Act 2: Upheaval II - Revelations and search

Konrad waves.

Steve waves too, though without his usual enthusiasm.

Fluffle joins in and waves at the warriors too.

The party members can tell by the emblem stitched on the front of their armor – a white shield with the wytrwaly words Protect Liberty inscribed around the edges – that they're indeed Defenders. All six of them are stunned by the amount of blood the adventurers are covered in. Their squad leader steps forward, dumbfounded, and asks in his native language, "Szef Zerva? Are you... okay?"

"We're fine," she answers calmly. She then points at the alleyway. "You'll find the rest of the werewolf's corpse in there."

The squad follow's Nadzieja's gaze and then nods at her. "We'll take care of it. Anything else, ma'am?"

She looks at the adventurers and waits to see if they have anything to add.

Mihai shrugs - "Hope you don't mind some blood."

Konrad holds up the bag proudly. "Would you like to see the head?""

Steve shakes his head "no."

The Defenders stare at the bag and the drops of blood dripping from it, clearly tempted to have a look for themselves, but their leader has more pressing concerns at the moment. "We need to secure the area," he answers. "Szef Zerva, do you need an escort?"

"No, thank you," she replies. "Don't wait for me."

The Defender nods.

"Oleg, Sylwia, light a torch," he orders his subordinates. "Everyone with me!"

The patrol strides into the alleyway, leaving the adventurers alone. Tired, Nadzieja closes her eyes and sighs. She open her eyes after a few seconds and asks, "Do you have somewhere to sleep tonight? I can arrange something for you."

"Thanks, but there's the boat we sailed in. Got two more with us."

"Which ship?"

"I'll meet you there tomorrow morning," she says.

Mihai nods.

"Goodnight." The black mage gives the Svef a friendly wave goodbye and then starts the march back towards the Docks and their ship.

Just as the adventurers prepare to leave, Nadzieja speaks up. "...Uh, the head, please."

She extends her hand towards Konrad.

"Um..." Konrad hesitates, and then holds the damp sack out for her to take it. "Here."

When she has it in her hand, he says, joking, "Please take good care of it."

She grabs the bag and says, "I will. Thank you. See you all tomorrow."

"Goodnight miss Zerva!" the fairy responds with a renewed smile.

"Goodnight Fluffle."

The carbuncle happily yaps at her and follows the adventurers back to the ship.

After Konrad watches her go, he takes one more suspicious glance around, and departs with the others.

Spellcraft 26
Green magic aspect connection, and who knows what else...

Steve makes the long walk back to the ship. He's quiet, just concentrating on walking and keeping up with his friends. He's tired, hungry, and feels gross so he counts each step he takes to try to keep himself focused.

Konrad:

The mercenaries make their way back to their ship and are stopped twice by Defender patrols; after explaining why they're covered in blood, the guards let the party go and resume their patrol. Very few people walk the streets, and those who do immediately fall silent when they notice the state the party members are in. Without a word, they cautiously cross to the other side of the street and keep their heads down.

Once the adventurers arrive to the wharf and approach the Vulcan, they see Segel leave the deck and fly towards them, clearly alarmed by something. He then freezes when he sees all the blood.

"Are you okay?!" he asks, worried.

"Yeah. What happened?" - he asks, clearly anxious.

Steve looks around and asks, "Where's Amber and Femke?"

Still shaken by this vision of blood, Segel nevertheless tries to focus on the situation at hand. "That's just it, I don't know where they went! Amber, she... she just decided to leave! Said she wanted to buy some drugs. Femke told her to stay here, but that didn't work. So she followed her."

Mihai sighs and facepalms - "Of course she did."