Looking at her two friends that are obviously in bad shape but trying to hold it together, she sighs and with a little wiggle of fingertips from both hands, she sends healing to both Malachi (4 hps)  and Marion (4 hps)  ((can't believe I rolled a 1 for both!))

She looks to where Mal is nodding and her shoulders fall as she regards the scene of the elf and the one holding her.  Breaks her heart watching it unfold, knowing that they helped her escape one group to fall to another.  "I'm not sure what Vilus is playing at, most likely too worried that he will be recognized and figures it is a safe play to be one of the council?  Not sure yet, hopefully something good will come of it.  We could use it."

Low groans of sorrow emanate from the distraught elf as the crowd watches on with quiet murmurs. Then a disturbance from the back begins to part them. "Make way, make way!" A gruff voice calls out. Six guards in leather armour with sharpened pikes make their way through crowd, providing escort for a tall man with a broad face and short brown beard. The sun reflects off of his clear scalp. reaching the mouth of the alley, he gives a nod to the guards with him, and they split up.

Two begin to clear the mouth of the alley and disperse the watching crowd. "We know you have questions and concerns, given everything that has happened of late, but the best thing you can do now is be on with your business and give us the space to get on with ours!"

Three of the others rush into the alley and begin to examine the damage and signs of fighting, while the fourth goes to confer with the guard who was already there. The captain moves forward, nodding to the other members of the party as he passes. "Seems you lot find yourselves at the centre of everything these days, don't you." He removes plated gauntlets and approaches Vilus, giving a bow, but not a salute. "Councilor Brahm, I am glad to see you well and unharmed. You wished to speak with me?"

"I do" Brahm states and offers the man a handshake toward his newly ungloved hand. If the man takes it, Vilus twists the shake in a subtle way trying to confirm the man's affiliation with Delirium. 

Should the man have not been ingratiated into Sevrun's ranks and therefore not know the shake, then Vilus' thumb will stick out of the handshake awkwardly and he will step back a little giving the excuse of being stressed after such an attack, either way he will know.

The captain brushes off the awkwardness of the shake without acknowledgement. A man of Delirium he would not appear to be.

Those closest to Vilus would over hear him, as he's not trying to be particularly covert, nor is he being particularly loud in this conversation "thank you for your expedience. This group, I'm sure you will recognise, are the heroes of the assault on the bay, they require an escort out of the city as to not be attacked in such a horrible manner again. Completely at their request, you understand, they aren't being ejected from the city, and I feel that if they are requesting it then we owe it to them to comply."

Here is where 'Brahm goes a little quieter, "these attackers, I'm sure you have protocol to follow in investigating them and where they are from, I have no intention of delaying that, though this particular man..." He gestures over to Two, laid dead with a lightning crater in his side and a crude eye carved into his forehead. "He seemed to be their leader and is of particular interest, if I may, I would request his body be kept in the morgue for a day or so, I have investigations of my own to conduct, corruption and such, I'll give word to those who would keep him when his body will be needed" Brahm gives a knowing nod, hoping the man, who seems to be on the up and up, would do such s favour for the councillor.

The captain nods. "I've spoken with men who were posted to Captain Chemain's vessel during the assault on Marigold. Tales of these heroes' valour during that fight have been making the rounds in the barracks. I'm sure there will be no shortage of volunteers for an honour guard for them."

With the crowd of onlookers mostly dispersed, The captain calls over the two guards blocking the entrance. "We're to escort this band to the guardhouse on Copper street and assemble a larger escort to bring them out of the city. Everyone else, continue the investigation and then report back. Make sure that body is carefully preserved for inspection" Beckoning over Joren, Ashley, and the others, he asks more quietly, "It shames me to see such an attack carried out upon you on our streets. Do you need any belongings gathered up before you depart? And are you planning to leave by land or by sea? The mountain pass should be starting to thaw by now, but it's still a hard way to go. I think they may have managed to get a vessel or two sea-worthy back at the docks."

Councillor Brahm gives the commanding officer a thankful nod before bidding the guards farewell and slinking off into the crowd.

Grasping the grieving elf's shoulder a final time in a parting gesture, Joren straightens and walks over to his other companions (sans "Councilor Brahm").

"Hiking back over the Shield Mountains or taking one of Talmouth's few ships?"  He mostly addresses the question to the two Madurst natives (he thinks?) in the party, Samir and Malachi.  "We are needing to hurry, yes?  To reach there before... our 'yellow dot' enemies do.  I am thinking traveling by sea may be faster, yet none of us being sailors, and not wanting to deprive Talmouth of scarce nautical vessels... the land route is not sounding so bad to me."

Ashley watches Vilus leave and wonders where he might be heading off to.  He was the one most keen to leave...

Turning back to the group, she also looks to Samir and Malachi for their input.  But whispering to them, she adds, "There is that barrel we have, teleporting us somewhere on the sea, might be worth checking out again and see if it takes us where we want to go?"

Samir sighs, shaking his head slightly. "We've no idea where that... barrel... leads. It could be anywhere." He gives the guardsman a weak smile. "We need to make it to Madurst as quickly as possible, sir. If there is a vessel that can assist in doing so, it would be greatly appreciated. We do have some belongings in an old shop not far away, if we could pick those up along the way? I cannot overstate how much we appreciate your assistance and that of the city. "

Ashley is about to ask Samir where his sense of adventure is, but then realizes just in time how insensitive that is considering he's thinking of his homeland.  So she stands beside him, waiting to hear the guard's response.

