Javal had seen the effect of the cataclysm that was happening all across Charon before and it was getting worse. He was no closer to finding out what was happening and how he could fix it. He tried to beat up the ground in the hope that the earth would stop cracking but alas he quickly found that did not work and his hand now hurt terribly. He had entered a tavern in Darkveil City after visiting his grandfather on his family’s estate. Everything went well more or less the same as every other visit had entailed. Weird lessons about how to get away with things, Javal was starting to suspect that all the wealth that they had was starting to make them air-headed and rude. He’d have to have a conversation with them another time for now he had to figure out what was going on. He was eating a potato and egg sandwich alongside the rest of his crew when suddenly the entire tavern was swarmed by a large group of cultists. Javal wasn’t able to get his blade up in time and was quickly swarmed and captured. He, Bootsamon, and Nadia were thrown into what felt like a wagon alongside other people and quickly taken off somewhere. Before he was taken he split his Prismatic spider and let them away whispering to her to look for Morrigan they’d be able to help due to their great intellect and skill.



The little spider was accompanied by Javal’s mighty steed Asleipmir as he was asleep outside at the stables when this occurred and brought up to speed by Ariadne.



Soon the duo after about an hour of searching were able to find Morrigan, they found them and quickly tried to get their attention with neighs and spider-like cries.



Asleipmir got in front of Morrigan and neighed loudly in a panicked tone trying to explain what had occurred, hoping Morrigan would be able to understand.

Someone strong enough to kidnap Javal Zarrias, the great dragon of the Cradle, the terror of a swordsman, doubtlessly necessitated a hero coming to his aid. Someone noble and powerful, capable of matching his strength and braving the strange robes men who’d taken him and his retainer, Nadia, away.

It was a damn shame that in his naïveté, Javal had asked Ariadne to find Morrigan Moonweaver instead.

Luckily, the charlatan had been lying low in the Ash Lands for a while after their rescue of the Phoenix from the temple at the base of Mount Drakolt. They’d only intended to stay a couple of days, but given everything that had happened to them in the Yudraehati temple, they had a lot to think about. Their profession, the lies upon lies that they’d told others, the double of themselves that they’d killed in the final trial… it was unfortunate to say, but Morrigan, who was normally so sure of themselves and the place they’d carved out for themselves, no longer felt so certain about it. They’d lied to so many people and done so many horrible things, most of which they still didn’t regret.

But they couldn’t keep living like nothing had happened.

It was that listless feeling that brought Morrigan, along with their apprentice Ceres Celestia, through the streets of Darkveil’s town square when all of a sudden a steed stepped in their path, neighing frantically. Morrigan shrieked, shoving Ceres Celestia out of the way so she wasn’t trampled by the panicked horse. Ceres tumbled out of the way, hitting the ground just out of the nightmare steed’s warpath. But rather than keep going, it seemed to be… stopped?

“What the hell…?” They murmured to themselves as the horse calmed. It didn’t seem to be spooked by the mana-cursed charlatan, as animals normally were given the odd feeling that animals more in touch with primordial energy seemed to intuit from them. Where every living creature, even if they didn’t harness it, possessed some form of magic in their veins - magic that Morrigan was utterly devoid of. But this horse almost seemed comforted by their presence, as it were. As Morrigan helped Ceres Celestia to her feet, they squinted, trying to figure out what was so strange about this horse.

And that was when they saw the large spider on the back.

“Wait a minute… there’s something familiar about this odd menagerie of animals!” They murmured to themselves.

Ceres, on the other hand, stared up at the horse and the prismatic spider on its back with awe and perhaps a bit of fear. “Are these creatures yours too, Master Moonweaver?”

Morrigan shook their head. “Unfortunately, most primordial beasts and their ilk keep their distance from me. They’re too afraid of the sheer power they sense from me!” Not entirely untrue - but in the opposite vein than Morrigan spoke of.

Ceres eyed the horse nervously. It was still attempting to say something, the little spider waving her hands in the air almost like she was trying to do a little dance. “Then whose animals are these…?”

The fellblood’s tail flicked behind them as they tried to run through the list of animal-loving people they knew. Unfortunately, their list of genuine friends was rather small at this point in time. But as they ruminated, though, they remembered the other fellblood they’d met some months ago who generally traveled around with his own animal companions and retainer.

