Fear is the Best Motivator [WQ]

Norforva's bleak landscape made for the best place to find secluded meeting spots. Perfect for people looking for a bit of discretion, and thus perfect for the sort of informants that the Ynglar Brotherhood apparently favored. Though Ash had only just recently found out about the Brotherhood, she still agreed to help them. The potential threat that the cultists posed was large enough that Ash bit back any conflict she may have had about aiding such a shady organization.

Wanting a bit of comfort, Ash brought Naixi with her. The lioness waited calmly by an outcropping, keeping an eye out for any sign of movement at the base of the canyon they were overlooking. The moonlight was barely enough to see by, but lions apparently had superior dark vision. Time to put that to the test. This was quite the remote meeting point, so hopefully any movement would stand out regardless...

'Perfect place to disappear someone, or hide a body,' Ash thought, and shivered.

She looked towards her black-clad companion in this quest, the man she recognized as @Reaper. He certainly seemed the... efficient sort, which was about as much as Ash could figure out about his character. He had vanished suddenly after capturing that criminal, so it wasn't as if she had gotten to know him very well.

Just as she was wondering whether Reaper would be receptive to small talk--this silence, especially here in the heart of Norforva, was just unnerving--Naixi growled lightly. Perking up, Ash wandered to the mouth of the cave to take a peek. Looked like there was a figure moving quickly up towards the side of the canyon where a small, out of the way path led to the cave they were waiting at.

Ash tensed. Hopefully this was the informant, ready for a civil discussion. Otherwise... Well, she had first-hand experience with the kind of magic that Reaper was capable of. Though off-putting, it was comforting to know that she had someone more skilled than she was at fighting with her.

(Brute Approach)

 

_____Reaper had not spoke a single word since he had arrived at the cave, his frame slouched in the shadows as his mind could only recall his very first kidnapping and interrogation. If he recalled it was in Russia, he nearly froze before his target got there and made him pay for keeping him waiting before even asking any questions. The memory drawing a cold grin across his lips as he watched from behind his blindfold with his UI open and ready to move on a coin drop.

_____This was proven the moment the Lion seemed to get alert, his hand tapping his teleport spell causing a bright flash from within the cave before he was standing behind his prey looking over his glove for a few moments. The moment the figure tired to react Reaper swung his foot across to get the figure in the air and pushed him towards the ledge, right arm holding the figure’s leg as Reaper let him dangle in a very loose grip. Rush tactic, force people into a panic by a rapid set of events before really scaring them.

_____Arm swinging the figure into the cave so the figure would land before the lion. Reaper happily humming as he reached into his sleeves to get out medieval torture tools, or in this case just torture tools he supposed. ”Have your lion bite their arm off, best way to show we aren't going to play games.” Reaper rubbed his left pinky in his left ear as he waited to see if the girl would give the order. If not Reaper took his right glove off and tightly gripped the figure’s right hand as it began to rot from his magic.

”Let’s play a game, she will ask a question, you will reply and if I don’t like how you replied I spread the rot, the more you comply the less you lose, and trust me I have the energy to do this all night.”

_____Reaper made his point clear by spreading the rot a bit more causing some screaming most likely, his expression cold smile as he started to hum ‘ring around the rosary’ in a very dark and twisted tone. He would either get their answers, or there would be one more corpse under his belt, either way it was a winning deal for him as he looked to @Ashiore Evretto to start asking the questions while he kept a firm grip of the figure’s hand.
(Brute Approach)

 

Ash shielded her eyes from the sudden bright light that appeared in the cavern. When she could see again, blinking spots out of her vision, she saw @Reaper holding a cloaked figure upside down by the foot, dangling them over the edge.

Her eyes widened and she scrambled up, Naixi letting out a loud snarl at the burst of activity. And then at Reaper's next request--order, really--her jaw just dropped. "W-what?!" When she collected herself enough to figure out words again, she just said, "No! I'm not going to- Naixi wouldn't-"

But her protests didn't appear to do much. It appeared that one way or another, Reaper was going to make sure that the informant wasn't leaving here with an intact arm. Ash cringed when magic flared again and she saw the informant's skin wither and fade to green, then black. "Reaper, wait! T-that's..."

