"Cover, healing, stealth maybe, so I can approach the stone and poke it with a particular object."

"I can help you those, though with some caveats; most demons can see through invisibility if they get close enough, so it's more useful for sneaking past cultists and dretches rather than a complete solution, and my healing isn't nearly as good as a cleric's. I dare say I can make a particularly noticeable distraction though."

"Hopefully once the wardstone is fixed it'll do a lot of the rest of the work for us, so a distraction might be just the thing."

"We can only hope. Have you found a solution for getting past Hulrun? He had us arrested when we tried."

"Past him? I wasn't expecting him to be in the area, but if he's liable to make trouble I can have a word with him today."

"Hmm? If not him, who's stopping you then? We managed to get nearly to the same room as it when we made a go at it yesterday morning, he just caught us at the last stretch."

"Ah, I was advised to take a run at it when fresh - an attempt this morning left us at something of a draw with a lilitu."

Aranka clearly wasn't expecting that answer; the shock is visible on her face.

"And you're still alive? Thank the gods. That makes this a lot more nervewracking, but I think the strategic priority works out to be the same. Who else have you recruited so far?"

"Today I had with me Irabeth Tirabade and a number of her ilk, Anevia, and a woman by the name of Camellia, who I met when I fell into a chasm beneath the earth. Tomorrow I mean to add Ramien and the very Count whose hospitality we are presently enjoying."

"Well, that's definitely a start. I'm not sure I can buff someone enough to fight a Lilitu, Paladin or no, but with Ramien's assistance I'd be willing to give it a try. If you're still recruiting help, I recommend you see about asking Thall for assistance. Wizards get different buffs than Bards and Clerics, so it'll add a bit more to our ability to act as a distraction, and I can't imagine he'd back down here. I'm not sure if he'll be willing to take you at your word, though; if you show him my scarf, he'll know I'm saying to trust you. Last I heard from him he was northeast of here, wearing a helmet with a stupid plume to go with his paladin ensemble."

"Thall. I'll remember that. How far northeast?"

"Inside the city walls but south of the festival square, there were apparently a bunch of buildings at risk of collapsing he was helping evacuate civilians from. Beyond that I don't know the details and he's probably moved around a bit by now."

"If he's mislaid his plume how will I know him?"

"Hmm. He'll detect as Chaotic Good, but unless you're working with an inquisitor or something there's no way to check a lot of people that way. Are you any good at singing?"

"Only tolerable. I could regroup with my brother, he's fair at it."

"Really it's more about the memory than the technical skill. My thought was I could teach you at least the opening to the song of Elysium, and that way you could check for him by seeing who responds to it. I could write down the notes but I don't know if you're familiar with absalom music notation?"

"I'm not at all, alas."

In that case she'll try just singing it, which tends to work significantly more often than you'd think with other good people. There's something about the music that seems to resonate with such people and it's worth a shot to see if that applies here.

"I can probably at least reproduce the opening few notes."

"That'll have to do, then. Do you need any healing before you go? I assume not, but it's not like I'm using my first circle spells for anything else at the moment."

"I have this weird persistent possibly cursed chest wound but nothing acute that I'd expect to respond."

"We don't get remove curse until third circle, unfortunately, and I'm pretty sure the count focuses on injuries and diseases. I could try a heroism if you wanted, though, it might at least help with any symptoms for the next hour."

"If that happens to be convenient I'd appreciate it, I never know what's going to startle me into doing something that aggravates it."

Heroism, as it turns out, feels pretty great actually. Any unendorsed self doubts quiet themselves a bit, still there if she looks for them but not intruding without permission, leaving only the concerns she feels are worth listening to. There's a sense of increased confidence, but confidence that comes from being more capable of doing things, not of just expecting things to work out for the best anyway. For someone with good self reflection, the spell seems to be informing her that she'll be better at most things she tries.

"Oh, I could get used to that, what a neat spell."