Act 2: Upheaval I - The Werewolf

Takes a second for Mihai to answer - "You must have noticed we're two heads short of a full group. One Red and one Blue."

Nadzieja listens to Konrad and shrugs. "I can keep a secret."

She then turns to Mihai. "Yes, I did," she says. "Aren't they here?"

The group has now reached the gates. She gestures to the party not to talk in front of the sentries and waits for the Myrzen warriors to let them out. After a quick salute, the sentries return to their post and watch the Szef and her new companions walk away.

The plaza is deserted. The monk waits for the adventurers to resume their explanation.

"...I hope they are, but we haven't been able to confirm that yet. We..." - he trails off for just a moment - "...tracked them here, after they were taken from us. In the course of trying to take them back, we've gotten involved in a bigger mess. This thing with the Werewolf is us trying to sort through it."

"This thing is in our way," Konrad agrees. Malice tinges his expression, the first time since they had come to the Arena. "And it's delaying the tournament. The election of the new First is part of said mess, which makes it personal. The werewolf is, at best, an obstacle on the path to making headway. I only want it dead."

These revelations clearly have an effect on Nadzieja, but she does her best to keep a straight face. She faces forward and ponders the implications of what she just learned. "I see," she says. "I'm sorry to hear about your friends. Once the monster is dead, I will have my people search for them."

"That'd be really helpful miss!" Fluffle exclaims as he sticks his head out of Steve's pocket.

The sudden appearance of the fairy startles Nadzieja and she instinctively takes a fighting stance. When she understands what just happened, she starts to relax but keeps the same position.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the fairy says with an apologetic look. "I... I didn't think someone small like me could scare people like that."

The monk blinks a few times and she slowly lowers her arms.

"No, it's– it's okay," she replies. "Uh, hi there."

"Hello. I'm Fluffle. Really sorry about that."

Steve makes eye contact with Mihai. That was weird his eyes say. He introduces them to cover it up. "Yeah, Fluffle is a friend of ours."

"Yes, you can come out for now." He looks back at Nadzieja. "We would be grateful for the assistance."

"We didn't really want to introduce him to the whole cabinet back there. The short of it is, we don't know who to trust right now. That's part of why we're hunting the Werewolf; i'm hoping to get some answers. Though survival will probably take priority soon enough."

Szef Zerva folds her arms and sweeps the plaza with her eyes. She stays silent for a long moment before she finally says, "I won't tell anyone the real reason you're here." A sigh escapes her throat and her eyes meet the adventurers' gaze. Uncertainty wrinkles her forehead. "Can I trust you? Can I really trust you?"

"What does your heart tell you?"

Nadzieja holds Steve's gaze.

"That I need to," she replies.

She looks down and bites her lower lip.

Steve makes a presenting motion with his hand meaning There you go then.

"It's a cheap thing to claim, but for what it's worth..." - he considers his words - "You're the only one we trust in that whole bunch."

The monk hesitates but finally takes a deep breath and nod.

"Okay then," she says before looking at the ground, specifically around everyone's feet. "Where's your carbuncle?"

Florolf is nowhere to be seen.

Mihai looks around - "He pretty much comes and goes when he pleases. Steve, you try calling for him. He'll never show up if i do it."

"Sure. I'm sure he isn't too far." Steve cups his hands and yells "Florolf! Florolf! Where are you?"

"Florolf!" The fairy joins in on the effort to find the red-horned animal. "Come on, we have a monster to hunt."

This is when the carbuncle pops into existence at Steve's feet. He's looking up at the black mage while waggling his tail.

"Wow, he can really just appear out of nowhere," Fluffle says with wide eyes.

Florolf stands up and rubs himself against Steve's legs. He starts purring.

Mihai is impressed - "...wow, that actually worked."

"Good to see you too buddy." Steve starts rubbing the side of Florolf's neck just behind the ears, switching from the right to the left side and vice versa every so often.

Florolf's eyes narrow into slits, perfectly content to stay in this position. The purring grows louder.

Nadzieja turns to Konrad and says, "I'll show you. Oldturn? Kill the light please."

She gestures at his magical ring.

"Then everyone hold my hands."

She extends her arms to the adventurers.

Mihai hesitates a little, just out of awkwardness, but finally holds her hand.