Captured

[Alezand Jozlyn, Allaine knight]

Occ: you tell them bro, for I myself am trembling in my booties, knowing that you are chained to a wall in the cell next to me. lol. miss you and Tony. See you ina few weeks.

Alezand took the blow and turned his other cheek to her, "Thank, M'lady, may I have another? As you very well know, our Lord had said when struck, turn the other. Alezand had been wondering Riths very question much himself, though he didn't give it much thought when he had first returned to the land. Of course then ,such troubles were not present as they are now. So the question was then very valid and important. "Bickering!? M'lady, I have been pleading from the teachings of our holy book. You claim that I have gone against our God, but I am trying to show you that I have not and have worked to protect Avaren in the name of the God given laws of this land. If being a heathen and a follower and aid to the dark arts, I could not preach from the book, for it would be harmful to myself to even read from the book, and those that I have been accused of aiding would murder me upon hearing me utter these words of faith." Jozlyn glanced through the gloom and eyed his friend Tyanno. Stretching, as far as he could, Alezand reached out with a foot and tapped Tyanno as best he could. Come on, please be okay, he thought to himself. Alezand would not be able to control himself if something happened to Tyanno, for that would mean Alezand had failed at his basic duty of his position. "So annoint me again with the back of thy hand, M'lady, for as our Father supped with sinners, lived with sinners, and died for sinners. Your presence and unmeritted favor pleases me to know that I am my Father's son.

[Rith Matou]

Rith's brow cocked at the "Queen's" reply, it was official, now he was truly confused. It took a moment, but something made Rith fall limp before the rattling of his restraints could be heard as he shook with anger.
"Years? ...Have I really been gone that long? ...This injustice has been going on for that long!? Where have the warrirors of Avaren old gone? Are Alezand and I the only ones who remain?" Rith pondered aloud as the echoing rattling of his chains continued to gain frequency and volume. His focus had shattered as another sharp "Pop!" sounded from the fly returning to it's original form. The humble cottonball-like device that he called a Puffer was held snugly as his hands tightened into taught fists and his breathing became heavier and louder.
"How many people have you killed in the name of your Fool's Crusade!? HOW MUCH BLOOD HAVE YOU SPILLED BECAUSE OF YOUR INTOLERANCE!? HOW MUCH!!?" For one of the first times he could ever remember, Rith was genuinely mad, ney enraged. If only he had the might, he would shatter these bonds of Tyranny, he would show this fork-tounged Harpy the undisputable power of Earth! If only he... if only he was here to stop her in the first place...

[Shadow]

Shadow shook his head. It was like he had just been doused with cold water. As he came back to full realization, a pounding headache presented itself. Lovely... yes, Chao, I'm sure. don't come anywhere near here, at least not when you are visible. Trying to distract himself from the pain in his head, he looked around. "hmmm... these walls are quite thick.. and very well built. They'd probably withstand an extreme onslaught. Unless of course there was an attack from both ways.. but still that would have nary a chance of being able to raise the place." Shadow mumbled this, along with a few insults. But he watched his tongue, especially since he really needed it and didn't want to lose it. But he could feel the buzzing of his magical abilities, just out of his mental reach. Damn it.. the drug hasn't worn off yet... Its almost gone though... He looked up, to where the queen and the priest was standing. lowering his voice, he began to ramble. not really saying anything of importance, but stretching his imagination, broadening his horizons."Is it pertinent that we have met God for a success? Because god was quite nice to me, last time I went into his lovely abode. He was really short though, it was kinda funny." Shadow laughed. The story was completely made up, but there was a little truth to it, seeing as he once met a man named God and stayed in the short man's home. "Did you know that God is a mage? I saw it with my own eyes. Call me an insane, heathenistic, heretic, but god wields the power of magic. it was very powerful magic too..." Shadow sighed, wishing that the man he had jokingly called god was here at the moment, seeing as this predicament would be almost instantly reversed... but no, Odin had to go and get himself shot in the forehead by a stray night arrow. Raising his voice so it would carry, his words were clear, even though he was completely serious, this new idea struck him as funny. "What is the punishment for burning down a castle?Is there one? And please, just satisfy my curiosity. I'm not asking this to be a fool." Suddenly, There was a click. a very loud click, that came from the ceiling of the chambers, followed by a thud. Seeing as most of the prisoners ignored it, Shadow surmised that he was the only one who had heard the noise. he decided to dismiss it as a hallucination.

