(no subject)

[zariman]

Kyra's name was Kara originally; same character, different name.

Dana
Chips
Art(NPCs)


Art
So in summary: Door is locked. Lady's room. Faint shrieks come from behind it.

Dana
that... is enough to get kara to void blast the door

Art(NPCs)
Roll it!
Beautiful Peacock (Dana)07/25/2018
/roll 1d100
SidekickBOT07/25/2018
beautiful Peacock (Dana): 1d100 = (47) = 47

Dana
(chips: that is basically slamming the door with her arms, causing a pretty significant shockwave)

Art(NPCs)
You successfully dent the door. The shrieks stop, replaced by muffled panting. The door can't take another blast like that, it's off a hinge and you can sort of see inside. But it's not down completely, and you've made your presence VERY known.

Chips
well, Murtagh will immediately grab at her arm and hiss, "You idiot!"
Thorn might also be judging her a little

Dana
"What?! Someone's in trouble!" She does, to her credit, match his tone and volume.

Art(NPCs)
A shadow moves over the gap in the door, but stops. No one touches the surface.

Chips
Murtagh mutters something foreign (and possibly uncomplimentary) under his breath. Raising his voice: "My Lady, we apologise for disturbing you."

Art(NPCs)
"Your apology is noted." Her lilting voice echoes, and she sounds... amused? "You sound familiar... Are you coming to take her place, or simply to break my door? I know not how long either will last." ((OK I NEED TO KNOW TRIGGERS AND LIMITS ASAP.))

Dana
"Don't be a coward!" This is hissed at Murtagh. "If you're not going to help then just go!" Next she turns to the gap in the door. "Who are you hurting?! Let her go!"

Art(NPCs)
"One of mine, in pain and pleasure." She sounds deeply amused. "I'd offer to show you, but my door seems to be stuck."

Chips
Murtagh takes a deep breath to avoid snapping at Kara. "We don't mean to interfere with her punishment." He squeezes Kara's arm slightly as he says this. "We came to...We came to ask to deliver our own."

Art(NPCs)
"Interesting... I'll allow it." She presses the door back into place, and slowly it opens.

The clumsy maid is tied, hand and foot, to the legs of a table. She's still wearing her veil - it's been pinned to the table, so tight against her face as to muffle her shouts, but she's otherwise naked. She's covered in deep scratches, thin but painful. She's also got burns, especially on her inner arms and legs, and it's clear her back was beaten before she was forced down on it. She's panting.
The Lady herself, resplendent except for her blood-stained fingers, takes a seat.

Dana
"What?!" Kara looks at Murtagh in disbelief, then back inside at the poor woman. She can't help herself; she breaks away from his grip and dashes across the room, kneeling down in front of her and tugging at the veil.

Art(NPCs)
The woman seems to shake her head, suddenly but not vigorously. "Please... don't look..." Her words are quiet.

Chips
This is going to be difficult, he thinks uneasily to himself. He focuses on the Lady - not necessarily because of the maid's request, but to maintain the facade. "You are quite thorough," he says evenly.

Dana
Kara barely pays the Lady mind. "I have to, I'm sorry... I'm only looking at your face. Just your face."

Art(NPCs)
"Don't!" She shudders. If the veil is lifted, even a bit, the scarring on her face becomes evident quickly.
The Lady simply smiles and nods. Her teeth are brilliant white.

Dana
"Okay... okay." She's keeping her voice down, trying to sound soothing even as rage bubbles below the surface. In lieu of lifting the veil further, she turns her attention to the nails holding it back and starts trying to either work them free or tear the fabric around them.

Chips
Murtagh glances at Kara now, mind working as quick as it can. Deceit isn't his strong suit. His thoughts in that regard are a little slower than some others' here. "My companion is more forgiving than I am, as you can see. She insists that I should have been more careful with my bowl but how was I supposed to know the maid would stand up so suddenly?" He shrugs and maintains his stony expression.
Thorn rumbles quietly, allowing a hint of smoke to roil out.

Dana
(is there anything nearby to cover the maid with?)

Art(NPCs)
((A rug?))
"So I see. She is yours to use as you see fit." Her smile fades as she watches Kara, but she doesn't comment. Not yet. The maid, meanwhile, shudders.

Dana
There's a rug nearby and Kara grabs it, dragging it to her and laying it over the maid as well as she can. The knots would be easier to break with a knife, but for now she can only work at them with her hands. "We're taking her with us."

