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Deryl Laklan As the guards that protected the entrance of the basement fled with the other loyalist soldiers alongside the scion of Gens Linug, it's thankfully undefended leaving it open for the exalts to descend upon the stairs. As even the abbot does not know what they do down there, who knows what the jailers even do to the prisoners down there. "I'll go first in case there are guards, although if there are prisoners especially those containing important information, they may take them hostage or outright kill them"

The chosen of Aurora says to the others as he opens the door to the basement, revealing steps covered in roots as it seems the trees within the temple's gardens even managed to reach it. There are reliefs carvings of Sextis Jylis in the walls besides the stairs, usually depicting him as a benevolent giver of bounties or a medicinal figure.

Amilar Ereyo At the sight of the carvings, a brief smile lights up Ereyo's face. Still, this isn't the right moment for reverence. She strains her ears for any sign of life from beyond the entrance, but doesn't draw her reaper daiklave. Its considerable length might be more hindrance than help down here.

"Go on, then", she whispers to Deryl. "We are right behind you." A quick look over her shoulder to Divya, as if to confirm they didn't loose Ira Bisht somewhere on the way.

Despite affecting bravery, as is expected of a Prince of the Earth, Ereyo looks unmistakeably tense. Not frightful, but definitely on edge.

Mahendru Divya For her part, Divya looks relaxed and even indulging in a bit of admiration of the relief carvings and the general attention to architecture in this presumably old monastery. Having two armed Exalts for companions makes for some peace of mind at least.

The Sidereal straightens a fold in her robes and does a quick spot check to ensure she looks exactly as she means to. At Deryl's remark, Divya nods and says "Thank you for your foresight, Captain Laklan. If we happen to spot them before they spot us, do stop and let us know so we can discuss the best approach inward. Perhaps our good friend the Wai Tan-Junai might oblige us if it looks like a show of Terrestrial presence and power might cause them to yield? Otherwise, I'm happy to talk to whoever's down here once we've determined it's safe to do so."

"Hopefully they'll take hostages first instead of just executing people. If it looks like anyone down here is about to kill anyone else down here, let's try and put a stop to that. There's been more than enough bloodshed in this village lately. Otherwise, if they take hostages, that's perfectly fine. It means they'll want to talk and I don't mind obliging them with a bit of negotiation."

Deryl Laklan "Yes, I was hoping we can intimidate the guards down there but wish they are not the types who care about loyalty to their king more than their lives" He says as for him, one of the greatest foes is the one that refuses to surrender and fight to the death. Usually zealots and those with nothing to loose. It seems Ereyo is not the only armored individual down here, as she can hear the clanking of metal down there. It sounds like footsteps created by heavy armor. It seems whoever this armored soldier is, he seems to be walking in circles. Meanwhile for Deryl, he discovers something terrible that he wish he didn't see. "Oh god, this prison is also a morgue. A badly maintained morgue where the bodies are just disposed like rotting banana skins"

Even in the dark, he can see something warm as it manifests as a burning red color but slowly fading for it is a candle in the middle of a blizzard. There is a corpse here, freshly killed and still warm once they reach the basement. It's not the only dead body, for there are others wrapped in sacks. Sometimes multiple corpses are just shoved there. They show signs of being tortured in various ways, ultimately resulting in their demise. "Huh, this basement used to be a storage for medicine for times of need and storing grains to save it for times of famine? There are even herb and spices collections grown from the garden of the temple....shame it's now tainted with this." With his eyes, he even managed to make out a sign and other storage compartments signifying the purpose of the basement before it was turned into a prison.

The group can see a light in the middle of the hallway but they can hear someone there, crying in agony while being berrated by other voices

Amilar Ereyo "By the Dragons!" Ereyo keeps her voice down, considering that she's now aware of the presence of someone walking around in armor somewhere in these dark corridors. "They just... threw them in here and left them to rot... and their hungry ghosts to haunt the village." She swallows her disquiet and squints into the darkness with visible reluctance - not looking forward to other nasty surprises lurking there in the shadows.

The Air Aspect's gaze passes over the supplies still stored down here, but she doesn't seem keen on claiming them. "We have to make a full sweep. I can hear someone moving about in armor...", Ereyo says to her companions, still whispering."

She pauses, to give the other Exalts a chance to listen... and that's when her ears pick up the sound of voices, and someone in pain. Almost immediately, her full attention is on the illuminated hallway, and the voices coming from within. Her training takes over, and she presses herself flat against the wall.

"Are you still so keen on talking them down?", she asks Ira, voice crackling with anger. Even in the dim light, they can tell the Dragon-Blooded's irises have shifted color to something quite dark, shot through with minute sparks of tiny lightning. "We have to act fast, Captain Laklan."

