WQ - Details [Hidden] After the War

It wasn't a surprise to the kit when the lady named Cessia asked her to help get information out of the captives of the Caenis tribe- she was, after all, known for her love of tormenting the minds of others with her illusions. What surprised her was that Cessia told her not to go into the mission alone, and recommended certain people the young woman hadn't met. What irked her more wasn't dealing with strangers, of course- it was that she was told to let others join in on her fun of making chaos!

Still, she waited in front of the prison for the others Cessia had opted to push into the fold, people she didn't likely know and probably wouldn't get to know after the mission was done. Her foot tapped against the cold ground, her tail wagging swiftly behind her to let out her stress. "Hurry up, people!" She shouted, assuming the strangers working with her couldn't be too far behind. Waving her lance before her to seemingly show off her all-too-bloated ego, she growled, "We have work to do! The bloody brats in there aren't going to talk all on their own! Let's mess up some minds! Chaos awaits!"


@Alric Stalwart @Alkaid Zexis @Ueno Mizuki

 

"The goal is to learn where their homes are located so we can get into contact with them. Messing with their heads is a last resort, since if their people learn we're too eager to torture prisoners we'd just be making matters worse for ourselves."

Mizuki frowned at @Lady Briar, who from her perspective was acting perhaps a bit too enthusiastic at the idea of being able to mess with the insides of people's heads. Of course maybe she just wasn't taking this world and its inhabitants very seriously and just saw it as another game, but Mizuki was still a bit concerned how eagerly she talked about the idea. Well, as long as she helped retrieve the required information Mizuki wouldn't get too adamant about it.

She wasn't entirely sure why she'd be working together with others on this project of extracting information about the homes of these wolfkin. In fact she was somewhat surprised that they'd hire players to help out since this was the kind of thing were you'd expect experts to be more useful than someone who just has a lot of raw power to throw about. While being strong could help intimidate people into answering your questions these wolfmen had already proven that they weren't going to be easy to crack, in which case rather than a lot of raw power you had to know how to apply what power you had to have the maximum effect on their psyche. Mizuki might be underestimating her fellow players but she suspected that most of them weren't experts on the field of torture and interrogation, since back on Earth it was a rather tricky subject where most people would get offended if you even suggested it. Meanwhile in this world it was a lot less of an issue since this place had a more traditional culture and, perhaps more importantly, morality for a large part depended on circumstances and the main reason why the modern world was so vehemently against torture was because modern people didn't really feel like torture was necessary for survival. In this place things weren't quite that easy.

Truth be told Mizuki was quite sure that she should also be less willing to accept torture as a viable method in case gentler methods bore no fruit. She was sure that back on Earth she would have been a lot less accommodating for Briar. However ever since the fight on the wall and what came afterwards she had felt... disconnected... from herself on Earth. Not that she felt fake or something: the reverse, actually. Mizuki didn't feel like the same person as Akemi any longer. It felt like entering Terrasphere actually meant becoming a different person, one who lived in a different world and had different priorities and morals. That person still bore many similar characteristics to Akemi both in appearance and personality, but it no longer felt like she was just Akemi fooling around as Mizuki in Terrasphere. It was more like... Two sides of a coin, and entering this world actually meant flipping that coin to expose the other side which bore the name Mizuki.

Turning into a Caenis probably also had influenced the change: after paying her respects to Snefrid Mizuki had changed from a Felis into a Caenis, which had been a rather uncomfortable experience. Her overall appearance hadn't changed much, except maybe that she looked a tad wilder than before. However there was a distinct difference in sensation between the two races: the Felis race had felt... flexible. Energetic. The Caenis race gave her a more focused and goal-oriented sensation.

"Unless I'm wrong the idea is for Astorea to form an agreement with these people. The higher ups are probably interested in trade and are worried about any further hostilities." Mizuki narrowed her eyes as her tail swished behind her. "They refuse to talk to humans or felis, so I'll be going first in case they're more willing to open up to a caenis. That, and I brought a little something with me that might make them more cooperative." She didn't show it to the others, but Mizuki took more with her from Snefrid's funeral than just a full stomach. "If they still refuse to talk after we have tried to approach them peacefully we might as well start increasing the pressure, although I hope you know how to fine-tune it so you don't accidentally kill them or drive them permanently insane." Mizuki glared towards Briar. "You seem like the type who'd like to explore new places so I'd suggest being careful with our only source of information for now." She looked around at any others present. "So I'll be the first to attempt to make them talk and I'll try it peacefully, unless one of you has a more reliable method for extracting information which wouldn't lead to their tribes hating us if they found out about it. We can use that stuff if the peaceful approach doesn't work and we have to resort to just adding enough pressure until they crack and give us what we want."

