Right. Decision time. Abramo isn't quite sure how he ended up in charge of this, actually - Camellia seems perfectly competent with that rapier, Seelah is wearing most of a light tank's worth of armour (well... a French light tank, at least), and Lann should presumably be taking orders from Sull. But all right; he does have some experience in war. So, what to advise?

...what to order. If he's in charge, he'd better think of himself as such; anything else is disaster.

There isn't any very obvious way to advance the cause of trade, here, unless perhaps you count opening communications between the caves and the surface. At least Dyra might get her wish of trading in a money economy. But there's no tactical insight to be had from that perspective.

Well then, fall back on the oldest lesson: If you have a moment of respite, seize the initiative. Sull's deliberate mobilisation is all very well, but speed is life. A small reconnaissance in force, a probing attack - bypass the strongpoints, get into the enemy's rear. 

"Indeed. Let's go."

You are in a chamber 40 feet by 15; carvings of the demon lord Baphomet, and banners with his heraldry, fill the walls.

A secret cult in the catacombs below a city; Abramo suppresses a smile at the irony. At least the local version of the Long War seems to be out in the open, shots fired and weapons free. He hefts the crossbow, then remembers the tools he's renting from Abadar. He'll have to be mindful that he has options he's not used to, here; not easy, in the heat of combat.

And they can enter the inner sanctum; tanks heavy armor to the front.

And they can have a fight!

Shoot the wizard first. Always. Always shoot the wizard first.

That's not good.

This is concerning; enemies with heavy crossbows are much more dangerous than centipedes. If there's a lot of this kind of resistance then the reconnaissance in force needs more force. House-to-house fighting against humans eats men like... well, like nothing else. Abramo has fought house to house in the back streets of Venice, and knows what it's like; and he commanded the armies that took Cairo, Constantinople, and London. He has seen brigades and divisions broken on single strongpoints. 

And Lann's wound looks disabling - in fact Abramo's not at all sure how the man is standing up, after taking a crossbow bolt the size of his thumb to the torso.

Has Abramo considered the tactical implications of healing magic?

Not in sufficient detail, no. Then he supposes they can go on.

...this changes everything.

His gaze falls on the robed man Lann killed; a broadhead arrow in the throat produces a really amazing spray of blood.

...not everything, then. That man visibly has a face; presumably he had a family; and most likely he had a job, some way that he contributed value to others. Abramo much prefers fighting centipedes and locust-things.

Which, actually, raises the question: Why did they fight - kill - these men? There is a war on - but Abramo is not a soldier in uniform, has sworn no allegiance to either side, does not know the rights and wrongs of it. He dislikes locusts, but then, he dislikes chemical weapons and the effects of crossbow bolts on human heads too; that a weapon is ugly does not make its wielder evil. The locust-thing attacked a festival, but it was clearly a wartime festival, with armed guards all about, intended as a rest for fighting troops; Abramo does not know of any truce or armistice that was broken. And... are these men even party to the war? There might be any number of heavily-armed neutral parties about.

They did fire crossbows and swing glaives at Abramo's party... after Abramo had burst into their cellar at the head of a party armed to the teeth, and he is by no means convinced Lann gave them a reasonable opportunity to surrender, or even to speak. He does not think he ought to make a claim of self-defense, if the matter comes before a court.

...actually he is rather worried that he ought, in justice, to simply plead guilty to murder. Not premeditated, at least; he did not know there would be armed men defending the Shield Maze. But he did not think to inquire, either, into whether it might be someone's private property, which might with perfect justice be defended with lethal force against his intrusion.

He takes a deep breath.

"Why did these men" - try to retaliate against the party that had just killed one of their number - "fight us?"

"They are Baphomet cultists?" Seelah does not particularly think any other explanation is needed, and in fact is surprised that Abramo needs even that much.

Abramo has no idea who 'Baphomet' is! The name is pretty obscure even in English, and as meaningless to him as "Iomedae" in the original Taldane!

"Very well, why did these Baphomet cultists attack us?"

"Uh..." Seelah is not quite sure how to articulate this; how does Abramo manage to be present and alive in Kenabres, Wise enough to be an empowered cleric, and ignorant of these utter basics?

"Baphomet is the demon-lord of minotaurs and mazes. His cult works with the Worldwound demons, trying to weaken our defenses. If they have a base here under Kenabres... that's very bad, actually. And they will kill anyone who enters, to preserve the secret." Camellia is also unsure how Abramo manages that level of ignorance, but she hasn't put all her skill points in Hit Things With Sword and can manage a DC10 Exposition check.

At least they're not neutral parties, then. It could still be the case that they have right on their side, and Abramo ought not to join the Kenabrians; it wasn't the use of locusts and infiltrators that put the Jackal in the wrong, however much Abramo despised those tactics. But now he is at worst an illegal combatant on the wrong side, not a murderer. And has an arguable case for having "spontaneously taken up arms to resist".

He could still be on the wrong side. Indeed it's entirely possible for both sides to be in the wrong, and Abramo to have no business here at all - metaphorical or literal. In that case he supposes he'll have to desert or defect, at his first opportunity. But there is clearly no opportunity at present. He will keep an eye out for chances to at least speak to the "cultists" - after all anyone can hang the name "demon lord" on their enemy - and hear their side of the story.

Great roleplay, splendid character development, if I were a human GM I would totally award you some narrative XP. Sadly, the devs didn't put in any such affordance.

We do have traps however!

Camellia got some points in Trickery during the recent level-up, so she will get the 11 XP.

We also have corrupted mongrels!

They do not obviously have a "hear their side of story" affordance.

One of them manages to land a hit on Seelah, which is a first for this runthrough; the fight is otherwise uneventful.

"I know that guy. Knew. I knew him. His name was Hovlan."

"Something was very wrong with him, though. I mean, even before I put an arrow in his guts."

Locusts and infiltrators are one thing; if this Baphomet is using mind-control, that's a different matter entirely. But - he has only Lann's word for the behaviour change, and that's based on a few seconds of observation in a dimly-lit room, while fighting. And after all there's such a thing as a sincere conviction - and struggling with oneself when meeting old friends who do not share it, and are attempting to kill one. Abramo's judgement remains suspended.

Then they can keep exploring the Maze.