[Alezand Jozlyn, Allaine knight]

Alezand's attention paused too, hearing a click above, followed by a muffled thud. Curious, Alezand took his time, mulling over the words he had said previously, watching Tyanno carefully, and yet at the same time, he concentrated on that area above where he eard the faint sound a few moments before. In the darkness, he couldn't see Tyanno too wel ,to tell if he was bleeding or even if he was breathing. Alezand had been in many desperate situations before. The last time he was in a predicament like this though, he lost someone. Someone he loved. The only person that he loved at the time. It seemed so long ago, and yet the pain, the clarity and the guilt, it still struck him often just as it was yesterday. It was the forces that were outside Avarens walls right now that had inflicted that wound on Alezand's soul. It was those very forces that continued to hunt him and his allies since that dark day. Yes, Alezand had been situations before, but since then, he had always been on his own. Most of the time, he never knew why. But now, he understood. He needed friends, allies to complete his destiny and to serve his mandate. So long as he was alone, he was broken. He was a powerfull, enemy of the darkness, but it was not enough. And now yet again, his friends were the possible price to pay for his fight against evil. He would not fail again. No one, not this queen, not these guards, not this priest, not ANYONE, was going to stand in his way. The rage built inside of him, silently, so much that even he himself did not sense his own loss of control of his emotions. A time shall come, and he will win, or die in the process. But he would prevail, and his friends will live on...

[Tyanno Dynam, Allaine mage]

Tyanno was aware of the voices around him, echoing, both in his swimming head and in what ever place they were in. His eyes were still closed, his head was pounding with thunderclaps of pain. He was concious of something was tapping him, but it still didn't feel like he could feel it. He just knew. Then he just opened his eyes. Or so he thought, for it was hard to tell in the dark cell. But his vision went from certain blackness to obscurred darkness. He didn't will himself to open them, it just happened, without thought. "ugh, what happened? Alezand? Alezand!! Are you there?" He rapidly felt very alone in that second of eternity. His mind just reeled and strained, tricking itself at every perception...

[Thurel Derufin]

"Look lads; if I had things my way half of you wouldn't even be here at the moment.", came a deep bass from the stairway that was the only entry and exit into the Dungeons and at the foot of the stairs stood the Captain of the Guard arrayed in his war gear. "I know there are warriors in this lot, and it does pain me to imprison fellows such as you; including past defenders of Avaren if you truely are as you claim, but I am only a servant to two things in my life. My City and my God; God knows that I have sinned in the past and have long since made up for those sins, and if he's willing he'll forgive you as well should you ask him to." Thurel wasn't a man that would hate others over pity things, but when something as long lasting as the religion he followed labeled these prisoners as "Heathens" and "Heretics"; there was little doubt in the solider's mind that God was wrong.

Every inch covered in armor, Thurel Derufin made his way forward to where Queen Rianne and Father Vidar stood, and upon reaching them; he genuflected on one knee in a sign of respect. "My Queen and My Father; I am at your services. I have made sure that the guards are on the highest alert and I've made certain that several...devices were installed to ensure the safety of our prisoners. The warhounds, keep defenses and townwatch are also readied in case there is a mass breakout; they won't get far if they manage to escape from here."

Still on his knee, Thurel hesitated for a moment before looking up through the slits of his helm; into the eyes of Father Vidar. "Father....the Lord preaches that heathens and Heretics are of the worse degree of villiany, but when this started started I thought this was going to be only to round up the Mages because of the black magic. Yet now....I'm troubled Father Vidar and I will not try to hide it; it does not sit well with me to see fellow warriors sitting in cells that were not meant to hold Avaren's children. If perhaps they could find some way of atonement, such as revealing where other Heathens dwelt or at least give us the names and physical descriptions of mages in the general area; might that not earn them redemption in God's eyes?"

"Father; I will do what must be done in this times, but I do it on an unsteady heart and it frightens me since I haven't questioned a higher authority for sometime. I know what my task is and that is what God wills me to do, but....I fear to feel so lost in this times of black magic and corrupting spirits Father Vidar."

[Alezand Jozlyn, Allaine knight]

Alezand listened intently. At first, his heart skipped to sense Tyanno stir. Ah, at least he is alive, for now. But his attention was then drawn to the clad officer. He had heard of Thurel a few times upon his return. From the description, Alezand would suspect that Thurel was not at ease at this decreement as perhaps the rest of the court was. And hearing the the words uttered in humbleness from under that helm and plate, Alezand was now sure that perhaps later, he could rely on Thurel. He was just a soldier trying to fight for the people and follow orders, just like Alezand. And being that, Alezand sensed the greatest pity for Thurel. He was a fellow comrade, just stuck on the wrong side of the bars. He could foresee at future with him and the Captain fighting side by side. He could see it very clearly, for that was the way it was supposed to be. But dark plots had meddled again, and reality was contorted into Evils wish right now. The enemy was probably twisting in glee to see the forces of light fighting so adamantly within its own ranks. Divide and conquer, an old adage, worked no matter whether you were good or bad, so long as you could find a weakness, and everyone has a weakness...