“I believe they belong to an acquaintance of mine… a swordsman by the name of Javal Zarrias. But I don’t see him anywhere near.” They turned to scan the crowd, looking for any sign of the tall, cerulean fellow, but they saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Well, shit. Now Morrigan had to deal with a horse whose name they couldn’t remember and a giant spider. Morrigan grabbed the horse’s reins and pulled it out of the crowd, gesturing for Ceres Celestia to follow.

“I’m assuming you’re in such a panicked state because something happened to your master, yes?” Morrigan said, as if speaking to an intelligent creature. A horse could not yes or no, right? “You, Miss Spider. Act out for me what happened, and I’ll try to guess it. Tell me if I get close, alright?”

---

Bringing Minions
Ceres Celestia (Earth Domain Apprentice)

Bringing Pets
Nugget (Phoenix, Beastmaster III - counts against pet cap)
Adult form Bubbles (Adult Drake - counts against pet cap)

The Nightmare steed Asleipmir stopped in front of Morrigan and her apprentice and neighed loudly trying to convey that something was wrong while Ariadne hopped off the horse and landed gracefully onto the dirt floor below them.



Asliepmir chuckles a bit to himself hearing Morrigan proclaim themselves a master of magic because unlike his owner he is sharp enough to know that Morrigan is a scam artist.



Asleipmir and Ariadne followed Morrigan to a more secluded clearing to speak or find some sort of way to communicate.



Ariadne tries to at first use her tiny hands to explain what happened to her owner before Asleipmir and her begin bickering amongst themselves about how to make Morrigan understand them.



Ariadne begins drawing on the ground with a small nearby stick as a tool she then paints the entire story of what happens alongside the dirt floor from their sadness about the cataclysm, and the tavern people being kidnapped to herself hearing that they were being taken to some sort of mountain area. She does this all while Asleipmir's neighs loudly to complain of her drawings although he is just trying to get a rise out of the spider as her dirt drawings are amazing in quality and detail.

The spider started to make little wiggling motions with her spindly legs when the horse started making… horse noises, and the spider suddenly gripped a stick between two of her legs and started drawing little stick figures in the dirt to convey to Morrigan what they were here for. It was honestly more efficient than a game of charades but Morrigan wasn’t about to voice the fact that a horse came up with a better idea than them. They settled for nodding along, their hand pressed to their chin as they squatted in the dirt.

“I see… this makes perfect sense.” At least they thought it did. Javal was crying over something and punching the ground and eating a sandwich when a couple of stick figures with angry eyebrows took him and the stick figure with pointed-ish ears (which Morrigan figured was meant to represent his retainer, Nadia) up to a mountain that also looked like it was crying. “But what possible mountain could they have taken Javal to? It’s certainly a mystery.” They mused as they turned to stare thoughtfully at Mount Drakolt in the distance.

And then the epiphany hit them.

Literally.

As Morrigan stood in the back alley, a chunk of debris from a dilapidated building destroyed in the earthquake fell from the roof, hitting them on the head with a dull THUNK.

“Ack!” They grimaced, rubbing at the back of their head where a bruise was no doubt forming. “What the…” They knelt to scoop up the debris, squinting at it for a moment before remembering all of the earthquakes from the volcano that had been plaguing the lands. Their eyes widened as they snapped their fingers together.

“I got it! Master Javal was sad about the recent earthquakes, and while he was lamenting his inability to help with the situation, he was kidnapped by madmen who took him up to Mount Drakolt!” They announced triumphantly, crossing their arms as if they’d just solved a particularly challenging puzzle. “And now, in your humble time of need, you seek out the most powerful person you know who’s capable of aiding you to find your master! Well, say no more my friends, because I accept!”

… Only in part because they feared what Ozdemir Bram might do to them if he discovered his grandson and most favored heir was taken hostage!

Not that Morrigan could do much about the situation. If these people were powerful enough to kidnap Javal, who was powerful with the blade in addition to his magic - and not to mention their darker form - then there was little the alchemist would be able to do against that kind of foe.

But when had that ever bothered Morrigan?

