The Pale man took point as they neared the pantry even as the sounds of battle intensified from beyond its door. Rasmus couldn't make out what was happening, but he could definitely hear what sounded like metal on stone as well as roars and shouts.

The Paleman waved Rasmus back, when Rasmus did not immediately complied, he simply pushed him back forcefully and slammed him against the wall. He then pointed down, which the mage implied to stay put.

The Pale man then pushed the pantry door slightly ajar and peeked inside to discover the source of the commotion. While Rasmus stayed back as instructed, the mage did lean to the side and caught a glimpse of what was causing the noise.

Two winged stone beasts , partially humanoid with numerous bestial features such as horns, claws, and a tail, were fighting a knight armed with a sword and shield. The beasts though savage looking, were smartly taking turns attacking by diverting the knight's attention with a swipe of the claw or a jab with the horn. If the knight reacted, the other rushed in an attempt to score a more telling blow. Rasmus watched the knight fooled once by such a maneuver, getting a swat by a claw to his armoured shoulder, but afterwards he stoically took their blows, attempting to parry and whatever the counter attack maneuver was called to slow down his attackers.

"Riposte," whispered the Pale man.

Rasmus nodded as the knight was being whittled down and forced into a corner. It took him awhile before he could identify the combatants. The stone creatures he had seen and studied before, but they had previously been mere decorative gargoyles that adorned the entrance of the tower as well as several of the larger arches found within. He always considered them delightfully ugly carvings, and was surprised to see they were much more than that. He initially thought Master Lero's ward spell had animated them, but he had seen animated objects before and these moved fluidly and were acting way too smart to be simple constructs.

The knight took a bit longer to recognize. At first he thought he was a Hellknight of some sort, since his armour was both dark and baroque in style. Was this one of the reinforcements to save the tower, but was accidentally set upon by the tower's defenses, or maybe these gargoyles were animated by the tower's attackers. Rasmus did not know. However, upon lengthier observation he noticed the sword with the sunburst hilt on the knight's breast plate, the symbol of Iomedea the goddess of valour, and he had a better idea of the situation. He was one of the Reclamation Crusaders and was also one of the attackers that caused this mess.

"Only in Cheliax can a Knight of Valour be considered one the bad guys eh?" chuckled the Pale man.

The Pale man could not have known of the turmoil, unrest, and anarchy that gripped Cheliax and forced the House of Thrune to make the dark pact with Baator. Foreigners saw the Infernals controlling Cheliax while in reality it was the other way around. Ironically that was the driving force of the Crusade. To depose of the devil worshippers and install a weak will government in its place. Those sanctimonious Reclamation knights would tear the country apart with their self-righteousness if they had their way.

"I understand the 'desperate times call for desperate measures' mantra, it's a common excuse for tyrants both before and most likely after Cheliax's time, but these 'desperate' times were nearly three generations ago. You guys seem quite happy to do the summon fiends to serve you thing and the 'enslave' those weaker than yourselves biz, with or without a threat. Maybe that's just the way your people think. Not that I disapprove, but just pointing it out."

Rasmus frowned, but could not deny that there was a small grain of truth in the Pale man's words. While it was true, he was a minor landowner studying to become a mage, he was effectively a part of the establishment and simply perpetuating House Thrune's rule. Despite this, he felt he was more than that, he was honourable, noble a man of principles, or at least that's what he aspired to be. He admitted he had flaws: cowardice, complicity, apathy, but didn't he strive to overcome them when he fought his way through the fog to his master's lab? That counted for something right? He would have reflected further but the situation in the Pantry room had just turned for the worse for the knight.

As the knight was being torn slowly apart due to the hit and run tactics of his attackers, Rasmus spotted a third gargoyle crawling above him on the roof. Given its stone like skin it would be hard to see normally, but with its two fellows keeping the knight's attention it was practically invisible. When the creature was above the knight, it waited for the man to commit himself to a counter attack, before dropping down in a flurry of teeth, claws, and horn.

"Look out!" shouted Rasmus.

The knight glanced up, raised his blade and channeled a holy light through it as he thrusted it upwards into the ambushing gargoyle. The creature shrieked an inhuman cry as the weapon pierced its jaw and then its skull, quickly hardening its skin before exploding into a pile of rocks.

One of the grounded gargoyles seized this opportunity and tackled the knight, knocking him to the ground and began savaging him with its claws. The other one turned to the door and glared at Rasmus, before releasing a shriek as it charged.

"Why did you do that?" sighed the Pale man as he blocked the gargoyles path with his spear in a ready to thrust position.

"I ..I don't know," replied Rasmus truthfully. "….I couldn't watch a man ripped apart like that, especially after you began goading my morals."

"Oh sure, blame the Gelugon for your good deed," chuckled the Pale man as he stabbed the charging gargoyle.

Though it was several hundred pounds in weight, the Pale man easily absorbed the brunt of the impact as he impaled the creature. That didn't stop the Gargoyle though as it pulled itself through the spear's shaft, swiping and snapping as it got closer.

The Pale man seemed unfazed at this display. He released his spear and simply grabbed the Gargoyle's horn with both hands before twisting and slamming it into the doorway frame. The Gargoyle's spent at an odd angle, but it continued to stir, rising slowly with fury in his eyes.

"Stay down," commanded the Pale man as he pointed his middle and index finger at the stone beast, before releasing a jet of frozen shards into its chest. The Gargoyle was pummeled into the ground, freezing momentarily into ice before shattering into a thousand mirror like pieces.

The fiend then walked over to the Gargoyle's corpse, placing his foot under his spear and kicking it up as he snagged it with his right hand in a single smooth motion. He then walked towards the remaining Gargoyle which was still focused on tearing the knight apart. He grabbed the beast by the tail with his left hand and forcefully threw it to the side.

The gargoyle fell against a rack, and in a comical fashion a dozen jars of preserves of various sizes fell and broke on its head. It roared as it flailed its limbs in an attempt to stand up, but the Pale man calmly jabbed it through its throat with his spear. For a second the Gargoyle looked surprise before it too crumbled into stone.

The Pale man then turned and glared at Rasmus. "Really? I stop observing your thoughts for a second and you go do something crazy. Next time, give me a warning before you play hero," he warned.

Rasmus breathed a sigh of relief, he expected a beating rather than a scolding for his rash act. He nodded in thanks to the Infernal.

"I'm going to pick through the preserves, Amirah likes a good jam," said the Pale man. "You go see to that woman you rescued."

"Woman?"

"You know, like you but with breasts, a womb for making children, and missing a penis," said the Paleman. "Oh c'mon. Don't tell me you didn't notice that?"

Rasmus wasn't sure if the Pale man was making another jest at his expense, but quickly saw to the wounded knight. At first he wondered how the Pale man could tell given that the knight was armoured head to toe in plate, even the chest plate seemed unremarkable save the symbol he saw earlier. If this was a woman he was expecting, ummm…a boob plate or metal breasts or something.

As Rasmus began to doubt the Pale man's statement, the knight stirred. She tried to roll to the side and rise but collapsed halfway, hitting her head hard against the stone. Her already damaged helmet rolled away, revealing a plain face with short white hair under a chain coif.

"Freedom for…Cheliax," she gasped before she fell unconscious.