And Now There Are Demons

I don't know what I was expecting from this whole prayer circle thing, but it definitely wasn't summoning demons.

Maewyn met us outside and lent us some robes. When we walked inside, Ryanton called us all into a circle. She welcomed Maewin to the group, and we were brought in front of this dirty, yellow robe. Ryanton offhandedly mentioned it was an eidolon, and then…She said it was time to introduce Maewin to the Sleeping Smoke, and asked us all to join her in prayer.

I've heard of eidolons before, once. Leaves offhandedly mentioned them, and I fell down a rabbit hole of reading. Eidolons hold the essence of a demon, used in demon summoning. And I guess this one held the Sleeping Smoke, and we were all about to pray to it.

Yellow smoke started filling the space, and then I was alone. This raspy voice asked if I had anything to offer it, and I know I had something, but I don't remember what it is anymore. There was just smoke, and then it talking to me, and then I was back in the room with everyone else. It's been freaking me out a little bit. It's like when I've gotten too high, but instead of everything being fuzzy, there's this one thing that's just…not there.

Maewin was still out of it, and I was starting to get worried about her. And then…it spoke. Through her. To Ryanton. It said was good to talk again, and it mentioned their “grand goals” that are going to be happening in a couple days. My blood ran cold as soon as I heard that. I know a bit about demons, but I don't know anything about how summoning them works. And for a good reason. The most successful least destructive summonings can level a city block. The bad ones could level an entire neighborhood.

At least Maewin was okay, even if she did seem a bit out of it. Apparently the demon spoke to her and told her she was special. And that has me so worried. She doesn't seem like she knows what she's getting herself into. She said that Ryanton wanted to talk with her after the whole demon things, so I invited her to come meet Kovach and I at that tea place tomorrow and fill us in on the conversation.

While we talking, some people were scraping up the residue the smoke left on the walls. Unrefined sulfur. And I noticed a flash of red clothes under one of their robes. I guess I shouldn't be surprised the Redcloaks are in on this. Sulfur sells for a high price. Maybe that's why Garris was involved with Ryanton's class. He could have been investigating the Redcloaks and hoping to score an invitation to this prayer scheme.

Kovach came over to chat with Maewin and asked her if she knew anything about a gala that was happening in a couple days. She didn't seem to, and I left them to follow the Redcloaks out. They're refining sulfur, and I'm meeting them at the Old Well tomorrow to pick it up. Which means I'll have to scrape together some cash between now and then, but I think I can manage it. They offered to give me a discount since I told them I was new in town. Kind of shady, honestly. I've met dealers like that before. They give you a discount on your first purchase or two, and when you're hooked, you're suddenly paying full price. I guess I can't complain too much if I'm saving money, but it's still scummy.

They left, and Kovach and I started to talk through everything that happened. Kovach had no idea that any of that was at all demonic. I explained the whole thing with the eidolon and the sulfur residue, and I was about to try and talk him out of killing another dealer I was going to buy from when someone tried to put bags over our heads.

Well, they succeeded. Kinda. They got the bags over our heads, and I stepped on one of the floor tiles that looked out of place. There used to be a Vermissian station that ran under the campus, and the basement we were in was part of it. That tile was part of the old station. And as soon as my foot hit the tile, I was back five seconds ago, but standing a foot to the left when they tried to bag me.

They didn't mention they were ministry until I had my crossbow pointed at them, but at least then we could have a normal conversation about everything that happened. They'd been looking into the cult for a while and didn't want us fucking up their plan, which is why they were going to bag us. Apparently the prayer group's “grand goals” are also the Ministry's goals, so I guess we're rolling with it. I still don't really see how summoning a demon helps the Ministry, but I kinda have to take their word for it.

They knew a bit about what happened to Garris — apparently he'd gotten too close to finding something and someone from Upspire had him assassinated. Sounds like it was one of the Redcloaks. I showed them the pendant we found on the assassin, and they confirmed it had to do with the Autumn Banquet. And they seemed pretty confused by it. Someone in the Banquet was pretty pissed to hear that Garris had died, and that's apparently not the norm when they openly assassinate people.

They've also been looking into the cult, and told us to stay out of their hair. Easy enough. But they mentioned that we won't have to deal with Redcloak sulfur after tomorrow which…might be a small problem for me. I'm supposed to be picking up the sulfur the day after tomorrow.

At that point, it was getting late, so Kovach and I went our separate ways. I needed to decompress, anyways. It feels like so long ago that I woke up to the guard kicking in my neighbor's door, but that was actually only fourteen hours ago. And fuck, I'm so glad to be home. I downed a glass of whiskey when I got through the door and I'm going to make some dinner soon. I might head back to the vault after I eat so I can vape and go over my notes from the lecture.