By midday the cohort finally began to rise from their slumber. After finishing a series of stretches Akash summoned a handful of goodberries to pass among his friends.
"So, how do we want to go about acquiring these amulets?" Charles asked, accepting a goodberry from Akash.
"Alaric said they wouldn't give them up by their own accord." Said Hal, "We might have to jump a group of them and take the amulets by force."
"I would like to avoid that if possible, Alaric specifically asked us to avoid that if possible." Chimed in Naivara. "If they actively recruit then maybe we could steal some spares from their tower?"
"I'm not sure if I like our odds of getting in and out of the tower unscathed." Commented Charles, "If they are the halfway competent mages that Alaric described, the fresh amulets are bound to be under pretty tight security, and while I think we can take a small squad, fighting out of their headquarters is probably too much for us."
"So we find an alley, jump some Grey Veils, steal their amulets and only get rough if they do. Easy." Said Hal, shrugging his shoulders.
Naivara pinched the bridge of her nose, "Fine. But please let's try to keep this at least mostly peaceful."
Not but an hour later Akash found himself perched atop a slate roofline looking down into a shadowed alleyway. Charles was carefully backing Buck into a tight gap between two buildings while Gnoll and Naivara crouched behind a neat stack of crates and barrels. Once everybody was in position Hal disguised himself as a human and strode out of the alley into the busy street.
As he saw a trio of Grey Veils approach the alley Hal began frantically waving his arms and called out, "I just saw a gnome run into that alleyway!" The Grey veils surged forward in perfect sync, their robes whipping around them. Hal sprinted into the alley and continued yelling. "I swear he was just here, come on!"
When the group was far enough into the alley where the sun was blotted out by the surrounding buildings Hal skidded to a stop and turned on his heel. "Why did you stop?" One of the Grey Veils asked in a gruff, confused tone. "You said there was a gnome to apprehend."
"I'm afraid that was a little lie." Hal drew his sword, as Charles and Buck rode out from the shadows behind him, and Gnoll and Naivara emerged from the crates, boxing the Grey veils in. "You see, we need to borrow those little amulets of yours." He pointed the tip of his sword at the throat of the leading Grey Veil. "You can either give them to us easily, or we can remove them by force. Your choice."
The Grey Veils took in their surroundings for a moment, gazes lingering on Gnoll and Naivara in particular. "You would betray your own kind for these magical abominations?" The leader asked, waving a hand.
Hal's form shimmered for a moment, his ears returning to their typical length with their sharp points, and his face took on the more angular appearance of his heritage. "No, I'm trying to stand up for those of us you have slaughtered and abandoned to the forces of the Abyss." His expression darkened, "Now, hand over the amulets."
"You shall perish along with the rest of your brethren." Each Grey Veil thrust their hands out in harmony with each other, as silvery bolts of arcane energy were launched from their palms striking the members of the cohort.
"I asked them nicely!" Hal yelled to Naivara as he lunged forward slashing at the Grey Veils.
"Yeah, yeah." Replied Naivara exasperated. She fired two rounds into the legs of one of the trailing mages, causing him to crumple in pain.
From the rooftop Akash spotted another trio of Grey Veils shoving their way through the street. "They called for reinforcements!" He called down to his companions who had already dispatched one Grey Veil and were converging on the remaining two. Looking back up, the arriving mages had just entered the alleyway. As they did, Akash closed his eyes, clenched his fist, and muttered an arcane word causing deep green roots to erupt from between the cobblestones entangling the feet of the reinforcements.
The ground crew finished off the remaining mages from the initial trio amid a flurry of arcane blasts, dodging some, but sustaining a fair amount of damage regardless of their efforts.
The reinforcements, in the meantime, blasted the enchanted roots apart, freeing themselves to continue their predecessors' attacks. Unfortunately for them the cohort quickly regrouped and with a quick burst of healing from Akash's rooftop vantage point they struck down the Grey Veils.
"Grab the amulets, and let's get out of here. there may still be more coming." Charles directed out of breath. Akash slid down the tiles of the roof to rejoin the group and help collect the amulets.
As they took the amulets from the still Grey Veils the visage of the mages shimmered and fell away revealing the people who gave up all individuality in service of their leader. Akash could not help but feel immensely conflicted over their deaths. A demon of the Abyss was a clear enemy, but to take part in the deaths of humans who in another time or place he may have been friends with disturbed him. However, he would have to consider these feelings later, his friends needed him here and now.
The cohort finished their grisly task and ran deeper into the alleyway until they came out the other end in a much emptier backstreet than the main thoroughfare where they laid their trap. Slipping between shadows they eventually made it to the outskirts of the city with no sign of pursuers.
"So, we have these, now what?" Akash asked, gesturing at the amulets that Gnoll was pulling from a pouch on his belt.
"I mean, we could try one on, see what happens." Suggested Hal, shrugging.
"That is certainly an option." Said Charles slowly, "Gnoll, you are typically the item guy, any alternatives?"
