It doesn't take Alaris long to find the abbess, who has come looking for the source of the disturbance caused by Shiva's arrival.

"Alaris?" She asks. "What on earth is going on out there?"

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It doesn't take Alaris long to find the abbess, who has come looking for the source of the disturbance caused by Shiva's arrival.

"Alaris?" She asks. "What on earth is going on out there?"

"One of my squad uncovered a sex slavery operation run by Norscans of the Tribe of the Wolf. Women shackled to beds, imprisoned in filth and forced to endure the worst kind of oppression. ****, over and over and over. Does the Abbey or the Volkfelder know anything of this?" Alaris describes the area of the city that Shiva recounted. "Do any of the abbey's servants live or hail from that neighborhood and perhaps know something of the activities in the area?"

Seraphina sighs sadly.

"Slavery is anathema to the people of Littlewood, but Norscan raiders have indeed been a plague on our southern coast. I don't have any knowledge of this specific group, but downriver is the poorer side of town. I'd hazard a guess that your friend stumbled upon them outside the walls? One of the maids would likely know somebody who lives on the fringes."

     Astrid clutches tiefling's hand and gives it a motherly pat with the other. "I know you're  meaning well, Shiva," she says nodding along sympathetically. "Just remember you can't help anyone if you go and get yourself killed... And we'll definitely do what we can to get these girls freed," she adds reassuringly.

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Seraphina sighs sadly.

"Slavery is anathema to the people of Littlewood, but Norscan raiders have indeed been a plague on our southern coast. I don't have any knowledge of this specific group, but downriver is the poorer side of town. I'd hazard a guess that your friend stumbled upon them outside the walls? One of the maids would likely know somebody who lives on the fringes."

 
"Just point me in the right direction, Seraphina, I beg you. Love cannot exist without freedom, but I would deal with these Norscans without drawing undue attention to the Abbey if I can." Alaris pleads with the abbess, anxious energy coming off their frame in waves.

"Ask Emily, in the kitchens," Seraphina tells Alaris with a wan smile of sympathy. "Gently, mind. She's a kind young lass - perhaps innocent of such dark things - but she's grown up downriver. She will likely know who will know."

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"Ask Emily, in the kitchens," Seraphina tells Alaris with a wan smile of sympathy. "Gently, mind. She's a kind young lass - perhaps innocent of such dark things - but she's grown up downriver. She will likely know who will know."

Alaris hugs Seraphina with a smile. "I promise to mind my manners," and then rushes off for the kitchens, following their nose to find the right way.

"Emily? Is there an Emily here? The Abbess suggested that you might be able to help me with some information."

Emily is a timid looking halfling maid who works in the scullery of the abbey. She immediately lowers her head when approached by the towering knight.

"Yes, m'lord. As you wish, m'lord," she mumbles in an accent typical of the servant class.

Alaris smiles and waves, before asking. "My friend ran into several big thick humans with wolf tattoos downriver outside the walls, Emily. The Abbess says you have family in that neighborhood and you might know if there are only a few of these fellows or if a lot of them have moved in lately. Can you help us?"

Emily pales a little and glances furtively up at Alaris.

"Me and mine and anyone with 'alf an ounce of sense in their 'eads steer clear of the Norscans, m'lord."

"Of course you do, dear. You're smarter than my friend," Alaris smiles back disarmingly. "Two questions, and I'll leave you alone. Are there a few or a lot of them to steer clear of, and can you tell me where you steer clear of?"

"Enough," Emily snorts, before glancing back at Alaris as though waiting for a reprimand that never comes. "Too many for me ma's taste, that's for sure. They come and go and move around. Ne'er in the same place for too long. If they stuck around, the watch'd shut the place down eventually. Sigrid's too smart for that."

"Thank you, Emily. With the Lady's blessing, there will be a few less of them to avoid after today." Alaris nods and hurries back to the group, troubled by Emily's seeming familiarity with this Sigrid -- a Norscan if Alaris had ever heard of one. When they arrive back with the others, they say, "Emily says the Norscan numbers are small enough to stay beneath the watch's notice, and that they only seem to stay settled in one location for a few days, again to avoid notice. Let's go see if we can hurry them along to their rest." 

They pause for a moment, then continue, "She knew one of them by name: a Sigrid. Sounded like she thought Sigrid was a leader among them. Halflings befriending slavers... Strange days."

Downriver, outside the city walls, Caio lurks in the slums, carefully watching the Ravagers' Rest from the shadows beneath the low-hanging eaves of a thatched building up the muddy trail that passes for a street. It is after dusk and all is quiet. The steady whoosh of the water lapping against the river bank is calming and peaceful. Nobody has entered or left the building since the inquisitor began his watch.

High overhead circles Ghoul. The cormorant's avian silhouette glides silently through the air, only periodically visible when he passes in front of the brilliant orb of the moon. Caio's familiar caws once when he sees Alaris, Astrid and Shiva approach, alerting his master to their presence.

Shiva walks swiftly towards the Ravagers' Rest, her expression and intentions black as pitch. With Alaris at her side and Astrid picking up the rear, she knows that things will go differently this time. These men will die, and these women will be free. As the building comes into view, the voice of her Other rings through her mind for the first time in hours. 

"Death almost feels like a mercy, they deserve so much worse."  "Yes. Perhaps Enbarr can eat them. Or maybe I can, the demon tried to make me before." "I wonder what would happen to their souls?" 

"With any luck, damnation." 

Reaching the doorstep of the structure, she stomps forward. "LA MORT D'ABORD AUX VILS ET AUX LÂCHES!!" She puts all of her strength behind a kick that she has no doubt will smash the door to splinters. Her leg flies forward, and it meets no resistance. It passes through the form of the door, and the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as she begins to fall forward. 

The illusion begins to disappear, and she can now see a dark pit driven into the ground beneath her. Just catching herself in time, she throws herself backwards and lands on her ass in the dirt. The rest of the illusion disappears, and the Ravagers' Rest fades out of existence. Panic sets in almost immediately. "****. ****!!! Caio!! Can you see anything?"

"Undead." he replies as he swoops in to join the party. The pools of shadow in his eyes swirl imperceptibly as he scans the bottom of the pit. "Several of them, waiting to to make lunch of whatever would-be hero falls down into this pit." He stalks around the edge of the hole, seeking any trace of where the slavers may have gone. Quite quickly he spots a muddy trail leading into the water. "There." he points with one slender finger before turning back to the others. "We may need a boat."

Having narrowly avoided the trap, Shiva adds this trap to the list of things that the Norscans will suffer for.

Standing, she looks out towards the river. "They couldn't have gotten far. We could ride along the bank till we see the boat. Speaking of which, is there anything else that you could tell me about nightmares? They can't fly can they?" She lets out a joyless chuckle before continuing. "Ari, your horse is divine, can she actually fly?" 

“They can actually.” he says flatly. “That’s not a bad idea.”

Shiva stops speaking mid-sentence and turns to Caio in disbelief. "I'm sorry, what? Énbarr can fly?! Then we should just fly over the river till we catch up with those ****ers and rain down on them like death from above."

"You know I can fly for short periods, but Zadkiel does not have that ability. Besides, I'm not going anywhere until the restless dead have been destroyed."

The bogatyr strides forward, grim countenance staring down into the pit and looking for all the world like they're about to heap in and vanquish them singlehandedly.