The Gods' Hands

The guard in charge of cleanup after the scene at the gates had had Dolan sent to the Temple of Daeus for healing, rather than the Soldier's Defense. A curious state of affairs that had caused some discussion in the rain outside the gates, but the lieutenant stated two reasons. The first was that he belongs to the Daeusite temple - a thing that is at least partially true, as he certainly belongs to the Sunlord at the least; the second, that the temple was closer to the gates than the Soldier's Defense, and that he should not be moved further than absolutely necessary. So it was that after some discussion, Dolan was taken to the temple of Daeus.

Despite the chill, grey weather outside, it is warm and comfortable here on the temple grounds, and Lysos on inquiring is led back towards the infirmary wing, to a quiet section of it where there is some privacy. Much cleaner and drier than when she'd last left him, the Redeemer lies flat on a cot in the walled-off area, under several blankets, his long and unruly hair spilled in strands all over the pillow. The artificial eye has been removed and is not in immediate evidence, and has been replaced by an eyepatch that covers the ruined right socket. A lump under the blankets suggests a splinted left arm held close to his body, and he appears to be about half-awake.

Having been admitted at last, most probably due to the latest werewolf chewtoy having reached at least a state of semi-consciousness, Lysos immediately makes herself at home in Dolan's corner of the infirmary. She grabs a stool, inspects it (for reasons).. then promptly sets it aside and chooses another, setting it near Dolan's cot to plant herself upon. She doesn't say anything right away, noting the man still in the process of waking up... and takes the time to study the ruined side of his face at a moment when she can get away with staring.

The grey chill does not touch everyone. Despite the mist, Telamon slices through it with a steady, even pace, his face expressionless, wrapped in a cloak over his usual dandy-esque attire. Striding up the stairs, he stops to speak to the gate guard, passing over an oilcloth-wrapped packet: a deposition from the sorcerer. That done, he makes his way through the temple to the infirmary, where he peeks in the doorway.

Seeing Lysos and Dolan, he says in a quiet, kind voice, "Is he up for receiving visitors?" He shows no signs of revulsion at Dolan's scarring, his dark, starry eyes compassionate. They move to Lysos, and his brow furrows. "I know you, I just don't think we've been introduced. Telamon Atlon, ma'am."

The scars themselves beneath the eyepatch are something to behold, and suggest that the werewolf was not the first nasty thing with which Dolan has crossed paths, in the course of his life. Three jagged clawmarks run from the right side of the bridge of his nose, across his eye and down his face nearly to his jawline, the flesh around them melted away as if by acid. So, too, is much of the rest of the right side of his face, the flesh twisted and melted.

"Ow, fuck." The man on the bed opens with perhaps not the politest of greetings as he stirs, and shifts in the bed. The remaining chocolate-brown eye opens, and blinks a few times rather crustily. "What in all the -" He stops short, blinking as his eye begins to focus, staring at the ceiling. "Damn, I hurt. What the hell happened?" A man approaches the bed, he's been intermittently at Dolan's side since his arrival. Bringing tea and answering a few polite questions from the clerics here at the temple of Daeus. He's a rather unremarkable sort of guy. His hair is short and cut into a military style that makes it hard to determine if its blonde or brown. His blue eyes have a bit of goodwill in them, but are serious, weighing things. He settles the tea beside Dolan's bedside and pulls up a stool. He does so on the side where Dolan will be able to clearly see him even without the false eye in.

"Hey there. How are you feeling?" The man wears the uniform of Alexandria's guard, but there's a lieutenant's bar on the shoulder that tells that he's not the normal rank and file soldier. "Do you not remember what happened?" That's a serious question, for a number of reasons.

So engrossed was she in the study of the jagged scarring and wounding that Lysos starts a bit when Dolan speaks. Her eyes immediately slide away from the mess to a point just above the man's head while she tries to think of what to say. "You ended up helping the wolf monster demolish the gate for a few moments," she tells him, offering a grin as is her way when she's trying to cover up being uncomfortable. She slides her stool back, then, so she isn't so close and it's easier for Telamon to enter Dolan's field of vision. The latter she looks at, possibly the first close look she's had a chance to get despite the previous high-action encounters she's had with the half-elf. "I'm just Lysos. I--" And then the officer arrives. She pushes her stool back even further, coming up against a wall. Wondering, once again, what her ill luck has dropped her into today.

