"Look your going to have to give us answers, do you understand, you and the thing in you, I'm willing to wait until your done to talk about this, but talk we must. Carry on with your 'interrogation' but if we find the thing in you is trying to communicate to them or take you over, we must and will have to step in for your own safety. Jazzai, Do you understand. For your own safety."
"She doesn't have to do anything." Kane says, finally speaking up. "You, of all people, should appreciate that."
"Her safety is my concern. I was the one who gave my word on that, not you. If I feel she is in danger, or is a danger to herself or others, I will act on that. Until then, her privacy is as important to me to protect as any other part of her."
"Her behavior has never indicated to me that her intent or actions are malicious. That is all I need to know."
"If she wants to share her story at some point, she will. Until then, I'm going to have to insist that her wishes be respected."
He's words came like cold rock. You don;t get to stay alive on the streets with out being suspicious. Now this man of rock was also being evasive. What dis she now of them, they had just shown up,
In a business like voice, with out anger or malaise she states.
"Is your memory so sort Kane, I was 'TOLD' to tell what I knew of the black spike, 'told' mind you. Yet there is no Quid pro Quo here. I hear only confiscation, from you and her. What would you have thought if I had said no. You would have mistrusted me. It is not I who is lacking trust here Kane but the pear of you. It is obvious to me know that the pear of you know a lot more about this than you are letting on. I showed you both trust and you gave none back. You two have said little or nothing about who you are, how you got here and what you know about this blackness. So I will make it simple, when your ready to talk frankly you call me down. I frankly at this point do not trust you both. You protect an infected one and she will not talk about what she is. From this point on you will have to earn my trust. I will say nothing more until I hear what you know, and on more confiscation"
With one beat of her wings she flaps up into the high branches of the great tree, out of site. to the only one she dos trust here, The Dryad.
Kane didn't say anything further. He let the little dragon leave, and waited for Jazzai to finish talking to the prisoners. Hopefully this would help her learn something about her nature.
"Sir Kane, Miss Sphene, wait, please..." Adrien calls out meekly, but goes unheard amidst the argument.
She's so aggressive about it, but it's true that we could all stand to be more honest about ourselves to one another, if we're going to travel together...
Adrien looks at his companions hesitantly, but doesn't quite dare take action.
"C-can't we all try to put our differences aside?"
Old Deadeye... please grant me the courage to help my fellows see reason.
Nevermind him, Peacock, you've got all the power you need to make them listen. Hehehehe! You stood up to those gnolls, didn't you? a voice whispers from within Adrien's heart, but he represses it as best as he can. N-no! I'm not giving in! Not like this...
"It isn't about differences, Peacock." Kane said quietly, sounding a little sad. "It is about respect."
"When the issue of the spike came up, no one demanded information from Sephene. In fact, if you recall, Sephene took matters into her own hands, and even went so far as to borrow, and consume, a great deal of money with very little explanation as to why."
"I let her because I was willing to trust that she had some idea of what was going on, and would be willing to explain things once the crisis was over."
"I could have demanded that Sephene explain the situation first. If she had been struggling to explain, or unwilling to share personal information, I could have berated her and made her feel small."
"I did not, because I respect Sephene's privacy, and trusted that she had our best interests at heart."
"I trusted her enough to give her the entirety of the money I was provided by my family for this venture, and even trusted her with our own welfare, given that we had no idea what the spikes were, or even if the Dryad were friend or foe at the time. We could have been releasing a corrupted, evil fae upon the world for all we knew, but we trusted that Sephine understood more than we did."
"Now, when the situation has been reversed, Sephene has proven that she is not willing to extend the same courtesy to others."
"I hope she will learn patience and respect, but it is not my job to chase her down and attempt to educate her."
"If she chooses to go her own way, we will respect that choice as well."
Peacock listens attentively as Sir Kane speaks, nodding in understanding from time to time.
"That... makes a lot of sense. I hadn't thought of it that way. You're very wise, Sir Kane. This all reminds me that there are some things about myself I should share with the two of you as well as Sphene, once she returns. I was worried that my issues would drive the three away like others before, but I've had a troubling dream just now that's making me rethink that..."
Peacock's attention turns to the bound creature and the strange bottled monstrosities.
"I don't know what we should do about this situation, though..."
"That's alright. We don't need to understand. Jazzai is connected to this somehow. She knows what questions need asked, and she will tell us what the answers mean when she is ready."
Sheen stops at peacocks call. She had a duty to protect him, he was you and ..
