M.D.Syl
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Chapter 140 colorless
🕑 Added 2024-05-08 06:24:04 +0000 UTCAuthor Notes:
This chapter is dedicated to CluelessTurtle95.
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Chapter 140 An Interrogation I.
Everyone makes mistakes.
Mistakes lead to experience.
Experience leads to wisdom.
Wisdom leads to improvement.
But there’s always someone wiser and better.
Tukado, the creator.
{28} Rakisha (September) the 20th.
“He won’t talk,” Kolag growls angrily. Kolag, Ryon, Sharla, Jerro and I stand near the dungeon cell of the captured assassin. There’s no sign of the many torture devices that cluttered the place back when King Luard ruled, there’s only a cold stone floor instead. The stony moss covered walls has a gloomy feel about them, the lack of window and the dim torchlight doesn’t make it any better. It also makes the air thicker here, there are small vents in the ceiling for the smoke, but it feels like they aren’t enough.
“I make him talk with ma knives.” An evil grin forms on the lithe boy's face. His green eyes give a faint glow in the dim light of the dungeon, giving him the illusion of a night predator. He leans his slender figure on the nearby gray stone wall. The torch casing above his head casting a long shadow over him.
“You've already tried that. I don't want you to accidentally kill him, Ryon."
"Nah, I won't. Trust me," Ryon states, his glowing eyes glued to Sharla's abysmal chest.
"What about that Pixie Dust you used on Olfgram?" I turn to Sharla. Her form is a mix of human and elf today. Graceful upturned blue eyes, a sharp chin, a tiny nose that almost sink in her face, and long silky blond flocks mark her face. Her curvy figure is created by so much unproportionable fat that makes me wonder how she still keeps her balance.
The fairy gives me a proud smile and crosses her hand under her breasts, lifting them, much to Ryon's delight. "He's immune to intoxication. I'm not sure if it's the time he spent handling toxins, or some blessing of the God of Death, but he won't react."
“I see. Jerro?” I ask.
“Yes?” The Death Priest looks at me with confusion. His gray shirt have new stains on it. No matter how many times I had the palace maids wash his tunics, it's simply the way he eats. The tanned young man leans heavily on his cane as if he's triple his actual age, brown eyes darting everywhere in the cellar.
“Can’t you divine what he’s thinking?”
He places his left palm atop the right on his cane and shakes his head slowly. “I can see the future, I cannot read people’s minds. I am not a chosen of Noxi, I cannot tell what the truth is.”
I raise an eyebrow. “And can’t you see what he will say when we make him talk?”
“Not before you find a way to do so. And not if it’s nothing of importance, no. I can see whoever issued the contract on your head resides in Sajarev. That Sharlafyn, the rogue, and I will be heading there soon. But not their identity. They may be protected by another Shaf. Tiyadi is the God of Death, as well as the God of Time. Shafs do work as killers at times. Or maybe there’s another reason.”
“Just give me a few minutes with him, Mistress. He’ll talk.” Sharla’s voice is almost seductive as she moves her hands slowly on my shoulders, her breath warm against my ear. “He may be immune to poison, but nothing is stopping me from giving him pleasure, so much pleasure that he’ll lose himself, and then… Pain!”
“The way you sadists enjoy inflicting pain is disgusting,” Kolag states, hands folded across his metallic chest. His dark armor reflects the torchlight with an ominous shimmer. The light catching the intricate curving that I know so well from spending alone time with him. His sheathless claymore strapped to his back by a leathery band, and a smaller arming sword hanging from his brown belt.
Sharla shifts into the spitting image of my form and leans on the baffled Jerro's shoulder. My own gray eyes glint at me with a naughty smirk that wouldn't ever grace my face. I almost expect her hands to mirror the way mine are folded, but she tucks the short auburn locks behind her ears, exposing fully the sharp tip of her ears. She even wears the same blue dress I'm wearing. I can't help but focus for a second on how the cloth curves at my waist and hips, or how it nearly doesn't bend at all around my chest. “Kolag… Love… That assassin tried to kill Inara. Why does he deserve your mercy?”
“Stop that,” Kolag growls, hands grabbing the leathery strap on his chest. I know that he can take off this belt and draw his claymore in a matter of a split second.
“Stop what?” Sharla preens, tilting her head to the right, a mocking smile etched on her face.
“Stop wearing Inara’s form. I'm not showing him any mercy. I want him dead. The sooner the better. I just don't believe in taking pleasure in someone's suffering—even a vile lowly human being as that man—is something to be encouraged. Do you have any idea how undergoing torture feels?! How can you all live with yourselves?!"
