While Ravenia tends to the bruises of Meg, the messenger of Abzhalom Dack, and Arkold stands guard, Lilith has shown Alptraum to this room where he can have some privacy to consult with the dragons within the spirit blade. "Do you need anything?" the female Eeee asks the darker male.

"Well, I could use a day where we're not trapped in this castle, surrounded by evil creatures … and frankly, I could use a date," Alptraum recites, ticking off each on his clawtips. Still, he manages a grin and pats Lilith's shoulder, adding, "But seriously, no. I don't think there's much more you can do for me. Unless you want to come along?" His head shakes, then he adds, "And you know, I should have thought of it, but I wonder if there are any hidden food stores in this place somewhere."

"Hmmm, there could be," Lilith says, then shudders at the offer to come along. "Err, I think I've had enough of dragons for one lifetime. But I'll see to searching the castle more thoroughly."

Alptraum glances around the room and then at the stool. "I really creep you out, don't I?" he asks rather bluntly.

"You?" Lilith asks, looking surprised. "You're pretty normal compared to everything else that's going on, and you're too cute to be really creepy," she admits, with a wink.

Alptraum laughs a bit at that. "I don't know if you're being serious or not on that, but thanks. It's been a trying few days for all of us. I know I haven't exactly been pleasant lately," he replies and waves at the room with his hand. "I have a lot on my mind right now. I have more to deal with then just this current situation."

"Now that is a worrying thought," Lilith says, and hugs herself as if chilled. "How are you going to summon the dragon, anyway? Do you need help?"

"I was charged with helping free all the souls Vorg took," Alptraum explains and glances at Lilith, looking worried. "Not quite sure how I'm going to do that." He rums his claws through his hair and says, "Well, I contact her by using some of my blood, to be honest. I figured I'd just bite my thumb and drip it on the blade. Or … heh. Considering the food scarcity, I could let you bite me." He quirks an amused, joking, grin at Lilith.

Lilith actually blushes at the suggestion. "Let's not even go along that line of thought… besides, it would make more sense to bite Arkold, since he's bigger," she notes. "I guess I'll stay with you then, just in case something happens."

"Heh, I was kidding … but you blushed," Alptraum says with an amused grin. "Sorry. I … I was raised by rogues, it rubbed off. Just kick me if I get too obnoxious." Alptraum then settles himself onto the floor and leans against the wall. "You can have the stool. I might fall off, anyway. Not sure what will happen," he admits. He takes out the dagger slowly then looks at it nervously.

In the candlelight, a few veins of blue can be seen shimmering in the blackness of the blade, which gives off a certain coldness of its own.

"I … I'm sorry I haven't done better, Lilith," Alptraum says, probably stalling out of a bit of fear. He draws a breath and after a moment, brings one of his thumbs up to his mouth and presses it firmly against one of his fangs. He takes his hand away, a small drop of blood glistening on the tip of his thumb. "Here goes nothing," he remarks, then slides the tip of his thumb along the flat of the blade, spreading the drop across it.

The chill of the blade becomes numbness in Alptraum's thumb, which quickly spreads up his arm. The room dims in his vision, and he just manages to see Lilith rushing forwards to catch him as his senses fade out…

The first thing Alptraum becomes aware of is softly playing alien music. As the rest of his senses return, he finds himself sitting in a small cushioned chair in a white room. A low table is before him, covered in glossy paper books with brightly colored images and words on their covers. Three walls are lined with the chairs just like the one he sits in, with the fourth having a door at one end and a large desk taking up the rest of the space. A shelved lip rises up to hide the desktop itself, and some sort of flickering light from it partly illuminates the creature behind it. It appears to be a human woman, except that her skin is made of tree bark, and her green hair is some sort of moss. She smiles (not showing any teeth though) and looks at Alptraum with glowing red eyes. "Hello, how can I help you?" she asks, in a not-at-all strange voice.

Alptraum rubs his eyes for a moment, blinking to make sure he's seeing properly. "Well, I wasn't sure what to expect … but this isn't it," he remarks as he looks around. The bat draws a breath, then says, "Well, can you tell me where I am? I was expecting to see a dragon … not what, well, what are you?"

"I'm Fern, the receptionist," the woman explains. "Which dragon where you looking for, exactly?" she asks.

"Well, I'm not sure she is a dragon, really. She didn't have a name, so I called her Kaira. She was an imprisoning spell. Where exactly am I?" Alptraum asks.

