PM to join Death of a Slave [Modded Thread]

[Translucent]

Loranna narrowed her eyes, not at her sister following the Magistrate but the way he all but ignored her. Loranna decided it was best that Verena followed the Magistrate, it meant she had eyes and ears in the investigation but did not have to tag along like a lost uninvited puppy. Her ire was stoked, on top of the wrath that filled her breast at the destruction of her Favorite. Perhaps the Konrath will need to see how it feels to be on the bottom rung once she was Magistrate.

If Lorenzo knew of Loranna's feelings he did not seem to show it, his large frame moving with surprising ease through the grasses behind his body guard. He didn't know much about Reno, only that he was unusually gifted to suite the needs of the Magistrate office, without people being the wiser that the same man was guarding the person in office. This was, of course, a closely guarded secret of the office that started with Lorenzo himself.

The drag marks were fairly consistent, there were no breaks in the drag that would indicate that someone was carrying and only dragging when the weight of the corpse. For Lorenzo, whose Akalak features allowed him to see in the dark, he could spot the blood splatter. It was not dragged blood, no it was droplets as if someone or something was wounded.

"Reno." The Akalak spoke up, unsure of how his body guard's night vision was or if he would be able to detect the new blood. Lorenzo himself couldn't tell if it was blood from the perpetrator or perhaps animal because the blood droplets lead away from the drag marks and followed due east rather then on south the way the drag marks go.

"Verena.. stay close, if it is an animal then we won't bother..or just kill it. But if it is the perpetrator we will need your medical skills to ...ensure he is well enough to question." Lorenzo ordered with the familiarity of someone who was accustomed to giving orders.

Reno
If Reno took Lorenzo's cue and followed the blood splatter he would find that it continued for another quarter mile, now officially into swamp lands. The ground took on a sponge-y moist feel, squishing beneath shoes. The smell of damp rotting foliage was stronger the further into the swamps that Reno goes, and the animals were strangely quiet. There wasn't a croak of a frog, a whisper of a snake, or even the throaty guttural growl of an alligator. All was quiet, except perhaps Reno's steps if he was not too careful.

The trail lead to a Cyprus tree, half sunk in brackish water, if a man of decent height were to step into it he might find that it came to his knees. Here the blood trail ends, water not being a very good medium to keep blood aloft. However just on the other side of the Cyprus, hidden from view is a man of dark skin coloring. He tried to keep quiet, having known that he was being followed for several measures now. His arm was a mess, the slave that he had pinpointed had given him more trouble then he had thought. Broken it was a compound fracture, pieces of white poking from his flesh. His companion that had helped him torture and kill the slave, and then drag it onto Whitesnake had already gone his own way, splitting up as per plan to try and have two different trails for anyone to follow. Unfortunately for him his blood trail had attracted Lorenzo's attention.

He shifts, causing a ripple to spread out in the murky water, and he knew that the danger was two fold. Either he could be found and questioned, or he could be drawing predators with his blood flow. He knew that the Rujaro camp was far away, he knew that he was likely getting infection upon infection standing in this brackish water. He also knew that he could not let himself be taken in for 'questioning' or else he would end up betraying everything he believed in. He was low level Rujaro, but he might know enough to harm Jarrick, and he knew that eventually he would talk. In his pouch he pulled out a cutting of hemlock root, it was enough to kill him but it would be bells. He just had to hope that his pursuer was far enough away to let it do its job. He stuffed the root into his mouth, chewing resolutely letting the bitter acrid taste fill his mouth before he swallowed. Just a few bells..

Verena

Lorenzo turned back to the younger Lorak, his face compassionate but still hard. "You know what will need to happen if it is a perpetrator?" His voice was pitched low with concern but steely with determination. "He will have to be thoroughly questioned. This goes no further then your ears my lady, but this is not the first stirrings that the Magistrate has kept quiet if it is what I fear. There is no reason to cause a panic but we need to find out what he or she knows."

His large blue hand fell to attempt to lay comfortingly on her shoulder, "I prefer that you would be with my servant when the ..questioning...happens. I am no medical doctor, and neither is he. I don't want to have to summon another to involve another who is not already.. but I will if you don't feel you have the stomach for what must happen."

