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[Ardas]

Valerian gave the man a weak smile when he heard that question.

"Don't worry, your sword will be returned to you once the king dispenses his judgment. Obviously we don't keep weapons here, next to prisoner, and I am not overly familiar with the castle yet, so I would imagine that they keep it in a guard room somewhere on the upper level."

He the narrowed his eyes ever so slighlty.

"I do advise against any silly tricks though, because my arm is definitely faster than your tongue. And I do not desire to harm you. If you are honest with the king, I might even drop a word or two, but you definitely won't be walking free after all the mess. Maybe bound service, or some form of isolation? I don't know."

He took the cup to his lips yet again and took a sip.

"Well, unless you got some more interesting tales to say, I will probably take you back to your cell."

[adwarf]

Talasam nodded and replied,

"Of course, I never expected to walk free once I entered this palace anyway, but I will go ahead and tell you I will take my life before I become a weapon for any man, even a King, to use. I will not prove people right by becoming what they see my kind as. Though before I go to my cell I have two requests of you, the first is that you take the ashes of the demons and seal them within a chest and toss them into a lake.

Even the greatest of mages do not know what will make a specter rise again but since it was born from flames they will not return to life at the bottom of the lake. As for my second request is a bit of a farther stretch and I doubt any man would do a favor for my kind, but I still must ask.

If I die within this palace send someone with my sword to a village in the north called Oakburg and bury it in the grave of a knight whose tombstone names him Taim. That is all I have to say.

With that he waited for them to put the gag back in place and guide him back to his cell awaiting whatever hell the King chose to put upon him to get his 'answers'.

[Ardas]

The young knight was surprised by the dignity and honesty of the wizard. It did seem like he was a man whose fate did go awry for one reason or another.

"Very well. I shall comply with your requests, if only because of your desire to help us out. I don't know much about magic so I hope your words do not contain any hidden malice or curse."

He stood up and walked over to Talsam to put the cloth back in his mouth.

"It might mean nothing, but I will try to put a good word in for you regardless."

He lifted him from his seat and took him back to his cell. Valerian was somewhat saddened that the man might not get to save his life. but he would try to amend it somewhat. Aspect of Life demanded that Talsam be given a chance to work and amend his mistake, but would the king listen? It remained to be seen.

[micelus]

The dying and wounded cared for, the chronicler decided that this mage ought be spoken to. First of all though, he would formally lodge himself in the country. He was allowed here only due to the customs of hospitality and such customs did not allow for extended stays.

Stepping carefully past the wounded and pushing between the attendants and all who remained, the Chronicler tapped his chest before the 'king', a traditional southern way of greeting.

"Your grace, I am sorry for this intrusion while you are obviously busy, but I must ask I for lodging rights. I am but a guest in your home and I would like more...permanent lodgings. I can make myself useful my lord; I am a Chronicler and know much of the world. Ask any question, within reason, and I shall answer it, within reason. Furthermore, I know how to deal with courts, if that is of any use."

[Ghazkull]

Logan scowled at the Southerner.

See me on the morrow i will hold an audience then.

with this he turned around and went down into the Dungeons.

Valerian. Where is he?

[Ardas]

Valerian stood up at the attention as soon as the king entered.

"Your Majesty, I had him locked, bound and gagged, as you ordered. I also kept personal watch over him. I can bring him into the guard room for interrogation if you wish."

He picked up the cell keys and started heading for the cell.

"If you pardon my openess, my king, but it would be wise to hear the man out first. I interrogated him briefly and he is not as malicious as one would think."

[Ghazkull]

That may well be Valerian. But politics care not much about Malicious Intent or Guilt.

[Ardas]

Valerian only nodded silently before bringing in Talsam into the guard room and ungagged him. He then took a step back and kept a silent watch.

[Dwarmin]

Araline was not used to being dismissed, and took a corner of the interrogation room, watching the mage silently while he was grilled.

Her emotions were inscrutable.

[Ghazkull]

Logan scowled at Araline being in the room but said nothing, he'd known her long enough that she could be cold-blooded if she wanted.

[adwarf]

Talasam looked at the King as he was brought into the room, and he waited patiently as the gag was taken from his mouth before nodding to the man who had taken the gag and giving him a small thanks. Turning back to the King he spoke,

"My King, it is good to see you're unharmed though I suspect you believe what I did was on purpose or some ploy from another faction vying for the throne so to you my sincerity must appear a falsity. I am also sure you'll most likely not believe me when I swear that none of what happened was my intentions, I never meant to kill a single man in that room, they were men I fought beside and men my regiment was wiped out saving.

All I can do to prove my innocence is swear none of that was my intention, it is up to you to decide what to do with me based on what I tell you now. I am not a murderer, I am not an assassin hired by some person, what happened was a twist of luck and one that I wish never happened."

