Shiva purses her lips, looking around to her companions. "Whoever that ******* is must still be around the temple district if it was just an hour ago. And I think the Trio had a run in with this group of red-leathered dwarves a few cycles ago. They're some kind of cult. I doubt this piss poor attempt -no offense, ladies- would be the end of whatever they want the relic for."

Turning back to the ladies, her expression softens once more. "Look, I get doing what's needed to survive. We nearly killed you, so I think we can call it even."

"I did offer you better accommodations," Astrid hears the Lord Commander's voice rumble back in response to her call for help. "I take that to mean that you have the situation in hand? If you require further assistance, call on the nearest guard. The fortress is watched over day and night. Good night, Lady Silverscar."

Meanwhile Grace helps her gnomish friend to her feet, still watching their captors warily, despite Shiva's reassurances.

"Let them go?" Prior Beinidict demands incredulously. "These are thieves! Turn them over to the guard."

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"Let them go?" Prior Beinidict demands incredulously. "These are thieves! Turn them over to the guard."

"We are not Perunnites, Prior Beinidict, to coldly dismiss those brought into our sphere. I have stolen; some of my companions have been on the wrong side of the law before. The light of the Lady doesn't need the help of the guard to call folks into the light of her love.

But, little ones, if you took this assignment from this red-leathered dwarf, I fear that failure will endanger your lives so maybe make yourselves scarce?"

Brother Ludomir raises a placative hand to Beinidict, crossing closer to Alaris.

"Do we need to be concerned about this mysterious dwarf?" He asks quietly.

"I don't know if they're hunting our particular artifact, or just objects of power in general..." Alaris replies with a furrowed brow of frustration.

"Astrid, does this red leather cult signify anything to you? We may need to slip out and do some investigation before the trail gets cold. I don't want us to leave Mingol Bar and head into an ambush."

Caio sheathes his sword at last and begins readying to embark on this hunt. "They were cultists of Abbathor, the dwarven god of greed." he says, matter of factly. "It's quite likely that they were simply targeting us because we clearly carry a valuable object, but we can not afford to take chances. If someone does have more specific information about what we carry, or who we are, then we must silence them." Ghoul swoops down to Caio's arm and squawks, ready for action.

     "Wait! That's not what I - !" Astrid begins to reach for the spring again to reply to the Commander. "Oh whatever!" hearing the remainder of his message and she turns her attention back to the situation within the room.

    "Oh, that's right! Abbathor... ugh! I knew that sounded familiar. They wouldn't have any sort of temple here," the dwarf states confidently before turning to the gnome next to her. "When and where are you supposed to meet this dwarf?"

"H-he didn't say," the gnome hesitantly admits, "only to bury it at the crossroads where we met, before dawn."

Shiva nods in Caio's direction. "I agree with Caio. We should hit them swiftly and forcefully."

When the gnome gives the details for the drop off, she sits and crosses her legs.  "Hm. The best way to root them out may be to lay a trap, then. We give Grace and her friend something to bury, then we wait for someone to come collect and follow them. The only blindspot is assuming that they don't know what the relic actually is."

     "I know you're eager to run off again and hit something, Shiva, but let's not get ahead of ourselves." Astrid gives the tiefling a look in attempt to rein in her emotions.

     Turning to Grace again, she inquires, "Did this dwarf tell you to target us specifically, or what you were suppose to grab? Also, how did you know exactly where to cut?!"

"I don't hear you complaining about my hitting things when it's keeping you alive." Shiva shifts herself to lean against a nearby wall and crosses her arms. "So you can suck me dry, sweety." A smile at the end of her vulgar comment affirms that she is merely poking fun. 

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     "I know you're eager to run off again and hit something, Shiva, but let's not get ahead of ourselves." Astrid gives the tiefling a look in attempt to rein in her emotions.

     Turning to Grace again, she inquires, "Did this dwarf tell you to target us specifically, or what you were suppose to grab? Also, how did you know exactly where to cut?!"

 
"Oh, he wouldn't shut up," Grace groans, rolling her eyes. "Loved the sound of his own voice. He said that 'Lorelei's Chalice' was in the box. All that Jelci had to do to find her way underneath it was peer between the gaps in the floorboards."

"Lorelai's Chalice? Who is Lorelai?" Alaris looks over to Ludomir with an undertone of frustration or anxiety.

Beinidict and Branok glance at one another with looks of confusion and Ludomir frowns at the question.

"I... I do not know," he admits. "Our Lady has many names. Vida. Frej. I have never heard her called Lorelei."

"Is Abbathor ancient enough to know one of the Lady's first names? Either way, we're gonna need to move soon if we want to act tonight." 

Ludomir shrugs noncommittally.

"The gods are timeless and our Lady's grace as fundamental as time itself. Might a dwarven trickster know what men first called her? Perhaps, but the divine doesn't typically interfere with the material directly."

"What does it mean when they are interfering?"

"That it's probably just people," Ludomir explains. "Cultists, or perhaps even just a conman in the guise of clergy. Gods don't tend to walk among us hiring thieves off the street."

Shiva ponders the words of the holy man, till the horrid, grinning face of the entity that gave her the black blade appears in her mind. 

Turning to her friends, anxiety is etched onto her expression. "Or something much worse than a conman. Something like The Collector."

That ominous prospect hangs in the air as the Septem make their move, deciding to go along with the strategy Shiva presented. Jelci and Grace pick their way through the darkened streets towards their designated dropoff and Caio tails them like a deathly shadow. Moving a hundred or so feet behind are the rest of the party, with Ghoul flying high above them ready to signal when the time was right to ambush or give chase. In Grace's hand is a rough burlap sack, a reliquary-sized lump bulging inside the fabric. As the pair reaches the crossroads where they'd first met the cultists, Caio vanishes into the night and waits with an arrow notched.