Allen and the samothauress he had briefly met earlier that day navigated the narrow back-streets of Viarosa, steadily making their way towards the city's keep. After Ser Aquila and his eastern friend's arrest, Allen ran back to the hostel to retrieve the only other order member he knew. Luckily, it appeared that she knew exactly what to do. Kinara led, with long and purposeful strides; she seemed to pay no attention to her surroundings, totally absorbed by her thoughts. Allen practically had to jog to keep pace with her. He wondered how she knew the way in such a big city, or if she did at all. Having been raised in relative isolation, Allen wasn't used to being surrounded by buildings, or navigating such confusing roads. He'd gotten lost several times while looking for Ser Aquila, despite the samothauress's directions.

Eventually the pair came to a space between buildings, a fountain for the city's poor to draw water from tucked in a corner of the small plaza. Kinara made as if to keep going, intending to get to the city centre as fast as possible.

"'scuse... Excuse me, Miss Kinara?" Allen panted, his hands on his knees. "Is it alright if we take a little break here?"

"It can't be that much further. If Lucian was arrested with Nima, I fear they would have brought him before the Vilveres," Kinara replied, continuing to speedwalk despite the boy's protest. "If we don't hurry to the keep now, th-they'll-"

"Please Miss Kinara? We've been walking for hours. Plus," Allen added, standing up straight with a smile on his face "if Ser Aquila is as tough as my [i]Maç[/i] told me than I'm sure that we have nothing to worry about. He certainly didn't seem worried when they arrested him."

Kinara slowly came to a standstill, raising her fingers up to press into her temples. She did not appear to be angered with the boy, and yet there was a palpable and thick aura of tension around her, were he to draw nearer to her. She weakly nodded to Allen, gradually sinking to her knees, leaning against the stone wall of the closest building -- a small bakery, by the look of the wooden sign overhead. 

"I have lived to see what the Vilvere is capable of," she muttered. "They have slain dragons without hesitation for no other reason than that they were dragons. They have skirmished with our Order, found an excuse to make war with us for what they call [i]heresy[/i]; they slander us before the Divine Sees and the nobility of these kingdoms. And they devour it as if it were a suckling pig. Hence, in this ancient and accursed city, the debased cretins calling themselves highborne make a show of their 'love' for the [i]Gods they would sell for a room flooded with aurums,[/i] and along with the Vilveres, they oppress and harass Aquilans whensoever they chance upon the opportunity." By now, she was speaking with particularly viscous venom in her voice...

Allen sat down and stared quietly at Kinara while she spoke, absentmindedly fidgeting with the ring on his finger. He knew who the Vilvere were, but only so much as to know they were extremely secretive and that they hunted dragons. Allen didn't fully understand why the samothauress was so incensed, but he knew better than to ask right away. The pair passed some minutes in silence before he spoke up.

"My [i]Maç[/i] said that there're plenty of Holy Orders that don't get along with the Aquilans. Do you despise them all as you do the Vilveres?"

"We are reviled because we believe our Lord of Light to have had a son by a mortal woman he loved, whom he translated into Heaven, and apotheosized. Not every Holy Order belonging to those who proclaim orthodoxy actively persecute us. I cannot say I consider them to be enemies. But the [i]Vilveres.[/i] In Rosiland the Vilveres [i]defend[/i] those coal-skinned, slavekeeping monsters. To their credit their defense of slavery is not direct, and they do not guard estates, yet they have made war with us on behalf of the nobility, and so defend it by proxy. That [i]cannot[/i] be forgiven. Not by myself, not yet. For in Rosiland, slaves are beneath the cattle -- taken from good lives by manstealers, and disciplined by beatings, by starvation, and by far more malicious violation of the mind and body. They are not like the handservants of Aesernia or Tarraconia, treated at least as men and elves. Not even as the eunuchs in Marrakech, Cathion, and Sepsouten, seen as loyal and trustworthy. [i]As animals,[/i]" she explained. She was visibly shivering as she digressed on the subject of Rosilandic slavery, her fists clenching tight.

She looked up at Allen with a stern grimace, though not one that seemed to be directed towards him. "No, I do not feel hate towards the other Orders within 'orthodoxy.' They have done right by their beliefs, and have not compromised themselves the way the Vilveres have. Were they any worse than what they are, one would not be in the wrong for mistaking them for a fringe movement of Radicalist heretics, as the Order of Witch Hunters are considered."

