Rough Water Ahead

by **Inoadar** on February 21st, 2013, 5:23 am

Inoadar paused just a moment before giving what seemed like the expected answer. "The room, My Lord."

The officer's piercing gaze remained fixed on Inoadar for a moment. Then. for the first time, he relaxed, leaning back in his chair, the leather creaking comfortably. "I'm not inclined to give you much detail, Mr. Parnell, but it has become necessary to let it become known that mere citizenship is not security against random arrest. You are made to sit in the out chamber with the riff-raff, specifically to be SEEN there, a citizen, treated with as much suspicion as anyone else.

"You are brought below with the same escort, following the same schedule. it is all for appearances. Your credentials check out Mr. Parnell. You can go." He looked up at the door and, as if by magic, the squad leader came back in, saluting and standing at rigid attention.

"Have your men escort him to the side exit and release him. And burn the Nykan's body." The squad commander stalled just a moment as if he was surprised, but quickly caught himself. "Sir!" he barked, reaching his hand towards Inoadar, indicating an escorted departure.

Inoadar hesitated just a fraction, "If I may, My Lord?..." There was a pause, a tableau of disbelief, but the officer softened the mood with a look to the commander. He turned back to Inoadar, "Go on..."

Inoadar knew he was pushing his good fortunate to near suicidal extremes, but decided to play the part of having such loyalty as to be oblivious of the lunatic daring of making requests under such circumstances. "Well, it's just that, I saw that my assailant suffered from a type of poison I am only familiar with, not, well, experienced with...and I was just wondering...if...well..."

The officer raised one eyebrow and stifled a chuckle. He turned to the squad commander, "Cut out the Nykan's tongue and bag it for Mr. Parnell here, before you burn the body, Commander. Cauterize it and THEN escort him out." He leaned back, looking away to indicate the interview was over and the commander led Inoadar into the hands of his men, who saw to all the requisite tasks before escorting Inoadar to a hidden side exit.

by **Inoadar** on February 22nd, 2013, 3:49 am

The commander remained behind as his men led Inoadar away. The officer narrowed his eyes sightly in curiosity. "You have a question, Commander?" The subordinate officer looked undecided for a moment, shook his head and made to leave. "Speak your mind, Commander. What troubles you?"

The man turned and closed the door softly. "Sir, why are we letting that man go already? On the surface, his story checks out, but the records for Nolan Parnell were lost in the CEB building. He can make any claim he wants without any immediate evidence of contradiction. Something about his...look...isn't right. We should have kept him long enough to interrogate him. I would have gotten to the truth of his identity."

The officer's gaze stayed on his subordinate for several long seconds in silence. He leaned forward, "I have my doubts you'd have had much success breaking him, Commander. That "look" you mention...that odd uncivilian-like set to his face? I can tell you what that is." He slowly stood and came around the desk to stand before the other man. "I've interrogated a number of men in my time, Commander. When a man has spent time learning to endure torture, a certain set of muscles in the cheeks become more...pronounced. The prolonged gritting of the teeth for days, weeks...years. The distant look in the eyes as he imagines what he would do, to add to the pain, that you are not doing. And doing it to you, while imagining it to be your voice doing the screaming, to...separate himself from it."

He circled the man as he spoke, his eyes distant, reminiscing on past days, learning the difference between a man truly broken and one only acting the part. "I think this man would give a very convincing performance, mixing screams of resistance with anguished breakdowns. And, as you say, with no documents to verify his testimony, you would likely come to be satisfied with his story."

"All the more reason to detain him then, Sir." the subordinate officer insisted. "If he is a man of such training, this mundane occupation he claims can't be all there is to him. We should keep him under surveillance. I can instruct my men to fol-"

"You will do no such thing, Commander." The superior officer snapped, coming around to face the other directly. "As you say, he is a man of training, and I suspect counter surveillance is a part of it. Not to take anything away from the loyalty of your men, but I question their capability to go undetected by this one. We don't want him tipped off. Someone wants him back in play, undisturbed."