"Indeed -- but I suspect the officer has some questions." Telamon has drawn his hood back, and rakes his fingers through his shaggy platinum hair. "It was a little chaotic. I just turned in my own deposition." He offers Lysos a reassuring smile, and makes a 'settle down' gesture with his hands. "We're all friends and allies here, Lysos. No worries."

He folds his hands before himself, regarding Dolan and Balderdan with interest. "Should we leave? I don't want to interfere with this review -- I'm merely here to visit a friend."

Then enters the highest-ranking person in Dolan's life.

Unlike Telamon, Andelena has no qualms about entering the room--she doesn't even have any issues with crowding the officer. The look in her steel-grey eyes as she enters the room speaks volumes: she's worried, worried like hell. Even her lion's mane of copper-blonde waves seems a little more unkempt than usual.

"Brydion Donnely, I swear to the gods, you're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days," Andelena murmurs as takes her place right next to the officer. "I came as soon as I could."

It takes a minute, and the swirling circle that reads _processing, please wait_ is plainly visible behind Dolan's remaining eye, but recognition and understanding flood in after that moment or two, along with a crystal clear mix of fear, struggle, and relief that lingers on the side of his face that still readily holds expression. This man hides nothing. "Fuck." Yes, he remembers now, and draws a deep breath - or at least tries to. Lets it out almost at once, and breathes much, much more carefully. "I didn't run. Not this time."

And then, the titian whirlwind slams into the room. His eyes go at once to the newcomer, and he tries to shift, to lift his head. It clearly hurts like hell. "Andie. Fuck. Calm down. I didn't run. Not this time." The head goes back down onto the pillow. "Someone was summoning it. From right outside the gate. They had a figurine, just like those fucking statues."

The lieutenant considers the course of events after he offers his words to Dolan, and nods to Telamon. "I have some questions for Dolan yes, perhaps some for those of you that were there as well. Though if you've given your statements to my fellows then that's helpful certainly." He seems a bit no-nonsense, and his eye flickers somewhat at Andelena's entrance. He frowns mildly at Dolan's words. "If you will ma'am. It would be best if you calmed down. He is hurt, but he is being attended to. I am in particular curious about this statue?"

Lysos's eyes go wide at Andelena's entrance, then spend a few heartbeats shifting between the tall woman and the wounded, bed-ridden man. A few times to the door, which now has a few people between her and it. "Stars.." she says to herself, under her breath. Dolan may not have run, but she's starting to have the look of someone who might want to. Yet she remains sitting, heeding Telamon's reassurance.. even if she spends a bit more time smoothing out the folds in her skirts. "Honestly," she offers up for the officer, "It was all pretty hectic. But definitely seemed.. um.. planned? What with that distraction outside the gates."

Standing at the foot of Dolan's bed, Telamon is thankfully not in the way when Andelena comes charging in. His lips quirk in a gentle smile, before he quickly smothers it under a more sober expression. He nods to Lysos. "Agreed. And we heard other howls, calls, as well. The temples may wish to make a sweep through the city, to ensure no one else is suffering from lycanthropic infection."

He takes a deep breath, regarding Balderdan. "Of course, officer." He casually steps over, next to Lysos. "Peace," he says to her kindly. "Don't take counsel of your fears, Lysos. Of all the places in Alexandria this is probably one of the safest ones."

The last thing you want to do is say the words "calm down" to an upset woman who 1) stands six feet off the ground, 2) is currently within punching range, and 3) has all of the visual power of someone who could absolutely make that punch hurt. And Andelena's steel-grey gaze settles on the officer as she looks /down/ at him. Her nostrils flare and her eyes have a certain message in them: 'crawl up your own ass and die in there, or I'll shove you up there myself.'

But she doesn't say that. She instead looks down at Dolan and something shifts in her gaze--less intent to rearrange a man's anatomy and more general upset. She leans down and takes Dolan's hand, which she squeezes hard--and eventually lets up on. There will be no broken hands today. "Thank you for not running," she says, a bit quietly. Her eyes close as she takes a deep breath and lets it out in the from of a sigh.