His pale eyes look unblinking at Verena, watching her facial muscles to see if they tick or give away what she is thinking. Some found interrogation methods to be unpalatable, and he would not force that upon one of the Kenash Dynasty. However he was truly loathed to bring in anyone else in. The only way to keep a secret is to tell only one person...and then kill that person. While he couldn't very well kill the people involved in this secret, it remained true that he only wanted to tell a select few.

[Kalesserimamoru]

Mamoru/Reno went to work. He started from the trail that Lorenzo pointed out and made his way from there.The grass was all cared for making it hard to find tracks there unless it was done by something very heavy. Unlike Lorenzo, while in human form Reno lost the strength in his senses. He could no longer sense and taste heat as he could while in Dhani or snake form. But his eyes were still observant and the amount of blood that he could see, droplets and drag marks that appeared as black moister in the night was the trail he followed.

He left Lorenzo behind and scouted ahead. The Akalak wasn't a small, defenseless child and as long as he stayed on the plantation he shouldn't come to harm. The trickter moved into a slight jog at first, keeping his eyes to the ground and following the trail outward. He crossed the area, dipping into swamp land far away from the plantation itself. Here he found foot prints, tracks that dug into the moist, spongy earth.

Reno slowed his movements and changed up his tactics. Bending his bends, he crouched lower to make his form smaller as he moved into the swamp. Careful steps were taken, and he tried to keep his balance as he rolled his heels off the ground to silence the squishing beneath his boots. He kept his eyes open, his body ready to strike as he moved further in. The silence in the area didn't go unnoticed and the feeling it gave him was nothing but wary.

The trail led to a tree and Reno stood in place, only searching the area with his eyes at first, before moving closer. At this point he was still unsure if it was animal blood or human, and was sure to be careful either way. He moved closer towards the tree where the trunk dipped in and leading him to deeper water that rested around his knees.

Looking down into the murky water, he thought over what his choices were. The trail was gone and whoever or whatever it was had escaped into the swamp, but which direction?

Reno figured he go with a gamble but he wanted to search the area around the tree first. It was slushy with bad footing, and in truth he would had been better off slithering across, but that would blow his cover if someone saw him. Instead, Reno slipped further around the tree where he saw a sudden movement. Someone was there...someone..it was human. "You're caught, come out!" he roared in a deep tone.

[Verena Lorak]

Verena never actually been present in any sort of interrogation, but something in her stomach churned uncomfortably. It did not occur to her medical expertise would be needed. Still, she nodded at Lorenzo, signaling that she would do what she must if it came down to it. Besides, the idea of seeing a Rujaro, a rebel slave, in person was not an opportunity she could pass up. Unlike most Dynasty, she did not outright hate them - for now at least. What they had done so far had not affected her in any way and so their activities merely flared her curiosity.

Ever since that slave woman who died in her care, Verena had not been able to completely take off the Rujaros off her mind. Those last word kept ringing inside her head. Kaziu. Kaziu. It might not matter - just the rambling of a dying slave - but something in her mind told her otherwise, that she needed to hold on to that little piece of information like dear life.

They followed the trail carefully and at some point she noticed the drops of blood alongside of it. She bent down for a moment, touching the dark droplets. When she brought her fingers back up, she noticed it had been smeared with red. Still fresh. It was not the dead slave's blood then. There was someone else and this someone was mostly injured. He couldn't have gone very far.

The change was palpable as they entered the swamp area. The ground was damp beneath her slippers and wet mud stuck to her long gown. Lorenzo's guard had gone ahead for a while, but the Konrath himself still kept a steady pace. Verena kept close, knowing that if something decide to jump at her, it would be better to have an experienced fighter nearby.

"You're caught, come out!" The voice rang loud, seemingly to reverberate through out the place.

[Translucent]

The moment Lorenzo heard his bodyguard call out, his arm reached out to halt Verena abruptly. His thick limb coming across her chest area, his wrist bending so that his hand encircled her upper arm. If she struggled he would simply put his much larger height and strength to use, not to harm her but simply to protect her. Reno was not his body guard because he was pretty to look at, no Reno could surely hold his own. Lorenzo was not so unused to a fight that he would not step in but he preferred to keep his younger charge who insisted on following out of danger.