Allen examined the samothauress carefully while she spoke; he noticed the fire in her voice and her aggressive stance, yet there was pain in her eyes. He dropped his gaze to the cobblestones in front of him. "You were a slave." His words barely a whisper, still they seemed to echo off the walls of the buildings surrounding them. 

Kinara did not immediately reply, raising a hand to cover her face as she let off a deep sigh. Taking a moment to cool off, the faintest of smiles tugged at the corner of her lips as she steadily sat up straight. "You're more perceptive than most, I have to admit. Most outside the order assume that I am merely a passionate abolitionist, when I do speak of Rosiland," she finally replied. "But, I am curious. How exactly did you put that together?"

Allen looked up again, relieved to see that Kinara wasn't angry, and that she was even smiling a bit. Pleased that his assumption had been correct, a small smirk came to his face, before he remembered the seriousness of the subject at hand. "You're passionate to be sure, but your eyes - they [i]know[/i] too much, they've seen firsthand the horrors of which you spoke." He cocked his head to the side slightly. "My next guess would have been that you had friends and family who were taken as slaves, or perhaps children."

The samothauress slowly shook her head, pulling her knees up to her chest and adjusting her position against the wall, staring dolefully down the street. "No, I haven't any children, nor am I married -- there isn't anybody of my kind and faith. Nobody who would feel the same," she replied. "I was taken as a child, along with my mother and father. And years of agony and futility in Shadow Elven fields went by before the Order raided Kylesha. Lucian himself was among them, and it was he who rescued me and brought me into the fold. I owe him everything. My service in the Order is the least I can give."

"Let's go get him then," Allen rose to his feet and walked towards the wall, offering his hand to Kinara.. "I feel plenty rested now."

Seeing the boy was ready to continue, she reached up to clasp his hand and rose to her hooves. "Then onwards, the Keep should not be far from us," she said. She gestured straightaways down the street they were walking, and started off on her way with Allen in tow.

However, just as she had picked her pace back up into a light jog, a familiar voice cried out to her. "Kinara! You need not worry, for we are safe and free!" Stopping in her tracks and turning to the source of the voice, she sighted Lucian, with the others in tow (plus a few additions she did not immediately recognize). Almost right away, however, she noticed that the paladin was much the worse for wear, his tabard and face covered in grime. Seeming to forget Allen's presence, she hastened to her Grandmaster, her expression filled with dread.

"Lucian! What did they do?!" she exclaimed, clasping the sides of his face, "What did the Vilveres do to you?" she repeated. She frantically started looking his features over for any cuts, bruises, or other unnatural blemishes, picking at his matted, muddied beard and hair as she searched for any. more subtle, head wounds, or for some trace of blood or other dried fluid.

Lucian smiled warmly, chuckling as he reached to put Kinara's hands away from his face and back down to her sides. Locking eyes with the slightly taller samothauress, he could see a particular fear in her that he knew well. And so he spoke calmly, and didn't yet release her fidgeting hands. "I am not wounded, and this dirt is from my attempt to help the slave-soldier heal properly. You know how the Easterners can be about medicine and restoration magics. I tell you, it was a mighty struggle to capture the sacrificial rodent," he jested. "I am unharmed, though apprehended on false charges of arson and blasphemy. The godless own this city, and so what to them is blasphemy is anything that should discomfort their own sensibilities, but this is besides the point," he explained. "The Chevaleresse-Lieutenant was more than sensible, and has agreed to dedicate forces towards investigating the matter of Htraknu." He saw her expression change from one of dread to one more mixed; confused and angry would be simple and precise.

"I dedicated myself," Angela corrected him, her voice giving away her frustration. "I can't give you anything else."
Angela was clad in armour more befitting a knight now, instead of the robes or light armour she wore beforehand. In addition to her padded blue and steel tabard, she protected her arms and upper torso with darkened steel plate armour while a set of dark tassets protected her thighs. Finally, a pair of solid leather boots and steel greaves protected everything below both her knees.
She carried her dragon-skull helmet under her arm; red and black plumage erupted from the back of it, reminding many who saw it of Aesernian commanders way back in the Empire's heyday. In its place, a small, chequered shawl was wrapped around her head. Its ends were tattered and torn from what looked like years of use.