[Shadow]

Shadow laughed. "ah... the captian of the guard, I believe." he shook his head. we're all going to die if we cant get out of here... It's not like we can tell them where aesir is, they'd never find or believe a word of it. But... If they could be lead astray... say... into a very dangerous place... maybe the mountain of the gong... Sighing, shadow decided against it, becase who would believe a half-concious mage? none the less, shadow did say something. "How is it that every moment that we spend foolishly in this place is another moment that we could spend out of it?" His voice was low, and he made sure it didnt carry too far. "If I wasnt drugged, and if everyone was fully alert, then we could have made a break for it a while ago. not that the edition of me makes much of a difference. But it might... nah, it couldnt..." Shadow began to ramble on and on, contradicting everything he said. then his head drooped, his voice stopped, and he fell into a light sleep.

[Tyanno Dynam, Allaine mage]

Tyanno shook his head to clear lingering dizziness, and whispered to Alezand, "What happened, where are we?" He didn't remember much. He could recall the smoke starting to clear and yelling something to Alezand about needing help, but never got it out. He blacked out after that. He gazed out the bars and saw the Captain standing there as well as the new queen and priest. He started to put two and two together. "please tell me we're not captured and imprisioned" he said just loud enough for Alezand to hear in his usual sarcastic tone. Ah things were getting interesting. But what their predicament held was what Tyanno could comprehend at the moment, being unconcious all this time. But he thought, looking at all the guards and the utter look of murder in the queen's eyes, it would be better to keep his mouth shut. the others would inform himof anything he needed to know...

[Vidar]

"Now now now, my queen, "Vidar said comfortingly to Rianne, "Do not bother with them. Let them say whatever blaspheme they desire." Gesturing to his scribes, who had been hurriedly scribbling down everything that had been said, he continued, "All they are doing is building up a case against themselves. Their continued arguments can do nothing but show the lord their true remorseless guilt. No change to speak they say? They've had plenty enough for me to make my decision, and more than enough for the most part to even need my judgment as to their guilt."

Completely ignoring what the prisoners said or did, or at least refusing to acknowledge it with any comments of his own, even when Rith began screaming at them, he only paid heed to the next person to arrive in the dungeons: Thurel.

"Thurel, you are a noble man, one who shows his true devotion to god even though your some of your own warriors have fallen from grace. Yet still, that you suggest we give these heathens another chance to escape saddens me." he said, frowning and shaking his head slowly. "Still," he said as an afterthought, "Your words might hold some wisdom, for I wonder if we couldn't perhaps find the source of this evil and purge it with the fires of the good lord."

"But first," he said, walking back to the cells, "I shall decree your punishments."

"You," he said, pointing to Shadow, "Here is one too dangerous to even keep imprisoned without drugging. He has already proven himself guilty many times over and even not deigns to make blasphemous remarks against the lord himself. He deserves nothing more than swift and certain death. Keep him heavily drugged and increase his dosage even, until it is time for the execution."

"Then there is you," he said, now turning to Rith, "You argue that witchcraft and devilry can be used for good, when it is clear that it can only be used for evil. That and you practice your devilry from within your very cell," he said, gesturing to a pair of guards to relieve him of the object he had conjured. "Make sure that one is drugged too, until he meets his own execution."

"And finally, the pair of you." He said, referring to Alezand and Tyanno. "One of you is, supposedly, a warrior of this realm. It makes me very sad indeed to have to have a warrior of Avaren tried for association with evil. You too argue that magic can be used for good, yet this is once again not so. All magic of any sort is pure evil by nature, there is nothing that will ever change this. Association with your partner, an accused heretic, is enough to land your head on the chopping block."

"Yet," he continued, "The lord is merciful and shall give you a single chance. Speak now, tell us of all deeds of deviltry and witchcraft that your companion has practiced. Lay his sins before the judgment of god. Do this, and show us where the rest of these devil-worshipping vermin reside and you shall be absolved of your crimes."

"How do you reply?"

