Nimue chews her lip as she ponders Caio's statement. She contemplates her cup, and for one moment, a lick of blue-white flame dances on the liquid inside. She smiles softly, as she meets his gaze. I wonder what's behind that icy wall... "Consider them quashed, then. Seems we have a common enemy now so, why waste the opportunity?" 

Not finding anything, or rather anyone interesting, Ling decides not to wait around for Shiva and heads back to the inn. That could take a while... good for her. Spotting her friends, she joins them but keeps quiet as she listens intently to Astrid's tale. None of it means anything to her, but she picks out the name of Clarissa's father. She lifts her eyebrows when Nimue reveals a relation between herself and the Morgensterns, but as far as Ling knows, the nobles are all related in some way or another anyway. Family killed one another all the time. But maybe he revealed something else to Nimue... "Your uncle, cousin or whatever, did he seem to have any special abilities? Know anything he shouldn't?" she probes.

Nimue 's smile drops slightly as Ling prods her. "Well, we were in the same room. But he wasn't physically in the room itself. It's like he was....projecting himself from somewhere else." She gives a mirthless laugh. "And if you count singlehandedly murdering an entire family of elite monster hunters in one night a special ability, he definitely has that." 

Her brow furrows. "He said his family has owned that house since before Belegdin." She glances at Caio, the only other elf in the room, hoping against hope that he may have heard of it somewhere in the past century. "I know the word, but it was never explained to me as a child. Maybe I was too young." 

"He wasn't there? Hm... Well I guess he had help with the murdering. There seem to be a lot of you, right? It's what you nobles do, kill each other. Or marry." She chuckles. "Clearly all of them prefer to hang out anywhere but home. Did you see anything else interesting while you were there? Posh place, I guess?"

Nimue keeps her expression guarded as Ling pops out her questions. "The atmosphere was a bit grim. Lots of velvet and dark wood. Nothing at all like what I grew up with. Not my taste." She frowns, giving Ling a cold stare. "I don't know what nobles you know, but that's not how things work in my family. Or, worked."   Her words trail off at the end, as she is once again reminded how Valentine Morgenstern ripped her family from her. "But I am going to kill him. I don't care that he's my cousin. He's not getting away with this murder."

"She's accustomed to human nobles, Nimue," Alaris replies with an easy grin. "Predictably unpredictable is probably the kindest way to describe them." They reach out and give Ling a strong one-armed hug. "Not that any of us feel particularly kindly towards them, eh?" They pause to swallow some of Andrei's homebrew ale before continuing, "Anyway... I have made arrangements for horses and supplies for the trip. If anyone needs any special stuff, that's on you. Anyone else hungry? I could eat a whole haunch of wild boar at the moment!"

Nimue smiles thinly at Ling, before turning her attention to Alaris. "I could eat." She punctuates the sentence by downing the rest of her ale. 

Andrei brings food and drink to Alaris's table and over pierogi and beer the tension soon passes. Astrid engrosses herself in her book, while Ling slips out to see to her own business, leaving Caio and Nimue mostly to themselves.

     After the early lunch, Astrid dives into her new book on all manner of undead. Around eight hours later a wide yawn signals the end of the cleric's studies for the evening and proceeds to her room to prepared for the coming journey. Once dressed for bed, she pulls out a bent copper spring from a pouch within her robe. Climbing atop the bed, she begins speaking into the thin piece of metal. 

Papa - Tomorrow we leave for Mingol Bar. News on possible traitors? 

Good news! Found two locations where Granny K may have disappeared... Love you both!

After a short wait, Astrid receives a reply from her father.

Dearest Astrid,

be careful. The Gap of Hirn is treacherous. Your intelligence was passed on, but treason is a delicate matter. Have patience.

- Papa

Alaris devours twice as much pierogi as anyone else, chewing with relish and enjoying the moment of calm after a hectic couple of days.

"I think I'm going to take a nap. Try not to get entangled with any more prominent townsfolk while I'm upstairs," they intone with a wink and a grin.

After a short sleep, the bogatyr wanders back downstairs and out to the stable, where Zadkiel snorts and stamps, a little impatient with the company she's been forced to keep.

"Yes, sweeting, I know. That's why I am here - let's go for a less hectic ride and get to know each other better."

Alaris weaves their way through the city to the closest gate and heads out into the countryside to let the restless horse gallop as she pleases. Few actual words are exchanged through their soulish link; just emotions of satisfaction and encouragement and joy and thankfulness.

They return to the Black Sheep, and Alaris dries and brushes her down before dismissing her to rest in her Celestial home. "Go rest on high, Zadkiel. I will summon thee tomorrow, love."

Alaris arises with the dawn, restless and ready to travel. When the rest of the troupe comes downstairs, they see the bogatyr sitting at their table, with their gear stacked neatly nearby.

The rest of the day passes slowly for Nimue. Over and over again, she replays her conversation with her newfound cousin and over and over again, she asks her grandmother why? Why had she never spoken of this, why was it so important to keep her in the dark, to keep this secret? She never gets a response, or at least, one that she's satisfied with. 

I know you're not telling me everything.

That evening, Nimue bids farewell to her new friends, her gaze resting on Caio's for a moment longer than the others. The walk through the city is not nearly as calming as it was this morning, and sleep is hard to come by. To keep her mind busy until sleep takes her, Nimue pulls out the book she purchased earlier that day. The subject is fascinating, and she sequesters away her learnings with her current knowledge.

The following morning, Nimue is woken suddenly to a voice in her head. A familiar voice. One that she'd only just acquainted herself with yesterday. Valentine. She lies there, and the implication of his words hit her. 