"You're at the central Census office," the tree-woman notes, and looks down into the light on her desk for a moment. Clicking noises can be heard, and then she says, "Ah, are you Alptraum then?"

Alptraum raises his brow. "What? You know of me?" he asks, surprised.

"You have an open appointment it seems," Fern replies, then stands up and goes to open the door. Despite apparently being made of wood, her movements are silent. "If you'll just follow me, I'll take you to her."

Alptraum gets up and rubs at the back of his neck. He has no clue just what the heck is going on here. So, he just shrugs and says, "All right. Lead on."

Fern opens the door and leads Alptraum into a gigantic room. The room is filled with acres of desks, manned by all manner of creatures babbling, yelling and moving large piles of paper around. Each desk has a little picture frame on it that is filled with light, and some sort of panel of buttons that the creatures attack with fingers, claws, talons and the occasional tentacle. The receptionist weaves through the maze quickly, so that Alptraum has to hurry to keep from losing her.

Alptraum tries to hurry after Fern … and look at all the strangeness that's going on around him. This, of course, leads him into having to apologize several times to people whom he bumps into as they go. "What is this place?" he asks after Fern.

"I told you already, it's the central Census office," Fern says. "This is where we are cataloging all of the entities within Vorgulremik." The tree girl doesn't slow down during the explanation, and is apparently leading Alptraum towards a central raised 'island' of desks, which rises up in multiple tiers. At the top, a pair of large blue-and-gold feathered wings are clearly visible.

"There are this many?" Alptraum asks, looking a bit worried, "How in the world am I supposed to deal with this many?" He shakes his head slowly, feeling defeated before he even starts. He looks up at the wings and mutters, "I can't believe she talked me into this."

"She can be very bossy," Fern notes, as she leads the Eeee up a stairway that joins the tiers. Here, the beings manning the desks are the more familiar long-eared humans Alptraum knows as 'elves'. At the top, Kaira squats surrounded by three desks, each one overflowing with paper. The dragon is wearing some sort of device on her head, made of a thin metal band that holds a small cushion against one of her ears, from which a stalk extends forward towards her mouth. She's arguing with someone unseen. "What do you mean, you can't contain them? What sort of wizard are you? What? Oh, that sort of wizard. (pause) They were wiped out thousands of years ago, so I don't have any information on how to deal with them, sorry. Just improvise and don't let them get near any of the staging areas." She nods to Alptraum, and holds up one taloned finger in an I'll-be-right-with-you gesture.

The Eeee rubs his neck again. He looks at Fern and lets out a sigh, then just nods, saying, "Thank you, uh, Miss Fern." He waits there, resisting the urge to whistle or make some sort of other annoying noise. So, he just looks around the group again, looking for the black skinned elves. "Might as well try to learn a few things about them for Raven, I suppose, if I have time," he thinks to himself.

There are blue-skinned elves, red-skinned elves, elves with skin so pale as to be nearly translucent… but no black-skinned ones to be seen. "Ah, Alptraum, I wasn't expecting you so soon!" Kaira says behind him, finally finishing her odd one-sided conversation.

"Ah, well, we're currently stuck in the castle. We've got the shadow of Amena to still deal with, and a wizard outside who wants to use it to turn himself into Dagh incarnate," Alptraum remarks and turns around. "So, we can't leave, and we can't move the thing. So … we're somewhat stuck. I was wondering if you had any information from Vorg on the castle itself we could use to secure the coffin long enough for us to … well, complete our quest. I think we'll need it to kill the wizard. Plus, I wanted to see just how many I had to help with. Er, I'm not sure I can help, in all honesty. Not with this many." He smiles apologetically.

Kaira looks around the vast room. "This many? This is nothing. Just the people I could get to help sort out the chaos. My, my, there are billions to deal with… but we may have a way of simplifying things. Still working on the details, but all you'll have to do is stab a few people with the dagger now and then," the dragon says, waving a hand as if it were all a trivial matter. "Stuck in the castle, hmm. How many do you have to defend it?"

Alptraum looks around for a chair. "Stab people? Lovely," he remarks. "As for the castle, well, like … five. As in five people. One is hurt."

There aren't any chairs, but once Fern sees what Alptraum is looking for she bends at the knees and holds her arms out so that she becomes, effectively, a chair with armrests, assuming the Eeee won't mind sitting in her lap.