Then she opens her eyes and looks around the room. There's Telamon, there's Lysos... Wait. She looks at Telamon and squints at him. "Kid, how the fuck did you get wrapped up in this mess?" she asks.

"He's been around a couple of times, when the wolves showed up, Andie." Dolan doesn't seem to be paying a whole lot of attention to the byplay going on around him, instead focusing on the questions being asked of him and on his own situation. That hand that Andie grasps is beneath the blankets pulled up around him, at the end of what is quite obviously a splinted arm, but it's findable, and his lips quirk as he tries to return it, as best he can. The grip does not have its usual strength.

He turns his head fully towards Lysos, then. "How did you end up outside the gates with no cloak?" It's a side question, though, and before long, he turns his head back to stare straight up at the ceiling, breathing slowly and shallowly. "It's fine, Andie. Someone's got to know. I'm not going anywhere yet."

Another slow breath. "You know that the werewolves have been popping in at the full moon and creating havoc, right. The ringleaders are the black-furred ones, the others are just ones they infected. They're trying to turn everyone in town, and they're succeeding at a damned lot. It's got to do with those damned nightmares. I keep dreaming about being hunted. What it's like to hunt. To kill. Chasing demons." He seems to be verbally wandering off into a tangent, fear tinging the words. "Being chased by them. I don't even know anymore. It's got to do with the statues. There's one in my pack, I wanted to talk to the Seers about it. The Union. The figurine that bastard used to summon the wolf. It looked just like it."

The guardsman doesn't seem particularly swayed by Andelena's death-glare. Maybe he's seen it all before. Certainly dealing with irate people is something that a guardsman is required to do quite often. He does however lapse into silence, listening to the others speak and watching Andelena carefully. For the moment he doesn't add anything to the conversation however. It seems that he's decided to let Dolan continue, though there's a bit of worry in his gaze.

Lysos has a little bit of a rebound relationship with fear and courage, but nods to Telamon, taking his advice, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She stops her fiddling, and if her shoulders remain a bit stiff.. well, Andelena is an intimidating woman! Then she barks a laugh. It's short, and slightly broken, but Dolan's question she finds humourous. "Ah, that? Long story, stupid story..." She pauses, then adds, "Probably not the right time to tell it," she admits. Then sobers up again, rather quickly. "I felt that. With that big wolf. I might have accidentally.." Then she coughs, a hand to her mouth. She doesn't finish the thought. "That feeling of being chased and hunted. It was terrifying."

Telamon stops being genial and welcoming. There's a flicker in his eyes, the distant stars there. "Travelers at night. I take an interest in protecting them," he replies to Andelena. "So that occasionally brings me into contact with the things in the dark."

At the mention of nightmares, of being hunted, he stiffens. "Like something was chasing you?" he asks sharply. "Because there was an influx of those dreams among arcanists not so long ago. Of being pursued by something monstrous and hungry." The mention of a statue makes his brow furrow. "I've... I've seen something like that. The druid, Barclay? No. Barclaiigh, he had one, and we destroyed it. It was an evil thing, even--" he pauses. Then continues, "In the dream, even the Tyrant feared it."

Telamon's explanation for why he's in this mess seems to satisfy Andelena as she nods. "Fair enough," she says, although there's a tone in her voice something like... being impressed, albeit in a 'kid is going places' sort of way. "So, more statues. Bry here--sorry, you probably all know him better as Dolan--has been tracking this guy calling himself the Nightmare. And let me tell you: I plan on being /that/ guy's fucking nightmare when I'm done with him."

She looks at the rest of the group again, although she looks at Lysos and the guard in particular. "Scuse me, I appear to have placed my manners somewhere in a ditch for dead. Name's Andelena. I'm a Sunguard of Daeus." That much was evident from her white cloak, armor, and longsword, although she doesn't speak like a holy woman.

She follows up the question, still holding onto Dolan. "You lot see anyone in particular... leading, summoning, shit like that?--And Bry, you need to /rest./ Your head's all over the damn place."