"Stay here." He said in a gravelly voice, not because he was going to dart a head for they were well away from the relative safety of Whitesnake, but because he did not want to have to continue to restrain her if she got a flighty idea as to jump forward. His hand went to his Lakan at his side but he did not draw it..not yet. His Akalak eyes could see into the swamplands easily, and thus far he only saw Reno..and then another man stumbled out.

The Rujaro man cursed his luck when he first felt the water stir and then heard the words that sealed his doom. It seemed the last few bells of his life were not going to be pleasant. His arm was broken, of that there was no doubt. He knew that unless this person demanding that he give up was a complete and utter half wit then it was someone with some skill in fighting. However, he was dead anyway. The hemlock root sealed it unless they manage to get it out of him that he took it, then he supposed their might be an antidote. However, he doubted they will be questioning him on what things he ate. No he was dead, and he was in for some unpleasantness soon enough, so there was really no reason to not put up some fight.

Unfortunately his arm that he was predominant in was the broken one, so his dagger draw was awkward at best. The dagger had seen better days but it was sharp enough. With a cry he dove out of his hiding spot, his dagger awkwardly slashing downward at Mamoru, at the same time his body twisted hoping to put the other man off his balance with the weight of him.

Lorenzo almost jumped forward, his entire body jerked before he stopped himself. "Do not kill him Reno!" he called, letting the deep bass of his voice push his timbre lower and louder. "See? You might have to patch him up before he is even questioned..hopefully you won't have to patch up Reno too much.."

[Kalesserimamoru]

Things would have been a lot simpler if he had been in Dhani or snake form. He would have been able to easily sense the man hiding behind the tree. Having that edge as well as a little stealth could have given him an opportunity to catch the man by surprise. But things did find a way to work themselves out. The man's movements gave him away and with no where to run, he finally came out and attacked.

Reno shifted back on instinct, finding the deeper waters to slow him down. Green eyes scanned the human, taking note of the blood on his arm and the single weapon that he carried. From the looks of it that arm was broken, or at least badly wounded and wouldn't be of use. The human's wild swings showed his familiarity with the weapon, though Reno didn't make heads or tales about him trying to off set the use of the other arm. It didn't matter.

He moved back further and away from the man, who continued to slash at him with the dagger. Reno hadn't brought his weapon with him, he hadn't expected to be dealing out a fight with anyone. Still, he wasn't so useless that he needed one to defend himself either. He wrestling training kicked in, and he recalled the way to best draw opponents in rather than going after them. The muk around his legs made him clumsy and he wasn't about to wrist a fight on uneven ground. Plus Lorenzo had called out not to kill the man, which made his next move very important.

So he doubled back again, even taking a slash across his chest plate as he pushed himself out of the deeper water and back onto stable land. The wounded slave pushed himself out of the water as well and charged Reno again, ready to put it all on the land. Now he struck, with the quickness that was afforded his race. Reno raced forward and ducked in, his head and upper body coming in just under the swinging arm of the human as he slammed his shoulder into the man's gut as hard as he could while wrapping his arms around his body.

The result of the powerful attack literally folded the man in half over Reno's muscular shoulder, before the runaway slave's body snapped back and landed with a thud on the ground. The man wasn't dead, but he had just lost all the air in his lungs and his dagger. Reno stood up, his dark gaze looking down upon the man and his rotated his shoulders. "You picked a bad day friend. Should have kept running." Reaching down he grabbed the man by his leg and started to drag him back towards the direction where Lorenzo and Verena were waiting.

[Verena Lorak]

When Lorenzo's arm went in front of her and she felt his hand getting of her arm, Verena flinched involuntarily. She never liked being touched, even when she understood that the gesture was for her own sake. It was a tad annoying that he wouldn't let her closer to see what was happening, but she doubted she would be able to wrench herself away from the akalak's grip. And so, she stayed where Lorenzo had told her to.