"So." she began again, looking up at the Samothaur with disdain. She was at least seven inches shorter than Kinara, though she didn't seem to be bothered by that fact. "You're another heretic in 'the Grandmaster's' band?" Angela scoffed. "They really [i]are[/i] scraping the barrel, it seems."

"If someone who could drill an arrow between your eyes before your sword cleared leather is considered 'scraping the barrel,' then yes. And that doesn't even begin to describe what his other Apostles could do," Sorano remarked. "Or what he is capable of, for that matter. Do not test the Son of Your--"

"That will be enough Sorano. The last time Kinara was underestimated, she proved she could more than carry her weight in Tiraști. Heaven forbid we battle another horde of Infernum spawn, but I suspect the Vilvere will come around," Lucian replied. He released Kinara's hands and waved the Sun Elf away, before gesturing to the Knight Vilvere. "Chevaleresse-Lieutenant Angela Kõivli. She will be accompanying us to the North, where we will hopefully recover Bjorn, or whatever the man left behind."

Angela chose to avoid escalating their argument; while she despised everything these heretics stood for, there was little point antagonising her allies further. At least for now. As she was introduced, she gave those around her a small nod. Those who weren't part of the Knights Solanian, anyhow. "So, he was one of the survivors from Krossavik..." Angela felt as though she'd been stabbed in the gut every time she even thought of that attack. 

"Indeed. One of three, and the most knowledgeable on Htraknu. Which is why it is imperative that we locate him or his remaining notes and accounts. If Htraknu is hunting for the means of slaying Shaituns and Gods, surely Bjorn would know where objects of such power exist, or how to locate them if he doesn't already have a location," Sorano replied.

"I've been into the Spine before." Angela added. "If that's truly where this Bjorn was, I suggest we only bring a small number of us." In her mind, that suggestion made sense - there would be fewer mouths to feed and it would be easier for them to remain hidden. "The others who stay behind can help in other ways, gathering the support of local towns."

"I have already sent forth calls to arms to the nobility and royalty of the Western Kingdoms. Many of whom are past clients of the Order's monster and bounty hunting services," Lucian replied. "And I have already committed the Order's full might to investigating Htraknu's activities and gathering support. I believe that the influence campaign will therefore work itself out. What we need to do is attempt to beat Htraknu at his own game. As Sorano stated, primordial and otherwise legendary objects of power clearly exist with the capability of stealing into the realms of the Gods and Shaituns. We must secure them before the Father of Dragons can claim them for himself."

"A truly flawless plan," Gottmar finally grunted, pushing his way through the group to confront Lucian, his ever-present glare intensifying. "Certainly, we should not seek out and destroy our actual enemy - let us chase after trinkets and curios instead!" He shook his head in disgust, turning away from the knight. "Every moment we spend listening to this heretic brings us closer to defeat. We find the dragon, and we hit it until it dies. A simple method, but a proven one."

"Do you not think the Vilvere Order has already tried that?" Angela sighed. "As much as I despise this heretic, he has a point - another dead god is bad news for us. Besides, all you'll accomplish is your own death. You're no good to me dead..." The knight slowed down her speaking and rubbed her forehead; she could feel a headache coming on. Maybe Gottmar's statement was more stupid that she thought.

The Apostles and their Grandmaster appeared equally befuddled by Gottmar's plan of action, with Sorano seeming visibly offended by it. As Lucian was about to speak, he fell silent, and glanced away, raising a hand to the side of his head. "...the Lady of Schemes," he mumbled under his breath. "Were we to follow the Witch Hunter... the Godslayer now would merely outsmart us before we had time to strike." The paladin spoke lowly, staring at nothing in particular. He turned mournfully to Angela and inquired, "Do you feel as I do?"

Angela could only mumble as she nursed her head; it suddenly felt heavy, as though her skull had turned into a one-tonne weight. Finally, she managed to eke out a grumbled reply. "Of course I do, you profligate."

"So much for 'hitting it until it's dead,'" Lucian retorted, glaring at Gottmar as he stepped forwards and turned to the rest of the group. "We retrieve the Krossavikers and leave Viarosa as soon as we have our equipment and supplies together. We go together to retrieve Bjorn, or what he left behind. And when we have leads and means to delay Htraknu's ascent to power, we will split into two teams accordingly - one to pursue Htraknu, and one to safeguard or destroy the means of slaying more important deities, namely those of the Pantheon. I will send correspondence to my Apostles who are not with this party to update them on what to expect, and how to proceed."