The Eeee just looks at Fern. Given the strangeness of his life, he just gives up and shrugs. He then sits in her lap, mindful of his wings. He almost tells Fern to not pinch him, but figures that would be pushing it.

"Hmmm, five people," Kaira mutters, and sorts through the piles of paper surrounding her. More paper appears out of thin air to add to the mess, and slots in the desks spew out even more sheets. Eventually the dragon finds what she's looking for though, and waves a piece of parchment triumphantly! "Found it!" she says, and lays the paper down on a clear bit of desk space in front of Alptraum. It's a map of the castle, with various notes and colored additions.

Alptraum cranes his head over to look at the paper, hoping to see rooms he recognizes. "How does the desk spit out paper like that?" he asks.

"Err, wasps I think," Kaira says, shrugging. She taps at the map, indicating the deep chamber where Vorgulremik had his lair, and where the coffin resides. "Vorg would always have an escape route of some sort," she notes, and points out a few of the surrounding chambers where supplies where cached, and in particular one side-passage that ends in a cave-in. A green set of lines there indicates a hidden parallel passage that connects to some kind of natural cave system. Whenever she moves her claw, the map seems to scroll around to focus on that particular spot.

"Okay, I'm not surprised by the escape route. And supplies … great!" Alptraum remarks as he tries to commit the sections of the map to memory. "So, we definitely have a way to sneak out. Good. Can you go back to the lair? Will the map show any weak points or whatnot we could use to somehow collapse the ceiling and bury the coffin?"

Kaira scrolls the map back to the lair, and asks, "Can any of you on the outside use magic? There's a magical tripwire along the main passage from the great room to the lair, that can be used to seal the hall or crush intruders." She points to a section of the passage that is surrounded by a glowing orange rectangle.

"Err. Not that I'm aware of. Well, maybe Lilith or Ravenia could. I don't know. But, hmm, how is it triggered? I wonder if we could trick the necromancer into tripping it for us, then we slip out the back," Alptraum muses. "What sort of magic is needed to trigger it?"

"Earth Magic, I think you'd call it," Kaira says. "This section was severely affected by such in the past, and Vorgulremik managed to build a trap on that fact. I can probably find the mage's spirit, or another compatible one who can trigger it."

"Okay … wait. If that's so, uhm, how would we get the spirit out to trigger it? And … I can't ask Raven to host him. She's been through far too much," Alptraum says, brow furrowing as he taps on the desk with a clawtip.

"Well, Ravenia is probably the only one who would be compatible with it," Kaira notes. "But you can try with someone else. It's just a matter of pricking them with the dagger and transferring the spirit in and out of them, once we have it in the proper staging point."

Alptraum rubs his temples. "I guess it must be one of … whatever Ravenia is? Hm. I could ask her, but I don't know if she would want to do it. She's been pretty hurt by all of this," Alptraum says and sighs, sitting back. "She doesn't even remember where she's from anymore."

"If she's an Exile, that isn't surprising," the dragon says. "It's normal for them to lose their memories of their previous life… but not their identities. She may recover naturally in time."

"Well, she isn't, I don't think. It was said her mother was, if I remember what Vorg said," Alptraum replies, considering. "She looks just like one of those black skinned 'elf' people."

"Hmm, may be best if she didn't remember then," Kaira says, shaking her head slightly. "Dark Elves aren't the nicest of people, generally."

"How helpful," Alptraum remarks and waves his hand. "Wait, don't we have a bunch of those to release in here? Where exactly will all these people go?"

"Well, they'll got to where they can be born again into the same race," Kaira says. "Although, as we've been finding during the census, there are plenty of types it would be best to not let out. Vorgulremik wasn't very picky in his youth, and managed to collect several of the more demonic sorts of spirits before those strains had been exterminated."

"Heh. So those will just be wiped out when Vorg is unmade? Heh, if only we could trap Dagh's descendent in here and wipe him out too," Alptraum remarks. The Eeee then sits up and considers something, then mutters, "No, that would be risky."

"If you get the chance, it would be more productive to stab him with the knife," Kaira says. "You could probably pump out a few thousand souls through him before he… uh… exploded."

Alptraum hehs. "Well, hm. That sounds disgusting, really. Would it work better if we let him become Dagh before stabbing the jerk? I don't know how my resistance to necromancy would hold up against his power, though," he remarks.

