Nikolai smiles at Ling and winks. "You are the brightest of highlights, my dear. You know that." When the talk turns serious he nods at Ling's words. "You all be careful as well. I'll lock up in an hour and prepare to meet you there. Happy hunting." The shop was quiet after the young Shadowhunters took their leave, giving Nikolai some time to ponder the meaning behind the meeting. He picks up Balthasar and sets him on top of the counter, rubbing his head. "It must be something to do with this mysterious shadow creature. What do you think, Bal? Me too. Maybe he has some information on this creature. Now that might make this more interesting. Hopefully the kids behave themselves..." He wracked his brain to try and come up with some sort of identity of the creature, but there simply not enough information to go on. After a while, he gives up on the pointless endeavor.
Around 5 o'clock Nikolai began the process of closing down his bookshop, doing a quick tally of what cash he had in the lockbox, and ensuring to get Balthasar some food and fresh water. "I'll be back shortly, Bal. Keep an eye on the place while I'm gone." He takes his coat from the hook near the door and stops, glancing back towards his office. His eyes linger on the door for a few moments before his long stride carries him back to his private room. The steps were so practiced that he didn't even need to think, his fingers found the old key he kept in his pocket and slipped it into the keyhole. A quick turn and he felt the click of the lock give way and he pulled open the drawer to reveal a custom-made, black leather shoulder holster, but it held not a weapon, but rather had two large pouches on either side. He slipped the holster over his shoulders and attached the lower clips to his belt. He checked the contents of the holster with a satisfied nod, then pulled his coat on, wrapped a warm scarf around his neck, and left his store behind, double checking to ensure the door was locked.
He arrived at the restaurant about twenty minutes before the meeting was scheduled and asks for a single table. He orders some hot tea while he waits and reaches beneath his coat to the ancient tarot deck in his holster. He takes a sip of the tea, shuffles the deck, and begins to lay out the cards in a very specific order and fashion. Once completed, he spends several minutes interpreting the cards and whispers low. "Is this outcome of this meeting with Alexi going to be weal or woe?"
Nikolai stares at the two cards looking back at him; the Hermit indicates self reflection or illumination, it can also represent solitude. Perhaps he indicated Nikolai will be receiving some new information from this meeting, but then he flipped over the Tower... Nikolai takes a sip of the hot tea, enjoying the warmth on his suddenly dry throat. On it's own the Tower is indicative of sudden, unexpected change which can be good or bad. These two together was a very interesting combination and could signify so many different outcomes. Was the Tower indicating the illumination from the Hermit was going to be a sudden enlightenment on a subject? Or... his eyes glance around looking for Ling and Caio... was the Tower indicating a need to change the his solitary ways as indicated by the Hermit. 'What are you trying to tell me?' Suddenly he regretted not bring along his scabbard...
He removes his pocket watch and checks the time. 6:50... They would be there any moment. Nikolai carefully gathers his tarot deck into the simple, waterproof containers and then slips them into the various pouches on his shoulder holster. He pours himself some more steaming tea from the small kettle and drinks it perhaps a little too quickly, wincing against the burning on his tongue and throat. 'Calm yourself. You must be composed when the come. You cannot show weakness in front of the wolves.' Nikolai takes a few slow, deep breaths to trigger his calming mechanism and drives away some of the stress he feels. 'That's better. Now, regardless of whatever happens we have been through far, far worse than this.'
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Ling rubs her thumb over the back of her hand. This meeting should be interesting. It is fairly unusual for downworlders to request the presence of the Clave, so something big must be going on. She pulls her leather jacket a little tighter against the cold wind. They must think it's demonic in nature if they want Shadowhunters involved... but then why were the vampires not able to pick up on it when they went to check out the disappearance of their friend? Ling shakes her head, surveys her surroundings one more time and heads inside with Caio. (Perception 12)
She immediately spots Nikolai at one of the tables near the back and grabs a chair next to him. "My favourite warlock, there you are! I saw you consulting your cards from outside, any great reveals?" She adjusts her weapons as she leans back and looks around. (Perception 18) "Seems like we're the first ones here."
