The base of one of those support buttresses actually rests inside the lowest pool of the old fountain, and some of the stone for it was likely scavenged from the older buildings as well. Some of the shops are actually occupied by undercity dwellers, peddling repurposed junk, bugs and anything else that someone might possibly find useful. The chatter of barter fills the air, since money isn't really of any use down here.
Nicora actually lands and hooks her feet and right hand onto the the aging statue to get a close-up look at who it might represent. It also gives her a chance to look around, for signs of any recent raids or the like. She's dressed ... well, in rougher-looking clothing; almost reminiscent of Alptraum's older travel garb. Simple, sturdy, and dull. IT makes her either look like a lower class resident herself, or maybe a budget assassin, given the dagger she wears at her waist. Her tail is, well, stuffed inside the baggy pants. She even banded its mouth so it can't bite.
Up close, there are signs of just how old the plaza is: while the face of the statue is worn down to just an impression, the stone collar and few chain-links that remain connected suggest one of the bound goddesses. Gypsy experience also helps Nicora spot a 'spotter' - coiled around the arch of a buttress is a big Naga, watching the crowd. It was a role that Alptraum sometimes played as well: picking out the 'marks' in the crowds of locals who would come to the gypsy camp, and subtly signalling others depending on the person's demeanor. Although, down here, it wasn't likely that the Naga was looking for people most likely to want their fortune read, or looking for a dancing girl.
Nicora launches from the statue and arcs out and away as if leaving, but takes a lazy circle back until she can land semi-quietly, hooking her claws into the wall above the buttress. "I hope you are not looking for a meal," the Eeee says softly, but carrying a bit of an edge to her voice.
"ThaT dePendSSSs," the Naga hisses, glancing back at the Eeee. "Are you Ssselling your baBies?"
"I can't have children," Nicora hisses back; which is technically true, sort of. She had horribs; which is almost as bad. "And those that can should realize how lucky they are."
The serpent wheezes in laughter. "Ssso serIOUssss," he comments. "Why are you here? I can sssummon my fellowss with a gessTure if you mean me harm."
"There have been too many about causing harm lately. Recently children have come to the hostels, speaking of how their parents were taken by raiders near the old fountain," Nicora says, "So, I might mean you harm if you are associated with .... those raiders."
The serpent 'laughs' again. "Raiderssss?" he hisses. "AnimalSsss do not rate ssuch a Description. And you do not look liKe a YodhBlakat. Nor act like one. Only they are crazy enough to hunt the mad onesss."
"Ah, then you know of the Yodhdiphath and the Bardiphah, and all their 'recruits'," Nicora says. "And I don't have to be crazy to hunt them; just prepared and with some surprises up my sleeve." Which is true, even from a pun statement; her right arm is inside a sleeve after all.
"We don't ssSay their nameSss," the Naga hisses, with an angry edge. "Why are you really sSeeking them out? Some noble'sss Son get carried off While he was looking for an underCity girl that nobody would miSsss?"
"I seek to wipe them out. Rescue the parents of the children if I can; avenge them if I cannot," Nicora answers as her right brow arches. "I've spoken with one rescued from him, though what good it did. His mind is shattered. And more like that will follow if they are not stopped. It is a problem for the entire city, even if those above do not know it yet. Whether you choose to believe it or not, I am trying to protect this city; myself and a couple others."
"I will help you," the reptile offers. "Give me your valuableSsss for Ssafe-keeping, sSo that they will not be lOst to the corpSe eaters," he says, then wheezes with laughter again. "Or go talk to Half-Dan, aSs I am sure he would like the enterTainment.."
"Don't mock me. I am quite capable of defending myself from them," Nicora says, agitated enough to actually push a bit on the latent draconic aura of the shadow. "No one was laughing when my 'sister' and her dragon burned and rended into fleshy shreds."
The Naga's coils tighten involuntarily, and whatever he was about to say is swallowed. "Go to the maggot merchant," the Naga says instead, a bit more softly. "Half-Dan will be there. He can tell you how to find the mad onesSs."
