To the Downfall of Fiends

The tea shop is small but has a good business. Not so much that they don't have a touch of privacy in the corner of the room to themselves, but enough that they don't stand out very much in the mix of peoples. Well. Dolan might stand out a little. Most of those gathered here are after all ladies, or gentlemen who are of a gentler persuasion. Auranar fits in perfectly however in her white sundress with little yellow flowers embroidered on it.

She's already ordered them tea, and pushed the menu over to Dolan so that he can order some food if he'd like. The waitress waits on his decision.

Truthfully, the usually rough-and-ready Dolan is left feeling more than a little out of place in a refined establishment such as this. He has, at least, eschewed the weapons and armor, and endeavored to clean up a little. He wears a high-collared shirt, relatively new, paired with ochre-toned trousers and a new-looking pair of boots, the leather thong holding the stylized dragon pendant around his neck fresh-looking and carefully tied off behind him. His hair is getting a touch on the shaggy side, but his beard is neatly trimmed, a shadow, really.

"I -" he starts, studying the menu. "Well, the small tea sandwich assortment would probably be pretty good. It's too hot to eat too heavily. Maybe a plate of the cucumber sandwiches?"

"A perfect accompaniment to the tea sir." The waitress said pleasantly, accepting back the menu when Auranar smiled her agreement. Once the waitress was gone the sorceress spoke up.

"I'd have brought something for lunch myself, but it's far too rude to bring food to a restaurant and I thought that you might appreciate a change of pace. This is one of my favorite places to come and relax."

Although Dolan grins cheekily at his companion, he still seems just a touch uncomfortable, scratching at his hairline to one side of his neck. "I, well - it sure isn't my usual type of spot, though I can see how you'd find it relaxing." He twitches at the fabric of his trousers. "So, how are you and Verna doing? I know it's got to be pretty crowded with Tel and Lana there too."

Auranar notices his discomfort, but doesn't want to make him any more uncomfortable by pointing it out. Instead she remains at her ease and hopes that the comfortable atmosphere will eventually sink into Dolan as well. "We're doing well, thankfully Telamon and Cor'lana are staying more in an interdimensional space rather than the house full-time. Still, I never expected so many people in the house long-term. It's not really big enough."

She sighs and frowns a little. "Really I worry that I'm not as good a host as I'd like to be all the time. But thankfully they're family so I think they'll forgive me any failings to that end." She smiles here warmly and she looks at Dolan. "But what about you and Andelena? How is being married suiting you two?"

Dolan flushes at that, but it's a pleased expression. "Y'know," he admits candidly after a minute or two of thought, resting hands on the tabletop. "The honest truth is it doesn't change much of anything on the day to day. Andie and I shared a flat for years before we came to Alexandria. It's been a long time - I don't love her any more, or any less. I suppose - I'm just glad to have it done, yeah?"

There are now two rings on his hand. Where one was a platinum affair, a miniature dragon in stylized for wrapped around his finger, the new one is a simple band of pale white gold with a tiny crystal set into it. "Now, we've got to get back down to business. It's all done, and there ain't no happily ever after yet, if you take my meaning."

Auranar nods, smiling herself. "I felt the same way with Verna. I think... It just means that we were meant to be together you know? If there had been some drastic change over-night I think that it would have been a sign that there was something wrong." She spreads her hand in a sign that shows she doesn't really know. There's only one ring on her fingers. The same one that's been there for so long. "And maybe there's not a happily ever after, but I'm glad you're *happy*."

She flashes her teeth briefly. "The real happily ever after will come once we wipe a few nasty pieces off the chess board."

"Yeah. Honestly, Aura. I just count myself lucky that she was willing to give me a second chance." Dolan stares sheepishly down at the tablecloth. "I'm incredibly lucky to have a woman like her, and being married don't change that one whit. I'm blessed and lucky, and all I've got to do now is be worth the chance she took."