Mahendru Divya Divya seemingly shares Ereyo's reaction, anger lighting in the depths of her star-filled emerald eyes. "The sooner we deal with those still living, the sooner I can work with the Immaculates to see these remains be honored more in death than they were in life. You'd think these soldiers would know better, especially since they're fighting their own kin and country."

She creeps forward at the sound of torture still taking place. Then she looks back at Deryl and Ereyo. "I can reconnoiter if that's useful. But something tells me their latest victim may not have that much time. I will follow your leads, Captain, Wai Tan-Junai." Although plainly not a soldier, Divya's reaction to the dead and her clearheaded focus are both telltale signs this woman's seen her share of battlefields and horror.

Deryl Laklan "No wonder they were the ones who caused the shadowland, they were too careless...or correctly they didn't care about the ones they killed, not even giving them a burial" Deryl seethes after seeing the bodies caused by their atrocities and silently nods to Ereyo that they must act quickly before more lives experience suffering and death in the other end of the hallway. He hurries to the other end of the hall with the other exalts and they finally reach the light, revealing prison chambers and in the center of the room, is a woman being interrogated by an armored officer of the Adranus loyalists.

"They are dead because of you!!! You leaked information to Dashing Mint's rebels and now your friends and family...even your son is dead from the attack they did in the temple plaza!" After verbally abusing a woman whose hands he cuffed to the table, he then shifts into a friendly tone, possibly some elaborate tactic. "This travesty that happened to the town is your fault, but if you tell us the exact location of Mint's headquarters, they will be avenged and your mistake corrected" However that is not what happened, for the exalts clearly remembered that there were no civilians killed during the Wood Aspect's assault. She is being gaslighted into thinking the assault killed her fellow townspeople. "You are the informant after all...and who goes there?"

The a dozen of soldiers acting as guards are alerted to the sudden arrival of the exalts. Thankfully she is not the only survivor, for there are various people here...including some Lookshyan scouts Ereyo recognizes.

Amilar Ereyo At the sight of her fellow Seventh Legion soldiers, Ereyo mutters a quick prayer of thanks to the Dragons. Relief touches her face, but doesn't linger there, quickly replaced by cold, calculating fury - which she aims at the people who might well be responsible for the tortured bodies they just saw, and who are clearly not planning on stopping now.

Thankfully, there's enough room here to draw her long, curved blade, which she does. The daiklave's icy blue jade seems to drain what little warmth remains around her to begin with. With her other hand, the Dragon-Blooded grips one of the seemingly unremarkable paper talismans dangling from her armor's the shoulder guards and straps.

Fixing the armored officer with her glare, Ereyo points the daiklave's tip straight at him. The constant little winds floating around her pick up strength, so that both Divya and Deryl, and even the soldiers standing before them, can feel them now.

"This is the Seventh Legion. Drop your weapons and get down on your knees. ~Now~!" Her voice - and through its echo, the entire circular interrogation room - rings with the peal of thunder.

Mahendru Divya Divya's content to let the far more impressive profile of the Air Aspect gathering power take prominence. With Deryl's weapon drawn, that's two daiklaves facing down the mostly mortal soldiers. Perhaps entirely mortal, if that armored officer doesn't have a touch of Exaltation or divine blood at least.

From behind the two warriors, Divya speaks up, the least threatening person present. "I'd do what she says, officer," the Sidereal says, directing her words to the Adranus leader. "Two Exalts presents poor odds for you. Especially with no hope of reinforcements." She gestures behind herself towards the direction they came from. "There are no soldiers coming. They've all...left you behind, it seems. Were you so very unimportant that they didn't bother to bring you with them?"

Making a tsk tsk sound, Divya puts her hands on her hips. "No one to miss you. No matter what happens down here. You might as well talk to us instead of those prisoners. They've been abandoned too so clearly they don't know anything the rebels might fear. They're useless to you. The only smart move you have left is to put your weapons down and talk. Unless you want to join the dead already here."

Deryl Laklan "Damned Lookshyan, guards kill the two scouts so they won't say a word to her! Nice try, but my loyalty is to-" Before Deryl can even threaten the soldiers and the officer to even surrender, Divya strikes fear into the officer's heart regarding her threat. "They left us? Did the battle above end so quickly?" Even his minions are quaking in fear, especially knowing that they held Seventh legionnaires captive here and who knows what will Lookshy do to them now that they hold this town.