Then Kane spoke,
she stopped in her flight, landing a stone. She thought for a moment
"Peacock don't worry I am not leaving you, I just needed to make them understand they need to be forth coming. This is not only about respect it's about being open with each other. I have hidden nothing, held nothing back, yet Kane and Jazzai are, now matter what they hid that behind, they are. Now we face a great danger, yet they put pride before logic, there needs before the needs of others in that matter of sharing what we know. "
"Kane, your right you did indeed offer up gold your to fight the darkness the darkness when I asked, gold I used it to fight and banish the spike, 30 coins in fact Kane, 30 coins I will pay back, I pay my debts. But do you know agree what was done was worth 30 gold. Now you say you and you alone will reside other things, you and you alone, wile you have yet to share as I have. Both of you holding back and hiding, I see no respect in that action. Here and now is where we define trust, you share with us now, if not then you both, you and Jazzai have things your hiding. Just what kind of knight are you, that worrys about gold and keeps secretes from those they seek to make friends, you are seeking use as friends! we are trying to fight the same thing yes."
"Clearly I am not concerned about the money. It was well spent. I brought it up to illustrate a point, nothing more."
"When and if any kind of disclosure happens, it will be her choice. No amount of badgering will change that."
"Trust is never something that is demanded, nor does trust itself demand that privacy be abandoned."
"It is not about hiding or holding back. We can protect you and stand beside each other in battle without needing to know each other's life story. If something in someone's past becomes a danger in the present, even then we are not beholden to give answers."
"Since you agreed to travel with us, you have treated this entire endeavor as if it were your own personal campaign, and us as though we were lackeys to be ordered about."
"I understand that dragons are prone to a sense of superiority, so until now i have dismissed it as a proclivity of your new form that you have not yet worked out."
"Now, though, it has become a point of contention."
"We are our own masters, each of us. We are not to be commanded. Our lives are not a treasure trove for you to pry into."
"What is offered is freely given. Anything else must be asked for."
"Politely."
"That seems a little excessive, Sphene" Adrien replies. "Until the time comes where their silence puts us in danger, I don't see why should have to spill all their secrets to you, when we've all only been traveling together for a few days. Just because you're ready to share everything about your plight doesn't mean they have to. I've not shared everything about myself either; does that mean you can't trust me too? Why is it different for them? There's more to trust than just knowledge."
Peacock stands up as his own reply flares up, wings buzzing.
"Trust is believing that someone is good and willing to help you even in the absence of proof. Sir Kane and Miss Jazzai have been helping us ever since they met us, and they've never shown a trace of bad will. I don't need to know their life stories to trust them; I'm not sure what to make on the fact that you apparently can't trust someone so long as they're hiding anything."
Then, realising that he's fluttering a foot off the ground, Adrien lands and stands down, sitting again.
"... I'm sorry for snapping like that... It's hard dealing with all these new feelings, and I didn't mean to be so... assertive, but it just came up."
"Grr! You were doing so well! Don't wimp out like that!" Adrien feels the darker Peacock from his dream snarl.
Kane has started talking she had risen in temper more chartering, getting of the way of knowing thing. Why could these three not realize she was right, they should do as she said, did they not know who she was right, could they not see!! cold anger that now she had made up her mind to fight this evil my must do as she says.
Then Kane said something that it hit her like a hammer in the forehead.
"Dragons are prone to a sense of superiority"
The words shocked her to her very core, truth was spoken,
it held her the rest of the talking passed her by, she heard none of it in her shock.
Truth, she was not normally like this, no so, so demanding not so driven by, by pride. A seance of superiority. She had not right to feel superior to any one, she was a waif, a kid from the streets, poor and alone. She had done nothing other than do what as needed. From the moment she had waken from the egg she had been like she was, she felt it now, a deep feeling of superiority, this was not her, this was from another, from her form. she has not only lost her body she had lost part of herself, the dragon had taken that. She had not moved the others had stopped talking.
Peacock had said something, even he was looking at her.
"You speak truth Kane, there is a pride in me that was not with me before, I think this body has done more than I released to me."
She says this with out anger or upset, being honest with herself.
The feeling was still there in her, Pride and superiority but she could see feel it now, see it for what is was, The soul of a dragon, her soul now.
A voice, whispered only to her said as caressing breath.
"You learning again Sphene, a mother would be proud"
"I would not be surprised if it hadn't. We are all in a state of adjustment. I'm sure there are many facets to our transformations that we do not yet understand."
