"The latter two. Not because you can fight. And because I know that it would be pointless." He answered, still speaking in the flat tone that he had started talking in when they started talking. He looked down, fidgeting awkwardly with the reins of his horse. He wasn't used to talking about this. "A lot of people needed a Witcher's services. We can't do things for free, and I'd rather not leave them penniless. You probably have a different perspective. To you, it's probably the worst thing. And it isn't brilliant. But I'd rather that, than save them from a monster only for them to die of starvation when they ran out of food. I could offer the Law of Surprise, but I don't want to take a child either. That's how it always turns out in stories right?" He smiled bitterly. "But it happens. I know what hell that child is going to face. I don't want to see his dead eyes when he dies to the Trials, or when Old Speartip in the caves breaks his back." He continued. He finally looked around at her. "Call me what you want. Accuse me of being every terrible thing in the universe. Maybe it's not right, but neither is anything in this world." He turned away and muttered under his breath. "And at least this has the possibility of being pleasant. Spending money never is." "Thank you." She said sweetly, tucking the coin pouch on to her belt and slipping the satchel that he gave her for the pouches over her shoulder. She walked out of the shop with Adolin ahead of her, presumably clearing the way. He was quick on the uptake. Neither of them particularly wanted to explode. At least, not yet. "Let's get back to the room. Then we'll discuss our next move." Adolin looked at her. "You got a damn good price. I would have thought a couple hundred at least..." "We'll talk about this later. Just focus on getting me through the city without blowing up." He nodded, and began dutifully pushing his way through the crowd for Alanna. She smirked. He's such a gentleman when he wants to be.
"I realise you might not be fond of them Titania, and I may be having to deal with traitors, but they are still my people." Corvo reminded, not allowing himself to be swept up into the trap that was the Seelie Queen. If he started agreeing with her on matters concerning the way he dealt with Nephilim in his role of Inquisitor it would be a betrayal. As it stood, this was an alliance of convenience and he had no interest in being pulled down the rabbit hole that was her friendship. "Not all of them are traitors. It just seems that these ones are. I'll deal with the Lightwoods as I see fit. If they surrender peacefully then I'll make the process as painless as possible." But he knew that it wouldn't come to that. People with the nerve to even start a rebellion would never willingly give up when caught. He was going to have to make some power plays in this little game, and Roxanne was going to be the tool he used. He had to get to the Lightwoods first, that much was clear. The Seelie Queens had designs of their own and traitors they may be, he had to protect them. He looked at Roxanne again. "I see... So you've killed an Unlisted Downworlder and you disobeyed orders from your superior. The latter would be forgiveable, except for one thing. Roxanne, this is how you shall serve out your punishment: You'll be serving under me now." Corvo ordered, looking down at her on the table. "You and I are going to make things right. We're going to stop these traitors, we'll bring them in peacefully and all will be well. You will erase your sins, and the Clave will be none the wiser to any of your actions. It'll be our little secret." He smiled at her, a genuine one. He didn't want to have to resort to anything drastic to deal with them unless he had to. Once again, he reminded himself that it was easy to get swept up in vengeance and anger, but at the end of the day they were fellow Shadow Hunters. Hurting them wasn't necessary. He just had to bring them back into line and get them to help the cause. "Unless, you'd rather another way. I'd much prefer it this way. Please." He needed this to work. He needed allies, ones that weren't the Seelie Queen. She was dangerous, and just being in this place was a risk. He took out his Stele and prepared to erase the Rune of Binding. "Work with me and we'll make everything alright again."
Derrick chuckled at her comment about him. "Cruel indeed." He nodded with half a smile on his face. Seemed like they were having a reasonable conversation and nothing was going to go terribly wrong. At least, until she asked that second question. There was no point lying about it. "Yes... I have done so before. There's no point denying that." He didn't say anything after, instead he fell quiet. There was no point in trying to justify himself. Now that he had to answer to someone about those actions, he got a sense of perspective on what it meant. Sometimes, it felt like a better option than bankrupting some of the people he was working for. Not every farmer could afford to pay large amounts for a Witcher's services and he couldn't do anything unpaid, but that didn't make it any better. "I'm not planning on pulling anything like that on you before you start thinking that." He said flatly, the humour obviously gone from his voice. "I don't plan on causing any tension. Besides, I'm basically leading you back to the Kaer. When we're back, if I need to I'll spend a bit of time healing and I'll be on the road again. Knowing what life is like, I doubt we'll meet again afterwards." Never knew you before now anyway. What difference is it going to make? He kept his head fixed straight ahead. He didn't look back. To some extent, he didn't want to look behind him. He wasn't sure that he wanted to face the judgement that she was undoubtedly giving. He had been above all that for so long in his life that he wasn't used to it. It wasn't like Veceslav had ever said anything about it to him. So long as he didn't go around butchering people in cold blood, the Crow seemed happy to let it lie. "Thank you." Alanna smiled warmly at the alchemist. "Is it possible to get some more? If this works out, then we'll need more materials. I'm wiling to pay." "Al-" Adolin began, but she put her finger up to his mouth and he stopped. What was she doing? She's going to set money down on this? Just for me, and my crazy quest? In any case, he was forced to stand by and watch her take a pouch of coin from the satchel she wore at her hip and place it on the counter. "How much will two more be? She asked. She could probably put down the money for it. It might take a lot of the money that she had available but she had some at the house still, which hadn't been touched in the riot.