"I doubt letting him become a demigod would help," Kaira says. "Killing an avatar generally doesn't kill the deity, after all. But killing the man shouldn't be difficult, so long as you don't dwell on the obviously phallic symbolism of it all."

Alptraum just looks at Kaira. "You are the most disturbed individual I've ever met. Well, other than my aunt, Inala. She's … well, could make anyone blush," he remarks flatly. "Anyway, okay. You have an earth mage who may be able to help. Can we talk to him?"

"I'll see if I can find him," Kaira says, and turns to one of the glowing picture-frames on the desk and begins battering the button panel. "Hopefully it will be somebody recent. Mortal spirits don't last very long in here."

Alptraum shifts uncomfortably at that. "While you're doing that, I take it to get spirits out of here I have to stab people? Er, what happens to the people I stab?" he asks.

"They fill up with spirits which are then released when the victim dies," Kaira explains. "Or, in the case of a more controlled transfer, you insert a spirit into someone with a less-than-fatal prick, or transfer a spirit from a person into the knife. It all depends on what you want to do."

"Oh what I want to do? Hm. I presume the effective manner is that you do this to an enemy you're killing anyway. But, How does the spirit transfer affect the host in less than fatal cases? Are they aware of it, or just act as a carrier and when they die, release them?" Alptraum inquires, leaning forward to eye the dragon.

Kaira looks away from her screen to meet the bat's eyes. "That probably would be complicated," she says. "With multiple spirits in one body, the more dominant one would take over, but the longer the 'possession' the greater the chance of the two eventually merging into one. Vorg never let any spirit stay in Ravenia for more than a few days."

"And even then, the dominant personality had limitations one what it could make the host do, otherwise they'd just have made Raven commit suicide so they could be released."

"Ah. That is good to know. I won't ever use myself as a host, then. And with Ravenia, I seemed to be able to force them out easily enough, it seemed," Alptraum replies, still watching the dragon. "How long was Ravenia with Vorg? Do you know?"

"He found her here in the castle when he arrived a few years ago," Kaira says, going back to watching her glowing window. "He didn't ask her about her past, since he really didn't care. Ah, I've found him! The mage is already in the main staging area, conveniently."

"Shall we go talk to him?" Alptraum asks.

"I'm having him transferred to a separate transfer point," Kaira says. "Fern can take you there. I'm a bit busy to go myself, if that's alright with you?"

"That's fine. I'll come back when I'm done talking to him to make sure I've got the map memorized and discuss the evacuation plans a bit so I won't mess this up," Alptraum tells Kaira. "And you know, Arkold will be so upset. He wanted to flirt with you again."

The dragoness pauses in her work and arches an eyeridge at Alptraum. "I worry about your choice of companions at times, Alptraum."

Alptraum offers a shrug. "I attract weirdoes," he admits. "You should have met some of the people I knew in Babel. They make Arkold look tame. Anyway, I'll see you in a bit."

After navigating the maze of the Census office once more, Alptraum finds himself in another room similar to the one he arrived in. There are only two chairs and no desk, but the table with the colorful literature is the same, as is the odd background music that is somewhat soothing while still being somewhat annoying. A raggedy looking Skreek is already sitting in one of the chairs, looking through a magazine.

"Anything interesting in there?" Alptraum asks the Skreek as he comes in. "I'm Alptraum, by the way. May I ask your name?"

"I'm Grunge, the sorcerer," the Skreek introduces himself, and turns the magazine around to show Alptraum an incredibly lifelike picture of a fancy, low-slung chariot with a scantily clad elf girl posing next to it. "It's all full of gibberish."

Alptraum tilts his head. "Cute girls, though," he comments, then coughs. "So, how'd you end up in here?" he asks as he sits down in one of the chairs.

Putting down the magazine, Grunge says, "I was minding my own business cursing some crops in Kroz when this dragon comes along and eats me." He shakes his head, and adds, "I mean, is that fair?"

"Well, actually, yes. You were cursing crops, you got caught," Alptraum points out and leans back in the chair. "However, not all is lost. I can help you out of here."

"Out of here how?" the Skreek asks. "I ain't like these fancy-pants spirits. Out there I'd just be dead. What'm I supposed to do then? Haunt some pile of dragon dung in the wilderness?"

"Out there you'd go to the sea of souls. In here you'll decay away into nothingness. Mortals don't last long in here," Alptraum points out. "The longer you stay in here, the more you'll decay away. What I need help with is setting off an earth magic trap. I could transfer you out briefly for that into someone else. After that, you'd be released to the afterlife when it was possible to do so."

