What Happens in Waterdeep.

Cynthia watched the two young lovers asleep in each others arms. Admittedly, she had watched them for a good portion of the night and although her initial intentions weren't voyeuristic, that quickly shifted once she had attempted to reach out to Virgil and discovered what was transpiring. Cynthia needed to contact Virgil, it was important, but it could wait.

For what she was about to ask. It could wait.

The sly demigod impressed her influence upon him and his eyes snapped open.
"Morning, Handsome. Get some clothes on and let that poor girl recover." she mused as she lit a cigarillo while walking from the room and up the hall. "We need to talk." She loudly called back.

The smells of tobacco and cinnamon assailed him as he shot a glance back to the sleeping woman next to him.
Virgil had seen her awaken from less interruption than this and just assumed this too was Cynthia's work. Especially seeing that Stedd hadn't come bounding out of bed at the first sign of a strangers voice.

He swung his feet out of the covers and stood. throwing a loose shirt on and some breeches, clumsily splashing some water in his face from the wash basin nearby before heading down the hall.

Cynthia sat feet up on the table, a cup of steaming coffee in one hand, cigarillo in the other. Virgil took up a place opposite and poured himself a cup.

"What's going on?" Virgil asked, taking a sip of the hot liquid. It's bitter taste having the desired effect as he felt his senses sharpen.

"That cult you stirred up before you left," she began taking her feet off the table and leaning in. "Good job on that by the way." She complimented with an exhale of smoke, it's fragrance filling the room. Virgil nodded and let her continue.

"There has been a development on that front. Through your initial contact and my own investigation, I've determined that a few new powers are on the rise along the sword Coast. You need to come back with me to sort this uprising out and restore balance to Waterdeep's criminal and lawful element."

Virgil went to argue, his mouth opening but she raised a hand that literally stopped him from speaking.

"It's part of the gig, Virgil. You return to Waterdeep, solve this issue so that the others have a Waterdeep to return to."
She sat back, lowering her hand and taking a drink of her coffee. He felt his ability to speak return.

He felt the unease at this decision, felt the conflict within him. He also realised his opinion on this matter was moot.

"I'll leave a note." He said as Cynthia raised her hand again, this time it held a sealed envelope.

"Already done," she said flatly. "A lovely little note from myself explaining your requirement to return with me to Waterdeep so you may conduct your duties. Don't worry I'll get you back to them as soon as you're done." She confirmed in a sincere tone, slipping the sealed letter over the table. "Leave that with your dwarf companion, it'll have the desired effect should he happen upon it."

Virgil nodded, reluctantly taking the letter and moving back down the hall to the barracks he'd been provided for his companions.
All were present, save Mikarro who had taken a great interest in the workings of the ship they were all travelling on.

He left the letter standing on Ulfgar's belongings before heading back to his own quarters.

Obcaeco still slept soundly. He gathered his belongings and walked from his room, letting his eyes gaze upon her for a moment before moving back to the hall.

Cynthia stood at the end of the hall by the Red Door.

"You ready?" She asked, that wry smile still on her face."
Virgil nodded and she pressed her palm upon its ornate surface. Various locks and mechanisms could be heard responding to her touch. It swung open slowly revealing a long hall lit by sconces.

"Ladies first," Cynthia said, gesturing for Virgil to enter.

Shaking his head with a sigh, he crossed over the threshold leaving his companions behind.

One Night in Waterdeep.

Obcaeco and Virgil were shown from the palace walls after bringing the news of Agatha's brutal demise at Stedd's hands.

Darkness was in its full splendour as the lights of Waterdeep's nightlife dotted the skyline and soon they walked together amongst the bustling streets. A cool breeze surrounded them, bringing mostly pleasant scents of rich food and spices.

They had made their way quietly though the crowds for a few blocks, Virgil's eyes constantly darting here and there yet always finding themselves back to Obcaeco to linger. Obcaeco suddenly put a hand out in front of him, her honed agile form stopping him fast as a cart thundered past at a busy intersection narrowly missing a distracted Virgil.

"Your eyes see much," she said, not looking in his direction, her mouth curled up at the sides in that wry smile. "Yet they seem to be fixed upon me when they should be looking elsewhere."

"It's not my fault," he answered straightening his fine coat and recomposing himself as his eyes once again began their usual scan. "You distract me more than I care to admit."

There was a brief pause where the two just stood at the roadside as the city moved around them.
"Perhaps I can ease your distraction." Obcaeco said, grabbing his hand suddenly and leading him down a small alleyway off the main road and away from prying eyes.
Virgil's heart raced at this action, his imagination making several sensual conclusions before she suddenly stopped, releasing his hand and  flipping open a small pack she was carrying, extracting it's contents onto a nearby crate.

It was the outfit he had gifted to her so many months before.

"I believe some crime fighting is finally in order." She announced quietly and promptly began to disrobe behind an outcropping of old barrels stored there.
Virgil stood there stunned for a moment, before spinning about. Obcaeco's lack of modesty making his face flush.
A moment later he was tapped on the shoulder by the slender monk, adorned in the dark blue and silver lined outfit.

"Well I'm ready," she said, stepping from the shadows that offered her no seclusion from Virgil's magical eyes. "Your turn."

Virgil smiled before uttering the incantation that shrouded him in the illusion of Neifion.
He felt the shift in his mind also, the persona of this masked warden coming to the forefront, Virgil's voice and mannerisms stepping aside to allow Neifion to assume control.

Although Obcaeco could see through the illusion to a degree, she quietly marvelled at the physical transformation that took place when Virgil became shrouded in Neifion's mantle. His shoulders squared back, his heart beat slowed to a calm, cold rhythmic tempo. Even his gait changed when he walked. No longer was his right hand his preference, being able to change at will depending on the situation.
He seemed to stand taller, more ominous.

