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Holmes: Isadora sits by the fire, having evaded her mother for the night. Sebastian, inebriated, sits not far off.
Holmes: Okhfels arrives back from his excursion, covered in sweat. Meaningful glances are passed about the fire.
Okhfels is grinning ear to ear. He walks up to Isadora and gives her a salute after his fashion. (Fist on the chest)
Holmes: Following Okhfels, is Dhazari, a look of concern on his face, and behind him, Elahra.
Isadora looks pensive, but it clears a bit as Okhfels approaches. She stands to greet him. "How was the hunt?"
Okhfels: "Mostly a success. We killed eight of their shamans, and broke up their ritual. ..."
Okhfels: (one moment)
Okhfels: "...Alshor says that the goblins who are left might be able to finish their ritual, though. They looked like they were trying to wake up some kind of rock thing."
Holmes: As he mentions the name, Alshor comes in. He looks at Dhazari, "We lost one of the tribe...Mitsis."
Holmes: A dark look comes over Dhazari's face.
Okhfels: "Just one! We were very lucky."
Isadora nods sharply to Okhfels. To Dhazari she says, "I hoped he'd make it back." To her surprise, she means it.
Holmes: "And I'm sure that his death was just unfortunate," says Dhazari. "Wouldn't have had anything to do with his having killed one of the Ikaiti?"
Okhfels: "What?"
Okhfels looks confused.
Isadora doesn't flinch. "I sent him because he had a debt to pay, in the eyes of my men if not yours. That was the end of it. He had the same odds as anyone when he set foot out of this camp."
Holmes: "Okhfels lead the troops, his life was in his hands. I'm to believe that it was just random chance that Mitsis was the only one to die in the raid? Dhazari says unbelivingly.
Okhfels: "Why not?"
Isadora's spine stiffens. "I'd have shed no tears if he died, but I'm telling you right now that I do my own murders. Are you calling me a liar?"
Holmes: "Well explain it to me so I can believe? What am I to tell Mitsis' family?" Dhazari says, still incredulous.
Holmes: Elahra steps forward to Okhfels, "Tell him the truth, Okhfels - if it was revenge, then it's not the crime that lying about it would be."
Isadora looks to Okhfels. "Report, soldier."
Okhfels stands at attention.
Okhfels: "After the scouts had a look, we split into two groups. The fastest runners in one group, the sneakiest archers in the other."
Holmes: Alshor follows up, "Mitsis was with the runners, of course."
Okhfels: "I led the archers, and Alshor led the runners. We crawled up the back side of a hill next to the ritual place. T He ? runners made a big noise, shouting and calling names, and when the goblins took off after them, we came out and fired down at the shamen."
Okhfels: (did that come through?)
Okhfels: After firing five or six shots each, the goblins got their feet under them and started making like they would get help... so that's when we took to our feet as well."
Okhfels: *After we fired...
Okhfels: "We ran all the way back. If Mitsis stepped in a hole, or ran into something... the goblins weren't far behind us."
Holmes: "When we got to the other side, with my group, one of the soldiers, Kalden said that Okhfels had told him to take charge. It was he that ordered Mitsis on the right flank of our diversion. That put him in some brush. He tripped, and the goblins overwhelmed him. He took a dozen with him likely, however; his family can be proud," Alshor reports.
Okhfels: It's now Okhfels turn to look dark.
Okhfels: "I didn't put Kalden in charge."
Holmes: Dhazari's eyes shoot daggers at Okhfels.
Okhfels looks over at Isadora. "I have something to take care of, Isadora."
Isadora snaps to the nearest soldier, without looking away, "I want Kalden here."
Isadora: To Okhfels, she says, "If it's him you're taking care of, he answers to me first. He's putting my word on the line."
Okhfels: "Isadora... Kalden has joined my band."
Isadora: "What are you saying?"
Okhfels: "It should be my job to handle him."
Holmes: The soldier heads out, and Kalden is brought in. "Kalden was one of Poros' men, if I recall," says Alshor as he enters.
