal over, and feeling the soothing contact of her familiar at her neck, Sheva tried weakly to lever or prop herself up into a sitting position, at least. That would help determine if she would need help to stand. Her face contorted at the increase in pain caused by the effort and she hissed Time was not now for the questions she wanted to ask. Her arrival here, although inopportune for her, may hopefully have aided the others in some small way. She looked at the woman kneeling over her and quietly said, "I know where I wanted to be, and that is not here. But I am here, not knowing where here is. Because of that, I have neither the knowledge nor the ability to get where I was headed. I defer to your knowledge of our situation and location and will do as you ask and as I am able. I have questions. Oh! I have questions! As do you, I would think. But now is not the time for them, eh?"

She glanced at her feet. Almost as an after-thought, and without looking up, she said in an almost-whisper, " I'm Sheva. Arcsheva Redmane."

Aelistae had always considered herself fortunate for having left Menzoberranzen before being inducted into Arach Tinilith – the anvil upon which Lolth’s priestesses were forged. She knew that the place would have killed her, or that even if she had survived she would have emerged so broken and twisted that she may as well have died. Yet as that portal closed around Nash, until nothing remained of him but the memory, Aelistae wondered whether fate had decreed that it was time for her past to finally catch up with her.

“That voice…” she murmured, reflecting on the sickly sweet tone in which Nash had spoken and the Abyssal scene that she had glimpsed through the portal. “Jallil dormagyn udossa. Dormagyn ukta.”*

Aelistae slumped against a wall, her sword almost slipping from her hand as she did so. “We should surrender to them. I have no wish to shed more blood.”

Her eyes fell first to Linnix, Tessa, and then the woman who had joined them. “My name is Aelistae D’Vrann. I’m sorry for dragging you into this Sheva. But whoever you are, and wherever you came from, I’m glad you fought with us.”

Aelistae wiped the blood from her sword and sheathed it. “We’re coming out! We were abducted by slavers. And we just fought to obtain our freedom,” she shouted to those outside the small room.

She set her sword aside, and left to see what justice the Tyrrans would provide.

OOC: *“Lady save us. Save him.”

Success. Linnix watches the auctioner's life drain away with a cruel, smug smile. For just a thin moment, the blade in her hand feels heavier, and her sense of touch deceives her into feeling a fluted shaft. Linnix looks down in surprise, only to find that it is indeed her dagger in hand.

“But you, you we will keep our eye on, you carry a familiar fire, and it pleases us.”
Linnix looks up sharply with shock at being addressed, but even moreso by the fact that it is by this abyssal entity. What?! She thinks incredulously, You can't be serious, a 'familiar fire'?! We are nothing alike! Yet even as she thinks this, she hesitates. Was she not, just moments before, filled with malice and cruelty? The brief realization she had before returns tenfold, and the dagger falls out of Linnix's hands as the now restored Nash vanishes.

"I am nothing like whatever that was." Linnix says aloud and defiantly, trying to reassure herself.

Her eyes, however, and also her dress in its own way, show her uncertainty. Linnix forces the thought from her mind, a task made easier by the fact that there is another person to tend to.

"I'm Sheva. Arcsheva Redmane."
Linnix smiles warmly, "My name is Linnix. Linnix Wolfette ap Bye. Do you think you can stand? Are you alright?"

Linnix then looks toward Tessa in the corner as Aelistae shouts outside, "How about you, Tessa? How are you faring?"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't watching out for you, but how are you doing Aelistae?" Linnix finally asks, checking on everyone in the current group.

As Linnix talks, she carefully retrieves her dagger, and wiping it on a stray corpse's clothing she locates the sheath for it puts it away.

“My name is Aelistae D’Vrann. I’m sorry for dragging you into this Sheva. But whoever you are, and wherever you came from, I’m glad you fought with us.”
Sheva looked up at the wman and smiled weakly, nodding, "I could do naught else. To be honest, I felt that if I didn't chose a side, I could or would be killed by one side -- or both sides. I hope I made the correct choice. I usually do ... usually ..." She trailed off, pensive, as she watched the dark one wipe blood from her sword, sheathe it, and set it to one side.

