Through the fog, Nimue can feel the icy hot presence of this...…demon fade to a gentle flickering flame, matching the other Tieflings. The blue-white fire returns, rushing up her arm and tousling her hair before disappearing again. Seems I have his approval as well. Thank you. Knowing that her actions are pleasing to Aralath fills her with a renewed sense of purpose, and a resolve she hadn't known was fading until now. After so many years of fruitless searching, perhaps she was finally on the right path. 

She steps forward carefully, closer to one of the quietly flickering presences she can feel in the fog. Nimue says nothing, keeping vigilant. The demon could return at any moment. And they had to be ready if it did. But for now, at least, all was stillness.  

Nikolai lets out a heavy sigh of relief as Shiva reverts back to herself and falls unconscious. He starts forward to catch her, but Alaris is faster. He pats them on the shoulder with a nod of thanks. “Get her inside, quickly, before anyone comes snooping around. I will pay for the room.”

Caio maintains his sentry position until he hears Nikolai's words. Upon getting the confirmation of their success, the fog rapidly recedes into the shadows. He walks over quickly and assists Alaris as they bring their unconscious friend inside. "I don't know exactly what you all did, but well done."

The flickering presence near her materializes into Nikolai as the fog recedes. Her irises continue to glow white as she maintains her supernatural awareness, tracking the faint celestial and fiendish presences around her in the form of her for-now companions. But she would pursue those questions later. For now, she follows the group inside, hanging back as they carry their unconscious friend through the tavern doors. I don't want to intrude. Be an unnecessary and unwanted burden. These people had no reason to trust her. They had no reason to want her around anymore. But her curiosity was growing. And Caio had promised to take her with them to the library in the morning. She smiles inwardly, looking forward to the endeavor, and the new secrets it might reveal.  

The pair watchmen watch the receding fog cloud warily, but when no apparent danger emerges from within one shrugs to the other and go about their business dispersing the onlookers.

     With the fog clearing Astrid breathes a sigh of relief. "Much bett-... Oh!" She notices Shiva out cold in Alaris's arms. Following along with concern back into the inn, she adds, "Yes, let's get her to a bed and I'll take a look at her... Anyone else hurt?" 

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     With the fog clearing Astrid breathes a sigh of relief. "Much bett-... Oh!" She notices Shiva out cold in Alaris's arms. Following along with concern back into the inn, she adds, "Yes, let's get her to a bed and I'll take a look at her... Anyone else hurt?" 

"I think no... Worried, confused, and upset but unhurt. Would you grab Hope's Edge for me, Astrid, please? I want to get Shiva settled." Alaris smiles a thank-you to the dwarf before carrying the tiefling to their room. Looking to Caio, they murmur, "Am I crazy or has she seriously packed on muscle since... Well... This morning??"

Caio shakes his head. "No, it seems there are some lasting effects of that transformation. Let us hope that her altered physicality is the only thing that remains."

As the fog begins to dissipate and the chaos dies down, Elodia follows Astrid's guidance and delicately lifts a hand to her nose; it comes away tinted with traces of scarlet she hadn't intended, freshly staunched by the cleric's spell. For a moment she stares at it in wonder; it's been so long since she's had to reach that far into her magic for something other than her own pleasures it's almost a new sensation.  Or perhaps it is. Smoothly, she prestidigitates the line of blood away and turns to thank Astrid, only to see her headed alongside a trail of others in the clearing fog back towards the inn.

For a long pause she watches them go, well aware she might make things worse but also reluctant to leave. Instead, she turns toward Nikolai, still with her in the mist, whose hostility is still a question but whose words at least speak of something she's familiar with. "Don't concern yourself with that; I'll pay for it. Get her well."

     Astrid nods and shuffles back to where the paladin's weapon lies. The length of the glaive makes for an awkward carry with the stature of the dwarf. The handle knocks against the ground multiple times as she turns and hurries back into the inn. In the room, she rests the weapon in the corner before approaching the bed where Shivala rests.

     The cleric begins a cursory examination. With a few pokes and prods to Shivala's arms and legs notices the increased muscle mass in the tiefling. Continuing, she looks for signs of some sort of wound where a toxin could have been introduced.  "I did not get a good look at her transformation. I just caught a glimpse of the maw of teeth before the fog rolled in. Did anyone get a better look to see what may have taken her?" She looks up hopefully to the others that rushed to her aid. "Something from those bat creatures?" 

    Placing one hand on Shivala's forehead and the other on her timepiece, Astrid performs a quick prayer to her god. (In dwarvish)  "Brightmantle, soothe her body. Make well what ails her." A radiant blue energy focuses in her hand and then washes down her patient's body. 

Shiva lies still on the bed, dreaming of that which few mortal eyes have ever witnessed. She dreams of a thousand battles fought across a hundred worlds. Of unrelenting and monstrous warriors cutting through their foes with fiery hatred and precision, calling upon the power of their demonic nature to strengthen them. She dreams of eternal conflicts and conquests, of creatures of such multiform complexities that they seem to be the artifice of some forgotten god's ennui, rather than living things.

