Balor's Story

"So I see... what you sug-gest," she says with a sigh. Her tone and body language becoming unreadable. She stands up and picks up a mirror and looks deeply at her reflection, squinting her eye. "I should simply... make more... Ex-al-ted..."

"I fig-ured that was the... case. When I... first took com-mand of them... their pres-sence soothed me, satiated the hunger some... perhaps more would... cure me... make me whole again... es-pec-ially that... blessed girl..." She lowers the cloth on her covered eye and looks back to Jonathan, the eye was missing, only a scarred socket, a phantasmic glow like a burning flame is all that fills it, a trait most associated to the tyrant usurper, Balor, yet she stands now in a form that is almost human, unlike the image first seen. "You... have been use-ful... and kind... un-ex-pected... ma-gic users of my time were... diff-er-ent... were con-de-scend-ing... arr-o-gant..."

She looks down and narrows her eyes before lifting her head again, staring directly at Jonathan with a piercing gaze. "If I... were to take you to them... the Ex-alt-ed... could you... make a cure from their... ess-ence?"

Jonathan was thrown off by the woman's comment. Make more Exalted? What did she mean by-

OH GOD, the magus thought to himself. He finally got look at the stranger's face, and her flaming eye-socket caught him off guard. He flinched slightly, but made no noise as the stranger finished her sentence.

"A cure? Well, normally a counterspell would be the plan of action... But if I could get my hands on their "essence"... I should be able to make a cure-all from it, hopefully one strong enough to heal you."

The woman's stare was incredibly hard to look at; he felt like the miss was looking right through him.

"But, that said... Can you actually get me to the Exalted? Not, not that I doubt your resolve or anything! It's just... not many people know them personally."

The LAST thing Jonathan wanted to do was offend his guest: not knowing what she's capable of, he really preferred being alive.

"Of course, I own them... as I do this... land," she says this in such a matter of fact way, as if it were something so simple. "I am Balor, after-all... per-haps you've heard that... name?"

She covers her eye once more and starts walking out, then turns back to look at Jonathan once more. "You shall come with... me... make this... cure-all," her tone clearly telling that this wasn't exactly an open as a yes or no request, and she made sure that was clear to Jonathan. "This way."

With this she starts to head out into the streets, setting sights on the castle, fully aware of the conflict brewing there. "Triv-ial fools... with triv-ial goals, they can-not lead a fu-ture... they can-not lead them-selves," she mutters disinterestedly as she leads on towards the castle.

Balor? It was a name he vaguely recognized, but if she OWNS the Exalted AND the kingdom he lives in... He felt kind of stupid for not recognizing her name.

He was pretty excited however, that he finally had a chance to DO something. He had been dreaming of being able to be a great hero, go down in history. Hopefully he'd be able to be of use to his... queen? That would be her title, technically if she owned all this land.

Nonetheless, Jonathan quickly grabbed his staff from his closet and followed Balor through the streets.

As Balor leads Jonathan to the main royal gates, Nigel feels that burning sensation again, turning his head slowly to catch a glimpse of her. She was not in a form familiar to him, but she felt the same as the monster he had been near for a time now. His mouth goes agape, reaching for his bow, arming it and taking aim. His hands trembling. She pauses and casts a glance to him. "You... you knew all along, didn't you," Nigel growls, his tone both frightened and agitated, a feeling of being played this entire time washes over him. In a moment he struggles, hesitant, part of him not desiring to hate the tyrant, but another wanting to erase her from the throne no matter the cost.

"Mind... them not... they are... noth-ing," Balor says to Jonathan, a tone cold and dispassionate. She then looks to Vigil, causing a twitch in her expression, as if she were shocked for a moment before heading forward into the castle gates. "So it begins..."

Nigel held frozen with his bow, his skin bleached, as if he's seen death. Mercy sees this and charges him, and in like a blink, disarms him and shoves him back to the others. "Make this easier for yourselves and just surrender."

The prince has been thrown into a loop, this had gone wrong and he knew it. He had hoped not to fight but the situation was providing little other options. He snapped a spark into the air, signaling that it went awry.

