PM to join Death of a Slave [Modded Thread]

[Kalesserimamoru]

Reno set to work and made sure to put the rope that the Magistrate had gave him to good use once again. He secured the man's hands and tied them down tightly to the chair. It was necessary, for all he knew the man could possess inhuman strength like the monkeys from the jungle. He was just being thorough. Once he had the arms down he tied the man's legs to the chair just to make sure that he couldn't move at all.

When he stood up, he heard the voice of the young Verena girl behind him. He was pretty sure that the slave that had been killed was from her house and yet she was more concerned with the man who did the killing, or at least who helped with it. He stood to his full height and turned slightly to look down at the tiny girl. "I won't hurt him if he answers my questions, but if he doesn't.... a lot of things are going to get worse."

His green eyes drifted to the collection of torture tools that were on display in the room. Reno wouldn't argue with the girl, there was little point. The Magistrate had already given him orders to work the man over, and no one's voice spoke higher than the Magistrate's. He was about to say more when the slave spoke up and cursed the girl. Reno quickly shifted his position and slammed his boot into the fractured arm of the man. "Shut up, and watch your tongue."

Reno was sure that the woman would have more to say about his abuse of the slave, but he knew deep down that she liked it. However, if she was so sure that she had a better way.."He's all yours.." he said gesturing with his hands before he took a few steps back and leaned against the wall and waited.

[Verena Lorak]

Gritting her teeth, Verena watched as Reno placed a boot on the man's broken arm. Yes, she knew that the man was possibly a Rujaro, a rebel. He had possibly killed someone and some might think he deserved to die too. And he will - he was about to be executed by sunrise. Her efforts might be useless in merely a few bells, but there was an unrelenting voice in her head telling her to help him however she could.

Unsurprisingly, the Rujaro started bleeding again.

"He's all yours."

Taking a deep breath, the Lorak knelt down to replace the silk that had been soaked in red. At least now she had the proper supplies. She repeated the work she had done earlier, stopping the blood with her gnosis and wrapping white bandages carefully around the wound. This time she made sure that every time it rounded the injured limb perfectly, firm but not to tight as to cause more pain. The blood was too open for her to dare applying poultices, so she finished by tightening the bandages.

On an instinct, she placed two of her fingers on the spot at the base of the man's neck, trying to catch a pulse. It was there, but weak. Very weak. Odd. There was no more danger of blood loss. He was not dying, so why was his pulse so faint? There was something Verena was missing, she's sure. But what?

She then went over to one of the lanterns, hanging from the wall. Fortunately, it could by unhooked and carried over to the tied man. Her suspicion was building - on what she did not know yet. Verena held the lantern mere inches from the man's face, letting the light make him reel back slightly. Reno might not notice but she was actually paying attention to the criminal's brown eyes. Normally, someone's pupil will constrict when exposed to bright light. Evidently, it did not happen to the Rujaro. His pupils were still dilated. She pulled the light away, still catching no change. Dilated pupils can mean a handful of things - from head injury to the usage of drugs and poisoning.

Verena kept the detail in her mind, watching for further anomalies as she asked, "Who are you? What do you want from us? Why did you kill Lorana's slave?"

[Translucent]

At the press of the man's boot into his injured arm, the Rujaro hissed loudly, his dirtied rugged face grimacing and his lips drawing back from his teeth tightly. His body stiffened as pain shot from his arm to his brain, but he did not take back a word that he had said. Once the boot is removed he relaxed just a little back into the chair, as much as he could anyways being bound hand and foot. Though he was more relaxed then what one might think a man who was facing hours of torture and then death.

He sits staring straight ahead, no longer worried that the healer could heal his poisoning. He was not sure how long before he was past any sort of antidote so he still planned on keeping that secret until he died. She worked on his arm, but he doesn't even glance down. He does grimace when she tied off the wound but otherwise made no move to take in any of his surroundings. Her questions were also mostly ignored for a long chime.

"I am Nikalis herself. Come to avenge her favored servants from miscreants who would abuse her gifts." This was said without rancor, without an ounce of feeling, simply a litany that fell from his lips. "I was bored, he was around."

[Kalesserimamoru]

Reno stood against the wall with both arms folded across his chest. He watched Verena continue to try and heal the broken slave, who looked to be getting worse by the minute. However, it was Verena's show and he would leave her to test her hand at getting the man to speak. He moved off the wall for a moment to investigate the wall of weapons. He first moved to the whips and took one down to test it's weight.

