"Because, Adarin..." drawled a deep, sonorous voice, "Your head is required on your shoulders for now." Hroar, who had until then been busy trumpeting quite insensitive declarations of victory, fell silent. Though he still managed to slip in a "softsword" before he did.
Ignotus swiveled around to face the insurgent now. "I have to say, I really expected more from you, my dear Denvali."
Djed tinged his words, igniting a small spark of defiance. A desire to "show him" manifested, hopefully giving him the bright idea to gloat about any traps he had- or at the very least, the existence of them. Ignotus made sure to sneer as well. Just for good measure.
The Denvali leader might be in custody and their position heavily fortified, but the fact that he was in irons now simply reinforced Ignotus' desire to be thorough and prudent. After a few ticks to let him mull things over, he continued, "I'm not afraid to admit that I had planned for much fiercer resistance than you and your little gang offered. But I shouldn't complain, really." he said as he eased himself out of the chair and began to step towards the Sentinel. "After all, I've no doubt you have plenty of other clever plans to amuse us with." There were, after all, the fine men around him to consider. They would be rewarded richly for their excellence. But later. For now, the Hypnotist crouched down to the captive's eye level.
"You have failed, Adarin." the wizard intoned, and as he spoke, the first faint ripples of despair began to emanate from him. "You have failed to keep your little revolution secret. You have failed to take this office." With a smirk, he quipped, "One could say you failed to do something as simple as sit down. You have failed to do anything other than cause deaths." What were once ripples began to turn to waves, as Res corkscrewed down from the ceiling. "In short," said Ignotus, a touch of frost nipping at Adarin's face as he did so (a small anklet of ice formed around his left leg as well. Just in case), "you have done nothing but destroy what little you managed to build for your people. Your little coup de' etat, my boy, is over." And the crash. It was not a long surge, but it was a surge. And just a little tip over the edge would likely be more than enough. "Which brings me," the Nuit said while standing, "to your place now."
'No doubt your fellows are headed to a path like yours." There was no reason to doubt Ignotus. His own hand-picked honor guard had been cut down in ticks. Who was to say that there weren't other traps? Of course, in reality, there was no such thing- Adarin wasn't the only one who would benefit from total anarchy- but Hypnotism has a way of making a man favor one possibility over another.
"They, like you, will be captured instead of killed. After all, we're not savages." A nod of affirmation from his men then. Ignotus made sure to smile graciously- gratefully, even- at them in return. "They will be tried. And then they will be executed. As will you." Another emotion was stoked in Adarin now- survival. The desire to live. It would not require a surge to make this one strong. The Nuit turned his back to the man and began to wander back to the desk. "However... This fate is not set in stone. You, and you alone have the power to stop it." A glimmer of hope, then. Perhaps he could save himself? "There will no doubt be a great deal of fighting from other elements. This will end in bloodshed. I believe neither of us want much of that." His friends' lives were in danger. He could save them too! "But, this too can be prevented. Once more, by you. I ask of you one simple thing: make your men stand down."
'In return, you and your co-conspirators will be given full amnesty." Ignotus' men didn't like that much, but he managed to stare them down. "Your lives will not end. You will be able to return to your families. And countless innocent Denvali will be saved from the inevitable counterattack. It is, I think, a win for all of us."
"If I do this, everyone will live..." Adarin found himself thinking. "The choice is yours, Adarin." said the Hypnotist. "Please make the right one."