They pressed their fingers to their lips, letting out a sharp whistle that rang through the air. A few moments later, the sound of flapping wings echoed in the wind as a red-scaled Drake landed behind Morrigan with enough force to disturb the ash from the ground. Morrigan gave the pair of animals a sharp-toothed grin, turning to pet Bubbles’s snout.

“Ceres Celestia can ride you and follow behind me. I’ll take to the sky with Bubbles.” They had no idea what threat might await them, but who cared about planning when there was risk and reward to be had? Their enthusiasm renewed, Morrigan took to the skies, leaving a trail of glitter in their wake.

Asleipmir quickly dodges away from the debris falling over from the destroyed building while Ariadne jumps on Asleipmir’s neck.



She jumps back down and tries to check on Morrigan if they’re okay. She jumps onto the wall to see Morrigan examining the wound, assessing that it is only a faint wound, and jumping back down to the floor.



Asleipmir neighs loudly amused at the debris hitting Morrigan in the face, the nightmare steed was a mischievous horse that even made fun of his owner so seeing a scam artist get their just deserts from the universe was all too funny to him.



Ariadne cries in happiness that Morrigan finally understood the whole situation; she scurries around dancing in excitement while Asleipmir keeps chuckling softly to himself while mocking Morrigan in horse-like noises.



Ariadne nods to Morrigan’s suggested plan while Asleipmir neighs in disapproval then Ariadne and Asleipmir begin bickering covered in glitter. Asleipmir was enraged already from the purple imp’s glitter bomb and also irate because he hates when other people ride him besides even Javal and his crew so he had a problem with some random kid they just met riding him. It wasn’t until Ariadne spoke on how much Javal cared about the mischievous horse and saved him from his former life as a pet to an evil man that the horse finally relented and lowered its neck for Ceres to hop on although still grumpy while Ariadne cries happily in relief hopping onto the top of his neck awaiting for Ceres.

Ceres Celestia looked nervous to climb on top of such a large beast… but Master Moonweaver needed her help to save their friend, who needed both of their help! Master Moonweaver had told her all kinds of stories about how they fought for their lives against a pair of evil forest-dwelling fellblood hunters. According to them, Mister Javal was extremely strong and kind of goofy… Ceres liked getting to hear stories all about her teacher’s friends, but how could she learn from them all if they were getting hurt or killed?

The young elven mage approached the horse, trying to stop from trembling. “I’m sorry, Mister Horse… I know I’m not your master but I hope to do my best and help you rescue Mister Javal! Master Moonweaver is strong and competent, he surely has a plan!”

Master Moonweaver, unfortunately, had Jack all in terms of a plan.

They flew through the air on Bubbles, with Ceres Celestia following behind with Asleipmir and Ariadne, the fellblood was finally hit with the realization that they’d just agreed to do something completely and utterly stupid. Not their regular kind of stupid, either. The kind of stupid that would needlessly get them killed for no reason. They were just a hack potion maker, and they had no business dealing with a cult! Admittedly, Javal was a friend, but they didn’t fancy just throwing themselves into a suicide mission all Willy-Nilly!

Oh, well. There was no getting out of it now. Besides, it was only a couple of crazy magic quacks. What could go wrong?

With all the bravado and confidence of someone who was entirely about to get their ass kicked, or worse, Morrigan flew towards the volcano, inching closer and closer to the heat, until they could see something odd in the distance. A couple of figures, standing close to the entrance of a cave.

Well, that looked like cult activity if Morrigan had ever seen it. Which only meant one thing -

It was showtime.

Asleipmir lowers his head and neighs signaling for Ceres to hop on, although he hated all parts of this, he had to save his goofy master. For all the laughs and food that Javal had given him, it was finally time for the nightmare steed to pull his weight and help his master out for once. And after this, he was expecting a great reward of a bundle of apples from his master as gratitude.



Aslepmir neighs and gallops as fast as he can to Mt. Drakolt Ceres on his back and Ariadne safely sat in his black mane. He galloped all through the treacherous mountain trying to keep his two passengers safe as he ascended through the mountain. He was surely regretting all of this at this point and wanted to go home but he had to push through those feelings for the sake of his apples and his incompetent master.



