"I'm so serious, look--" she starts pulling books out of the bag of holding that she emphatically did not have when she left, showing him not only the books themselves but also Areelu's notes. 

"So she--kidnapped you to use you as a material component in the resurrection of her child, and then changed her mind and put you back with apology presents?"

"She didn't change her mind--actually in a couple of hours I would like to be very, very drunk, there was a Delay Pain involved. I am, now, approximately 90% Luzai and 10% Seshka--I think the percentage of the latter is going to rise as I remember more things--but that's not the same thing as being 90% as much Luzai as I was yesterday, I'm 100% Luzai and also, like, bonus amounts, Seshka. That's her name--my name--I'm adding it to the end of my name. Luzai Seshka." 

Villabor puts his head in his hands, massaging his temples with his fingertips. 

"So she--did that--and then. Put you back. With presents."

"There were also hugs involved. She doesn't want me to come to the attention of any demon lords, which she cannot at the moment easily disentangle herself from. But she doesn't mind if I thwart them, how d'you feel about going and fighting at the worldwound." 

"...Well, you were always going to insist on doing something stupidly dangerous, to fuel your ambitions..."

"Really it's probably less stupidly dangerous than, say, going to fight the House of Oblivion would be, since it'll be easier for Bonus Mom to keep an eye on me and bail us out if anything bad happens." 

"Okay, I know what your opinions are on doing horrible necromantic experiments on non-consenting subjects, and I don't disagree, per se, but. If we're going to go fight demons--they don't go to Pharasma when they die--can I do horrible necromantic experiments on them?" 

--Giggle. "Only after they're already dead. Torture is separately bad." 

"Obviously!!!" 

So it is that a few months later, the two of them walk through the gates of the walled crusader city of Kenabres. 

Kenabres is much less actively defended from the south than the north; the walls are equally sturdy in preparation for any major battle, but despite everything the vast majority of demonic attacks and infiltrators still arrive at its northern edge. That’s not the same thing as it being undefended, though, and two unusual looking teenagers traveling unaccompanied qualify as suspicious even if neither one detects evil to the Paladin.

That’s not nearly enough to turn them away at the gates, but their entrance into the city comes with their appearance and given names recorded. As the prelate would say, there’s no such thing as too paranoid about infiltration.

Conveniently, despite the connection to Areelu Vorlesh that would definitely, one hundred percent get them dragged before the prelate if anyone had any idea, they are genuinely above-board! The two of them find lodgings at a tavern called the Defender's Heart and then split up, agreeing to meet again at an agreed-upon time, Luzai to scope out what crusaders are hiring low-level casters and get a feel for the city and Villabor to sound out the getting-hired-as-a-laundry-wizard situation and scope out the Blackwing Library. 

When compared to Mechitar, the city of Kenabres is remarkably poor. There are a number of reasons for this, from the costs of fighting off demons to the lack of cheap slave labor, but almost everything except land and positive energy are more expensive than they’re used to, and the work doesn’t pay as well. On the other hand, Kenabres also has nowhere near as many arcane casters and Mechitar does, so the competition is much less fierce and the prices driven down less. They can earn money at a steady clip doing laundry and mending, and while endure elements isn’t a big money winner in the northern summer Unseen Servant, Mount, and Preserve all still fetch decent prices. If she wants to make big money on her first circle spells her best bet is detect charm, but selling that one to the inquisition comes with a very thorough background check she might want to avoid.

As one might expect from an underfunded institution this far from the centers of magical learning on the inner sea, the Blackwing Library’s wizardry section is rather lacking. The books are a mix between modern texts intended mostly as general references and dated editions of a few of the more common specialist texts, and their section on witchcraft is somehow even worse. The one saving grace is that their demonology is genuinely excellent, albeit focused on primarily identifying and killing them.

On the other hand there is much less negative energy going around. Which is...unfortunate, for them specifically...but oh well. 

The lacklustre wizardry selection is disappointing, but yeah, let's read about demons, they're going to want to do some of that demon-killing at some point!

