#Lore24 – Entry #269 – Fantasy Month III #26 – The Fires of Folly

As Told by Erilantielle “Eri” Kitami, Champion of Erisaya

“I’m not happy about what happened.  We never meant for it happen, that I swear upon Erisaya’s good name.  We only wanted to slip in, find the information required, and get out without anyone noticing.  It was a shame what happened to the guild house, and no doubt they blame us for our actions leading to its destruction.  They’re not entirely wrong, certainly, and perhaps we can make amends for it.  I’m only thankful that nobody was seriously hurt aside from some of the mercenaries and dark elves. 

I’m certain the two groups were working together at this point, though.  The timing of the attacks…it was just too convenient to be a coincidence.  It’s the kind of thing I saw several times a few decades ago when I was rooting out a demon cult, where two groups seemed to be on opposite sides, only for us to find a combined front whenever we tried to wipe one of them out.  It would have made more sense for the dark elves to go inside the guild house, but for whatever reason, they didn’t.  Maybe it was something of a test of their trust in one another, each group attempting to claim the other’s quarry as a sign of good faith. 

Whatever the case, we’re still bound to Lady Jade’s will at this point and need to finish the work we’ve started in her name.  I gave her my word and will not break it, however long it takes.  Then we must deal with these dark elves and the twins and root out exactly who it is that seeks us.  I can understand why they’re after Hatae, but I can’t figure why they’re after me unless maybe that cult didn’t get entirely wiped out.  But we banished the demon from this realm, I completed the ritual of exorcism myself, and felt its presence, felt its outrage as I purged it from the world.  Surely it could not have returned, and no other demon would take up a cause of revenge for it…would it?  There must be another reason, something I don’t know yet…”