"What of you? Why are you here?" Nicora asks as she relaxes the pressure on the aura.
"I sSpot the trouble makerSss.. and the unWary," the Naga says, returning his unblinking gaze on the plaza below. "Culling iss needed. There iSs only ssso much to go around."
Nicora reaches out and runs a finger along one of the Naga's coils. "So, you do eat people," she concludes.
"I am no cannibal," the spotter claims. "I guide the hunterSss to their prey to earn my keep. They do not eat people either."
"Slaver, then?" Nicora asks next.
Another laugh. "Nobody here is worth taking," he claims. "The fooliSh perish, the Strong endure."
Nicora smirks. "Not even me?" she teases and taps her claws on the naga's coil again.
"Whatever your worth, lady - I sSsuspect the cossst of capturing you would be too high," the Naga asserts.
"Borrowed, perhaps. But then I am fond of Naga," Nicora quips, grinning.
"Are you hoping to get more from me than I have given you?" the serpent asks suspiciously.
"Oh, you would get something out of what thoughts I have had of you," Nicora says as she licks slowly over her lips, then winks. "But, Half-Dan, you say?"
"Half-Dan, because he wass once All-Dan," the serpent wheeze-laughs.
"And your name?" Nicora asks.
"Iss mine," the serpent says. "It iss not free. Nor do I need to know yourSss."
"Then you had best never run afoul of me. It is easier for me to kill someone I don't know," Nicora remarks rather dryly. She leans in, licks his coil, then drops off the side of the buttress like a rock. Her wings snap out as she flips midair, and goes to find the maggot merchant.
The maggot merchant is not exactly what one might expect. While other insect vendors are clearly trading food, the maggot merchant is more of a first-aid (or last-aid) station. The maggots are kept in urns, and used to clean out wounds. The odors of the maggots, their food and the customers keep it further isolated from the rest of the plaza. An old Eeee woman (possibly) seems to be the proprietor.
It's a good thing Nicora is used to the gross and the smell (and has smelled worse herself, being a Yodhgorphat acolyte), such that the shop doesn't make her stomach turn. She goes up to the proprietor, trying to make out just who or what this person is, while she says, "I am here to see someone named Half-Dan."
"Hmmph," the woman goes, as she dips a stick into an urn full of larva and stirs them up a bit. "Back, in the alcove," she finally replies.
"Thank you," Nicora says; she at least apparently has some manners. She walks past the old Eeee, towards the alcove.
The back of the shop is understandably dark, and Nicora feels a sonar ping from the depths - but not an Eeee ping. A figure is sitting back there, knees to chest and face half-covered by a rag. On his shoulder perches a chibix, which gives off another ping at Nicora.
Nicora pings it back. "Half-Dan?" she inquires of the strange figure. "I am here as you are rumored to know where I can find the crazed ones. I intend to kill them all," she says rather coldly.
"I don't know where to find all of them," the figure replies slowly and slurrily, as if drunk. "Just one coven. Did they eat someone from your family?"
"No. They took the parents of some children," Nicora says, "Unrelated to me; but I still intend to deal with it." "Her brow arches as she notes, "And I also suspect they ate part of you; and that is why you know how to find them."
"Yes," Half-Dan says, and pulls aside his rag to reveal that the left side of his face.. is mostly gone. His jaw and teeth are exposed, explaining the slurring.. and the chibix must compensate for him no longer being able to emit sound in the proper range on his own.
Nicora nods grimly as she settles down next to the man and crosses her own legs. She shows no sign of revulsion from his visage; not fear. "Tell me. Please," she says, her tone a little kinder. Not pitying, just ... gentler.
"Not much to say," Half-Dan notes. "Got too close to the lair, my group was attacked. Knocked out, dragged inside. Woke up while one was chewing on me. Not all of them are vampires. I lashed out, took him by surprised.. got out, somehow. The rest were all in the big room, sacrificing my brother."