“We’re coming out! We were abducted by slavers. And we just fought to obtain our freedom,” the dark one shouted to someone Sheva couldn't see.

Sheva plucked at the gash in her loose-fitting leather shirt and the linen blouse she wore underneath it, absent-mindedly noting the gap in both materials. "Oh. New blouse and shirt? Or needle and thread? I go through more blouses ..." She was started out of her reverie by words of yet another voice, as if speaking to her:

"I am nothing like whatever that was." , said with forceful intensity. As Sheva looked toward this new voice, the speaker, a woman actually smiled at Sheva as she asked," "My name is Linnix. Linnix Wolfette ap Bye. Do you think you can stand? Are you alright?"
Sheva looked upward and smiled in return, "Stand? Yes, but I may need a little help." She grunted and hissed again as the pain of movement, even with aid, reminded her that she was not up to extended or strenuous efforts -- yet. Once standing, she moved toward her backpack and staff, slowly and stiffly. "I'll just gather my things as best I can while you check on your friends." But by this time the woman who had helped her stand was already doing just that. She then growled with renewed pain and dizziness as she instinctively bent at the waist to pick up her backpack. Reaching her staff, she bent at the knees, keeping her upper torso rigid and stiffly upright. She picked up only one end of the finely carved quarterstaff, using just her fingers. In this fashion, she then dragged the staff with her until she stood next to the dark elf warrior, where she dropped the staff and waited as well ...

Artanis leaned back in her chair, slowly sipping her drink and watched as Talus spoke with the Innkeeper. She couldn’t help but wonder where he had been traveling from, and where he’d been headed before he happened upon the fire, and ultimately decided he would like to join their group.

Her thoughts were interrupted, and her eyes fell upon Xaris’ face. She smiled softly as he spoke, “I know how it feels, being the only one left. I’ve been through the same situation. You did good today saving that child. If you stayed back, you would of died too….”
Her voice laced with sadness, she responded, “Thank you, Xaris. I knew I had to get the child out of there, but I only wish I had been able to help Kas and Loriel. May their souls now be at peace.” With that she lifted her mug in salute to the fallen, and took a slow drink.

Movement off to the side caught her attention and she shifted her eyes from Xaris to see what it had been. She saw Talus making his way to what she could only assume was his room for the night. He gestured to let her know he was going to crash for the night, and she nodded in his direction. She considered, and dismissed, the idea of speaking with him now. It was nothing so important it could not wait for morning. They were all exhausted and certainly needed their rest.

That thought in mind, Artanis finished off the rest of her drink and stood. She clapped Xaris on his shoulder. “Goodnight my friend. I’ll see you in the morning, and when the others are all up, we will tell them the sad news together.”
She didn’t think that either of them should have to explain what had happened alone. She hoped they could be a source of support for each other when it was time to convey the happenings of the night before. And so, with a saddened sigh, she made her way to her room. She was asleep before her head was fully settled on the pillow.

“We’re coming out! We were abducted by slavers. And we just fought to obtain our freedom,”

Tessa at Aelistae’s words was still a sobbing mess. She was terrified, and though now had her freedom, was finding it hard to convince her body to do anything more than simply cower in the corner. The other’s were helping Sheva to stand, and preparing for the incoming town guard, Linnix choosing to sheathe her weapon, while Sheva and Aelistae dropped all aggressive natures and items altogether.