Was he tortured as a slave? He never told me… Not like it’s something anyone talks about, I don’t really talk about what I’ve been through either. I put my hand on his arm. “It’s ok… We’ll find a way to make him talk that doesn't include torture. Torture seems to be useless anyway. I’m going to take a look at my grimoire. Maybe there’s a spell that’s going to help.” I do need a utility spell that lets people talk. Actually, maybe a spell that lets me read people's minds. I also need a spell that let me see people from afar. What did Kolag go through that makes him talk about torture like that? I doubt it was easy… And aside from the demon that’s been infused into his body? Who knows… I’ll listen if he wants to talk about it but I won’t push it…
“Thank you, my love.” He covers my hand with his metallic gauntlet.
Ryon licks his lips with a frown, but doesn't say anything. He keeps picking his nails with a dagger and lick whatever he can dig out. A soft fart sounds from his direction.
Sharla—still leaning on Jerro’s shoulder—shifts into Kolag’s form. Unarmored, mostly naked, only a loincloth covering the nether region. "I'm Kolag! I'm the pinnacle of justice! I know what justice is better than the God of Justice himself! I'll wave my big sword around to show everyone how justice is to be carried out!" Sharla steps forward in Kolag's form, leaving Jerro behind her.
Jerro’s eyes go dark. For a moment he lifts his cane as if he's unsure whether or not to hit Sharla at the back of head. Then lowers his cane and leans on it again with a heavy sigh.
Kolag stands quietly. Treating the Fae and her taunts like the light that shimmers on his armor, or an arrow that wouldn't even dent it.
Yet, I can’t help but look at Sharla's well toned body. The thick neck hastens my heart beats. I want to move my hands on that... The way his broad shoulders move. I want to lean my head on that... And down to his strong arms. I want him to hold me... My eyes wonder down his muscular abdomen and I take a deep breath, doing my best to ignore the impossible mad craving. I want him! Snakes! It’s not him! I know! But I barely ever get to see him and this… It’s not him! Snakes! I just want to look ok?
Sharla growls, copying Kolag’s growl but without the echo of his armor. She drops the loincloth. I blink. “Oh! What do you say I give Inara some good time in your stead? I bet she’d love it!”
Heat covers my cheeks. Damn... Oh no you fucking don't! It's one thing to tease me like that, and another to hurt him like that! Fuck you, Sharla!
"Out of line," Kolag states, voice frigid. He takes a step forward and punches her in the face. Sharla bounces with the punch, hitting the ground, knocked out cold. Her form shifts back to her original fae form, wearing her autumn leaves dress. Good! What a fucking bitch. Now she probably just wants pity, fuck pitying her! Poor Kolag...
Jerro gives Kolag a death glare, picks her up, and leaves the dungeon with his cane hanging from his wrist. Ryon follows suit like a bored cat, green eyes glued to the woman who probably just pretends to be unconscious in Jerro's arms in order to feed on his pity.
I chase the anger away and bring up the image of Kolag without the armor and clothes in my mind as heat fills my cheeks and upper body.
Kolag and I stand there in silence, looking at each other for a long minute or two.
"It... hurts..." His voice is barely a whisper in Toml'a. "Not being able to feel you. Not feeling the wind on my face. Not washing my skin. I hate every living moment in this armor. I hate it so much."
It hurts just to hear the pain in his voice... I need him free of that damned shell... "I will see you out of that armor one day, I promise!" I look into his eyes as I reply in our native language. I will see him free! I need to work toward that more. Jolla mentioned she had some knowledge about demons, it's time to push her against the wall about it. "And when you're finally out of that armor you'll be able to feel the wind, I'll make all the wind for you. I'll wash your skin personally, and I'll have you feel me as much as you want, more than you want."
He stands there for another long quiet moment, as if contemplating my words. His sigh echoes. “I punched her too hard. I shouldn’t have lost control like that.”
“You had every right to. She knows all too well how much this hurts you. How much this hurts me too. I’d sling some spells at her if she shifted into a naked version of me too, just for exposing my privacy like that alone. Add the emotional baggage we have with your armor, yeah, don’t feel too bad about it.” I pat his arm. “You don’t understand her though, she did it on purpose. She wanted you to lose control and punch her. That way, Jerro would feel pity for her and you’d feel guilty about punching her. I’m pretty sure she also feigned losing conscious.”
“Why would she do all of that?” his voice echoes in bafflement.