"Andie, he was right outside the gate. He summoned that big fucking wolf. The Mourner-" Dolan pauses, a convulsive shiver rippling through him. "Damn, it's cold in here." It's not. "The Mourner said it was a fiendish wolf of some kind. Strong as all the green garden hells. It flung me into the gate from ten paces away." He seems to be ignoring Andie's instructions. "He was hiding right outside the broken gate. Using a figurine to do it."

He takes another slow breath, although he smiles up at Andie at her touch. "He's a wizard of some kind. He's the one controlling this. The Tyrant fears it, you said?" he asks of Telamon, suddenly.

All of this is VERY interesting news to Balderdan, but admittedly, it's coming out in odd chunks and bits. A fiendish wolf, a statue that summoned it. Some man who was doing so just outside the gate. Odd dreams - which everyone knew of but it seemed that there was more to even that than Balderdan knew. "I am Balderdan Viet ma'am." The soldier offers to the woman at her introduction. "Lieutenant of the city guard. I hope you won't mind that I'm here to gather what information I can on this situation."

He eyes Dolan, but seems interested to see how Andelena reacts.

Lysos offers a small wave to Andelena, trying very hard not to let the 'I am way in over my head here' show. "Just Lysos," she tells the amazon, in the manner of 'do not mind me, just an innocent bystander.' She drops her hand back down, notably /not/ entangling it in her skirts. Explaining for both the Sunguard and the Officer. "I didn't see any summoner.. just the big wolf, and then the big wolfman at the end when I was trying to help mister Dolan. I spent most of my time.. uh.. " Invisible and hiding wouldn't go over well, probably.. "trying to help the children. Their parents were fighting."

Telamon spreads his hands to Dolan. "It seemed that way to me. But I'm not a theologian; that might be an issue best left to someone versed in such matters." His eyes move back to Andelena, and he smiles slightly, despite the gravity of the situation. "I suspect there will be plenty of such before this matter is finished. But in the meantime..."

His gaze moves to Lysos, compassionate again. "And you did well. The giantborn fellow and I were able to bind that werewolf and his last victim, so they could be cured later." He looks a bit rueful. "I... was a little overenthusiastic with that last waterspout. I do hope they can fix the wall."

GAME: Andelena rolls Sense Motive: (9)+9: 18

Andelena fixes her steel-grey gaze onto Balderdan now. She does what she typically does when she looks at people: it seems she's assessing him to see if he should be in this room next to her bruised and battered man, or if he should be picked up by the scruff of his neck and thrown out. But she seems to nod after a moment after her gaze drops to his sword.

"Sure. I don't mind," she says. "Daeusites ought to stick together. We're all trying to sort out this shit, so multiple heads and multiple accounts--even if multiple accounts lead to a conflict of information sometimes--helps."

She looks over to Lysos and Telamon now. "Thank you for helping Dolan get out of that alive," she says. "He means a fucking lot to me, although he has a nasty tick of going and getting broken when I'm not there to patch him back up."

Andelena finally looks back to Dolan. Her eyes narrow. "Hey. /Rest,/ damn you. You're feeling breezes that aren't even there--do you need a blanket?"

As it happens, Dolan already has a couple of blankets, but he nods. "Yeah, I could use another, and I know damn well you'll bust my chops if I try to get it myself." It is not as if he feels up to doing any such thing. "I'm not _trying_ to, Andie," he adds wearily, and a little defensively. "They just show up when you're not around, usually. At least you're not getting hurt."

Another quirk of a smile, but Dolan quite clearly isn't going anywhere. "'Lo, Lieutenant," he greets quietly. "I'll help as much as I can. Glad someone in the Guard finally noticed or cares. Look, that statue - we've been finding them in these burial mounds outside the city. They - they probably need to be destroyed. They're evil as shit. Don't know if it'll help us find the bastard behind this, though. That's what I wanted to talk to the Seers about. What's this prophecy shit, and what's with the roses?"

Balderdan smiles thinly at Andelena. "Aye. Once I thought to serve Daeus more directly, but this is the path He set me on." He touches his sword in a thoughtful manner then lets his hand fall. "I'll get you a blanket sir. Much as I want answers, and it seems you've a great many questions of your own... Best I get it than you send one of your friends."