Godefray was waiting in the alleyway when something in the sky caught his eye, a spark in the air. That must have been the signal! Things must have gone wrong! Looking back at the other he drew his sword. "That's our signal brave fighters! Our allies are in danger and we must hurry up and help them!" With a rallying cry Godefray rushes from his hiding spot over to where the prison was with his men right behind him.

Arriving at the prison, Godefray spots a group of soldiers led by one familiar man. "Mercy...I want everyone to be on their guard, rookies stay behind and take out the regular grunts, I will coordinate the more experienced men in subduing Mercy." He called to the men behind him before taking hold of his sword with both of his hands. "My soul that burns as hot as the sun, unleash my flames through this sword! Phoenix Ignition!" His sword would then burn ablaze and with one single swing, a wave of flames would make their way towards Mercy and his men, hopefully scattering them and giving them a chance to group.

As Jonathan and Balor neared the castle gates, the woman had told him to ignore "them". Not knowing what she referred to, he quickly looked about; from the corner of his eye, he takes note of a small squad of people squaring off against...

Against one of the Exalted?

He cringed at the thought of someone challenging the almighty beings that had taken over these lands. They were either very powerful, or incredibly stupid to think they could take down what is quite possibly the strongest race of sentients in the entire Realm!

Seeing no point in intervening unless Balor would be attacked, and considering she had no worry over the situation, he decided that for now, he wouldn't give a shit.

As Bolin saw Godefray's men appear he tossed one of his flash-Flames at the largest group of soldiers blasting them off their feet and charged into the gap it created swinging his Axe overhead shouting "Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!"

Catching the first soldier on the sword arm severing his arm at the wrist before knocking him aside as the whirled his Axe and danced his way through the soldiers, side stepping their incoming blows as he used his Axe to cripple and maim as he cut a bloody path through there ranks making his way towards Mercy.

Jonathan and Balor would continue their stroll across the roads, eventually making it to the castle.

The magus was astonished with how... cool everything looked. Although he had an enviable abode, the castle made it look like a dirt shack. Everything was clean, dusted, and, most importantly secure from the outside world... most of the time, atleast.

Upon entering, Jonathan almost immediately got to work.

"Excuse me, are there any alchemy tables here?"

He had quickly asked a guard directions for somewhere he could work in peace. Once he was pointed in a general direction, he sprinted through the halls, Balor only a bit far behind.

After a few minutes of slamming doors open,peeking into rooms, and slamming doors closed, the young wizard finally found what he was looking for.

"Here we go; a place where I can get to work. My miss, do me a favor and see if your men can't fetch me some supplies: liquor, honey, a bit of gold, and some of that magical Exalted essence you'd mentioned to me."

Getting comfortable in a chair, he immediately began brainstorming a recipe for his ultimate creation; he'd be here a while, but hopefully he was done within a day.

Mercy showed more focus on parrying the blows brought against him than fighting back. He was just as much buying time, not even sending pursuit for Nigel. He got back as Godefray stabbed the ground. It was an obvious attack, he was going to attack him from below. Instead of moving he stamped his foot where the eruption would occur, spraying the lava into a split stream, his boots melting some from the heat, wincing some causing him to step back.

"Easy, Godefray," he says quizzically, his tone growing ever so slightly agitated. "Tell me, is it easy coming home to find the two things in your life worth living for bled out onto your floor..? Is it easy move on, knowing the people I was going to spend the rest of my life with, the people I swore to protect, the very reason I became an enforcer to begin with... is it easy to just, pick up the blade and keep swinging?"

He lunged at Godefray. "And, it wasn't they who killed them, it was a Mordanian!" He takes a swing at Godefray, trained in at his chest, charging his blow with a soft light. "While you and many of our soldiers were off on the front lines, we eroded from within! And it isn't just me, no, there were many more, Joy was tortured just because of her race, Fortitude watched as his people were murdered, burned alive! Where was their justice?"