"Six, five, nine, two. Thank you." The Inquisitor punched in the numbers, opening the phone. He looked into her messages and saw a recent text from Alarick Lightwood. It appeared to be calling for a rendezvous at a certain location. It had an address. He smiled and took out his own phone, putting in the address. He now had a record of it. Corvo erased the Runes of Pain that he had written on to her body, relieving her of the agony that she was feeling. He looked over at the Seelie Queen again. "This seems to have worked out rather well. I've got exactly what I need to track down these traitors." He was about to remove her Rune of Binding, but then he remembered something. "Thank you very much Roxanne. There's a last order of business that I need to discuss with you, now that we have this dreadful business sorted out. Tell me, how did you break the Accords?" The Inquisitor asked her in a polite tone of voice. "What have you done? Remember what I said, since you've worked with me I'll be able to reduce your punishment. I do however, need to know. I assume that won't be a problem after what we've just been through together, will it?" After this, he had to figure out what he was going to do with her. He couldn't exactly leave her to go outside without certain guarantees made, but how much he could trust her was severely in question. He had to ensure that she was not able to get in touch with Brianne, Alarick or any of the traitors. Simply put, she had to disappear. There could be no risk of anything being revealed. Unless of course, he moved quickly. If he could make a fast move, then it was possible that he could pull something off that could swing the game. Now that he thought about it, he did have the contact for Alarick, and he did have the means to deceive him. And some leverage. He eyed the Nephilim on the table. "Well this is perfect." Corvo muttered with his lips contorted into a half-smile.
It became clear to Corvo that this girl was entirely unsuited to being a Shadow Hunter, Nephilim she may be. He wanted to send her back to Alicante where she could be dealt with properly, whether that meant being retrained or simply being confined there. Apparently she wasn't the smartest of the Shadow Hunters, and somehow didn't realise that she broke an Accord. To think that one could simply overlook breaking one of the fundamental rules of their existence... It seemed ridiculous. He smirked at Titania's comment about him. "If I had been, I wouldn't be the same I can assure you of that. It's only my species and my job that allow this sort of work." He replied. "Somehow, I doubt that you would have noticed me in the crowd of Fae that undoubtedly seek your favour." Some might consider his comments pessimistic about himself, but it was simple realism as far as he was concerned. Life was a series of opportunities and it was up to the person living to take them. His opportunities appeared purely through coincidence, and the same series likely would not have been repeated. He didn't bother explaining that out loud, as he was sure that she would understand his meaning perfectly. He returned his attention to Roxanne, nodding understandingly at what she was saying in what could best be described as a show of sympathy. "I understand that this is a painful experience for you, and truthfully I derive no pleasure from this. This is simply a means to an end." He began to draw a second Rune of Pain on her other leg. Considering her reaction to the first, this should be sufficient. "I also understand that this is stressful, but how bad this will be is entirely up to you. You've told me some useful things so far Roxanne. Just give me your phone password and I'll make the pain disappear. If you tell me some extra tidbits, anything I might find useful, I may even let you go."
Corvo sighed and threw his Stele up into the air and caught it with a swift hand. He shook his head at her. "Roxanne, I'm the Inquisitor." He replied simply, allowing that to sink in. "Now, you told me that something was going on, and there's something on your phone. I'm going to give you a little bit of encouragement, and then I'd like you to tell me." He'd start with her leg, and he wouldn't Amplify it. There was no need to resort to that quite yet. After witnessing its effect on Clarity, he wanted to make sure that she was capable of speech. It was always annoying when they refused to talk like this. The Rune of Pain was completed on her left thigh and he folded his arms behind her back, watching how she reacted to the pain that she was going to be experiencing. "Roxanne, I have the power to do that again. I also have an Amplification Rune, and a Cancellation Rune. I can remove a Rune and put it back on Amplify it as many times as I'd like." Corvo explained calmly, looking her in the eye as he spoke. "So I will ask you a second time. What is your passcode, and what is going on with the plot? Even if you don't understand it fully, I'd like you to tell me everything you know." The Inquisitor paced around the room and added something as an aside before she could speak. "And I know you've been a bad girl Roxanne. I know you broke the Accords." He spoke, his voice becoming menacing. "That means that you need to be punished. Of course, if you were to give me the information I'm looking for I can always reduce your punishment. After all, you're aiding the Inquisitor in the course of justice. I think you're a reasonable girl underneath all that brash anger, and I think that we'll come to a good understanding. Won't we Roxanne?" The question was very much rhetorical.
