- Joined
- Jan 5, 2011
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Maven: HP = 71, PP = 68, EP = 175, Status = Sealed (68), Bound, Blindfolded
Perception: 2
After several months, Alisha Silverstring, or, Maven, was still in the northern reaches of Crolia. Her assignment, an order from a commander who answered only to the queen, was a mission for her alone. The dragon-blooded woman was to use the talents seemingly granted to her by fate itself in order to 'convert' the orc raiding parties. In addition, Maven had free reign over how she chose to go about her objective of dispatching the beast-men and demoralizing their kin with her presence behind their lines.
And dispatch them she did, for the longest time. Slavers were easy prey for the preternaturally gifted dragonkin. It took only the most minor amount of her considerable powers in order to reshape them into something more useful to the side of good. An orc slaver who had once found himself dealing in slaves would find himself a tailor, a blacksmith, or a farmer. There were those that broke, of course. There were always those that broke.
After so much time spent destroying minor slaver parties and seeing no end to the amount of beast-men who would pick up the job of trading humanoids, it became obvious that she wasn't able to make much of a dent dealing with the symptom alone. To truly strike a blow against the evil nature of the orcs, she would need to go to the source. But how?
While traveling, her enemies answered her question for her. An orc ambush of a paltry four or five riflemen beset her upon the road. It would have been simple to eradicate them, like she had all the others, but they could serve as minions against evil even before their minds were wiped. They could deliver Alisha directly to a source of what she warred against. So, she calmly gestured her surrender. The orcs immediately rushed, chained, and blindfolded the dragonkin, not ones to take an easy capture for granted. She was thrown into a wagon with so captured humans and elves in varying states of undress, though she could not see them, only feel them. There was no limiter on her powers. The slavers were none the wiser as to just how predatory the songbird they captured was.
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A few days later, Alisha found herself sold. It was hard to say where she was, deprived of sight the entire time. She was led, still blindfolded, with a few other sold slaves into some building or another. They were shackled together by wrists and ankles and led in a line. There was the sound of a large door opening ahead of her and then closing behind her, presumably once all had entered. Then there was much walking, with little information as to where she was other than that she could feel cobblestone under her feet. Alisha could smell musty air and burning torches as she was led along, as well. There were several more minutes of walking with little else in the way of sensory input. Finally, they came to a stop. They stood there, for a few moments, before the songmage could finally hear someone talking tens of feet ahead of her.
"Physical labor," the voice called out. The sound of shackles being unlocked and several groups of feet moving away followed. Another presence took a few steps closer in her direction. "Energy battery," the noises of manacles and moving feet repeated themselves. "Labor... Labor," it happened two more times. It was then that the voice was next to her with a hand on Maven's shoulder.
"Ooh, you've got quite an energy about you. You'll be perfect for repaying demons and as a battery." From up close, it was a decidedly feminine voice accompanied by a similarly feminine touch. Whoever the person was, she had a natural tone for mockery. More pressingly, however, was the feel of the woman's touch on Alisha's sheek as it began to heat up. It burned, only slightly, not the worst pain that Maven had ever felt. A bit more worryingly, Maven realized that her songs had been cut off from her. A subtle flexing of Alisha's powers revealed that it wasn't enough of a seal to beat back her natural willpower entirely, though it was difficult to say how long it would take for her to break it.
"That's the last of them, lead her away." As the woman ordered, Alisha felt herself unshackled and pulled away by two sets of bony hands. The dragonkin did manage to overhear a conversation as she was brought to whatever fate that was intended for her.
"Is this abhorrent practice really necessary?" A deep voice asked from well behind Alisha.
"Why do you always ask that? I don't understand. Why do you keep asking that?" A slightly demented, androgynous voice replied.
"Surely we can go about these plans without bringing innocent men and women into slavery! Even you have to be able to see that."
"I don't like it when you say things like that. It sounds like you're threatening me. I don't like to be threatened."
"Now, now, you two. Why don't you go play with some of the disobedient slaves?"
"Okay!" The dragonkin could hear the wide smile as a set of feet went running off behind her.
"As for you, dear knight. Surely you must understand the value of extra hands. It would be a shame if your little princess was ever left alone and lost down here, or without an escort and mistaken for a slave..." There was no response beyond a set of plated boots stomping off across the floor.
The conversation didn't matter much beyond that point, anyway, as Alisha was alerted by the sound of a door opening and a sudden turn to the right that she was nearing her destination. After she came to a stop, the two bony hands forced her to bend over, pressing her neck and wrists into grooves in a wooden board made especially for the appendages. When she heard the squeaking of a hinge and a similar board pressing against the top of her neck and wrists, followed by the clicking of a lock, Maven realized that she had been locked into stocks. Her two escorts could be heard walking away, closing the door behind them.
It seemed like it might be time to put her plans into action soon. The dragonkin could not feel anybody else in the room, though it was impossible to confirm with sight due to her blindfold. Her robes were still on, having never been removed, although it was difficult to say how long that would be true if she dallied. The stocks were nonmagical, she could destroy them easily if she broke the seal, which was definitely within her power. It was merely a question of how much time and how much energy it would require. The seal might persist for a while after the stocks were destroyed but Alisha would have no issues casting against it once she was unbound.
The question of the moment appeared to be whether Alisha would put her efforts into breaking her bonds or wait.