"We were a broken people long before the Exalted came! And as for the girl... of course she's not Juliet, but do you honestly think a child is the one pulling the st-r.kk..s." Before he could finish what he was saying, something seems to silence his voice momentarily, as if an invisible hand had closed his mouth. He continues into his unarmed blows instead, keeping his armor pointed at Godefray. "A-and that strange being among you, do you know what his kind is capable of..?"

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In the castle Balor sends guards to retrieve the items Jonathan had ordered, but at the last mention the essence she beckons a small figure that had been watching in back. They reluctantly step forward, a frail looking figure, dressed in ornate white robes with gold trims, with a face covered in a mask representing the sun and moon. It was the "goddess" of the Exalted. Balor takes a flask, grabs the girl's arm and jabs it with one of her nails causing the strange girl to wince as her blood flows into the flask. The blood was abnormal, a haunting light blue glow to it, and almost clear like water.

"Is this... suf-fic-ient..?" She asks, holding the flask to Jonathan who had unavoidably witnessed the whole transaction. Gabrielle silently holds her arm, backing away from them. The guards come soon after, piling them onto a table. Balor glares at them and they organize the items up more carefully, obviously out of fear.

Within a few minutes of his request, Jonathan saw the ingredients being placed carefully on his table.

When Balor drew blood from the young girl, the mage was mesmerized: Gabrielle was stunning. To think that one person could possess so much power was unfathomable, but here she was, in the flesh.

It almost made him protest when he saw his patient inflict a small puncture wound in order to give him that essential ingredient for his cure-all.

After taking the vial and taking a good look at it, he inspected the other ingredients. Liquor was strong, gold was pure, and the honey free of impurities.

"I believe this will suffice for now, Balor. If you don't mind, you can leave me to work alone: I'll call for you if I make any significant progress."

Now ready to begin brewing, Jonathan takes a few microdoses of each ingredient; not wanting to spend it all on 1 failed attempt, he consulted his notes on an appropriate mix.

"Let's see... 1 drop of alcohol, 2 drops of honey, 5 specks of gold and 1 drop of Exalted juice..."

Stirring a small vial, he sparked some flames with the snap of his fingers. The solution heated for a bit before the serum became black.

"No, that's not it. How about... How about 2,3,1,1? Maybe add some stabilizers?"

Discarding the ruined vial, he quickly tried another mix, this time adding a few herbs from his pocket to give him a bit of a margin of error. This vial turned an acidic green; nope, another swing and a miss.

"Damn. Let's try 3,1,4,2; maybe with some elixir to dilute it."

His third mix was tested, with a bit of mana essence to allow the other ingredients to mix better. This vial became a bloody red; his mana tainted the Exalted's fluid, rendering it inert.

"Ugh. This'll be a while. Maybe I should go back to the drawing board; I'm not getting close."

Putting his ingredients to the side, he consulted the codex he had stashed in his cloak in an attempt to make a more accurate recipe.

As Mercy Lunged for Godefray he pulled out his sword, which was now covered in molten slag and blocked Mercy's swing causing the blow to send molten slag and send cracks into the floor where he was standing. "Mercy, you think I don't know what the pain of losing a loved one feels like? Well you are wrong in that regard. I lost the person dearest to me, a nice woman named Angela who was as pure as the sky but even then she was not spared from the fires of war and even if that wasent enough they destroyed my home village, killed my family, killed my friends, and killed everyone I once knew in the more simpler days! But you don't see me betraying my country, NO! I keep fighting for them, for the people I can still save. I fight to protect their friends who are still alive, I fight to protect their loves ones who are still alive, I fight to save everyone who can still be saved! You cant tell me justice was also on your side, the Exalted are equally as guilty as us." Godefray then roared as he pushed Mercy's strike to the side, stepped to the side, and began to thrust his sword three times aimed for his chest.