They continued to ride along. He looked back to see if she had caught the alcohol and sure enough, she had and was now attending to the wound. Satisfied that she was going to be fine, the Witcher faced forwards on the road, keeping an eye on what was ahead but not moving too quickly still. He wasn't planning on making her ride hard while attending to her wound. It would be painful, impractical and probably wasteful as he doubted that anyone could keep the bottle from spilling over at a hard gallop. "To be fair, you only know me by my reputation. Oddly enough, people don't know me all that well." Derrick replied. "Don't get me wrong, I like what I like but if there's an obvious boundary, especially when it's someone that I respect, I'm not going to push that. It's not worth the trouble. And to be honest, I don't want to make this ride awkward by making unwanted advances. And somehow, I doubt that even my amazing charms are going to win you over in just this journey." He adopted an obviously joking tone for the last part. "Yes, we are." Alanna replied. There was always warning that the Black Ones were coming, no matter the time. However, she was inclined to believe that perhaps it was. If this alchemist was concerned about it, she felt that it wasn't entirely likely that the possibility of an invasion could become the reality of an invasion. Unfortunately, it was a lie that they were going to help, but he could at least hope. She wasn't going to crush that. "If we're going to beat them, we're going to need new ways of fighting wars. And that's what we're here to discover." The goods were placed on the table, and she examined the options carefully. They didn't have far to travel because they could simply use a portal, however that presented the major issue of the volatile one. "I'll take the more volatile one that doesn't have the risk of exploding mid-portal. We're going to need to use a portal to get back to our lab so, it's probably best not to use that one." Alanna replied. Adolin remained quiet, allowing her to deal with this.
Aston ran into the combat with the others. He had to help them take these Thugs down so that they could get to the deadlier foes behind them. Aston Aston moved up three hexes (3AP) Aston used Arming Sword Strike (5AP) Aston used Consecutive Shortsword Strike (3AP) PLAYERS TURN... Anthea cast Snowflakes on the Burning Blade thug, but he raised his shield and the spell dissipated harmlessly against it! (Blocked) She entered a defensive stance! Roric used an Unarmed Strike on one of the Burning Blade Thugs, landing a punch on the unsuspecting man's face! It dealt two damage! Roric loosed off an arrow at the Burning Blade Pyromancer, but he spotted the Ranger drawing his power and stepped aside! (Dodged) Baldomar used an Unarmed Strike on a Burning Blade Thug! It did 10 damage! Kevin struck the Burning Blade Thug twice with his daggers, finding gaps within the armour and slicing at flesh with deadly precision! It did 20 damage! Good damage! Arthur entered a defensive stance. Badun did nothing. Aston used Arming Sword Strike on Burning Blade Thug while his guard was down from Baldomar's vicious attack, biting into his chest! It did 28 damage! Aston used Consecutive Shortsword Strike, but the Thug saw the second attack coming and threw the shield in front of him to protect himself and the attack glanced off harmlessly! (Blocked) ENEMY TURN... Rightmost Burning Blade Thug raises his mace and strikes at Aston, but he ducks under the blow, dodging it! Leftmost Burning Blade Thug moves towards Roric and Baldomar. He sees the Barbarian helping Aston kill his team mate and swings for him! Baldomar catches the attack on his hammer and blocks it! The final Burning Blade Thug comes around the side of his friend and bashes Aston with his shield to help his friend! Distracted by the first attack, the mission leader fails to see the Thug approaching and is struck by the shield and staggered! Aston takes 3 damage, disrupted for -2 AP. The Burning Blade Crossbowman spots Kevin as he retreats from the attack against his comrade and steps into range. He takes aim and fires! He was unable to get out of the way of the shot and Kevin is struck by the bolt, knocked unconscious. Kevin takes 33 damage and is KO'd. D; The Burning Blade Pyromancer sees Anthea at the back and rushes forwards. He raises the staff and a ball of fire coalesces at the tip then blasts forwards towards her (Pyromancer casts Fireball). She failed to get out of the way, so the fireball hits her and knocks her unconscious. It deals 25 damage! Anthea is KO'd. DDD; (She rolled a 100 for dodge which is impressive, and it was exactly enough damage. Sad times XD) Having taken down two of their opponents and with two more cowering at the back, the mercenaries grow confident that they'll win this... "Anthea, Kevin!" Aston called out, seeing two of his team being picked off. He gritted his teeth and gruntedas he felt a metal shield slam into his chest. He staggered back. "Come on! We have to push through!" There was a fiery glint in the blademaster's eyes. They need help, desperately. Damn you, just die! "I agree. The library is a sound course." Aedan nodded emphatically. Mages obviously stayed in libraries, centres of knowledge and wisdom. If he was going to look for the wise wizard undoubtedly protecting the town, then the library would be where he'd look. Then, Bryce leaned on him and apologised for it. He still hadn't dropped the Citrus God thing, but he figured it was something he simply had to get used to. Rather than objecting, the Druid put his arm around Bryce's waist to offer some extra support. "Of course, you stayed up all night to watch over us. The least I can do is give you some help walking." He smiled kindly at Bryce. He nodded at the question. "I know of them, yes. Some of the Druids in my village use them. Not me, it's never been my thing, but some of the older Druids certainly made use of Runes." Aedan answered. "Although, I couldn't tell you the first thing about what any of those say to be honest with you. Like I said, it's never been my speciality." And as always, there was the strange comment that totally threw him off. That seemed to be a Bryce thing. It came as part of the Bryce package. Whatever that was. "Err, thank you?"