Isadora: "A moment," Isadora says to Okhfels. To Dhazari, she says, "No bullshit--what does it mean to you if Mitsis death was planned? Is this a matter for Okhfels' band, or does it affect my whole camp?"
Okhfels is ready to just go over and rip Kalden's head off.
Okhfels sends an order to have his men mustered at their usual training ground.
Holmes: Dhazari says, "Only the liars will suffer."
Okhfels looks to Isadora
Okhfels: "It's my job, Isadora."
Isadora: With a nod to Dhazari, Isadora says to Okhfels, "You want to handle this? I trust you. If he's innocent, I'll back him as far as it takes." It was hard for her to say.
Okhfels walks up to Kalden, grim determination in his eye. He thinks back to how such things were handled in his mercenary band.
Okhfels grabs Kalden by the back of the neck, like one would a misbehaving dog. He drags the man out of the tent, through the Ikaiti camp, over to the training ground by the forge.
Okhfels says nothing the whole time.
Okhfels: Once there, Okhfels points at any of his men who were among the runners. "Step up to the front."
Okhfels: He asks them, point blank, one at a time... "Who was in charge of the runners, when you met the goblins?"
Isadora follows, of course. She'll stand back and watch, hands clasped tightly behind her back.
Holmes: The men concur that Kalden had taken charge as Alshor indicated.
Okhfels pushes Kalden down to the ground, holding him there with his knee.
Holmes: "I did no wrong. The orders I gave were sensible. Somebody had to be on that end. Why not Mitsis?" says Kalden.
Holmes: Desperation on his face twists and contorts it.
Okhfels: "I never put you in charge, Kalden."
Okhfels addresses his men.
Okhfels: "What is the punishment for mutiny?"
Okhfels: "Because that's what this is."
Holmes: "I wasn't going to leave it to one of them to mess things up! I had to take charge! It's not mutiny, it was a neccessity!" Kalden screams.
Okhfels smacks him on the back of the head with the back of his hand. "Shut your gob."
Okhfels speaks to his men again. "Well? Tell me. What is the punishment for mutiny? What do I do with this man?"
Isadora's face is wiped clean of all expression. She sees an echo of her own revenge-driven killing, back in Kaitaine, in Kalden's actions.
Holmes: A Rhiani scout replies simply, "He lied."
Okhfels: "Yes. He did. That's enough by itself, isn't it?"
Okhfels points at an Ikaiti. "W Hat ? is the punishment for mutiny, soldier?"
Okhfels: "Among the men I learned to fight with, a crime like this was punished by being beaten to death by his comrades."
Holmes: "In Kaitaine he'd be put in the brig, and possiby tried for the man's death," says one of the soldiers meekly.
Okhfels: "I'm not going to do that... some of this is my fault. I should have SEEN that this man was not FIT for this company."
Okhfels: "So it's my job to make it right."
Okhfels takes a knife from his belt.
Holmes: The men tacitly agree, staring off into the night at attention.
Okhfels: "A soldier deserves to die in battle, spitting his last blood in the enemy's eye."
Okhfels recites this, perhaps from memory?
Egani: "So, Fahja, the woman facing away from us in Isadora. She runs the show around here. The big man smacking the little guy around is Ohkfels...um, I wonder what's going on..."
Fahja: "As do I.."
Okhfels: "This is no soldier." He sticks the knife into Kalden's back, and just shoves it in.
Fahja: "Who is the coward?"
Isadora stiffens a bit when Okhfels stabs Kalden, but she says no word to stop him.
Okhfels rises from the twitching corpse.
Fahja nods toward the man with the knife.
Egani: "Oh...I dunno...one of the locals I think."
Okhfels goes over to his men.
Okhfels: "You are thinking, now, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to join up. You're thinking, maybe, it's time to go back to your old comrades."
Okhfels: "Think hard about that."
Fahja stands looking at the man bleeding his life out on the ground. His robes rustle slightly as he clears his sword hilt.
Okhfels: "Think what it is that makes you think that."
Egani approaches Isadora with the newcomer, not quite watching the grim goings on beyond her.
Fahja 's eyes grow hot with inner emotion.
