Lero's eyes go wide as saucers as he sees the tiger in front of him. His hand instinctively rests on the hilt of his rapier and he takes a step back. "****uroz Elgus," he curses in dwarven. "I'm going to see if I can get a guide through the tunnels. I'd like to check on the Aether reserves..." He takes another step back and turns his gaze to Namura, as if blaming her for summoning a tiger, "Perhaps the bakers will guide me."  

"Namura... It's hard. But it's not your fault, and you need to realize that. People die... it's a fact of life in our line of work. So dispense with the self-pity, and funnel that anger towards these demons. They killed our allies, not you,"  Arial's words resounded in the ranger's mind. They didn't change the fact that if they hadn't gotten lost on their way back to the ship, they might have been able to save them. She couldn't save them now, but she could work hard to make sure that no more died because she didn't do well enough.

The sudden appearance of a tiger startled Namura too. The druid's animal form felt almost unnatural to her, and slightly off-putting. "I'm going to see if I can get a guide through the tunnels. I'd like to check on the Aether reserves..." Lero's eyes met hers; he was clearly even more spooked by the tiger than she. "Perhaps the bakers will guide me."

"Wait!" the ranger chased after the rogue, catching up to him easily. "I'd like to check the city as well. And I'm a much better guide than a baker." She gave him a small smile as the two ducked into the tunnels. Lero left a chalk trail along the wall, clearly not trusting her superior sense of direction. OF course, after getting turned around in the forest for hours the night before, she could understand why.

Eventually, the two found a ladder and made their way topside. With eagle-eyed vision, Namura took in the ransacked village. She instantly spotted a thopter, hovering just above the tower. The elf grabbed her companion, who was not being nearly as sneaky as she, and pulled him out of sight from the thopter. A finger raised to her lips, she pointed the machine out to Lero. "Does that look like Arial's?" she asked, already drawing her bow and arrow. 

"Better safe than sorry," Lero replied, rubbing his eye. "Can you get a clear shot at it?"

"Flux will kill me if it's their's," she grumbled, already lining up the shot. The arrow found its mark, and within seconds the thopter was careening toward the ground. The two made their way over to the tower's entrance, inspecting the corpse of the machine as they passed it by. "If it's Flux's, you're going to tell him we found it like that."

"Of course!" Lero said, pocketing the thing. Just as the pirate placed the thopter into his bag, Namura caught sight of a black thopter. She pointed it out to the human, but the two decided that there was too big of a chance it was Arial's. Namura did not want to be on the captain's bad side, so the two stealthily made their way inside the tower.

The relief was evident on Lero's face when Namura offered to guide him through the Tunnels. The sound of the druid's bones cracking when he changed shape gave him goose bumps when he thought of it. Lero left chalk markings on the walls as they navigated the tunnels so that he wouldn't have to bother with guides if he visited the town again in the future.

As they neared the hatch, Lero climbed up to take a look. It looked clear, but right as he was about to tell Namura a massive bug flew into his eye. He nearly lost his footing on the ladder and it caused his eye to redden and sting. ******* Peema, he thought, If it's not demons it's bugs... He spent quite some time wiping his eye when Namura pulled him aside and pointed out the thopter. She asked if it was Arials, but his sight was still blurry so he responded, "Better safe than sorry. Can you get a clear shot at it?" Lero once again found himself impressed with her skill as she lined up the shot and took it down.

As they passed the thopter, he gathered it up and put it in his bag for Flux to examine later.

The tower was an impressive display of Elven architecture, but Lero paid it no mind. Immediately upon entering the tower he was looking for threats. The tower's base level was empty save for an elevator at the far end with a long trail of blood coming out of it.

"Follow the blood?" Namura asked. 
"Yup," Lero responded.
"And what exactly are you looking for?" She asked.
Lero thought about the question and gave her a glance, "Anything that will tell us what they've been doing. I have a hunch, but it seems impossible."
"Care to share said hunch?" Namura seemed to have a sort of glow about her as she asked that. Almost like following a huge trail of blood looked good on her.
Lero responded, "I think they could be converting the corpses to these demon creatures - or at least feeding their life-force or essence into their creation." He wasn't sure what he was saying, but he figured if they were collecting bodies and pooping out demons, there had to be a connection somewhere.