"So broken? What do you mean?" Corvo asked. Apparently, the Queen knew something he didn't and by the sounds of it, it was something that he should have been told but wasn't. He had a feeling that the number of things of that nature was only going to increase over the coming days. He dismissed her comment about breaking him. "More than you realise, Titania. I must confess I wonder the same thing about you. Being Queen for hundreds of years must wear terribly on the soul." "The Rune of Judgement has found her guilty. That means that she needs to be returned to Alicante for proper judgement. For now, I entrust her in your care. But first..." As if on cue, the girl woke up and she didn't waste any time in being offensive and making demands. He crossed his hands over his chest and tutted at her as if she was a naughty child. "Roxanne, that is no way to talk to a fellow Shadow Hunter is it?" He said admonishingly. He flipped out her phone. "We need to have a talk first, then I'll let you go. You see, there are a few questions I need to ask you. First amongst them, what's the passcode for your phone? I'm going to give you the same choice as I did someone else earlier, the easy way or the hard way. Judging by the look on the face and the screams of the person who chose the hard way, it was the single most painful mistake of their existence. As a Shadow Hunter, I can inscribe several Runes on to your body safely, rather than risking it with Downworlders. What this means, Roxanne, is that I can make you wish you were dead. That you had never been born." "Second question, what do you know about the plot against the Clave? Don't bother lying to me girl, I'll know if you do." Corvo flipped out his Stele and began to spin it around his fingers, his cold eyes watching her on the table.
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Even after everything, she would so readily give herself up to Aidan Samarost. She was so dedicated. His grandfather truly was a fool. He may have loved Rosanne, but Calxiyn was a tool that he could have used well. Now, assuming Carissa could win he would have access to that tool as well. He wasn't sure whether he believed her when she said that she couldn't harm any of his descendants. There had to be something deeper than that. He didn't trust the unconditional loyalty she appeared to show in the slightest. He knew that he'd make the same overtures in her position, regardless of the truth of it. Then she went on to explain the mechanics of her soul, body and other things. It was good to know, and already his brain was comprehending ways to break down that system and destroy it. He concluded that it was well within the possibilities of the fully completed AVENGER. That suited him perfectly. He matched her smug smile with a smirk of his own. "I have nothing to worry about. I've got plenty to learn from you about these weapons apparently. They could help me win my war." He spoke in perfect coolness. "I think there' plenty for me to gain and I trust Carissa. I know what she is capable of. Did you know that she killed Jayce's sister? The leader of the Demi-Gods' sister. And the rest. Believe me, she is more than capable of winning this battle against you. You might have functional immortality and all that, but that robs you. You can't beat Carissa. Do you know why, Calxiyn?" He set his hands on the table, clasped together as per usual and explained it to her as plainly as he could. "Humanity is strong because we struggle against the abyss. We are keenly aware of our mortality, the frailty of our being and so we struggle. She is the very incarnation of the struggle to survive, a killer impulse given form that exists to destroy everything and anything that would threaten that survival. Your much vaunted immortality robs you of that." He explained. "You have powerful weapons and magic, but she has the tools of her trade and she has the will to survive. She has the knowledge that any mistake could be her death. She knows her life balances on a knife edge, and a single misstep will make her fall. What is death to you, Calxiyn the Remnant?" He grinned and shook his head, seemingly amused. "You don't stand the ghost of a chance." Kalak saw Teliana under heavy attack, and he recognised that lance attack. There was only one person from whom it could have originated. That lancer from the Tower. He was here? What luck. But then he spotted something else. A woman, and she was seemingly absorbing the life from soldiers through her touch, and there was a robot with her. Curious. Kalak approached, Duskfall in both hands and swung at Kala, deigning her as the greater threat for now. Carissa saw Teliana rushing towards them and drew up her Crossbow again. She probably didn't have to give Reitan any instructions, he'd know that he ought to keep in front of her as he was the melee fighter of the two of them. She didn't want to use any of her special bolts yet, so she instead fired off a pair of standard bolts towards the woman who seemed to be using her blood as a weapon.