Isadora shoots a glance behind her at the sound, then shifts her stance to half-face the newcomers as they approach.
Okhfels: "Because if you think it could be you over there someday... I don't WANT you here. This band is for MEN. Not dogs. So if you want to go... go now."
Isadora: "Bad timing, Egani. Who's this?" Her own fingers are beating a restless tempo on the hilt of her rapier.
Okhfels glares at his men. "No?"
Fahja: "You there, with the knife. Tell me, why kill a man like a coward? Do you fear death?"
Egani: "Um, Fahja...he just rode in. He's looking for someone."
Holmes: Elkaru M'ah comes along to see what the commotion is about, notes the man with the horse and rushes over. "Fahja? Hero of the people? Can it be you?"
Egani turns to Fahja "Hero of the people?"
Fahja lets a smile spread across his face.
Isadora: "Hero of the people? You didn't introduce him properly, Egani. You might not get another chance, if he's looking for a fight with Okhfels."
Fahja: "Elkaru, yes, it has been a long time my friend. It is good to see you well."* Egani smiles. "Is Okhfels a hero of the people?"
Isadora: "He's a good soldier. More than I can say for the man who just died."
Holmes: One of the men in Okhfels line wavers for a moment, considering taking off. But in the end, they all stand, all committed to the Hero Band.
Okhfels: "Good. Now there's a victory to celebrate... go do that. I'll be along later."
Fahja still speaking to Elkaru..
Fahja: "We needs catch up. I would much like to know what you are doing in this place."
Okhfels: After the men are shooed along, Okhfels walks over to Fahja. "Why should I need to prove my worth to you, stranger?"
Fahja: "I asked not for your worth, I asked if you are afraid of death."
Fahja loses his smile.
Holmes: "Well, you'll remember that I left the Caves of Inis shortly after we started the tribe's stay there. Well, I found this wonderful wife of a caravan master, and we headed north. And you can guess how that ended. About how it usually does. I had no place else to flee but north," Elkaru relates.
Okhfels says, simply, "I'm not."
Egani: "I am! I think death is completely over-rated."
Fahja: "In my experience, those who deal death so casually do so in an attempt to ward it away from themselves. Tell me, why was that man killed?"
Okhfels: "What is it to you?"
Fahja: "Perhaps I just want to save you from yourself. Perhaps I'm just curious. Perhaps I'm looking for a reason to kill you so as to ward death away from myself. All things come to pass."
Egani: Taking advantage of the tension and attention between Okhfels and Fahja, Egani picks up the limp man's feet and begins to drag him away.
Okhfels: "If you want to try to kill me, go ahead and try. Why do you need a reason?"
Fahja: "You just answered my question. Thank you."
Fahja bows slightly.
Fahja: "Come Elkaru, let us find some food and drink and speak of old times."
Isadora turns to Egani to say something, only to notice that he's doing something... odd. She decides to ignore it for the moment in favor of watching Fahja and Okhfels.
Holmes: Okhfels lunges forward suddenly, applying all his strength. Fahja, moving with his amazing speed, and thinking as he often does that he must not be hampered from finding his lost love. Almost manages to escape. But Okhfels manages to barely grasp part of his leathers, and that's enough. Okhfels reels Fahja in, and soon has him firmly in his unbreakable grasp. That said, Fahja manages to get himself into a position where, though he cannot
Holmes: move, he's not harmed at all really by the grasp.
Fahja smiles.
Fahja: "So, are you going to kill me now for one of your inscrutable reasons?"
Okhfels: "No, I'm not going to kill you. I wanted to make sure you were listening." He gets in close, whispering in Fahja's ear. "I don't like vague threats. Deal straight with me, or leave me alone." He releases Fahja gently, no shove, no disrespect.
Fahja studies Okhfels for a brief moment.
Okhfels looks drained. Tired.
Fahja: "If your duties allow, perhaps you would share food and drink with my friend and I?"
Okhfels: "Later, I think. I told my men I would spend the evening with them, celebrating our victory over the goblins."
Fahja nods.
Fahja: "The offer shall remain open."
Okhfels turns to Isadora.