The elevator's buttons were in elvish, so Lero would have been at a loss if not for Namura's translation. As she spoke the floor names, Lero pushed the one she mentioned as, LL2. "Lower level two... I have no idea how these creatures are made, but I have a feeling Flux might know more than it lets on." And maybe with more information at his disposal he'll be more willing to share his secrets, Lero thought.

The elevator stops at LL2 and as the door opens Lero is met with the luminescent glow of beautiful blue aether. A grin spreads across his face as he enters the room. The aether supplies were untouched and there was enough to fill the aethership ten times over. He catches Namura filling her quiver with the aether and swears he sees a grin on her face as well. Taking the queue, he tops off his dagger and says, "That means they're not farming the land for aether... there's been no signs of birds or animals while they're around. They're farming the land for life." Her reply is quick, "That would support your hypothesis."  And that would not be a good thing, Lero thinks.

Just as he does, the ground starts to rumble beneath him and he shoots a glance over to Namura. She's looking everywhere for the source, so Lero begins a search of the aether supply for any sort of trap that might have been triggered. 

Lero's hunch didn't sit well with Namura. Killing people to create demons? A shiver went down her spine just at the though. It would explain many of the phenomenon he cited as evidence, but the ranger really hoped he was wrong. She didn't think he was, but an elf could dream, right?

Just as she finished filling her quiver with aether, the ground began to shake. She crouched low, searching for signs of a trap. The cause suddenly dawned on her, which she shared with her companion. "It's probably a wurm digging a tunnel nearby," she stopped the pirate from checking for imaginary traps. "If it's a wurm, being underground is probably not our greatest idea."

"My money is on a red aether demon worm."

"I don't think those exist," even as she protested, she found herself following Lero into the elevator. The shuddering luckily came to a stop as the elevators doors slid closed. They had come so far, her curiosity was screaming at her to find where that trail of blood lead. Lero was clearly on the same page, as he pressed the button for LL3 and gave her a wink.

Holy traako, Namura leapt to conclusions like a tiger leaping onto its prey. Lero is trying to get into my bedroll! (Insight: 10) Already not a people person, the ranger was unsure of what to do with this information. Her eyes widened as she scooted as far away from the man as possible, which was admittedly not very far in the enclosed space.

With a tinny ding that broke the awkward silence, the doors to the elevator slid open, revealing streaks of blood extending down the corridor. "Always trust your intuition," Lero whispered, before stealthily following the path of blood. Namura followed, although her mind was so focused on other things that she failed at doing so sneakily. The ground began to shake again, this time even more violently. Both ranger and rogue drew their weapons, continuing past the remains of a shattered door.

"If we get eaten, I'm blaming you," the elf said quietly, trying to relieve the tension. Even as they tiptoed down the corridor, she attempted to leave an awkwardly large distance between them.

"Fair enough," Lero replied, just as they entered a horrible room. The walls were completely covered in blood, with corpses that looked to be sucked dry left in hap-hazardous piles against the wall. Runes drawn in blood covered the floor, runes that neither could decipher. The largest rune, in the center of the room, was made from strung out intestines. As soon as she recovered from the initial shock of the grisly sight, Namura grabbed some parchment from her sack and copied down the intestine rune.

Namura shuffled away from him quickly and Lero had an impulse to smell himself to make sure it wasn't his odor. The elf was obviously flustered about something. His thoughts were derailed though when the elevator door opened revealing a hallway of blood that led to the massive ritual site. 