As Angela began to reply, Athaliah broke her silence. "We should have both groups looking for artefacts, Lucian." Angela stared at her through narrowed eyes, shocked that anyone would have the gall to interrupt her. "If one team happens to find that dragon, [i]they will die.[/i] Do you understand?"

"The Hoffenite is correct on that count, Grandmaster," Sorano replied, "While I can see the good you had in mind by keeping tabs on the monster, I do not think he actually knows we are actively opposing him in this way. Were we to give ourselves away..."

Lucian mulled over Athaliah and Sorano's input, pursing his lips and idly rubbing his chin. "A good catch, Athaliah. The death of Latemis only makes him a strategist, not omniscient. Wherefore Sorano makes an excellent case. If he does not know about us, we have the element of surprise -- the one thing that would disrupt even the most masterful plans of action."

Ceara stepped forward and held up a hand.  “Can we slow down a moment?”  The thief looked at the array of men and women with a fairly anxious look in her eyes.  “This thing has killed two gods, and our plan to defeat him is to neatly collect all the things he needs to kill the others  Whats to stop him from murdering the lot of us and taking it all back?”

"He did say 'destroying the means' was in the cards, in fairness," Kinara chimed in. "Or returning them to the Gods who left them on Thurius when they ascended from this world so long ago. I can imagine that if something is killing Shaituns, the Gods would certainly hear."

Gleefully making the sign of Solanius over his heart, Lucian glanced up to the sky with a smile. "Though I wish it were around better circumstances, I do long to meet my Father, face to divine face."

"Not another word!" Angela snapped, her face aready going bright red with fury. "If I didn't need you alive, my sword would already be in your skull. Don't push your luck."

"This is ridiculous!" Gottmar shouted, turning furiously on the apostles. "You admit that we have the element of surprise, and still you want us to waste time hunting these artifacts of yours?" He took a step towards them, hand edging closer to his blade. "You are either stupid or malevolent if you wish us to throw away our primary - perhaps our only - advantage, heretic. Which is it?"

"[i]Yes![/i] You are just [i]absolutely the best![/i]" Sorano cried with a huge grin on his face. He clapped his hands once and turned aside, clearly trying to stifle laughter. "You think that the element of surprise means that we can sneak up to a being that has slain the God of Undeath and Pestilence, and the Goddess of Thievery, Tricks, and Schemes, and just start hitting it until it's dead," he said. Taking a deep breath and a moment to clear the amusement from his system, he shook his head slowly and continued, saying, "This is not a wargame. This is not so simple a matter as saying, 'if it bleeds, we can kill it.' We can't waste our element of surprise on a head-on assault, because if we do, we will certainly fail, and anyone who survives is now marked for death, and we won't [i]have[/i] the option of going after artifacts of power to limit the extent of Htraknu's ability to steal the essences of Shaituns and Gods."

"It's best we limit Htraknu while he's unaware of our meddling and our location," Kinara added. "Especially if we recover artifacts belonging to the Pantheon -- the Gods would surely know of our efforts and support us in a concentrated attack on Htraknu once we're actually ready to do that."

The witch-hunter launched a sharp backhand across Sorano's face, leather striking skin with a loud crack. "You think this is a joke, pathetic elf?! You think we can afford to waste our time playing at being archaeologists instead of fighting the entity we wish to slay?!" He turned away, disgusted. "If it bleeds, we most certainly [i]can[/i] kill it. It will be hard to make it bleed, and it will need to lose far more blood than any of the eastern hordes you may have faced, but it [i]will[/i] die! And as for you, cow-woman," his attention shifted to Kinara, still no less furious. "If, by your logic, the Gods will know of our deeds, and Htraknu has the power of two Gods, why would we have the element of surprise at all?"

Angela sighed and planted a firm hand on Gottmar's shoulder. "Listen here." she growled. "I don't care how good you think you are at dragonslaying. You genuinely think that we can stop a dragon that has the power of two gods with our swords and arrows and magic? You'd see us all killed, and our deaths would add nothing to the cause!" she paused for a second to allow what she said to hopefully sink in. "We're not talking about your own glory here, we're talking about the very fate of the world! We cannot afford to be thinking that small, it's far too late for that. We need to think [i]big[/i]."

