[ closed ] someone say a hail mary for this house

[thornydisposition]

CHARACTERS: Elias Ainsworth, Suyumkhe, Sieglinde Sullivan.
DATE: Around 11/20ish.
WARNINGS: None, presently.
SUMMARY: Armed with one living captured Deemer and a truth spell, the trio set out to an abandoned corner of Perdition's Rest to try to wrest some more answers from their charge.

[The captured Deemer didn't do very much. He had been in their custody for a few days now, and besides eat and drink what was offered, the rest of his time seemed to be spent consumed in sullen silence. He was passed between hands as the Audentes agents went about their personal prerogatives—Elias himself spent a few hours one day searching out a space that would match the requirements posed to him by Sieglinde.

Out of the way, with a large, unobstructed floor to use for the runic circle. With the town in a state of unease, and feeling as though he had very little to barter with for use of an occupied building, he eventually ranged out towards the outskirts. Most of what he found was unfit—either for the spell itself or just in general—but he eventually comes across a barn with most of the floor clear, its uses for storage apparently let slide some time ago.

From there, it was just a few short messages to both Shuyi and Sieglinde to establish place and time before he went back to fetch the prisoner, leading him out to the given location at the given hour.

Elias guides the Deemer silently—not as though the infested qorral would have much to say to him, given his taciturn nature since his capture and the death of his companion and the escape of his leader. He might need to be prompted to speak to make this spell work at all. The idea is distasteful to Elias, but so is much that they were forced to do here.

The day was progressing to late afternoon, and the heat was thick and heavy in the air, settling over him like another particularly stifling layer of clothing. The relative cool of the shaded interior of the barn was appreciated, then; bright red eyes moved in the dark eye sockets, scanning the area for those he had summoned. Empty, as of yet. This was fine. He had left a little early.]

Forward. [The lowly-intoned word was laced as a command, and the glance that the Deemer shot him was only partially indignant before he shambled forward onto the rough-hewn planks of the barn's floor, only partially broken with weeds and rot.

The magus stepped inside the barn to wait, unblinking red gaze keeping the prisoner as restrained as the rope binding his arms behind his back.]

Comments

[grunehexe]

[There was a tightness in her chest that couldn't be explained simply by the instinctual fear a person ought know at the dark shadows Elias seemed to either wield or be made of, that couldn't be explained by the tenseness of the situation itself. It was a far more personal nervousness, never having tried this spell before in actual practice, thrumming with a dull excitement and over-analyzing every aspect of it, waiting for proof it actually worked.

Proof that came, when after the words finished leaving the man's mouth, a spasm seemed to wrack his throat, and the cut in her finger gave a sudden stab of pain, connected yet by the blood of the spell.]

That is a lie.

[Announced, (a bit proudly), to Elias, before her eyes turned to the possessed man, voice dipping down in warning.]

... I do not advise you continue to make efforts towards untruth. It will grow far more unpleasant for you...

[And for a girl who seemed as young as she was... she seemed oddly alright with that.]

[thornydisposition]

[Perhaps it was ill-advised to let anyone in their group see him in this way. It could undermine the blind trust that they placed in such a strange creature, regardless of what had put them all here or what they were all bound to do. But, truth be told, this wasn't even as monstrous as Elias could be, and because of that he didn't consider any sorts of negative ramifications. Now he just wanted answers, which was what he had wanted most of all since arriving into this entangling scenario in the first place.

He didn't really feel anger as humans did. When things didn't go as he wanted them to, as they did when the Taraxa-controlled qorral replied with a bald-faced lie, he just felt a powerful inclination to violence, not necessarily motivated by hatred or frustration. He withstood the impulse, as he had long since learned to, though his gaze became more intent. From how close the qorral was, he could see slits, now, in those glowing red eyes—reptilian, cold.]

Indeed. [The reply is made without movement, keeping his eyes unblinking on the subject of the spell.] I agree with the young witch. It is in your best interest to be truthful.

[The shadows clinging to the man's body began to sprout thorns.]

Again, [said with utmost patience,] what are the Taraxa's relationship to Zymandis?

[He tries to lie. He really does. Elias watches as the mouth moves, struggling, as if something were caught in his throat without going through the eventuality of choking him. What he does manage to get out at first is,] "I - I told you, hhg," [he flinches, as if in pain, before the next words come from his mouth more like a stream than a trickle.] "Our hive - works as infiltrators for them. For - this planet we were sent to work our way into the qorral settlement without suspicion. We - hgh, used the guise of a religious group to start, then we began to plant more agents through the patrons of the saloon."