Caio isn't paying much attention to Ling and Nikolai's conversation but he turns at mention of vampires, and scowls at Ling's comment about "putting them in their place." He seems to stay in this dour mood through their little shopping excursion, usually electing to find a place to sit inside and playing the part of the boyfriend bored out of his mind. Once they finally enter the meeting place he loses the pout in favor of stoic focus. "What are we thinking? They want help investigating this thing, or they have information about it that they think we want?" If Caio can catch the eye of a waiter, he'll flag them down and order food, not losing his serious tone.
Caio successfully catches the waiter's eye and a young asian man takes their order, before disappearing off into the kitchen. The group are brought some drinks and it is quarter past seven before Julia comes slinking out through a beaded curtain from the back of the restaurant. She greets them with a nod and takes a seat at their table.
Nikolai raises an eyebrow as Julia slinks over to the table. He makes a show of removing his pocket watch and glancing at the time. "You know, Julia, its poor form to request a meeting and then be late to it. Especially after reminding me not to be late." His wry smile shows that he's not all that perturbed by it, but couldn't give up an opportunity to give the woman a little good-nature ribbing.
Ling looks at Caio and a wordless understanding passes between them - something is not right, they can sense it. She gently taps her foot against Nikolai's leg under the table, like she used to do when she was younger and needed him to cover for her in front of her father. Hopefully, he would understand, without alerting Julia. Ling leans back and stretches her arms as if she was completely relaxed. From this position, she can peek into the back of the restaurant, but can't make out anything other than a corridor behind the beaded curtain. She maps the place out in her head: Front entrance, easily visible, big glass windows. Rear/kitchen entrance: most likely to the left, where the kitchen is visible through the inside windows. The right-hand fork of the corridor is unaccounted for: offices maybe? Ling waits for Julia to continue talking to Nickolai while she watches the back and hopes that Caio will keep an eye on the front of the restaurant.
Julia looks agitated for a moment and then calms herself.
"Alexi should be here," she states simply, fiddling with the zip on her jacket absentmindedly. "It's not like him to be late."
Outside the broad glass front of the restaurant, a crow lands on the pavement. It cocks its head and looks inside, marching along the pavement comically. Over the next couple of minutes more crows join it, until ten or more have gathered, all looking inside the restaurant.
The flapping of wings almost disappears behind the noises of the restaurant. Mundanes chatting, their glasses touching, cutlery scraping plates. Nevertheless, Ling turns her head. A single crow lets out a loud caw. A murder of crows… she licks her lips and leans forward, now slightly tense. Her fingers reach for her sensor. “So what did you two want to meet about, and with the Clave nonetheless?” she pushes Julia. Without getting up, she feels for the familiar gadget in the pocket of her jacket and turns it on. “I thought you prefer to sort out your own troubles, even after the tenth Accords?”
As Ling touches her sensor it returns a low buzz that makes the hairs stand up on the back of her neck.
Julia opens her mouth to begin to answer the girl's questions. However, she is interrupted as an out-of-breath and frightened-looking teenager comes stumbling down the street and bursts in the door, sending the crows flying with a cacophony of cawing. The werewolf leaps to her feet.
"They’ve got Alexi!" The boy calls out, then immediately doubles over in a fit of coughing brought on by his long run.
Julia’s face grows grim as she walks over and grabs him by the arm, straightening him to face her.
"What's happened Maxim? Explain. Now."
A moment later the lad has recovered enough to spurt out, "Bunch of faeries nabbed Alexi! They sent some kind of demons to chase me down! I only just made it in here!"
Outside the crows have returned, growing ever more numerous. One begins to peck at the glass experimentally. Then another, then another. Until the street outside is black with squawking crows knocking away with a sound like hail hitting the window. Not a single mundane in the restaurant reacts.
Julia takes an involuntary step backwards.
"We have to go! Now!"
She turns and begins to move towards the beaded curtain.
“The **** is going on.” Caio says under his breath as he stands and grabs the loop of chain attached to his meteor hammer inside his jacket pocket. “Which way?” He asks sternly, already walking towards the door.