"And I may have stayed in the front lines, I may have been capable of preventing the slaughter of my home village but protecting the land and the people is my top priority. I could have saved them but if I did ten times as many people would have died and I would endangered even more people than that. I lived with my decision and had to weigh the cost, people I knew, or thousands more who had peaceful lives like mine. In the end I chose correctly, but you don't see me as a broken man, no! I am far from a broken man! I am a hope for the resistance, I am the peoples hope! And it does not matter who joins us, that mysterious stranger is just helping for now, there is no way to tell if he will stay or not. Who cares what power he has, or what his background is, if he decides to join us he would considered an ally and a friend. But enough about my thoughts for now, on your guard Mercy!" Godefray then gripped his sword with two hands and set the molten slag on fire before throwing his entire weight on the next swing.

Nigel was entranced until he hear someone speak to him. He looks over to Vigil, he was saying to disengage, to take the opportunity to leave. He stares blankly for a moment, everything was surreal to him at the moment but he was coming back into the situation. He reluctantly nods, he was thinking this over too hard, opportunity had given itself to him and he was wasting it on gawking. He holds the box tightly and starts to run the other way.

Mercy holds up an arm allowing it to be hit by the swing. He strains, his armor burning from the molten material. This action was far from an effortless counter. He looks aside Godefray momentarily seeing Nigel slipping away with the box. He sighs and chuckles lightly. He looks back to Godefray. "I hold no hatred of him for his race, and had it been my choice he'd never had been caged." He frowns again, pushing against his blade, hooking it into the ornate gaps in his armor. "I am sorry for your loss though, I truly am. I suppose it is something I did not know. But, Godefray... there's three important things you must know. First, there are more than the two sides to this whole conflict, secondly, do you think a being who looks away at the sight of blood ordered this war to begin with? And thirdly, Henrick and Cecilia Mordaine still live... you're welcome."

With the last statement he surges with that strange light once more and pushes against Godefray focusing this supernatural strength into one arm. The air around him giving an ever so slight numbing sensation, like it were energized. He was suddenly in a hurry to end this for some reason, as Nigel leaves his sight. "I'm sorry, old friend, but I have men that are bleeding to death with their faces in the dirt, and I really would rather be tending to them at the moment, I could be distracted with them for quite some time, even."

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Balor slowly walks out to leave Jonathan to his work and then walks into the massive dining room, a woman with long red hair as well, looking similar to the form Balor had assumed. Dressed in a black dress, ornate, the designs of royalty. Her eyes were gray, blind, she was bound to the chair at the head of the royal table. Regardless of her blindness, she knew Balor was there. It was the queen, Cecilia. And she seems, despite her situation, only mildly perturbed.

"Do you think this will fix anything? Do you think he would want this, Schoneke," Cecilia asks, clearly aiming this at Balor. "You said it yourself, years ago, that you preferred a simple life with no greater purposes."

"Scho-neke is dead, her body... died when it was drowned in those waters years ago," she responds coldly. "And her heart... died when he died."

"So what now, you punish the world for your misery, with these people as your tools," Cecilia asks.

"Tell me, has any other race suffered greater... than mine? Why should my kind be doomed, de-nied of mag-ic, to live only a brief amount of time until... death, bodies burning out... before reaching proper ad-ult-hood? Pun-ish... no, I lib-er-ate my people from an injust-ice that has lasted eons. No-bo-dy cares... not human... not beast-kin... not their race... but I care..."

"And he cared, even though he was a human, and my son cares, and so does my husband... we are trying to help y-"

Before Cecilia goes on further, Balor, growing agitated and pained by her condition, cracks of red energy forming across her skin. She growls and throws the massive table on it's side like it were nothing.

"E-enough of this," she roars, bringing Cecilia to silence. Balor breath ing becomes erratic, her hands shaking, a rage burning both figuratively and literally inside of her. She takes another drink of mana and she grips her face and starts to slow her breathing, little by little, the cracks seal over time, until it normalizes. Then just glares at Cecilia before walking outside the room.

Seconds turn into minutes, and minutes turn into hours, as the sun rises from the horizon yet again to shine its gleaming light upon the city of Mordania.

In the depths of the castle, a young mage finds himself in over his head.

"It doesn't matter where I got it from! All I need is for you to help me out!"

It had been hours since Jonathan had made the slightest progress in making the cure-all for Balor. Growing desperate, he decided to contact a friend; his neighbor for who knows how long.