"Sea of Souls, eh?" Grunge asks, rubbing his chin with a naked-pink paw. "Can you get me into one of those better afterlives? I hear those Abu Dhabi types get to go to some big garden full of naked women or some such."

"Heh. I have no idea on that. I'm Sunala's child, so I could put in a request for such, but … I have no idea if it would be honored or not," Alptraum replies and shakes his head. "You remind me of Arkold. What I imagine will happen is from the Sea, you will end up wherever Skreeks go for their final destination. But, I can say if you help, er, you will be a girl, briefly, heh. Well, most likely anyway. Depends on who ends up being the vessel."

"A girl?" Grunge asks, looking a bit put off. "Never been in a girl. Always wondered though. They smell nice, usually. Eh, okay, I'll do it. I can probably manage to hit a magic trigger."

"Well, I have to discuss this with those on the outside. But, glad to have your agreement already. Good. We're basically trying to seal off a passage," Alptraum replies and extends his hand to the Skreek. "Thanks for agreeing. This will, by the way, probably piss off the dragon that killed you, heh. So, all the better, right?"

Grunge shakes Alptraum's hand. "Oh yeah, I really want to piss off a dragon. My life… er… Existence isn't already in enough of a mess."

"Well, he's dead now too. So he can't exactly do anything more to you. He'll likely insult me, or curse at me, or who knows what else," Alptraum points out.

"Eh, whatever," the Skreek says, and goes back to looking through the magazine. "I'll just wait here, I guess."

"Ah, yeah, you do that," Alptraum remarks as he gets up and heads out of the area to find Fern and go back to Kaira.

Things haven't changed much in the Census office, but Kaira looks different now. Instead of her usual dragon shape, she's more humanoid and wearing clothing that can best be described as 'clerk chic' in their blandness. There are also several paper cups of cooling mateh scattered across her desk. "Oh, back already? How'd it go?" she asks distractedly.

Alptraum shrugs. "Charming fellow," the Eeee comments. "Well, he agreed to help out. Though, what happens to him afterward is a bit of a concern for me. But, I'll do what I can do, I suppose. And woah, what's with the sudden change… ? You look, well, cute."

"It's easier to type like this, and I don't knock over the stacks of paper when I move," Kaira explains, letting the 'cute' remark slide. "I suppose you're all set then? Just be careful to use the transfer point holding the mage and not the main staging area when you do the transfer."

"Heh, ah, how do I make sure of that?" Alptraum asks and shakes his head. "I am somewhat new at this."

Kaira looks at Alptraum and… shrugs. "I imagine you'll feel the difference, since one point will have one spirit in it and the other will have a thousand. It would be easier to visualize if the knife had been a revolver instead."

"Eh. I get the idea. I'll just go with the feel, then. All my abilities seem to be instinctive, anyway," Alptraum replies and smiles. "Anyway, it was a pleasure speaking with you. Hm. Should I check in here with you once a week or so in case you need to tell me anything regarding clearing all these people out?"

"Sure, I'll let Fern know," the dragoness agrees. "And as long as you just prick with the knife, only one or two spirits can be transferred anyway, so even if you miss the one you want it won't be a disaster. I'll set the main staging area so that it will trigger on a major puncture only."

"Anything you want me to convey to Arkold?" Alptraum asks, suppressing a smirk.

"Don't tell him I'm 'cute' if you can help it," Kaira suggests.

"Aww, but you are! At least like that. It's the whole proper and stuffy look, well, er, okay, it's probably a guy thing," Alptraum says, then starts laughing in spite of himself. "Anyway, I'll talk to you later. It was good speaking with you again."

"Mm-hmm," Kaira says, and waves a hand. "Fern will show you out." With that, the tree woman raises her arm, makes a fist, and brings it down hard on Alptraum's head, knocking him out…

Consciousness returns to Alptraum, thankfully without a sore head, as he wakes up on the floor of the pantry. Lilith is cradling his head in her lap, and her eyes show concern as she asks, "Are you alright? You passed out a moment ago."

Alptraum blinks into consciousness. Slowly he smiles and says, "I must be all right. I get to wake up to a beautiful Eeee." He reaches back and pats her hand lightly, "And in all seriousness, I'm fine. And things aren't as grim as we thought. There are some hidden storerooms we can check out, as well as a secret exit."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Lilith says, squeaking. "Does that mean we can just sneak out now?"