Another smile and then Balderdan moves away, heading off to find an extra blanket. It will not take him long, but you've a few moments without his presence.

Lysos shrugs a little but uncomfortably. Mostly because her thoughts at the time had been anything but heroically minded. "Well.. I have a knack for landing in trouble that people need to pull me out of, so.. it's nice to be on the other side of that sometimes," she admits after Balderdan vacates, if only for a few moments. "I didn't realize these wolves were a bigger problem.. though I suppose that explains the howling lately.."

Telamon smiles at Lysos. "Sometimes, it's enough." He steps back away from Lysos, moving over towards the foot of the bed again. "Dolan has the right of it, I think. These statues... unless there's some pressing need to keep them intact, they should be destroyed." He arches an eyebrow. "And before you ask, remember that sometimes such things can be used to contain or trap certain creatures."

He looks thoughtful on the question of prophecy. "Prophecy can be inexact. A... friend once told me that predicting things wasn't as clear-cut as 'X will happen tomorrow'. He said it was more like educated guesswork. Like..." He pauses, then grins a little. "Think of it like cheating at cards or dice -- palming a card at a crucial moment, or using a loaded die. You can change the odds."

Andelena points at Telamon. "Kid, don't be a dumbass and cheat at cards or dice if you're in a room with a bunch of thugs. I've seen people get killed for it. -- But yes, I don't think prophecy is firm, either. I am, however, pretty fucking concerned about the implications, as is Dolan..."

She looks back at Dolan, especially as the other Daeusite leaves the room. She squints and leans in even closer to him. "Bry, you're going pale. I think you've got a cold. The /fuck/ are they doing here."

The Sunguard takes matters into her own hands and murmurs a healing prayer to Daeus over her partner.

GAME: Andelena rolls 1d8+4: (1)+4: 5

The warmth of healing echoes through Dolan, and it seems to ease some of the pain, at least, because he draws a slow, but deeper breath than he's drawn since you arrived. "Probably. It was pouring and cold as hell. Thanks, Andie." A quirk of a smile for the Sunguard is low-energy, but affectionate all the same.

With the lieutenant gone, he turns his head fully towards Lysos, an odd quirk, but he seems to want to look at her directly when he talks to her. "Yeah, they're a big problem. Did you notice that there's a small chunk of the moon missing? These assholes attacked the Temple of Eluna, and it's been missing ever since. I keep thinking about Caracoroth. Seems pretty obvious he's involved, but who's this servant of his? Pretty damn dangerous man."

His gaze turns next to Telamon, his head lifting just a little bit to see the man better. This clearly is unpleasant, although less so, perhaps, than it was. "But it talks about flowers. I got caught in this living dream - it was an inn. Blue roses on all the tables. Except that the patrons were - dying. The staff didn't notice. They became like these black unliving things and came after us. I thought it was a dream, except ... I came out with the claw marks."

Balderdan returns a moment later with a blanket in hand. It's warm and he settles it on the bed somewhat near Andelena. He slides away from the woman a moment later and returns to his chair. He's surprisingly good at seeming non-threatening. "What is this about coming out of a dream with claw marks?" He sighs and pulls out a scroll and a piece of lead to write with. It's not the best for taking notes with, but it's clearly all he has. He makes a few marks on the paper and looks at the group. "It sounds like a talk with the Temple of Eluna is a good idea. I can set something up so that they will come for an interview if you like. Can I see this statue that you were talking about?"

"A bite out of.." Lysos trails off, her eyes going wide as she leans back.. and nearly falls off of her stool before she rights herself. If she thought she was in over her head before... "This is crazy. Feels like everything is exploding all at the same time." That's mostly for herself, and she's still musing on it when Balderdan returns. It isn't until he suggests a discussion with the Eluna's people that she looks up at the others again. "I've don't think I'd have anything useful to add for them. Like I mentioned.. I think I was just a wrong person, wrong place, wrong time situation."