“Because she feeds on pity. Even your guilt about punching her too hard is going directly to her like a candy for a child. For her, pity is the equivalent of love. She needs it, she feeds on it. That’s her main emotional need. I’m not sure if she needs it to survive, but she definitely needs it to thrive.”
“Hrmm… I did not understand it that way. But even if what you're saying is true, I'm a piece of trash for punching her like this. I need better self control. My lost of control has led to enough blunders.”
I place my hand on his shoulder. “You're not a piece of trash, you're the man I love. If you call the man I love a piece of trash I'll be the one punching you. People lose control. Nobody's perfect. Instead of beating yourself up about it endlessly, promise yourself to do better next time. Build on it. I'm so tired of how much hate and worthlessness you direct toward yourself. Promise me that you'll stop doing that. Promise me that you'll see some worth in yourself."
"I..." His shoulders slump, and he goes quiet.
"Just promise me to try and work on it?"
"Ok."
I move my hand to his helmeted jaw, caressing it. "You're a good person, the best person I know. Sharla and Ryon? I don't think either of them ever felt bad about anything. Feeling guilty for your wrong doing makes you human. Yet, you shouldn’t carry any guilt at all. And for this instance, you have nothing to feel guilty about. You have done nothing wrong. Besides, doing the right thing is what you're doing best, right?”
He stands there, unmoving, like a frozen metallic statue, head clearly avoiding looking at me. “I’m not so sure. I don’t think I know what the right thing is anymore.”
I snicker and force him to look at me again. “So now you know what it feels like to be me. I never know what the right thing is. I just do my best to keep the people I care about alive and safe, and make my way back home to my family.”
“I know… Inara. When Noxi commanded me to kill you, he was right and…”
I step back, enraged. “What?!”
He raises his hands defensively. “Hear me out. Let me speak.”
I fold my hands on my chest. “Go on…” If he truly justifies Noxi now, I'm done with him! Fuck that!
“He was right. You were responsible for the enslavement of a whole city. You did it to protect me and the others, I know, but you still enslaved a whole city of humans. In accordance to Noxi’s laws, slavers deserve death, no matter their reasons. But you are right that you shouldn't be bound by Noxi's laws, if worshiping a god is truly a choice for us mortals, a god you don't worship cannot justly hold you by his laws. And Noxi was a fool for ordering me to kill you. How can any man kill the woman he loves?! No matter the reason! No matter how just or unjust it is!”
Phew... seems like he really gave it some thought... I'm glad... “You were presented with an impossible choice. Both paths seemed to be ‘the right thing.’” I hug his arm and lean my head on his cold shoulder. “That’s the problem with our world, Kolag. Not everything is so good and evil. There isn’t always the right thing and the wrong thing. Sometimes both choices are the right thing, or both are the wrong thing. From experience… it’s usually both, and you've got to choose between bad and worse.”
He grunts. “I’m beginning to see that.”
I continue. “Morality itself is set by the gods’ laws or kingdoms’ laws, as well as mortals’ common sense of morality and conscience, which apparently changes from race to race and from a person to person. These three conflict with each other. What if the kingdom’s laws goes against your god’s word? Or what if it goes against your own conscience, and vice versa. In orc culture, eating the body of those who fell in battle is an honor. In human culture it’s a disgusting unforgivable act.”
He wraps his hand around my shoulders and turns me to face him. “Yes. Exactly. So, what do you think I should do the next time something like that happen?”
I arch and raise an eyebrow at him. “You don’t follow Noxi anymore, why would it happen? Unless you mean what if I do something that conflicts with your own sense of morality?”
He averts his gaze. “That too, but I took your suggestion, and I plan on finding another god to follow.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Which one? Lokamesh?” I don't want him to worship another god, but it seems like he really need a god in his life. If he has to worship a god, I'd prefer if he followed the God of Peace. He's the least crazy as far as I can tell...
“Hrmm… Koshavi. Goddess of Love. I broke my oaths to Noxi over my love for you." This is really flattering... "I believe Koshavi is the most suitable goddess for me. I have already looked into her teachings, and her tenents do fit with hrmm… not killing you and making sure you’re happy and safe.” He shifts awkwardly.
I lean my head on his metallic chest with a sigh. If that goddess preach love and loyalty to your lover, I don't mind, but that's the goddess of lust. “I can’t pretend that I like the idea, but if that’s your choice, I’ll have to respect that. Keep two things in mind. Koshavi is also the goddess of prostitutes, some of her teaching encourages things that belong in her temples alone.”