And again, she stopped talking when Reaper turned his gaze towards her. Ash wilted a bit and looked at the flailing, swearing man dangling in Reaper's grip. There wasn't any going back from that anymore, the man's arm had shriveled down to almost nothing already. Steeling herself, Ash began stammering questions about what sort of preparations the cultists were making, and the nature of the supposed catastrophe itself.

@Asch

 

_____Reaper felt the person was holding some information back, a low tone growl as he took hold of the other arm and moved to show his face clearly. He could do so much to cause this person pain and it seemed his message was not made clear just yet. A cold smile across his face as he started to drag the person towards the edge of the cliff while opening his UI again. Calmly throwing the person over as he watched for a few moments as they fell before teleporting down to catch them half way down and bring them both back up.

_____Spinning around as he tossed the figure back into the cave by the Lion as he walked over slowly snapping his tool at the air. Quick motions to wrap his arm around the figure’s neck while the other set the tool against their pointer finger and filled the air with loud cracking as the bone was fractured in four places and the nail ripped out. Setting his head on the figure’s shoulder with a cold laugh.

”Something tells me you know more, and I got four more hunches that might be correct, hell maybe more.”

_____Reaper would wait to see if he got any reply, thirty seconds before he would break another finger until there was none left to break. A annoyed sigh before he moved to break the forearm of the figure giving him one last chance to provide any more information. Then he gave the girl and the figure a chance by throwing them towards the cliff edge again, the damage to the hands would prevent the figure from holding on, but Ash could save them, it was her choice if she felt there was more they could learn, or save the person's life.
@Ashiore Evretto

 

"Shipment arriving from overseas... Stokbon's underground exchange..." Ash tried her best to parse the information through the informant's nearly unintelligible words. Also trying really hard not to think of the current situation she was in took up a surprising amount of processing power in her brain. So keeping track of all this information was quite the struggle.

She winced again as Reaper toyed with the man by tossing him off the edge and teleporting him back up. Naixi snarled at the sudden appearance again, bolting to her feet and growling at both Reaper and the man. It appeared that her sheer terror was flooding through their connection.

And then the screaming began as Reaper started breaking bones. Ash was paralyzed in fear next to Naixi, clutching onto the lion like she was a particularly large stuffed animal. She couldn't muster up the voice for a scream of her own or any sort of protest as Reaper methodically finished up all the fingers, and the forearm.

"W-wait..." she tried, her voice wavering. "Don't-"

And then Reaper threw the man off the cliff. Body working on autopilot, Ash lunged forward, fingers grasping the edge of the rock as she peered down at the man's slowly disappearing figure. Out of desperation, she almost shouted the incantation to summon a vine to catch the man, the green tendril firing down like a lightning bolt-

-and the screaming stopped as a sharp snap! echoed throughout the canyon.

Arm still outstretched, Ash watched the tiny limp body dangle from the end of the vine in horror. Stopping too suddenly might have snapped his neck, when the vine pulled taut he could have slammed against the side of the cliff... Whatever the cause, that man was dead.

@Reaper

 

_____Reaper could only clap his hands lightly from behind the girl, a light laugh bubbling from his stomach as he chuckled and approached her to look over the ledge at the work she had done. ”I’m more a fan of giving them some chance to live, but snapping their necks before they can, that’s cold.” Reaper spoke coldly before tapping the girl’s back and started to leave the scene. He had other matters now on his list that included tracking down these supplies someone was running through in his territory.

_____Much like the last time the two had crossed paths Reaper once more chose to vanish using his magic, Arcanamancy to teleport and Maleformancy to cover the flash in black smoke to conceal his escape and new location. There was some time of travel and a few ravens to send out to gather the people he would need to speak with, his grin growing as he snapped his tool in his hand on the upper passageway of the canyon and wondered how much pain he would get to deal before the people began to sing to his grand symphony.

_____His gaze moved to set on Ashiore as he sat over the ledge to watch her and speak to himself. ”She ain’t exactly someone you think is bad, but maybe with enough small pushes and whispers she will prove worth a visit, would you not agree?” Lightning cracked across the sky from seemingly nowhere as Reaper grinned and used the flash to vanish further away. He would get the players together over time, he just needed to remember the lessons of taking his time.