Harmony listens to Aisha, agreeing with her about getting out of the cellar as she nodded. Then she heard Hyperion as she smiled. "Really? That would be helpful. Yes, what we have been doing is for a really big cause. We can talk about it upstairs." she says to him, leading the way up the stairs out of here. Then she thought about what he said, Ersetsu and remembered something. "Ersetsu? Oh, do you know Simeon Gray, the elf then?" Harmony asks him, thinking that they'll need to talk to Simeon now.

Aisha had already left, as she stated, no longer considering Hyperion an immediate threat, and the weight of even further 'issues' on her mind. Tsavi following silently behind her. Aisha didn't quite want to get out of where the conversation would happen, so instead of going to her room, she reluctantly considers the floor in the room closest to the entrance to the teleport cellar. Aisha begins the process of removing her own gear, and the gear she had packed onto Tsavi (Due to draining strength before)  laying it all in a neat pile to the side.She does, atleast, make a quick trip to her room to grab the blanket and pillow to create a softer spot in the corner of the room nearest the entrance (Within earshot of the goings on) plopping the blanket and pillow there.

Finally free of her other burdens, weapons, and the like - Aisha removes her armor then. Having worn it nearly the entire time she had been here outside of that one incident in the beginning, leaving her bare body exposed. A bath would be needed that night, for multiple reasons. Regardless, she curls up into the corner,  as does Tsavi soon, And Aisha closes her eyes, but remains awake. There was still much to discuss, but she felt, in this situation, she could multitask.

As he walks with Harmony, Hyperion shakes his head.

"The name doesn't remind me of anyone, I'm afraid.  Does this elf have a rank or title I might know better?"

"Not that I know of. He was with us for a short time, helping us out. He's from Ersetsu too, though he was looking to get back his memories of his family and stand against the evil that made Ersetsu fall and him the only survivor of his family." Harmony said back to him with a sigh, wondering how Simeon is doing right now.

OOC: Don't want to intercede too much on direction, but it seems we're slowing down a bit. Recall the last couple pages of the previous adventure for Gabrielle and Ginan's suggestion on where to go. I know it's also been a while since we've been in Ruskivek, so as a reminder, the locations you frequented when you were here last were The Laughing Rhino (inn/tavern) and The Order of Thalassa, the arcane guild run by old Mitsi, which you did a lot of work for.

Hyperion thinks for a few moments before responding.

"A lot of people lost family there. . . I would like to meet him, at least.  I have a feeling I missed some days - I must have taken a square hit to the head at some point."

Harmony nodded back, thinking and remembering some stuff now. "Oh, you can come with us to The Order of Thalassa. It's an arcane guild that has helped us with getting jobs and information. So maybe they know something regarding what might have happened to you." she then said back to Hyperion.

Aisha grumbles, hearing that it's been quiet inside the room for a very long time, and shouts to the others If we know where we'rrre going then let us go, instead of talking about going. the tabaxi getting up from her spot, only just after having found that relaxing position and having settled in. The feline walking down into the lower area just enough to emphasize her point before saying Let's go, and stop dawd.... .. daud... Dawldling here... the once-more naked feline says, seeming not to care as she began to march towards their destination, Tsavi in tow, and a scowl in her face.

OOC: Let's get Garu and Hyperion's opinion on the plan, and then I'm ready to advance!

((Hyperion will follow the others, I think.  So I guess the plan works well.))

Garu stretches and looks at the others and nods in agreement. " To the Order then...?"

Harmony had heard Aisha, surprised as she nodded back in agreement with her and Garu. "Yeah, let's go!" she said back to them, gesturing for Hyperion to follow as she then followed behind Aisha now.

The city of Ruskivek seems subdued on this quiet evening. Typically a bustling diverse metropolis of around 25,000, only a small number of dwarves and gnomes seem to be wandering the streets currently. Even the sky is a different hue, with the large red moon Vandyr in a more subdued position of orbit.

Within the Order of Thalassa, however, little has changed. The imposing structure is packed with humans, Nekomata, and Kitsune scribes, would-be mages, customers, collectors, and attendants. One old human woman, short in stature but forceful in countenance, sits at her usual perch near the center of the room, directing the flurry of activity around her.

