[Prologue Arc] Shard I - The Prisoner

Mystic Elder Rep! : 19 Location : Los Angeles, California

Deep within a dungeon, there is a man in light blue and silver clothing shackled to a wall. His skin is tan in color, but currently pale in complexion. His clothing is heavily frayed and mildly tattered. Upon first glance, one could tell that he had been through an ordeal recently. His hair is long and a silvery color. Not gray for sure as he is much too young for that. If there were more light, one would think they saw hints of blue within the color of his hair. Two braids trail along each side of his head the full length of his long locks. His hair also provides more evidence of his ordeal as there is still blood in his tussled hair. He had not been allowed to properly bathe since he found himself in this dungeon.

Now these shackles that kept him restrained to the dungeon's wall are not made of the normal iron used to restrain most of the prisoners kept within this pit of despair, but they sparkle in even the flicker of a light given off by the flames of the torches. The sparkle comes from the dust of a precious gem prized for its ability to restrict elemental spirit powers. These are necessary because the man they are restraining is a Kotada. The Kotada are considered to be an offshoot or evolution of humanity. They possess a unique composition that allows them to merge their essence with that of a spirit within their bodies. This Merger grants them the powers of the Spirit which manifest in various forms of magic. Even with his magic being suppressed by the shackles, this particular man does not appear to be afraid like the other prisoners around him are. If he is hungry or injured, one cannot tell from his demeanor. It is rather chilling how calm this one is. He merely seems to be waiting for what is to come.

After thirty minutes pass, the door above them opens and the the man does not move as he feels and hears a presence enter the room. This new entry moves to stand in front of him and grunts. The figure stands before him for a few moments and he can hear the quivering of the humans around him, but their fear does not bother him. They are humans who more than likely defied the current captors or they are Kotada with a valuable power. The shackled man finally decides to open his eyes to look upon the one who stood before him. The man before him was taller than he was by probably 4 inches with a muscular frame. He grits his teeth and growls at the shackled prisoner who does not budge. He inquires in an unphased tone, "You're blocking my view. Why?" The growling man scowls at him and goes to punch him in the stomach, but another voice interrupts him, "I told you to retrieve the prisoner, nothing more!" The fist of the larger man stops a mere inch from the prisoner's abdomen as he looks up in the direction of the voice that halted his attack. The voice was female for sure, but it carried a slight accent to it. Also, the dialect seemed foreign to the prisoner as well.

The prisoner is detached from the wall, but left in shackles as he is dragged over to the opening from which the jailer had descended. With a large hand gripping the back of the prisoner's neck, the larger man launches him out of the pit and into the daylight of the above world. The prisoner had almost forgot what the daylight looked like. It had been at least two weeks since he had been captured following The Incident. Looking around, he tries to gain his bearings as his eyes begin to adjust to the brightness of daylight. Rising to his feet, his eyes fall on the first female he sees waiting to find out why he hasn't been tortured or executed yet. The large jailer goes to try to keep him on his knees and he drops his position so the jailer's hand barely misses him and puts the larger man off balance. Before the jailer could regain his balance, the prisoner lifts up his right leg towards his chest before driving it forward and downward in a stomp kick into the behemoth's right knee. He turns around and looks at the woman. He makes no motion towards her as her guard prepare to attack him.

In fact, the prisoner shows no further aggression or action, but instead he just sits down cross-legged and looks at the robed female in front of him. "Why am I here?" the prisoner inquires. She looks down at him and responds, "You aren't going to try and escape?" He raises up his arms to remind her of his shackles. "I am unable to use my powers with these on no matter how hard I strain or try to push my powers to their limits. Besides, from what I do remember from my capture, I would not be able to return to my homeland before your forces would catch me again anyway. So who are you and what do you want with me?" The woman finds her slightly intrigued by the prisoner's rationality. She notes that his words sound slightly different in pronunciation of some of them, but the message is understood. She motions for one of the guards to retrieve the jailer and take him to the healer to get his leg fixed. The guard obeys and the jailer is removed from the room.

A younger female that had been standing next to the woman as if an attendant or apprentice grabs a cushion and positions it on the floor a few paces away from the prisoner and kneels next to it. The older woman walks up and sits on the cushion. "You are here because I wish to speak with you. I am hoping that you have answers to my questions. You will not be harmed so long as you are cooperative and helpful." The prisoner smiles and retorts, "I am here and unharmed because you wish to know about what happened in that port village that got destroyed." With a smile, she nods before her visage turns serious and somber, "Are you the one responsible for all that carnage?" He looks her directly in the eye and asks, "Do you think I would be sitting here in these shackles if I was?" The interrogator acknowledges the reason behind his retort. The prisoner continues with a warning, "Also, I do not suggest that you go looking for them either. If you power-stealing vermin would have left our people alone, none of this would have happened! We have lived separate from all of you for generations and in doing so, we have enjoyed peace on our own with the spirits of the island." The female interrogator takes on a quizzical look for a moment before she asks, "Power-stealing vermin?" She turns to one of the men in the room and speaks, "Inform The Shroud that the Brokers were involved in the Incident." The man she addressed nods respectfully before he steps out of this room into an adjacent room.

