Daeran is happy to banter back and forth for hours more.  And Aquilia will take the periods of time he is bored to try to fill Darth Occlus in on useful information.

After another two hours of inactivity guarding the Wardstone, there is another pair of people lurking at a distance.  They don't seem hostile like the demons or even the cultist, in fact, one of them seems to be weighing the possibility of getting the crusader's help.

Odd. "Have you been informed of any reinforcements?" Occlus asks Anevia.

"Nope." 

Maybe Terendelev should have sent a runner to her to check in, but maybe she (correctly) figures Darth Occlus has it under control.

"I sense a pair that do not wish to kill us, for a change. Shall we greet them?"

"Uh, sure?"  She's wondering who it could be?  Some crusaders that fell down the chasm?  But are only just now making their way over?

They are whispering among themselves.

"They are crusaders Wendaug, they won't just kill us on sight!  And I think the risk is worth it even if there is a chance they might."

He is at an alert even between his whispering and realizes some crusaders are approaching.  He makes himself known.

"Uh, hello?  We are looking for some help."

Not the strangest face she's ever seen, but certainly among those since her arrival here. Something about the sharp division between each half of the face. Hybrids don't normally work like that.

"Who are you, and how have you come here?"

"We're mongrelmen, and some of our people have gone missing.  We were hoping we could get some help finding them..."

"We're Neathers, not mongrelmen, have some pride Lann."

"'Neathers'?"

"We're the descendants of crusaders, we live underneath the city, hence the term 'neather'."

"I had heard rumors about you guys before..."

"An unsuccessful crusade, one must assume, to leave you cut off underground for generations."

"I just know what the legends say, it has been generations since the crusade."

"The worldwound opened a century ago."

"Right, generations ago."

"Hm. But you say some of your people have gone missing?"

"There are these ancient catacombs we call the Shield Maze, mostly we know to avoid them because people have gone missing hunting near them over the years, and I think some kids from our tribe have gotten lost there.  Wenduag has survived going into the Shield Maze."

"I've told Lann, the kids are probably dead by now."

There is something about the topic Wenduag is avoiding, it is almost apparent even without Darth Occlus's senses.

"One of the cultists mentioned some mongrel prisoners. Not yet fully converted." Which suggests an obvious story for the spider-woman.

"What do you think they meant by converted?"  The surprise Wenduag is showing is pretty obviously feigned.

"That sounds really bad, could some of you crusaders help us rescue them?  And if you have a cultist captured alive could you make them tell us how to navigate the Shield Maze?"

Has she never had to lie before? One wonders.

"They should not be in any immediate danger. The disruption of the demonic attack on the surface seems to have extended its confusion to the forces in the Shield Maze. Still, I am unsure what forces we are willing to divert from their guard duty at this time."

"The Wardstone takes priority, but hopefully Terendelev should be sending some additional forces down to us soon and we can send some of our people to rescue your tribe's kids."

"Are you willing to risk your people like that?  We've lost many of our best warriors and hunters to the Shield Maze over the years."

Even if these crusaders can kill cultists all day without any problem, Savamelekh is beyond any of them.