Nikolai reacts immediately upon recognizing that the crows really were not acting in a natural manner. He was already in the process of dipping his hand into one of the nearby glasses of water just as the young werewolf burst through the door. He splashes the handful of water onto his chest and it begins to swirl around his body, crystallizing into a breastplate of bitterly cold armor. “Agathys.” He mutters beneath the cacophony of the crows as a cool mist rises from the armor. “Language g, young man.” He tersely rebukes Ciao with a fatherly look. “You heard the lady, move now. I’ll cover your backs.”
Nikolai calmly faces the window as he begins to unbutton his cuffs and rolls up his sleeves to the elbow, revealing the tattoos beneath. ‘Oh, how right you were Tower. Damn it.’
Outside, the frontmost crows begin to dissolve into misty smoke that swirls and coalesces into three leanly muscled, onyx-skinned humanoids cloaked in monstrous raven wings. With eyes like nocturnal predators they peer through the glass with a twisted scowl, before rearing back and slamming their claws into the glass. Their mouths curl and stretch in a piercing wraith-like scream and the glass begins to crack and fracture around where they have driven their claws into it. Behind them ever more land on the ground from nearby, or form out of the swarming crows. Too many.
Julia ducks through the beaded curtain, half dragging Maxim along with her.
"Quickly, this way!" She calls. "I have a way out."
Most of the mundanes are still oblivious to the danger brewing outside; only a few have turned to look at the strange cracks which have started to appear, seemingly out of nowhere, on the big glass front. Ling jumps up and quickly scans the seating area: "There are too many people here, we have to draw the Strix demons away. If the fight breaks out here, they will get slaughtered. Like shooting fish in a barrel to those demons." The involvement of the fey is very bad indeed, but they will have to talk about that later. She whips around to follow Caio, Julia and Maxim to the beaded curtain, hoping that Julia is headed for the back exit. As Ling runs, she readies herself to draw her Jian the second they make it outside.
Before disappearing into the hallway, Ling looks over her shoulder and shouts to Nikolai, half commanding and half pleading: "Be right behind us, come on!" Even though she knows Nikolai can handle himself, she does not like him holding off this ever-growing murder of demons any second longer than absolutely necessary for them all to get away.
"And nobody thought to check on me..." From a booth in the back of the restaurant stands a pale-skinned youth with long chestnut hair. Alaris Forien smirks, a little sarcastically and a little sheepishly, as the heavy black leather trenchcoat they wear gets caught on the corner of the table. "I know, it's so stereotypical as to be wearisome, but what else could I wear to one of our little soirees?"
With a flourish, the coat is put back in good order and the youth walks forward with long, lithe strides to join the others. "So... trouble? Ling texted me but nobody said anything about a Poe reading..."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid,Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions! I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
As Alaris stands the entire glass front wall shatters, sending mundanes screaming and jumping away from the window. The demons surge inside.
Behind the curtain at the back of the restaurant, Julia leads Caio and Maxim to what looks like a wooden storage cupboard under a staircase leading to the upper level. Inside, concrete stairs lead down and away into gloomy tunnels.
OOC - Initiative rolled in discord: 21 Nikolaj 19 Ling 17 Caio 11 Alaris 10 Julia and Maxim 3 Strix
As Ling and the others start to follow Julia, Alaris suddenly pops up from their hidden spot. "Glad you could join us. I'll be right behind you." Before he could say any further the glass suddenly explodes into a shower of broken shards. As the first of the strix demons rushes through the broken portal, Nikolai claps his palms together as a dark energy suddenly begins to lick around the outer edges of his hands and wisps between his fingers. When he pulls them apart the dark energy swirls in each palm and he thrusts his left hand towards the strix as the energy blasts forth and slams into the shoulder of the strix, destroying its shoulder. As the creature continues with a horrible shriek, Nikolai sends the second attack streaking through the area, this one slamming directly into its chest and the demon bursts in a burst of grimy, swirling smoke! "Come beasts!" he shouts in challenge and then immediately rushes towards the beaded doorway to follow Julia and the others.
He rushes around the corner with a grin. "That should get their attention away from the mundanes!"