"No, not exactly," Alptraum remarks, not moving from Lilith's lap. "There are complications. We should check the storerooms first for supplies. I also need to talk to Ravenia. We'll need her help, but … I'm not sure she'll want to do it. I need her to host an earth mage so we can set off the trap Vorg put on his chamber entrance so we can seal it off."

"That won't be dangerous, will it?" Lilith asks, absently stroking Alptraum's hair. "And where does the secret exit lead out to?"

"I don't think so. Given I was able to remove one Vorg stuck in her easily. But … I'm worried about Raven. She's not been doing well since Vorg was destroyed. Being asked to be a host again may really upset her," Alptraum says with a sigh, "And it's not something I want to do to her. But we can't let the necromancer get to the shadow. And none of us are earth mages that I'm aware of." He pauses for a moment, rather enjoying the stroking of his hair and almost falls asleep. "Oh, and yes, the passage. It leads to some natural caves, apparently. It was Vorg's escape route," he finally adds, forcing himself to wake up.

"It sounds like it won't be an easy escape then," Lilith says. "Tulani is still hurting and may not be able to travel well for a few days… and there's still the sorcerer's woman to deal with. Do we take her with us? Can we trust her?"

Alptraum opens his eyes. "We should let her go," he says and shrugs. "We told her we weren't leaving. So, hopefully she'll convey that to him and make our exit easier as he won't expect it." He reaches back again and takes Lilith's hand, thumb rubbing lightly on the back of it. "I'm hoping there's enough food in the storerooms to give Tulani time to recover. And where do we go after this? I figured we'd take you back to your home, then we'd head on to find help in fighting the necromancer."

Lilith nods absently, appearing lost in thought. "Supplies… that will be fine for Arkold, Raven and Tulani, but we need live prey. Maybe we shouldn't let the woman go after all. If we feed off her, she'll be too weak to cause trouble. Otherwise the others will have to share some of their blood with us."

"I considered that, but … honestly, I don't think I would have the heart to do it. I make a terrible creature of darkness, eh?" Alptraum remarks ruefully. "Perhaps we should see what the stores have, and maybe what's in the caves. We might find some cave creatures to provide blood. And well, we should also consult the others on food issues too and see what they think."

The white furred Eeee nods in agreement, and says, "Okay, that's probably best. Besides, I've already figured that Arkold could maybe spare a pint every other day, which wouldn't be enough for the two of us anyway. So checking out the caves and supplies is our only choice."

"Well, if he offers, you take it. I'll manage somehow," Alptraum replies and sighs. "I guess I need to get up. I don't want to."

"Oh my, are you feeling weak already?" Lilith asks, and pulls Alptraum's torso up so he can rest his head against her chest. She feels his neck with her hand to check his pulse as well.

It's Alptraum's turn to blush. "No, no, it's not that, er," Alptraum stammers from where his head now rests. "It's just I was comfortable, I, er … well. Heh. It's just that … you're pretty. I, er. Sorry."

"Ah," Lilith says, and pats Alptraum's cheek. "I could do with something to break the tension myself, but it probably wouldn't be fair to the others right now," she says.

Alptraum finally sits up. "Ah, no kidding," he remarks and looks away for a bit. "I didn't mean it like that," he says and smiles back weakly. "I felt sort of normal for a bit. It was … nice. I don't feel normal very often," he adds, then shrugs. "Well, want to come look for the storerooms and passage with me?"

Lilith nods, and picks up the candle. "Or should we send the woman off first so she doesn't suspect anything?" she asks.

"Hm," Alptraum considers as he snaps his wings out slightly, then settles them down his back and folds the clawtips around his neck. "Well, let's at least check the store rooms first. That shouldn't take long. That way we'll know our food situation before we send her off."

"Alright then," Lilith agrees, and stands up. "Where are the storerooms?"

"Surrounding chambers off his lair," Alptraum notes. "So, we're going back down to the shadow chamber. Fun."

Lilith pauses for a moment, then says, "I'd better get a torch then, this candle won't last."

"All right. I'll meet you at the entrance, then," Alptraum says and heads to the door. "If you happen to see Raven while you're fetching the torch, let her know I need to speak with her for a bit tonight." He offers her a fangy smile, saying, "We'll make it through this, Lilith. I promise."