“Those things also belong in the privacy of the bedroom which I'm sure we could enjoy if I didn't have this armor. Besides, her teaching splits to love and lust and a few more paths like luck, art, and dreams. The things you’re talking about is the lust path, it’s not my path. What’s the second thing you wanted me to know?” He moves his hand slowly on my back.
I didn't know that. That's actually encouraging to hear. I arch and look him up in the eyes again. “If you become her paladin, and she might want that for some gods’ knows what reason… We won’t have a single moment of true privacy. Not only that, we’ll also might come into other conflicts if she demand things like Noxi did.”
His hands glide to my shoulders. “I’m aware of that. Inara, the gods are not humans, they can see plenty of intimate moment all over the world. Our private conversations don’t matter to them, the world does not revolve around us, and I doubt unfathomable beings such as the gods are so concerned with breaching our privacy.”
It's not if they care, it's that they can! “Tell that to Noxi and his order to kill me. Let's... Let's not fight about this. Anyway, if you do become her paladin, make it clear that I want privacy from her prying eyes, or at least the illusion of privacy.” I reach up, and knock on his helmet. “Ask her to knock on your bucket head if she wants to talk to you when I’m present.”
He chuckles. “You have my promise, my love. But we’re talking too much about what ifs. I’ll have to find a Temple of Koshavi first. The temple in Red Cedar City has been destroyed and hasn’t been rebuilt. The priestesses have all died in the war with Janara. The new tavern doesn’t have a real priestess that can hear her goddess, she barely knew about the different paths, I’ll have to find a real Temple of Koshavi with a real Zephyr first.”
So he has to go to a real brothel with a real prostitute... “You have to find a Temple of Koshavi with a real Zephyr, you know how wrong this sounds, right?”
“I… I didn't mean it like that, I meant it as—"
“I’m teasing you, silly.” I pat his metallic cheek. “I’m going to look up a spell or a potion for that prisoner. Before I go, I need your help with something." First. It's time to force Jolla to give me her secrets about demons!
He chuckles. “Anything, my love.”
"I've met your smith back in the tavern I hid in earlier. A pleasant fellow. Do you think you can get him to work on my armor. My grimoire is indestructible. I've been wondering if it can be attached to the back of my armor and still be practical to wear..."
*
Before studying spells from my grimoire, I head to library. I realize that I'm scared of opening my grimoire, scared of learning new spells, afraid my spellbook will lock itself again. I know it probably will in the future, and that I'll have to let it happen, but for now, the library. I'm determined to do something about Kolag's demon situation. I need to do something. Anything.
I find the bespectacled gnome nestled on a ladder between a pair of bookshelves. “Jolla? I know you know about demons. And I know you know why I need that knowledge. It’s time to stop dodging my questions and answering me. What do you know about demons?”
“Too much and not enough,” she answers, red nose buried in a dusty scroll. “I told you. Head to Tukado’s Temple at Tolste’s Bay.”
I fold my hands. “So you have no clue how to get rid of Kolag’s guest? No clue at all? A well-educated gnome like yourself knows nothing?!”
She raises her white eyes from the scroll with clear annoyance. “Pha! By Tukado’s beard, girl, don’t you think I’d tell you already if I knew such a thing? No. I know how to invite demon and have him possess a gnomeniod, I don’t know how to get it out.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Oh? And how would you know such a thing?”
“I wasn’t always the chronicler of Red Cedar City, girl. In my youth, I was a member of the Bloodeyes. A cult that worships demons across the world. You learn all kinds of things in a cult. One of them is that demons are trouble. It’s hard to invite them, but once you do, it’s near impossible to get rid of them.” She rolls the scroll and inserts it in the shelf while she talks.
“How do you invite a demon then?”
The gnome climbs down the ladder that have way more steps than a normal human ladder. She fixes her white robes, dusting them. “That’s not a good idea, girl. You have no idea what you’re messing with.”
“Considering Kolag’s problem, I have a pretty good idea. I’m asking to learn, maybe I can figure out a way to reverse the process somehow. I’m not going to summon a demon for the sake of it, not even as an experiment.”
She turns, and fixes her glasses, looking up at me with a frown. “No, you don’t know what you're messing with. All of the gem towers have outlawed this recipe. They actively hunt people who possess this knowledge. I’m hunted for both this and the recipe for glass, this is why I ran to the gray islands. This is forbidden knowledge.”
I tuck my hair out of my face, still unused to the difference of its length. I doubt that law is well kept. Rushmia did summon a demon after all. I'm sure it's one of those laws that those who are connected don't have to abide by. “I’m sure my master will protect me from the towers’ ire, she did it already. Look. I just want to save my boyfriend from the demon plaguing him, I don’t want to summon hordes of demons, ok?”