"Is my age finally catching up with me, or do the slayers of the Ice Basilisk stand before me once more?" she asks with a chuckle before saying more quietly, "I'm going to go out on a limb and surmise that you haven't found a way back home and that you need my help again. And your new friends, they are...otherworlders as well, or simply new companions?"

Aisha had been fully bare both during their walk to the order and once inside. She had left all her armor and other attire where she had taken it off. Her culture was a bit different, and.. she had been wearing armor almost nonstop for what seemed like months at this point. The fully naked feline, only 'modest' in the terms of 'barbie doll' due to the length of her head's hair covering the upper half, and the 'other' being covered by her natural fur, otherwise left nothing else in terms of 'shape' to the imagination - and she didn't care. Normally this would be a playful thing, she would do to get reactions from people to amuse herself but the time she had spent here frustrated had dulled her sense of humor. This time it was more of an "I no longer care right now"

We'rrre nyot surre yet for the one... she says her hand idly pointing to the 'new guy' But yes, the rrrest of us are otherworlders. We arre trying to find someone named, Esetu... Esetsu... Ersetzu... something like that. And we've discoverrred new news in other rrregards. 

During the walk to the Order, Hyperion is silent, armored head craning in every direction, seemingly trying to gather as much sensory input as it can during this journey beyond the place he awoke.  His body language suggests confusion, though not fear.

When he is mentioned, Hyperion nods his head.

"Yes, miss.  I did not understand when I awoke, but this place is . . . much different than it should be.  I suppose I must be an 'otherworlder' - though I can't imagine I was near a portal, not one that would bring me here at least."

"Yes, we need lots of information. Has anything new or interesting happened since we were last here?" Harmony would have said back as well with a smile and a nod.

Mitsi's eyes are focused solely on Hyperion, but she answers Harmony as her gaze bores through the armored man like a laser.

"Yes, to keep the answer short. We have certainly had our fair share of interesting and new," she says, then addresses Hyperion himself. "'This place is much different than it should be'. That is what you said, yes? You have been here before. Tell me...what do you last remember? In as much detail as you can offer."

Hyperion remains silent for a moment, perhaps lost in thought.

"It started when during the eclipse, when the red moon Vandyr passed between Rikirta and the sun.  Portals opened in the dwarven and gnomish nations.  The dwarves were evacuating, last I heard.  I was. .  part of a first response team.  Ersetsu was looking overwhelmed, but. . . we had hoped to close the portals, turn the tide before the invasion spread.  I know there were necromancers among the invading force - I suspect one put me to slumber for a few days.  Maybe someone dragged me to safety in the basement of your home, Harmony?  By the looks of it, we were successful.  This town would be nothing but ash if the death and fire of Vandyr had not been stopped."

The pale lights of his helmet and armor flicker rapidly but harmlessly for a few longer moments, as he struggles to evoke more information for Mitsi, Aisha, and the rest of his new acquaintances.

((OOC:  If applicable, I'd like to roll Intelligence (History) to see if Hyperion can recall and retell anything more specific about what had happened.  Less specific to his own experience and more about the overall history that would be relevant.  Proactively using [feature]Knowledge from a Past Life[/feature] to bolster.))

History: 30

With her response to Hyperion, Mitsi also finishes her explanation to Harmony.

"Your new friend here is not an otherworlder like yourselves, nor is he an ordinary denizen of Rikirta. This one is Returned," she says. She takes a deep breath, keeping her eyes on Hyperion as she explains, "What I am about to tell you will not sit well, but I assure you every word is true. You are not the first to bridge the gap between life and death." The busy room seems to quiet in uneasy tension as more eyes focus on the events in its center.

"The invasion of Vandyr occurred more than fifteen years ago. You, like the dozens who have returned from the veil of death, met your end in defense of the invasion. From the sounds of it, in Ersetu, though your pronunciation of it leads me to believe you are not from there originally. And, like many of the others who have returned with you, you are nowhere near the site of your death. Ersetu and Arketh are many tendays away from Ruskivek, where you currently stand."

She goes on to explain to the rest of the party, "The city is uneasy. It started happening only a tenday ago. Something has stirred the dead, calling them back to this world with their intelligence largely intact. Many fear that this is the beginning of another invasion, that these Returned are biding their time. So far, they have been peaceful."

For Hyperion:

Garu's eyebrows and hair on the back of her neck start raising up. "No offence but in the teachings I was given, death is a one-way journey. So Returned by what or whom?"