Chips
Murtagh looks to the Lady. "With your permission? If you are not yet done, we will wait."

Art(NPCs)
"You may borrow her. She knows her obligation again." The Lady's face is both austere and inscrutable. The maid shudders once more, but does not resist being covered, or untied.

Dana
With the knots undone and her veil freed, Kara is able to fully wrap her in the rug. She deeply wants to take away her pain, but for now all she can do is her best to protect her. To Kara's credit, she doesn't speak to contradict Murtagh, but she can't keep herself from giving the Lady a piercing, hateful glare.

Chips
It disgusts him to do it, but Murtagh makes himself bow to the Lady. "Thank you. We will return her alive at least."

Art(NPCs)
She nods, ignoring the glare. "Then take your leave. There's much to be done."

Dana
Kara is gentle with the maid. "Can you walk?" she asks, softly.

Art(NPCs)
She nods. With the way she moves, it obviously hurts, but she's apparently had worse.

Chips
Murtagh approaches but hovers out of arm's reach. For better or worse, he can't be seen to help the woman after disparaging her. So he snaps a terse, "Hurry up," at them.

Dana
"Shut up." Kara shoulders as much weight as she can, pressing on the rug so it's not in danger of falling. "Don't tell me what to do."

Art(NPCs)
An immaculate eyebrow quirks in a calculated reveal, but no other muscle on the lady's body moves.

Chips
Murtagh scowls. There's a moment where he seems to hesitate, then he reaches down to drag the maid up roughly. He doesn't care if the rug slips off, nor does he even look at her naked body before marching them towards the door.

Art(NPCs)
She whimpers but does not object otherwise. The Lady smiles once more as they leave.

Dana
The only reason Kara doesn't try to pull the maid back is that she doesn't want to play tug of war with the poor woman. She stays close, though, doing her best to minimize her pain.
Once they're out of sight of the door, Kara tugs on Murtagh's sleeve. "Let's get her to a bathroom," she says, quietly. "Clean up those wounds."

Chips
Murtagh relaxes his grip only once they've turned the corner and approach the stairs. They should be out of sight but he won't feel safe until they're on the lower floors. "There are several below," he mutters. "The one with the rough stone has jars of salves."

Art(NPCs)
The maid will follow, uncertain but not resisting.

Dana
"Good, good. Come on," she says quietly, moving forward to try and bear the woman's weight again. "Where can we hide her? I'm not giving her back."

Chips
"We have to. Didn't you hear? We're only borrowing her." Murtagh grimaces. "And we - I - have to make good on what I told that woman."

Dana
Kara scowls, pulling the maid close protectively. "I won't let you."

Art(NPCs)
No resistance, as always.
Except the veil. She adjusts that.

Chips
Murtagh ushers them down the stairs. He'll lead the way to the bathroom once they get to the bottom. "I'm not going to flay her, gods, woman." He glowers at Kara and Thorn shoots her an equally disparaging look. "But I may be able to fabricate injuries. Bruises."

Dana
Much more acceptable, and Kara drops her hostile look. When they get to the bathroom she gently helps the maid sit and lean on the wall. "I want to clean the cuts on your face," she murmurs. "Is that okay?"

Art(NPCs)
"... They are old."

Dana
"Is that why you don't want to show your face?"

Chips
Murtagh wordlessly heads to the shelves and searches out jars that will help wounds heal. After some mulling, he also turns on the hot water taps so they can clean the maid's open wounds.

Art(NPCs)
She doesn't answer, simply sits down. ((So I assume you clean out her wounds and such? She won't help, but the back is especially messy, because she was flogged.))

Dana
(yeah, as thoroughly as they can probably? that's what kara would do anyway)

Art(NPCs)
((Ok, cool.))

Dana
(would murtagh go along with that?)

Chips
(Murtagh will just hover awkwardly and pass Kara things. He'll pointedly avoid looking too closely at the maid since. no clothes.)
(He'll also be muttering to himself a lot and looking like he's talking to Thorn)

Dana
(doing a time skip?)

Art(NPCs)
((Works.))

Dana
When Kara finishes cleaning the maid up, she sighs and sits more fully. "...Thank you," she says to Murtagh.

Chips
Murtagh shrugs, looking uncomfortable with the thanks. "Don't thank me. I may still have to hurt her again traditionally before she returns. Magic can't work miracles."

Dana
"I didn't tend her wounds just so you can go and undo it! Why are you obeying her?!"