Derrick opened one of his saddlebags and rummaged through it as the horse trotted along the dirt road. He knew the shape of the bottles that he needed and after rifling through one of the many sacks, he came across the strong alchemic spirit that he used when creating potions. He picked it out and shook the bottle. It sounded like there was liquid in there. He took the top off and checked. Definitely. He turned and threw it to Treasa. "Catch!" Derrick continued to ride on. "I wasn't going to ask you for that kind of favour Treasa. I know where we stand. You give me too little credit." He put on a mock wounded tone of voice for the last sentence. "Besides, if I find myself desperate enough to ask you even though I know how it'll end, I'll just stop off at the Passiflora or something." He said with a casual hand wave, dismissing the issue. "Not quite. We're looking for something... A little more rare. And specialised. Besides, we know you're an alchemist, so there's no need to act like an apothecary." Alanna stated, looking at the old man. She nudged Adolin as if to tell him to explain what they were looking for. "We're looking for explosive compounds. Stuff out of Zerrikania." She nodded in affirmation. She was somewhat surprised that he actually knew where to find some of this. That said, from what she could tell poisons were the speciality of the Viper School and there was a reasonable amount of Alchemical knowledge in the school as a result. He must have disseminated the information from the memories of Carrak. They did need a lie though. Right now, it sounded very suspicious. "We're working on designing experimental weapons for King Archon's army by using these compounds as a compact explosive device." Throwing around the King's name was probably the best way to do it. She had also seen the coin that Kyle gave to poor Evander. That looked like an admission. If the man inquired further, then she had the next part lined right up.
Jaden laughed. "Does he now? Well, good luck to him. Carissa is known for having an icy heart. He will find it difficult to make headway." He commented. "Many have tried, all have failed. I don't believe that she is interested in such things as romance. Nevertheless, try. One might succeed eventually." He listened to what she was saying. Apparently this was not in fact about wanting Aidan back. He hit a nerve it seemed. Good. Her offer was risky. She was apparently fervent about this plan, but why she insisted on Aidan entering his mind was something quite beyond him. She finally got to the bottom of what she came here for, gaining power. He was not surprised. She seemed to believe that she had a right to their power, but she was mistaken. "How can you possibly believe you have any right to power? Your birthright lies solely in your city. You do not take our last name. Some of our blood you may share but you are not one of us Calxiyn." Jaden reminded. "You have not been through the trials of our family and you have not been brought up as our family. Our souls are fundamentally different. You are an aberration, the product of functional immortality. Why would I ever deign to hand over power to you?" There was more. "Your servitude? So you can assassinate me when I let my guard down? So you can keep close, and eventually try to win me over? To keep yourself in close proximity so it appears that you are more than you really are to the people? You know full well that I will not simply kill you - You could have far more uses. Ultimately, you benefit far more from these terms than I. If you want this deal so much, then let us add a condition." He gave her a wolfish smile. "If you have birthright to my kingdom, then I have a right to yours. If my cousin wins, then your kingdom belongs to me. Not just through you as a puppet governor, as the true ruler. I will be your emperor, and all my family to come. And to have Aidan would be to lose myself, to destroy my own pride. Your pride for my pride, my nation for yours. If you will agree to those conditions, then I can see this deal being worthwhile. Just remember that no matter what happens here Calxiyn, this deal is made out of my own grace. I have no real reason to accept it." He had to ensure that if this battle went on, that Carissa had the best possible chance of winning. He'd commission advanced, state of the art equipment that would allow her to defeat Calxiyn for sure. What she had right now would be good enough, but he was not content with good enough. He wanted certain. Some might accuse him of not playing fairly, but Jaden Samarost did not play fairly. He played to win. For the sake of his pride, for Carissa's pride, for the Samarost family's pride, he was going to make sure that they won this battle. That country and its power would be his, she would be his servant forever. If he could win, he would find a way to turn Project AVENGER against her and rid himself of that functionally immortal witch who should have gone to her grave one hundred and fifty years ago.
Her hands clawed at his arms to no avail. He was no stranger to kidnapping people like this. He saw her going for a knife and wrenched his arms, depriving her of oxygen faster. Luckily, she passed out there and then. Her body slumped on the bench and he vaulted the seat so he faced her. Immediately, he took the knife from the ground and the strap that she kept it on and rolled up one of his sleeves. He tied it to his left arm. He now had a concealed melee weapon if he needed it. He drew his Stele and drew the Rune of Binding into her skin, locking her up so that she wouldn't escape. He also did a quick search of her, finding her phone and pocketing it. He picked Roxanne up and slung her over his shoulder and began to walk out of the park. As if by magic, the same five Seelie Knights appeared. He wasn't surprised in the slightest. "You have done as the Queen asked, and in good time. Impressive, Inquisitor. Now come. Our lady awaits." The Shadow Hunter needed no further encouragement. It was back along the path to the Queen again, but this time it was with a sense of triumph. He was going to make himself an ally in the Seelie Queen. He knew it was a dangerous game that he played now, as the Fae were notoriously deceptive and he was dicing with the most dangerous of them all. He reminded himself that though the alliance could be beneficial, she was going to have plans and a lot of the power in the situation unfortunately rested on her. He was playing a dangerous game. The Inquisitor could not afford to be lost from the Clave, led astray by the Seelie Queen. The plot against the Clave was bad, but this was infinitely more dangerous than traitors. There was a reason that it was advised not to make dealings with the Seelie Queen. He was admitted once again to see her and he placed the body of Roxanne on a nearby clear surface, flipping out his Stele. "One moment, there is something that I need to do with her quickly." Corvo drew another Rune, the Rune of Judgement upon her skin. And as he expected, he felt it. The damning word. Guilty. He smiled grimly. "I see. She has broken the Accords. Truly, she is a criminal worthy of punishment. Oh Roxanne, how did a Shadow Hunter become so misguided?" He looked at Titania. "I need to speak to her. I believe that she will have information pertaining to these rebels. I need to interrogate her, and search her phone." The Inquisitor showed her the phone. "I suppose I should ask, what will you do with her?"