"I'm spent at the moment." He replied, "If we wait a while I can get some information on it, but frankly I don't think there is much in terms of risk of slipping one on quickly to see what happens." Gnoll added, a curious gleam in his eyes.
"Ok." Charles sighed, "Any volunteers?"
"I'm fine with giving it a shot." Said Akash, "If it ends up being a mind control thing like that mace back in Three Falls there's not much I can do to actually hurt you all."
"That's actually a really good point Akash." Said Naivara, "Obviously you're a fantastic asset in a fight, but I'd rather fight you than try to wrangle Charles again."
"I would like to point out that the mace thing was not my fault. However, I do agree with Naivara. Unless anyone else has objections, Akash, try it on."
Akash accepted one of the amulets from Gnoll and slipped the braided cord over his head. The metal chilled the base of his neck as a rough voice slipped into his mind. "Do you accept the full extent of my blessing?" The voice asked.
"Yes." Akash suddenly felt a rush of magical energy flow from the amulet and his form molded into that of a Grey Veil, flowing robe and all. Reaching inwards towards the small core of arcane energy that he drew upon while casting various spells, Akash found it to be different than he recalled. Instead of the intuitive connection with the wild energy of the world it felt more constrained, rigid, bound by an intricate collection of runes and sigils. He knew of this style of magic, but had never grasped how it worked, and yet, he found that he now could.
"You alright in there, Akash?" Hal asked, waving a hand in front of Akash's eyes.
"I'm fine." He replied, catching Hal's wrist. Akash twisted his hand, admiring the quality of the illusion, there was no hint of his normal blue skin under the pale wrinkled skin that now covered his hand. "We should go talk to Alaric about this. Preferably sooner rather than later in case these amulets do actually cause the transformation."
"Right. Ok, let's go." Said Charles, remounting Buck.
The rest of the cohort threw cloak over their heads and began making their way back to the upper city to meet with Alaric.
The cohort found themselves standing in front of a grand steel gate. The patterns that made up the lattice work slowly shifted over time and shown with an iridescent sheen.
"Wow, he has a lot of money." Commented Hal off-handedly, staring at the mansion that lay beyond the gate.
"Well he is one of the greatest transmuters of our time." Said Naivara, walking forward the gate slowly opening before her. She continued to lead the cohort up to the solid oak doors which swung open, much in the same manner as the gate before. "Alaric, we found something for you to look at!" She called out into the wide open foyer. A minute or two passed before the padding of feet could be heard and Alaric appeared from a hallway.
"You found something already? Woah hey!" Alaric explained as he caught sight of Akash. "Either that is your friend Akash wearing one of the amulets, or you somehow convinced a Grey Veil to join you. Honestly not sure which is more concerning."
"Oh, it's me." Confirmed Akash with a wave.
"Can you tell what it does? Can you tell how it works? Are you able to take it off?" Alaric fired off questions in rapid-fire.
Akash took the amulet off, the illusion fading away. "That should answer your last question. As for the others, I think those will require your expertise to help us determine."
"Yes, yes, of course. Please, right this way, we can use home laboratory to conduct tests." Alaric said as he ushered the cohort down a separate hallway.
The room Alaric brought them to was constructed much in the same way as the laboratory in the office building that he first brought them to the previous evening. He hustled around the room, pulling various scrolls from nooks, and collected an armful of jars containing all manner of spell components. Placing them all upon a large slate-topped working table.
"I imagine you will have some more refined methods for researching these, but I can get us some basic information to go off of." Gnoll said to Alaric as he set one of the amulets down on the table, and pulled out a large pearl. He began muttering arcane phrases under his breath, slowly rolling the pearl between his palms while he did so.
Gnoll focussed on the small amulet laid before him. Recalling his training from Cassamir he closed his eyes and reached out to Gilean for guidance and knowledge.
Suddenly he was thrust forward as if being pulled through a massive windstorm. When he opened his eyes Gnoll found himself in a dark, cramped cave, a dull ringing sounded from deeper within. Slowly he crept forward, closer and closer to the source of the sound. Turning a corner he was met with the pulsing orange glow of a forge. Before the anvil stood a hulking creature, whose proportions were hard to make sense of. It spoke in long guttural phrases, each punctuated by a strike of its hammer. Blow after blow found their mark, shaping the small amulet that Gnoll could now see upon the anvil. Recognition dawned on Gnoll as he was ripped away from the cave.
He was now in the familiar courtyard of Velling. Confusion welled within him, they had already been here, what more was there to know? Then a Grey Veil stepped out from a building and began walking to the shifting portal of white sand. This one, while identical in physical appearance, was different from those Gnoll and the others encountered in Oak Harbour. They carried a gnarled wooden staff and carried themselves with a more confident, almost regal posture. Striding into the portal, the Grey Veil vanished, and Gnoll found himself sitting on the outskirts of Oak Harbor once more.
"These were crafted by a demon of great power…" Gnoll siad, slowly rising to his feet, eyes affixed to the amulet before him. "I cannot say for sure, but it may have even been by the hand of Fraz-Urb'luu himself." The others looked at Gnoll in a stunned silence.