Quest Disinclined to Acquiesce (Open)

[Phoenix]

For all the anger and hatred that emanated from the attacking Dek, the fight went out of them awfully quickly once the group began to resist; all but two of them halted their charge and turned tail to run, scampering deep into the Den and seeming to melt into the very walls they cowered against. In reality, the place was filled with crevasses and hidden tunnels that could lead to any part of the mountain. These Dek knew of places within Wind Reach that not even the Endal had discovered.

The man that attacked Iosha was one of the few that didn’t lose heart, his focus solely on the little Konti as he swung wildly and pushed her back step by step. For all his courage against (even if it was against a woman half his size), he man did singularly fail at paying attention to his surroundings. The arrows that slammed into his knee and upper thigh took him by complete surprise.

“What?” The word held a note of utter confusion as he dropped his guard and stared blankly down at his leg, clearly unable to formulate any kind of reason why the arrows were there. He let go of Iosha’s foot, stepping back and away from where the woman had crashed to the ground, his free hands now moving to tug at the shaft protruding from his flesh. “How dare you…” But the words held nowhere near the anger they had before.

It was quick work when Red lunged forward, taking advantage of the mans confusion to lay him out with a broad slice across his back; he went down without a fight, without a sound. It was almost eery, considering he was a raging bear just a moment before. But Red had no time to consider this, as the only remaining Dek changed his course from where he had begun to charge Ardal to spin around and defend his friend. The staff lifted towards Red’s head, but the sword was already there, the Endal having predicted the defensive maneuver before the Dek had even made the attack.

Allowing the staff to go clattering to the stone floor, the Dek man raised both his hands and sank to his knees, wincing and closing his eyes as Red whispered his threat. “I surrender. I surrender!” As if he had any choice, now. “Please, just let me go.”

x

[Ishgrameer Windwalker]

Ishgrammer put the arrow back, and slung his bow back around his shoulders. He admired the skill with which Red had finished to Dek, and then disarmed to other. As he made his way over to where Iosha was still on the ground, Ishgrameer could hear the last remaining Dek's plee for mercy. he hoped that Red would not act in haste, or anger, for they would surely need this man's help to locate the stragglers, or at least they would need to question him. There was something happening that they just couldn't see, some greater plan that lurked in the shadows. Ishgrameer could feel it, but he had barely a clue as to what it was.

He moved with a tentative air, poised almost, as if awaiting some assault that they hadn't seem coming just yet. He did not want to be taken by surprise, that was for sure. He still wondered who it had been that had sparked the conflict, regardless of the fact that the Dek's seemed riled as it was, someone had sparked the flames.

When he was closer he said to Red "We need to question this man, he may know some information that can aid us in our quest".

Leaving those thoughts behind however, he hastened to Iosha's side. Kneeling down he asked "Are you all right?" as he made to help her up.

[Elna]

Elna didn't go far before running into the others, they were certainly a large and capable looking enough group to handle any sort of Dek problem. Elna explained to them what she saw and they all made their way inside. Elna bit her lip and started thinking to herself. She didn't know what to do at this point. Even though she got there first, she wouldn't likely get any credit for tracking them down, they would have found this place without her anyways. Her contribution was rendered invalid. She could follow them back in but there was hardly anything she could contribute at this point. She was not a fighter and she was to small to be intimidating or imposing. On the other hand she really wasn't going to accomplish anything waiting outside, right?

Apparently, she had spent to much time thinking about it, because she had been broken out of her thoughts by the yelling coming form out of the cave. It sounded like a fight had broken out already. She couldn't just stand around doing nothing, no proper Inartan should be that much of a coward. She didn't have a weapon though, and she wasn't about to run in there unarmed. Her head darted around for something she could use as a weapon until her eyes stopped on a sizable rock a short distance away. She hustled over to it and lifted it up to her waist with a grunt. Her movement was reduced to a jog while carrying the heavy stone as she arrived back at the door way. She turned her body every which way trying to fit herself in the small opening while holding on to her improvised weapon before realizing it was futile. Hefting it up sidewise, she managed to through it inside in front of her, then followed. She had to step over it to get in, as she hadn't tossed it that far, then she quickly got it back into her hands and went down into the hide out.