Catching her by surprise, a man had appeared, something glistening in his hand. He attacked Lorenzo's guard with a certain ferocity and soon the two men were tangled in a fight. It was enough to make her stay right where she were. They struggled together in effort to hurt the other. Fortunately, the brawl ended quickly, though not the brutality.

Verena found herself muttering "by the goddess" in Vani as she watched a man being dragged by the leg toward them. The violence of the action was enough to make her recoil. She wouldn't hesitate at the sight of a gaping wound, but seeing ta savage treatment to another was enough to make her heart twist. They said it was because of the shimmering sigil drawn across her collarbones, marking her as a healer. She was a servant of Rak'keli and her very nature went against violence. It was what she was here for, to heal what is destroyed.

Probably Lorenzo wanted her not to get close. But that was not what Rak'keli might demand out of her and the will of a goddess won over the will of a magistrate in her mind.

Before anyone can stop her, she looked straight at the guard and commanded, "Drop him." Not waiting for any reaction, Verena rushed to the side of the injured man. She did so without thinking, as if someone had moved her limbs. The urge to heal this man was overwhelming and she did not intend to ignore it. Visibly she could see the broken arm, his bone poking out of his dark skin. If he was unlucky enough, that earlier assault had also earned him a cracked rib.

Verena glanced at the protruding bone again, knowing that it had to be set in place soon and the bleeding had to be stopped.

[Translucent]

The Rujaro didn't go down with out a fight, hoping to force the man who was wrestling him down to be forced or accidentally kill him. Yet it was for naught because he was pulled out of the muck, his body covered now with the brackish water, the slime from the mud churned from their struggle, and his own blood. Pain flared in his arm as he was unceremoniously dragged through the grass by the other.

When the woman broke through he recognized the mark that Rak'kelli puts upon her healers..in spots that were visible and hard to hide unlike Akijia who likes to mark her followers in secret. He only saw the one but that didn't mean in his pain he hadn't seen a second. "No NO No!" He pants through the pain even as she touches him. The first mark would surely ease his pain, even knit his flesh closed, but unless she had a second mark the secret Hemlock root would still deteriorate his organs. He prayed to his goddes Nikali that the healer woman was only once marked.

Lorenzo raised a hand toward Reno when the other leaped forward, he didn't really want the man fully healed but it didn't seem that he had much choice in this matter. "Will you be able to do what I asked..or will your Goddess demand otherwise?" Lorenzo asked quietly, understanding the nature of the healing gnosis. The Konti of Konrath often had the gnosis themselves, not all but many particularly the older ones born in Mura.

He waited patiently for the woman to do what she would for the man before he drew a length of rope from his pouch that he carried around his waist. The rope was always in there, whenever he was called out to a crime or a report of a crime he always carried it. "Secure his arms, if he can walk let him..if not drag him. We will go back to the carriage, you two will.. get what you can from this man. He is sentenced to death but ensure that he speaks well before his sentence is carried out." Again the Akalak waited patiently for Reno to take the rope from his hand and do as he asked before he started walking back to Whitesnake. The trip there the man in custody didn't make any noise. He didn't whimper, he didn't plead, he didn't rail against his captors. However his dark-eyed gaze spoke of resignation, as if accusing each and every one of them of being exactly what he thought the Dynasty were.

"I am going to retire to Boldvine. The carriage will take you to the interrogation rooms that wait such as these, they will be equipped with all that you need I am sure." Lorenzo turned to Verena and gave a deft bow, "If you are certain that you will continue Verena I will consider it a personal favor, and ask that while I know you can not keep it secret from your sister Loranna, that you try and keep it between the two of you?"

Toward Reno, he crossed his arms "Take care that he talks, and that he doesn't manage to harm Lady Lorak here. I expect an accounting of the ..questioning..in the morning. At which time I will pay you.." He looked toward Verena now, "And Verena the bounty for him to split between the two of you. The carriage will wait until your finished to take you both home." With that Lorenzo moved toward the plantation main house proper, ostentatiously to speak to Loranna, and probably procure a carriage ride home.

The Konrath Carriage was not too long to come, the horses pulling it trotting up. Slaves and Dynasty alike came out to stare at the the man in custody, and already rumors were starting to fly. The door to the Carriage is opened by the slave driver, inside was comfortable enough for the three.