"Not... what I was expecting," Lero said, taking in the scene and feeling queasy to his stomach.
"If it was, I would be concerned," Namura replied as she scribbled the runes down.
"Did you copy down what you needed?"  Lero felt like he was missing something in that room. The rumbling was intense and his mind was frantic as he looked around. The bodies seemed to be displayed in a specific way, the intestines made a symbol of some sort, blood was everywhere... As he got closer he saw they were completely drained of life.
"I think I got all the lines right," Namura said, focusing on the drawing.
"Great, lets get out of here." 

I think my hunch might have been right, he thought as he turned to leave. But something caught his eye, a huge hole in the wall that resembled wurm sign. "Ummm..."
"I don't want to get lost again," Namura said as if reading his mind.
The tunnels had tracks of blood and ash leading in and out and looked less than a couple days old, "You think they're using these tunnels? Maybe they've tamed one of these wurms?" Lero asked. "Is that even possible?"
"Can you tame a river? Wurms are a force of nature, I doubt it's possible" Namura said confidently. 
"You can make a river..." Lero said, thinking back to the feats of engineering he'd seen in the larger cities.
"Shut up," Namura replied, leading the way back to the elevator.

The trip back to the camp was relatively silent. Neither of them knew exactly what to say after seeing what they saw. He wasn't even sure he understood what it was he saw. Flux might know, but getting it to tell the group might be tough. It always seemed so secretive. Lero knew one thing for sure, Namura knew how to show a man a good time. Creepy... but good. As second dates go, he's had worse. 

While Lero and Namura travel into the town, Flux does several things. First, they spend some time reading, before walking over to Buama to help her with the Aether components of Elto's new chassis. After that, they consult with the elven crafters on the possibility of some of them coming to help repair the dark site, as well as a short discussion on lifecrafting. In addition, they use their thopter to help Arial scout the city.

"Lero, I'm sorry," Namura broke the silence, just as they neared the exit to the tunnel. "Earlier, I was selfishly wallowing in my pain, forgetting that you and Arial have lost a great deal more in the past days. I forgot that I was still needed. I just wish... If I could have just gotten us back to the ship sooner..." Her voice trailed off as the caverns came into view. "I'm just sorry. For everything. I'm going to do better from now on."

The ranger cleared her throat, dusting off her tunic a little. Everyone had been hurting earlier, but she had been the only one to let it get the better of her. Namura would have to do a great deal to prove to herself and the rest of the crew that she was ready to handle the challenges of the coming days.

The huntress immediately sought out Flux upon their return, eager to get down to business and avoid the awkwardness that seemed to surround Lero. "Flux," she thrust the paper with slightly uneven lines into his face. "Lero and I went out on a little scouting party into the tower at the center of town. On the lowest level, we found this giant room with a bunch of blood and dead bodies." Namura closed her eyes and shook her head a little, as if to shake free the images of blood that were definitely going to haunt her trances later. "There were runes we didn't recognize drawn all over the floor, but this one was the biggest." She decided to leave out the fact that it was drawn in intestines for now.

"This symbol? Oh dear. That book I mentioned that detailed the Dark Schematic, one of the only things it explained in the remaining pages was this symbol. It means Creation, with a defiled subtone. In other words, unholy creation. You said there were more? I think it would be beneficial that I am able to see them."

Flux almost appears distressed at seeing the symbol.

As they exit the tunnel and Namura breaks the silence, Lero nods. He's dealt with a lot of death in his career, and a lot of it was from his own rapier. But he's also dealt with a lot of loss. Sometimes he forgets how it effects others, as he's grown somewhat numb to the grim reality that follows him around. He always puts on the charade of someone that knows what he wants at all times. Someone confidant and strong. He's been raised since birth and military service to be a leader, and its followed him into his role as a renegade.

He wants to tell her that he needs the reminder that emotions are real, and that sometimes seeing those reminders makes him want to force his ideals on others. They should be as strong as he makes himself out to be and they should be honored to sacrifice themselves for something bigger than they are. Those are all just words he's learned over the years to motivate others, but they aren't actually words he believes in himself. If there's one thing he can't let go of, it's his pride. So he keeps silent as she says this, and nods his affirmation that she will do better. 

