At this stark warning, Shiva tightens her hold on Mistress, "Yes, Mistress. But how am I going to find out about my heritage? She said that I'm descended from a marilith."

It seems that those who have been taken vanished near the southern edge of the city. However, nobody seems to have seen Boris all day.

Mistress stops in front of a heavy old door and sets Shiva down.

"Tell me, pet," Mistress instructs. "Why is it that you want to know?"

A flash of pouty displeasure crosses Shiva's face as she is put down, which she drops just as quickly to answer the question posed to her. 

"Because I know so little of my own lineage. All of my blood relatives are dead, and it seems that I'm even different from other tieflings. And I have these abilities, and there's something connected to them...I have alot of questions and no answers." Her voice falters as she finishes speaking, having put into the air what she would normally keep to herself.

    Her limited overworld experiences leaves the dwarf a bit confused at Nikolai's comments, and that something as such would be 'noble'. She looks back down the street as the tiefling marches off, then to Nikolai again.  "Hmmm..." After all she'd had been taught: Every cog has it's purpose in the works, and it is only as strong as the weakest part.  She doesn't press the matter and hurries to catch up.

     Inside, Astrid prepares for her own ritual. She take a spot in the corner of the room on the floor and dumps out her own devices for the ritual. She clears her throat as the incense pricks at her senses then begins her incantations. She asks her question: "Brightmantle, Are my new friends in danger?" Her hands pass over the enchanted clock parts and an azure mist materializes around them. The swirling mist with the parts rise into the air. The various gears and springs are spinning and turning this-way-and-that trying to find the right connections among them. The cleric's eyes are on the floating tokens, but her focus is through them. Nearing the end her look of concern softens having received her answer. 

    "Yes..," she breathes a sigh of relief. "It looks like our impatient friends are going to okay."

Mistress's stern look softens.

"We will speak of this again... but in the morning," and with that she throws open the doors, flips Shiva over her shoulder and strides inside...

Quote from stormchaser6 >>

It seems that those who have been taken vanished near the southern edge of the city. However, nobody seems to have seen Boris all day.

Alaris meanders towards the southern edge of Bednik, where the gathered folks said the ambushes were occurring. A scrawny grey dog digs in the dirt, and begins to edge away as the aasimar approaches. "Shh shh... here little one..." Alaris calls, holding out a hunk of dried meat. The dog pauses, looking over its shoulder. Alaris tosses the snack towards the dog, who approaches, sniffs twice and wolfs down the scrap. Alaris chirrups sidemouth, and waves another hunk of meat. The dog sidles a little closer and cocks its head. Alaris murmurs a few words in Celestial [casting Speak with Animals ], and then sits down and asks the dog if it saw an attack or anything out of the ordinary in the last little while.

Caio crosses his arms at Clarissa's request. "I'd hardly call it plenty, but fine. I'll play. What do you want to know?"

Clarissa's eyes harden and her nails run lightly across the wooden tabletop as she arches her fingers.

"Why don't we start with everything you know about my brother's whereabouts over the last two days, hm?" She asks, tilting her head coyly to the side.

The dog wolfs the jerky down with gusto. She thanks Alaris and explains that big foul smelling men take the city men away on their wagon.

Quote from stormchaser6 >>

The dog wolfs the jerky down with gusto. She thanks Alaris and explains that big foul smelling men take the city men away on their wagon.

"Show me where, sweeting."

Nikolai nods. "Good. It is nice to have someone else here that can have a level head when needed." He stands and walks over to the bar to obtain some drinks for the pair of them and returns with two mugs. "We have done our part, let us relax for a time. Have a drink, or many, with me. I promise we are not always to dysfunctional. It is just a trying time for our little band. I would hear of you if you are willing to share."

The dog leads Alaris to the slums on the edge of town, where ramshackle hovels meet streets of churned mud, giving way to miles of farmland and the next village south. Alaris spends several minutes following their own boots in circles, before they realise what a hopeless task tracking anything in these conditions is.

Alaris kicks a rock in aggravation. "Sure would be nice if Caio was here!" they growl.

They kneel down, give Dog another bite of snack, and murmurs, as the spell fades, "Remember these scents, sweeting, theirs and mine. I will be back, and I will need your help."

Caio smirks, then turns to the tiefling at his side. "Ling?"

     "Hopefully they will do their part and keep their heads on straight without us there to keep them in line." Astrid gathers up her tools and stuffs them back in their pouch. She smiles when Nikolai returns with a drink. "Thank you." She downs half the mug in one gulp "Ahh.. Oh, I don't think you could keep up with me! You're more than welcome to try." She gives him a little wink and finishes off the rest. "So what is it you'd like to be knowing?" She raises a hand for a server to deliver another round.  "I'm sure I don't have many adventures to tell as what it seems you all have been through. This is the furthest from my hold I've ever been."

"Are you looking to have a family reunion? How sweet!" Ling laughs, throwing her head back so her hair catches the light. "I don't keep track of men, usually they're the ones keeping track of me," she finally replies. "What is it between your brother and you? Not on good terms?"

Clarissa rolls her eyes.

"...and we're done." She remarks with another false smile. "Better luck next time."

Waving to one of the servers to bring her more wine, Clarissa takes out a small wooden sheet and a stylus and begins writing.

Nikolai laughs loudly and mirthfully. “Of that, I do not doubt!” He takes a deep drink of his own, smacking his lips with a satisfied sigh. “Not many places that I enjoy ale, but here… there is something about this place. I just like it.” He appears to be musing aloud before he looks at Astrid. “I would love to hear anything you would share with me. I, too, shall do the same if you like, but let us start with perhaps why you left home! That is always a good tale!”

"An ale while you're at it." he instructs the server before sitting back more comfortably in his chair, showing he has no intention of going anywhere. "You deal out deflection but immediately fold when it's dealt to you. A bit disappointing." he shrugs before continuing. "Look, Ling here might be protecting her new beau but I hold no allegiance to him. And if you're trying to hunt him down... well I am a highly trained tracker. But you can't expect me to offer my services, or Ling to divulge Johnathon's secrets, without filling us in on the context. Why is there such bad blood in your family?"

At first, Clarissa offers Caio only a mock pout in return for his complaints. However, it rapidly morphs into a self-satisfied smirk when the elf lets slip that Ling's relationship with Jonathan might be more than merely platonic.

"Ah, of course. The little devil girl has a crush on angel boy. How original."

Nevertheless, Caio's proposal that he assist Clarissa provokes a look of curiosity and a raised eyebrow.

"Jonathan and our father have some disagreements on how the family does business," she admits. "So my brother has run off alone and seems to have taken it upon himself to sabotage our work wherever he can. Rather childish, if you ask me." Clarissa adds, sipping at her wine. "Now, I think I've been rather generous and you've still yet to tell me anything helpful at all."

"I so don't have a crush on him," Ling retorts, rolling her eyes. "And that's because there's nothing to tell. We danced at the club. That was it." Changing tack, she continues with a smile: "Family can be a touchy subject, I get that. If you don't want to talk about your brother, how about me? Why does your 'gift', whatever that is exactly?, show you things about me? How do you know it's true?"