Okhfels: "Is there anything else you need me for right now?"
Fahja slips away with Elkaru.
Isadora stood straight and silent during the whole affair. She shakes her head at Okhfels. "No. Go celebrate."
Holmes: Elahra comes up behind Okhfels, "I'm sorry I doubted you. Can I be forgiven?"
Okhfels gathers Elahra into a hug. "I'm sorry... that... I had to do that."
Isadora turns and strides away. She intended to look for Dhazari, but remembers that she has to find Egani, first. Where has the body gone?
Holmes: "I know," she says. Looking into her eyes, Okhfels can see doubt there. Can people from such different cultures find love?
Holmes: Elahra seems to still be looking for an answer.
Okhfels: "I should ask you to forgive *me*."
Holmes: Dhazari looks at the two of them from close range, his eyes burning into them.
Okhfels has no energy left for Dhazari.
Holmes: Elahra looks down obviously feeling shame of some sort.
Okhfels: "Say it, Dhazari."
Okhfels lets go of Elahra. He still feels dead tired.
Holmes: "I thought that you and my sister might be something that could work. But think about this night. I was so wrong. Can't you see that it's not meant to be?" Dhazari tries to appeal to the tough man in Okhfels.
Okhfels turns to Elahra. "There will be more days like this Elahra."
Holmes: "So what does that mean?" she looks up at him yet again.
Okhfels: "I don't think I can change for you, Elahra. Will you have me as I am?" He's asking a lot. Okhfels is bloodstained, dirty, and bedraggled.
Holmes: She looks at her brother, "Maybe he's right, then."
Holmes: She nods her head in silent resolve. It's too dark to note that she's started crying.
Holmes: She walks back towards the Rhiani encampment.
Okhfels pats Elahra on the shoulder, one last gesture of reassurance... then walks away.

Holmes: Fahja makes his way to the Rhiani camp that seems to be past the strange and flimsy tents of the foreign contingent here. Before he reaches there, he notes a woman in black with cats on her robe's border. She interposes herself seemingly interested.
Holmes: "A worshipper of Inis? Amongst the Rhiani? I had no idea such existed," she says.
Holmes: Fahja notes that she is old. Not ancient, but not young either.
Fahja: "The world is a large place."
Holmes: Elkaru looks her over.
Holmes: "Inis is consort to Andaras you know?" she says somewhat rhetorically. "I am a priestess of the great cat."
Fahja: "How has that been working out for you then?"
Holmes: Even in the dim light, Fahja can tell that she's of the same stock as the foreingers.
Holmes: "It works very well," she says. "Is it true what they say of Inis' male worshippers?"
Fahja: "That depends. I only tell women that promise to keep the truth as a secret. Otherwise I would get no rest."
Holmes: "Well, I think I could keep a secret," she replies without hesitation.
Holmes: Despite her age, she still has a definite allure to her.
Fahja lets out a small smile.
Fahja: "Perhaps you would care to share food and drink with my long lost friend and I."
Holmes: "I have a comfortable tent near my shrine," she says. "You're welcome there."
Fahja: "My friend as well?"
Holmes: "Certainly," she says saucily. "That would be fine."
Fahja bows formally.
Fahja: "Then we accept."

Holmes: As Okhfels crosses the clearing to have some revelry with his Rhiani members of his Hero Band, he notes a dark figure in the night. As it comes closer, he sees that it is a voluptuous Rhiani woman - not one he' seen before.
Okhfels nods respectfully to her, intending merely to pass by.
Aysha eyes Okhfels up and down, a slightly bitter glint in her eye
Aysha: "I see you are a strong one," she says. "I wonder if you could lift a rock out of a boat."
Aysha stops and thinks for a second.
Aysha: "Or put one there, for that matter."
Okhfels: "It can wait until morning."
Aysha: "So you did put it there? I wonder what you had agains that boat. Such a nice little boat."
Aysha glides towards Okhfels
Okhfels: "Isadora said to." Okhfels keeps walking towards the revelry.
Aysha falls in beside him.
Aysha: "Who is Isadora?"
Okhfels: "Isadora is my captain."
