"I'm happy to try looking for the sword. When you say tribes, you mean there's a whole society down here and you're trying to convince them all to move topside?  My name's Brenda, by the way, and this is Anevia, Seelah, and Camellia."

"Well, the goal isn't really to get everyone to move topside, though there's definitely some talk about it from people nervous about a followup quake or damage from the first one leading to more tunnels collapsing. The problem is that yesterday some kids decided it was a great idea to go explore the shield maze because they were told not to and they went missing, so I'm hoping with everyone working together it'll be safe to go rescue them. Wendu's good enough to explore it on her own, but she doesn't think she'd be able to get the kids out safely, and nobody else is good enough to manage even that. Ah - my name is Lann, and this is Wenduag. We're mongrels, been here since the first crusade."

"Would it kill you to show the slightest bit of self respect? I'm not asking you to be like Sull and call yourself an underground crusader, but don't you think it's a bit much that you immediately decide to self identify as a mongrel and share your life's story the moment someone from the surface shows up with a pretty face?"

"I apologize for prying, and I'm sorry to hear about the missing kids. I'd be happy to help look for them. But anyway, about that sword--" she drops the demon-detecting spell and puts up the magic-detecting one, turning slowly to scan the pile of rubble.

It's not in the first pile of rubble she scans, but if she goes looking there sure is something really powerfully magical over there!

"I don't know if it's what you're looking for but there's definitely something buried over that way," she says, and looks at the two locals for (verbal or nonverbal) cues as to whether they'd prefer she dig it out or stay away from their valuables.

Lann doesn't seem to have any problem with her pitching in, but he'll get straight to digging himself where indicated rather than waiting on help.

Wenduag, meanwhile, keeps a wary eye on everyone involved but doesn't seem to especially focus on Brenda, even if she joins Lann.

Dig dig dig Alpina's list was not kidding about her similarity to construction equipment. Beats the pants off punching demons.

She is both pretty fast and able to aim straight for the magic thing rather than just pointing at it. Does it turn out to be sword-shaped?

It does! It's a very fancy sword, too, and starts glowing as soon as she touches it; if Brenda doesn't stop it, it'll try to pull her into a vision.

Her powers specifically allow purely communicative telepathy and also she's so curious what magic angels put on their swords!

Then Brenda will find herself reliving the last moments of the angel Lariel. She can feel everything he felt, and while on close inspection the experience is clearly happening to somebody else it's really quite immersive. They were betrayed, stabbed in the back by the very people they descended from heaven to protect from the demons, and now they stand, mortally wounded, with their strength beginning to fade and a deathly foe approaching. Which would you choose, the memories seem to ask of her, though there are no words. Would you heal the one who stayed loyal to the end and risked everything to aid you against this betrayal, even though it didn't save you and it's unlikely all your help will suffice for her to survive? Or would you strike down those who turned on you, even though you know they are just the puppets of a darker power whose strength is too much for you to slay?

Well, it depends, doesn't it, on whether healing the friend was completely doomed or merely a long shot, on whether striking down the enemies would solve anything, weaken the one puppeting them or even just release them from a fate worse than death. But if it was a choice between two equally long shots--and maybe even if it wasn't--she'd try to help her friend. Because her friend tried to help her when all was lost, and because if you're going to die pointlessly, better to die trying to help someone than trying to kill someone.

But also that's a really awful situation and it's not like she's in any position to judge whatever choice Lariel made.

Her body is standing perfectly still, clutching the sword-hilt, crying. Not entirely for the angels.

The sword seem to pulse with approval, either at her choice or her reason, and in the vision Brenda-as-Lariel reaches within themself for that golden spark of heaven's might before breathing it out, the wounds of her companion mending themself before her eyes. Her companion is still weak, from the days and days of deprivation and the attack, but with the worst of her injuries mended she finds the strength to speak. Her voice is barely more than a whisper, but somehow it seems to carry enough to fill the entire cavern.