Unfortunately, by the time she made her way down, the fight had already ended. All of the Dek were cowering before the Endal that had been assaulted earlier. Ardal and the foreign woman were down on the ground, leaving the Endal the one wielding the bow with all the glory. Figures that the Endal would be the hero of the day, isn't that always the case. Any hopes she had of making something of herself today were crushed, and by somebody that gets to be important everyday of his life. Elna though her rock to the ground in frustration, slamming into the ground with a puff of dirt. She stood there groaning and cross armed looking around the room. The foreign women was already being helped, but Ardal was still laying on the ground unassisted clutching his ribs. Seems he tried to play hero and ended up paying the price for it. If she had not been absent for the fight it could have easily been her in the position instead. It was something to consider at the very least. Dropping her hands back to her sides, she went over to go help him out. "How bad is it?" She asked while crouching in front of him, not wanting to touch him yet incase he had any severe injuries. "Can you stand?"

[Kanri]

OOCI apologize for not posting for a while. I kept procrastinating. I will try to be more active now!

When the fighting broke out, Kanri felt a wave of panic rush over her. She never considered herself a coward but today, she felt faint. She pressed herself against the wall and told herself to just breathe, while watching for any attacks. The poor Konti woman was being assaulted by one of the buff Dek. But then, the Endal of the group, Red, came to her heroic rescue. It was almost cute, except for the fact that Kanri felt sick to her stomach. That boy had gotten hurt but his friend came to help him, a girl. He'd be fine.

The remaining Dek fell to his knees and began begging for forgiveness and mercy. Kanri felt a flare of fury. It was ridiculous! You could not attack and Endal and then expect forgiveness. They brought in food for the entire city, along with some of the Avora. They were the reason this city had survived for so many generations in the conditions of the Unforgiving. If you were going to regret doing something, then why do it in the first place?

Kanri was in a juxtaposition between terror and anger. She wanted to stay by that wall, in case more fighting broke out. But just as strongly, she wanted to go up there and beat the man herself. Why was he and his cohorts causing problems for Wind Reach? She didn't approve of putting down lower castes just because the were lower. But this wasn't "putting them down", this was justice!

With that thought, Kanri came forward, though a little nervous. "We can't keep him around for long. What if he causes more problems later? Not just in the next hour, but in the far future? Plus, if you show him mercy, the Dek will think they can get away with this again," Kanri suggested. Her voice was quiet but she spoke firmly and just loud enough so they all could hear.

She realized, then, that she was being rash and irrational. And she didn't care. It was too late to do anything now anyway.

[Red Daghul]

Red stood poised as the Dek fell to his knees in front of him after the Endal's attack. The talon sword dripped of the fresh blood from the Dek that had now fallen to the ground after the slash from the Endal's blade. Anger fought against reason as Red held his blade toward the Dek daring him to move so that the blade could make it's final blow and be done with this.

That's when one of the others almost in a whisper tried to convince him to leave the man alive for questioning. There was wisdom in what was said, and Red had given it some thought already though anger at what the Dek was doing mixed with the hot blood of battle almost took charge.

Reaching down Red had made up his mind and throwing the Dek up against the wall the Endal looked him straight in the eyes forcing the Dek to see the fire in them and in a low voice just above a whisper he said "You will tell me everything you know, or so help me I will feed you to my Wind Eagle... and trust me he likes to play with his food first" the talon sword now touching the Dek's neck to ad to the effect.

Red was done with these Dek's game he wanted to know what they were planning, why, and who was leading them and he wanted to know sooner rather then later. All the while thoughts of what he was going to do with the Dek afterwards haunted his mind. Many would expect him to kill the Dek, or at least punish him in some way, and it was true that the dek had earned such. The question lingered as he waited.

[Iosha]