Jaden narrowed his eyes at Calxiyn's comments. His patience was wearing thin with her, and now she made grand accusations of cowardice. She had nerve. He would hand that to her. "Aidan fought with him too, don't you remember? What you say proves nothing. And Xan has disappeared from this world. His son fights for him now. I'd say that's an admission of defeat." He pointed out. "So what if you read? So what if you claim to be smarter? Do you think that matters to me? Your books give you theory but your ability to practice your knowledge can be questioned. I am a general, a strategist. You are not." She was proving herself most ignorant. "For someone who claims intelligence, you're rather foolish. The fact is this, girl, there are those who lead from the front. Aidan was one such person. I am not my grandfather. I fulfil my role in other ways. I plan and I allow others to claim glory. My place is not the battlefield." Jaden replied, refusing to be baited by her. "Do you think that my soldiers don't know that I don't take to the field? Of course they do. They rely on me for other reasons. They know that I fight the war my own way. I don't need to prove myself to someone who comes into my office and taunts me. I know that you fought beside my grandfather, and I know that you have magic. I do not have magic, and my grandfather was raised to be a soldier. Do you wish to fight a Samarost? I recommend my cousin Carissa. She is a born fighter, and I'm sure that she'll give you a run for your money. I have not received the same training. You likely already know this, and that's why you set your victory conditions to bringing Aidan into my head." He showed no fear in his response. The battlefield did not scare him, but it was not his place. He had to do what he did best, where he would make the most difference. Fighting alongside the rank and file was not that. Instead, he was best suited to leading from behind, constructing the plans and allowing his troops to see it done. "Accept it Calxiyn, Aidan is dead. I am not him, and I will not be him. Apparently that is all you care about." His eyes intensified. "Perhaps you consider Aidan a better man than I. So do the rest of the Shards of Hope. You won't surprise them. I have nothing to prove on the field of battle."
"Your mind goes straight to lying and deception, should I be surprised?" She smiled. "But I am a warrior of light. I never mentioned such a thing." She put her hands down on the table. "I'm not speaking about a fairy tale like lie. No. It's a truth. How do you think I did this to myself? It wasn't random, Jaden." She continued. "I knew exactly what I was doing when I did this. Effective immorality." She didn't smile but her eyes were dazzling with light. "And I could give that same power to you..." Her voice trailed off. "But I guess if my services aren't required also take my business elsewhere." She shrugged. "A Queen has to make a living too." Jaden listened to her seriously, tapping his fingers on his desk as he waited for her to finish. She made interesting points, and most people would take that in a heartbeat. Jaden Samarost was not most people. Jaden Samarost was a proud man, one who had firm belief in his own abilities. If she could grant this power then she was simply too dangerous to let leave. "My answer is no, Calxiyn." He replied with a tone of finality. "Your offer is interesting, but I have to refuse. Like I told you, I have no need of Aidan Samarost. His legacy is enough for my purposes, but I don't want his spirit. Why would I want it? He is a legend, and he is dead. Let him stay in the memories of immortals and the history books. I don't need another man in my head, one with his own regrets. No, I reject Aidan Samarost. Besides, if he was to enter my head then you'd be able to bewitch him again. I won't cast aside everything I have worked for." Jaden frowned at her. "He is a broken man, fuelled by revenge. He failed to win the war, and it's time for a new mind to take his place. And immortality? Please, I don't need functional immortality from you. I'll earn it by the force of my genius and live forever in history." He looked Calxiyn in the eyes and smirked. "Your functional immortality makes you arrogant. Believe me, it will not protect you if battle comes to you. So far, all you have done is sacrificed generations of individuals for your own self-gain. You do not change, you do not learn. You stagnate. You are archaic, Calxiyn. Your ignorance of the wider world betrays your nature. You do not even know the world you live in, and the Hammers shall not help you find it. Why would you choose the losing side anyway?" He wasn't convinced by her at all. He didn't need the help of a woman out of her own time who was too afraid to accept her own death. He would not flee from his own mortality. His mortality gave him power, more than any foolish immortal or pseudo-immortal could understand. The will to achieve, to struggle for your very existence. He would prove that he was better than all of them. The soldiers saw Teliana presenting herself as a target. They brought up their rifles and opened fire on the woman who presented herself as an obvious target. Kalak saw the the soldiers opening fire on Teliana and took his moment. He leapt up on to one of the transport and then down, bisecting one of the soldiers with Duskfall as he jumped down. He rushed forwards and cut his way through the soldiers firing at his comrade. "Got them." The Demi-God said gruffly. He moved on, heading for the next group of troops. Carissa opened fire on the soldiers that approached, loosing crossbow bolt after crossbow bolt. There had to be more significant targets here, somewhere. It was just a matter of finding them. Peering around the corner of her transport, she saw a pair dealing with a small unit of troops. They didn't look like the rank and file. They must be the leading individuals here. The tall, white coated one she recognised as the Demi-God Kalak Vasher disappeared out of her line of sight, but the woman remained in range. She raised her crossbow and fired a bolt at her.