The trio reached the mountain’s summit and the volcanic area, Asleipmir approached as silently as he could and slowly made his way to a large rock where the three could observe what a group of cultists were up to around the volcano. Ariadne signaled to Morrigan awaiting their command on what their next move was.

It looked like there were three cultists in total hanging around the entrance to this volcano cave…

That gave Morrigan an idea.

They commanded Bubbles to perch on the rocks a little bit above where the cultists were all mulling around, none particularly on guard. Perhaps the group wasn’t expecting that anyone had followed them up to their not-so-secret hideout, but they weren’t really watching the sky as Morrigan hid above them and Asleipmir, along with Ariadne and Ceres Celestia, hid some way away. Morrigan could see the little spider gesturing towards them, no doubt asking what the plan was for dealing with these men.

Morrigan offered the group a sharp-toothed grin, their hands moving deftly as they formed a couple of loose signs that Ceres Celestia would recognize. ‘Follow my lead,’ they signaled. ‘Leave their uniforms intact if you can.’

Frustratingly little instruction, but then again, Morrigan rarely went into much with a plan. With little preamble, Morrigan drew a bladed from their bag of wonders, one that looked like it had been made out of shards of colorful stained glass. In their other, they juggled a couple of potion vials, steeling themselves before jumping off of Bubbles’s back and straight onto the shoulders of one of the cultists with a joyous cry.

“What in the world-?” The cultist’s mouth hung open in shock, large enough for Morrigan to shove a round potion bottle into his maw, one whose label read ‘Morrigan Moonweaver’s Malady Cure-all.’ The cultists writhed, the other two immediately whirling on their friend as Morrigan raised their arm bracer, pointing it at the cultist’s mouth.

“Ladies and gentleman,” They greeted, the sound of their voice momentarily stunning the other two silent, “Witness a live miracle from the Wizard of the Wastes!”

They then pierced the blade into the bottle hanging from the cultist’s mouth with a SHINK, breaking the glass into shards and filling the cultist’s mouth with potion. An odd sort of glazed over look as the potion took effect, making him think that all his injuries were healing.^[1,2]

“Halt! Surrender yourself in the name of the unyielding flame!” One of the cultists shrieked, shooting a bolt of fire at Morrigan that they deflected with a flick of their wrist, cutting through the spell like paper with the bladed whip.^[3] Morrigan clicked their tongue, laughter on their lips as they hopped off the cultist’s shoulders, shoving him into the third spellcaster.

“You’re going to have to do much better than that!” They mocked, tossing another one of their potions into the air at the cultist. “Catch!”

The cultist scrambled away from the vial, but Morrigan flicked their bladed whip at the bottle they’d thrown, shattering that one, too. Green, malodorous poison flew through the air, coating the cultist’s exposed skin and triggering a series of blistering burns.^[4] The man let out a pained scream and collapsed his knees as the other two got to their feet, recovering from Morrigan’s shove.

“Get them!” The one who’d been fed Morrigan’s snake oil shouted, clutching at his stomach.

Morrigan winked at him.

From Asleipmir’s back, Ceres Celestia put her head in her hands, her face red. “Master Moonweaver, why do you have to be so showy…?” Nevertheless, she raised her staff, casting a spell to shift the earth underneath the cultist’s feet, making a ledge that the cultist immediately tripped on as he ran closer to Morrigan, effectively impaling him on the blade from Morrigan’s arm bracer.

They turned to the last cultist, who was staring at his fallen brothers in utter disbelief. How in the world had some tiny fellblood taken out two acolytes of Vulcadreus? It was impossible!

“Give up yet?”

“Never! You will become fuel for His rebirth!”

Morrigan shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

And then they darted forward, cracking their whip-sword as if moving to attack the cultist with it. But when they got close, they moved in with a feint before reaching into their pocket with their free hand. “Pocket glitter!”^[5]

The remaining cultist coughed and sputtered, inhaling glitter that it most certainly should not have gotten into his lungs as the spell in his hands fizzled out. Morrigan whirled around, slashing with the blade on their tail from shoulder to sternum in a diagonal motion. The cultist let out a gurgling sound before dropping to the ground.

“Oh!” Morrigan said, surrounded by the bodies of the men they’d just slaughtered. “I chipped one of my nails…”

Looking this good wasn’t cheap, honestly!

