Tearing Down the Walls of Madness (Term, Sondra, Leo)

[Sondra]

OOCAhem, Sondra, . You and Goss love calling her Sonya. I'm hoping because she reminds you of Red Sonya or something cool like that.

Sondra's hammer passed through the cloudburst of ash and bone, pulling her balance with it. She had expected to meet stronger contrary force. Half-spun around, she stared dumbfounded at the spot where the thing once stood.

"Petch me," she exclaimed breathlessly, "It worked."

Whoever said you couldn't alleviate your problems with brute force was a fool.

At Leo's thanks, Sondra turned around. She grinned at him, enjoying being useful for the first time in a while.
She was about to tell him he owed her, but spotted the leash in Leo's hand. Sondra followed it downward to the naked huddled woman.

"I knew that gift would be kinky."

In true Leo style, he didn't mince words and gestured as if he was going to torch the skin off her skull. A subtle and effective approach to the hostage situation.

While Leo was quick to interrogate, Terminus hopped in to play good guard to Leo's bad. Level-headed Term was right about one thing, her and Leo were not the coddling types. The most Sondra did was throw her coat at the woman's face. Likely more out of prudery than kindness.

The Konti rested her hammer on her shoulder, her eyes scanning the treeline around them. Bouts of shyke didn't care about convenient timing. Something new and equally dismal could manifest is a belch of tar and sparks.

By the end of Terminus's speech, she was flanking his shoulder. Right on cue, she calmly announced her approach.

"I'm very patient. I'll break your gods-damned toes one at a time instead of in a single go."

The Konti was serious as death. After trying to murder them and threatening to engulf the world in the fires of chaos, you didn't get to call a time-out or amend with a heartfelt "Sorry".

It was violent solutions like these that encouraged Sondra to believe she would never fall squarely in the "good" camp. Her more realistic aim was the realm of "good enough".

[Gillar]

Though the atmosphere calmed to a more functional level, there remained an almost tangible buzz in the air along with the stale stench of death and ash. As the three got their bearings and approached the strange girl, their questions and comments seemed to startle her at first. After her initial jump, the girl stumbled back. Something that was quite clear to the trio however was that the girl did not take any threatening actions even though she was obviously scared. There wasn't a frantic search for a weapon nor jumping to find a secure place to hide; things that would be expected out of someone in her situation. Her actions were more in line with someone trained in the arts of combat who found themselves in a strange situation, unarmed and threatened. Straightening herself and looking around as if to take stock of where she was and what was happening, the girl wasted no more time before speaking. Her voice was tinged with a bit of confusion, "My, my name is Lyseri." She took another look around her and continued, "I was...dead. A barbarian and a beast-woman, they killed me along with the rest of my unit. After that..." What color there was in the girl's pale skin vanished for a moment as she seemed to recall more. She then looked down at herself and touched a place just above her right breast. There was a scar roughly as big around as her fist. Strangely enough, the girl smiled as she touched the scar. Her voice low but brimming with joy, she said softly "He's gone..." The girl looked back up at the trio, a happy curl to her lips. "I'm sure you know that your standing on holy ground. The Defiler's temple is not far from here. One of his former priests now stands as the temple guardian. In life, he was a terrible man known as, Calinthar. Like the rest of us here, he was killed and like the rest of us, he became bound to the temple. I don't know how you freed me, but I owe you my eternal thanks. You have no reason to trust me but if you seek to destroy this vile place, I wish to help you. Either way though, do you have any spare clothes? I feel a bit...unprepared." Lyseri slowly stood though a bit wobbly at first. She appeared young but weathered. Her body was etched with scars and as she stood, her stance took on the form of someone confident and trained to handle themselves against a variety of situations. Her bright red hair and pale skin however were quite rare in the area detailing that she must have come from quite some distance away. "I am sure you have many questions, some I may be able to answer but we're not safe here as I'm sure you're aware. There is an old ruin near hear that the guardian avoids. I suggest we go there and take a bit to rest and prepare." Lyseri looked expectant and hopeful at once as she stood before the trio.

[Terminus Norin]

Terminus could sense as always the emotions coming from the young woman, there was obviously fear, but there was a sort of preparedness that comes from warrior training. The way in which she carried herself though indicated that something was odd even if she was prepared and sure of herself. He chose to watch and let Leo and Sondra play the bad guards if they wanted to, he would make sure things did not get out of hand..

The woman seemed to become more aware of what was going on and who she was and what happened to her as the time went on. So Nya and Abashai had killed her and her unit he presumed they were Ebonstryfe and there fore highly trained. However apparently they were unable to prevent the temple from being completed as now they had to go finish the job, how was still a question.

The woman had a name,Lyseri and she had a story as he was sure everyone did. They had all been bound to the temple at death and this Calinthar had become the guardian, he was sure Leo was not yet done with Nikali's leash as there was more to be freed however what interested him was the fact that Lyseri touched a fist sized scar on her breast and said ...He's Gone. Now what could she have meant by that, whatever or whoever she was talking about, it seemed she did not miss him/it.

She wanted clothes but other than the cloak he tossed her he had nothing that would fit her, he was a single male after all so he only shruged when she asked and hoped Leo or Sondra would have something and be willing to share since they looked on her as less than human and probably they were right since he was not going to be quick to trust her, since moments ago she was trying to kill him. As far as following her, he waited on Leo and Sondra tpo chime in before saying anything.

[Sondra]

Sondra's jaw was set as she listened to Lyseri's raptures over freedom. She was obviously wary, unsure whether this was another level in a game she had little chance of comprehending fully.

The Konti moved around Lyseri as if she was a barely contained fire. She didn't like this one bit. When the girl brought up her need for coverage, Sondra kicked the coat she had dropped closer to the human.

"I'd like it back, eventually."
Clothes were expensive and she didn't have much to spare.

Sondra sniffed the air once and looked around.
"Ruins... fine, take us there. Can't be much worse than this. Whaddya think?"
She glanced to Leo for the final assent, before looking back to Lyseri.

"You're right, we have a hundred questions my first two being: Who's 'he', Lyseri? And how did he get you if you weren't keen on the idea? Tell us now or later, but I want to know before I get back in the fray."

Preparing for another trek through the woods, Sondra adjusted her grip on her war hammer and scanned between the narrow trunks for moving shades.

[Leo Varniak]

Leo let out a 'tch' sound but took a step back from the woman. There was a whole lot of things he wanted to tell Terminus, how the 'not their fault after all' argument had brought the world to its knees over the centuries and how the only way to extinguish evil was by extinguishing evil-doers. He kept the philosophy to himself, though. He nodded when Sondra kicked her coat at the freed prisoner. "Fine, let's see those ruins," he conceded in the end, though the very idea of recruiting this Lyseri, someone whose skin still reeked of Rhysol, disgusted him to no end. Leo Varniak was black and white. The two should never mix. He slid the leash off of his still trembling arm. Upon noticing the woman's scar, he realized he must have removed the brand - gnosis? - with Nikali's gift. Kinky though it may be, it actually worked as advertised. "Just keep in mind. I freed you from Rhysol. And in the end, I will be the sole judge of your life." There were some decisions Leo would reserve for himself. As the one with the ability to give freedom - at his own risk and peril - he would be the one with the ability to take it away. That being said, he doubted the woman would react very well to his questioning under such premises. He decided to refrain from further questioning her. Terminus and Sondra would make a far better job of it, and he preferred to stay alert throughout the trek to the ruins. Unless proven otherwise, he had to assume everything Lyseri said was lies and misinformation to get them destroyed.

[Gillar]