"Look, you know this isn't my forte! You, on the other hand, know what you're doing! Look, you want money? Is that it? Want to empty my pockets some more? After all I've done for you! You OWE me! Yet you can't do an old friend a favor?"

The man was one of the wizard's few acquaintances. They met each other at the bar, where 1 chat later, they exchanged their contacts and kept in touch ever since.

Now, Jonathan found himself bickering with his old companion through a small portal, its opening just big enough to stick one's face in.

'Look, Jonathan, I'd love to help you, but personally? I won't do a THING if it means helping the Exalted. They just came in here and flipped every table they could find. Now the kingdom is a mess!'

The new friend's name was Mikk. His practice? Alchemy; he offered cheap medicine to everyone in the neighborhood. He wasn't bad either; rumors had it that he once brought life to a zombie. Mikk, however had a problem. A gambling problem. So bad in fact, he couldn't pay bills from time to time. Who did he ask for help? Jonathan.

"Oh, really? Well... Well... Well, fuck you, Mikk!"

With a loud harrumph, Jonathan gestured and shattered the portal, cutting off what little communication he and Mikk shared.

"Little shit... Note to self: once this is all over, find Mikk. Get money back."


With an annoyed expression stuck on his face, the mage got back on his seat, to work on the cure-all some more. The table was dirty, covered in blank serums and dud elixirs. He couldn't give up... even though he kind of wanted to at this point.

Meanwhile, as the mage struggles to make ends meet, the rebels would find themselves plotting their next move...

Godefray looks back at Nigel who was slinking away with a box in his hands, it seemed like their mission was complete and that they had successfully obtained the vials. He smiled under his mask as he turned back to Mercy. "Well thanks for the sentiment and I guess I should thank you for keeping the King and queen alive. But I respect your decision to finish this fight, even though we are enemies I wish to keep casualties for both sides to a minimal. I have no more reason to continue this fight as well, I will withdraw along with my men." Godefray spoke and he slowly backed away but did not turn his back to him before giving the order for his men to withdraw.

After issuing the order for withdraw, Godefray's men quickly dispersed to retreat back to headquarters. Godefray himself soon followed suit and ran as soon as he was of sight. He could easily tell Mercy was being generous today in not fighting back, for that he was lucky to have left without a single scratch. He himself was not giving it his all and was using some of his common fighting moves, if they were to go all out it would have been a battle to remember but he had to make sure to stay alive and lead his men so they would keep on living. He gave a small sigh as he neared his destination, they were going to have to formulate a new plan especially since the enemy knew Nigel was part of the resistance.

Mercy nodded and sighed as they left, he had not intended to have to put up an effort all of a sudden. He let them go along their way, regardless that he knew what they had, the prisoners and the vials. For some reason he didn't care, or at least, cared for it less than the soldiers lying bleeding. He began to mend their wounds of his men. For some he'd even reattach severed limbs, stitching them together like it were being done with invisible thread.

"You should regain feeling in it after a few days. Next time you'll get back when I say to get back," he says wearily, growing exhausted with each successive healing. "Trouble will come sooner than though, I imagine... well, good for you I suppose."

The men look astonished, while the healed portions of their bodies were numb, they felt almost well again, if not drowsy. It was not casualty free, however, but it wasn't as many as he expected. The cuts were skilled, clean, the dwarf was seems to take good care of his blades, thinks Mercy. He hated to think of it, though.

He took his men into the castle. Just as he walks in he sees Balor in thought, in a form he wasn't too familiar with. He had always before seen her as a beast, not something personable, almost human. Almost, it was the key word... there was still that unreadable air to her, that stagnant aura around her that feels like a phantasm's flame. Before he could speak a word she addresses him without looking.

"That... what was that, that... out-side?" she questions, being straight to the point.

"The rebels attacked," he says casually. "I drove them away."

"Drove them... a-way?" she responds quizzically.

"We weren't ready for battle, they were not either."