Nicora flexes here right hand a bit. "Where was this?" she asks next.
"Near the base of Hanracki tower, by the old aqueduct," Half-Dan says. "Lots of garbage mounds that way. Good pickings, we thought."
"Is the entrance easy to spot? Do they have sentries?" Nicora asks next. She also can't help herself and actually reaches out to trace a fingertip along his ruined jawline.
The man doesn't flinch from the touch, but doesn't really respond much to it. "Must be sentries, to see us, call up the others. Entry I remember was small, just.. an old apartment. Long hallway, statues.."
"Statues of what?" Nicora prompts.
"Diphath, of course," Half-Dan says. "I remember them. Blood on their mouths. Fresh blood."
"Hmph," Nicorra mutters. "And now I have to ask you to do something that may feel impossible. I need you to trust me and close your eye."
The chibix walks back and forth along the man's shoulder, it's head focused on Nicora. "If you kill me, make it quick at least," Half-Dan says, and closes his eye.
"Death is easy. Life is hard," Nicora remarks as she closes her own. Breathing slows; she listens now, and times it to her heartbeat, and his. Seconds tick, then a minute, before Nicora finally allows the shadow to ease from her right hand and over the ruined part of the man's face. She knows it is a long shot to try and heal this, to provide the energy to let it regrow. An eye? Probably too complicated. But skin and fur might be possible. She has no reason to do this; and it only risks her; yet she does it anyway.
The maggots did their jobs well. The scars aren't deep, but there are muscles and tendons that may never be repaired. Softer tissues, however.. yes. The shadow feels out the seed-cells that could trigger regrowth. Cheek, lips.. they may not have any feeling to them but they could at least let the man use sonar and speak normally again.
Nicora knows not to rush it. It may be a strange site, a man and a woman sitting there in silence; her hand upon his cheek for over half an hour ... but at least they are in the shadows. Eventually, though, she does draw her hand away. "The damage was extensive. I ... repaired what I could. Or rather; I helped your body to repair what it could. A life mage might be able to do more," she says softly as her hand returns to her lap. "It is not much, but I hope it eases your heart."
Half-Dan works his jaw around. "What are you?" he asks.
"Nothing of importance," Nicora claims. "What is anyone?"
"Meat, to some," the man says, and then reaches out to grab Nicora's arm. "They've changed," he says. "Before it was lures, and traps, and ambushes. Now they hunt us in our homes. They were never so bold. The Yodhblakat made sure they feared leaving their dens."
"I know. They have found ... allies in the wider world. I have to cull those here, to draw their allies out so that they may be stopped," Nicora says as she glances down to the hand upon her arm. "I hope to find some they have taken still unharmed; as they have children that wait for them ... but it is a fleeting hope."
Half-Dan lets go of Nicora's arm. "I can't go back," he apologizes. "Can't show you the way. They are mad. Hard to predict, but easy to fool, perhaps."
"I don't expect you to. The paths I walk in this world, I walk alone," Nicora claims. "You have told me where; I can find them from that. I am not so easy to capture, or harm. I have my tricks, and my skills. Hurting is ... not so different from healing; it is only a direction."
"How will you do it?" the broken man asks. "Will we know? Will there be a sign?"
"I do not know yet. I imagine when the time comes, you will know," Nicora answers. "After all, I have to make an example of them. We are not prey, and we will not go silently into their madness."
"Will the Procession come down to the undercity again?" Half-Dan asks next, almost reverently.
"It just might, it just might," Nicora answers. "For is not hope light cutting through the darkness?" Her lip half-curls back and she adds, "I'm ... just its guide, you might say. Spera; an old word that once meant hope from a dying language."
"The Kindly Ones fly with you then, Spera," Half-Dan says.
"And may you find peace in life and in dream, Dan," Nicora replies. The takes his former 'mask, and folds it a few times. Now a thinner strip, she leans in and ties it about his head as a makeshift eye patch. "I only ask one thing of you. Be willing to help another; even if there is no gain. Then ask them to do the same. One act is small; but combined you might find you can change the world." She caresses the side of his face he can still feel, then turns and leaves him to his alcove.