When Corvo reached the park, he saw his prey still sitting there. How they were so foolish as to go on alone was beyond him. He readied his pistol and raised it. He took aim and considered his shot. He could eliminate her now, but that would be a problem for later. If she was dead, she couldn't give him any information. Corpses did not speak, after all. That, and she could be of use to the Queen. As grim an idea as it was, handing her over to the Fae might be a better way of dealing with her. That way the two of them could make use of Roxanne for information. It was not likely that she'd be totally ignorant of what was going on in the plot. Surely Brianne would have tried to help her fellow Shadow Hunter, even if she did not know her location. He holstered the pistol and decided to cross the park instead. There was fairly low light, and he kept to the shadowy patches that weren't lit by street lights. He circled behind Roxanne, expecting that she'd be distracted by her food. He stepped on the grass, masking his footsteps. He got in arms' reach of her, and then struck. The Inquisitor clamped his arms around her neck, choking the breath from her. He made sure to watch out. After the Clarity incident, he wasn't going to risk getting caught out. "Don't do anything Roxanne. I am a Shadow Hunter, and we'll talk soon." He spoke. It was good that nobody was really around, otherwise it could have been hard to explain why he was choking a young woman in public. It was all for a good cause though. It pained him to have to resort to such measures with fellow Shadow Hunters, but whatever furthered the cause. It was worth it. Perhaps he'd be able to negotiate a way out for her with the Seelie Queen once their objectives were complete. First however, he needed to use the Rune of Judgement on her to check her loyalty. If she had gone against the Accords, then she deserved no mercy.
Aedan took the opportunity to rest most gladly. The reason being the encounter with the Drake was far more stressful than he had initially thought. It was something far different to anything he had ever spoken. He could feel its hunger, unrelenting. He probably put on a brave show, but now that he was alone to think he realised how scared he really was. His thoughts turned to something else. He hadn't spoken, for fear of sparking an unnecessary conflict with the stone armed man. That too, was something he had never seen before. He was a hateful man, from what he saw of him. The other one was nicer, and seemed more calm. The stone armed man seemed to be very angry, and foolish. His words against the Gods were made presumably in ignorance and a lack of understanding. His training in his village taught him about the importance of the Gods and what they could do, and it was significantly more than he seemed to realise. However, it was not his place to educate him about that. He sincerely hoped that Ulrich, for that was his name, learned his error soon before the Gods abandoned him. He fell asleep somewhere in that time of thought. Eventually, he awoke. They were making their choices of what they were going to move. "The Drakes warned me about him, so I should go to deal with the Winter Man. Besides, I know the order of nature. I should be able to tell when it has been properly restored." Aedan explained. He placed both hands on his staff and looked at Ulrich. "Sebastian is already here, and Bryce is a brave fighter. Between those two they should be able to help. I think you're best suited to coming with us. I'm not a brilliant fighter." Posting Fogwarden tomorrow, giving last person one day.
"That's fine by me." He agreed. "I should restock the same things as well." They continued to ride a bit more, but then she spoke up about her injury. He raised an eyebrow. He wasn't aware that she had taken an injury from a Necrophage. That was bad news. She was probably already aware of what could have happened to her if somebody wasn't made aware and treated it. "Yes, I do. Do you want to stop for a moment and get that sorted?" Derrick asked, a little concerned. "You know what happens if you don't get that treated, right?" Novigrad was a hub of activity, as he expected. Bustling streets were filled with peddlers and guards on patrol. Their brief wanderings through the city had already shown to them the extent to which they seemed to hate Dopplers. There was little doubt in Adolin's mind that the people being dragged out of their homes around were unfortunate brothers and sisters of his that had been caught. Bryce's damn fool revolution had caused more problems than it solved. He shook his head. He was right not to get involved. He and Alanna hadn't spoken ever since he had posed the question of what they were going to do if they were found again. He got the impression that she didn't really want to think about it. So far, they had been sneaking through the city, ducking through alleyways and winding side streets. They were evading notice well, for now. He got the impression that she knew where she was going. Finally, they stopped at a door. "This is it. An alchemist. I asked around the mages and this one is of repute. Hopefully he'll have what we're looking for." Adolin nodded and followed her inside. "Yeah. I'll take them back to the camp and leave them there. They should be okay." Ardal agreed. She mentioned the idea of bringing around a group of soldiers to sweep the area. He agreed. He could bring his own squad around and he was sure that he could come to an arrangement with his commanding officers. "Be careful there, alright. We don't know who did this. If you have to, ride back to camp." He gestured to the two with them. He had a pained expression on his face when he saw the anguish on their face. "Come on, we'll get back to camp. Alright?" He didn't want to be hard on them, especially Matilda, but he needed to get them back and somewhere they could cope, better than out here.