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The interrogation room:

The room was a small square building off the side of the Magistrates office. Lanterns hang from the wall, and a single chair is bolted to the middle of the room. The room itself was wooden, rough and unfinished. It is perhaps fortunate that there were no living quarters near the office because the wood planks would not hold back any screams.

Along a wall there was a rack, that held a variety of whips. Some plain braided leather, others tipped with metal. A shelf was on another wall with various daggers, and pincers. There was plenty of chain, manacles, and rope laying around in an orderly mess. The room did not look like it was filthy or run down, but it was clear that this would not be the first interrogation it had seen.

[Kalesserimamoru]

The sound of thick boots could be heard stamping into the muk of the ground, followed slowly by the sound of something sliding across the earth in a roughness that bent blades of grass and turned up the soil along the way. Reno held tightly to the man's leg as he dragged him across the ground and towards those he had arrived with. The was a blank expression upon his face, no emotions of anger, excitement but instead a steady calm.

It was his job to do and also acting the part of a guard led him to keep his personality hidden. The Dhani enjoyed hunting people down, Myrians in particular, but he would settle for roughing up anyone really. Still as far as the job itself, he was doing exactly what he needed to, nothing less nor anything more. Lorenzo already had suspicions of his ambition and it wasn't a good idea to seem too forward thinking..at least for a freeborn.

The horror in the young female's eyes was something of note, but he assumed that she was just frightened by what she saw. He didn't think much of it at first, but the cry for him to drop the man did seem strange. Reno dropped the leg as she commanded, an easy task as all he needed to do was uncurl his fingers from around the leg. He didn't step away from them and stood tall, arms folded across his chest as he watched her work. He assumed this was what Lorenzo was talking about with treating the man.

A boot lifted and was planted firmly on the side of the man's head just to remind him who was standing above him, should he think to attack the little woman. He waited patiently, not a word spoken, and his gaze stayed fixed on the male until the girl was done with her healing attempt. When Lorenzo ordered him to tie the man up, he was glad to, that was a lot better than just standing around. Reno wasn't gentle as he reached down and flipped the man over onto his face.

The slave's arms, healed or not, were pulled behind his back and tied together with the rope. Once they were secure, he turned the man over and lifted him onto his shoulder and stood back up. It would be faster work to carry him instead of dragging the swamp rat and they had more work to do either way. The trip back was easy and surprisingly the slave stayed quiet. It was odd and Reno continued to look around them, searching for others that might be hiding nearby.

When they arrived back onto the Whitesnake. property, it was then that he dropped the slave unceremoniously to the ground. If Lorenzo or Verena gave him an odd look he would simply looked back at them without blinking an eye. Mamoru wasn't the best of actors but Reno was supposed to be an unassuming brute and that's how he would play the role. "I'll take care of it, and see you in the morning." he said to Lorenzo in a deepen, heavy voice. Reno didn't look to Verena often, but when ever his gaze passed over her, he was reminded of milk and honey.

Inside the interrogation room, he walked into a familiar setting. In the nest, the guards tortured Myrians and others races whenever it suited him. Mamoru had done a little interrogating and torturing himself during those days so this wasn't new to him. But he had to wonder about the girl, could she handle it? Dhani weren't known for being gentle and since he had already been given the go ahead, Reno didn't intend to. He moved into the room and slammed the man down into the seat roughly. A hand grabbed the man's face and forced him to look into his eyes.

"Don't move." he said little and went to work at tying the man down to the chair so that the interrogation could begin.

[Verena Lorak]

When the man had protested against her touch, the doctor couldn't help but be puzzled. She was helping him, after all. Did he prefer being dragged like some kind of . . . She couldn't even find a word to describe it. Verena found herself wondering what had caused such a reaction. It was not that important though, not with this compound fracture she needed to deal with. With no supplies, she doubted the injury could be treated right away. Not with the bone poking out like that.

Bone setting had never been one her strong suits. She had learned the art, yes, but she was not confident that she could do it here. But it would not do. This man needed a surgery to realign the bones properly and secure it in place. As Verena pondered, her fingers rested on the broken arm, mapping out the layout of the fracture in her mind. It seemed like his radius had snapped and poked out of the skin. The ulna seemed to be fractured too. The gashing wound seemed to be wider that it was supposed to, probably from the fight earlier.

