Alaris Forien steps back into the Black Sheep, trying to be inconspicuous in their tattered cloak and hood, but their size and distinctive walk are impossible to miss if you know them. They slide onto a barstool and ask for hot tea and bread. While they wait for the tea to brew, they stare at the shelves behind the bar, trying to work through the dilemma before them.

 Nikolai nods sagely as he listens to Astrid's brief tale, but he felt like there was more to the story; however, it was not his position to prod... not yet. He sighs deeply at her question. "That is a tale long in the telling, but I shall give you the brief version for now. Unlike you I have never had a place where I fit. Using your analogy, if everyone else is a cog... I would be like the sand that grinds the cogs down. It seemed like everything I touched broke. My father was a renowned wizard whose family had a history of consorting with the infernal. I was the first and only child of my mother's, she died while birthing me and my father blamed me. Or seemed to in any case. When I was old enough, he shipped me off to a library with a hefty donation to raise his child 'properly' without having to be in my physical presence. I was raised by masters of lore and knowledge. I learned so much there, more than I could ever imagine, but I didn't quite belong. I was too wild, too angry perhaps? I... learned things that drove me from the library and into a traveling caravan that happened to be coming through the city. They took me in without question, never put off by my strange appearance. They embraced me as one of their own and I traveled with them across the lands." He absently pats the Tarock deck in its holster. "I learned a lot from them. The caravan was assaulted several times by they monsters that haunt our lands. I decided once I had seen enough that I would hunt these monstrosities and eliminate them from the lands wherever I found them. I learned I got make good money doing this dangerous work and found others willing to do the same."

Around that time Ling and Caio return without Shiva, he holds his questions about Shivala for now and simply laughs at Caio. "Fair enough, my friend, fair enough. We have learned somethings and spoken about ourselves. I would gladly examine the cards again with any specific questions you all may have if you like? Also, where is Shivala?"

“Take a guess.” Caio responds, and makes a motion with two fingers like fangs biting into his neck. His eyes sit on the cards, skepticism blatant on his face, but he does eventually seem to think of a question. “Have you learned who these... entities are? The voices I mean. Where are they from? What do they want? If not, I think that’s where we should start.”

Nikolai sighs heavily. "She is toying with powers best not tampered with by mortals. Shivala is my best-friend, but..." he leaves the rest unspoken. He would not allow anyone, even Shiva, to go on a bloody rampage and harm the innocent, foolish villagers. He spots the figure taking a spot at the bar alone, recognizing the gait. "Alaris! Come join us!" Nikolai glances back at Caio. "I have already told you all, these voices are some sort of temporal disturbance that is aligned around this ring. They are a version of us from another plane of existence. Or, that is what I believe them to be based on my understanding. I have not asked the cards about the voices specifically, but I can should you like. As for what they want, what does this voice say to you? The one that speaks to me, he is me... that much is clear. There are many similarities, but differences as well. It feels... I suppose familiar? That might be a good way to explain it? He tries to temper my volatility, showing me visions of where he is from and the suffering he was witnessed there. It is a terrible world I feel. Genocide and divisiveness." He shakes his head. "Tell me what you wish to know, Caio, and I shall divine it."

“My voice seems quieter than all of yours. He does chime in ok occasion, but mostly I just feel him watch. Watch and remember. Visions of my own past seem to merge with his.” He looks distant for a moment. “Their passenger is what worries me.” he says, pointing to the paladin as they come to join the table. “You said he was taunting you, he seemed malicious, yes? That doesn’t sound like some Alaris from another plane.” He turns back to Nikolai. “Ask your cards who that was.”

Ling keeps chewing her lip as they walk, both ashamed of her failure to get anything out of Clarissa and wondering if there was ever anything to learn from her in the first place. Nikolai will roast me when I get back, ugh... She is grateful for Caio's comforting arm. When they enter the tavern, she opens her mouth to explain what happened, but Caio quickly steps up and saves her the embarrassment. "Insufferable, yes!" Ling echoes weakly, looking to the ceiling, the side and generally avoiding eye contact. After the conversation shifts to the voices, Ling adds, in a small voice: "I think mine is a demon. Figures."

Alaris stretches, then carries their bread and tea to the table with their friends.

"I don't know, Caio... it worries me too because I keep hearing you all speak of your 'passenger' as if there is only one... I have two, at least. There's a version of me... I believe that. They're more flamboyant and daring than me, but they're me. That one pokes fun at me, but the other... he japes and quips and titters as if our pain is his fine liqueur."

Nikolai listens intently to the descriptions and nods to Caio's words. "Give me a few moments." He lights his incense and proceeds with his ritual that lasts several minutes while the others converse among themselves. "Who is the owner of the voice that torments Alaris?"

     Astrid stands to scoot her chair over with the arrival of Alaris. Before taking her seat, she the moment to flag down a server to call for another ale. She sits there quietly as the others discuss the matter of the voices that each appear to be experiencing. She coughs a bit as the incense tickles her throat again. With Nikolai diving back into his card, she finally speaks up. "Well, it seems like we are all haunted by someone then. It seems I'm lucky, though. I know the who is the cause of the visions in my dreams." 

    She gives a nod to the server when her drink arrives, and soon takes a big gulp from the mug. It appears the dwarf is catching her stride as dwarves are commonly known to do. "So were things back 'home'?" she asks Alaris. "I would guess that something is up since you tried to slip off to the bar when you came in."