Turning back to the prisoner, the interrogator continues, "You just said that you don't suggest I go looking for him. Are you trying to tell me that a single person caused that much death and destruction?" The prisoner watches the male she spoke to before turning his attention back to her. "No. This was both of them. And they seem to enjoy hunting you. You will never step foot on the island again. Not without going through them first and she is making him stronger and more deadly. Just go home before you get yourself hurt, milady." His words trail off as he looks at the insignia on her uniform and that of the younger female beside her. He is positive that he has seen it before, but he would not inquire about that just yet. He needed to find out more and quickly so he could start planning a way to get himself free and able to successfully escape.

Mystic Elder Rep! : 19 Location : Los Angeles, California

The brow of the Inquisitor furrows a bit as he falls silent, but despite his outward appearance, she was not dealing with a simple tribal prisoner. This man was educated with manners, which would imply that wherever this island he speaks of is located, he is most likely nobility there. She leans over and whispers to the young robed maiden next to her. This maiden looks to be in her late teens to early 20's tho her eyes held a look far beyond those years. They had seen much over the years at the Inquisitor's side the prisoner would gather. But the shock they displayed at this very moment surprised even the prisoner. She turns and she looks at the Inquisitor intending to protest, but when she saw the calmness in her superior's eyes, her objections just seemed to fade away. She slowly rises from her kneeling position to full height before walking over to the prisoner and hovering her hands over his shackles. The shackles sizzle before the prisoner watches the magic energy absorbs into the maiden's hands. The maiden looks at the prisoner and initially plans to obey her superior's orders but instead releases the binding magic once again in a circle around the prisoner's position. "I will not allow you to harm her, but she does not wish you to be shackled like an animal. If you seek to harm her, your death will be most excruciating I assure you." The Inquisitor calls her back, "That is enough. You are to observe, are u not?" The maiden returns to her position at the Inquisitor's side following a silent nod.

With the shackles removed, the prisoner peers quizzically at the inquisitor. His eyes turn an icy blue color as he exhales frost. She could tell that he felt much better. She was also learning more about his powers already. The color of his eyes had changed as did his hair as well. The silvery locks now began to gather a bit more of a light blue tint to them and the exhaling frost even though the clime for this port village is moderately warm were clear signs that he has an ice spirit and a relatively powerful one to cause physical changes like hair and eye color as well as body temperature shifts. He looks at the ring of energy and at first thinks to test it by touch, but he remembers that it seemed to be created by the same composition of the magic-cancelling shackles. He would remain where he was. Following another exhale of chilly mist, he speaks, "Thank you." The inquisitor nods to him. "We are both Kotada and I know for most Kotada that I have met, we are most at ease when our connection to our Spirit is unhindered." The prisoner's gaze scans the room before nodding his head when he looks at the inquisitor and the maiden. He speaks out loud, "You have more questions that you wish to ask?" The Inquisitor replies asking the prisoner to tell her who he was referring to when he said "them" earlier. He pauses and his eyes begin to glow slightly with a faint golden radiance to them as he seems to be talking to himself when he says, "You can't be serious? She could still be one of them. But it is... *he grunts as his objection is seemingly cut short* ... make sure that it is known that I was against this."

The prisoner's eyes return to the previous icy blue as he looks at the Inquisitor. She asks him who he was talking to and he replies, "Him. I am afraid that you will have to wait to receive the answers to your questions. I am only to speak to her." The Inquisitor pauses before she asks, "And why are you only allowed to speak to her all of a sudden?" The prisoner does not hesitate in answering her, "Those are his instructions. I am to answer all questions that she has." His eyes take on the glow yet again before he blinks for them to go back to normal once more and he addresses the Maiden directly, "Your... brother is safe by the way. You will be able to see him soon enough. I have been asked to take you to him after you give your report to your subordinate to carry back to your superiors when we are finished." The maiden finds herself confused and relieved at the same time. The Inquisitor looks at her then at the prisoner before speaking, "Her brother was killed while investigating a suspected Broker stronghold. It was..." The prisoner interrupts, "Destroyed in a fashion similar to the port village, but far more gruesome? The stronghold was left in a manner to display the most terrifying message and warning? Whatever was capable of such malice was to be feared and never to be trifled with? You were going to say something along those lines, were you not? Her brother was gravely wounded, but the magic of our healers is... used to dealing with such damage and worse. He is recovering in the Pearl Village as we speak. I will say no more. You have his terms if you wish to know more." The Inquisitor objects to what she feels is preposterous scheming by the prisoner, but the Maiden stops her. "I will take over from here, Inquisitor." The Inquisitor looks at the Maiden and does not protest, but rather bows her head respectively and orders the guards to leave them in private.

» Storyline Notes: Prologue Arc
» [Prologue Arc] Shard VI - The Hunt
» [Prologue Arc] Shard IV - The Civil War
» [Prologue] The Hunt
» Akasha's Gratitude: Prologue