Nikolai smiles at Ling and winks. "You are the brightest of highlights, my dear. You know that." When the talk turns serious he nods at Ling's words. "You all be careful as well. I'll lock up in an hour and prepare to meet you there. Happy hunting." The shop was quiet after the young Shadowhunters took their leave, giving Nikolai some time to ponder the meaning behind the meeting. He picks up Balthasar and sets him on top of the counter, rubbing his head. "It must be something to do with this mysterious shadow creature. What do you think, Bal? Me too. Maybe he has some information on this creature. Now that might make this more interesting. Hopefully the kids behave themselves..." He wracked his brain to try and come up with some sort of identity of the creature, but there simply not enough information to go on. After a while, he gives up on the pointless endeavor.
Around 5 o'clock Nikolai began the process of closing down his bookshop, doing a quick tally of what cash he had in the lockbox, and ensuring to get Balthasar some food and fresh water. "I'll be back shortly, Bal. Keep an eye on the place while I'm gone." He takes his coat from the hook near the door and stops, glancing back towards his office. His eyes linger on the door for a few moments before his long stride carries him back to his private room. The steps were so practiced that he didn't even need to think, his fingers found the old key he kept in his pocket and slipped it into the keyhole. A quick turn and he felt the click of the lock give way and he pulled open the drawer to reveal a custom-made, black leather shoulder holster, but it held not a weapon, but rather had two large pouches on either side. He slipped the holster over his shoulders and attached the lower clips to his belt. He checked the contents of the holster with a satisfied nod, then pulled his coat on, wrapped a warm scarf around his neck, and left his store behind, double checking to ensure the door was locked.
He arrived at the restaurant about twenty minutes before the meeting was scheduled and asks for a single table. He orders some hot tea while he waits and reaches beneath his coat to the ancient tarot deck in his holster. He takes a sip of the tea, shuffles the deck, and begins to lay out the cards in a very specific order and fashion. Once completed, he spends several minutes interpreting the cards and whispers low. "Is this outcome of this meeting with Alexi going to be weal or woe?"
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
Nikolai draws the Hermit and the Tower.
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
Nikolai stares at the two cards looking back at him; the Hermit indicates self reflection or illumination, it can also represent solitude. Perhaps he indicated Nikolai will be receiving some new information from this meeting, but then he flipped over the Tower... Nikolai takes a sip of the hot tea, enjoying the warmth on his suddenly dry throat. On it's own the Tower is indicative of sudden, unexpected change which can be good or bad. These two together was a very interesting combination and could signify so many different outcomes. Was the Tower indicating the illumination from the Hermit was going to be a sudden enlightenment on a subject? Or... his eyes glance around looking for Ling and Caio... was the Tower indicating a need to change the his solitary ways as indicated by the Hermit. 'What are you trying to tell me?' Suddenly he regretted not bring along his scabbard...
He removes his pocket watch and checks the time. 6:50... They would be there any moment. Nikolai carefully gathers his tarot deck into the simple, waterproof containers and then slips them into the various pouches on his shoulder holster. He pours himself some more steaming tea from the small kettle and drinks it perhaps a little too quickly, wincing against the burning on his tongue and throat. 'Calm yourself. You must be composed when the come. You cannot show weakness in front of the wolves.' Nikolai takes a few slow, deep breaths to trigger his calming mechanism and drives away some of the stress he feels. 'That's better. Now, regardless of whatever happens we have been through far, far worse than this.'
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
Ling rubs her thumb over the back of her hand. This meeting should be interesting. It is fairly unusual for downworlders to request the presence of the Clave, so something big must be going on. She pulls her leather jacket a little tighter against the cold wind. They must think it's demonic in nature if they want Shadowhunters involved... but then why were the vampires not able to pick up on it when they went to check out the disappearance of their friend? Ling shakes her head, surveys her surroundings one more time and heads inside with Caio. (Perception 12)
She immediately spots Nikolai at one of the tables near the back and grabs a chair next to him. "My favourite warlock, there you are! I saw you consulting your cards from outside, any great reveals?" She adjusts her weapons as she leans back and looks around. (Perception 18) "Seems like we're the first ones here."