Holmes: They are almost to the Rhiani Challenge circle now.
Aysha: "Ahhh... I would like to meet this... captain of yours. Is she there?"
Aysha gestures towards the Challenge circle.
Aysha: "Perhaps..."
Aysha stops talking, as she realizes what she's looking at
Okhfels: "No. She has a tent back that way." He tosses his head in the direction of the Ikaiti camp.
Aysha stops walking just outside the Challenge Circle
Aysha: "Perhaps you could show me the way..." she says, absently.
Aysha: "What is this... gathering?"
Okhfels just keeps walking, towards the forge. "Sorry. Busy tonight."
Holmes: As he travels into the night, snakes grow out of Aysha's head and her eyes glow with a light that transfixes. Okhfels points in the direction of Isadora's tent before he knows what he's doing. But then he masters himself with the thought of the nights events and of Isadora. And he sees the magic being performed on him.
Okhfels: "What did you do that for?"
Aysha: "You were being difficult."
Aysha sways her hips
Aysha: "It is the way of things. I thank you for your help, reluctantly though it was given."
Okhfels: "Why did you want to know where Isadora's tent is?"
Aysha 's enticing look becomes a little strained.
Aysha: "There are things I must learn. Perhaps she can guide me to the answers I seek."
Okhfels: "It's late. See her tomorrow."
Okhfels: "I mean it."
Aysha 's playful smile returns with full force.
Aysha: "Or what? You'll show me what a big strong man you are? Or maybe you'll kill me."
Aysha: With an ironic laugh, Aysha moves in the direction of Isadora's tent.
Okhfels follows, almost stumbling in his exhaustion. "No. No. Look, it's late."
Okhfels: He sighs.
Okhfels: "Please. Leave her alone."
Aysha continues on her way
Okhfels: "Come with me... instead..."
Aysha: "And you seemed so set on parting ways with me before. But you do look exhausted. Why don't you go watch the fight? I'll come see you after I talk to your... captain."
Okhfels: "The ... fight?"
Holmes: The woman seems somewhat disoriented.
Aysha: "The ring... it's for fighting. Isn't that where you were going?"
Aysha looks back over her shoulder, but the ring is empty.
Aysha looks confused
Okhfels: "No. I was going to celebrate our... victory. But I don't really feel much like celebrating anymore."
Aysha: "Your words make me sad. It has been long since I have had cause to celebrate."
Aysha resumes her course towards Captain Isadora's tent.
Okhfels follows behind Aysha. "Don't. Stop. What do you want with Isadora? I swear, if you hurt her..."

Holmes: Fahja reigns his horse up before something improbable. Coming over a rise is a house, like you'd find in a city. But just lying by itself in a small copse of woods. As he rides closer, a man comes out followed by a...well it's shaped like a man anyway...
Fahja pats Shimmersand and puts the horse into a leisurely gait as they continue towards the oddly placed building.
Egani: Egani is directing a very large wood and metal man who's carying a rather substantial rock. "Aaron, please set that large rock down here on this bench..."
Egani waits for the newcomer, shielding his eyes from the sun as he looks up at the mounted rider. As the rider draws close enough, "Hello...have we met? I'm still getting confused about everyone."
Fahja: "Greetings, and no, I do not believe we have met before in this life. My name is Fahja."
Egani bows a bit. "I am Egani. I'm new here. Oh, and this is Aaron." Gesturing with one hand at the automaton.
Fahja: "Indeed."
Fahja nods to the construct.
Fahja: "You mentioned others?"
Egani: "Others?"
Fahja: "Other people, inhabitants I suppose. I'm not quite sure where, precisely, this is. I would be grateful if you could enlighten me."
Egani: Squinting and noticing a travel-worn look, Egani starts, "Oh! How long have you been riding?"
Egani: "Please, come in. Marcia! We have company."
Fahja: "Many a moon. Thank you for your hospitality."
Fahja dismounts.
Fahja: "Is there some place where I could water my steed?"
Egani: "Sure, the creek behind the house is fine."
Egani: Marcia comes out, dusting flour on her apron with a smile.