Corvo listened to what the Seelie Queen was saying. She wasn't planning to kill him, which was good. Outmanoeuvring her was difficult at the best of times and without strong allies here, evading her would be difficult. It was clear therefore, that he was going to have to make an alliance with her. He believed that she had similar intentions as well, although he was not pleased by the idea that she was testing him for something. However, there was no going against her here. If he had to prove himself, then there weren't many other options. Outside of the Shadow Hunters there were few people that he respected, Titania was one of them. After all, for her to have maintained her rule in the treacherous world of the Fae she must be a dangerous and cunning woman. One that he did not, under any circumstances, want to cross. Not out in the field like this, with Alicante far from here. "I see. I believe that this is the one known as Roxanne. Brianne claimed that she did not know her location, which leads me to believe that this must be her." It was the only logical conclusion to come to. The knights returned after that and he was escorted out. Before he left, he parted with a final comment. "And to you, that you may continue to hold your throne." Gears turned in his head as he considered the meeting gone by. He assumed that she would be looking to talk to him after Roxanne was dealt with, which meant that there was a high possibility of them coming to an arrangement. That was good. That meant that he could potentially use her resources to make the acquisitions that he needed. It wasn't as long of a journey as it was from the hotel, and it was time to hunt. Corvo drew his Stele and started inscribing Runes of Acceleration on to his bullets. A bullet was fast, but clearly people were able to dodge them. Let them dodge an even faster one. He made his way to the park with deadly purpose. The traitors were going to see who they were dealing with tonight. It would be a message.
Corvo sat there for a few minutes until the Healing Rune Iratze had healed his wounds properly, then went for his suitcase. Inside, he unpacked a second wooden case, this one smaller. He opened it, and inside there was a mirror. He tapped it and it rippled like water with a pebble dropped in. On the other side, he saw Yorick's face. The Inquisitor had a highly displeased look on his face, though the ire was not directed at Yorick. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Yorick we have a situation. The entire New York Institute are traitors. They allied with the Ifrit, Clarity and likely Aethelrick to kidnap Cyrus or 'Hendrick' as he calls himself now. They've also allied with a Werewolf and appear to have handed the Institute over to her pack. I require backup. Or more... Specialised equipment. As far as I'm concerned, every Nephilim here is part of this." Corvo reported. "All of them happen to be missing when this attack happened. How coincidental? And where was Brianne when I got outside? Nowhere to be seen. I have had no word from any of them. They all must be purged." There was a sound from the door, and Corvo paused as he paced around the room explaining everything to the other Nephilim, He threw the mirror on the bed and swept up his gun. "It looks like I'm under attack. I'll send word as soon as I can. Remember my words Yorick. These people are bold enough to rebel against the Clave. They must have a plan." With that, the Inquisitor terminated the call. He checked the people at the door. "That's... Damn it." Sighing, he unlocked the door and leaped back. It swung open, revealing five Seelie Knights. They all pointed their weapons at him, and the centre one spoke. "You are the Inquisitor. The Seelie Queen wishes to see you. You should be honoured, Shadow Hunter." He lowered the weapon, holstering it in his coat. There wasn't much refusing this invitation. "Fine, but I will go willingly Fae." He stepped out of his room and locked it behind him. He was lead through the strange route that led to the location of the Seelie Queen's Court, standing in between the five knights. He allowed himself to be led, but he was not happy about it. Today was going from bad to worse. The Queen was famously deceptive. After an hour, they arrived and he was admitted into the room. "The Queen will see you. Be on your best behaviour Nephilim." He was warned, and then he was faced with the infamous Seelie Queen herself. He appraised her before they spoke. Truly, rumours of her beauty were not exaggerated. Lesser beings would easily fall sway to that appearance, bewitched by it, but he was no normal being. He was Corvo Eismauer, Inquisitor of the Clave and it would take more than the mere appearance of a Queen to sway him. "I suppose I would be expected to bow." Corvo remarked. "However, you are not my Queen. I am honoured though, and surprised, that you would seek to speak with me. Centuries of Inquisitors and Nephilim, and you choose to speak to Corvo Eismauer. What is it that you wish of me, O' Titania, Queen of the Seelie Court? I presume that you have not brought me here to attend to my execution?"