GAME: Andelena rolls Knowledge/Religion: (16)+6: 22
GAME: Dolan rolls knowledge/religion: (10)+6: 16

Telamon looks at Dolan, eyebrows rising. "I didn't have -that- experience... but I think I remember something of that nature. I know I was tired the next day but I attributed it to not sleeping well, instead of expended mana in the dream." He frowns deeply. "Which... raises certain questions."

When Balderdan returns, Telamon watches him fumbling for writing implements, and sighs, reaching into his haversack and removing an inkpen and bottle. "Use these," he advises. "If you try to write with that for more than a short time you'll cramp the hells out of your hand."

That done, he nods tightly to Lysos. "My... friend mentioned that he had seen Eluna's face marred. Combine that with the visions of blue roses dying... it bodes ill indeed."

Andelena makes sure that the blankets are now all on Dolan and that he's tucked in--a mannerism of hers that suggests that, perhaps in another life, maybe the six-foot-tall woman could have been an imposing nurse instead of a freewheeling crass-mouthed Sunguard.

Then again, Compassion is one of Daeus's tenets, so that suits her just fine.

She purses her lips in thought. "Blue roses... Maybe we've been going about this wrong. Althea, our lord's wife--blue roses are among Her symbols, and Eluna is Her daughter."

Her face falls into a hard line. "Most mothers try to protect their children, regardless of deific status... What if Althea is trying to protect Her daughter?"

The extra blanket seems to help, and Dolan relaxes at the tuck-in, letting out a breath that might be a snort, or might be a sigh. "Or if the Tyrant is involved, maybe it isn't just Eluna that is being targeted." His eyes go to the ceiling above him, and he stares at the stone briefly, then turns his head carefully towards Balderdan. "Yeah. It's in my pack. I'd wanted to ask for some of their time, if they can make the time to come here? I don't know if they can, but maybe someone can ask?"

"I will ask." Says Balderdan, rising to his feet and moving to the pack which he hesitates before rifling through to find the statuette. It's a horrible little thing. Looking like a person but twisted and half-way through some terrifying transformation. The sight of it makes Balderdan flinch and he holds it up slightly to show it off to the others. "I take it that this is what you mean."

He sighs and lowers the figurine. "I'm not educated in figurines, or dream-symbology. But you should be careful. What you think you see in a dream is not always what you think it to be. Yet such questions are best left to the Elunan's perhaps... however curious I am." Here he chuckles wryly.

Lysos just stares at Telamon for a moment as his words sink in, then she shakes her head at the rest. "Do you think.. do you think.." she chokes a bit on the words. "Do think you more of.. them.. are going to die?" Animus is still many minds, after all, especially with the antics of the resurrectionists. Then she's recoiling from the sight of the statuette. "That's hideous! Is it even safe to touch? What if it starts turning you into one of them?"

Telamon winces. He didn't mean to upset Lysos. "We're not going to just stand by idly, Lysos. Often, we are the gods' hands in the world; even the smallest person might change the course of the future." He straightens his shoulders. "So we keep at it."

"Andelena has a point. Althea would most certainly act to protect her daughter. And... I don't know where Caracoroth fits in, but I suspect he is... not entirely under the Tyrant's thumb now. Which would be amusing if it wasn't so damned dangerous for us."

When the statuette comes out, Telamon makes a sound of disgust, fingers twitching before he regains his composure. "Officer... I would not handle that thing any more than necessary. But a thought occurred to me. Do you remember how the statue of Crown Princess Lianna was defiled and twisted?" He makes a grim face. "I cannot help but ponder a parallel here."

"If we keep evil divided, then evil's a lot fucking easier to defeat," Andelena remarks, looking at Lysos in particular. "Don't forget that. Real damn easy to get all doom and gloom in the face of shit like this, especially when we're looking at evil little statues making people into feral and angry beasts, but if the Tyrant's not helping the Nightmare, we've got a chance. We can beat /back/ the evil."

She crosses her arms, standing tall now as she looks back around the room. "Quite fucking frankly, so long as I'm standing on two legs, I'm intending on taking down the Nightmare. He's beaten up my man too many times now and I'm /pissed/."