With that Talasam fell silent staring at the King, awaiting his reply, and the looming torture and death he was so sure was coming ...

[Dwarmin]

Logan scowled at Araline being in the room but said nothing, he'd known her long enough that she could be cold-blooded if she wanted.

Araline accepted her majestys look with no visible reaction but a slight raising of the eyebrow. She knew how to weather Logans temperaments...knew him better than most. If he wanted her to go, he would have said so out loud.

She could at that moment recall the same sort of scowl on his face the first time she had attended one of his war strategy sessions. She had taken no umbrage, and he had not sent her away. And thus, she earned her own command from him-and, at least in her own mind, his grudging respect.

It her mind, it was never easy to earn that respect. Logan had always made her go the extra mile. She had to bet her own neck that one winter on a smooth supply line, and it was the only reason he even looked twice at her-so Araline believed.

She did not truly know if he was biased against her because she was a woman, or because she was not a warrior, or perhaps because he thought her heartless-or perhaps he thought she deserved a higher standard to be held to. Maybe it was an odd way of trying to protect her.

Logan, in her mind, was like a stone cliff seen in strange light-one that is perhaps a weathered face or a strange sculpture. Or maybe it's just a trick of the eye. One could never really tell, but it was a rock all the same...

[Ghazkull]

The scowl on Logan's face went deeper and then vanished. Instead he grinned. Not the friendly but somewhat scary grin he showed Araline at the feast. This grin was feral, this grin promised pain. It lacked any compassion, it was a grin that showed disgust. This single grin was a slip in Logan's facade that only happened during battles.

The grin was fixed into place, a macabre mask as it stared deep into the mages eyes. the fist came faster than the Mage could react, shattering his nose and splattering mosst of the people in the room with a few droplets of blood. He waited for the Mages scream of pain to subside.

Spare me your excuses mage. You were drunk with power. Magic and Fighting is mainly about control over your emotions. You lost yours and killed thirty people and till this discussion is finished even more will die. Just because you didn't manage to control yourself. Tell me what should i do with you now? Up there are at least three hundred people who would like to see nothing more than you being flayed alive. And i'm very much tempted to give in to their demands. The Fact is, that with what you did you shifted a balance. Before people were afraid and hated your kind because you used otherworldly powers. Now they will know that most of you can't even control those powers. Do you have an idea what you caused?

he didn't wait for the Mage to answer.

They will cry out for blood. You killed tonight some were influental men. Named Men. Each had followers and those had followers of themselves. Many owned land. Their families will cry out for blood and so will the commoners. They will hunt your kind like rabid dogs, because that's what you do with all beings who can't control themselves. You hunt them down and then you kill every. last. one. of them.

he underlined every word by poking the Mage into his chest.

Do you understand what you did?

[Dwarmin]

Araline quietly removed a kerchief from a hip pocket, and dabbed the blood from her cheek gently, not seemingly overly bothered by the display.

Her eyes and attention remained fixed on the doomed mage, interested in what he might say.

[adwarf]

Talasam let out a small yelp of surprise as the King hit him, and gritted his teeth to keep from screaming out, pausing to spit out blood Talasam turned to the King and replied,

"Magic is about control of your emotions? How do you speak of how magic works when you do not have the ability to use it, how do you assume that it is something you can get 'drunk on power' with? Forgive me if I step over some bounds, but do not speak of how magic works when you have not been cursed with the ability to use it King, you will never know the pain we suffer because of it, people hated our kind because things like what just occured happened.

They fear us because of things like the death of Belgruf the Great where he sought power to protect his people in the arts of magic and was instead consumed by an outside force. They've feared us, hated us, and more since we came into being King, the only reason we are not hunted down is because people fear what we will do if they try and because some of them have a use for us.

The fact is that what I've done has truly changed nothing King, its just finally given you an excuse to organize a group intent on hunting us down and killing everyone of us or enslaving my kind. What happened was the bastard of circumstance and poor luck, believe it or not something beyond my control interfered in that room be it raw emotions, demons, or spirits what occurred was not the result of me wanting more power.

I can pay what ever price you make me King but that will not change the fact that vengeance will fall upon the wrong person. Now let me ask a question in turn King, what would you have done if I had refused to entertain you? Would you have believed my cries that magic was unsafe? Most likely no, you would have likely ordered me killed or imprisoned for disobeying you and that would've led to men killed by my sword for it would be unrightful charges you placed upon me.

I did what I thought would save lives of men, and the result was my spell being twisted and corrupted by outside forces. In the end I understand I have changed nothing but the scars on my heart for the men I could not save."

With that he fell silent starring straight into the King's eyes, waiting for his reply.