Some of the friends showed aversion while others were intrigued. Cyclone looked left and right, nodding her head:
"Just like our nightclub. Right, Balm?"
"What? You like this kind of club?", asked Quickstep in shock.
"Of course! Where else could we enjoy ourselves so freely? But since the game went online, we had barely any time to visit. Ha, I quite miss it."
"Me too.", agreed Balm.
While the others were surprised by the revelation, Silver Blade sceptically eyed Cyclone:
"Didn't you say you always met at Queen's in the middle city?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
Silver Blade rolled her eyes while those with some knowledge about Red Oak City let out exasperated sighs.
"How can Queen's compare to this place? Queen's can barely be called a nightclub. Do they even sell drinks?"
"Eh... ehm... of course!"
Silver Blade refrained from commenting further refraining from embarrassing Cyclone any more, catching up with the guard who had gone ahead and was now waiting for the players.
Fortunately, the conversation couldn't dampen Cyclone's good mood. She happily took Balm to stroll between the groups of people, overhearing their conversations, laughing along as if she was a regular in this place.
The rest of the party kept up their vigilance seeing how every person in the room carried weapons. They followed the guard towards a spot in a corner where cushions were scattered on the floor.
Three people were sitting on the cushions. The left and right person kept talking to the central figure, a dwarf with a bare upped body revealing muscles like mountains, clearly taking him for their leader.
When the party came closer, the dwarf raised his hand, shutting the others up. He opened his arms wide and let out a bellowing laugh:
"Haha, adventurers! Never thought you would find your way here! Did you come for me? Come, sit!"
As the dwarf spoke up the guard walked to the side. Liam didn't show much politeness, promptly taking one of the cushions. His friends followed him until no spots were left.
"Seytor, I came here because I received this."
Liam came directly to the point, taking out the mysterious black dagger. Seytor took it, turning it in his hands, focusing on a symbol on the hilt.
"Oh, so were the ones causing trouble at Heinrigg's place?"
Upon hearing this question, the players knew that a fight was imminent. Cyclone was ready to draw her wand, focusing on Seytor's face when she suddenly noticed something strange.
[Cyclone: Why does it look as if that guy doesn't care.]
[Bleary Mirage: Don't worry. That's just how they operate.]
Liam's friends didn't understand but the trust in their expert prevented them from doing something stupid, waiting for Seytor's next words.
"Who would have thought that Heinrigg would face such a day?"
The question from the man next to Seytor caused all three NPCs to laugh happily whereas the party only showed question marks in their eyes.
After a few moments Seytor stopped, addressing Liam:
"Adventurer, since you could find this place you probably know who we are, don't you?"
"Of course."
"Do you want to join us?"
"Definitely."
"Good, good. Perfect timing. Let me explain what we are working on right now. That guy, Heinrigg, is one of our spies keeping an eye on Duabalis City, or rather Taragal.
Taragal is a dark nephilim with good connections to the broken council, currently hiding in Duabalis City. Do you know why he has to hide?"
Liam put on an act, shaking his head, mirrored by his friends. Suddenly the amiable atmosphere turned grim as Seytor's eyes spewed flames of rage.
"That b*stard Taragal reigns over a few islands of Deavin Ocean, committing horrible atrocities. Keeping slaves, experimenting with dark magic, testing his spells on the innocent. That place is hell on earth.
We, the Black Hand, don't have many convictions but we value freedom over everything. Whenever we see someone's freedom suppressed, we will act!
Adventurer, Taragal has been targeted by the holy nephilim and doesn't dare to leave Duabalis City. This is the perfect time to rescue the innocent souls on his islands. Are you willing to fight on our side? For freedom!"
"For freedom!"
As Seytor's voice sounded through the room, others echoed his words, causing the room to rumble, leaving a deep impression on the party.
[Cyclone: I would've never guessed that these people are the good guys. Really, never judge a book by its cover!]
[Balm: Really. At first I thought we entered some bandit den.]
[Silver Blade: In Liam's position I might have brought the dagger to Taragal...]
