The pride demon's shield had allowed it to do a number on the ranks of Templars, though there were still enough of them left to be a significant threat, both to the demon and to those that had escorted it here to be slain. Ithilian resumed his overwatch of the battle from afar, now being much more careful to keep his eyes on the helmeted warriors nearby as well as the demon. Any of them could be threats, or all of them could be. He hadn't seen the mind control effects the demon had put on the Templar before, so he didn't how to identify any of them now, if they were there, and Nostariel for the moment was in too compromised a position to properly take in the situation.
A bow armed Templar across the battlefield from him was drawing back an arrow, his aim not exactly lining up with the demon. Ithilian took no chance, and put one of his own arrows into the archer's throat. The nearest Templar to Ithilian turned and stared at him, his facial expression hidden behind his helmet, though he pictured it being one of outrage. He looked as though he was considering raising his sword, but Ithilian turned his bow on him, only holding his arrow due to the man's hesitation.
"Back off!" he commanded, and to his surprise, the Templar actually did so, moving slowly away from him. The others, no more than six in number now, were battering down the demon, who finally dropped to one knee, heavily wounded and tiring.
It was Amalia that finished the job this time. Having drawn a short, wide thrusting dagger, she knew its effectiveness would be predicated on placing it somewhere that mattered. So when the demon dropped to a knee, she took the opportunity, bounding into a sprint over the sand, which to her counted as very familiar terrain, and going airborne in a rather impressive jump that carried her to the height required, giving her ample opportunity to bury the knife in the demon’s eyes socket, up to the hilt and easily deep enough to reach the grey matter beyond. She twisted it to be sure, then brought her feet up and used them to push herself free as it fell, landing far enough that the sand its impact threw up just dusted her boots.
Shaking the dagger off, she sheathed it, motioning for both Nostariel and Aurora to close ranks with herself and Ithilian while they faced those Templars that remained. She watched them carefully, but made no further move to attack any of them, seeing as how they were not moving to attack her friends, either.
In fact, it seemed as though the fight had ended, though a few of the Templars were still prepared to engage if it seemed to be called for. Three of the seven Templars here had suffered fairly debilitating wounds in the fight, one appearing to have a mangled leg that prevented him from rising. Two others were kneeling, while the rest stood and watched. Ithilian motioned with his bow for the outliers of the group to gather with the rest, and eventually had them all in a clustered bunch.
"Don't heal them," he said to Nostariel, once he confirmed that she was in fact no longer in a life-threatening situation. Looking back to the Templars, Ithilian kept his bowstring taut, ready to kill them on a moment's notice. "Take off your helmets. All of you." Some of them complied with the command quicker than others, but in the end they all had their helmets off, revealing the very human looking faces of five men and two women, a few of them bloodied even under their helmets.
"If no one explains, all of you die." Having just watched a childhood friend's body torn to pieces by a pride demon, and then suffered a betrayal from a group he already had a strong distaste for, Ithilian was in no mood for games. He didn't care that the Templars here were too weak to defend themselves anymore. "Why did you turn on us? Were you ordered?"
"Our orders were to assist with the removal of the demon," one of the younger men immediately said, appearing to be one of the more panicked of the bunch. He'd suffered a nasty cut near his eye, and was bleeding down the side of his face. "It must've been more mind control, like what took over Knight-Lieutenant Grath."
The look on Ithilian's face clearly gave away that the response wasn't what he wanted to hear. There was a bloodlust in him, demanding to be satisfied before this night was over. "Nostariel! Check the bodies. Can you identify if they were under some spell?"
Frowning, but giving no other evidence as to her current thoughts, Nostariel knelt next to the body of the Templar that had attacked her, murmuring a few spells and then physically inspecting him, gently lifting one of his eyelids and closing it again. She repeated the process for the other two indicated Templars, the ones that had died by the hands of her friends rather than the pride demon itself. Her face only seemed to grow grimmer as she progressed, but her mind was whirring. She couldn’t be completely sure, of course, because blood magic was sometimes subtle, but…
“I…” she hesitated for a bare moment, knowing that Ithilian was not likely to be in the mood for seeing nuances right now, and debating whether or not she should tell him the truth. In the end, though, she couldn’t just lie to him. “I can’t be absolutely certain, but… none of them look to have been under the effects of a spell like that. But it doesn’t mean they were all given the same orders.” She knew that of late, the Templars had been increasingly divided on the matter of Meredith’s leadership. Perhaps there was a similar split in this group.
Sensing Ithilian’s continued frustration, Amalia moved so she was standing halfway in front of him. She wasn’t blocking his shot exactly, but he would have to purposefully shoot around her, something that would take a second more deliberation than just loosing the arrow immediately. “Kadan. Remember why we are here.” She caught his eye and held it, knowing she didn’t need to say any more than that for him to take her meaning.
They were here because they needed to be in order to keep the Alienage safe. A few dead Templars were expected given what had just happened. But the whole squad killed, and all of the non-Templars still alive? That would be outright provocation to someone like Meredith, the very thing they were trying to prevent, since the retaliation would come down directly on the Alienage. Still, she had been completely serious when she said that this matter was his to handle as he chose; she would do her best to assist in dealing with any fallout either way.