"Lariel... you said that everything was going to change soon? That all the angels had been recalled for a mission to stop the source of the demons? If that's true... then you shouldn't have stayed to help us, and you definitely shouldn't have saved me. We're not that important."

The echo of Lariel shakes his head. How can he explain to her, that people like her, so bright and shining and good despite all the pain they go through are the reason he fights? That the forces of heaven bind themselves never to break their word, because destroying that trust and abandoning their comrades is a far greater blow than their deaths ever could be? Perhaps he cannot, but there is not much left to him but to try.

"Do not diminish your own worth. To save a life... sometimes, we cannot bear the price such a task demands of us, but that does not mean that succeeding at it is not the right thing to do. And even if I die, heaven will not be defeated; there are countless others who will pick up the torch I now carry, and there always will be as long as goodness and honor reside in the hearts of mortals. You could be one such soul, if you wished it; were you to become an angel, I would be honored to count you as my comrade. But that is not the only option available to you; you have already given so much for this world, and Heaven is a place of healing as well as war. Worry not about your destination; I will not allow him to lay a single hand upon you."

Then Lariel calls out, his voice booming in the confined space and not advertising even an iota of the pain wracking his body. His sword glows like a second sun, and for a moment, the shadows are driven back.

"Deskari! Show yourself!"

Then out of the shadows comes the monster who trapped her in these caves, appearing far more horrible through the eyes of an angel. With every step comes a horrible rasping sound from his armor, and the buzzing of the swarm is a cacophony upon her ears. Lariel is not his match, not as Brenda was, and with an unhurried gait he advances, the unholy blade of Riftcarver seeming to vanish at the speed of his swing-

The vision comes to an end, but the light remains. Her whole body is glowing now, not just the sword, and the light radiating off her seems to take the form of wings. She can feel it bolstering her and everyone around her, a blessing of protection gifted by the angel from beyond the grave.

She wants to be like that. Not in the Dragon Fairy Elf Witch way, not right now, that would be--she has never cared for religion but the word that comes to mind is "blasphemy"--she wants to be that brave, that wise, that full of love, that able to look at the situation in front of her and know what the right choice by her own values is and make it. 

It takes several seconds after everything stops glowing before she remembers to move or speak again.

"Woah, did you just do that trick from before and become part angel? That's not really what I would have expected that to look like but that's more because I don't think I really had any expectations, my mind is coming up blank."

"I don't think so? The wings Angelic Aspect gives you are white, at least, and if it didn't look like that I'd expect something more of an Aasimar kind of deal. But I'd be the first to admit I'm far from an expert about this kind of thing."

Lann is currently doing a bit too much staring at Brenda with open mouthed shock to contribute to the conversation, check back in a bit?

"I, no, I didn't do anything, I just picked it up--it had a message in it. Lariel--the angel whose sword it is--was--he died protecting people, fighting Deskari--he knew he was going to die and he did it anyway, he never gave up--"

"So the angel really did save us. Lariel... we didn't even know his name."

Lann shakes himself from a moment of melancholy.

"Still, this is great news. If the angel's sword will respond to you, that would make rallying the tribes even easier!"

"I don't know if it does that every time someone touches it, I don't know if it will do it again or only the once--do you want to try holding it now, or wait until the people you want to show it to are watching in case it only happens once per person? I don't know anything about how magic items work, sorry."

"It's never responded to any of us in the years we've been down here; I sort of figured it was because we've been tainted. Old Sull might talk about a glorious history as underground crusaders, but it's not like anyone can't tell the difference between us at a glance. I don't have a clue whether it would work for everyone from the surface or just you, but it would be a bit surprising if it only worked once - it's not like the angel would have only had one occasion to use it, and you'd think if they did it would have been used before you touched it."

Brenda isn't sure if "tainted" means they're all literally magically cursed or if it means this fantasy world has fantasy racists (or both), and there's really no good way to ask.

"Well, if it will help with your plan for saving the missing kids I'm happy to try to do it again. When you say you're crusaders, do you mean against the demons or something else? I literally arrived on this planet a couple hours ago and I have no context."