Iosha's violet eyes watched as Red grabbed the Dek who surrendered and slammed him into the nearest wall. The Dek was wide eyed and terrified at the rage of the Endal. She saw the giant human with long grayish brown hair whispered something to Red, but she could still see anger brewing in the Endal's face as he held the sword to the Dek's neck. Iosha tilted her head and looked up at the giant human as he helped her to her feet. She decided to answer his question in the typical sarcastic fashion, “Remind me to wear a helmet when I am dealing with Deks...” She started to feel nauseous and the room started to spin around her. She decided to lean up against the chest of Ishgrameer for a few chimes until the sensation faded away. Iosha said to herself softy, “Shyte.. I have a concussion....” Still in his arms, she reached back into her blond hair and winced to herself when she touched the warm sticky lump on the back of her head. She pulled her webbed fingers from her hair, and she noticed the tips were stained with blood. She closed her eyes and put her palm on the back of her head and she said a prayer to Rak'Keli in Kontinese, “I know I was reckless my goddess, and I probable deserve it, but I need you to clean and close the cut on back of my head, so I can deal with injuries of my enemy.” The gnosis mark on the back of her arm started to glow a bright blue, and she could feel the cut on the back of her head starting to close, but the symptoms of the concussion was still with her. When the light was gone, Iosha looked up at Ishgrameer, and she could see the ceiling spinning above her. She said with a warm smile on her face, “I don't think we met before my name is ….oh what is it? Ah I got it! Iosha. Thank you for saving my life, giant man.” She noticed the quiver and bow on his shoulders, so she figured he was the one who shot the arrows. She looked over at Red, and she knew she would have to thank him later. She stood up and felt a sudden sensation of vertigo hit her, but she closed her violet eyes. When the feeling passed, she walked over to wear the large Dek laid. She dropped her rusty knife on the floor and knelt down next to him. The wound would be life threatening if it was left untreated. She reached over and put two fingers over the artery in his neck. She could still feel a pulse. Her attacker was still alive for now. She removed her fingers from his neck and torn the back open of his lontev. Iosha looked at the wound and she frowned to herself when she noticed the sword cut deep into the back of the Dek. She closed her eyes and put both her hands over the long slash wound, and she said a quick prayer in Kontinese, “Rak'Keli I need your assistance in saving this man's life. I know my powers are limited, but please help me cleanse this man's wound of any impurities and infection starting to fester inside the wound. Also, I need you to help me close it slightly to stop the bleeding. Thank you my beloved Goddess for the assistance.” The blue light shone brightly on Iosha's forearm, and she opened her eyes to witness the blue light absorbing into the wound. When the light disappeared around her, she looked up at the group around her and said softly, “I need some help. Can any of you find me some cloth. It doesn't have to be clean.” She glared up at the Dek being held by Red with cold violet eyes, and she said bluntly to him, “I am a lazy healer Dek, so please tell the Endal Red everything because I really don't want to have to heal you if I don't have too....”

[Ardal]

Even though the attack only lasted seconds it certainly felt like it was a lot longer. It only stopped when a sword was brought into the fray. What was he thinking? He’s never been in a fight before how was he going to fight with no experience? The Dek probably were just as inept as fighters but they had weapons. He just got caught up in the moment. He had cuts and bruises up and down his head and torso. He was in rough condition but he’d live through it. He may have a concussion and a few bruised or broken ribs but he didn’t know how to diagnose something like that.

He was approached by the same girl that listened in on the Dek planning. “I’m hurt pretty bad but I think I’ll manage.” He extended a hand to receive help from the girl. Once he got back on his feet he rested on a nearby wall. He was worthless in combat what was he doing here anyway? He was watching the interrogation not being able to help he stuck to the wall. This whole ordeal seemed to be bringing the worst out of people.

That’s when he realized the silhouetted man from before the fight broke out. “Hey guys,” he shouted, “by any chance did you see a man in the hallway? He’s the one who shouted and started this whole thing. I didn’t get a good look at his face and he disappeared when the fighting started. Maybe we can have one of the Kelvic smell him out or something?” he thought maybe in this way him being there wasn’t completely worthless. “I’m not sure what we’ll be able to find, but we don’t all need to be here to deal with the Dek anyway, right?”

[Phoenix]

Managing to squirm from the grasp of his captors, the Dek curled in on himself rather than try and run; he knew if any attempt at escape was made, his life would be forfeit. Rocking back and forth and whimpering, the pathetic creature wrapped his arms around the back of his neck and tucked his face between his knees as the Inarta talked amongst themselves.

At first, the direct questions asked of him were answered with violent flinches, as if he were being physically struck by the words as wide, fearful eyes peered at the group from under the crook of his arm; the fact that the pupils were different colors and stared off into opposite directions didn’t help lessen the almost comical scene.

“I’ll tell you everything, just don’t hurt me.” There was a stutter to his voice, but it could have been the tears that he kept choked back in a last ditch attempt to save face. Not looking anyone in the eye, the Drudge plowed onward, barely taking a breath between words. “We never saw his face. He said he had been here before but there was something in the city that he wanted. He said that if we got it for him he would help us, that we would rule the city.” In an attempt to look away from where the group towered over him, the Dek glanced to his other side. There, he saw his fallen comrades; a few of them seemed to still be breathing, but the sight was met with a shuddering gasp that nearly undid the tenuous hold he had on his “composure”.