"I hope you've thought this through. They won't stop until you're dead now." She knows that he heard her. And she can just picture his face, filled with amused satisfaction and that mocking pity. I have to get to the Sheep. It takes her less than 10 minutes to gather her belongings, strapping her sword across her back, hanging the quiver and bow on her belt. She looks around one last time, to make sure she hasn't forgotten anything. "Go, Melda. You're wasting time."  The morning is pleasant, but the feeling inside her is anything but, anger and fear swirling about like a maelstrom. She practically breaks into a sprint as the Black Sheep comes into view, entering and letting the door slam behind her a little harder than perhaps intended. She spies Alaris and the others gathering across the room, and she walks quickly over. 

"I have some....news. Not good. It's bad. Morgenstern.....he took Ling."

Nikolai glances up from his breakfast, a piece of bacon halfway to his mouth as he levels an intense glare towards Nimue. "What do you mean he took her? When? And more importantly... why would Morgenstern have taken Ling?" There is an intense, deadly calm about Nikolai that Alaris recognizes as the calm before the storm. They would have but mere moments to try and calm the volatile tiefling before the city would erupt into chaos and death as he and Shiva would storm the gates and tear the man's home asunder to retrieve Ling from the clutches of that man. 

Nimue is silent for a moment. She looks Nik in the eyes, a cold warning in them. "I don't know. What I do know is that she's safe. For now." She sits at the table, leaning earnestly towards the angry Tiefling, understanding the look in his eyes all too well. "It's not a good idea. This man destroyed an entire clan of elite warriors with barely a thought. We don't stand a chance against him. Not yet."

There’s a sharp screech as Caio’s knife grinds too forcefully against the plate beneath his breakfast. “I knew that spawn of his knew something about her, something about all of us. None of this is coincidence. But,” he gives a long pained sigh. “Nimue is right. Going against them now would mean failure. That is unacceptable. Nik, you and Astrid both can make certain she’s safe with your divination, yes?” 

Shiva had slipped into the Black Sheep in the wee hours of the morning, as she often did. She'd greeted Andrei so many times in these twilight hours that she was beginning to consider helping the barman with his morning routine. But as she enters her room, the empty bed strikes her as a puzzling sight. Perhaps Ling had met someone who caught her fancy and decided to stay with them for the night. Perhaps she had her nature recognized in the wrong setting and was bleeding out in the dirt somewh-no.
No.

"She's probably perfectly safe and content. Likely with stories to share when I see her in the morning." And so, Shiva lays down, and sleep descends upon her.

Later in the morning, Shiva rouses herself, dressing and heading down into the common room. Seeing the group, she quickly registers that Ling isn't among them. Sitting down, she begins piling a plate, but a slow-growing panic is beginning in the pit of her stomach. This wasn't like Ling. She would have done something to let us know that she was ok. She would have-

Her head shoots up as the front door of the Sheep slams open, and Nimue's distressed state does not put her at ease. When the elf delivers her news, Shiva's mind screeches to a halt.

"He...took her? When!? We have to get her!! That mother****er, I'll eat his ******* heart!" Anyone looking closely enough at Shiva would see that, as she yells and digs her nails into the table, her nailbeds are beginning to take on a black hue.

     Astrid wakes feeling refreshed from the recent days activity, more so than a typical nights rest would give her. Her morning prayers are answered with additional wisdom from the messengers of Brightmantle. 

     Exiting the room, the dwarf wears a bright smile as she it looking forward to the journey back east that will bring her a bit closer to home. With the group mostly arrived already, she joins the others at the table. Her mood improves when she notices that Ling is not present and begins to make a plate for herself. After taking a bite of from a breakfast sausage, she starts to engage in some small talk. "Everyone ready for th-," however she's cut short as Nimue storms in. 

    Astrid sinks into her chair with shame having thought ill of the missing tiefling after hearing the elf's story. The dwarf glances about nervously as emotions flare - again, but this time Astrid completely understands the concern for their friend. 

     "Also," she begins in a mouse like manner, "Mr. Morgenstern may not even be there. He wasn't there yesterday and I would think he would not stay in town if he snatched Ling." She clears her throat and continues. "Let me reach out to Ling." She reaches into her component pouch to retrieve the bent copper spring and starts the ritual to save herself from expending her magical essence. However, about a minute into the casting she feels the eyes of everyone at the table on her, and instead just speaks a few words into the piece of metal. 

Ling, dear, this is Astrid. Where are you? Are you safe? Please reply. 

Elodia is pale and distant when she enters the tavern, her eyes still glassy and her cheeks pink. The hood of a beautiful red cloak is drawn over her face, the white fur of its trim long and, if one looks closely, glistening with liquid near the clasp. She holds nothing in her hands except for a small handbag the same color as her cloak, held close as she descends the steps into the Black Sheep's dining area and scouring for familiar faces. Seeing a group already gathered, she takes a breath to gather herself before heading towards them, a faint smile on her face that dissipates entirely as she draws near enough to hear the last few of Astrid's words.

 "Is everything alright?" She falters, looking uncomprehendingly between them,from the gamut of Shiva's seething fury to Nimue's cold calm. Reluctantly, she continues, "Someone took Ling? What's happened."

Nimue swallows as Elodia arrives at the table. Looking from the red-cloaked woman, to the furious tieflings across from her, perhaps it's not the best time to disclose her familial connection. But she may have no choice. She chooses her next words carefully.

"Yesterday, I learned of the location of the Undomiel massacre. A place called Haus Sternental." Her tongue trips over the unfamiliar word again. She glances at both Caio and Astrid before continuing. "Turns out that's where Morgenstern lives."

Alaris wraps their arms around Shiva with a strong embrace. "Breathe, think, don't lose it. I will be right beside you and out front a little if we have to raze this Morganstern's stronghold to bring Ling back, but if we just blow the front door down he may kill her before we make another move."