Right, so, Veron will go check in with that guy they recommended. Eventually. But since he did just get mugged, this is a situation for backup gear. Which he has, and can acquire without too much trouble, because he's a professional, thank you.

First, though, he should make sure he's not being followed by anything he doesn't approve of. Since, again, he did just get mugged. This involves a complicated series of twists and turns and doubling back and shadowstepping and walking through an appropriately dusty area and then through those little fluttering bits of confetti and then through standing water puddles and then in a little tiny nook that cannot be reached by air and then -

"Oh. Hey. Archon?" he confirms, squinting at a place in the air that looks completely ordinary to people that are not really really good at this.

The first step of being an even vaguely competent spy is not reacting to this in any way.

Except by Greater Teleport to a different, equally completely ordinary place in the air.

"... That's fair. One moment, lemme find you again..."

It is now time for That Nonsense, Again. More efficiently this time, because he knows what to check for instead of checking everything possible.

Then:

"Yeah, you seem archony. Can I request a confirmation of being on the same side? If you're upper-plane aligned then I'm fine with you following me around, just, you know. Demons. Everywhere."

Veron experiences the distinctive sensation of being inside a Magic Circle against Evil.

"Ah! That'll do, thank you."

For politeness' sake, he himself steps out, and then back into, the Magic Circle. See how not evil he is.

The important part is if the (probably!) archon can do it too. Yes?

It takes the archon a moment to realize what's going on. Then there's the mental sense of a beleaguered sigh from nowhere in particular.

You realize that if I have even the most rudimentary illusions, it says telepathically, that test would be meaningless. My demonstration was the spell itself. Which demons cannot cast. ...except by trickery... damnation and hellfire.

It becomes visible. Its head is that of a great gold-and-white raven, and it is cloaked in feathers. "This is a farce," it says. "Do you have holy water?"

"Nope, none at all. But this is enough for me, no one evil would have put up with my shit for so long. Keep up the good work, but remember next time to let the breeze blow you around a bit more. You lawful types are always so starchy about tailing people..."

He will politely wait for the archon to re-invisible before he resumes his day.

The archon returns to invisibility and does not waste time being annoyed with an ally-in-principle. (Data it can gather from here on out will not be as valuable to the Prelate as unobserved intelligence. However, it is not at all unaware that Veron could very easily have pretended not to have noticed it. That, too, is information.)

Yep! It sure is!

Cheered by that delightful interaction (how long has it been since he's gotten the chance to play a friendly game of hide and seek?) he then finds himself a dark, shadowy, private (except for the invisible archon) corner to do his shadow summoning in. In retrospect, he maybe should have warned the archon about how, no really, this is fine, but, well. Call it professional pride. He's not going to break someone else's stealth just to reassure them. That would be rude. He's a rogue! He will treat friendly rogue-alikes as he would like to be treated. That's just polite.

Also, the cloaked shadow that forms into the shape of a very tall person very thin person with too-long arms is Neutral Good. Not the overwhelming aura that Veron himself is, but. Certainly notable.

"Hey, Ksxksskrth," he says the name easily and with a perfect accent. "I'm going to need my backup gear, please."

He is given the most deadpan, judgemental look that a faceless cloaked shadow with ominously glowing eyes could possibly manage.

"Do you," murmurs the shadow, in a language more common on the Plane of Shadow.

"Yyyyyyep, uh. I got mugged. Sorry," says the terrifying rogue who summoned him, sheepishly.

Sigh.

"..... Very well."

The shadow disappears, and in its place is a bag.

Wince.

"Yeah. Heard that loud and clear. 'I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed...'"

Anyway, he will get to putting on the aforementioned backup gear now. So he will feel slightly less naked. Heh, this is a bit nostalgic, half of this is old stuff that he swapped out of when he found better items. Look! His Boots of Striding and Springing! And all of the spider blood has been removed! He didn't think it was possible! Ksxksskrth can truly perform miracles.