In a few seconds, the footfalls of a score of men echoed outside the curtain, and it was cast aside as a small contingent of town-guard, headed by a man in chainmail bearing the Green Gryphon emblem of Tethyr’s current Coat-of-arms, while aside him stood a woman in a gleaming white breastplate, with Tyr’s symbol emblazoned in front of a Silver Chalice. The woman radiated a positive aura, a paladin of the holy order no doubt. As the armed men and women rushed into the room, they nearly tripped over the body of the woman who Nash had felled and impaled in the doorway. Many jaws dropped open at the sight of the slaughter within the room. Tessa, finally found the strength to stand, and rushed forward in a panicked state, throwing herself at the captain. “Oh Captain Gregory! It was awful, these men, they were trying to buy us, then then, this man showed up, and and he tried to save us, but something went horribly wrong! H-he, I don’t think he was human! “

The Captain tried to calm the stammering girl down, while the paladin walked around the room, mindful of trying to avoid as much of the blood stained floor as she could. She took in every detail, and when her eyes settled on Aelistae, Sheva, and Linnix, it was as though she were piercing their very soul with her gaze. Seemingly satisfied for the moment, she turned to regard the destruction wrought. “You four seem to have done remarkably well given your situation. The paladin walked around the room some more, before turning to the Captain. Seems these slavers finally bit off more than they could chew.” She turned quickly on the women gathered however her face stern and serious. “But what of the Cardinal, I know he was in here, I could sense his aura, that foul reeking stench of evil that has haunted my senses ever since I took up the hunt to bring him down. That girl’s own words verify it, Where is he, I do not sense him any longer. Speak up, tell me what you know.”

(Allowing for conversation back posting but continuing in interest of moving game along)

The Paladin quirked an eyebrow at the women’s tale. “Very well, perhaps you were simply fortunate, for the Cardinal’s ways are chaotic at best. Consorting with rogue vigilante’s and those who have known demonic accomplices is a serious offence, should you ever encounter him again, you would be wise to alert the nearest authorities and let them handle it from there. The paladin approached Sheva and laid a gentle hand upon her shoulder. Sheva could feel the healing energies wash through her as her body began to mend. (Sheva 22/22) She then turned and with a prayer to Tyr cast a pair of Cure Light Wound spells on Aelistae and Linnix. (Aelistae 28/30) (Linnix 25/30)

The Captain approached, and addressed those gathered. “Tessa can give me the details, of the situation, but unless there’s something important you’d like to add to the account, I’d reckon you’d rather go get cleaned up and get some rest. It’s really late. First some drunkards relieving themselves on public property, then that fire, and now slavers. At least everything seems to be finally coming to a resolution. Go on, Get some rest.”

(at the point in which the women turn to leave)

“Oh, and before I forget, I don’t suppose any of you are registered with the Bounty Hunters Guild are you? No, well, you might want to look into it if you and your friends are going to make a habit of turning in felons like Jared Black and killing slavers. The Captain walked over to the Auctioneer, and plucked a hefty coin purse from his side, tossing it to Aelistae. “That should more than cover the civilian’s bounty price, and your troubles. Go on, get some rest, and tell your friend Kas “Mr. Black” are she refers him is doing just fine enjoying the prison hospitality.”

With that he turned to his men and ordered them to begin processing the scene.

(If and when the ladies check the coin purse, the contents are as follows:
4 x bloodstones @ 10gp each
2 x emeralds @ 200gp each
1 x diamond wedding ring @ 1000gp
100gp
20pp)

(Should you return to the Gryphon, you’ll arrive roughly the same time as the others, shortly thereafter where they have all retired for the night and Angus is closing up. Just barely managing to make it in, he takes a look at your blood covered clothes and sighs, giving a “I don’t even wanna know” expression before waving you up to your rooms. Sheva can share a room with the others, or stay in the guest servants quarters where currently a single man sleeps in one of the three beds)

Once inside the room, Talus closed the door and fell against the wooden barrier, glad that it would keep out the smell of pipe weed. "What did I get myself into?" he muttered to himself as he pushed away from the door. " '...might I travel with you?' What in Nine Hells are you thinking man?"

He approached the first of the three beds and slung his backpack from his shoulders, dropping it onto the middle of the mattress and emptying its contents as he continued his berating.