Aurora glared at the templars, her fist wound tightly around the shield's handle. She didn't believe the templar for a moment, but neither did she believe retribution was the wisest course of action. "It doesn't matter if they're lying," Aurora agreed, though there was a barb directed toward the templars. "There has already been too much death today." Even if they were templars she did not feel comfortable executing them where they stood. It was simply not how they operated, not to mention that it would raise Meredith's wrath.
She then slipped the shield off of her arm and threw it the distance between them and the templars. It was no longer necessary, as if the templars attempted to attack them one last time, then she wouldn't need to hide her powers any longer. "Take it and leave, quickly."
Just when Ithilian thought he'd lost himself to hate again, he was reminded why he set it aside. From directly in front of him Amalia would be able to see it struggle to survive in his eyes, and then finally give in to reason, and die. He slowly eased up the tension on the bowstring, and then removed the arrow, returning it to its quiver. Still fuming breaths through his nostrils, he nodded briefly to his lethallan, and then walked past her to stand closer to the Templars.
"Listen to me very carefully," he said, his voice still just as serious as before, but no longer bursting with the same kind of deadly aggression. "My friends and I came here tonight to deliver to you an abomination, a demon possessing the body of a mage I spent my entire childhood with. We came here to fight with you in destroying that demon. We sought only to protect the people we care for, and the people who cannot protect themselves. We didn't have to do any of this, but it was the right thing to do." He paused, hoping they would take the moment to try and comprehend what he was telling them.
"In return, your Knight-Commander just tried to have us killed, because she believes we represent a threat to her. Your Knight-Commander is ruthless and insane, paranoid and delusional. She makes enemies where she has none, and will only see this city torn into pieces if she is allowed to continue. Your Knight-Commander is the one responsible for my friend's possession, when she sent a troop of Templars where a simple message would have sufficed." Ithilian suspected that Meredith wanted to draw a reaction from the Alienage, that she wanted to create violence where there had previously been none, if only to have her suspicions forcefully confirmed. There was only so much speculation he was willing to force on these Templars right now, though.
"All of you are lucky to be leaving here with your lives tonight. Many of your brothers and sisters were not so fortunate. During your long walk back to Kirkwall, I would ask only that you think for a moment about whose cause you are serving. Is it your Maker's, or is it only Meredith's? The two are not one and the same. They haven't been for years." The Templar who had spoken up in his own defense earlier stood now, beginning to offer a hand to another of the injured, though he looked to Ithilian first, as though asking for permission. Ithilian waved a hand dismissively in return.
"Go. And don't ever trouble me again."
A bow armed Templar across the battlefield from him was drawing back an arrow, his aim not exactly lining up with the demon. Ithilian took no chance, and put one of his own arrows into the archer's throat. The nearest Templar to Ithilian turned and stared at him, his facial expression hidden behind his helmet, though he pictured it being one of outrage. He looked as though he was considering raising his sword, but Ithilian turned his bow on him, only holding his arrow due to the man's hesitation.
"Back off!" he commanded, and to his surprise, the Templar actually did so, moving slowly away from him. The others, no more than six in number now, were battering down the demon, who finally dropped to one knee, heavily wounded and tiring.
It was Amalia that finished the job this time. Having drawn a short, wide thrusting dagger, she knew its effectiveness would be predicated on placing it somewhere that mattered. So when the demon dropped to a knee, she took the opportunity, bounding into a sprint over the sand, which to her counted as very familiar terrain, and going airborne in a rather impressive jump that carried her to the height required, giving her ample opportunity to bury the knife in the demon’s eyes socket, up to the hilt and easily deep enough to reach the grey matter beyond. She twisted it to be sure, then brought her feet up and used them to push herself free as it fell, landing far enough that the sand its impact threw up just dusted her boots.
Shaking the dagger off, she sheathed it, motioning for both Nostariel and Aurora to close ranks with herself and Ithilian while they faced those Templars that remained. She watched them carefully, but made no further move to attack any of them, seeing as how they were not moving to attack her friends, either.
In fact, it seemed as though the fight had ended, though a few of the Templars were still prepared to engage if it seemed to be called for. Three of the seven Templars here had suffered fairly debilitating wounds in the fight, one appearing to have a mangled leg that prevented him from rising. Two others were kneeling, while the rest stood and watched. Ithilian motioned with his bow for the outliers of the group to gather with the rest, and eventually had them all in a clustered bunch.
"Don't heal them," he said to Nostariel, once he confirmed that she was in fact no longer in a life-threatening situation. Looking back to the Templars, Ithilian kept his bowstring taut, ready to kill them on a moment's notice. "Take off your helmets. All of you." Some of them complied with the command quicker than others, but in the end they all had their helmets off, revealing the very human looking faces of five men and two women, a few of them bloodied even under their helmets.
