"I look forward to it." 

Aaaaaaand now he has a very long boring wriggle back up the ventilation duct. Worth it, though. 

"You gonna pick up your little stage helpers, wizard?" 

....Oh dear. This part was not, per se, planned out. 

"They'll be gone by morning!" he promises, and starts putting away his stuff for the stupid trek back up. 

Nightengale reaches for a wall panel; various coloured globes on the walls light up, making the cave a lot brighter. 

"Concert's over, folks. See y'all tomorrow." She catches a glimpse of Thorn, stops. "...Oh, hey, you're new." 

"I'm Thorn and I'm very lost." 

"No water, no food, no place to sleep for the night," Lily checks off. "Sorry to throw this in your lap, but can you help me?"

"- Yes, we can help. How did you manage to get here? Place isn't easy to stumble into by accident." 

"I - it's a long story. But I think I came from another universe. I'm suspicious of that because I know I'm missing memories and also I am a semi-recreational hypnotist, so I might have done some damage to myself trying something too ambitious - but the fact is I appeared here like five minutes ago, the crowd can probably swear to that."

"She fell out of midair!" someone cheerfully offers.

Nightengale gives the ceiling a dubious look. "Air ducts aren't big enough for someone your size to come all the way down. Huh." 

"You're in the Underworld," the man with Nightengale informs her, his voice surprisingly gentle given that his appearance is not gentle at ALL. "Nearest city is Kast, but we're fifty levels down, so..." Shrug.

"None of that means anything to me. Except for the part where we're apparently pretty far underground. Are the caves habitable or am I going to have to make for the surface in a hurry?"

A chuckle. "Honey, we've lived down here for twenty years. And you'd be welcome to sleep with us tonight, unless you'd rather get back to Law pronto." 

Rastax rests a hand on Nightengale's shoulder. "Does 'Law' versus 'Chaos' mean anything to you?" he asks Thorn, softly. "If the rest doesn't, then I reckon maybe that wasn't such hot advice for you, was it." 

 "Not as something in real life, no. The underground is lawless?"

A laugh like chiming bells. "No laws, no masters, only that which we build by our own strength and will. Apart or together, but the strong win here by their strength, and together we lift greater burdens." By her tone, it's probably a quote from a song or poem.  

Rastax ruffles her hair, kisses the top of her head. "Yes, that. More specifically, no state enforcement down here." 

Hannah slips forwards. "Nice. I could get used to that."

" - but I have to put my basic needs first, before exploration. Is there work I can do down here? Kitchen work, cleaning...?"

"I have about a decade's experience as a counsellor and a hypnotist. Sometimes I combine the two and do hypnotherapy. And, ah, I do the recreational side of hypnosis as well. Would any of that be useful?"

A quicksilver grin. "Ooh, she'll fit right in." 

"Yes, yes, but she'd do all right on the Surface too. Not everyone is obligate-chaos, my songbird." 

He turns back to Thorn. "Stay in our camp tonight - food and protection on us, 'cause we like you. Let's plan on talking about tomorrow when it arrives, but - there are a lot of things you ought to know, if you're really not from these parts." 

"Also, just so you know, our camp is with Adder. As in, Adder the retired Surface Peacekeeper who runs the top fighting-arena in the entire Middle Reach. You'll be very safe. 'Long as you don't get on her bad side." 

"She's a sweetie, though. Wouldn't hurt a fly, 'less that fly'd come into the fighting-cage of its own will. Or had it coming, for doing worse to 'nother person." 

Hannah laughs. "I'll take your word for it. Show me the way?"