You're putting yourself in a position where you'll have to use your fell powers just to survive. And you don't know that your mind won't shatter under the allure...
"You're right; I don't know. I have no idea at all, but I'm tired of constantly having refuse human companionship. Friends. Is that too much to ask for? I am a social creature and life in solitude is no life at all." He looked down at the items he had pulled from his pack and chuckled at how even his equipment seemed to be against him. Talus had purchased his enchanted water skin and ration pouch specifically so that he could rely on their magics to let him go weeks, or months, without having to stop at a city.

Is spending time around people worth the risk of losing control and hurting the friends that you so desire to have? You saw another example today of what power does to people. Just leave. Get up early and duck out before your new friends awake. You know your family line doesn't have the restraint to...
"So I'll learn. I'll practice and I'll learn restraint. And my new friends will help me." Talus found a piece of reasoning that let him shut away his pessimistic thoughts and he clung to it, forcing all his self-doubt out of the room to suffocate in the lingering pipe weed smoke of the main hall. He packed away his water skin and rations, slid his pack to the floor, and fell asleep with a grin on his face and a singular thought running through his mind.

I'm making friends.

Aelistae stood slumped against the wood-paneled wall. Her long hair fell across her face like a silvery veil that masked her features. Which was just as well, because the doubt and confusion written over them was not something she wished to share.

“But what of the Cardinal, I know he was in here, I could sense his aura, that foul reeking stench of evil that has haunted my senses ever since I took up the hunt to bring him down,” an armoured woman bellowed at her and her companions, “That girl’s own words verify it. Where is he, I do not sense him any longer. Speak up, tell me what you know!”

It was not an unreasonable request. All the instruction Aelistae had ever received told her that there were no grey areas, no moments of doubt that should be entertained when it came to fighting the demonic servants of Lolth. Everything they said or did were designed to ensnare the souls of mortals like her. But, despite it all, Aelistae could not believe the love she had shared with Nash was a lie. Or that the time they had spent together was an affront to her Goddess.

“We…we don’t know anything,” she lied, “The man helped to free us and then disappeared before the fighting was over.”

The Tyrran raised her eyebrow in response, as if suspecting what Aelistae had told her was an untruth. But as she moved among them, and helped to heal some of their wounds, she did not comment upon it further.

Aelistae brushed her hair away from her eyes, and revealed a face now set with as much resolve as the indecision she had earlier felt. She walked over and knelt by the cloak, which belonged to her, but which Nash had worn when he had first intruded upon the slave auction.

‘The Cardinal,’ she mouthed silently as she ran her fingers over the fabric of the garment. ‘At least I have a name for what is afflicting you, my love. I will find you, and I will free you from it.’
The man Tessa had addressed as Captain Gregory mentioned that they ought to consider joining something called the Bounty Hunters’ Guild and gave her a purse by way of reward, but Aelistae’s mind was elsewhere. As they left, she withdrew one of the small gems that lay in the small leather bag, and pressed it into the hands of Tessa.

“I’m sorry for all this. I promised when I went to the inn that I posed no threat, but because of who and what I am you were still placed in danger. I hope you can forgive me.”

[OOC: Before going to bed Aelistae will heal Linnix and herself back up to maximum hp, with cure light wounds spells]

“But what of the Cardinal, I know he was in here, I could sense his aura, that foul reeking stench of evil that has haunted my senses ever since I took up the hunt to bring him down. That girl’s own words verify it, Where is he, I do not sense him any longer. Speak up, tell me what you know.”
“We…we don’t know anything,” she lied, “The man helped to free us and then disappeared before the fighting was over.”
Sheva had been about to open her own mouth and mention a gate and a man stepping through it. It was, in truth all she knew for certain, other than the fact that he had helped them. But at the dark woman's -- Aelistae's -- response to the breast-plated woman's demands, she smiled slowly and merely looked down at her slashed blouses and plucked at them in silence. But quite a few words and snatches of phrases were noteworthy enough for her to remember and ask about later: Cardinal and evil and hunt him down? Demonic accomplices? Slavers? Bounty Hunter's Guild? Tessa? And her new companions were all female. The only male she saw helping them had stepped out when it was all over.