Her perspective flits from one battle to another, peering down at the carnage and havoc from an omniscient view. Till she finds herself standing in the middle of one such raging battle, and surveys the demonic warriors and their adversaries, who appear to be some order of purple elves this time. Following the action, she is startled to turn around and be faced with herself. But not quite. The horrid face of the demon greets Shiva, and she gasps in disbelief. "I became you, didn't I!?"  The demon shakes its head, and brings a clawed hand up to Shiva's face. She flinches, but allows the demon to caress her cheek. The clawed hand suddenly sinks into her face, and before she can react, the demon steps entirely into her, disappearing as it is assimilated. She draws in a shaky breath, then exhales confidently, as comprehension comes to her. "There isn't a "You". There is only me. And the warriors that came before me."

With this, the dream abruptly ends. And Shiva opens her eyes.

Nimue watches the proceedings in the room from the hall, not wanting to make a burden of herself on these people she had just met. Perhaps that explained why she often traveled alone. Making friends is difficult when you have a calling such as hers. Always moving, never settling. Relationships never lasted. She'd lost track of the myriad romances she had slipped in and out of as she searched for her family's redemption. 

"Oh, hush thee, my baby. The night is behind us, and black are the waters that rustle so green...." she sings her grandmother's lullaby softly. She trails her voice into silence as Shiva opens her eyes. 

Nikolai looks up from Shiva's form with concern written across his face as Elodia addresses him. His face shifts quickly from a look of suspicious concern to one of thankful resignation as he nods. "Thank you."

As the group crowds in and asks questions, Nikolai turns to address Astrid first. "No... this was something different, something infernal. This was... I don't know. I was able to dispel her gigantic growth with my magics, but nothing more. She continued to rage, the claws and visage did not go away until Ling's magic distracted her. Then she seemed to calm and fade to normal. She has never done this before." He turns abruptly as he hears her stirring and sees her eyes fluttering open. "Shivala? Is it you? Are you okay?" There is immediate and easily recognizable concern etched all over Nikolai's face.

"Nikolai?" She's groggy as she wakes, but as she recollects recent events her eyes go wide and she shoots up in bed. "Is everyone ok? Dear gods, I could see it all...but I couldn't stop myself." Her eyes become misty as her voice cracks with emotion, "I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry." She begins to rock back and forth ever so slightly as she cries, quietly repeating her apology like a mantra.

"There's no need to be. No one was hurt. There may be a new local legend to scare children into behaving, but no harm was done." Caio's rarely seen softness is fully present as he reassures his friend. Ghoul hops up onto the bed and extends his gangly neck to rest his beak on her lap. "You've always wielded your emotions like a weapon, Shiva. Perhaps in light of all our recent trauma, you've just discovered a new edge to the blade. If you were still present inside yourself, then there could be a way to control it."

Nikolai approaches gingerly and takes a seat next to Shiva. He looks questioningly after her before reaching his hand out towards his. "No one was hurt. Can you tell me what happened, I would like to help you in case this ever happens again, but.... I'm at a loss as to what this was."

The surprise of Caio's tenderness is enough to soothe Shiva, and she regards him and Nik with a smile and a sniffle. Reflecting, she thinks back to her dream, remembered with absolute clarity.

"Yes. I dreamt while I was out. I saw....impossible things, things I can hardly describe. But the dream showed me that what I became wasn't something controlling me. It was pure anger and instinct, lashing out in order to keep me alive. I feel like some dormant part of me has woken up. I feel..."

Trailing off, she raises a hand off of the bed and stares at it for a moment. A strong current of electricity then begins running between her fingers, buzzing loudly and giving off a cobalt glow. With a twitch, she dismisses it.

"I feel stronger."

Elodia watches the others disappear into the Black Sheep before following, casting a look towards retreating backs before heading in the other direction back to the downstairs bar area. There will be answers said within the confines of that room she has no doubt, but the questions being asked won't be the ones she came here looking for answers for, so she reluctantly acquiesces that the responses are something she'll have to let come in time. Patience has, thankfully, always been one of her virtues, and she's grateful for it now as she resumes the seat she'd abandoned just moments ago at a table still laden with mugs, ready to commit the utterly dramatic, perplexing chain of events that just happened to memory so she can relay them later to someone who might better understand. She is no stranger to the idea that hate can accomplish many things, but a hatred of Breannians that runs that deep is something more. 

They certainly aren't dull.

Contemplative, she watches the stairs for the reemergence of a familiar figure, Alaris' promise still fresh in her ears. She has no choice now but to put her faith in it - in nobility, and knighthood.

Satisfied that Shiva seems to be in good health, Nimue returns to the downstairs bar, making a beeline for the drink she'd abandoned a few moments before. She pauses slightly, at the sight of Elodia sitting alone at the table covered in half-empty mugs. "Well, don't be rude! Introduce yourself." She closes her eyes in exasperation at her grandmother's words. Most of the time, her voice is a welcome reprieve, someone she can confide in when life turns unexpectedly. But not in this situation. Brushing her hair over her ear, she sits back in her chair, and regards the rather beautiful woman before her. Well, certainly by most standards. Perhaps even by mine....

She takes a small sip of her wine, noticing her trance-like gaze at the stairs Nimue had just come down. "Waiting for someone?"

Elodia looks up as the beautiful elven woman sits back down, smiling at her. "You, as the gods would have it. You're Nimue, yes?" It had, in reality, only been a few moments ago that Nikolai had mentioned to Ling what she was there for, but with adrenaline still fading from her veins it feels like days. She tries to summon back the knowledge as if from far away. "From the way Nikolai spoke, you were new to their company. Was this," she waves vaguely to indicate the situation before closing her hands around a full mug that has long since gone cool, "much the same?" Or is it truly just Breannians? Me?