"If no one explains, all of you die." Having just watched a childhood friend's body torn to pieces by a pride demon, and then suffered a betrayal from a group he already had a strong distaste for, Ithilian was in no mood for games. He didn't care that the Templars here were too weak to defend themselves anymore. "Why did you turn on us? Were you ordered?"
"Our orders were to assist with the removal of the demon," one of the younger men immediately said, appearing to be one of the more panicked of the bunch. He'd suffered a nasty cut near his eye, and was bleeding down the side of his face. "It must've been more mind control, like what took over Knight-Lieutenant Grath."
The look on Ithilian's face clearly gave away that the response wasn't what he wanted to hear. There was a bloodlust in him, demanding to be satisfied before this night was over. "Nostariel! Check the bodies. Can you identify if they were under some spell?"
Frowning, but giving no other evidence as to her current thoughts, Nostariel knelt next to the body of the Templar that had attacked her, murmuring a few spells and then physically inspecting him, gently lifting one of his eyelids and closing it again. She repeated the process for the other two indicated Templars, the ones that had died by the hands of her friends rather than the pride demon itself. Her face only seemed to grow grimmer as she progressed, but her mind was whirring. She couldn’t be completely sure, of course, because blood magic was sometimes subtle, but…
“I…” she hesitated for a bare moment, knowing that Ithilian was not likely to be in the mood for seeing nuances right now, and debating whether or not she should tell him the truth. In the end, though, she couldn’t just lie to him. “I can’t be absolutely certain, but… none of them look to have been under the effects of a spell like that. But it doesn’t mean they were all given the same orders.” She knew that of late, the Templars had been increasingly divided on the matter of Meredith’s leadership. Perhaps there was a similar split in this group.
Sensing Ithilian’s continued frustration, Amalia moved so she was standing halfway in front of him. She wasn’t blocking his shot exactly, but he would have to purposefully shoot around her, something that would take a second more deliberation than just loosing the arrow immediately. “Kadan. Remember why we are here.” She caught his eye and held it, knowing she didn’t need to say any more than that for him to take her meaning.
They were here because they needed to be in order to keep the Alienage safe. A few dead Templars were expected given what had just happened. But the whole squad killed, and all of the non-Templars still alive? That would be outright provocation to someone like Meredith, the very thing they were trying to prevent, since the retaliation would come down directly on the Alienage. Still, she had been completely serious when she said that this matter was his to handle as he chose; she would do her best to assist in dealing with any fallout either way.
Aurora glared at the templars, her fist wound tightly around the shield's handle. She didn't believe the templar for a moment, but neither did she believe retribution was the wisest course of action. "It doesn't matter if they're lying," Aurora agreed, though there was a barb directed toward the templars. "There has already been too much death today." Even if they were templars she did not feel comfortable executing them where they stood. It was simply not how they operated, not to mention that it would raise Meredith's wrath.
She then slipped the shield off of her arm and threw it the distance between them and the templars. It was no longer necessary, as if the templars attempted to attack them one last time, then she wouldn't need to hide her powers any longer. "Take it and leave, quickly."
Just when Ithilian thought he'd lost himself to hate again, he was reminded why he set it aside. From directly in front of him Amalia would be able to see it struggle to survive in his eyes, and then finally give in to reason, and die. He slowly eased up the tension on the bowstring, and then removed the arrow, returning it to its quiver. Still fuming breaths through his nostrils, he nodded briefly to his lethallan, and then walked past her to stand closer to the Templars.
"Listen to me very carefully," he said, his voice still just as serious as before, but no longer bursting with the same kind of deadly aggression. "My friends and I came here tonight to deliver to you an abomination, a demon possessing the body of a mage I spent my entire childhood with. We came here to fight with you in destroying that demon. We sought only to protect the people we care for, and the people who cannot protect themselves. We didn't have to do any of this, but it was the right thing to do." He paused, hoping they would take the moment to try and comprehend what he was telling them.
"In return, your Knight-Commander just tried to have us killed, because she believes we represent a threat to her. Your Knight-Commander is ruthless and insane, paranoid and delusional. She makes enemies where she has none, and will only see this city torn into pieces if she is allowed to continue. Your Knight-Commander is the one responsible for my friend's possession, when she sent a troop of Templars where a simple message would have sufficed." Ithilian suspected that Meredith wanted to draw a reaction from the Alienage, that she wanted to create violence where there had previously been none, if only to have her suspicions forcefully confirmed. There was only so much speculation he was willing to force on these Templars right now, though.
"All of you are lucky to be leaving here with your lives tonight. Many of your brothers and sisters were not so fortunate. During your long walk back to Kirkwall, I would ask only that you think for a moment about whose cause you are serving. Is it your Maker's, or is it only Meredith's? The two are not one and the same. They haven't been for years." The Templar who had spoken up in his own defense earlier stood now, beginning to offer a hand to another of the injured, though he looked to Ithilian first, as though asking for permission. Ithilian waved a hand dismissively in return.
"Go. And don't ever trouble me again."
The Chanter's Board has been updated. Blood and Pride has been completed.