The sound of Ceres Celestia approaching with Asleipmir brought Morrigan out of their reverie. They perked up, their tail swishing behind them as they clapped their hands together. “Oh, good! You’re both here for my incredible master plan. As you can see here, we’ve got two of us, including Master Javal’s equine companion… and three costumes. What in the world could we do with such a serendipitous circumstance?”

Ceres Celestia paled as she realized what Master Moonweaver was describing.

“You’re not serious…”

“Yep! As the grave.” Morrigan pointed towards the corpses, something akin to childish glee on their features. “Start stripping, my apprentice. We’re going undercover.”

---

1. Morrigan Moonweaver's Malady Cure-all
2. Desert Stinger
3. Deflecting Slice
4. Parasite Poison
5. Pouch Sand

Aridane was really puzzled by Morrigan’s grin as a response to her signal for orders; whatever plan they had it seemed that Morrigan had already come up with and was known to themselves.

Ariadne and Asleipmir loosely recognize the hand signals, Asleipmir perks up understanding following the lead while Ariadne worriedly understands leaving their uniforms intact. Ariadne and Asleipmir look at themselves in horror as they see Morrigan drop down and begin their siege against the guards. Asleipmir was about to charge when he felt ariadne wack him on the head signaling to let Morrigan do whatever they were going to do.



Asleimpir neighd to Ariadne, “No way they’re that crazy and buffoonish what type of clown are we dealing with here?”, while Ariadne can’t help but just watch in shock at what is occurring.



Asleipmir and Ariadne just stood amazed and dumbfounded that Morrigan’s plan was seemingly working. Asleipmir trots along following Ceres’s command although a bit annoyed that this child thought they had control over him.



Ariadne cries in laughter after hearing Morrigan’s plan while Asleipmir neighs in disapproval confused on how they were going to hide an entire horse and the spider while infiltrating.

Morrigan smirked. They couldn’t understand the equine’s indignant and disbelieving whinnies, but the sentiment was clear no matter the language spoken. They didn’t want to go with this plan. It was insane, asinine to disguise themselves as a member of a mad cult and sneak into the lion’s den, and even more ridiculous to do the same with a horse. Which was exactly why it was perfect… no one would ever attempt to try such a thing!

Morrigan pulled one of the robes off the cultists, tugging it over their torso. It was a little bit big on them - on Ceres Celestia’s tiny frame, it was nearly comical. “Come on, you wish to save your master, don’t you? Put on the robe.” They grinned, moving forward to shove the robe onto Asleipmir. If the creature didn’t resist, within minutes, the three - including Ariadne, hidden under the bright red robe - looked nigh indistinguishable from the three whose identities they’d stolen.

“Alright! Now that we’ve donned our disguises, let’s go!” Morrigan bid, skipping with gleeful abandon into the cave. Ceres Celestia watched them in disbelief for a few moments, before the young mage shook her head and followed them in.

Inside, there were a few robed figures mulling about, though with the hood pulled up over their faces, it was difficult to make out any discerning features. A few people stared at the very obvious horse in the red garment. Morrigan continued deeper, oblivious to the staring from others, intent on finding Javal. This was great! They were fooling everyone, except for perhaps people with eyes. Let’s see, if I were a crazy god-worshipping fanatic, where would I hide my hostage-slash-sacrifice…?

Asleipmir nearly erupted in flames as Morrigan placed the cultist robe on him, he neigh in outrage and in indignation.



It wasn’t until Ariadne thwacked him on the nose that he calmed down and let Morrigan place the robe on him the best they could. He grumbled and neighed under his breath and was making fun of Morrigan in horse language. Ariadne slipped into the robe and sat on Asleipmir’s back awaiting what their next course of action was.



Ariadne chirped to Asleimpir about despite Morrigan’s rough around the edges approach the purple tiefling seemed to know exactly what they were doing and to trust their master’s judgment.



Asleipmir could only respond in disapproving neighs but continued to follow Morrigan into the cave, he couldn’t believe what he was about to do. He followed behind Ceres holding his head up trying his best to seem like he fit in with all of the strange cultists.



As Morrigan and their latest plan unfold Javal sits in a holding cell on the floor grabbing the bars and pressing his face against them.