"You are... you are a liar... you could have crushed them... you are too tender-heart-ed... all of you, except Fort-i-tude," she says coldly, finally turning to him. "It weak-ens you... gets you... killed..."

"Sounds like you talk from experience," Mercy responds sagely, giving a defiant smirk to Balor who silently stares in response. "Your power is undeniable, your emotions unreadable... but I often wonder if what you say you want, and what you truly want are direct opposites... but then again, who am I to question you, eh?"

"Who are you, in-deed," she says, turning away and tuning him out completely.

"Well... then... good night to you never the less," Mercy says, leaving her to her own thoughts. Mercy had found her behavior odd, more odd than usual at least. For a moment, he could have sworn she cared... but then again, he thought, perhaps what he wanted and what is are two completely opposite things.

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Nigel continued his dash towards the hideout, barely believing that they had escaped that. Wait, how did they escape that? They had more manpower, they held the advantage. His mind wandered for a moment, slowing his pace some as he entered the streets. He sees no pursuit party, hears no sound of boots. It feels too much like... like they were allowed to escape, or assisted in some way. But no, that is ridiculous, he thought. More questions entered his head, from things he had heard when he was around the Exalted, and around Balor. He took a moment to look at Vigil with utter confusion on his face.

"I don get it... you are not usual to us, sure... but, why do they think your kind is some... invisible threat," he mumbles, it was directed, but it feels more like he was more asking himself. "It feels like... the more I think I know about what is going on, the less I actually do know."

Meanwhile, at the castle...


A lone magus tinkered quietly on an alchemy table. His eyes were mildly bloodshot, his hair messier than a young child's bedroom. His robes were covered in wet stains of various colors and sizes. The table he worked on was no longer clean and neat, but scarred with various burns; some chemical, some electric, and some still smoking. The room was silent, except for Jonathan's shaky breathing.

The supplies he was given multiple hours ago were almost completely depleted. He'd have one last shot to create the cure-all he had promised for Balor. He stopped caring how long he had spent in there. All he knew is he dreaded what would happen if he came out to say he failed.

"A little bit of this, dash of that, a spark of this, a grain of these, and..."

With a sharp bang, his last vial exploded, releasing a gray sludge that caked his tainted robes.

He did not react immediately to what felt like his thousandth failure. However, after letting it set in, he abruptly flipped the table he was working on.

"Motherfucker!"

Throwing his supplies across the room, the young enchanter's patience had finally run out. Desperate to let off some steam, he trashed the small lab he was working in, shattering glass, throwing crap across the room and swearing profusely.

After he destroyed pretty much everything in the room, Jonathan finally calmed down. With a loud sigh, he reached into the pockets of his robes, and withdrew a small pouch of coin. He placed it on the remains of the table, along with a note saying "Whoops."

Having finally admitted defeat, Jonathan now sat sulking in the middle of the carnage he created.

Jonathan looked up when he felt Balor's touch. With a flinch, Jonathan got himself up, realizing that Balor wasn't going to injure him just yet.

A whirlwind of thoughts ran through his head as he tried to come up with an excuse for screwing up. How long had he been working? How much longer would it be before her temper flared? ...Was he going to have to pay for the damages he caused to the lab he was in?

"I'm sorry, Balor, but I haven't managed any significant progress. I tried everything I could, but the essence is simply untaintable. Everything I mix it with renders it inert, volatile, useless. Each solution refused to stay stable, no matter how delicate my procedure or how innocuous the ingredients! I mean, look!"

He proceeded to take the very last drops of Exalted essence and mix with some plain old water to prove his point. Within seconds, the flawless liquid assimilated the other fluid, becoming normal water.

"SEE? It just does not want to cooperate. I've given it my all, but at this point, I see no point in continuing my struggle."

Jonathan paused for a moment, to let his statement sink in for a moment.

"However. Just because I failed to make a cure doesn't mean I haven't figured out a way to purge you."

Grabbing some white chalk off the floor, he led Balor and the other Exalted to the grand hall of the castle. Immediately, he began drawing out a large 6-pointed star across the floor, with a smaller 5-pointed star in the center of it.