When they reach Flux, Lero chimes in. "They seemed to have the bodies arranged in an odd way as well. Blood was everywhere, but I couldn't see a pattern in it. The whole room had this nauseous presence. I think they were sucking the aether out of the corpses to give life to these creatures." He shakes away the thought, "And they may have tamed a river... er... a wurm. They might be travelling through tunnels beneath Peema." 

Buama didn't say anything. She walked back to where her gear was packed and sat down cross legged. She unwrapped Elto's lifecraft carefully to look at it.

"I'm not sure what she expects in two hours with no parts. Though I have some things I can do." 

She pulls tools back out and some of the things that can be used for quick fixes. Anyone bothering to watch might think she is not getting anywhere, but she adjusts several minor connections and fixes a dent that thankfully hadn't harmed anything. She is in the middle of making a tiny device nearly as small as the tip of one of her long fingers when Flux walks up. There is no chassis per se, just a rather small box containing what would make Elto himself when he woke up. She nods to him and figures out how to use part of what he made for the interim. She did have to be able to carry Elto safely until a body could be made. Until then she had ideas to keep his essence stimulated.

It's close to the end of the time given by Arial when she finally sets Elto's adjusted lifecraft in her lap. She smiles as she double checks the new piece of aether works she had attached and the two tiny devices on either side of it. She puts a dose of aether in and watches the lifecraft's 'pulse' strengthen.

"Well, Elto, you are probably really confused and not really able to comprehend much at the moment, but you have ears. I'm hoping it helps keep you sticking around until I can give you a body. Unfortunately, I think we are going into a marshy area to the dark site which means you'll be wrapped up in a waterproof sack to be sure you stay dry. Someday soon you will have a new body to learn how to use. I just hope I can keep you from being scared when you wake up in that new body. That's why I gave you ears so you can hear our voices, but you may hear more fighting, my friend. We have a long way to go and much to do yet."

She isn't sure if Elto can really hear her. Everything works properly and what she said might have even been stored. She sighs and looks around the camp while hugging Elto close.

The descriptors, to say the least, perked Flux's curiosity, and they insisted on returning to the site so they could see for themselves what more could be learned from the ritual. Navigating through the tunnels was much easier, due to simply following Lero's chalk lines down the twisting tunnels. Eventually, the group enters into the Renegade hideout room. Creaking open the door, they look around the town. Dusk was beginning to set, casting the city in it's twilight and orange glow as the forest started to come alive again with it's assortment of glowing plants and fungi. The city seemed as empty as it was previously in the day, the background noise of birds chirping readily apparent. Making their way through the city, they navigate the streets and buildings without incident, arriving at the central tower. Blood streaks are still apparent along the floor, just as before, with the dirty tracks of Namura and Lero shown entering the building and the brief few seconds of them searching the main floor.

Following the dried blood from bodies being dragged, you make your way to the elevator, taking it down to LL3. The hum of aether fills your ears as you descend down to the lowest level of the tower, while the smell of iron, either from the elevator itself or due to the dried blood, permeates your senses. The doors open, revealing the crimson path down the corridor and to the shattered remains of a door which once stood proudly in its frame. The corridor is dark, and a source of light is brought forth to help the eyes of those who cannot see as well as others. Passing through the doorframe, you walk into the circular room to a different sight. Namura would be quick to point out the obvious sign of a wurm tunneling through the room itself, creating an a passageway that spans from the left side of the room, through the center of the room (and thus destroying the unholy creation symbol made from the intestines of the innocent), and out the right side of the room. Many of the desecrate runes have been destroying, as copious amounts of rubble litter the floor due to the violent shaking of the beast. Still, there are quite a few runes still present, and while some of the dried husks of those unfortunate villagers are covered by rubble, all of the bodies from the previous expedition still lay along the sides of the room in the same fashion: the feet of one body aligned to the head of another, the pattern continuing from husk to husk, making an unending circle.