[The man stops, taking a few labored breaths, and Elias glances for a moment towards Sieglinde.] I believe that rings more true. [He observes the circle upon the floor for a moment.] ...Well done.

[grunehexe]

[Her gaze is locked on the man- the Qorral, the Taxara- watching this throat, specifically, the pulsing veins, the way skin shrunk away from the prick of thorns, the way he tries to force the lie past the spell.

But he can't, and the truth comes out. She watches the runes for signs of response, hints that he's lying, but no twinge of pain hits her bloodied finger, and no color bleeds into the wards.

She sighs softly in relief, glad to hear something that isn't an untruth, nodding to Elias give her assent, that she'd received no sign to prove a lie.]

- thank you.

[She tried to save her actual pride in her success for later, lips thinning.]

I cannot guarantee the strength of the spell will stay constant over time, however. We should ask what needs to be asked as quickly as possible.

[Especially considering that she'd heard of another interrogation being cut off by an external source... and a suicide. Maybe that couldn't happen when the man was bound, but...]

[thornydisposition]

[It was an efficient spell. Elias isn't sure he would've been able to do anything of the like without the use of force—he could control a creature's body and their words, but their thoughts were locked from him, and while he could destroy memories, he couldn't search through them like an open book.

Too bad.]

Agreed. [He turns the attention of those red, reptilian eyes back to the captive.]

So, [his voice takes on that odd intonation once again,] what is next for you, now that you have infested so many in town?

[Now that the words had been pried and loosened from him, the staggered trickle of information widened to a stream, flowing much more normally. The qorral gives a choking laugh.] If we hadn't been discovered you mean. [He tries to spit, but it doesn't go well, mostly just getting on his face.] We were supposed to join up with more Zymandis agents and drill to the - temporal crystal in the core of the planet, so we could ... destroy it and this Timeline both.

[He falls silent as Elias tilts his head to one side. It's what he had suspected, but...]

Why?

[Expression resolves itself into something steely on the qorral's face, and he looks Elias dead in the eyes. He seems to hesitate for a second, but in the end he simply clears his throat, continuing,] Zymandis wants to find those abnormalities in the timeline, just - like ALASTAIR. But they - we want to topple it piece by piece by piece until - the whole thing shatters.

Why? [He repeats it a little louder.

The captive just gives a defeated-looking half-smile.] I've - told you all I know. That might be a question... for the Queen.

[The circle doesn't react to his words. ...Disappointing.

Elias takes a step away, turning his back on the qorral. The shadows relax ever so slightly as the thorns disappear, letting him slump to the ground. The shadows clustering in the poorly-lit corners of the barn begin to behave a little closer to normal.

He glances towards Sieglinde.] What do you think?

[grunehexe]

[Destroying the timeline.

It is a hard thing to comprehend, only being told it in words- even if she knows for a fact that the taraxa was speaking the truth. Even ALASTAIR's mission was obscure and hard to truly wrap one's head around, what with the lack of real viewable influence on a timeline, let alone addressing the morality, the sheer arrogance of saying that you alone knew the way a world ought to be...

But to topple it...

Sieglinde is silent for a long moment, until she finally moves a half step forward and scuffs the magic circle she'd drawn upon the ground, the red retreating and seeping out as the lines lost their sharp and neat edges, power draining from it and from the man himself as she looks up at Elias.]

... we must tell the others.

[thornydisposition]

[Although he would be plagued with curiosity either way, sometimes it was wasted effort to try to understand the motivations of some individuals and some groups. Trappings of logic and reason were, after all, merely agreed-upon constructs that did not apply to all, and the same could be said for morality. The fae operated on different rules, and Elias did not question them. And then there were creatures like that dreadful Cartaphilus, who even if he managed to have a reason for his actions was still not exonerated from them because of that.

So even though Elias couldn't help but be interested in the endless pursuit of understanding and knowledge, he's aware that it's of a limited use. In the end there is merely the words and the deeds, action and reaction, cause and effect.

That of what occurred here today was that they had acquired information, regardless of their methods. He eyes the exhausted qorral where he slumps onto the floor, deep in consideration.

Sieglinde steps forward to break the circle, and the magic steadily drains from it. For the best.]

Indeed. [His voice is a deep intonation as he steps up to the prisoner one final time. The shadows have, at this point, returned to normal, as has Elias' appearance. The man is still bound, however, and the mage gets the feeling he would not try to make a break for it at this point, not with what he had just done and divulged laying thick upon his conscience.]

Rise, and follow us.

[It takes a stumble and a moment, but the creature rises to his feet to comply.

Elias turns to face Sieglinde, catching Shuyi's eye as well.] Let us go, then.