Jazzai would wait quietly not entering the conversation as she waited for the answers from "Hender"
As Kane started talking, her temper had risen more chartering, getting in the way of knowing things. Why could these three not realize she was right, why did they not just do as she said, why did they not know, could they not see!! Cold anger, that now she had made up her mind to fight this evil, they were just being...
Then Kane said something that it hit her like a hammer in the forehead.
"Dragons are prone to a sense of superiority"
The words shocked her, to her very core, truth was spoken,
it held her, that one thought.
The rest of the talking passed her by, she heard none of it in her shock.
Truth what he had said was true and she knew it, she was not normally like this, no so, so demanding, not so driven by, by pride. A séance of superiority he had said. She had not rite to feel superior to anyone, she was a waif, a kid from the streets, poor and alone. She had done nothing other than do what as needed. But from the moment she had waken from the egg she had been like she this, she felt it now, a deep feeling of superiority, this was not her, this was from another, from her new form. She has not only lost her body she had lost part of herself, the dragon had taken that. That thought held her
She had not moved, the others had stopped talking.
Peacock had said something; even he was looking at her new.
"You speak truth Kane, there is a pride in me that was not with me before, I think this body has done more than I released to me."
She says this without anger or upset, being honest with herself.
The feeling was still there in her, Pride and superiority but she could feel it now, see it for what is was, The soul of a dragon, her new soul now.
A voice, whispered only to her, it said as a caressing breath.
"You learning again Sphene, a mother would be proud"
Sphene said nothing, she sat upright on the rock her head looking off into the distance sky. She was lost in her own thoughts. Her Dragons face inscrutable, her body still. What ever she was thinking it held her still and silent.
Turning back to Hender. "Now I asked what does a collector do? What do the tether's do and what does the spike that was in the Dryad." It blew her mind that she was the one being interrogated and all this information was being just given to the prisoners. It also grated on her Sphene's assumptions. Just like the villagers in some respects.Reaching up she would touch the creatures eyes and rests her fingers gently on his eye lids. Jazzai doubted she would understand the blinks, but then again you never know. She knew her story could put them in danger and had to decide anyways what she could tell and still protect them and the other that tried to protect her.
Heedless of the discussion taking place several paces away, the thing that was Hender again grows agitated, as it seems to answer questions by one who should already know the answers. Feed. Grow. Collect. ... Tethers are... not known to us. Dryad required... other means to collect.
Jazzai cannot feel anything from the eyes, or get a sense of its odd form of communication described by the others.
Jazzai pulled her fingers away running them down his chest and to the spot she felt the organ may be to see if she felt anything there. "Does extraction from the host kill you? Does it kill the host? If the host is killed are you killed or do you live separately from the host? Remember I am defective as you say. I must learn these things from you."
Her voice is low and steady.
You get nothing but a loaded silence. Those with vision can see the blank look on the creature, which seems to have no idea, nor would such concepts ever have entered its consciousness.
The silence told her volumes. Also, didn't help their situation any but if it was a parasite, maybe magics that could remove diseases and the like could work on it. Magics as far as she knew they did not have.
"Why do you do what the Masters say? Did they create you?" Jazzai looked to Sir Kane. "Is there anything you wish to ask? I have found some answers."
"Where do they come from and how many of them are there?" Kane says simply.
The creature turns its glowing eyes upon the shrouded paladin and it leans forward, straining again against the ropes.
Again the rope holds, but it's efforts are much stronger. The ropes creak under the stress.
Jazzai would look towards the sound of him straining. "I am not one who can judge people but I do believe he wants the harm you both." There was a soft sadness to her voice as she knew what was most likely to come. "Sir Kane, the rope is creaking from the strain he is putting against them. He will escape soon."
Sphene then seems to take note, what ever she was thinking put away for now.
"Jazzai..."
Stops for an instant than carries on with a less demanding even respectful and polite voice.
"Jazzai, please if you have the time, could you ask it quickly about the box, did the ones who gave them the boxe have more, and how many?"
She flys down to land next to the box, but looks that the thing tied up with the predatory stair of a dragon.
Nodding she turns putting herself between the one tied up and her companions.
"Where do you come from and how many do you number? Also, who gave you the box? It was the Master's wasn't it? How many of you do they command?"
Her voice was calm almost sing song as she looked at Hender with her blind eyes.
"Sir Kane, the rope is creaking from the strain he is putting against them. He will escape soon."
"He'll regret it if he does." Kane says blandly.