He still sits just a little towards the front of the frail-looking chair, but he doesn't otherwise seem overly troubled. The brace is in its usual place, but it doesn't seem to be restricting or paining him, and he moves freely. "Yeah. It's time. We've waited long enough, and honestly I've got no idea what Verna and Tel and Lana are waiting for. I'm about ready to scout it myself, or I would be if I had one scrap of magic." A flash of a cheeky grin. "Truth is, we're beholden to the three of them to get this going. Magpie gave me something I can't wait to try, but even if we get the one - there's always going to be others. Evil doesn't just stop no matter how many creatures you kill."

Auranar nods a little in agreement with Dolan about the fact that they were largely beholden to others to do what needed doing. "True as that might be Dolan, there are things that they could not do without us too. Don't doubt that." She gives him a solid look, and there's far more confidence in her than there had been in her before her trip. "If necessary, we can always procure a scroll and I'll take you myself Dolan."

There's a firmness in her eyes, a certainty that they could succeed that *certainly* wasn't there before. "I know that there's always evil in this world, but we deserve a bit of peace. Maybe the day after we defeat this Red Maw and Jal'gorath there'll be something else, but I have hope that we'll have at least a week to relax." She laughs at this and gives him a cheeky look to match any he's given her.

Dolan's laughter answers hers, but the eyes on her - one artificial, one real - are razor-keen as ever. "I don't know what I'll do if we ever actually fully relax, Aura. I don't. You, on the other hand - you know. I never did know why you disappeared so suddenly. Verna missed you, you know. So did I, although not that way. But - you look good. It's good to have you back."

Auranar blinks and then has the grace to look embarrassed. "Sorry Dolan. I... I left without much a word to anyone. The truth is... I had a bit of a disagreement with Verna. She was determined that she was going to handle the Red Maw by herself and I... I felt so useless back then." She sighs. "I made up my mind then that I had to get stronger, and then Grandfather... He offered me a chance to learn from him. Become a better sorceress and gain the confidence I needed to handle these creatures that keep showing up trying to destroy everything in their path."

She looks at Dolan seriously. "I know there's no good excuse for disappearing for a month like I did. Not to you, Verna, or even Cor'lana. But I think it was for the best. I've learned a lot."

That razor-keen stare doesn't harden, or twist, or anything. Instead, it lightens, and he nods. "Yeah. I did that once. I tried to handle it myself and protect someone I cared about when I got in over my head. That was a pretty stupid move, and the price was pretty damned high. But I learned from it, too. That's good, that you want to help her - all of us - out. Did you learn what you set out to learn? Did you accomplish what you wanted to?"

"Yes." Auranar smiles at the question, then brightens as tea and sandwiches are brought to their table. There's a moment of silence as things settle and then she picks the conversation back up where it was. "I didn't really leave for a particular piece of information, but rather to *learn*. Which I did. So much. I learned a lot more in fact than I thought I would, but not much more about the fiends that we were - are fighting. In fact I think I'm rather behind in what I *should* know on that subject."

She offers an apologetic look to Dolan. "I think that's part of why I wanted to have lunch with you. I wanted to see if you wouldn't mind updating me?"

Dolan, too, brightens, and doesn't hesitate to dive into either tea or sandwiches. As always, he eats with good appetite, finishing one carefully-presented sandwich and picking up a second before answering. "That ain't all bad, Aura," he answers, picking up his teacup in the other hand. "I've gone somewhere to learn before, and ended up with a whole lot more than I bargained for, too." His grin hasn't faded. "Yeah so -"

He takes a sip of tea and settles in, letting the warmth and flavor wash through him. "What we've come to find out is that Dace Zinskas and Marsward Seraquoix - the ringleaders - are very much at odds. Turns out Zinskas is a real servant of the Nightmare, where Seraquoix works for the being trying to get control of the Red Maw. So does Aza Chidea, and Aza's been funneling money back to Seraquoix. Still need to get an idea of what he's doing with that money. What spells he's amassing, because he's doing that." He starts ticking points off on his fingers. "That being wants two things. One's the Red Maw. The other one's a host. She's crafted a half-fiend through Chidea that she can use, that's more powerful than your garden-variety mortal host. That's Rida, Chidea's daughter. Gale - the son of a goat that showed up at the wedding - was supposed to be a sacrifice to her. Speaking of, where in the Iron Hells did he get off to?"