"Of course, it's the least we can do." He starts moving toward the mouth of the alleyway as the other guards fall into a loose formation around the group. "So you are certain then," he says as he leads the way down the street, "That the cult has been eliminated here? If you wouldn't mind me asking, then, do you have any idea what this attack was about? Motive? Affiliation? And is this what has you hurrying to leave town? Wait... Councilor Brahm! Will you also be requiring-" He shouts as he looks about for the councilor. "Has he slipped off?"

Joren has no idea what to say about 'Councilor Brahm,' so he shrugs expansively at that part of the guard captain's question, responding to the rest.

"Being certain of nothing, and no, I am not thinking the cult is gone, not even from Talmouth, though mostly diverted for now.  Having a guess where to, so moving accordingly.  As for this attack, not rightly knowing.  But I am thinking it is a faction native to Talmouth itself, seeking to gain power and perhaps throw off suspicion by using the cultists as a known threat.  Suggesting you remain vigilant, Captain, but I think you are already knowing this."

He looks to his friends (sans Vilus?) in case they have more to add, hoping he has answered the Captain truthfully without divulging too much.

"Thanks for the tip," the captain says. "I take it your hasty departure has to do with the cult's next target? Though I suppose if you wanted it known where you were off to, you'd have shared. I wish you luck."

The captain leads you to the nearest guardhouse and sends runners to gather up a larger escort. Two off-duty gaurds stand up from where they were playing cards, and you recognize their faces from Chemain's ship. "It would be our honour to join," one of them says, a tall, thickly built man with a small moustache above his wide mouth and square jaw. The other, equal in height, but considerable leaner, says in a surprisingly deep voice, "I had many a free drink poured for me in retelling your heroics in boarding that witch's ship on your own. I figure I owe you"

Malachi shakes his head towards Ashley “I don’t think the barrel is our best bet here.  If I remember from when you last went through, it sounds like Skaeld Rock.  A large island to the west of the Venn Canal and the sister cities.  I believe there was a single yellow dot nearby in the last map, maybe a forward scout.  But the few sailors I have spoken to say it is largely uninhabited, and if we were wrong, we would be stuck there without a ship to get us off the rock. Let’s bring it along though, it’s a good back up plan if time goes short.  I think a fast ship toward the cities is the best plan forward.”

He nods to Samir and steps forward to clap the guard on the back. “Well, I’m glad someone got free drinks from that fiasco.  It was well deserved on your part, now let’s go find that Captain of yours and see how soon we can get underway.”

Soon enough, the runners return. They confer quietly with the Captain who then steps out. A minute later he comes back in, and says, "Allow me to introduce the primary members of your escort. You've met Corporal Essen and Corporal Glowe," he says, gesturing to the the broad and less broad men from the assault on Marigold. They salute with smiles on their faces. "Through here..." he gestures through a door leading out onto the street where four more guards, all fully kitted and armed, stand at attention in a line. "Corporal Nan, Corporal Crom, Private Ydeen, Private Mater, and of course myself, Captain Fennel. Men and women of the watch, we are going to escort these heroes to first their belongings, and then to the docks where another group is currently securing the ship. Keep on guard, be wary of an attack at any time. Let's move out."

The guards form up around the group. Their swords are sheathed, but their shields are strapped to their arms already. With direction, Captain Fennel sends another runner to secure the group's wagon and its cargo, to meet them at the shop. In the streets, people clear the path for the procession, watching from windows on high with a wide spectrum of reactions. Concern, indifference, fascination, cheering, skepticism. 

As they walk, Corporal Glowe leans over to Samir. "So what's that contraption you were using during our fight? Didn't look like no crossbow I've ever seen." The procession rounds the corner to the cul de sac with the shop at the end, cart waiting out front. Private Mater and Private Ydeen head toward the door to make sure the building is secure.

Samir, pulled from his internal monologue and worried thoughts, blinks owlishly at the man as if trying to comprehend what was just said. After a second, he perks up. "Oh, yes! Well, that is an item that I have been working on for some time now. It does indeed resemble a crossbow in many ways, but the propulsion of the ammunition is achieved through different means. Eventually, I hope to make it a far more efficient and effective way for the average person, particularly those who live removed from cities and towns with standing guard units and the like, to ward off dangerous wildlife and monsters." The inventor continues to babble and pontificate about his inventions for however long the Corporal can stand listening to him as they make their way through the streets.

Walking alongside Samir as he expounds to Corporal Glowe about his inventions, Joren tries earnestly to follow along as the conversation goes down the rabbit-hole (half-orc-hole?) while keeping his echo summoned and remaining vigilant.  Soon enough, the warrior begins to go cross-eyed...

Breaking away for a moment, Joren blinks, then glances around for any of Vilus' 'avatars' keeping pace.  He addresses the other guardsmen.

"Hearing of any other recent incidents since the killings at the council hall, besides this most recent attack against us?"

"No," Corporal Crom says. We've been on edge, but between the council attack and this ambush, things have been dead quiet. The murders and disappearings in the low town seem to have stopped for now."

"Wow, that's really something. I wonder what a military could do, equipped with something like that. Might give us an edge against the goliaths should they ever try to cross the western Veil again," Corporal Glowe says, looking equal parts intrigued and troubled.

"Is that an issue that is common?  The goliaths crossing the western Veil?"  Ashley finds this bubbles up a lot of questions, but she tries to hold her tongue as she waits for this answer at least.  She keeps an eye on the crowd, and as she finds the right time not to be overheard, she tells the group individually, "Vilus is nearby and will follow us out of the city."