The golden haired gnome scratches the tip of her pointy nose. “Alright. But I swear on Tukado’s name, if you use this to summon demons and offer souls to them, I’ll do everything in my power to end you, magic or not!”
I nod. “Not my intention. I’m just trying to help the man I love.”
The gnome hands me a piece of parchment and the quill from behind her ear. “Ok. Take a note, here’s the recipe. You’re going to need: Saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. You use a mortar and pestle to mix them up at the ratio of 75% saltpeter, 13% charcoal, and 12% sulfur. Place them all in the mortar and moisten them with about 5% to 8% water, then grind them together for about ten minutes.”
She shakes her head and continues. “If you do it right, you'll get a dark substance. Be extremely careful around this powder, do not let any flame or heat get near it or you’ll have demons swarming you before you know it! After that’s done, you break the powder into small pieces, and let it dry on a piece of clean parchment.”
I nod when I finish my notes. “Alright… Thank you. Now, what do I do with this powder? How does demon summoning works?”
“That part is easy. You light it up and you’ll open a portal. Keep in mind that it’ll explode violently when you light it up. You need to make a cloth thread leading to the powder. Some cultists create circles with this powder before igniting it. If you draw the right runes you may summon stronger demons, and if you know a demon's name you can call the one you want no matter how powerful it is.”
“And how do you make them go away after you summoned them?”
She sighs. “You don’t. They go away on their own sometimes, not always.”
“That doesn’t help me.”
“Pha. I know. I told you as much.”
Then how am I supposed to figure Kolag's demons? "Is there no other way? Are there notable weaknesses to demons?"
"Iron. Glass. It doesn't work the same way it would on mages. Iron confuses demons. It doesn't render them powerless, just drunk. Glass limits their movement to a degree, similar to how iron binds the fae."
"I see." I should test glass on Kolag then. "And how do I get my hands on some glass?"
"I'll create some glass for you. Be warned. Demons can easily break glass even if it binds them. You wouldn't free Kolag for long, the demon would break the glass and take control of him again. There's nothing magically you can do to stop it even without the glass hindering your magic."
"What if you create a prison of glass and iron? Would it be strong enough to keep the demon sedated inside?"
"Iron doesn't calm demons. It agitates them. Hinders their judgement and make them act like fools, but it doesn't stop them. A demon with iron stuck in it is likely to wipe out a city. Although it's likely for the demon in question to ram head first into multiple buildings while doing the horrific deed. They do not pass out in a drunken stupor like most gnomenoids would."
"Is there no way to kill it?"
"No. Even if you kill it you simply banish it to the hell it came from. And that's impossible to do while it's connected to a host. You'd have to convince the demon to break the connection out of its own will. I'm sorry. I really don't know of an alternative way."
“I see. Thank you. I appreciate the help… I better go. I have some spells to figure out."
She shakes her head and fixes her glasses back on her eyes. “You do that.”
~~*
Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 91
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: connected: 41 neutral gems. Conversion ratio: elemental : neutral-3:1, neutral : elemental-1:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 34 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 17 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 22/26 gems
Water: Affinity 6: connected: 75 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 8 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 17 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 102/113 gems
Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freezem. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burstm. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield IIm. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pullm. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.
Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.
Spells known:
Light: Wassho’s invisibilityb2 Rika's Electric Channelb1x2
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4m. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2m.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.
(Little letters by spell sides: m=mastered. a=advanced. b=bound spell, number near the b is how many gems of the mana pool binding the said spell takes.)
Focus capability: 21 patterns.
Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.
Carried Wealth: 39 Golden Peas, 27 Silver Scales.
Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
1 potions of Lesser Healing.
5 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
40g Rose petals.
4g Lavender petals.
10g Sowbread petals.
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 31/100. Unlocked.
Present Companions:
Kolag of house Befar.
Jerro.
Sharlafyn Nettledew.
Berthold.
Ryon.
Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 4/10
Injuries and scars:
Curses: unknown extracted parasite, possibly bloodline related. Gone due to an unknown bloodline magic.
-
Kingdom’s treasury: 26,123 Golden Peas. 965 Magic Gems.
Kingdom’s citizen:
Red Cedar City: 3,609 adults. 1,654 children.
Apricot City: 1,877 adults. 504 children.
Total: 5,990 souls.
Kingdom's army: 123 Footmen. 16 Peacekeeper Knights. 500 Blood Spears.
Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Aisha?