He had been thrown in here a few minutes ago from the main holding cell where he and the other tavern kidnap victims were taken after he kept annoying the guards there.



He sighs loudly trying to get the young cultist guard’s attention, “Can you let me go please? I’m hungry and would not like to be in this cell”.



“Shut up, just let yourself be purified by our great god and bathed in the new sunlight of change”, the cultist guard fervently yells.



Javal repeatedly says the same thing for about the next twenty minutes, the guard trying his best to keep calm and explain to Javal how this is all a good thing. After that the guard slowly but surely begins to lose his temper and patience kicking the cell, almost catching Javal’s face.



“Shut up fellblood, I’ve had enough of your mad ramblings just wait for your execution and shut up already your driving me mad”.



“Oh am I”, Javal smirks, “Can you let me go please? I’m hungry and would not like to be in this cell”.



The guard screams in annoyance, “Shut up”.



This exchange keeps going on for another twenty minutes before the guard succumbs to insanity and begins crying in the corner completely losing his grip on existence and reality.

Fellblood, elf, and horse made their way through the labyrinthine series of underground tunnels within the caves that the cultists had weaseled their way into with frustratingly little results as far as finding where Javal was being hidden. With each passing minute, Morrigan was growing even more frustrated. Who in the world knew that saving someone could be so… so tedious? They were this close to giving up the towel, but remembering that the horse would somehow tear them to shreds with his hooves was a pretty powerful motivator to keep going.

But there was still no sign of a jail.

After a while of aimless wandering, Morrigan decided that it was better to just stop and ask someone for directions. As they passed another cultist, Morrigan reached out and grabbed him by the wrist, stopping him from going anywhere.

“… Can I help you, brother spark?” The cultist asks.

“You can- I mean- give me a moment.” They reached into their pocket and placed something small and fuzzy on their face, clearing their throat.^[1] When they turned back to the other cultist, their voice sounded completely different. “As a matter of fact, you can help me. I’ve gotten myself a bit turned around in this cavern systems, I just converted you see. I’ve been told to bring some necessary elixirs for the sacrifice and got lost looking for the place where we keep the prisoners. All hail Vulcadink, all that jazz.”

The cultist squinted at them.

Morrigan grinned innocently and twirled their moustache.

The cultist eventually shrugged and figured it wasn’t worth his time. “We don’t have many sacrifices right now, but I saw that a few others managed to snag a fellblood they’re keeping two stories down, near the armory.”

“Splendid!” Morrigan cheered, patting the robed man on the shoulder. “Thank you for your help, good sir. Long live Vulcadulca or whatever his name is. God bless.”

As they started walking away, the cultist called out to them.

“Wait.”

Oh, hell. Morrigan hoped they weren’t sweating too hard as they turned around, forcing a pleasing smile on their face, the kind that could charm a solar out of even the most stubborn customer. Hoping their undercover ruse hadn’t already been discovered, they asked, “Yyyyyyyyyyyyyes~?”

The robed man gestured towards Asleipmir.

“Is that a horse under that robe?”

Morrigan blinked, rapidly recovering their composure. “How dare you insult Brother Horace Mann, one of the most dedicated new recruits to Vulcadda! Volcano! Whatever his name is!” They huffed, feigning indignation as they crossed their arms over their chest and stomped their foot on the ground. “The prejudice of some people. Just because he looks like a horse and acts like a horse and speaks like a horse doesn’t mean he is a horse. Apologize to him and be on your way.”

The cultist blinked, taken aback that he was being forced to apologize, but not wanting to offend any further, he bowed his head.

“Apologies, brother Horace. May the flame of Vulcadreus guide you to the eternal rebirth.” He scurried away, leaving Morrigan with the others, the fellblood hiding a shit-eating grin behind their moustache.

---

1. Moustache of deceit

Asleipmir continued following Morrigan closely, trying his best not to bring any more attention that an actual horse in robes could bring. He was starting to get irritated as they continued to try to find his master tunnel after tunnel door by the door they had nothing. He could even see that the violet-colored fellblood clown was starting to reach their wit's end they’d gotten the group so far and even that surprised Asleipmir but he wondered how much more they could continue before either reaching a dead end or getting caught.