Caio isn't paying much attention to Ling and Nikolai's conversation but he turns at mention of vampires, and scowls at Ling's comment about "putting them in their place." He seems to stay in this dour mood through their little shopping excursion, usually electing to find a place to sit inside and playing the part of the boyfriend bored out of his mind. Once they finally enter the meeting place he loses the pout in favor of stoic focus. "What are we thinking? They want help investigating this thing, or they have information about it that they think we want?" If Caio can catch the eye of a waiter, he'll flag them down and order food, not losing his serious tone.
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
Caio successfully catches the waiter's eye and a young asian man takes their order, before disappearing off into the kitchen. The group are brought some drinks and it is quarter past seven before Julia comes slinking out through a beaded curtain from the back of the restaurant. She greets them with a nod and takes a seat at their table.
(OOC - Everybody roll insight.)
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
Nikolai raises an eyebrow as Julia slinks over to the table. He makes a show of removing his pocket watch and glancing at the time. "You know, Julia, its poor form to request a meeting and then be late to it. Especially after reminding me not to be late." His wry smile shows that he's not all that perturbed by it, but couldn't give up an opportunity to give the woman a little good-nature ribbing.
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
"You alright? Expecting more company?" Caio glances out the window in the direction she keeps looking.
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
Ling looks at Caio and a wordless understanding passes between them - something is not right, they can sense it. She gently taps her foot against Nikolai's leg under the table, like she used to do when she was younger and needed him to cover for her in front of her father. Hopefully, he would understand, without alerting Julia. Ling leans back and stretches her arms as if she was completely relaxed. From this position, she can peek into the back of the restaurant, but can't make out anything other than a corridor behind the beaded curtain. She maps the place out in her head: Front entrance, easily visible, big glass windows. Rear/kitchen entrance: most likely to the left, where the kitchen is visible through the inside windows. The right-hand fork of the corridor is unaccounted for: offices maybe? Ling waits for Julia to continue talking to Nickolai while she watches the back and hopes that Caio will keep an eye on the front of the restaurant.
Julia looks agitated for a moment and then calms herself.
"Alexi should be here," she states simply, fiddling with the zip on her jacket absentmindedly. "It's not like him to be late."
Outside the broad glass front of the restaurant, a crow lands on the pavement. It cocks its head and looks inside, marching along the pavement comically. Over the next couple of minutes more crows join it, until ten or more have gathered, all looking inside the restaurant.
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
The flapping of wings almost disappears behind the noises of the restaurant. Mundanes chatting, their glasses touching, cutlery scraping plates. Nevertheless, Ling turns her head. A single crow lets out a loud caw. A murder of crows… she licks her lips and leans forward, now slightly tense. Her fingers reach for her sensor. “So what did you two want to meet about, and with the Clave nonetheless?” she pushes Julia. Without getting up, she feels for the familiar gadget in the pocket of her jacket and turns it on. “I thought you prefer to sort out your own troubles, even after the tenth Accords?”
Nikolai leaves Ling to talking with Julie as he carefully watches the crows. “I do not like this.”
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
As Ling touches her sensor it returns a low buzz that makes the hairs stand up on the back of her neck.
Julia opens her mouth to begin to answer the girl's questions. However, she is interrupted as an out-of-breath and frightened-looking teenager comes stumbling down the street and bursts in the door, sending the crows flying with a cacophony of cawing. The werewolf leaps to her feet.
"They’ve got Alexi!" The boy calls out, then immediately doubles over in a fit of coughing brought on by his long run.
Julia’s face grows grim as she walks over and grabs him by the arm, straightening him to face her.
"What's happened Maxim? Explain. Now."
A moment later the lad has recovered enough to spurt out, "Bunch of faeries nabbed Alexi! They sent some kind of demons to chase me down! I only just made it in here!"
Outside the crows have returned, growing ever more numerous. One begins to peck at the glass experimentally. Then another, then another. Until the street outside is black with squawking crows knocking away with a sound like hail hitting the window. Not a single mundane in the restaurant reacts.
Julia takes an involuntary step backwards.
"We have to go! Now!"
She turns and begins to move towards the beaded curtain.
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
“The **** is going on.” Caio says under his breath as he stands and grabs the loop of chain attached to his meteor hammer inside his jacket pocket. “Which way?” He asks sternly, already walking towards the door.