"Who?" the other man asked, immediately regretting his probing. "I'm sorry, sir. I spoke out of line." he resumed a stance of attention eyes facing straight forward. The officer returned to his seat, recalling the seductive sensation of The Voice speaking in his ear. The glory, the purpose, the surety of success. The gratitude caressing his spirit with the knowledge of it's loving appreciation. It warmed him, heart and soul, to know She had returned.

"That will be all, Commander."

by **Inoadar** on February 23rd, 2013, 2:10 am

Inoadar pondered his unexpected freedom. For the first hundred steps or so, his back tingled with anticipation of the impaling slam of a crossbow bolt. But this apprehension faded as he approached the first corner. He didn't understand why he had been released. He hadn't even been questioned!

It's not that the Stryfer's story didn't add up. With the CEB building destroyed, there were undoubtedly a great many identities that could be used as cover for infiltration by outside operatives. So the city authorities are going to give pause to that notion by accosting occasional citizens, hoping to hinder wide-scale attempts to slip enemy agents in under that guise. But the circumstances of his detainment were not conducive to trust by the city patrol. And he knew damn well that the squad leader had not liked the look of him.

He took an overly random seeming route, one that gave him chances to observe routes he'd just left for possible tails. There were none he could see. Here, he'd had his assistant dragged off as a traitor and been issued a warning that made it pretty clear that he was on thin ice. True, the Vitrax had issued him an assistant, so it was logical to assume he'd be of impeccable credentials as far as political orientation would go. But Inoadar himself, under the name of 'Nolan Parnell' was a thin disguise just waiting to be torn aside to expose a man of no loyalties, seeking to make a living playing factions against each other for gain.

The Ravosalamen were really the only organization he felt any kinship with, the only ones he would hesitate to betray. They were like him. Buying and selling people for gain. Even though he was paying them what amounted to "protection" money to secure his immunity from exposure, he actually trusted them. He wondered why. So he felt kinship with them. So what? He'd felt kinship with the Second Edict as well, and look how they'd disappointed him.

He also wondered why he'd left contact information with that lone Rising Dawn thug. Why hadn't he turned him over to the Ebonstryfe? It would certainly have helped cement his approval with them. And he still had his "bird skull" to contact that Rising Dawn wizard, Ervis, though that seemed more attuned to allowing Ervis to contact him, rather than the reverse. 'Smart', he thought. It let the wizard stay on top of the connection. He had begun to wonder if it served as some sort of mystic surveillance device as well. Was this Ervis able to listen in on him through the thing?

When it came down to it, he was abandoned by the Rising Dawn, except for the possibility of a single nameless thug, and a wizard that probably was keeping tabs on him, ready to sell him out. He was NOT ALREADY being sold out by the Ravosalamen because he was paying them not to. And now the Ebonstryfe, having had him dead to rights, held in their stronghold, ready to be interrogated, had let him go because they believed him a citizen.

He wished suddenly that he was. A citizen, a real citizen. Not just a stranger with stolen papers to slip through search checks. To belong to something. As he had when he was with the Second Edict, before their diluted devotion had displayed itself so wretchedly. Before the pervasive ineptitude of a city divided into quarters, all at odds with each other, had sickened him to the point of murdering his elder to make a point, and then leaving.

Ravok was nothing like Nyka. There was order here. There was discipline. A clear chain of command. There was a sense that if you belonged, you would be protected. There was a god that took care of his own.

He stopped, shocked at his reverie. What was he thinking? Loyalty had never gained him a thing. He shook his head, disgusted with his delusion of some "happy family" nonsense. You watched out for yourself, and you trusted no one. It was too bad, but that's the way it was.

When he got back to the shop he would begin running experiments on the tongue. Yes, back to work. that's all he needed....Still.....

by **Cataclysm** on April 5th, 2013, 7:49 am

Inoadar :

This was truly a fabulous read. Playing more on the aspects of the city and letting the character shine being there this thread was truly a breathe of fresh air. I look forward to reading further threads from you Inoadar.

Safety comes in the oddest forms

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.