Nikolai flips over the three cards. He opens his eyes and examines them briefly. The Hanged Man; The Hierophant, Reversed; and The Magician, Reversed. Nikolai glances over the cards, then pauses as his head tilts slightly to one side as they land across The Magician. "I..." He sighs. "That is... interesting." He absently strokes his chin as he leans back further into the chair in contemplation. "The Hanged Man indicates that perhaps taking time for contemplation regarding potential actions is necessary. He knows that taking action is not always the best path forward. Now, The Hierophant reversed is about questioning what you do is the right thing at this very moment. And The Magician, reversed, is what makes this very complicated and interesting. You see... It can mean several things, but when taken in light of these." He points at the previous cards. "And the question, I believe he is saying to be wary of manipulation, of being deceived for selfish gain by another." He pauses and rubs his forehead. "This could mean that either these voices, if they truly are another version of us, perhaps they are trapped here and are seeking to deceive us for their own purposes? Or... this could be that someone else is involved in all this and they have utterly deceived us." He thinks back to some of his previous reading this night. "I do not think the voices themselves are what is deceiving us, but... Alaris, you say you have heard a second voice? I worry there is a player in the game of which we are unaware. Ling! The first night in Temnitsa you saw something or someone, yes? A black-winged figure? And then you saw him again in a vision, yes? Something about a bell? He was in that vision was he not?"

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     She gives a nod to the server when her drink arrives, and soon takes a big gulp from the mug. It appears the dwarf is catching her stride as dwarves are commonly known to do. "So were things back 'home'?" she asks Alaris. "I would guess that something is up since you tried to slip off to the bar when you came in."

Alaris turns to the dwarf and smiles, but the smile doesn't last long. Sighing, they slump down next to Ling and put their head on the tiefling girl's shoulder. Their shoulders shake for a moment and their breath hitches, then they swallow hard and reply, "Orcs are raiding Bednik from the south, picking off kids and taking them off somewhere in the countryside. Kids like I used to be."  A long pause, then, "I don't know what to do - I took an oath to protect folk like them... AND folk like us --" Alaris gestures to the rest of the group.

"Whichever direction I go, someone suffers -- what am I even doing here?"

     Astrid wrinkles her nose. "Bah! I've had to deal my share of orcs in Azgaraz. Always coming up from the south. We finally managed to send them off... for the most part. Still were a bit of a problem. " She sips her drink to think on the situation. "We do have a couple of days before needing to escort your group to Littlewood. Maybe we can turn over a few more stones tomorrow," she says with a hint of excitement for the prospect, seeming to be eager at having the opportunity to put these creatures in their place once again. 

"Yes, let's retire for the night and proceed with things tomorrow. We have had a very long few days. Unless you have more information you'd like to seek out, Caio?"

The gloomy elf mulls over what he's heard. He almost seems disappointed to hear that Bednik's problems were simple orcish raiders. Caio much prefers more esoteric prey. That being so, their current paranormal conundrum is just as frustrating in its own way. "These cards are never clear, and when they are they only point to things we could have assumed ourselves. Perhaps when they prove more concrete I'll come to you with more questions, Nikolai. Thank you, but for now I'll pass." With that, the ranger stands abruptly and stalks off to his room.

Raising her eyebrows at Alaris' unusually cuddling, she asks: "Did someone happen to offer you anything to eat or drink in Bednik, perhaps?" She chuckles, then continues after Alaris has spoken. "You can't save everyone, you know. There's no pay in saving the world." Quietly watching the exchange between Caio and Nik, she gives the elf a little wave as he stalks off. 

    Astrid drains the last bit of her ale and stands. "Seems to be time to call it a night.  It's been a long day. " She begins toward her room, then pauses as she passes by Alaris. She rests a hand on their shoulder and smiles. "Maybe think on who needs our help the most..?" she suggests then continues on to her room. "Have a good night's rest."

A few hours later, the first glimmers of sunlight begin to peek out from behind Unus as the moon sets, revealing the sun once more. Across town, Shiva's Mistress retires as her vampiric blood drives her to seek shelter from the day and Shiva is free to return to the Black Sheep.

Shiva's steps echo as she walks the pathway back to the Black Sheep, the eerie silence of the fading night hanging in the air. Occasionally, she stops to stretch and let out a heavy yawn, totally exhausted from the exertions of the evening. Now happily sore and satiated, she longed for nothing more than to throw herself into bed beside Ling and sleep. But her evening hadn't just been one of impassioned fornication, she had learned valuable information from her Mistress that would be crucial to the group's future decisions. Finally stepping into the tavern, she is horrified to spot Andrei, awake and preparing the bar for the morning's patrons. "Gods, is it really that late?" She whispers to herself. As she walks past the barkeep, she gives a small salute and quickly makes her way upstairs, sure that her gait and the state of her hair was giving her away. Stepping into the bedroom to find Ling sleeping peacefully, she disrobes and gets into bed as quietly as she can manage. Less than a minute after her head hits the pillow, the world slips away as her mind and body come to rest. 

Waking up to dazzling sunlight flooding the room, Shiva groans as she brings herself upright. Slowly becoming more alert, she looks beside her to see that Ling is gone. Unsure of what time it could be, she dresses and makes her way downstairs. Spotting the group at a table, she makes her way over as they casually talk over their breakfast. 

The moment Shiva joins the table, Caio begins bluntly, “Can’t say I was surprised when you vanished last night. I trust we weren’t mistaken to leave you there in the clutches of the night?” Meanwhile, Ghoul gobbles up the scraps of breakfast from the elf’s plate.

Sitting down at the table, Shiva smiles as she reaches out for a clean plate and begins to pile it with food. "No, you were not. But I also uncovered quite a bit of information that will help us. Even a new way of discovering what we've come from." With this last part, she looks to Ling and Nikolai, a spark of hope in her eyes.