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
Nikolai reacts immediately upon recognizing that the crows really were not acting in a natural manner. He was already in the process of dipping his hand into one of the nearby glasses of water just as the young werewolf burst through the door. He splashes the handful of water onto his chest and it begins to swirl around his body, crystallizing into a breastplate of bitterly cold armor. “Agathys.” He mutters beneath the cacophony of the crows as a cool mist rises from the armor. “Language g, young man.” He tersely rebukes Ciao with a fatherly look. “You heard the lady, move now. I’ll cover your backs.”
Nikolai calmly faces the window as he begins to unbutton his cuffs and rolls up his sleeves to the elbow, revealing the tattoos beneath. ‘Oh, how right you were Tower. Damn it.’
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
Outside, the frontmost crows begin to dissolve into misty smoke that swirls and coalesces into three leanly muscled, onyx-skinned humanoids cloaked in monstrous raven wings. With eyes like nocturnal predators they peer through the glass with a twisted scowl, before rearing back and slamming their claws into the glass. Their mouths curl and stretch in a piercing wraith-like scream and the glass begins to crack and fracture around where they have driven their claws into it. Behind them ever more land on the ground from nearby, or form out of the swarming crows. Too many.
Julia ducks through the beaded curtain, half dragging Maxim along with her.
"Quickly, this way!" She calls. "I have a way out."
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
Most of the mundanes are still oblivious to the danger brewing outside; only a few have turned to look at the strange cracks which have started to appear, seemingly out of nowhere, on the big glass front. Ling jumps up and quickly scans the seating area: "There are too many people here, we have to draw the Strix demons away. If the fight breaks out here, they will get slaughtered. Like shooting fish in a barrel to those demons." The involvement of the fey is very bad indeed, but they will have to talk about that later. She whips around to follow Caio, Julia and Maxim to the beaded curtain, hoping that Julia is headed for the back exit. As Ling runs, she readies herself to draw her Jian the second they make it outside.
Before disappearing into the hallway, Ling looks over her shoulder and shouts to Nikolai, half commanding and half pleading: "Be right behind us, come on!" Even though she knows Nikolai can handle himself, she does not like him holding off this ever-growing murder of demons any second longer than absolutely necessary for them all to get away.
"And nobody thought to check on me..." From a booth in the back of the restaurant stands a pale-skinned youth with long chestnut hair. Alaris Forien smirks, a little sarcastically and a little sheepishly, as the heavy black leather trenchcoat they wear gets caught on the corner of the table. "I know, it's so stereotypical as to be wearisome, but what else could I wear to one of our little soirees?"
With a flourish, the coat is put back in good order and the youth walks forward with long, lithe strides to join the others. "So... trouble? Ling texted me but nobody said anything about a Poe reading..."
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid, Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck
Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions!
I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
As Alaris stands the entire glass front wall shatters, sending mundanes screaming and jumping away from the window. The demons surge inside.
Behind the curtain at the back of the restaurant, Julia leads Caio and Maxim to what looks like a wooden storage cupboard under a staircase leading to the upper level. Inside, concrete stairs lead down and away into gloomy tunnels.
OOC - Initiative rolled in discord:
21 Nikolaj
19 Ling
17 Caio
11 Alaris
10 Julia and Maxim
3 Strix
Nikolaj's action.
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
As Ling and the others start to follow Julia, Alaris suddenly pops up from their hidden spot. "Glad you could join us. I'll be right behind you." Before he could say any further the glass suddenly explodes into a shower of broken shards. As the first of the strix demons rushes through the broken portal, Nikolai claps his palms together as a dark energy suddenly begins to lick around the outer edges of his hands and wisps between his fingers. When he pulls them apart the dark energy swirls in each palm and he thrusts his left hand towards the strix as the energy blasts forth and slams into the shoulder of the strix, destroying its shoulder. As the creature continues with a horrible shriek, Nikolai sends the second attack streaking through the area, this one slamming directly into its chest and the demon bursts in a burst of grimy, swirling smoke! "Come beasts!" he shouts in challenge and then immediately rushes towards the beaded doorway to follow Julia and the others.
He rushes around the corner with a grin. "That should get their attention away from the mundanes!"
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden