Jemal's Prisoners

Mei-Ying absorbs that, bowing to Quill reflexively as he does to her.

"Then we must know first how to undo these...soul binds," she says, "and second, plan to secure for ourselves whatever method the guards use to leave this place."

She looks impassively at the others, then back at Quill. "Is there a way to tell who we are bound to?" She pauses, and a ghostly smile flickers over her red lips. "Short of dying, of course."

Autumn said:

Celes is startled at first by the mode of communication employed by Quill, but soon that initial astonishment gives way to merely the feeling of being washed away on an endless tide of words.

How can anybody possibly be so very talkative at a time like this? she wonders, before her thought train is suddenly derailed as it occurs to her - wait, did he pick that up? Did I think it at him, or just think it? What about this? What if - ugh.

"Celes," the centaur girl cuts in sharply on her own thoughts, stepping forward with a soft clinking of her gleaming armor to briefly take Quill's offered hand.

She casts a dismayed glance at the robed woman as she realizes that she doesn't understand a word she's saying. "Do you understand her?" she asks Quill in European, her accent courtly and cultured but tinged with the slight lilt of her Elven mother tongue. "...Or me, for that matter?"

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Smiling mischievously at the tall but striking centaur woman, Quills grips her wrist in a warriors embraces then commences speaking to her in flawless common European "Um yes to both of your questions, and I'll try to keep my ah natural loquaciousness to a minimum. It's indeed a pleasure to meet such a rare beauty as yourself Celes" continuing to hold onto her hand Quills slides his hand down her wrist until he is softly holding on to her hand, sketching a courtly bow he brings her hand up to his soft inviting lips before releasing his grip with obvious regret "A rare beauty indeed, any man should count himself favoured of the gods to have his soul bound to one such as yours"

OOC: Quill translates and sends everything to the others, apart from his words to Celes.

Shayuri said:

Mei-Ying absorbs that, bowing to Quill reflexively as he does to her.

"Then we must know first how to undo these...soul binds," she says, "and second, plan to secure for ourselves whatever method the guards use to leave this place."

She looks impassively at the others, then back at Quill. "Is there a way to tell who we are bound to?" She pauses, and a ghostly smile flickers over her red lips. "Short of dying, of course."

Click to expand...

Turning regretfully away from Celes with a parting smile Quills back to Mei Ying and assumes an attentive posture.

"It certainly wouldn't hurt to look into the possibility of removing the soul-bonds, perhaps some of the locals have devised a way in which to either remove the bonds or in the least discover who we're bound to, other than that I believe the only certain way is to die to discover who're bonded to."

"Regarding using the guards portals to escape, it might be possible but we'd need to secure significant resources to do so, such as a uniting all of the prisoners to attempt to breach one of their compounds"

"Also from my studies I believe I know approximately where we are, I believe that if he head out in this direction, we will find an established settlement of sorts."

"Eventually!"

Eoghan reaches up and scratches at his beard with a calloused hand. After a heavy sigh, he runs his hand through his hair and tilts his head down. Combining a slurred method of tying words together and a loose interpretation of proper vowels, Eoghan mutters in European, "This is fitting. This is deserved."

He slowly raises his head and his eyes meet with Quill's.

"M'name is Eoghan. If ya would please, m'head is aching, I need ta rest, and this incessant speech in m'mind is no' helping wi' either o' those. Is there someplace ta sleep 'round 'ere?"

He looks down at his hands, covered in a dull, fading red; the same red that flowed in his brother's veins, in his veins. Turning his hands over repeated, Eoghan can see that the blood has dried in every crack of his hands, under each nail, giving him the look of red mitts. He takes a deep breath, expanding his chest and holding it a few moments before expelling it.

With a wavering voice, he slowly intones, "...someplace ta clean up?"

ethandrew said:

Eoghan reaches up and scratches at his beard with a calloused hand. After a heavy sigh, he runs his hand through his hair and tilts his head down. Combining a slurred method of tying words together and a loose interpretation of proper vowels, Eoghan mutters in European, "This is fitting. This is deserved."

He slowly raises his head and his eyes meet with Quill's.

"M'name is Eoghan. If ya would please, m'head is aching, I need ta rest, and this incessant speech in m'mind is no' helping wi' either o' those. Is there someplace ta sleep 'round 'ere?"

He looks down at his hands, covered in a dull, fading red; the same red that flowed in his brother's veins, in his veins. Turning his hands over repeated, Eoghan can see that the blood has dried in every crack of his hands, under each nail, giving him the look of red mitts. He takes a deep breath, expanding his chest and holding it a few moments before expelling it.

With a wavering voice, he slowly intones, "...someplace ta clean up?"

Click to expand...

Quills turns away from Mei-Ying and after casting a not so casual glance in the direction of Celes he eventually focuses on the human before him and speaks in unaccented European in a slightly worried tone

"Headaches you say, um do you mind if I ask what part of your brain is currently aching, and ah did you have a head-ache before you arrived here, or only since you went thru the portal. Um now that you mention it my head is aching a bit too, so it must be a side effect of traveling thru the portal"

"Um regarding a place to rest and clean up, the short answer I believe is no. But some who have a more poetic outlook on life might just as equally say the world is your oyster, albeit an oyster without a decent bathroom"

"Regarding food and shelter, I believe we have to create our own. Ah shelter that is, not the food. Because that's obviously the province of the divine the creation of something from nothing."

"Regarding food I believe that those sacks over there have enough food and water to last a week, for ah those of us who require such things" the last is said while looking meaningfully nodding his head in the direction of the undead skeleton-thing.

"Where was I, oh yes food and shelter. I can create shelter of a sort, which I hear is a requirement on this world. So how about we all move over this way, away from the portal exit and I'll see what I can do about whipping up someplace to lay our heads"

OOC: Assuming that the others agree to follow, then Quill will lookout for a suitable mound of earth, stone or something similar to cast his fabricate spell on to.

Valak lands with an unceremonious clatter of metal, sliding for some distance before coming to a halt on one knee; His massive hammer, having cut a deep furrow in the earth, clutched tightly in his right hand. Slowly, seemingly without effort he stands to his full height, despite the thick heavy plates of steel that adorn his body. With a flick of his wrist he casually swings his hammer up, catching it just below the colossal head with a firm hand that dislodges the newly aquired chunks reddish soil.

Finally he raises his head, taking in his surroundings. Dark shadowy figures surround the raised dias on which he, and several others, stand. He notes a figure break away from the circle to approach the dias as he surveys those closest to him. Almost immediatly his eyes flare at the sight of a magnificent beast; A sleek, powerful equine body, but with the torso and upper body of that of a human woman. While the creature before him may be strange, it's the blinding aura that surrounds her that puts him on his guard.

It's then that he see's her flinch slightly, almost imperceivably, which brings his thoughts back to the present. Cocking his head slightly to look past the Centaur, he focuses his malice on the old man while his mind raced over what the man had just said. "You that have a desire to stay alive, may wish to keep your fellows alive, too" was all that Valak had heard...

Slowly he retuns his attention to those nearest him, paying the old man only a glance as he departs on a strange metallic flying vessel. The centaur, an exotic stately looking woman, a neat, well groomed human, a strange humanoid with eyes of sorrow, and another man. It's this man that holds his attention, or rather the small stone that floats absently around his head. "An Illumian?", he thinks to himself. "Why is he here? Did he follow me?". Glancing down at the Illumian's feet, he notes the shattered manicles, "And what cursed devil magic does he posess?"...

Before getting a chance to pursue his thoughts any further a voice cuts in with startling clarity. Quickly his eyes flit from individual to individual in an attempt to see who is speaking, yet everyone present remained motionless, save for the Centaur who scuffed at the floor with one hoof in a sign of impatience, or nervousness, though the glint in her eye told him that it was the former. Valak watched the strange humanoid rant through his introduction, only responding with a low growl at the mention of his undead state.

Quietly Valak stands slightly aloof, watching the interaction between the others. Finally sated that he is under no direct threat he steps forward. "Valak" he states in a deep voice that seems to resonate from within his armour as he indicates himself. Turning to the exotic, silken clad woman, "I agree, we must find away to break the bonds, but first we should move from this place. The warden said they cleared the area for two miles, so I assume the locals will know we are already here. We need to find cover; Either in the trees to the east or the settlement" He points to the southwest. "Let us become more accustomed to this place before we attempt to embark on a mission we know nothing of"...

With the last words he swings his hammer over his shoulder, taking a casual stance, waiting to see what the other's are thinking...

Lord_Raven88 said:

Smiling mischievously at the tall but striking centaur woman, Quills grips her wrist in a warriors embraces then commences speaking to her in flawless common European "Um yes to both of your questions, and I'll try to keep my ah natural loquaciousness to a minimum. It's indeed a pleasure to meet such a rare beauty as yourself Celes" continuing to hold onto her hand Quills slides his hand down her wrist until he is softly holding on to her hand, sketching a courtly bow he brings her hand up to his soft inviting lips before releasing his grip with obvious regret "A rare beauty indeed, any man should count himself favoured of the gods to have his soul bound to one such as yours"

OOC: Quill translates and sends everything to the others, apart from his words to Celes.

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Quill's exaggerated courtliness goes quite some way to calming Celes down, reminding her as it does of a more comfortable and familiar time and set of circumstances. She smiles back forthrightly, accepting the flattery graciously and without a hint of embarrassment. "Thank you," she says sincerely, meeting his eyes. "Your gallantry under pressure does credit to your manners... if perhaps not to the ordering of your priorities," she adds with a wry flourish.

The parry and thrust of courtly flirtation still comes easily. She feels her confidence buoyed a little.

-SIN- said:

Quietly Valak stands slightly aloof, watching the interaction between the others. Finally sated that he is under no direct threat he steps forward. "Valak" he states in a deep voice that seems to resonate from within his armour as he indicates himself. Turning to the exotic, silken clad woman, "I agree, we must find away to break the bonds, but first we should move from this place. The warden said they cleared the area for two miles, so I assume the locals will know we are already here. We need to find cover; Either in the trees to the east or the settlement" He points to the southwest. "Let us become more accustomed to this place before we attempt to embark on a mission we know nothing of"...

With the last words he swings his hammer over his shoulder, taking a casual stance, waiting to see what the other's are thinking...

Click to expand...

The resonating voice booming out from Valak quickly brings Celes back down to earth as she turns to regard him (it?) with a suspicious and almost hostile gaze.

By the time he's finished, though, she's been put more or less at ease again. What he has said is only good sense, and to her surprise she finds herself nodding her assent despite her deep-seated distaste for the obviously unnatural being. "We should get to somewhere more secure and defensible. We can rest and take stock once we know we're safe."

After everyone had made their say, Xing'dao Li gave his first words to them in a thickly cultured European accent. "He is not a lich monsieur Quill, but a death knight. They are the martial equivalent of liches but you seldom find them without a retinue." He then turns his head to position his masked face in front of the undead in question. "I wonder Sir Valak, where is yours?" Then as if remembering something, he turns back to the others. "Forgive my manners. I haven't properly introduced myself. I am Xing'dao Li."

He then surveys those around him. One of them holds the key to his fate. Inwardly he cringes at the thought of being dependent on another. It makes him feel weak inside. But things can't be helped. He must find a way to break these soulbonds

Quill knows.. though he's been trying to figure out whether/how to break the information... That the settlement will not actually be inside the city. Only bandits live in these cities, using them as great Ambush places for the unwary. The large group of buildings is a leftover product of the original human civilization, not something created by inmates.
The more.. 'civilized' and less violent set up their homes away from such zones. The nearest settlement would be towards the SouthEast, a ways off into the barren area, nearer the forest.

With a curious look at Xing'dao Li, Mei-Ying makes a looping gesture and pronounces a word of power. A moment later she rises from the stone platform, lifted by a transparent disc that glows a soft blue under her feet.

"Lead the way, guide Quill," she says, "and I will follow."