There goes the neighborhood

Descending into the streets of Lien, the five of you coalesce together in the center. You hear more shouting, and prepare yourselves for combat.

“It’s showtime there princess” Joan commented as she had her crossbow ready. “Hope you’re ready for what this is all about”

“Of course, she said” gripping her staff tightly “Besides, becoming a wizard was your idea. If this goes badly, it’ll be on you. That or Lita, for not just chatting away all of the demons”

“That was lucky. I don’t imagine I can talk down a rampage” Around a corner, a pair of halflings were sprinting for their lives, being chased by imps; small but ferocious winged demons. Seeing five seemingly brave adventurers, they turned towards you. Some gap established, Trevolia raised her staff overheard, and a startling arc of lightning sprang from the crystal focus towards the imps. The first dropped immediately, wracked in the pain. The following imp was marred by the blast but still living, if only for a few seconds. A bolt from Joan’s crossbow flew straight and true. Striking through the shoulder, it also cut into the thin batlike wing of the demonic beast, likewise causing him to fall.

Joan turned to the princess with an unusual smile “I’m impressed. Are you sure this is your first time Trevolia?”

“Your Friend is a good teacher” She responds with the first smile you’ve seen her have since this mess began “I take back what I said. I wish you had kidnapped me sooner Silve! This is better than I could have imagined”

“That’s what I keep saying” Clodagh piped in “You nobles in your ivory tower are too scared of getting dirty to ever have some real fun” Heaving her great axe overhead, she charged headlong into the fray as more imps flew towards. As she channeled her barbarian fury, she grew again, just as you had seen her do back in Drez. Lita, giving some extra help, caused her to grow even further, causing her to be nearly half again taller than she was before. Her weapon grown with her, and her wide swings of the axe made it difficult for the imps to avoid. Consequently, it also lead to some collateral damage to the buildings edifice outside. As she dispatched the imps, more panicked villagers filled the streets, heading towards you as a seeming place of refuge. The whole event is staggering for you, and you detach yourself from the situation, marveling at how none of this should be working, but is doing quite well.

A quick jolt in your side pulls you back, as Joan finished reloading her crossbow “Come on there loverboy, you can’t be expecting all of us to be doing the work now. Unless you’re saving your energy up for later”

“You’re going to need it” Trevolia joined in “before we get there, we’ve gotta get rid of the last of these.”

“Lord Diamant’s cult will keep summoning new ones” Lita chimed in. “This has never happened before, but now that they don’t have to hide, I think they’re going to rampant until someone puts a stop to all of this.”

“Got it” You add in “Well, you call it a cult. If we knock out the leader, things will get so chaotic they won’t know what to do.”

“Hopefully” Joan added “He might also be the last check of restraint that any of them have.”

“Targeting him will involve stopping a number of his peons along the way regardless. It’s the best option we have, I’d say”

“Great, someone needs to reign Clodagh in” volunteering yourself, you bring the barbarian off her adrenaline rush. Moving quickly, you head back to Diamant’s estate. Lita provides the best route through the city streets, while Joan’s expertise helps in moving through unseen. It isn’t perfect; you have to dispatch a Barghest, one of the demonic beasts you first came across in the estate, but now with weapons drawn and everyone prepared, the balance of power is easily in your favor. Casting an occult ray, you were able to weaken it, making it easy pray for the others.

“Well, that shows a disconcerting level of thought” Lita states

“What do you mean? Didn’t seem to be that brainy to me” Joan quipped

“Not it. Them. The demonlogists. They seem to have set up a defensive ring, anticipating that someone was going to come after them.”

“That means this is going to get worse” Clodagh said morbidly “I’m ready for whatever fight they can dish out, but I hope y’all are strapped in.”

“We made it this far together” Trevolia said eagerly “We can’t turn away now. We’re not runaways”

An odd laugh escaped the drow, causing everyone to turn towards her.

“Sorry. I just thought that ironically funny. Come on” She motioned forward with nary a second for comment.