The one with the wolflike muzzle looks at Sphene with a similar predatory stare, though its eyes lack anything resembling a conscience. It turns its head slowly back to Jazzai as she asks her questions, and the pressure on the ropes relents slightly.
The metal rooms. ...Correct... This one does not know...
Its head starts to move rapidly, turning to Kane, Sphene and Peacock in rapid succession. The one with the antlers also stirs, despite the wounds it still bears. You should... feast. These have ... potential. The way it said potential was the way someone would discuss the way an elaborately prepared dish would taste, right before eating.
The agitation the muzzled Collector showed increases as it again pushes against the ropes. Its fangs elongate as it longingly snaps at Sphene and Kane.
When the creature struggles again, Peacock is nowhere to be found, having camouflaged himself out of fear.
Sphene eyes do not leave it, but with one clawed for hand she slowly closes the box on the two evil brains in Jars.
The small Dragons predatory stir dos not waver for an instant.
"I can think of nothing more to ask"
She says slowly
"Once every one is done with them, may I ask respectfully that we express our views on what we do next, so that we must all agree on and be equity responsible for it. My view is that Sir Kane pass Judgment on them. I do not see how I myself can help the body's and minds used by the dark things. I feel we can't let them go to do more harm, and the idea of experimenting on them is not one I like to think about. But we keep the box and the two in it, this may be of great use. I just wanted to let you know my thinking on this"
Again her eyes level leave the two subjects.
"I appreciate your intent, Sephene. However, I feel it is important to inform you of an aspect of my code that is rather inflexible."
"Should I be forced to pass judgement on a creature, that decision must be my responsibility, and mine alone."
"I cannot let you bear the burden should my judgement turn out to be faulty, either by pronouncing the innocent guilty, or the guilty innocent."
"In addition, should I decide that death is the necessary judgement, I cannot allow you to share in that responsibility either. Any who wish to may freely plead on behalf of the condemned. In the most fortunate of situations, I may learn something that stays my hand. However, in the event an execution is necessary, that decision will not be reached, or halted, by consensus."
"I wish it were another way, but I cannot share with others the burden of my responsibility in this regard."
"I think you are right though. These creatures seem corrupted beyond hope of redemption."
What ever Sphene is thinking she keeps to herself as Sir Kane tells her of his knights code.
Still unmoved in her whatching say says simply.
"I understand Sir Kane."
"Thank you."
Looking at the creature quietly before speaking up. "Did the masters create you?" She seemed undisturbed by how he spoke about her comrades.
Again the creature shows confusion. Masters... control. It seems to be unfamiliar with the concept of being created.
The collector's earlier talk of feasting may have not impressed Jazzai, but it does remind everyone else that they are without food. The poor rations scavenged from the gnolls were used up, along with the foraged food found the day before. Hunger begins gnawing at you as the morning progresses.
"I'm going to see if I can find anything to eat," Peacock says, taking flight unless one of his companions objects.
Looking from on high, Peacock looks around, hoping to spot a fruit-bearing tree or perhaps hunt down a bird or two.
However, still frightened by last night's dream and lost in confusion about the strange beings he and his companions fought last night, he returns empty-handed.
Seeing Peacock come back empty handed Sphene says.
"Let me go with you Peacock wile Jazzia and Kane talk to the two here.
I may help you flush some out to your bow.
If you have problems Kane just call, we will not for far."
She flys up into the air, to see what she can kind for him to shoot.
As the valley flows south and west, the waters slow and spread to a boggy marsh. Sphene spies a pleasant-looking pool surrounded by reeds that has a number of turtles, large bullfrogs and waterfowl. Remembering her lessons from old Meg, Sphene also identifies a number of marsh plants that are edible. Between the two of them, the young dragon and the fey return with a small bounty, enough for the morning and beyond.
During their brief foray, Peacock managed to spot an overgrown stone structure atop a small patch of dry land within the swamp.
"Sphene! Look over there, seems there's another stone structure. We'd better go take a look with the others, later."
Sphene was putting her finds in one place. She looks up as Peacock tells her about his find.
This place had reminded her of her childhood and the wetlands she had grown up in.
"There could be more tethers, let's go have a look, if we find something we can go get the others. Peacock would you like to mark yourself unseen wile we go have a look Peacock."
she flys close then carefully moves close to investigate.
Jazzai would turn to Sir Kane after the others had left. "We must decide what to do with them. I understand that your code demands many things." She turned back to them. "But I am torn. I have never had another's life in my hand but I cannot ease the feeling in my gut. If we let them free then it will not bode well. I do not think we have the magics to safely remove them."