Oh they are not working for the inquisition, Luzai has feelings that she's pretty sure are Seshka-sourced about inquisitions and they amount to: fuck that noise. Plus yes on a practical level even assuming the Iomedaean inquisition is fundamentally more reasonable than the Sarkorian witch hunters, the connection with Areelu Vorlesh is legitimately a real bad look actually! Sure is convenient when the practical answer and the emotional answer point in the same direction. Also this Hulrun guy sounds like a piece of work. 

Then they can spend a few weeks learning more about the world outside of Geb, researching demons, and making a fair bit of money. A few crowns a week before expenses won't get them magical items any time soon, but it's more than enough to pay for their lodgings and food and start to build up a bit of a nest egg; if they end up needing to get new clothes or buy healing from a cleric, they can readily afford it.

There's even a festival coming up!

It's at about that point that Luzai receives a sending.

Major demonic attack on Kenabres incoming, estimated arrival 24 hours. Target is the wardstone. Recommend you leave the city or find shelter promptly. Stay safe.

Aw, crap. 

The safest thing to do, of course, would be to do that and only that--to get out or find someplace to hunker down, and then work on that not being suspicious. But. 

This city is so full of people, and Luzai Seshka is a person with possibly hazardous amounts of compassion. She can't, actually, just not warn anyone. 

But, uh. 

Theoretically the person to warn would be Prelate Hulrun, but she is... not going to do that! Obviously! That would be the exact opposite of staying safe! She has personally witnessed the hangings of men convicted of not reporting their relatives for being demon cultists. There is, actually, no chance worth spitting on that if she tells Hulrun Shappok she has a warning from a secret source that he will both take it seriously and leave her alone about the source. 

She could try to warn Terendelev, but she doesn't know if Terendelev would leave her alone about it either, let alone protect her from Hulrun about it. 

But there is one relatively powerful figure in the city, who might help her just for the chance to piss off Hulrun alone. And if he won't, he at least won't tattle on her to Hulrun about it. 

Luzai owns one dress. It's made of a light fabric, because Geb is in Garund, so it packs down nice and small and she was able to bring it with her when they fled Mechitar. 

It is black linen, billowy and form-fitting, with variable amounts of cleavage depending on how you tie it. 

She prestidigitates all the wrinkles out, ties it to expose a generous but not indecent amount of her chest, and knocks on Count Arendae's door. 

Count Arendae's manor is not unguarded. They're not the most dangerous military force around, what with how the count is a famously poor boss and equally famous for spending more on his parties than his retinue, but they do exist and are at least theoretically supposed to keep him safe. In practice, this mostly just means keeping the interruptions to his fun at the minimum.

"Who goes there?"

The guards on duty are, in fact, pretty sure they can guess the answer to this one; when a provocatively dressed exotic looking woman arrives for one of the count's parties it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together. But the fact that she's arriving at an unusual time is at least moderately interesting, and getting some gossip beats standing around for hours and not doing that.

"Hello, I'm an attractive young woman, can I talk to the count?"

Well, they were hoping for more detail than that, but everyone involved in this conversation knows they aren't going to turn her away. They can just make up a story anyway, nobody they talk to will be able to fact check them.

"Carry on, then."

Inside the building's doors is a foyer that might vaguely be able to pass for normal, but immediately beyond that the premise of this being a dignified location is dashed entirely. The building opens up into an enormous hall, where much of the city's upper class sit at large tables piled with food and wine, while nearby courtesans in every imaginable state of dress walk past - and not just women either. There's a raised platform with several musicians providing accompaniment for the festivities, and the walls are dotted with art from the spectacular to the gaudy.

The count himself is visible at the far end of the room, his bright golden hair an oddity among the mostly darker colors around him, half paying attention to someone else talking while he swirls around a wineglass and openly stares at one of the servers.

Whoah, he's pretty. The rumors said that but, like, there's a difference between hearing and seeing. 

She walks right up to him. There's probably a more subtle route but she doesn't see a lot of point in subtle at this point. 

"Hi! Can I talk to you in private? I can pull the front of my dress lower if that changes the answer." 

Daeran laughs brightly.

"You're new; if I'd seen your beauty before, I certainly wouldn't have forgotten it. Assertive, too." He smirks.  "I can't say I dislike it. Let it never be said that Count Arendae leaves a lady unsatisfied."

He loops one arm around her waist and leads her off to a back room.