What was so great about being a cultist for the first guy? 

The... sex? Not to put too fine a point on it, but. The girlfriend was really enthusiastic after he joined up!

(The second guy is making some kind of horrible face about the first guy telling the probably-paladin-inquisition about his cultist girlfriend.)

Um. He isn't entirely sure what the cultist is talking about, but this doesn't seem like a time to ask about that.

They reach the neather gathering outside the Maze, and the prodigal children are finally reunited with their parents. As the news rapidly spreads, there's cheering and thanksgiving (to the party, and to the gods) and impromptu hugging.

The neathers are happy to guard four disarmed and tied-up humans for a while! It's really the least they can do!

Most of the other tribes won't be here for another gong or two, they're really just standing outside the Maze waiting for news, but many of them are excited enough to ask if they can should come with the party now, or if the Maze is still dangerous.

"We made it to the city sewers, so an exit shouldn't be far. But that monstrous demon came from the sewers, and we don't know what else is in there, or what we'll find in the city. I think we should proceed more carefully; we're not in as big of a hurry now that we've found the missing kids, and whatever enemies are left probably already know we're coming."

"Then we should get to the surface and make sure there's a safe place there."

They make it back up to the room where they fought the demon in the darkness without incident. Hosilla's body lies undisturbed in the middle. The door to the probably-sewers stands open.

"So, uh, I hate to harp on this, but how can we be more careful from now on?"

"Sending a scout ahead is risky, if we can't make them invisible or silenced. It might still be the best idea, but, well. If we all go I don't think we can be very quiet but it costs us nothing to try anyway."

"I can go further ahead, and we can try to be quiet, then."

She can be unusually quiet for someone wearing a bunch of moving metal, and stepping with gold on stone, but it's not really quiet.

She's still quieter being metal than Seelah is actually wearing it! (Seelah has been greatly admiring Malenia's equipment but has to reluctantly admit she wouldn't pay literally an arm and a leg for it.)

Wenduag will watch their rear with mild paranoia.

The party proceeds for a while without encountering anyone. 

At one point the sewer's ceiling has collapsed - presumably from the earthquake - and made a big enough pile of stones that they could climb it to get into... someone's cellar, it looks like. Or they could keep going; the storm sewers have inlets for the water and eventually they'll find one big enough to pass through. (The sewer grate would need to be unlocked but Anevia isn't really worried about that.)

"I'd rather intrude into someone's house than keep wandering a dark sewer."

"And we need to warn the people who live there about demons in the sewers! That house might not be safe to stay in."

She can climb it easily, then.

There are stairs up and a door (closed but not locked) leading to a bigger room. It's built entirely out of stone, bare and undecorated. There's a rack of swords and halberds against a wall. The two doorways leading out (besides the door to the cellar) are large enough for double doors, made from wood that looks almost as unyielding as the surrounding stone and fitted with bars.

"I think this is the Gray Garrison. The fortified barracks of the city guards - not the Eagle Watch, the ones who man the walls and so on - and some minor paladin orders."

"That's great! We've finally reached our allies!" Seelah falters at the look on Anevia's face. "Please tell me that's great?"

"It would be wonderful to find the fort still in friendly hands, but... They shouldn't have left this hole to the sewers unguarded. Maybe everyone is out fighting and there's a skeleton guard at the gates and they couldn't spare a man to watch this." Or maybe they just have no competent officers left, which she isn't discounting as an option for the city guard, but it would be unproductive to bring that up before she has to.

"So we keep sneaking?"

"Keep sneaking," Anevia confirms. "But... don't startle anyone. We don't want friendly fire because someone got spooked. If we find people who look like the real city guard and Seelah doesn't detect evil, we'll come out of hiding."

Through the nearest door.

The Garrison is a big, square building, with another square cut out of its middle. This interior space is about a hundred feet on a side, and each of the five floors has a balcony all around it with doors leading into the building. The door they open leads to the second-floor balcony.

Several things immediately become obvious:

One: this place has seen recent fighting. Bodies of humans and demons both lie strewn around; the victors either had no time or no inclination to clean them up, or even to do some cursory looting.

Two: there is an enormous glowing crystal, sticking through the roof and parts of the fifth and fourth floors. It looks like it crashed through the ceiling, and then kept going for a while.

Three: whether due to the crystal or the earthquake or both, half the balconies have collapsed or been blocked by rubble; there isn't an immediately obvious path either up or down. But, since they're just one floor up, they could drop down to the ground floor... if they don't need to come back up again.

Four: there are faint voices drifting down from above.

Anevia motions them back in so she can close the door before anyone notices it being opened.

"Well, shit. That's the Wardstone."