Fahja nods and leads Shimmersand to the creek.
Egani: "What brings you out to the middle of nowhere?"
Fahja: "What usually carries people to the middle of nowhere? Running from something, or looking for something. I'm on the looking end."
Egani: "Bounty Hunter?"
Fahja: "You don't miss very much."
Fahja smiles.
Egani: "So which of the unsavories are you after? Is it that Bynum fellow?"
Fahja: "Haha, just how many "unsavories" are there around here?"
Egani: "I think of 'unsavory' as being in the eye of the beholder. But there might be a few."
Fahja nods.
Fahja: "In the land I come from giving knowledge to someone instills them with a responsibility. As you can probably imagine, my people are a quiet people."
Fahja: "Still, if you really want to know, I will tell you whom I seek."
Egani is attentive.
Fahja nods slowly, solemnly, as if he were sealing a pact.
Fahja: "There is a fire that burns, all alone in the dark recesses of my heart. It is that fire which I follow. Her name is Alitia. She is strong, wild, impossible.. and no god, no demon, no man, certainly, will keep me from her."
Egani: "This sounds important. I'm afraid I've not met an Alitia in these parts, but perhaps one of the others knows of her. After lunch, I'll take you into camp. Isadora will want to meet you. She likes meeting everyone new to the area."
Fahja nods.
Fahja: "My thanks."

Holmes: In the seclusion of his home, Egani begins his work. The drag was long and he's somewhat exhausted. But the soul might still be there to save.
Holmes: Using the preservation spell first to ensure that the body becomes no worse a receptacle, he follows this with the spell to Find Souls. Which is key, as the soul had just started to drift off. Thinking quickly he manipulates the essence slightly using a modification of the Bank Essence spell, and then finally manages to do a good job with Still the Departing Soul.
Holmes: The essence of the man's being clings to the body. It refuses to reanimate the body yet - it's too damaged still. But it will not leave for now...
Egani is now known as Egani_
Holmes: Chelli comes over to the body and begins to sniff at it.
Egani_ is now known as Egani
Egani begins the first stage of this procedure, surgical exploration to determine the damage. Once it's clear that the spine is the only severly damaged vital, Egani begins crafting replacement parts, carven from ivory steeped in the green dye made from the plumage of the bird colony in Egani's new aviary.
Egani: Pins of bone and thread of sinew from the birds are used along with whole feathers to sew up the back when the long procedure is final.
Holmes: The work takes him through the night.
Isadora: Not long after she left Okhfels and Elahra, Isadora comes knocking on Egani's door. She still looks grim, her usual half-hearted annoyance at the world nowhere in evidence.
Egani: As Marcia shows Isadora into the workshop, she notes that Kalden lies in the operatory, face down. There is a two-foot stitched seam up his spine with a bizarre array of plumage jabbed down into the wound, hooked through and into the skin in an intricate pattern. It is at once lovely and creepy.
Isadora stares at the thing on the table for several seconds, then lifts her eyes to Egani. "What have you done?"
Egani: "Oh, hello." Egani wipes his eyes with the back of his right hand. "His spine was quite damaged. I've had to replace parts of it. I believe that his personality will be completely different when he wakes up. I think he's also likely to have some memory loss."
Egani: "My I offer you some tea?" As he nods to the beautiful porcelain service on the opposite bench.
Isadora's voice is tightly controlled. "Why is he going to wake up?"
Isadora: "I'm not thirsty."
Egani: "Well, he's injured, but not so badly that he mightn't have recovered on his own."
Egani: "Hey, anything's possible."
Egani: "Anyway, I'm a doctor and it's my job to cure people."
Isadora: "Ah. You also consider it your job to distract my soldiers with foreign troublemakers, haul away bodies in the distraction, and spit on my authority to dispense justice to my own men? Doctors are busy where you come from."
Egani: "Pardon?"
Isadora: "Are you stupid, Egani? Or do you think I am?"
Egani: "No."
Egani: "If you're not going to be straight with me, can I ask you to vacate? I have a lot of work ahead of me."
