Interlude: Blood for the Blood God

[Deleted]

Jinn sniffed sharply and nodded, still squatting as he looked the guy over. "Black Alter huh. Sounds pretty important. Sounds like we just got promoted from annoyances to VIPs. Honored guests, even." He ran a hand through his hair.

"Sounds like somethin' important. Or maybe it's more mumbo jumbo they tell you mooks so you can feel better about throwin your lives away. You ever see this black altar? They let thugs like you behind the curtain, help build the faith? Or you just listenin' like a good soldier while they send you off to get hit by chairs and pulped by half-ogres?" He sniffed again, a sharp pause in his words.

"You got a name, Soldier?"

[uberwulfx]

"It'd be a crying shame if someone were to do it again," Crystal grumbled as she conceded and rose, taking a couple steps back. She nodded to Rey, wincing. "With all the murder and sickness going around, I wouldn't be surprised if they just... tortured this guy for their loved ones, and friends that they lost."

She leaned in slightly. "Now, I can't even begin to offer you anything like amnesty or forgiveness, but I guess that if you want one of us to make sure you die with your toenails still attached to your feet, you should probably calm down and just help us. Can we start with your name, or at least something you'd like to be called while we talk?"

[Ancelas]

The cultist gave a strangled, wheezing laugh. "I am a soldier in the army of Abbadon the Despoiler. I am the Fist of the Despoiler, to be wielded by the Black Gauntlets. I know my place - it is you who are yet to discover yours."

[Deleted]

Jinn laughed. "In what kinda world does a gauntlet wield a fist? You got it backwards, buddy." He looked the cultist over. "Fists ought to wear gauntlets. Y'know, for protection. Unless you got strength enough not to need em'. And I seen you fight, you look pretty strong. Seems to me like you've been fed some bad religion."

He ran a hand through his hair, "But suppose we play along and wanna hear more. You're supposed to do whatever these gauntlets say then, huh? Even if it means gettin' creamed? Sounds like a bad deal." He paused and tilted his head. "That other guy who ran away. He supposed to stay put too, soldier same as you? Seems like he's gettin' off easy while you're stuck holdin' the bag. Ain't really what I'd call teamwork happenin' between you Fists."

[Kyt]

Rey rolled her eyes. "I hate fanatics. Cultists, zealots, soldiers. They just go on and on 'bout their place in things. I know I ain't nobody or nothing, I ain't gotta discover shit."

She squatted down, wincing as it pulled her abdomen. "You gonna discover it though, that you ain't nothin' in this world, nobody cares, your precious god don't care, and you're gonna die in pain and misery and loneliness." She stared him flatly down, words low and sharp.

((Intimidation: 24))

[Ancelas]

The cultist hesitated briefly at the flat, pointed delivery of Rey's comment, then masked his hesitation with a sneer. "I could say the same of you lot. This won't end with us."

He looked at Jinn. "That weren't no cowardice - that's tactics. He knows who you are, where you are - and now the others will too. And we'll keep coming if we have to, to make sure you and your friends die."

His gaze moved to Rey. "In pain, misery, and loneliness."

His eyes turned toward Crystal. "But maybe it don't have to be that way. Maybe you can earn a swifter, painless death by letting me go. The Dreamers aren't keen on mercy, but there are ways to die, and bad ways to died..."

[uberwulfx]

"That's not going to happen, Soldier," she sighed, picking that moniker because it would work just as well as any other.

"You know what we want: to stop you, and the spread of your influence. What is it exactly that you and yours want? Abbadon, despoiling, fists and gauntlets. What's the end goal? Who wants a world full of undead and demons, and Nighthaunt? Why do you want that, over... you know, peace, love, family, harmony? It's fair enough to see that the world isn't exactly a peaceful place, but why not try to do what you can, rather than spreading sadness and death?

"What did anyone ever do to you?"

[Deleted]

Jinn cocked a brow, seeing Rey's hard words followed by a twinge of fear, only for Crystal's words to get laid on like a cloyingly thick balm. He chuckled.

"Who hurt you, Soldier? Why you wanna see the world burn so bad?" He rubbed his nose, scratched an itch in his stubble.

[Ancelas]

The cultist snorted and struggled briefly against the ropes binding him. "Burn? You got it backwards. This world is full of sadness and death - it's a place of chaos, because weak people rule, and rule weakly." He turned and spat a glob of bloody spit to the side.

"We bring order. We bring strength. If I have to die, so be it - the Despoiler has judged me weak, and I deserve no less than what we give to our enemies. Those that remain will raze this world to the ground and build a stronger empire on its ashes."

[Deleted]

Jinn laughed. "You're a grunt, so lemme spell it out like this."

