Quest [Summer SQ] Captivity

[Nemesis]

All of the bovine females in the cages on the corridor that Inoadar had entered the building onto were in human form, still collared. They each muttered their own desperate pleas to him as they passed, “Get me out of here, please,” they whispered to him as he passed their cages, feigning distress that he found each of them locked. None had any shame in displaying their female forms, breasts exposed to the cold air as they sat, knelt or stood. Some of the older females thought they knew how to get what they wanted, and they actively displayed their bodies, forcing the poisoner to look, even if he didn’t want to. “What’s going on? Are others out? We know you’re on our side!” They saw him, his mannerisms and garb, and they knew that the poison crafter was not like the handlers and researchers that frequented their cages.

The soldier remained well back, checking one of the doors to see if he might know what was on the other side. Under his breath, he cursed his superiors for not having more information to share; they had all walked him blind, trusting that the animals would not be well organised. Granted, they were limited to travel between their cages and… wherever the researchers took them, but the soldier was relying on Parnell to guide him in the correct direction. Left, they had decided, and the soldier waited by the door for Parnell to join him.

“The viewing frame shows the kelvics are free from their cages, Parnell, all males. But they remain in human form. Some look to still be collared, so their animal forms must have larger necks than their human ones. Given the location, my guess is bovine males, but we cannot be sure…” The soldier swallowed and looked down, and then urned his gaze to to his unlikely companion, “You’d better know where you’re going, Parnell.” Inoadar would interpret the words as they were intended; as a threat. The soldier had been warned by Acolyte Grey that Nolan Parnell might not be who he said he was, and that, whilst his resources were incredibly valuable to this mission, he was not to be trusted. The truth was that the Acolyte did trust the poison crafter… But the Black Sun didn’t, and she had no choice but to mirror the views of her organisation.

———

The soldier, with his elite training, was the only one used to coordinated battle, and he was the first to react to the battle cry that the female kelvic screamed as she charged unsteadily on two feet. He drew his blades , weapons that were intended to main and kill, and it was only then that one of the handlers was jolted into action, “No!” he shouted, “Don’t hurt her, remember what Miss Nitrozian said - she wants many spared as possible.” Stood at the front, he prepared his blowgun, inside of which he had a dart full of the poison crafter’s Wildleash poison. With an inexperienced aim and a shaky hand, he raised the blowgun so that it was aimed at the fast approaching woman. “Do it,” his colleague hissed, and that was all the encouragement he needed.

The woman hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, and white flashes in quick succession blinded the party as they watched the women transform back and forth between her human and rat forms, before finally, exhausted, she rested on the ground. The other rodents did not move as they, too, had watched the kelvic woman morph uncontrollably. The handler who had fired the dart turned to look at the rest of the party, “These creatures have lived in captivity their whole lives. They have not hones their skills as a normal animal might, so you do not need to use deadly force.”

OOCOkay, so map not attached yet, laptop packed in over the holidays and I'm only now getting back on my feet. Hope you guys enjoyed a relaxing break
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[Inoadar]

Inoadar could not bring himself to nurture any desire for these brood cows, despite their efforts. But he made as if he regretted not having the time to indulge a passion he did not feel. His feelings were closer to disgust. It was not from any moral qualms regarding open sexuality, but rather the depths of their craven behavior to win their way free. At the back of his mind, of course, was the question of whether he would sink to such offers to be liberated. But he wondered also, 'Were I a bovine Kelvic woman, and I won free of this institute, where would I go?' The thought wound further into his speculation, 'Where do all these Kelvics mean to go? They can't stay here. Is it to be just a mad dash for the woods? Creatures like these cows will be a nice distraction for the smaller breeds to avoid wolves. And food for the predators. Tough luck for them.' he shrugged. As well, the raptors would be snatching up the mice for food. He'd fought with predatory breeds of Kelvics before. Wolves, panthers, bears, tigers. He doubted the great cats or pack hunters were going to let themselves be slowed by defending a bunch of cows. They'd let them fend for themselves for as long as they'd last, which wouldn't be long. After he'd left the row of Bovine cells, he wondered if he could sow some sort of disruptive dissent between ranks of such fodder as the cows, and the real threats among the escapees still at large in the facility. The soldier with Inoadar made no secret of his distrust of the poisoner. "Well, if we have to dart one of the males, make it one with no collar, if possible. The object lesson to those who see that their throats will be crushed by their collars, as they shift, should help convince them to cooperate. And for your information, I do not know the layout of this place beyond a couple turns ahead. It is where I interrogated an inmate named Calweena some time ago. A Raven Kelvic that was in on an escape attempt, along with an intern named...what was it?...Harvek, I think." They turned the corner at the end of a long hall. There was the sound of commotion from the far end. "None of these doors go through to any other wings of the facility, they are all either labs, storage, or offices for the doctors, or administrators. It's true I didn't check them all, but I saw the pattern in how they were arranged. The door at those far stairs is where anyone coming this way will first appear. Here..." He handed the soldier a packet of Wildleash doses; a roll of individual packets designed to be sliced through with a knife to coat it. For himself, Inoadar loaded his blowgun and the loops of his bracer. He brow furrowed a moment. "Wait a tick...Didn't the administrator lady say that there was a stock of Wildleash here somewhere?" The soldier didn't answer, but did appear to wish to hear more of this line of thought. He looked back down the hall. "Those doors at the far end are labs. I remember one door in particular that had cloths laid at its foot, to catch condensation. I bet it is cold storage for chemicals...chemicals like Wildleash poison! Let's get in there and get hold of it. Come on!" They reached the door to find it locked. The noise of struggle was getting slowly louder as Inoadar pulled out his lock picking tools again. He set to work on the lock, as the soldier's voice grew steadily more anxious in response to the sound of nearing hostilities. The pins and wedges seemed to be ineffective, for some reason. It was as if they were being wedged, when Inoadar had not pushed them in any manner that should have done so. They diverted into nooks that were not where he slid them, as if they had a mind of their own. And they resisted being pulled back out. "Shyke!" he growled, "This is one of those new locks with magnetic slips. This is going to take some time." "We don't HAVE time!" the soldier cried, the last word getting the lost in the sudden burst of volume from the doorway. The only sound recognizable beyond feral growls and snarls, was the sound of the sword being drawn from the soldier's scabbard. Inoadar spun in his crouch, ready to aim and fire the blowgun, but his eyes were suddenly dazzled by several bright flashes of Kelvic shifts. Judging by the fact that several growls indicated Kelvics in animal form already, it was only logical that several more had just joined them. He had no idea if any of them were still in human form, still stuck with collars, but he fired blindly, figuring they had been so closely packed, he would surely hit one of them.