"Andie, it's not like you're going - to get to do it all yourself. I want to find this asshole too." Dolan doesn't seem to be worrying too much about his language, his eyes - and where necessary his head - moving to each person as they speak in turn. When it moves to the statue that Balderdan holds, clearly that's it, because a shudder ripples through him, and revulsion and fear lance through the unscarred side of his face. Telamon's statement, in particular, seems to hold something of wisdom for him, and he closes his eyes, nodding slowly and carefully. "Yeah," he agrees, but frowns.

"I saw that, but I wasn't there when it happened. We keep finding these statues in these old burial mounds outside the city. I think we've found," he pauses, "two now. Can we find more and destroy them all? Who is this asshole that seems to be controlling the werewolves? They answer to him, I caught one once and was going to make him talk," he pauses again, as if pulling himself together, "but all he said was "the nightmare" before something, someone I didn't see killed him with magic. Same asshole, probably."

"Look, we'll get to the bottom of it, all tight? It's what we're all trying to do," he is starting to sound strained, "but if we work together, we can do it. I'm not going to run again."

Balderdan reluctantly replaces the figurine back into Dolan's pack, looking at it for a long moment and then shrugging uncomfortably. "Much as I loathe to leave it in your care, I have no knowledge of it to aid you. You might have better luck than I finding a mage or priest to destroy it. I remember well the defacing of the statue, and I am reminded of it as well. The officials took it as a threat to the royal family and increased their guard for a time, but nothing came of it."

He seems thoughtful, glancing once at Andelena and then sighing. "It might be wise for me to come back at a slightly later time. Dolan...? Is looking a bit weary, and I'm not in the business of questioning injured men until they pass out." Balderdan nods to Dolan. "I'll ask that some Elunan's come speak to you, and I'll be back myself to ask some more questions later."

Lysos's eyes remain wide. One might think she's prone to panic. One might be right. Reassuring words seem to at least be keeping her on her seat, however. Also, people between her and the door are likely a contributing factor as well. As Balderdan notes Dolan's declining comfort, however, she looks over at the disfigured man.. then nods and stands up, smoothing out her skirts again. Another deep breath, then her jaw sets. "I don't know much about this. But.. you're right. Keep evil divided. If.. look, I don't know much, but if I can help I will." If someone can keep her straight.

Telamon taps his fingertips together. "I think I might make some inquiries on this. No guarantees, but... I'll broach this with my fiancee, Cor'lana, and make sure she's read in on this." His eyes twinkle, regardless of the gravity of the situation. "We're not going to make it -easy- for these vermin, no matter what."

He considers Dolan, then nods to Balderdan. "He's right, Dolan. I think you need to rest and recuperate. You took a hell of a beating and if your lady's anything like mine..." He offers Andelena an impish grin, "she would prefer you not hurt yourself trying to get up."

Tel's eyes meet Lysos's, and he smiles. "Maybe we can arrange for you to toss another bear into the melee? Jokes aside... have faith. Sometimes it's all about rising to the challenge."

Andelena looks at Telamon deadpan in the eyes. "You, uh. You have a fiancee? No offense, but I kind of thought you were so young they barely let you drink horseswill at the bars." Then she shrugs. "So long as you and her are consenting adults, who the fuck cares. I sure as hell can't give you shit for it."

She gestures to Dolan. "After all, my folks disowned me for trying to marry this guy. Why do you think I'm so protective of him? I walked away from a silver spoon and into the light of Daeus for this man. They'll have to pry him from my cold, dead body. So, speaking of which, I think I'm gonna stick around and make sure he. Recovers."

Andelena finally smirks. "It was nice seeing you lot, and meeting you two for the first time," she says, indicating Balderdan and Lysos with a movement of her thumb. "Don't be strangers. We need all the help we can get."

Dolan's good hand snakes out from under the covers and reaches to rub at the bridge of his nose, then snakes quickly back under. "Don't worry, Andie, I'm not going anywhere except to _sleep_. Hopefully without nightmares." He sounds truly weary, now, and closes his other eye. "Thanks - thanks for coming round. We'll talk more." Who that's aimed at is unclear, but it may well be aimed at everyone. "We've got - to figure this out."

-End