He squatted close. "Suppose you're wrong. Suppose Abaddon don't come back, fire an destruction don't rain down. Suppose you guys keep causing trouble, an slip up a foot before the finish line. What happens then? Who's left to pick up the pieces?" He tilted his head to glance at the guy.
"Imma tell you what happens. That new town guard captain comes in, backed by the goddamn crown. And they say 'Nope, this shit show won't do.' Sweepin' policy changes come crashin' down. Cultists like you? Anyone who don't fit in- ain't Wachovian enough? They get hunted. Put down or put in their place. Meanwhile the city ends up under the King's control - not him, nah, some sycophant who polishes his knob good. And I can promise you- promise... That chaos you see? Injustice and disorder? It gets worse, and you'll be holdin' the bag. Again."

He sniffed sharply. "You really believe you're gonna make a difference in the world? Not a chance brother. Not while you and your whole order's gettin' played." He pointed a finger upward.
"Someone's bankrollin' this operation. Someone who's got an interest in weakenin' Wachovia an' takin' away Wachovian's ability to rule themselves. Ask yourself- if you lose, who wins? I bet even a grunt like you has some idea."

[Kyt]

The grunt tried to intimidate her back, using her own words, but Rey just continued to stare flatly back, not perturbed at all.

She kept watching him as Jinn and Crystal spoke, using more persuasive, personal approaches to see what information he would drop. She watched him as one would watch an animal in their trap. Mild distance with a hint of pity.

[uberwulfx]

Crystal tightened her jaw and narrowed her eyes at the Soldier, though it was to keep herself from turning and asking Jinn-- with a laugh, mind-- why he had to be so graphic, because now she couldn't get rid the mental image of the king getting his knob properly polished by a cloaked figure.

Otherwise, it was a very solid line, with Jinn driving home some points that a half-sane person might listen to. But this guy? Goodness, she wished that she were meaner and more spiteful, that she had it in her to slap him around, light a small fire under him. For the now, she stared at him with those copper eyes, waiting patiently for the Soldier to decide on his next refusal to help.

[Ancelas]

The cultist bared his crooked teeth at Jinn. "Only a fool speaks of losing the war before it has truly begun. What we do here is only the first steps to our victory. Kill me if you like - another fist will wrap itself around your neck.

"Or maybe you could be that fist. You know the ways of violence - that it's the right of the strong to dominate the weak. That only death is a fitting punishment for those who oppose you, yes?"

He cast his dark eyes toward Crystal and Rey. "How often have you felt powerless, any of you? Haven't you ever wanted to be powerful...? If you know better than everyone else, why not prove it them...?"

He looked back to Jinn, his eyes flashing. "Go ahead and turn me over to the guards. We have people everywhere - everywhere. You know what the right thing to do to an enemy is. The only thing to do, to make sure they don't come back for you - and I promise you, so long as I live, I will come back for you..."

[Kyt]

Rey growled. "Power is shite. All anyone with power ever does is try to crush everyone under them. Take the pain and misery they feel an' spread it 'cause heavens forbid they actually take a good hard look in the mirror and face up."

She spat on the ground in front of him in contempt, trace amounts of acid hissing briefly against the stone. "Killing you now ain't strong, it's weak. It's sayin' we can't handle you an' what you bring. Your only use to us is information over what's goin' on in this city and your fucking little dark cult. If'n you ain't give us nothing, we ain't got nothin' to tell the guards, tell our captain-boy who gave us damn near free reign in the city, 'cept: too bad, he ain't talking, you do what you want with him."

She stood up carefully, looking down at him from her full height. "You go off. Get tortured, get your friends to get you out, seek revenge and come at us. We'll be waiting, ready to smack you 'round with another chair and show you just how little we care."

[Deleted]

Jinn felt a little bit of fire welling up as the cultist spoke, a little swell of ire. But Rey spoke and he began to smile. Grin even. He eased back from his squat and dusted his hands.

"See, she knows what's up. Power... The shit you think you're workin' toward? That's only good for one thing: Kickin' people who're already down. There's something bigger out there, better out there, and you had a chance to grab it. You just ain't seein straight. The scam don't work if they let you see straight."

He shook his head. "Freedom, Soldier. Your own strength in your own hands. Your own choice on how to use it. If your goals were really worth fighting for, if you had even a little bit of power from that god of yours? You'd have busted free already." He shook his head.

"I'm done fallin' for that scam- gettin' told what I gotta do, gettin told by men like you I gotta finish them off. Gettin mad an'punchin' down. Blood for the blood God, the fuck do I get out of that deal? You ain't a challenge, nerd. You ain't got the strength to free yourself, let alone stop us."

He shook his head. "Get mad, stay mad. Get your buddies to bust you out. Send more men our way and you'll see first hand what power really looks like. Maybe then you smarten up and realize just what you gave up by siding with this street corner bully you call a god."

((Intimidation: 23))