“I didn’t really believe him but you couldn’t really say no… he… took our minds. It seemed okay at first. We had no problems doing what he asked but then something would snap up there and it was like you weren’t inside your brain. It wasn’t really me! It wasn’t us!” His voice reached a high pitch and he buried his face in his hands. “He gave us coins that called us to him. They were hot when he wanted us, and cold when we were supposed to carry out an order. They’re over there, along with everything that we took.”

A shaking finger lifted and pointed to the far side of the cave where a mound of things, indistinguishable in the darkness, was wedged into a corner. Unlike the rest of the refuse strewn around the place, this heap seemed to be more carefully placed, the items piled one on top of the other ranging from clothing, to furniture, to weapons. Baskets of jewelry and coins lay at the foot, including a small bowl of identical silver coins. Unlike Miza, these were completely flat and perfectly round, with no picture or any symbol inscribed upon them.

“Just take it all! Please let me go!”

OOCThis is the last post for you all, those of you remaining. Please make a decision about the Dek and have them take what they can back to the city and I will wrap up the thread ☺
x

[Elna]

With a heave, Elna got Ardal back to his feet. He was clearly trying to act tuff but he was certainly in quite a bit of pain by the looks of things. It didn't really matter anyway, if he wasn't asking for any medical help it would be insulting to give him any. If he was saying he would manage then he would manage, no need to dwell on it.

Elna started listening in as the begging Dek let all of his secrets out. Apparently, they were being led by some mysterious stranger. He went on to say that stranger was looking for something in the city. Just what could that be? Any knowledge of important magical artifacts were far beyond her. She could not think of particular any objects in the city that would be worth creating a hostile take over.

The following part was even more troubling. It seems their leader had been inducing mind control upon them. The use of such power used in her homeland was a scary thought. Dek are notoriously weak minded, making them easy targets, but what about her mind? What if this stranger's power could control her as well? Finding out all this only give the group knowledge of the enemy's existence, there was no way of knowing where he was or how to stop them.

With the intimidation completed, Elna took her focus off of the Dek. She had no place to decide the Dek's fate. Red was the one with all of the authority and personal grudge against him. She left it up to him to decide the Dek's fate while she took the time to inspect the goods in the corner.

It was odd how organized it all was. She would have figured the Dek, being so short on comfort items, would at least be using the furniture and clothes. Perhaps it was a product of the mind control, but that seemed odd too, considering the controller was looking for a particular item. Gathering up odds and ends like this would only bring unnecessary attention to him and he didn't even seem like he was making any sort of attempt to sell any of it. She feared touching any of it, especially the bowl of cursed coins the Dek mentioned as mind control devices. If those were made to be cursed any number of other items could be cursed as well.

She decided to speak her opinion on the matter. "I think it might be best if we simply destroyed everything in the pile. I have a bad feeling that mind controller cursed everything here. If we bring all this back to their original owners the curse will spread. We should have the Dek take it all out of the cave and burn it. It's the only way to be safe." Elna could think of no other reason to stockpile people's potions like that other then to curse them. But trying to explain that was about all she had in her power to do. Again, as a Yasi, she just didn't have the authority to approve of such a thing.

[Ardal]

Ardal leaned up against the wall like a lump. He was bleeding, worse than he first thought, from his head and arms; felt sick to his stomach and had a hard time with breathing anything but shallow breaths. He was not much help here; they were getting along fine without him. He tried to get off the wall but couldn’t move; he slumped over. The cold stone was somehow comforting against his wounds.

They were savage in the attack on the blonde woman and a small person like him, but he was now nothing but a sniveling coward. He wasn’t sure what the Dredge was going on about mind control or some nonsense. Whatever it was he’d bet every Miza and Piton he had that the man he saw in the shadows had something to do with it. He had already said something about the man that fell on deaf ears so there would be little point in say it again; but did anyway. “I think that man I saw back there, I think he has something to do with all of this; if not the mastermind himself.”

He sat and waited for the others to decide what to do with the stockpile of goods that they were offered as truce. Divide them among the group? He was poor, not Dek level but pretty close; a few extra things would help him a lot. Perhaps, return them to the rightful owners? It would be the proper and decent thing to do he supposed. There was even a suggestion to burn the whole pile!

The fate of the horde of goods was second on his mind. He was more interested in staying awake he remembered hearing somewhere at one point or another that if you fall asleep with a fresh head wound you’ll never wake up again, and he just wanted to sleep more than he has ever wanted to before. Whether or not this was fact or fiction didn’t matter he wasn’t going to risk it.