The directions were not very precise, and the closer Nicora made her way to the target area the fewer people there were to ask about it. It was easiest to follow the aqueduct to where it collapsed. Once there, it was a different matter to locate the den. Half-Dan's claim of luring in their prey made one firelit doorway near a pile of debris tantalizing. And even moreso when one of the gargoyles on the tower opposite sneezed.
Nicora keeps a wide path from this tower; sticking t quiet flight in the shadows as she scouts. The sneeze catches her ear, so she follows the shadows towards it. If someone is up there, they may have a passage. They likely slink through the buildings after all instead of flying to perches.
Passive echoes from the sneeze hint that there may actually be an opening in the wall behind the lookout.
"One way possibly in," Nicora decides. She climbs higher; realizing the horror of a sight it would be if the crazed rained down on the unwary. So ... maybe there are upper entrances and exits too.
There aren't any immediate signs of occupation on the darkened lower tower, and several windows and balconies have been bricked over. There may be some other entries lower down though, possibly hidden under the mounds of garbage that crawl up the sides of the tower.
Nicora glides down, avoiding flapping as much as possible. Right now she's listening; trying to find the sounds of air coming in or out of half-buried passages in the garbage.
What she hears instead are voices. They're coming from what must have been a window before the rising debris turned it into a narrow door. But the voices are still distant, and echo from dealing with corners. Which means they must be very loud at the source.
Nicora tries to get close and land in hiding so she can listen to what is being said.
".. will tear out the heart of anyone who leaves for another coven!" comes the distant screech of an enraged woman. "I don't care if they are bigger, or calling out to us! It is a trick! Do you not remember what just happened to the Jillasian Coven? Slaughtered after joining the Abbasians! Because they violated the Old Ways! Diphath protects us here!"
"Now now, who is this speaking, hmm?" Nicora wonders as she hangs upside down from a hidden perch on the crumbling tower. "Sounds very Blakat if you ask me."
Even fainter, a voice replies, "But High Priestess, we are starving. The Abbasians promise us thralls, and our numbers are falling. Ever since.." "We are not to speak of the False Messenger again!" the loud one interrupts. "We will not be fooled! Diphath protects us until Her apocalypse! She does not call on us to enslave our prey, and take up arms. The Yodhsunala are still out there, waiting to strike at us, as they always have been!"
"Ooooo, I scared them. That just gives me all sorts of warm fuzzies," Nicora thinks smugly. "It is making them nervous. So another stike might make them even more. Of course this means I can't use this place for Gorphat's Path."
There is more faint discussion and argument, until the High Priestess screams again. "Enough! For your lack of faith, Hervesta, Diphath demands your blood and flesh to strengthen us! Seize her!" There's more screaming, which is abruptly cut off after a moment.
Nicora's ears flick back. "Not that I feel bad for her but ..." she thinks. She knows what is coming and it is likely to be horrible. So, she leaves her perch to seek out other possible entrances. Her hope of finding the parents of the children have grown dimmer, however.
This coven does not appear to be the one behind the abductions, from the sounds of it. It is also small, and sounds as if it had suffered a setback some time ago resulting in a severe reduction of their number. However, it also doesn't have much in the way of escape routes. The window, a door at the base of the tower, and possibly the crack behind the sentry. There could be tunnels linking it to 'bait house' in the opposite tower however.
Nicora doesn't dare do much more snooping as it will likely expose her further. That does leave her to wonder who? The Abbasians? The ones that are lead by the undead singer, most likely. No clue where they are yet.
The bar Abbas territories are certainly closer to the fountain plaza than this weakened coven is. Then again, weakened or not, they're still a coven of nasty, face-eating murderers.
"And I have to get rid of them anyway. I'll have to see if the sixth station can use this place or not, then decide," Nicora thinks. "I do want to complete my ... induction."