She felt within herself a sudden rise in heat from the pit of her stomach as she became aware of the change in her own heart rate and breathing. Imperceptible to anyone who may have been observing, but to her, it was like a drum being beaten as if to sound an alarm. She cleared her throat slightly, forcing her attentions elsewhere.
"Shall we?"

The two leapt up onto the kegs then sprang upon the roof of the building. The stars overhead providing a splendorous sight.
"Dock Ward?" She asked and Neifion nodded as they both sped across the rooftops and walls of the Castle Ward.
Obcaeco's speed and agility made her look like a darting shadow in the night. so graceful were her moments that if anyone caught sight of her, it would be mistaken for a trick of the eye or some other fleeting thing.

Neifion pursued the lithe woman's twisting form, his magical abilities allowing him to keep up with the nimble monk in front of him. Black thorny tendrils shot from his device, grasping into walls and propelling him from building to building, aided also by his magical boots that enhanced his jumping distance.

They arrived the shadow of the massive stone walls of the dock ward atop a large warehouse giving Neifion a view of the entire area. Obcaeco's brilliant yet shorter ranged senses honed on their immediate environment while Neifion scanned the docks.

It didn't take long before Neifion saw their first quarry of the night. A woman carrying a crying bundle desperately running into a gas lit warehouse district. Moments later followed by a half dozen men cackling and hooting.

"Let's go." Neifion calmly stated as he sprang down the side of the building.

The soot faced woman darted from building to building. Her breath now coming in ragged gasps. She desperately tried to quiet her hungry child, the babe having none of it.
She made a final turn into a long corridor of warehouses, each illuminated with a small  natural gas lanterns mounted atop steel poles.
The woman reached the end of the corridor, trying desperately to open a door, any door that would take her away from the gang fast approaching. No escape in sight.

The gang closed hooting and jeering the entire time, stopping under the light of two lamps twenty feet away from her.
"We just want the baby, love," sneered one of the men wielding a wickedly barbed knife. "He's promised to us, to our lord Asmodeus!" At the sound of the Arch Devil's name the others shouted unholy words and made gestures with their hands to the night sky. She recoiled, clutching her child closer drawing a dagger and holding it out towards them drawing more jeers from the gang, her babe continued it's shrill wail.

The three lines of lamps behind the cultists suddenly went out in rapid succession, then the lamps revealing the woman and her babe blinked out. The child's cries being the only thing left coming from the darkness.
The cultists spun, brandishing crude but dangerous weapons, their teeth gnashing at the void before them. "Don't interfere lest you be next!" Shouted the lead cultist as the last two lamps providing the only light above them suddenly changed to a green flickering flame, shrouding the entire area in an emerald hue.

"Asmodeus has no dominion within Waterdeep." Came a voice that seemed to come from all around the half dozen cultists, causing them to back into one another and turn on the spot frantically.  "Here, Neifion walks!"

The final lamps blinked out as the woman clutched her baby watched on as the area was lit up with a blast of  green flame here or a bright burst of light there, screams and sounds of metal against metal and fists chrunching faces sounded out, suddenly the lamps roared back back on flooding the area in an emerald glow.

It took a moment for the woman's eyes to readjust to the lanterns in the street before she made out the heaped bodies of the cultists, bloodied and battered, but breathing. She suddenly gasped as off to the side she saw a dark figure, cloaked head to toe, wreathed black flames. It stepped forward and she shied back from this seemingly new threat, still holding the dagger. The figure stopped at her reaction and the flames surrounding it disappeared, leaving only a well dressed figure in black finery and a wide brimmed hat with billowing cape in the still night. The lower half of his face covered by an ornate silver etched mask that glinted in the rekindled glow.

"You are safe," He said in a strange ethereal voice, raising a device to the sky and loosing two bolts of bright green energy. "The guards will be here soon. Go to the Sea Ward and find an Inn called The Dragon Hoard. Speak to a woman named Lillian and she will see you moved to a safer place to stay."
The figure turned to leave and the woman reached a hand out, "W-wait!" she stammered. "Who are you?"

The figure half turned, "A protector. I am Neifion, Warden of Waterdeep. Pray for my protection and I will hear your call."
The figure turned away and leapt upward into the shadow and the night.

Some time later Virgil opened a door to his sanctum before he and Obcaeco spilled in, both laughing and short of breath.

"Thanks for the spotlight after the fight, Ob." Virgil exclaimed, removing his jacket and hanging it upon a nearby hook at the door.

"I believe in what you're trying to achieve here," she stated matter of factually dropping her pack and stretching out her arms and back in the hallway. "It was only fitting that you use this moment to establish your goal."
He moved down the hall and into a room before quickly reemerging with two glasses and a bottle.
"Drink?" He asked, moving into his personal quarters, the fire roaring to life as he entered.
Obcaeco moved to follow him into the room as Virgil hastily poured a drink for them both and downed his, still frantically reprising the events of the night, his voice full of excitement. He didn't notice that Obcaeco had stopped in the doorway.

Virgil, suddenly realising he was the only one speaking looked up from his recounting and watched Obcaeco move into the room, slipping off parts of her garments as she edged ever closer, her veil the last part of her ensemble to hit the floor before she stood before him, dangerously close. Golden and Obsidian eyes locked and he witnessed the unbridled power within her. His breath caught, unable to move as she stood but inches from him. Her mouth so close to his.
"Show me what happens next, Virgil." she whispered on trembling lips.
Virgil paused, ever so briefly, before allowing  his lips to find hers. 

Then, for the final time that night, darkness engulfed them once more.