Asleipmir quickly panics a bit about raising his hoofs to protest before Ariadne smacks him on the head to act cool, relax, and let Morrigan handle this.



Asleipmir was about to panic and run away before he just calmed down as Morrigan tried to pass him off as a fellow member. He raised his hoofs in the air making random signals to try to seem like he was telling Morrigan something.



As the Cultist jogged away Aslepmir let out a loud neigh followed by a sigh while Ariadne struggled to hold her laughter in.



What just happened was nothing short of a miracle, Aslepmir then looks over to Morrigan nodding in the direction that the cultist mentioned.



Javal sat once more in the room continuing his repeated annoying plea for freedom as the guard assigned to him walked away carried by two other cultists into the infirmary pleading insanity. He had been assigned a new guard, a gruff and buff aviankin fellow covered in red and gold robes.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the lowest parts of the underground tunnel system, surprisingly, Asleipmir directing them in the way the cultist had indicated. At least one of them was good with directions. But it turned out that rescue would not be that simple. As they made their way around a corner, Morrigan thought they saw a flash of blue in the back of the cell - but a muscular aviankin blocked the door.

“Shit!” Morrigan hissed, pulling the others back around the corner before they were spotted, nearly knocking straight into Ceres Celestia and Asleipmir in the process. “I think Javal is in there… but there’s a big guy blocking his door, stopping him from escape.” Well, there went any of their usefulness. Morrigan had taken care of the ones at the door, sure, but they were a delicate desert flower! They couldn’t take on someone that big by themselves.

“Is… is something wrong Master Moonweaver?” Ceres Celestia whispered, pulling Morrigan out of their reverie. Morrigan turned to the young mage, thoughtful. Yes, they might not have anything in their arsenal yet to take on the big guy, but the little witch in training had plenty of spells that she’d been working on. By Morrigan’s estimation, she had at least three!

“Why, young Ceres, do you fancy a bit of practice?”

Ceres Celestia glanced around the corner, taking one look at the big guy, and immediately turned pale. “Y-You want me to fight that thug, Master Moonweaver? I don’t know if I can…”

Morrigan put a hand on her shoulder. “Nonsense. You’re a disciple of the Great Wizard of the Wastes… all of your training has culminated in this. Now go out there and show me the results of your training!”

Fear was replaced with something akin to determination as Ceres gripped her staff, offering Morrigan a resolute nod. “I won’t let you down, Master Moonweaver!” She promised. It took a second for her to steel herself before jumping out into the fray. The aviankin startled when he saw Ceres Celestia approaching, more confused than alarmed.

“What the- what’s a kid doing in here?”

“HYA!” Ceres squeaked, as mighty a battle cry as she could muster, before firing off a bolt of pure flame from the tip of her staff right into his shoulder.^[1] The aviankin let out a grunt of pain, raising his fists to fight off the intruder, and the battle begun in earnest.

From around the corner, Morrigan pulled hastily applied poison to the blade on their arm bracer with one hand, pulling out something from their back of wonders in the other before charging in after their apprentice with the element of surprise.^[2,3]

---

1. Firebolt - Ceres Celestia
2. Frostfire Poison applied to blade
3. Yasaka’s Summer Bag
pfdd2BtV

Asleipmir led the group forward feeling confident about the group running around after all if someone said something he was sure they could pull the old Horace Mann trick once more. Asleipmir saw the outline of his master’s horns and was about to charge forward through the door before Ariadne smacked him on his head once more.



Asleipmir almost falls after Morrigan backs into Ceres but manages to stay up and neigh in annoyance.



Ariadne’s eyes grew big upon seeing the muscular fellow chirping in confusion as to what the group could do against such a tough enemy like that.



“Can you please stop doing that, it's starting to hurt”, Asleipmir neighs in annoyance.



Ariadne apologies and bows and then moves on to follow Morrigan and Ceres into battle Asleipmir charges at the aviankin with his full strength although he may not be a fighter the least he could do was distract the aviankin with the sudden appearance of a horse.



Ariadne hops down from a charging Asleipmir and turns herself invisible to try to look around the room for the keys or something to break Javal out.



While this is all occurring Javal is beaming with excitement while holding the iron bars to his face, “Woah you guys are here I knew you guys would come after me”.