He didn't lash out with it, and instead he moved it around in his hand for a few ticks before putting it back where it came from. There were other items to choose from, but what caught his eye was an unusually small dagger with a very sharp point. Reno lifted the dagger from the wall and returned to his spot where he had stood before. The Dhani rolled the handle of the dagger around in his hands and even flicked his nails against the sharp tip as he waited.

It was Verena who moved to the wall this time and took down a lantern. He wasn't sure what she was up to at first, assuming she needed more light to see the man's wounds so that she could heal them. Reno had already noticed the man's pale skin but the strange large pupils were something knew. He wasn't a doctor and didn't know of a cause directly, but he could tell that the man was dying and they didn't have much time left. "You might want to work a little faster Ms, his time is running out." He would stay by and give her another two minutes..then it was his turn.

[Verena Lorak]

Nikalis herself? She was quite sure he was, well, a man. Why would he refer to himself as a her? Verena placed the lantern back where it belonged and watched the man once again. By the chime, he seemed to be getting worse on something she could not identify. Even Reno had noticed it, it seemed.

Merely chimes ago, Verena told herself that she would not use more of Auristics, but it seemed that it would be necessary. For the second time that night, magic field her vision, showing her things she would otherwise could not. Reno's aura shone clearly in the room, a shade of dark green, but laced with black. There was something peculiar about it, like the green and the black were two different layers of the same thing. Not significant. She was to figure out what was with the Rujaro. He proved to be easier to understand. Pain was obvious enough, its essence thick between his gray aura. Underneath was another feeling, a bit more faint. It took her some time to recognize it as nausea. The man was on the brink of vomiting.

Weak pulse.
Dilated pupils.
Nausea.
Vomiting.

Her mind whirled. The symptoms could mean a number of things and she crossed them out slowly in her mind. It must not be anything severe or long term - it would have been treated of some sort. The man did not seem at all worried so she guessed he knew whatever it was about.

Taking a step back, she let Reno took over, not really knowing what the guard would do. She still needed to figure out what was happening and she would be able to do it without getting in the way. Yet, she eyed the knife nervously. He was probably not holding it for entertainment.

[Translucent]

As the Chimes went further the man did indeed grow paler, the nausea cramped his stomach and the man knew that before he died he would probably disgrace himself by vomiting but it was a price he had been willing to pay when he joined the Rujaro. He had been born a slave in Kenash, but unlike most slaves he did not just see it as his lot in life. Unlike his sister who had been beautiful enough to catch the eye of a Dynasty man, and now served as a pleasure slave for him, the Rujaro could not passively let his life be ground out of him by the Dynasty Brats.

Perhaps his snide answer to her question caused them pause, for neither asked another though the man had picked an unsettling weapon. His head was growing light, and the Rujaro smiled at the two. His expression was one of triumph and elation, even if they began their torture now it was unlikely he would break and give them anything extremely damning before he died. He had never seen hemlock root at work but Jarrick ..no it wasn't Jarrick, maybe Tomel, or Lanessa..had told him that vomiting, convulsions, hallucinations were all signs of progressively slipping further. It didn't sound pleasant but then neither did staying alive for bells with that man, to end up hanging from a tree.

"The Dynasty's will pay for their sins." Was all he said, and he said it only to test his words. Not quite far enough along, his words were still clear though a cold sweat had popped up on his brow as he automatically fought the nausea to prevent his stomach from rising.

[Kalesserimamoru]

Reno watched the young woman while she slowly investigated, healed the captive slave. Healers, he didn't see the need for them. In the jungle, when their numbers fell they died and they were gone, it was as simple as that. Even for the monkeys, as crafty as they could be, didn't have healers on spot to help the injured and once they were dragged off by Dhani, they were never seen again.

He could see frustration growing with the small woman as she tried to discern what was killing the man so quickly. Reno on the other hand, as he stood against the wall, was watching the slave slowly. His voice, eye twitches, he watched it all and put it to memory. If the man didn't talk he might very well mimic the slave and return to the swamp in his place and seek out the others. But that wasn't a plan he liked, and there was too much that he didn't know to risk so much.

No, the man would talk, and after Verena stepped aside, he gave her a glance and shook his head. Useless.. Reno moved closer to the man and dropped down to one knee to sit beside him. He stared into the man's face, green eyes pouring deep into the slave's soul. "You're going to tell me what I want to know now, or you're going to be in more pain than you ever have before. You won't die, this girl here will heal you and then we will continue. It can take as long as you like, though I doubt your resolve is stronger than my patience."