[Alezand Jozlyn, Allaine knight]

Alezand gathered his strength. It was really gonna come down to this. "Father, know this that what I am about to tell you is the truth. The man beside me is indeed a mage, trained in magic, but I worked to bring him out of his ways and he accepted for awhile. I was training him to leave sorcery behind and become a soldier of God. I just wanted to beleive in him so much, I may have been blinded from my faith. As for the location of the hidden city of the Magi, I know it. I was taken there once by one of them. I can tell you that the only way to reach the entrance for us normal, good people is to enter through the Dark Citadel. They hid an entrance there because none of our kind would ever dare enter there. But," and he turned to Thurel and Rianne for his next words would be important to them,"that particular way is a weak point into the city. I have seen it. it is the least defended point and you can reach their seat of power easily. They are arrogant people and do not beleive that you, M'lady or the Captain here have the stoutness to lead an attack on any point. They are powerful, but if you lead enough soldiers through the place I have told you, they will be caught off total guard and will be helpless. It is to your strategic advantage to heed my words if you wish to strike them where it hurts. I have fought all my life and know the wims and wits of war. M'lady, you chance to do your will is at hand." and with that he laid back against the wall. He couldn't believe he just did what he did, but maybe it was for the best....

[Tyanno Dynam, Allaine mage]

Tyanno just sat there. Stunned, maybe, but then again, all of this was surreal. It was like a dream. He wanted to wake up, but his eyes just didn't want to open. What Alezand had said just passed through him like the wind, of no consquence. His mind was already elsewhere. Whether he just excepted his fate, it was unclear even to him. But he was always trained to be calm, no matter the situation, and so he just let his body and mind just drift on the edges of reality. His imagination was so much less painful than what the real world was right now. So he stayed there. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, a voice screamed at him to get up and scream and holler with all his being at the foolish deciders of fate standing outside his cell. How can humanity be so blind at times like these. At times of need. But no matter how the voice fought inside his head, he remained that constant peaceful guardian his always was and wanted to be...

[Rith Matou]

It all hit him so fast, like a flurry of blows from a professional boxer; Father Vidar's judgement, the Guards relieving him of the Puffer he smuggled back, and Alezand's responce.
"There's a city of Mages? And you're just going to hand over the location to save your own hide? You're nothing but a traitor, to your allies and to one of your own Alezand..." Rith said barely audible, his fervent shakings having long since ceased. He had fallen limp in shock...could this be the end?
"Please, don't be so rough handling those Puffers..." Rith said in the same soft tone as he stared at the ground. If this was to be his fate, then he mustn't resist Nature's Will. He remained silent for a short time afterwards before speaking again, allowing these to be his last words: "Power is indifferent, neither good nor evil. It is the person who utilises it that chooses to do so for good or evil. This is the constant, whether the power is Magic or Royalty. This is what maintains Earth's balance...choice."

[Shadow]

Shadow 's eyelids fluttered.more drugs? no... they actually might be able to supress me if they do that... he stirred, and pulled himself into a sitting position. Just in time to hear azleand telling the assembled(Queen, Thurel and Vidar) about the hidden entrance of aesir. "The hidden entrance! But the city would be destroyed!" Shadow went silent, thinking. "but... if we are let out, alive... it might be worth it." he sent addressed his words to thurel. "The City of the magi is only protected from attack by means of magic. They will easily fall to any mildly trained warrior, as long as that warrior can get in swinging range before the Mage has a chance to call up hellspawn... Your attack would have to be swift and strong, or there would be no use, seeing as the 'heathens' can cause much mischief from afar. like me, If I wasnt beginning to tear myself away from the path of evil, and if i wasnt drugged, then I could easyil light your hair on fire father. but that would only be if i was still of free evil mind. Without the influence of the devilous magic in my head, i am able to think clearly." Shadow laughed silently. Im selling my comerades... but hey... one does what one needs to survive...


((i wont be able to access the internet for a while... ill try though...))

[Vidar]

"Interesting....Ever do the works of evil seek to corrupt the faithful," he said, waving a scribe to himself. Taking quill and parchment, he jotted down a quick note. Upon finishing, he rolled it up tightly and took a waiting candle from his scribe. Sealing the scroll, he pressed his signet upon the cooling wax and handed it back to his scribe. "There is the order of attack. Bring this immediately to the warriors barracks and make all necessary preparations. If this information should hold true, then the warrior shall be let free and absolved of all crimes. If not, then he shall be subject to torture and death."

"As for the pair of you," he said, referring to both Shadow and Rith even as his scribe bowed and left, "I have rendered judgment upon you already, any further sentiments should be suspended, as nothing you say can possibly sway the will of god.