[.Ţ̛̼̗͙̞̠͕̲͍̺̈͂̈̽͌́̊̄̚į̴̨͉̱̬̼͍̼̎͛̽̈̔̃͞ͅm̵̧̗̟͚͎̒̒͋̓̅̐́̕͘̚ẻ̵̢̘̻̭͍̤̤̌́̂́̾̚͟͟ą̶̟̗̝͍̘̼̱͇̣͂͑̎̏̒̈͘͞ǹ̵̢͚̮̠̤̽̀͒̀̋̚ḏ̨̛̰͓̣̱͉̣̞͑͊͆̆͘͠͞ S̰̟̟̺͕̞̟͆͂̍̎̾̋͟͠p̷̨̯͕̪̤̃͌̽͋̌̆̄͆͂̕a̶̝̜̦̹̮͉͇̔̉̃͑͘̚͝ç̶̯̮̣̖̃̊̉̒͌͟͡͠͝è̴̲̘̯͇͇̜̜̜̥̆́͌̀̈́ i̜̟̞͇̗̺͂̾̍́̕͡͡s̨͖͈̼̟̹̔̏̀̓̍̈́͝ R͎͔̬̘̩̦͐͆̐̏̈̀̓ͅë̶̤̦͍̹̘̜͕̤̆̔̽̐͟͡l̸̨̬̱͈̙̓͂̆͛̌̀̎͝a͔̦̥͔̭̣̺̋̂͊̍̿̈̋̑́̐t̷̨͈̼̮͖́̊̾͂̓̾͒͂͘͞ͅi̷̛̲̥̪̺̫̻̱̞̅̀̂́̽̕͟v̧̱͖̱̯̰͉͚͋̅́̒̿̊́̈͢ȩ̴̘͎͎͖͖͋̾̒̉͒͞..]
[.Ş̵͖͈͍͙̜̙͓̞͒́̊͆̚i̬̣͕̘̲͕͑͋͒̍̐̉́̚͢͟͡g̢̨͔͚̤̬̞̝̠̅̃̃̓͗͢i̫̱͉̳̟͕͊̆̄̐̊͂̐͒̕̚l̡͎̟͔̗̯̿̽͆̏͊͢,̺̦̰̙̱͇̟̈́̊̓̏̅͆̏͢͢͞ C̴̦̞̲̱͉͎̻̻̟̦̑̿̐̑̉̀̓͒̚͝i̴̲̯͙̺͇̝̗͔̒̊͘̚͠t̡̠͔̘̳͔̫̯̀͐̓͐́̄͘͠y̷̙̥̫̜̜̑̓̋̒̊̏̿̐̉͂ o̱̣̹̤͓̅̂͌̉̒̄̏f̵̨̣͍̝̥̻̮͚͒̉̇͐̄̈́̓̊͡ D̨̼̤͈͕̼́͊̂̾̇̅̚͘ö̧̤̟̭̺̪̭͙̗́͛̑͋̃̾͘͝o̤̝͈̩͆̏̉̈̆̽̿͢͠r̴̡͔̫̻͕̥͉̆͛̒̐̐̍̿̽̂ș̢̡͚̞̟̣̖̳̅̀͂͂̍̈́̊͝͞͠.]
We were moving quickly now at least much to my relief, following the Blood Mage who could apparently track the mind-slaved Green Lantern through the weirdness of the city. I really would like to know how he was managing that; my Priest of a Knowledge God senses telling me to ask many question and take many, many, useful notes. Unfortunately now was not the time, and it was the pragmatic thing to follow along and avoid getting into trouble as we headed for the next unfortunate part of the plan; the Lower Wards.
Not...unsurprising in truth, the place linked to many of the lower and material planes after all, and it at least wasn't The Hive, but it was not a happy place to be heading with a bunch of what were Chaotic Good adventurers at heart. Well, most of us were; I was pretty sure Paula qualified as Lawful Evil after all, even if I'd not be telling Artemis that little tidbit of speculation.
So here were, me getting an uncomfortable pressure on my mind?/spirit? as we continued away the bustling and generally-lawful streets of the Lady's Ward to the smog filled streets of the Lower Ward and its great manufactories. Slightly concerning as well that our merry mind-eating monster had gone to the manufacturing and crafting centre of the City at all; mayhap to study the items, or break whatever 'patch' the Lanterns broadcast to stop them 'leaving' this dimension in some manner?
"Right-e-oh primes, time ta be on guard. Well, be more on guard an' put on yer masks in the case of those of ye so inclined...or whatever ye need deal with the lovely fine weather here in the beautiful Lower Wards that pops up from time ta time. See that lowerely fog, smell that fine ward air...tastes like frakkin felgercarb at the best ah times don't it?" our 'guide' muttered pulling up a what looked like a piece of warded cloth over her mouth then pulled down goggles from her helmet so they were over her eyes.
Not that I could disagree with the idea; this place has the smell of the infernal, sulphur, blood and hate on the breeze even without crossing the 'boundary' yet apparently as the bribe happy guards let us through after a few coins. Thankfully that's what modified Neutralise Poison ring I'd purchased was for, even without my mask beneath the Polymorph to help, so it was merely a bad smell I had to work about as I wrinkled my nose at it. One couldn't afford to just turn off ones sense of smell entirely considering the dangers; much to my irritation unfortunately.
'Though apparently not as bad as Connor and Wonder Woman' I mused as my teammate and the older superhero put on an actual gas-mask to cover their noses and mouths after Connor made an almost gagging face at the flicker of the breeze. That was the problem with super-enhanced senses, you got all the nasty-shit-smells at full force and that can be problematic when some of said 'industrial solvent' smells can be debilitating to certain among us. The two Lantern's of course had their green ring generated environmental shields around their bodies, Red Tornado was a robot, M'gann could apparently reduce her sense of smell, me and the Blood Mage had magic, and the other two humans of our group settled for the cloth things as we walked into the ugly grey-black-white 'fog bank' a few moments later as our guide kept talking slightly muffled as she was.