Isadora: "Let me be straighter, then, if I'm not being clear. What you've done, apart from what it may mean to the gods, to Kalden's companions, or to the Rhiani, is a direct challenge to my authority. You must see that?"
Egani: "Are you saying that this man was a condemned prisoner?"
Egani: "I hadn't heard. I assumed it was some kind of tough-guy posturing that seems so popular these days."
Egani: "Would it be enough if I made him disappear?"
Isadora passes a hand over her face. "He was condemned. Yes. Where would he... disappear to?"
Egani: "Sel-Kai. He has a date with some friends of mine."
Isadora: Speaking carefully, Isadora says, "What's the nature of this date, that it should keep him from proper burial?"
Egani: "Isadora, consider what anyone who happened to be paying attention to little old me, instead of a brawl between the ox and the hero, saw. I merely took away a dead body. No one thinks that I challenged your authority.
Egani shakes his head a bit. "Oh, he's not dead. Why would he be burried?"
Isadora shakes her head. "You don't understand 'tough-guy posturing.' If I say a man has to die for his crimes, and you whisk away his death, then a wizard and not a soldier is running this camp. If I let you take him away now, I need an assurance that you will never--and I mean never--interfere like this again without my permission."
Egani: "I will be much more careful in the future."
Egani: "Further, I will make absolutely sure that no-one sees this man alive. No one will know that he survived."
Egani nods to a large crate next to a stack of smaller crates. He's going in there.
Isadora: "I hope you're taking me seriously. You have power I don't understand, and I'd rather have you on my side than rolling around loose. But if you go around raising the dead, it'll be the last thread that rips this place apart." She seems near persuasion, though.
Egani: "If you want to lend a hand, I could use the help, and we could make sure that things go right."
Isadora sighs and nods. "I'll help, then."
Egani gives Isadora a cup of tea. "You'll want this." And begins directing her.
Holmes: After a bit it's all complete. With the last repair, something seems to snap in the body, and it suddenly starts to breathe.
Holmes: A hideous groan comes from Kalden. Not a sound a live person could make.
Egani waits, testing the body's capacity for recovery...and the ropes that hold his hands and feet to the table.
Holmes: Things seem to be going smoothly...all things considered.
Isadora, stunned, goes along with it.
Egani begins to question the patient as he rises to consciousness to determine the state of the mind, while admonishing him to lie still.
Holmes: "Yes, I am Kald...Kalde...Kalden?"
Egani: "Kalde, your spine may be fragile for a few days as your body recovers. I'm going to keep you mostly sedated during the initial recovery stage. After that, you should be able to recover to a like-new state. We've got the best in medical care in store for you. What's the last thing you remember before waking up?"
Holmes: "Stars, I was climbing. It was so nice. Why am I not still climbing?" he says.
Egani: "You got back up to the top. Before that you were sinking."
Egani: "We," gesturing to Isadora and himself, "helped you climb."
Holmes: "Nooooo...." Kalden starts making an inhuman noises again, and this time it declines in volume, but continues.
Egani: Turning to Isadora, "So, what'd he do to piss you off, anyway?"
Isadora: "He lied about his authority to get Mitsis killed. He made a liar of me."
Egani smiles. "You should have brought Mitsis to me."
Egani instructs the patient to flex his body slightly while observing the spine's operation.
Isadora: "Why? I sent him out to live or die, and have a clear name when he returned."
Egani turning back to Isadora, "Why is your authority so important to you here? These people do things because you either pay them or facilitate their pay. Right? Why do you need this draconian authority thing goign on too? I'm seriously not challenging you, but while I have you alone it would be neat to understand."
Isadora: "Because all of us have been sent out here to die. If it happens fast, we're gone. If it happens slow, there's a chance that some of us will make it home first. We're half a step away from total chaos. And if you think that you and your magical friends prancing around haven't forced my hand and tightened my grip, you're not paying attention."
Egani: "Why don't you just go somewhere safer?"
Egani has the patient consume a bunch of sedative leaves that will drop his metabolism a great deal and continue to leach into his stomach for a week or so. Then, Egani and Isadora crate him up.

Shadow World

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