Art(NPCs)
"She is the Lady." She murmurs, as if that explains it.

Dana
"I've killed nobles."

Chips
"I don't want to obey her," Murtagh said irritably. "You're a new arrival, aren't you? There are very few places you can run to if you go against the Lord and Lady of this keep."

Dana
Kara rubs at her face, aggravated. "I don't run. ...How much do you need to hurt her? Just some bruises?"

Art(NPCs)
The maid, again in her rug, looks vaguely pathetic, but there you go.

Chips
Murtagh glances at Thorn and some silent consultation takes place. "We think we may be able to force the skin to show bruises without the need to hit her. But I think Thorn should also leave a burn somewhere to be thorough."

Dana
Kara sighs and nods. "Somewhere the skin is thick, and that clothes don't rub on heavily. Maybe the back of the legs? They wear dresses..."
"Oh, but that would make it hard to walk." She sighs, frustrated.

Art(NPCs)
She doesn't look particularly eager. Her short hair hides anywhere her veil might not cover.

Dana
Kara doesn't blame her. "...I'm sorry."

Art(NPCs)
She simply nods.

Chips
"It should be somewhere potentially visible," Murtagh said carefully, wary of inciting the woman's anger again. "Although the maids cover themselves heavily." He looks at the maid now. "But I think I should attempt the bruising first. If the spell doesn't work as it should, then... Well." He shrugs uncomfortably. The consequences would be horrible enough to make a burn mark irrelevant.

Dana
Kara nods with a sigh. "If it seems like we finished the job... maybe she'll let her go." She traces a line along the top of her chest, leading over her collarbone a bit and onto her shoulder. "Here maybe? So it's visible."

Chips
(okay gonna assume everyone was waiting for me rather than the maid)
Murtagh grunts. He's uncomfortable with this but it has to be done. It seems the maid has no objections so he crouches and tugs the glove off his left hand. There's some kind of silvery, oval(?)-shaped symbol in the middle of his palm and it starts to glow while he mutters his spell.

Art(NPCs)
((Yeah, should've said - the maid's being pretty passive, as she's ovewhelmed.))

Dana
Kara bites her lip, reaching up to pull down a towel. They're softer than the rug, and probably more comfortable to be wrapped up in. Quietly, she swaps out the two, doing her best to preserve the maid's modesty as best she can. She may be out of it but that's no excuse to be unkind.

Art(NPCs)
The maid shivers, and while a few bruises start to appear on her skin, her cuts start to bleed profusely as well. Perhaps it's good she's been swapped to the towel.

Dana
Kara closes her eyes for a moment, then takes some of the blood and makes sure it soaks fully into the towel. Anything to make it look like they hurt her more than they really did.

Chips
Murtagh reels back with a curse. That isn't what he intended at all, and he can't stop the bleeding with another spell as it will heal the wound without scarring. He grabs another towel and presses it to the skin, hoping for it to clot on its own.

Dana
"What else... what else can we do?"

Chips
He grimaces. "Nothing. But we will have to wait for this one to stop bleeding before I try again. I assume you don't want her to bleed to death."

Dana
"...No." She feels helpless, and she hates it. It's an uncommon feeling.

Art(NPCs)
It's several long minutes before the bleeding stops. It's superficial as a nosebleed, but also as violent as the worst of those.

Little Thief (Chips)07/29/2018
(he tries again; 43)
Byakuran Why (Art)07/29/2018
(That should be good enough.))
Beautiful Peacock (Dana)07/29/2018
(to look hurt but not be?)
Byakuran Why (Art)07/29/2018
((To bruise without triggering more bleeding.))
Beautiful Peacock (Dana)07/29/2018
(gotcha)

Dana
Kara lets out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Good... I still don't want to give her back, though. Can't we get her out of the castle?"

Chips
Murtagh grows faintly irritated. "No. Or are you somehow able to sprout wings and fly like a dragon?" he snaps. "For that matter, why are you obsessed with trying to save this one maid when there are many of them in the Lady's employ? Don't be a fool."

Dana
"Because she's the one in front of me right now!" Kara's tone is angry. "I can't help them all yet, but I might be able to help her. Don't you even care?"

Chips
Yes, he does care, Murtagh wants to shout at her. But reality doesn't allow for such pretty thinking. Not in his experience. He barks out a humourless laugh.