"THIS! This is what will allow me to cure you, Balor!"

Excitedly, Jonathan dragged Balor over to the center of the figure, and placed Joy on one of the points of the larger star.

"Once we get enough people to fill this symbol, the glyph will be activated. With it, I'll be able to channel the power of your ranks and, hopefully, shatter the curse you carry."

Jonathan waited on a response from Balor, hoping she was impressed. Granted, it wasn't a solid cure, but atleast she'd be cleansed.

Nigel took a moment to think on his words as Vigil's words, though painfully blunt, did ring true. He perhaps thought it fair, even though it may tarnish the crown, to tell the full truth as far as he knew it. He looks out at everyone, takes a breath and tries to confess clearly, "the pool, at the heart of the cursed southeastern continent... there my mother's group fought among each other. Though she is Cecilia Mordaine, she was known then as Flannery Haozweld, and her number two, Hamza Zead, the 'bloody axe' of legend, decided that the two of them were the only ones to deserve immortality, the other two, including Balor, were to be removed... the other was a man my age, a petty thief with big dreams named Berg who... it seems Balor and he were deeply intertwined... he was killed by Hamza, split across the chest by his axe, and Balor was thought dead, her eye gouged out, stomach split open, and held under in the pool of life... I suppose Hamza did not think the final part through properly... but then again, he was a murderer, not big on thinking. Balor... as we see her as now, brutally killed Hamza in retaliation, but spared my mother for some reason..."

Nigel rubs his forehead and nervously takes a glass of ale, a strange thing considering he wasn't a drinker. This fact was not lost as he scrunched his face as he drank. He then takes a moment, holding up a finger signaling that he has one more thing to say. "What happened to the pool afterwards, I cannot say for certain, perhaps it is still there, sitting amidst the jungle, or perhaps it is all within the girl known as Gabrielle. What I do know is that Balor has decided after all these years to come here, that she took over my land, that she's using the miracle child and her Exalted, and that, somehow, your people are involved in this, Vigil."

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In the castle, Balor looked at Jonathan's work with her one good eye. She had started to question his genius, it is true, but this... it seemed spontaneous yet sound. Joy was only satisfied that Jonathan seemed less gloomy, even if he did ignore her for the most part.

Balor paused for a moment, noticing something, then pointed it out. "I as-sume Gab-ri-elle will fill one point... then Fort-i-tude... and Mercy... but," she says as she points at each with with a long sharp nail, then holds out two fingers indicating two empty points. "I will re-quire two more Ex-al-ted for these as well?"

She steps out and looks it over again, confirming her suspicion. Regardless, her mood as well seems to have lightened, even if it didn't show upon her face... the air felt less tense as it did moments ago. After pondering it over, she looked to Jonathan. "You have done well... you have giv-en me some hope... but Joy here... is cor-rect... you need sleep. You are weary, and you have earned it," her tone was strangely soft for once, almost kind, as far as voice allowed it to be.

Godefray smiled under his helmet when Bolin was going to arrange for a supply of weapons to help train and arm the men better then the men Mercy had with him. He was a great addition to their ranks, his skill with a blade and ability to already arrange for plans like this was going to help their efforts.

However when Nigel and Vigil began to talk about the pool of life and what happened there, his smile faded away. He began to absorb all the information the had said, an old grudge, a pool that grants powers, and how he mentioned Vigl's people were somehow involved in this. When he thought about it, the pool was a sure fire way to turn the battle to their favour, however like Nigel said, it could be in Gabrielle. There was some risk in looking for the pool, they would lose time doing other tasks and not be ready when they were needed.

It was worth a shot at the very least, but he was worried that the Exalted might be planning something to hamper the resistance efforts. "Do you all think that finding this pool of life might be worth it? Its almost like a coin flip, we migh either get lucky and find the pool still there or be unlucky and the pool is going to be gone. I say it is worth the effort however I must remain here and keep a watch for thing here. We have lot contact with four very talented people, and I prefer not to lose contact with more people." Godefray spoke as he took of his helmet and began to relax with some food and drink.