"I'd like to find that guy and see if he's okay, but I can't expect him to make himself findable. After all, then Hulrun could find him." 

"I'm not so sure. After all, he escaped those men when he was right in front of them; if he can repeat the feat, he might be more scared of the other dangers in the city than he is of Hulrun, so we could limit our searches to locations he would feel safe."

That's how it often is with prey; they'll make for a nest you know where is for the sense of security rather than bolt into the unknown in the hopes of escape.

"...Point. Anyone object to a detour to the temple of Desna?" 

Nobody objects to a detour to the temple of Desna. 

The temple of Desna is pretty near the temple of Iomedae. 

As they near the crest of the hill, the state of the temple of Desna becomes visible. Much like the temple of Iomedae, it's not in very good shape; the gates are wrenched open, half the roof is collapsed, and bloodstains cover the road where bodies once lay. It seems as though when the demons fanned out from their initial ingress they prioritized targeting any visible places of worship to the gods of good, and the Dreamer was no exception. The building's courtyard is empty of demons now, though, and judging by the lack of human corpses it seems that someone remained to clean things up.

"If anyone's here, we think Hulrun's a nut," Luzai tries calling. 

At those words, Seelah's face becomes a battleground in an epic war between laughing and being scandalized. Eventually the latter wins, though there's still a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Luzai, you can't just say things like that!"

"I assure you, there's no need for that to get my attention. I'm glad to see you all seem fine, though; when I made my escape, part of me did fear for the worst."

"Well, he was going to murder us all, but fortunately I found an angel's sword underground and when I shone it at him he changed his mind. I'm glad you're okay, if you hadn't been smart enough to take advantage of the distraction on your own initiative I do fortunately have Message prepared. Why does Hulrun think you sabotaged the Wardstone, I assume it's not because you actually sabotaged the Wardstone."

"You're correct, it's not. The goddess sends us messages through dreams, but they have always been something of a point of friction. Many of the city's defenders - the Prelate among them - are not the most fond of warnings that don't come with any ability to verify them, and have a profound dislike for what they consider unreliable methods of interpretation. He considers the whole matter nothing but a potential vector for demonic lies. When we received word of the oncoming attack on the wardstone, a few of my more reckless fellows decided to do something about it, and when Hulrun denied their request to examine the wardstone licitly they decided to sneak in to see what they could do."

Ramien sighs.

"They got caught, obviously, and Hulrun had them imprisoned. This would have been bad enough, but when the attack followed Hulrun got it in his head that it was only possible because they had acted as a patsy for the demons, and I had to break them out to prevent them from being executed. He demanded I tell him where they had hidden, I refused, he decided this was proof I was also complicit, and well. That's when you arrived, and I decided to make my escape until he calms down enough to see reason."

"Wait, so you also had a warning about the demon attack? Did you tell the Eagle Watch? Probably two independently corroborated warnings is more than twice as credible."

"We did warn everyone we could, but the message we got didn't give us anything to go on for when it would happen. It's one thing to prepare for a known battle, another to try and increase general readiness for days or weeks at a time, especially since shoring up the defenses around the target wasn't an option."

"Ah. My situation is--more complicated than a cultist relative--but more like a cultist relative than most situations are. I got a message that I should get out of the city or find a defensible hiding spot within twenty-four hours." Shrug. "And then instead I warned--well, Count Arendae, first, because I knew he wouldn't turn me in to Hulrun for having a demon-adjacent contact I wouldn't name, but the Eagle Watch after he expressed incredulity that I had gone to him and not them."

Ramien laughs.

"The look on his face when you sprung that on him must have been delightful; I can almost picture it now. As for the warning itself - well, as hard as it is to imagine now, I expect the city would be in yet worse shape if the eagle's watch hadn't been prepared, and a few of the things I saw in the day prior make more sense in that light. On my own behalf and that of however many of my fellows you have saved, thank you for paying the warning forwards instead of simply fleeing the city."

"It was! And you're welcome. Uh, the Defender's Heart is where people have been gathering to protect civilians and form an organized resistance against the demons, but, also, I told Hulrun that as my pretext for calling out to him to let you escape, so he might go there, in which case probably you don't want to, unless you think Irabeth can talk him down." 

"The only two people I've ever known to be able to reliably reign him in are Terendelev and Liotr Hawkblade, and I wouldn't want to put any extra work on her shoulders regardless. I have no doubts that organizing the defense of the city is hard enough without also having to manage Hulrun. If my assistance is needed for a particular task, she can send for me then, but otherwise I expect it makes the most sense for me to help those who I can from here."

“—This seems like a pretty obvious place to look for you! Which I guess is the point but also one imagines Hulrun is also capable of thinking of it.”

"Indeed. In an emergency I can fly off and I believe he still lacks a way to follow, but it's still not ideal."

"...Crazy idea: take refuge with Count Arendae on the grounds that he'll probably agree just to piss off Hulrun, leave a big note--like, painted all over the floor so it can't be easily removed--saying to find you there, then people can find you and Hulrun probably can't get you because if he could feasibly get the Count he probably would have years ago?" 

Ramien shakes his head. 

"While it's true that Hulrun would have a hard time arresting the count, there isn't anything that would stop him entering to pursue an arrest of someone else, and it's not as though the count and his guards could do anything about it. Besides, even if it were feasible I would avoid it; in the current state of the city it's rather difficult for most people who might need my help to get to the Arendae estate from here, and I would be a rather poor guest if I brought the attention of the Prelate upon anyone else sheltering there."

SIGH. "That's fair. Is there anyone else who might need sheltering--did the people who broke in to the Wardstone get out of the city, for example--"

"There are a few here in the temple itself, but at least for the moment I expect they're safer here than making the trek to the Defender's heart. As for the ones I rescued, Ilkes is still here to help me out, but the other two have gone to ground."

"Okay. That's good. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not for my own part, but I expect Ilkes has a request if you think you have time."

"Well, I have no idea if I'll have time to fulfill it, but I certainly have time to hear it!"

Once Ramien assures him of their intentions, another cleric of Desna comes out of the building. His clothes look rather different from the Voyager's, but the butterfly pendant would be difficult to mistake if his location wasn't a giveaway.

"Ramien says you're planning to head to the more southern parts of the city?"