"We need the powers of the gods on our side. These artefacts will give us the means to gain just that!"

"How so, exactly?" Gottmar enquired, roughly brushing Angela's hand away and turning to face her. "What real advantage do we stand to gain by recovering these artifacts? Correct me if I am wrong, but our foe did not acquire his power by collecting trinkets - he slayed gods. Unless we mean to do the same, we will be no more powerful with the artifacts in our possession than we are now. All we will have accomplished is delaying the dragon's plans, and we will eventually have to fight the beast regardless. The sooner we attack, the less time it will have to prepare. In all likelihood, we will die trying, no matter when or how we approach the enemy." Imitating the Vilvere knight's gesture, he placed a gloved hand on her shoulder. "Does that scare you, knight? Is that why you are so determined to buy time?"

The knight shook her head, looking extremely irritated by the question. "What scares me, Eibenschütz, is my death not mattering. You don't think I wouldn't die the slowest, most painful death imaginable to give the world even a tiny chance? Your plan wouldn't be giving the world a chance, it'd be throwing our lives away and I can't allow you to do that." she slapped hard at the hand on her shoulder as if she were swatting a fly. "We can get the artefacts and take their powers to stop Htraknu! The more power it gathers, the harder it will be to stop it."

The witch hunter gave an exasperated sigh. "I will concede that you are not wholly incorrect, at least in theory," he grumbled. "But you neglect one very important factor, knight - an elder dragon with the power of two gods is hunting these artifacts even as we stand around bickering now. There is but one holy relic of power I am even vaguely aware of the [i]alleged[/i] whereabouts of. What miracle do you propose will guide our little band of commoners and heretics to the rest before our enemy?"

"I don't know." Angela said frankly as she looked Gottmar straight in the face. "What I [i]do[/i] know, is that Htraknu won't stop. Ever. First it's the gods, then our children, and then the rest of the world. I will not take that lying down while the Infernum still boils." She glared at everyone around her. "Are you coming with me? Or do I have to do this myself?"

Gottmar snorted derisively. "I have been suggesting the precise opposite of 'taking it lying down' for the entirety of this argument. If you believe implying you would undertake this task alone makes you appear any more courageous or virtuous than the rest of us, you are sorely mistaken."

"Was that so difficult?" Angela smirked, her voice full of condescending venom. "Besides, you've been advocating getting us killed for no purpose, as I have told you countless times." She studied the witch-hunter from head to toe, as if she'd only just cared to give him that attention. "I have no idea how a madman like you lived past thirty."

"As do I, striking mages and warriors out of turn," Kinara sneered as she tended to Sorano. Not that he needed any aid, though the Samothauress still made a brief check for blood. The Sun Elf dismissively pushed her hand away and wordlessly shook his head.

"By being very good at killing very dangerous things," the witch hunter replied, ignoring the cow-woman's feeble jabs. "You'd do well to remember that."

"Have you ever killed an adult dragon before?" Angela didn't feel the need to say any more than that.

The corner of Gottmar's mouth twitched into a cold approximation of a smile. He nodded.

Angela tilted her head just slightly. She didn't make any further comment - she simply smirked.

"Then we are agreed," Lucian said, stepping forwards. "We make for the Dragon's Spine, where we locate Bjorn or his information, and we split off from there to seek divine and shaitunist artifacts to delay Htraknu's ascent to solitary godhood. A monopotheosis that would doom Thurius," he said. He turned to give a sideways glance to Gottmar. "And one final statement before we set out on this journey that we all share mutually, Witch Hunter. Though perhaps these sentiments go unrequited, I have tremendous respect for the Chevaleresse-Lieutenant and, like her, I wish to see healthy cohesion within this travel party. I do not want there to be senseless violence among ourselves when the object of our more righteous anger is a dragon which threatens to kill the Gods we love and worship," he explained, now fully facing Gottmar. "Alas, even my patience is limited when it comes to the welfare of my brethren. Treat my own with due civility and there shall be no issues." With this, he gestured for Sorano and Kinara to follow, with Allen following of his own accord and curiosity, and the four departed to return to the hostel where they had left the Krossavikers.