Lyseri accepted the offered cloak and coat; wrapping herself in them with a calm, thankful look. The veiled threats, some not so much, that were presented to her appeared to have little affect on Lyseri as she began walking with a focus. The ruins in mind were not all that far away but the path was somewhat treacherous. Thick underbrush covered a severely broken stone road ripe with holes, cracks and tangling vines. While it was obvious that Lyseri knew the way, it didn't look like she had traveled it much, if at all. It was slow going but time offered a chance for Lyseri to answer some of the questions posed. Her voice was quiet but loud enough for those around her to hear. Her words seemed directed to nobody in particular and it was as if she were speaking more to herself. "He is the Defiler, the Betrayer and to speak his name in this area is unwise. I was born in a place far from here to the west. Things happened and I left. The wilds are not a place for a young girl and I learned that quickly. Bad things happened and I found myself in a terrible situation involving a barbarian raiding party. When I thought my life was over, a small group of men dressed in armor darker than the blackest night, descended upon the barbarians. The men fought with a skill mixed with brutal, calculated devastation. I remember it being so chaotic yet there was a strange order to it all at the same time." Lyseri steered the others around a large sinkhole in the middle of the path. A glance in the hole would reveal piles of animal bones; the remains of unfortunate creatures that for one reason or another, fell in. "The barbarians, a dozen or more, fell to the four armored men with little effective opposition. One of my saviors, a man by the name of Tharan, was the leader of the armored men. He took me in his arms and protected me. He was the group's commander, a group whom I soon learned was a unit of elite soldiers serving an organization called, The Ebonstryfe. They gave me a life of strength, confidence and certainty. However, it all came with a price." Lyseri stopped walking abruptly. "We're here." She had brought them to a small collection of overgrown ruins. Though overgrown, a single standing structure could be observed. It was stone, roughly eight feet square in size. There was a door, possibly made of some type of metal yet the overgrowth covered the majority of it. It sat in the middle of a light clearing in the forest, an area that bore a strange sense of peace compared to the rest of the area they had encountered thus far. Lyseri cautiously continued toward the building. It was then that the others caught a glimpse of something almost in unison. One, then another and another were able to be seen through the overgrowth...grave markers.

[Leo Varniak]

For a few long moments, Leo squinted as if to be able to see the creature's undoubtedly tiny heart. It surprised him to be in the presence of such a tainted woman and yet to hear her speak like she'd been discussing the weather. He didn't know if she was alive, dead, undead or something in between. All he knew was that she'd been trying to kill them all but moments ago, and now they were following her around. Come to the old ruins the guardian avoids, she had told them. Come to the old ruins where the guardian awaits, she might have meant. Several times, Leo had to consciously refrain himself from forcing this little farce to an end. This thing was not their friend, much less their ally. Even in the remote event of her being sincere, this "guardian" may still be attuned to her clearly enough to sense her presence, her location. "It's only called a price if you're the one shelling out the cash," Leo murmured, more to himself than the quasi-prisoner, "when others start paying for what you bought it's called a robbery." He felt a deep sense of disgust at this former she-servant of Rhysol who still spoke of her organization with realism, perhaps, but with no trace of regret or repentance. He'd forgotten her name already. At last they stepped into the ruins and Leo recognized the grave markers as well as the door. Despite the apparent calm he grew even tenser, if that was possible. "Well, here we are," he said, casting quick glances left and right, "it's time to repay your debt to the petching universe. Start from the beginning and leave no stone unturned." His eyes were fixed on the woman, just in case she had a change of heart. It would be her last, and neither Terminus nor Sondra would be able to stop him.

[Sondra]

The Betrayer, the defiler. Sondra’s first instinct went to Rhysol and it twisted her gut. It also sparked a new fire. Here was an enemy that could be hated with a perfect hatred without corrupting the heart. Sondra peered into the sinkhole with a mild look of disgust. Poor brutes all their bones and bits shuffled together in an ugly heap. She imagined the animal’s hunger followed by the desperation to get out. One did strange things when the rope ended. Then again, where they were going their fates might be similar. Sondra watched Leo’s expression, or lack thereof, as the girl told her story. Like a fool, the Konti observed, she had some measure of pity for a girl who took the wrong offer. Her pity didn’t go so far as forgiveness for trying to kill them, though. While she would risk her life for Leo, she was wary of his merciless nature, wondering if or when it would turn on a liar like herself. Couldn't say she was entirely undeserving. But those were concerns for another time. Right now, she had to get her bearings while following an enemy to a ruin encircled in… yes, those were grave markers. Irreverent and curious, Sondra kicked at one marker lightly to see how deep they went. The depth of the grave often told the wrongness of the death. These were old stones, or neglected ones by the looks of it. The area had a strange peace to it, but then most graveyards did. Leaning her hip against one of the macabre stones, Sondra readied herself for what piece of the story the woman had.