Seeing as there is no means of escape here other than the hallway, he drops his warhammer to ground and the rest of the soldiers follow as well. "Pesky Lookshyans, I have yet to know why they sent a force to the borders. No wonder my king views you as a threat to our planned conquest of the Hundred Kingdoms once this damned civil war is over"

Deryl was impressed that his "fellow exigent" managed to intimidate the stubborn officer without even raising a daiklave

Amilar Ereyo Despite certainly feeling differently, Ereyo tries her very best to appear cool, composed, and ready to use deadly force at the slightest provocation. She takes a decisive step forward, pressing the tip of her daiklave against the the officer's throat. The blade is terribly cold.

"You heard me the first time. On your knees", she demands. "Do not make me say it a third time." And, with a sweeping glare over his trembling soldiers: "This means ~everyone~. Know that I am a sorcerer. I dare you to defy me, or try anything funny... if you want to end up as incinerated corpses."

Without letting the enemy out of her sight, she says to her companions: "Captain Laklan, please take his keys and open the cells. When the prisoners are free, lead these ones inside. Everyone except their leader. Ira, can you take care of her, please?" Clearly, she means the woman they were recently busy interrogating.

Then, the Dragon-Blooded locks eyes with the officer again, two miniature thunderheads staring him down. "A conquest of the Hundred Kingdoms? Tell me more."

Mahendru Divya The fear and the resulting compliance are all Divya cares about. Amilar Ereyo is eminently better at inspiring martial fear so she leaves her to it. She gives a brief nod of permission if Deryl checks with her (after all, she's his employer for now, not Lookshy). When Ereyo gives her a direction, 'Ira' says "Of course, Wai Tan-Junai."

Then she steps up to the tortured woman and sees to her condition. The Sidereal's body language is calm, her expression warm and reassuring as she looks at the victim and the others victimized by these loyalists. While not an especially skilled medic, she's had a century of life and seen more than her share of horrors. She checks the state of the woman first before checking to confirm Deryl's not only released the prisoners but that they're able to walk.

Divya then slips an arm around the woman (and another arm around another wounded if needed) and helps her/them hobble out of the prison area. "Close your eyes," she cautions the victims before they reach the room where all the bodies were dumped. "You don't want to see this."

As quickly as possible, Divya works to evacuate these people upstairs. The sooner they're away from the loyalists, the less danger they'll be in. And the sooner the prisoners are released, the easier the interrogation of those loyalists will be.

Deryl Laklan "Sure, and I'll make sure they don't do anything funny" Deryl takes the keys from the officer as the soldiers were forced to kneel. He then opens the cell one by one and the various prisoners are finally glad they are free, meanwhile one of the Lookshyan scouts approach Ereyo while carrying his fellow comrade, unconscious and experiencing chills. "Lord Amilar! I'm glad you are alive and I need medical aid for him, those monsters are just as worse as the demons and fae that attacked us. We were forced at blade point once we were spotted by the patrol. They kept waterboarding him with cold water to the point he is suffering from hypothermia." He tries to find anything warm in the room, like a dry cloth. Meanwhile the woman decided to stay for a while and something to say to Divya. "All we did...was hiding the very grains we raised to feed our families. I don't understand why they wanted to deprive us of our own rice even if it's more than enough for their rations. I approached Mint's men to do something about it...it's all my fault they died" Although the woman isn't physically hurt, she is distraught, thinking that the lies they told her actually happened.

Meanwhile, Deryl forces the soldiers to go inside the cells and locked them in, looking at them with some intent. Irony that the jailers are now trapped here. It seems most of the prisoners reasons for being here vary. From criticizing the government even if they are clearly against the ghost lead faction, simply being accused of supporting the ghost of Anshur, and other more absurd reasons. However one of them seems to be an actual supporter of the dead prince. "Eugh slip of the tongue, but alright" The officer decides to comply as he has nothing to lose.

"Before the disappearance of the Empress, King Adranus once conspired with some dynasts of the Realm so the dragons of Odyr maybe recognized as a cadet house. This is to turn Odyr into a satrapy so that he can have Realm support to conquer the kingdoms. But once she's gone and the other houses are at each others throats, Adranus was disappointed and decided to cancel the plan. But in these turbulent times, he sees opportunity for he plans to mold Odyr into a new Eastern empire. If only they didn't get in the way..."

Amilar Ereyo Through all of this, Ereyo keeps the officer firmly in her sight, prepared to truly turn him into a human shish kebab (or so it seems), should he be foolish enough to so much as twitch.

But when the scout approaches her with his unconscious comrade, her composed facade begins to show cracks, and she gives the two of them a sorrowful look. In addition to the winds whipping into his face, the officer now has to endure the rising stench of ozone.

