Tristan

"We've lost some of the element of surprise so that changes things.   We've also learned that we are badly outnumbered.  In my experience people like this Blackwood fellow are not the most trusting types.  perhaps if we could give him reason to mistrust his lieutenants, we could divide and conquer?"

Insight: 16

Therion and Neona, Seva isn’t being 100% honest for forthcoming. And there is some connection that Valus has to the whole situation. You can tell the way her eyes dart to him from time to time.

“At this point,” Seva says with despair in her voice, “It’s way beyond me. I don’t know anymore. I still have that other half of the gold to give you if we can pull off overthrowing Blackwood. But, I understand if that’s not enough anymore.”

Lazarus: (to the party) "Nevermind the gold, i can't in good conscience leave this place in this situation. How loyal are blackwood's men to blackwood?

“Well speak for yourself, I’m here for the gold... “ Therion steps forward again and removes his hat, “Name’s Therion. You lot looked familiar which is why I stepped in back in that bar... Seva, what does Valus have to do with this”

Lazarus: (to Therion) "At least the three of us were actually hired, i'm not sure why the rest of you decided to tag along, especially if your only interested in gold. probably more gold for you if you turn us all in."

“A rider approached the town I was staying in. Said he would pay 1000 gold to anyone who could remove this Blackwood from his seat of power. Well that’s exactly what I intend to do. I assume you were promised the same?”

Lazarus: (to therion) "yes actually... i thought the other riders weren't successful, well even if your motivations are more mercenary, you are welcome assistance."

“Well I would be more than happy to assist. This job just got much more difficult.” To Seva, “We May have to renegotiate that price...Blackwood surely won’t be easy to get to anymore... and his goons are crawling everywhere...” He stares at Seva, waiting for a response as to what Valus’ part in all this is.

Neona stares blankly at Therion, in dismay of his attitude and his complete candor. She looks at Seva.

I'm not much for gold or politics, but I do enjoy a good row. I just wanted to have a stiff drink, a good meal, and watch (and maybe join in on) a healthy tavern brawl. But those black trees ruined my meal and my fun and I say they must learn some manners! But ah... our overly overt new friend Therion here has a point. Seems like your addled friend there has a larger part in this than you let on, care to explain?

Seva stares at the floor with her knees hugged to her chest. She doesn’t move.

“Valus was the first one in,” Seva says. She looks up at you all. Realizing what she said, she adds, “...to the vault. The vault that we found...I didn’t see it or the inside. I only saw what came out. Treasures. Artifacts. The men and women who went in came out...different.”

Seva stands up and walks to Valus. She checks on him, pulls his blanket back up to his chest, and tucks it in. “But there were other things. Nightmares. Some called them demons. I don’t know...whatever they were...or are...they killed and maimed. We held them off as best we could. Someone went to Lord Blackwood for his men. For help. He came—with men. But...” She shakes her head and looks back at you all. Tears well in her eyes. “We’re slaves to him now. To use as bait for the vault. You can see he’s conscripting everyone he can get his hands on.”

Seva turns back to Valus and runs a hand down his cheek. “Valus is an ex-University Wizard. He was the one who opened the door to the vault. It took him weeks to figure out. When chaos broke out, he was right there fighting to keep us safe. It...did something to him. He’s right here, but not here at all.” She looks at each of you in turn. “Look, I know this is already more than you signed up for, but this could threaten more than Deepacre. And if you want riches, the vault is filled with them. They’re yours. You just have to help us find a way to root out Blackwood and seal the vault back up.”

Lazarus: (to the party) "okay, let me get this straight... even if we manage to save the town from Blackwood, we still got some magic vault with treasures that also has demons in it, and the people that go into the vault are changed?"

Sounds like a laugh, you ask me. Oust some bullies, kill some demons, minimize casualties to the townfolk. She nods to Luna who keeps laying there unattentive. We're in!

"Is this all real? That'll sure be difficult... It's hard to imagine we'll even dare take such a dangerous adventure..." Elery seems genuinely scared, retracting herself, and scratching the back of her shoulder. "But... This problem... It isn't localized, it's not only here... All around, our world is falling into trouble, so I think this is something we should do, or at least try. If we aren't now, we eventually will be strong enough to do all of this."

Lazarus: (to the party) "I understand your hesitation Elery, and if you don't want to do this i don't blame you. But i can't leave knowing how bad things are here. I am more than willing to do a direct fight with Blackwood and his men, direct fights is something i know. I know that doing that will be foolish, so hopefully we can come up with a real plan."

"However much I don't want to get any more involved. Something tells me if we take Blackwood out, we have to deal with the vault. Mostly so we can get paid appropriately."

Elery looks at Lazarus, and rephrases what she said in hope of being more understood. "Well... Didn't what I say agree with you? It'd not be smart to let this stay the way it is... I'm just reluctant because of the dangers of this, but it is what we have to do. And I'm willing to do it."

She seems a bit more confident now, but she is surprised by what Therion said. "Didn't you see the situation these people are? We can't ask more from Seva! She already had gave us one thousand gold just so we started this... Asking more than what she promised... That'd be asking the impossible... If money is what matters for you, maybe I could give you a thought, Lord Blackwood is the Lord of this place, don't you think you could "ask" money from him once he's defeated?" Elery is the closest she'll get to being angry at this point.

While I agree that seeking wealth and riches isn't a very noble goal, a person's motivations are their own. In any case, if this "Vault" is providing advantage to our enemies, perhaps cutting them off from it might give them pause? Worth investigating regardless if you ask me. Neona scratches Luna's chin, and Luna nearly crushes Neona while rolling to expose her belly for a rub.

Lazarus: (to the party) "Maybe we could try disguising ourselves as miners so we can get close to the vault, or is the vault fully excavated?"

"I was hired to assassinate a tyrant... not slay demons... and now our cover is blown. How do you suppose Blackwood will take to paying those who just dethroned him. There was no talk of demons emerging from a vault. Look at Valus," Therion says as he gestures to the man bed ridden and silent, a husk of what must have been his former self. "There's a chance for that for anyone of us.... A large risk, not to mention the risk of losing our heads to the executioners axe if we fail at removing Blackwood and his goonies.

"Don't tell me you took me literally when I said to ask Blackwood for money... What is important is, Seva doesn't have enough for you to ask more from her... If you want more, how about this? I will give all my share of the money for you, that's already double what you were going to get in the first place, sounds good to you? My family already has plenty, I won't be needing it that much..." Elery pauses her long rant, and looks down, trying to calm herself down, because at this point, she was really needing it.

(I just noted that I was alone doing it, so I stopped using bolded letters for character speech, just because it looks strange when scrolling down, and comparitg to other's posts... It's like I'm screaming all the time or something...)