Her hand reached out to Sir Kane. "I know what your code demands. I know how choices weigh on people and you carry them always. What happens to them will not lie solely with you. I cannot think of a way that this ends well."
"Nothing ever ends well. That notion is a creation of bards and priests." Kane says rising to his feet and holding his curved polearm low.
"Everything simply ends, eventually. It is neither well nor ill."
"Everything, if followed long enough, ends in death." He moves toward the prisoners calmly, taking position to the side of them.
"It is not for the ending that my duty is upheld. It is for everything that happens before that. The wellness of something lies in life. That is why my duty is so important. My task is to separate those that deserve life from those that do not."
"With these two, the decision is clear."
The blade comes down.
"Wait, I'll go take a look first, in case something dangerous lurks there. We'll be less visible if only one of us goes."
Camouflaging himself, Peacock quietly glides over to the structure, attempting to get a better look without being seen.
Nods then Stops and looks on as Peacock moves ahead unseen.
Kane raises his blade and the creature makes a huge effort to break its bonds. The ropes groan under the strain, and it looks like perhaps if it had just a few more seconds that it could break free, but Kane gives him no more. That one is ended. The other tries similarly, but its wounds were so grievous that the strain causes it to lapse into unconsciousness. It, too, is ended.
Peacock sees nothing stir around the half-tumbled ruin of a small circular tower. Only about two-thirds of the structure stands, with a gaping hole and collapsed ceiling. Vines lash the remaining sections of wall, giving it the appearance that the swamp itself is trying to drag the rest of it to the ground.
Kane gives the creatures their last rights and begins the process of interring them.
"Jazzai, I apologize for the conversation earlier. I did not mean to exacerbate Sephine's volatility. I understand facing and questioning these creatures must have been difficult for you."
Keeps still and alert, waiting,she has again the look of a predictor on her Draconic features.
Peacock returns to Sphene, looking intrigued.
"Looks like some old ruins. I can't tell what's inside, but it doesn't look like there's anything lurking outside. We should let the others know. We might find something useful inside."
Sphene nods
"yes Peacock, we should, they need to eat as well, lets get whar we found to them"
She takes what she can in her mouth and waits for Peacock before flying back.
[occ]If nothing stops them[/ooc]
She lands and drops the food they found next to Jazzai, as Kane works.
"We found food an old building, Peacock knows more"
She looks over to the young fay to tell them what she found.
When it becomes clear that the two beings have been slain, Adrien stops and utters a prayer to Erastil.
"We found some ruins, further into the swamp. It's definitely abandoned, though I don't know if anything might be lurking inside."
Before the party departs for the ruins, however, once the strange beings have been dealt with, he speaks up.
"Wait, before we depart, there's something I'd like to discuss with the three of you."
Sphene seemed to be cold and distant about the missing prisoners.
After the others have eaten, and Peacock speaks up, she sits down
"Was you wish Peacock"
She waits for him to start.
She heard him finish the final blow to each. The sound was something she would never forget. The smell filling her nostrils.
There is a place, their stomach." She would kneel touching them moving to their stomachs and would gently feel moving to the realative area where she felt the hunger originate. "Some where here. I would cut them here to make sure all of the creature is dead." She felt blood on her hands and her hands trembled. "That and burning the bodies is the only way I know for sure. What are we going to do with the ones in the jar's?" Her voice was steady though he could detect the tremble in it.
When Kane apologized she smiled and shook her head. "It is okay. She believes she knows suddenly everything about me. Hasn't even figured out she got her facts wrong. It was difficult, but not as difficult as you think. I am use to facing the choices I make and living with them the rest of my life. Unlike her, I did not have the freedom she touts and I know more about sacrifice than she will ever realize. I may be young but I have experienced things no young woman should ever have to go through. I have been protecting people with my silence and when I can gather the right facts that will not endanger anyone here or by revealing information that will endanger others then I will tell you a bit about myself. I know she will go on a tirade on how do I know the information I keep and not tell, will in its own way, put you all in danger. I am protecting more than just us." Kane knew he had Jazzai's trust. She spoke in such a tone that let him know she may be blind, but had definitely experienced things beyond the normal peasant girl she looked like.
They see her cleaning her hands of blood and when she hears the food fall at her feet she sighed and would finish cleaning her hands. Hearing Peacock's words she looked toward him and nods.
"Please, we are all ears." She said gently.