- Catskin leather (+1 AC, +5 competence bonus on acrobatics checks, no maximum dexterity bonus cap, and one 'get out of death free' special effect) (Not made out of actual cats, yes he checked)
- Belt of Dexterity (+4)
- Dungeoneer's Cloak (Resistance 5 to all elements, +15 to trickery) (He does not by any stretch of the imagination need the bonus to trickery)
- Amulet of Natural Armor (+5)
- Commander's Ring (+2 Deflection AC, +2 to all saving throws, Cast Knock three times per day, activatable 15m light) (the light has never been turned on since he got it)
- Ring of Regeneration
- Bracers of Armor (+5 AC) (Replaces the AC from the catskin leather armor)
- Boots of Striding and Springing (increase movement speed by 10ft, +5 competence bonus on acrobatics checks) (Replaces/is the same as the catskin leather armor)
- Several potions and scrolls of varying types and quality, some of which are healing.
- +2 Shortsword, cold iron
- Dagger, adamantine, masterwork

So, now that he's no longer completely without any kind of gear on, now he can go visit the guy that those leadery people said he should talk to. Not about boots (well, not unless they have boots of haste) but maybe about something for protection from evil or charm spells or whatever. And a place to buy scrolls and wands and more potions. There's some money along with his backup gear; it's not enough for any particularly fancy shopping, but he can do some. Probably.

If any shops are... open... during a festival. Which. Probably not. Damn it.

...there's an odd insect crawling over his new boots. It tries to rip open the leather, and manages to scuff it despite the enchantments, though not to do any serious damage.

There's actually a few of them. More than a few.

The archon's invisibility dissipates as it raises its beak to the sky. It speaks with a calm, clear and pleasant voice, louder than an infernal war engine, a cone of warping air heralding its words:

"DESKARI APPROACHES! PROTECTORS OF KENABRES, PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"

This call echoes through the streets, which are rapidly filling with more and more of the little demonic locusts. Also, actual demons.

"Figures," sighs Veron, who really shouldn't have expected anything else. He doesn't know or possibly remember who 'Deskari' is, but it's probably not at all good.

Okay, uh. Where exactly is this 'Deskari' approaching from? Is it towards the insects? It's towards the insects, isn't it. Yay.

Well, it might be through the terrible rent that has just been torn in the sky above the town square. The one with the horrible locust fiend pulling himself through.

Not coincidentally, yes, the locusts are going thataway.

Yeah, that's. That's about what he thought. He wasn't expecting something quite that ugly, but. Yeah. Sure. Why not. He will get into position and attempt to -

- He is interrupted by a great silver dragon, shifting to her true form and taking to the sky.

"Deskari! Begone from my city - !"

While still in the air, Deskari sweeps his scythe in a broad, lazy lateral stroke; still, it hits Terendelev with enough force to send her severed head flying into a nearby building.

He allows her corpse to land, then perches almost daintily atop it, his leg-hooks punching through her scales to find purchase. "Not until I am done with it."

So, for the layman, the obvious thing to do is to attempt to kill the big monster. Which, yes, would be great and all, if it succeeded.

But the problem is with that 'if.' In Veron's professional lost person opinion, he doesn't think he can pull that off in a couple rounds. He has some truly impressive sneak attack damage, but it can only go so far, and that guy just one shot an ancient silver dragon. The thing about being a rogue is that if he can't end it in a couple rounds, and is by himself, that's kind of it. He's missing a proper party with which to tackle this, uh, mega powerful demon guy, which means he'd be tanking hits all by his lonesome. He is many things, but 'sturdy' he is not. And what matters more than this one singular battle, or big dramatic rogue sneak attacks, is making sure all of the powerful people on his side stay on his side. Which is to say: making sure their bodies are recovered, so they can be fixed back up again. He would rather make sure Terendelev can be raised over maybe, but probably not, killing Deskari in a very stupid grudge match.

Besides, if his feel for how this guy works is right, he can't stay on this plane for particularly long. So: stop him from stealing the corpse of a dragon to do nefarious things with, which is the obvious thing for this guy to do. Show up for five minutes when you can break the rules, kill dragon, steal corpse. Turn corpse into horrific mockery of the hero that once inhabited it, with her soul probably tortured inside it or some bullshit. Profit, or something. Classic evil bad guy stuff.

So the real thing for a rogue of his caliber to do is to steal the corpse first.

This is a little bit complicated by how Deskari is, you know, standing on her corpse, and how her head's gone, uh, somewhere, but what's life without a little bit of complication. Not his, that's for sure.

He retrieves the head first, because that's simplest when he's still hidden from view and Deskari thinks his victory is complete or whatever. It would have been faster with his boots, but whatever, fine, he'll burn precious moments of shadowstepping on this, it's kind of important. Terendelev's head can be neatly stuffed into the bag that was once for backup gear, and then it's on to the more difficult task. Hmm, how to steal a gigantic dragon corpse out from under a demon lord guy...