The scene having taken the party by surprise, they almost missed three figures, standing in the center of the room. Elves, dressed in black robes and hoods, with ashen skin, their eyes glowing orange as orange runes cover their faces, stand there menacingly, staring at the party with blank expressions.

Buama heard about what they found on the first trip and was willing to go check it out a second time as long as she did not have to do so in the dark. She should have worked out getting night vision goggles as part of her equipment. She smirked some.

The bottom level of the place was a worse mess than they had implied and thankfully a wurm had cleaned up some of the mess. Though who knew if it was tamed like Lero thought or was one of those random things. Though she hardly believed in coincidences.

Then she saw the three figures with crazy orange glowing eyes and markings on their faces. She pauses even though she is at the back of the party hoping someone else had an idea what to do.

During the travel back to the sacrificial site, Lero has no problem answering any questions thrown at him. He retells the story about happening upon the site and only embellishes occasionally when the details are worthwhile. Upon reaching the site he blurts out, "Oh shit... They must have cleaned up..." before seeing the elves ahead of them.

Lero puts his hands out to the others in a gesture of calm and whispers, "Prepare yourselves, but do not attack."

He then turns towards the elves with glowing orange eyes and takes a step forward with his arms out showing he is unarmed, "Who are you? And why have you attacked Peema?"

Namura's face fell at the sight of the rubble. She should have... The ranger stopped herself before she went down that dark path. Her life was full of "should've-could've-would've's," and there was nothing she could do now to change the past. Besides, if she and Lero had stayed much longer, they would have become wurm-chow.

As soon as she laid eyes on the evil-looking elves, Namura instantly sprung into action. "Prepare yourselves, but do not atta-" Lero's words fell on deaf ears as the hunter let out a terrific battle cry and charged the trio. Her first shortsword seemed to skate just past the dark elf's face, but her second went cleanly through his middle. The would-be attacker paused as her sword glided through the cultist as if gliding through air.

"WHO ARE YOU!" she bellowed angrily, realizing that her target was just an illusion. She let out another angry scream as her eyes zeroed in on the cultist next to her.

Seeing that Lero intends to negotiate, Kraithee holds his ground but is prepare, if any draws a weapon or starts casting a spell, it will launch a barrage of fire at them (ready action: Scorching Ray)

Azi steps next to Lero and keeps his sword at the ready. He will ready an action to intercept any attack that might come to lero. 

As soon as Namura's sword passes through the strange elf without leaving any marks, Flux becomes suspicious. They look carefully and realised that the elves are illusions, and had all the telltale signs.

"No point attacking them. They are illusory."

Either responding to Namura's scream or Lero's petition for answers, the three illusions speak in unison, magnifying their voices. "We are the Xunzoghudaad. Heralds of our Lord in Darkness, the Perfector and Renewer. He who has mastered the naether. We did not attack Peema or its citizens. We perfected Peema and its citizens. They are renewed; reborn in our Lord's glorious image. Even now, they travel to thank Him for this gift He has bestowed upon them... one He could bestow on you, if you will it."

The images turn, and begin to depart through the original tunnel Lero and Namura found on their first expedition.

Kraithee almost smiles when the images start walking: So, do we follow them and spring the trap or we turn around and go to the Dark Site? I myself would like to follow this Xunzoghudaad and find out what is this Lord in Darkness and rid this land of the "naether" perversion.

Looking around to its companions, Kraithee calms itself a bit more and continues: But I understand that the mission we were sent on is still not accomplished. My vote is to follow the images but I understand if the majority decides to go to the Dark Site, I offer my Aether to fight with you, wherever your fight is.

Lero jumps as Namura rushes by him, and pulls his weapons as she begins to slash through the creatures. Just as he's about to join her, Flux reveals that they're illusions and the illusions begin to speak.

"Xunzogonad?" He looks quizzically to the others and rests his eyes on Flux, "Any idea?"

"Either way... they seem to want us to follow them into their lil trap. Anyone up for a little combat training?" He waits for the other's approval before following the images.