[Cyclone: Damn, sometimes good and bad are so easy to confuse.]
[Bleary Mirage: Eh...]
[Cyclone: Mirage? What do you mean with 'eh'?]
[Bleary Mirage: Silver, if you want you can look behind the shelve over there and pick up the lore book.]
Silver Blade's eyes lit up, always keen on learning new lore. She enjoyed knowing everything about Crunaboul. Without hesitation she stood up, approaching a shelf containing some bottles, and found a book between the shelf and the wall.
While the young woman was engrossed in the lore, Liam answered Seytor with a face full of righteousness:
"As expected from the Black Hand. I agree that freedom is our most important good! Tell me, how can we help?"
"Great, adventurer! I didn't misjudge you! Listen, we need to reach Tarargal's islands, but his followers have locked down the surrounding sea. We can't reach there by boat.
Therefore, we will fly! Do you know about the beast master outside Duabalis Harbor?"
"Naturally. Donvin Enthren. He provides an important connection between the continents."
"Right. And he is a greedy b*stard. A while ago he used his connections to the broken council to capture one of his competitors, a woman called Repha, and imprisoned her. He wants to steal her beasts but getting beasts to recognize a new master is incredibly difficult without the old master's help.
Go there and free Repha and her beasts! She will help us reach Taragal's islands."
Seytor took a deep breath, calming himself down while Liam was once again distracted by the party chat.
[Cyclone: I don't get it. Is the Broken Council evil now?]
[Bleary Mirage: Not all of them. But some original nephilim protect people like Taragal hoping to earn the devils' goodwill, doing everything to forge a new contract. Especially those old, undying guys, who actually wielded dark magic in the past, are almost obsessed with the feeling.]
Right then the chat was interrupted as the quest updated. Realizing that they were done here, the party said Seytor goodbye and left alone, trusted to find the way out by themselves.
As they closed the heavy curtain behind them Cyclone stared at Silver Blade's face. Since picking up the lore book the young woman wore a strange expression, intriguing her friend greatly. But receiving so much information in so little time Cyclone didn't get the opportunity to ask.
Now she could finally ask the question burning on her lips:
"Silver, you look so… conflicted? What did you find out?"
Cyclone's words attracted everyone's attention to Silver Blade. Even Liam looked over, curious as to how Silver Blade would judge Black Hand.
"They are certainly… interesting. Black Hand is all about freedom. They detest gods and devils alike considering them shackles for all other beings. And whenever someone's freedom is suppressed, they will try to help them."
"Ok, sounds quite nice, doesn't it?", asked Cyclone with an inquiring tone. She looked at the faces of her friends, waiting for agreement.
"I'm sure the young lady will be following with a but…", said Watchful Eye calmly.
Silver Blade nodded, continuing with a wry smile:
"But... they sometimes aren't clear on whose freedom to protect. It seems to depend on their mood or rather on whoever takes the lead.
For example, they might free slaves one day but then rescue the imprisoned slave trader the next day. It's so... hypocritical."
Suddenly a chuckle reached Silver Blade's ears, prompting her to look towards Liam.
"What?"
"Sorry, nothing. Nothing."
Liam felt his friends' stares, but he chose to ignore them, uncertain about how he should explain himself.
Hearing Silver Blade use the word 'hypocritical' he was reminded of his past life where the Black Hand enjoyed the infamous reputation of being the biggest hypocrites of Crunaboul. Some players loved them, and some hated them but it couldn't be denied that their stories always attracted a lot of attention.
Fortune also realized the potential, making sure to capture every sentence, even borrowing the lore book from Silver Blade.
On their way out the friends continued discussing, coming up with all kinds of hypothetical scenarios and surmising how the Black Hand would handle them.
Once the party was back on the street, the city had changed in their eyes. Finally, they understood why it appeared so chaotic. Lenaon City obviously followed similar convictions as the Black Hand, putting freedom above all else.
Only after realizing this did the party notice the complete absence of any religious symbols in the city, something extremely rare in the world of Crunaboul.