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 Post Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2016 2:21 pm 
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"We find that most means of coercing a person to reveal information to be inefficient. It takes time, and there is no garantee that they aren't just trying to tell you what you want to hear. So we devised better ways. Medicines and drugs that compel someone to speak the truth, or at least what they belive to be the truth, with no need to resort to unpleasantness. I intend to give Adus one of these drugs, perhaps mixed with some water or wine. It will place him into a state of extreme sugestability, and while he is in this state he will do whatever we ask of him. It won't harm him, and he won't remember having talked to us afterwards. Any information he tells us will be free of intentional falsehoods, and therefore need much less verification."

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 Post Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2016 6:28 pm 
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Felix stands quietly off to the side, waiting for things to begin.

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 Post Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2016 4:01 am 
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Arkady heads out to the battlefield, where some of the more industrious Knights have already started piling dead bodies onto a heap of firewood and shattered trees. They don't appear to have noticed the single, miraculously surviving tree (which Arkady doesn't remember noticing from the top of the wall) in whose branches Piper is sitting, playing a mournful dirge.

--------------

Nate has only the most basic lab equipment - a few test-tubes, a bit of other glassware, and a bunsen burner - and is forced to deal with plants that are not quite familiar to him. With a brief (and very noisy) radio conversation with Dr. Vanderbilt regarding her studies of the local flora, he puts together what he thinks will probably be a decent truth serum.

Nate: Survival: +4 Alien Vegetation: -1 No Lab: -1 Roll: -2
Aspect: I don't need no steenking infrastructure: Reroll: +3
Total: +5


Getting Adus to swallow the serum is merely a matter of persistence and a couple of Knights obtaining black eyes. Eventually, it goes down his throat.

Adus: Endurance: +5 Roll: -1 Total: +4 Target: +5

Adus hiccups once, then glares angrily at his interrogators.

Since it's Nate's serum, Vanire seems willing to let Nate ask the first question.

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 Post Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2016 6:40 pm 
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First he checks to see if this tree happened to be missed when they wired them or if it just misfired. Assuming the former, Arkady comes up the the knights. "Gentlemen! If you would please just stack wood for a few minutes, there is a rite I wish to perform for the fallen. It will not take long."

In fact, before 15 minutes are up he's done; and they can start stacking bodies again in just five after he makes a cross with holy water on them. When he's done he thanks the knights for their cooperation, then looks up at Piper. "It was something like this, Little Mother, that made me tired of war. But because of this your friend and her kitten will live. Let's go and see them."

If the tree has got dynamite in it then he will disarm it first. Priorities.

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 Post Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2016 3:26 am 
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Nate takes a moment to set up and turn on a small video recorder before starting in.

"Did Primate Raven poison Queen Cehlana of Elenia?"

May as well start in with the important questions.

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 Post Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2016 3:35 am 
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There's certainly no explosives on the tree now.

Nor is there any soot, mud, blood, or signs of damage.

There are, however, about two hundred bodies. It may take a bit longer than he expected to make crosses on all of them. Nonetheless, there are no interruptions from the Knights - they're quite willing to stand aside and let him do his thing - and Piper limits herself to a mocking little tune until he's done.

When Arkady invites her to go and see the Count's daughter and her kitten, Piper holds out her arms to him to be carried.

--------------

Adus laughs. "Heh. Heh. Heh heh heh heh. You'll never get me to tell you that he poisoned her. Very rare poison. There is no cure."

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 Post Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2016 7:19 pm 
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Arkady considers Piper for a second, then takes her down and gives her a piggy back ride into the castle to go find kitten. And the count's daughter, if it comes to that.

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 Post Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2016 8:06 pm 
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Nate nods.

"Alright then, if this poison has no cure, then there won't be any harm in telling us what it's called. What is the name of the poison?"

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 Post Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2016 11:00 pm 
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Piper rides along quite happily. Should Arkady glance back as he enters the castle, he may notice that he can no longer see the undamaged tree...

The Count's daughter (and her kitten) are not hard to find. Indeed, the daughter is trying to persuade the kitten to wear a bonnet, which indignity the kitten is submitting to with bad grace.

The daughter stands up quickly and curtseys when Arkady enters the room, and the kitten takes the opportunity to make a run for freedom and hide under the chair.

--------------

Adus glares at Nate. "I'll never tell you that it was Darestim. Very rare Rendorish poison. Very deadly. Martel got -"

He stops to cough, a puff of smoke coming from his mouth. There's a slight smell of sulphur.

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 Post Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 12:13 am 
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Felix looks over to Vanire.

"Does that sound like it matches the symptoms?" Felix asks. "Is there anyone we can talk to who can verify this?"

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 Post Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 2:53 am 
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Nate's eyes narrow as his nose wrinkles. He's close enough to Adus to very clearly smell the sulpher. This is not a normal thing, and Nate has had enough experience dealing with alphabet soup agents who seemed to have some kind of paranormal connection to know that outside assistance is required.

"Preceptor, can I get you over here now, please? I need you to check the subject's wellfare."

Stepping away from Adus, Nate responds to Felix.

"The crime lord in the city. He probably has a few poisoners on hand who would know, and we have enough dirt on him that we could get him to introduce us."

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 Post Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 4:30 am 
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"The doctors at the university at Borrata would know if there's a cure," says Vanire, stepping forward to look at Adus. "Or perhaps someone in Rendor might - get back!"

Adus convulses as far as his bonds will allow, rolls his head back, and opens his mouth - and a massive, dark, sulphurous cloud pours out, gathering above him, holding together and refusing to disperse in exactly the way that clouds of smoke usually don't.

Vanire starts speaking again, in a language that neither Felix nor Nathan can understand. Whatever he's saying, there seem to be a series of gestures that accompany it. Vanire's incantation has no immediately visible effect.

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 Post Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 5:23 am 
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Nate moves to the door, and opening it, tells the guard on the other side: "Go get the other Pandions. Now." His tone leaves no room for arguement.

Before he turns back to the cloud inside, he pulls a torch from it's bracket beside the door and draws his sidearm. He may not be able to help the Preceptor in any supernatural or paranormal way, but in many ancient cultures the best way to deal with anything supernatural was with the use of cold iron, fire and salt. Smoke is nothing more then fuel unburned and vaporised by heat. With a little help, it should burn up the rest of the way.

Hopefully.

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 Post Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 6:14 pm 
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Arkady puts down Piper and sketches a bow in return. "You know, cats are always dignified. Even when they are not. So they do not like having their ears covered; they think it isn't dignified."

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 Post Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 7:18 pm 
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Felix steps back and draws his gun, aiming it at Adus. He doesn't fire, instead keeping it trained on the man and making sure he's as far back from the cloud as possible.

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