Verena tried not to paid too much attention at the boot that rested on the man's head. Brutal, but a part of her knew it was necessary. At least it kept the man from moving around to much. Right now, she would just let herself worry about the infection. Gently, she pressed her hands on top of the broken bone, feeling its rough edges against her palms. Her healing would not be strong enough to reset the bones, but it could stop the infection and bleeding at least. Lorenzo's wish was granted after all - Verena was definitely not equipped to full heal the criminal.

I just have to use whatever I can then. Roughly, she ripped a part of her silk robe. It wasn't the cleanest of things, but it would do for now. Satisfied with some long strips, her hands deftly bandage the injury, her mind recognizing the set of movements well enough. The soft fabric wrapped around the length of the man's forearm tightly, hopefully slowing down the bleeding. The next best thing she could do now was make a splint.

Fortunately, after some poking around, Verena found a sturdy broken branch, almost as long as the man's arm. With more strips from her clothing, she secured it on the back of his arm. She forced him to straighten it. Fortunately, the man didn't have have that much strength to fight back. When she finished tightening the splint, making sure it wouldn't move around, the girl stood up. A sign that she had done all that she could do.

"Will you be able to do what I asked..or will your Goddess demand otherwise?" She did not answer Lorenzo's question, for she herself did not know the answer. What exactly is he asking from her? Her mind truly could not fathom how the rest of her night will go, but this Rujaro had became her responsibility and it means she would not let him out of her sight.

During their trip back, Verena kept walked slightly behind the men, wanting to keep a close on the injured man. "He's hurt," she reminded anyone who heard her at some point. With his hands tied back, she could only imagine that the wound had started bleeding again somewhere along the way. But thankfully, soon enough, the familiar structure could be seen.

As they waited for the carriage to arrive, Verena had rushed into the house, hastily changing into a more practical attire - a loose shirt paired with pants and leather boots - and ordered a slave to fetch her bag. Everyone was asking her questions, wondering what was happening, but she remembered the magistrate's word and kept her mouth shut. She simply pulled the hood of her cloak to cover her face and rushed out of the building with her bag slung across her shoulder.

----------------------

She had only taken one step into the interrogation room, but it was enough to tell her something was wrong. Seeing the various devices hung against the wall made her shiver. What was she doing here? Verena started fidgeting, her fingers holding the necklace that rested on her neck tightly.

"Don't hurt him. He's nowhere near the condition to runaway," she said to the magistrate's guard. What was his name again? Reno? "The fracture is getting worse because of you." Well, Verena is nothing if not blunt.

[Translucent]

The man grunted when she straightened his arm, bit back a cry when Reno tied his arms behind his back. Otherwise he was silent, counting every breath, desperately watching for signs of slowing organs. Put roughly into the carriage, he didn't look at either of the other occupants, and once more was silent as he was handled into the chair. He breathed quietly, in and out trying to speed his breathing wondering if that would speed his heart to get the poison pumping. The fact that his bone hadn't knitted told him the healer could not have healed his toxin.

So he just had to stall, just stall so that he couldn't be forced to talk too much. Already he was arranging information in his mind in accordance to importance. Some he would tell them willingly because it was unimportance. Some he would hold onto until he couldn't any longer. His muddy brown eyes caught the woman, he had already seen that he had no help from the man. The woman though, maybe, "Yes the fracture is getting worse Dynasty Shyke. Look around you woman..do you think this room is meant to have a cup of tea and a spot of sugar?" His words were dripping with contempt, masking the dread but not fear. He had no fear, all Rujaro knew that this end was a possibility. It is why they all carried this root. There are faster poisons but this root is grown in these swamps and plentiful.

"Even if I survive till morning, do you think a fracture is at the top of the list of worries? After .." he looked toward the man, who seemed as cold as they come, "a night of fun with you two, I am slated for a noose in a high tree." He sat back in the chair, wincing as the binding pulled on his broken arm but began to draw himself inward, working on his bare basics in meditation, looking for the void within his mind.