Auranar scrunches her nose up at the memory of Gale and shakes her head. "He found some woman at a... club and she's been housing him for the last few days. I can't imagine why. It's certainly not for his *charming* personality. I've checked in a few times from a distance. I promised I'd keep an eye on him after all. I hope I haven't done anything wrong by letting him stay there?"

Curiously enough, Dolan breathes a sigh of relief. "So he's shacked up with some woman. Nah, leave him there for now. Andie'll want to know where he is, but let's let him think for now that we've forgotten about him. I'll tell Andie where he is, if you don't. How in all the green garden hells did he get out of the house, anyway? Zeke said something about asking friends to help and said I shouldn't worry about it. I - s'pose he did." This is all said between sips of tea and bites of sandwich. "At least that woman doesn't have him, though - I s'pose he could be possessed."

He continues to muse to himself. "I probably ought to check and make sure, as much as I'd like to throw the man in a horse-trough."

"I'm afraid I don't know much about the situation myself. I've heard of this Zeke-person before a few times, but I don't know much about him. Like you said, at least he's here, even if he is a jerk." Auranar clearly doesn't approve of Gale, but she lets it go easily enough, sipping her own tea and picking up a sandwich to eat at a slower pace than Dolan is going through his. "I doubt he's possessed. I think if he were he'd have caused more trouble. He's certainly in a position where he could. Maybe you should start by talking to this Zeke? Bet that he'd know most of what you're wondering."

"Yeah. I think I'll do that. Honestly, me and Andie just started going back out a couple of days ago," Dolan laughs. "It's time we handled some of the business of getting married. I'll set to that while Andie's on watch tonight." He seems satisfied with the solution. "So, Andie's mother is also possessed, and so's her head chef. Dunno what I'm going to do about that," he answers. "The Knight ain't gonna like it, but there's a part of me that says she got herself into her own mess. S'pose that ain't mean I shouldn't help her, but does she even want help?"

"I don't think it matters if she wants help or not. Even if she doesn't... you can't let a demon run around the way it wants. And if she does; she deserves to be free of that influence. No matter how horrible a person she is." Auranar seems certain of this much it seems. "Of course, you could just tell the authorities about the situation - or event the temples where she is, I'm sure that they could handle it too."

Dolan finishes off his second sandwich, but is slower to pick up a third, the worst of his hunger seeming to be sated for the moment. "Yeah, I'd meant to do that. In fact, I'll draft a message today, to the Temple of Daeus near there. Warn them what's going on and that the lady of the house and her head chef might need help. As much as I despise her, you're right. Fiends can't be allowed to run around. They might be able to help where I can't, yeah? Dunno if the nobles would listen to me, but they might to the temple."

Auranar offers a comforting smile to Dolan. "You can only do the best you can, and your best is pretty effective. If you really want them to pay attention, I suggest having a cleric you know put their stamp on it. Clerics tend to listen to one another." She nods here and sips some more tea. "Sometimes all you can do is leave things in other people's hands, and that's hard, but... If they're good people, they'll do what needs doing."

"Let's see, do I know a Sunguard they're likely to listen to?" Dolan's grin suddenly blooms across the mobile half of his face. "I can think of a couple. Thanks, Aura. You're right, as usual." Finally, he does pick up that third sandwich, and uses his other hand to pour himself more tea. "I can do that much, at least."

He surveys the woman across from him, still grinning. "You know, I ain't never get to thank you properly. For the pies at the wedding, and for being a friend. Yeah? If you ever need something, just ask."

Auranar smiles at Dolan, and again it's easy to tell that she's changed. She doesn't shirk the complement, but seems to bask in it, acknowledge it for the value that it has. "That's what friends are for Dolan. I help you, and I know you'd help me if I needed it. For now though, lets just enjoy the meal and plot the downfall of fiends." She flashes him a grin.

-End