"I hate people like you. You focus so hard on saving one person that you neglect to think of the consequences for everyone else. You see the tree rather than the forest," he says bitterly. "It's not that you can't save them all; it's that you don't want to spend the effort or time to think how."

Art(NPCs)
"I need to go back..." It's a murmur, little more.

Dana
"Now! I said I can't do it now! Eventually we'll be able to help everyone here but it's all made of steps! You don't purge a swarm of ghouls in one swoop, you kill them one at a time!"

Chips
"How is killing ghouls the same as rescuing someone?" he shouts. "Do you know what happens when you rescue one out of many? You put their captors on guard and make it harder for the rest to escape! Did you think about that?"

Dana
"It's a metaphor!" Kara is able to match him in both volume and intensity. "I'm not going to be complicit and I can't walk away! I refuse!"

Chips
The poor maid has been temporarily forgotten. Murtagh hasn't felt this angry at someone else for a long while. "It's a false equivalent! And don't conflate complicity with waiting for the right moment to make the most impact. What do you think would happen if we ALL decided to 'rescue' individuals on our own terms rather than cooperating? At best, we would be killed. At worst..." He trails off with another jaded laugh.

Dana
She wants to punch him. She wants to burn that garbage look off his face and it's eating away at her words. Instead, she spins on her heel and slams her hands into the wall, but instead of the powerful blast she'd been going for the blue light of the Void backfires, letting out a bright flash but not otherwise denting anything. Instead the feeling turns inward, the Void inside her roiling and refusing to come out, and the feedback of it causes pain to shoot briefly through her channeling arm. Kara yelps and draws it sharply back, flexing her fingers to make sure she still can once the light has faded.

Chips
A flash of fire appears between Thorn's jaws, the red dragon's claws digging into Murtagh's shoulder and wings outspread threateningly. But since the impact does little more than make a flash and a thump, he slowly settles. He continues to eye Kara with low-key hostility however.

Murtagh gives Kara an unimpressed look. "Is that all you can do? Throw a punch when you're in disagreement? Maybe that solves problems where you're from, but it won't here."

Dana
Kara shuts her eyes, trying to regulate her breathing. "I don't want to sacrifice anyone. It's a bad way of doing things."

Art(NPCs)
The maid has been inching towards the door this whole time.

Chips
"Then I hope you never command an army." Murtagh sneers at her before glancing at the maid. "Go already. Your mistress is probably waiting."

Art(NPCs)
"Yes." She nods, and departs.

Dana
"I am an army." Kara turns and glares, cradling her aching arm. "How many do you kill before you decide the time is right? Ten percent? Twenty? Is forty-nine acceptable to save fifty-one?"

Chips
"How blessed you are," he says mockingly. "You make warfare sound like a simple game of numbers. I imagine you simply leap in and save every person about to fall to a blade. You don't think; you just do, because you have that strength." He jabbed a finger at Kara to emphasise his next point. "But fine, if you wish to talk numbers, then explain to me how saving one is better than saving the other 99!"

Dana
"It's not. I would come back for the rest." Kara sticks her chin out a bit and straightens, looking very much like the teenager she is.

Chips
Now it's is turn to smack the side of his fist against the wall. "Then why not save all one hundred at the same time, you utter fool!"

Dana
"Fine! I'll do that now!" Because she sees a pretty straightforward way of doing it. She stalks around Murtagh to leave the room, flicking her AMP's barrel out.

Chips
He doesn't think she'll actually do it. There is a heated moment where he glares as she stalks past, not making a move to stop her. Why? Because part of him wants to see her do it. He wants to see her try and succeed where other heroes fall short. But he also hopes she fails miserably and proves him right: that she's merely another misguided individual with more good intentions than good sense.

Curse him for not being as heartless as he makes himself out to be. The dragons' voices clamour in his mind's ear.

Still, Murtagh hesitates before he hurries after her. "Are you out of your mind?" he hisses.

Dana
"Why do you care?!" She is, to her credit, matching his tone. "One VIP, an unknown number of hostages. That is an easy formula."

Chips
"Easy or suicidal?" he hisses back. Murtagh doesn't stop her though. His head turns restlessly, on the lookout for guards. "At least Eragon isn't this impulsive," he muttered under his breath.

Dana
"You don't know what I'm capable of," she spits, stalking the hallway purposefully.

Chips
Gods save him, he thinks irritably. He says no more as he follows her up. She'll find out soon enough, and if she's lucky, she won't die from it.