"Keep close an' don't get separated, this is one ah the smoggier areas, frakkin downwind of the Great Foundry as it as; so lets push through an' let me talk through any trouble. Or shot first shoulda have ta. Damn place is fulla frakwads think their kings ah the hill cuz they were a big fish in a little pond till now. Morv we on the right track here?"
"Yes, it is in the Ward...near yet far...hmmm..." our other guide, the blood mage, hummed closing his eyes and holding a glass ball in his hand a moment before nodding "...we continue forward here and then shall change our direction southward towards the Great Foundry itself"
'Well that's not good confirmation of things, because that implies what I was worried about...about what I'd try do if I was Mr. Illithid' I thought gripping the hilt of the blade at my belt as we continued marching forward into the fog shrouded streets of this part of the City of Doors. That concern mixed with the constant bustling around us on the foggy streets of beings both mundane and magical shuffling about their own business...with some few observing us and all the others around them.
The infernal feel of more than a few after all did tend to put ones teeth on edge as taking a deep breath was less than ideal when it was full of the foul stink of the place where environmental regulations had never caught on apparently. Not that I hadn't dealt with such in a past life, nor unprepared in protections even up to somewhat draining long lasting stoneskin spell, but it did raise the chance of a random encounter significantly even outside of our a fight with our brain eating quarry. Something our two touts were thinking the same off as I saw...no felt more-so...the mage studying the surrounds while the 'Hunter of Artemis' hummed cheerfully to herself while ever so faintly checking the readiness of her weapons again and again as we walked...
"Hey cutter, want a piece of thissss?" a purple skinned woman with cloven hooves asked sensuously as she, and her comrades in arms, flounced towards us in a confident strut "Need ssshhhome relaxation and sthtresss relief?
"Oh, for fucks sake..." I muttered as an 'encounter' occurred as the fog lightened and we turned off in the direction the blood mage Morven had indicated. Seemed we were nearby a tavern, and that meant being waylaid by a group of scantily clad group of three females and a male that I assumed were of a certain profession as I couldn't help but face-palm at the current result of the building tension. Instead we got a bunch of half-naked humanoids, one of which was some sort of tall elf, backed up by two maybe-demon born with those looks, and fucking panda in a tutu.
"No we don't, now be gone harlots!" or something thereof was snapped out by our gloriously offended team leader, Diana the Amazon, as her facial expression expressed that feeling and ominous death threat inducing glare at the group hovered just outside our now stalled advance trying to be seductive. Really they must have a high tolerance to the air quality, and one had to admit the two tieflings had nice bodies, aside from the hooves and tail, but then..
Thwack
"Ow!" was muttered in unison out from behind me as Artemis and M'gann seemingly decided to gently wollop me on the back of the head...forgetting I'm a wizard and had a stoneskin in effect. Though it did dislodge my hat, by which meaning I had to reach down and pick up the nicely feathered hat I'd purchased and give then both a confused and irritated look as Connor had evidently received a similar smack from the Martian girl hovering behind us. Hovering with a big flustered and unhappy look upon her face matching the ones on all the female members of the team bar Paula, who merely looked impassively at the three before studying the lithely built golden skin humanoid with the unnerving eyes. Our two 'local' touts at least seemed unbothered by the whole thing, the woman pulling down her face covering and pulling up goggles.
"Oh, hey Ullanha! Ignore the cutters, their new, but me and Morv' are on the job ourselves so no time ta have'em make use the normal services fraid. Looking for a brain eating squid faced frakker and his little elfy friend...oi one you green dudes or the red toaster show'em a picture would ya of the red hair one an' the squidy?" our guide commanded twitching her nose after breathing in the air "...any of your lovely, fine, respectable citizens seen either ah these two lately? Bit a easy jink innit fer ya, Morv thinks there nearby an' I see you there Deanlira with your big pointy ears an' super fantastic magic oracle powers"
"No fair maidens, honourable warriors, this humble one has not seen any such miscreant or fair elfin maiden in these dark alleyways" golden man had an uncomfortably discordant tone to my magical senses that just grated on the ears while also being somehow harmonious in melody as well.
"Growl growl growl! Growl, growl!" hmmm, that really should have translated...oh right, the Panda-thing woman just wanted us to bugger off.
"I know nothing monkeigh, I do not want to know anything, and you do not have the jink for me to bother wasting my powers to do so"
"Kay, in a good mood today eh Deanlira?" our guide replied cheerfully, hand reaching down to her pocket and pulling out something shiny "So you know something? And we can afford to engage your services for a short period of time? Isn't that right Ullanha?"
"Are we...hiring the naked ladies? Why are we hiring the hookers?" Artemis hissed out in a whisper to gripping my shoulder and glaring. I shrugged.
"Information apparently, I'm sure the Bat and Rob do it all the time..." I muttered back softly, because they usually were a great source of information for an adventurer once you knew to keep them honest. The Shrouded Lord after had a few such as worshippers after all because Knowledge was Power in its own way "...and why are we all hitting me? That seems unfair somehow"
"And...apparently you do..." the tall elf muttered back glancing at the big buff horned woman before taking the gem into hand "...the brain-eater was going to the Great Foundry as I understand, with the arith arten. She asked questions by bedding cutters here for a cycle or so till we drove them off for stealing customers. Something about seeking out one of the Godsmen who works with jewellery maybe, or one of the weaponers; one is unsure of which exactly, merely that is what cutters said into their cups..."
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