Reno glanced back at the healer, a grin spread across his face before he turned back around. "Let's get started. I want a location, where is your camp?" he asked first and lifted a hand to press a single finger against the back of the man's head. "Tell me why you killed that slave? Speak." At that moment Reno's djed was released again and he placed the focus into the finger that pressed against the back of the man's head. First his finger tip turned white and the coloring spread across his full nail. The trickster coated his finger in bone and morphed the small tip to become as sharp as the tip of the knife in his other hand.

Slowly he pushed his finger harder against the man's head and using his morphing ability, he extended the nail to grow longer, it's length pushing against the man's head and breaking the skin. It was a very slow movement but over ticks the nail would push further into the man's head burrowing it's way towards his brain. The slave would scream and loud, having no way to combat the pain other than to answer the question.

[Verena Lorak]

Verena needed a hand against the wall to steady herself, inexplicably drained from the use of djed. She could hear Reno taking his place next to the chair, but she didn't want to look. But then the scream started. High-pitched noises had always bothered her, but it was something new entirely.

This, this was wrong. She was turning the other way. She was about let a man get hurt for their own gain. But they had no choice. She had no choice. Of course, you have a choice. A choice to what? Help the criminal escape? How many people had been injured and hurt by these rebels' deeds? How many slaves had been carted to her clinic, dying from burns and whippings? They had to be stopped. A small voice added, how many slaves had been brought to you, hurt by their masters?

Is there no way to resolve this without violence?

The doctor felt sick as she took a step back, letting the magistrate's guard do whatever he wanted. The gnosis that stretches across her collarbones burned uncomfortably. This was wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Everything is wrong. She had sworn to heal, to help everyone if it's in her power. What was she doing now? Nothing. Verena Lorak was doing nothing.

The girl's violet eyes darted toward the door, more than a little tempted to walk out.

[Translucent]

The man watched Mamoru, he had already discounted the slight wisp of a woman as non-threatening. She might have saved him, had she been alone. She certainly was looking green around the gills so to speak now, but with him here..no there would be no salvation. As the bodyguard edged closer to him he stiffened against his bonds, mistakenly watching the knife until Mamoru's hand brushed against his head.

At the first prick, he moved his head forward, or tried to. He tried to escape the sensation. At first it was uncomfortable, then piercing, and finally the pain as his skin, hair, and bone began to part. HIs scream rose into the air, his body jerking against his bonds, bringing its own brand of pain as the ropes bit into his flesh.

He thrashed, tossing his head as much around as he was able, trying to get away from the hand of the other man. He didn't know what was happening, didn't really care, all he wanted was for it to stop. He held out as long as he could, he held on until he was biting his own lip bloody to prevent himself from shouting out what he knew. He had been trained.. he knew if he offered the information too quickly they would discount it as useless..if he let them pry it out then perhaps they would think it important. Important enough to mull it over, to give the hemlock time to work.

"Stop Stop Stop!" He screamed, his body straining now, sweat popping out in beads on his brow. He continued to scream stop until Mamoru exited his head, a thin blood and fluid leaking from the tiny hole drilled into his head. "Please ... I am .. Has.. Haskel.. I am ..Bulishan. I know... very little.." He panted from each word, his head slightly spinning. Just a few more chimes..that is all he needed, just a few more chimes. "I do know.. where there is a cave....."

[Kalesserimamoru]

Reno watched the man closer, but his gaze fell to the woman soon enough as she appeared to be getting ready to run away. He wished that she would, that would give him free reign to do exactly what he needed to and get the Rujaro to talk. He could only do so much with her there, and anything more might reveal more about himself than he wanted done.

The trickster retracted the nail into his finger when the man finally screamed to talk, and he moved his hand away from his head. It was a nasty, tiny wound, but nothing that would have killed him quickly. "Haskel Bulishan?" he asked trying to put together the man's jumbled words. Green eyes lifted to look at the girl wondering if she was still paying attention. "What? A cave? Where is this cave?" Reno grabbed the man's broken arm and squeezed it tightly to force him to speak more. "Is that where your camp is? I want the location of your camp, and who are you working for. Give me a name!"

The brute dug his nails into the man's arm and held them there, he didn't morph them into claws yet, but it was enough to let the man know that he was thinking of doing just that if he didn't say more. Another thought rose into his mind as he went over the scene of the crime and the dead slave, and to the man he had now. The slave put up a good fight, but in the shape this man was in, he had to wonder..."Were you working alone? Who came with you? How many?" Again he squeezed the broken arm and brought his other hand up to thump the newly tunneled wounded at the back of his head. "Say something."