Her duties usually don't bring her into close contact with scouts or outriders, but the Wai Tan-Junai has made an effort to learn the name of every soldier in her current talon, and of course she never forgets a face. She recognizes these two, thinks of the brief moments she interacted with them during the past few weeks, and... simply doesn't know what to say at first.

After swallowing down her distress, she manages: "There is no warmth to be found down here, soldier. You have to take him upstairs, as fast as you can. The monks will know how to help him." Or so she hopes.

Then, she listens to the loyalist spilling his guts without saying a word. Ereyo's good leg twitches a few times, involuntarily, while he rambles on. Before he can launch into another tirade about the rebellion and rant about "pesky Lookshyans", the Dragon presses the sharp length of her blade against his throat, directs him to stand, and leads him into one of the remaining empty cells. She shuts the door behind him and takes a step back, allowing Deryl to lock it.

The "Exigent" can see her breathing heavily, despite not having exerted herself in the slightest. She stares at the officer for a little while longer before saying: "I will not subject you to torture - although the Dragons know you deserve it, after what you did to those people!" With a grunt, she shoves her weapon back into its sheath. "The abbot, or whoever serves to enact justice in this town, will decide your fate."

With that, she turns away, allowing the revulsion on her face to shine through, and faces Deryl. "Can you please stay here and keep an eye on them until the monks arrive? I... I will go upstairs, to lend a hand."

In truth, it's plain enough that she wants to get out of here, needs to get out. Her face has taken on an unhealthy pallor. Without another word, she turns and hastily leaves to find Ira... and the wounded scouts.

Mahendru Divya For her part, Ira's been supervising the evacuation of the wounded, the injured and the traumatized. To the traumatized torture victim, the Sidereal puts her hands on both of the woman's arms to capture her full attention. Then she smiles gently and says "None of this is your fault. Your village is -safe- now. The loyalists withdrew, as did the rebels. Your grain and rice are your own. And many of your people still live, more than that soldier told you. You are free to find out what's happened to your loved ones, I pray they still live. Bring any wounded you see to this temple, I will work with the Immaculates here to ensure they are all treated."

"Before you go," Divya adds at the last moment. "We met Dashing Mint. Some of his people are dead downstairs. Can you tell -me- where to find him and his people, so we can have their survivors and honored dead returned to them?" She flashes another smile, making no effort to hide her Champoori accent. "I swear by the Sun, Moon and Stars above I am not in league with the loyalists. I'm not from your land. But its people have come to mean much to me. For their sake, I would see that the rebels have their own returned to them."

Once that's been settled, Divya finds the Abbot or at the very least a priest willing to pass a message on. "There are a number of dead bodies in your temple's basement now. Please arrange for people trained in the funerary arts to take them up, find if they have any relatives in the area, and see to their burial rites. For those that may be rebels, please reserve them a place while we make arrangements for their return to their own villages. I will help cover any expense for this."

When Amilar Ereyo finds her, Divya's finishing up giving instructions and assessing the village's situation with an air of calm command. "Thank you, Wai Tan-Junai. For your decisiveness and leadership down there. Just what the situation needed." If Ereyo is still pale, Divya reaches out and squeezes one shoulder. "I'm looking into where the rebels went, in hopes of speaking to them next. The time is coming quickly when we'll need to decide who, if anyone, to support. I fear the Loyalists have proven their unworthiness to lead, would you agree? That still leaves Dashing Mint as my preferred hope for this nation's future...although we'll still need to investigate and deal with the ghost prince before there can be any success there. What do you think?"

Deryl Laklan "Sure, I'll make sure they stay down here until the townsfolk decide on what to do with them" Deryl then looks back at the imprisoned soldiers, giving them a malicious grin. Meanwhile the scout nods and carries his fellow comrade upstairs to get the right treatment. "They are alive? Thank dragons....despite rumors it's in some part of the forest, it was actually a lie they spread themselves. They are north of here, in grassy plains especially as there are a collection of mines there, abandoned when the Great Plague struck. But be careful, there's an air aspect archer hidden within the fields. You will need to find a way to let them know you aren't a threat" She says as she sheds her last tear and finally has a smile of joy that her family is alive.

The woman then proceeds to head back up stairs. "Hmm it seems we finally got the location of Mint's men." He says as he hears the woman giving out the location to Divya. "I'll just stay down here until the monks return. I will also help them give the bodies a proper way to rest once they arrive. I've seen bodies like these back in Thorns but at least they don't come back as zombies for now" Once left alone, Deryl turns back to one of the soldiers he was looking at. "And I....need to replenish my own men. Starting with you" He whispers to himself as he approaches the cell of one of the soldiers.