By the heavens, she had questions, and lots of them!

Then the breast-plated woman laid her hands on Sheva, spreading a warmth and soothing throughout the fire-haired woman's body. Sheva took a deep breath and look the woman in the eyes in unabashed relief, mouthing "Thank you" in genuine, heartfelt gratitude before returning her eyes to the floor.

She fervently hoped that these women were not currently on a quest and that she would have time enough to find out where she was -- is? -- and make a few purchases. And time enough to ask a sackful of questions. As the female paladin dismissed the women to return to - whereever they were going -- new curious phrases caught Sheva's attention. Felons? Friend Kas? Jarod Black? A fire? A money pouch was tossed to the woman standing next to her, evidently some sort of reward, almost causing Sheva's head to snap up in surprise. Almost. And yet these women didn't seem to be, or know about, bounty hunting. Still keeping her head down, she atempted to remember all the "references" she had heard and the new ones she was hearing. She mouthed all of the key phrases silently to herself while chin-to-chest, setting them in memory as quickly as possible.

Thank goodness Kitsaa had learned to stay in the cowl of her cloak when strangers were near, staying out of sight and unmoving, at least for the most part. She didn't really want to break her silence by explaining the gecko. She didn't know how mages were viewed here. Another question.

Okay, so they were released. The only thing to do, for now, was to follow these women, now companions-in-combat, to where they were evidently staying. Arriving there as quickly as they did was yet another surprise for Sheva. She thought she had arrived in some lone abode or building outside a populated area. Yet all of the past few minutes -- minutes? minutes! -- had evidently happened in the middle of a town with a relatively fast-acting constabulary.

On their late-night jaunt to the inn, Sheva ran the names and words she had heard through her mind again, while gently and affectionately stroking Kitsaa, who was riding her chest, his nose at her ear. She spoke, fatigue showing in her slow deliberate phrasing, "I'm sure the innkeeper isn't at the desk at all hours. Would you have a spare bed in a room already rented? If not, I imagine the innkeeper has a room with quick access to a spare bed I could use until morning. Then the official renting transaction thing can be done. I do hope we'll have time for at least a short chat tomorrow. I have oh, so many questions, but the shock of the past few sudden and frantic minutes is setting in on me. Weary to the bones, I am, as must you all be!."

"Very well, perhaps you were simply fortunate, for the Cardinal’s ways are chaotic at best. Consorting with rogue vigilante’s and those who have known demonic accomplices is a serious offence, should you ever encounter him again, you would be wise to alert the nearest authorities and let them handle it from there."
Linnix too raises an eyebrow. So that was the Cardinal. It didn't make much sense to her, because from what she thought she saw, it seemed that the man preferred vengence by death rather than the torture as was seen earlier with the crucified bandit. But then again, The thought unwittingly comes, Didn't I want to inflict more pain than death? Perhaps that's what he felt too...
Linnix shudders, and once again pushes the thought out of her mind. Quickly, she follows Aelistae and the others as they head back to the inn. Yes, it definitely didn't matter. OK, maybe she needed to learn to control her anger soon, but that doesn't make her any more like... Ugh, I can't stop thinking about it! Linnix irritably thinks. Fortunately, before she can continue her spiraling train of thought, the newcomer speaks again.

"I'm sure the innkeeper isn't at the desk at all hours. Would you have a spare bed in a room already rented? If not, I imagine the innkeeper has a room with quick access to a spare bed I could use until morning. Then the official renting transaction thing can be done. I do hope we'll have time for at least a short chat tomorrow. I have oh, so many questions, but the shock of the past few sudden and frantic minutes is setting in on me. Weary to the bones, I am, as must you all be!"
Linnix looks back towards Sheva, "Well, I can't say for sure, but I think you could probably sleep in our room. I could even sleep on the floor if that helps."

I doubt I'll get much sleep tonight anyway. Linnix adds mentally.