She was aware that she was being bossy, but she had personal reasons to make sure she'd at the very least get one shot to convince the wolfkin peacefully. As a caenis Mizuki would prefer her first interaction with 'natural' caenis (those who actually were born in this world as caenis and were part of it as caenis) went smoothly, especially since she would like to learn more about the caenis, especially all the finer stuff which an outsider would otherwise have a hard time learning. If they found the location of the tribes through torture there'd be more obstacles to overcome while trying to get the caenis tribes to accept them as allies, and Mizuki specifically as another caenis. Unless the caenis as a whole respected strength a lot and would just be disappointed if the captives could be forced into talking. "For those who'd still rather skip straight to the nasty stuff, their culture could be one of those warrior-types where they relish the opportunity to show off their force of will, and it's easier to first try diplomacy and then move on to torture than the other way around."

 

All things considered it probably wasn’t the best idea to practice spells in town, even minor ones. Alkaid had fallen in with a group of traveling performers and was testing a few spells in the relative peace of their company when she called forth a power that drew a rather particular, fearful reaction from her companions, who quickly made sure she knew just what she was dealing with, and why she should never, ever try to harness it further. Although perhaps not quickly enough, for no more than a day later an emissary sent out from Castle Dormont told her approached her about a job.

A job that she was not expecting.

As order slowly clamped back down on Astorea, it was impossible to miss the damage caused by the war, and the subsequent need for adventurers en masse. Still, it was a surprise to find that they were not just being hired on as security detail at the prison, but as interrogators. In a world where law and custom did not provide any rules for the treatment of prisoners, such a thing could diverge into the kind of subject found exclusively within the Dark Web, a fact that was disturbing yet comprehensible, considering the nature of Terrasphere itself.

Indeed, Alkaid could well imagine the sort that might be drawn to such a thing. Having grown up always on guard, watching and waiting for telltale signs of her mother's temper, she knew well the general disposition of one who thrived on a sense of power. Those who paid no mind in making those around them feel worthless, and took great pleasure in getting others to cow into their demands. It was an image that always haunted her whenever she lashed out at others, or vice versa. Even when in virtual space, when she felt a sort of visceral pleasure in fighting and defeating monsters – a sense of glory, or perhaps just an outlet for a violence some claimed inherent to humanity – she sometimes felt horrified with herself, fearful of experiencing such feelings one day in the real world. And thus, she had to wonder why she felt compelled to take up this quest.

Was it merely to prove to herself that she was different – that even when given a world that would bore no consequence in the real one, she wouldn’t act immorally? Certainly, there had to be better ways.

Regardless, she was fast closing in on the prison’s entrance, and directly ahead were her partners in crime. She’d caught up just in time to catch Lady Briar’s attempt to hustle them along, and the caenis’s attempt to take charge. One side of Alkaid’s mouth shot upward as she thought of whether they’d be getting along like…cats and dogs? One was almost comical in her suggestion of spreading chaos, the other making all the right points in all the right order for all perfectly understandable reasons, although Alkaid couldn’t help but cross her arms across her chest as she waited and listened.

As strange as it was to be doing this in front of a prison entrance, Alkaid figured that at least they could quickly figure out each other's role. She had to give their agent of chaos credit for simply not wandering down to the cells to cement her position as head interrogator, too, although she couldn't actually see behind Mizuki after the caenis had turned around to finish her demands. Alkaid decided to speak afterward, her tone flat as she did her best to keep a lid on her inhibitions.

"If you want first try reaching out to them I don't mind. Your reasoning is sound and I can imagine how it'd be more unnerving for feline eyes to be boring down at the prisoners from a dark corner for a time."

"Still, that brings up the question of whether we interrogate them as a group or one by one, as your approach is probably better with a group. And then there is the matter of what we can do in case that fails. My own talents are fairly spread out, but if you need just a bit more oophm to an illusion, healing spell, or whatever I can help out. " Alkaid gave a shrug, then continued, "Could just sustain the image of us bringing in a jar of fleas or something, too."

 

“Yeah, yeah…”

Despite nodding along with everyone's words, Alric hadn't really been listening. Why had he even bothered to agree to this mission? He personally had little interest in the newfound race, but for some reason the powers at hand thought it'd be best to interrogate the Caenis. If it was for the good of Astorea, he would play his part in this, but the whole thing undoubtedly left a bad taste behind. As if killing off a good number of them during the invasion wasn't already bad enough, now they had to probe for information too while keeping them prisoner no less. That was just how wars went he guessed. Didn't mean he had to like this particular outcome.

“Let's just get this over with.” He mumbled under his breath without directly addressing any of the women.

 

A soft pout caught her lips. She hated to admit it, but the- what was this woman, anyway? Well, whatever she was, Mizuki had a point. The cat wanted to growl, but opted to just huff as she crossed her arms, eyeing the door they stood in front of. "Politics are pointless. Species similarity aside, they likely would have figured out that you're with us. It probably won't help all that much."

To Briar, scheming was a bit of a natural need. Even in reality, she'd seen political mayhem- and she was just a doctor, for crying out loud! And with politics, lies were natural. Being able to forcefully feed information into the brain was a nice change from having been pushed to sugarcoat a disgusting diagnosis that would just cause problems in the end.

"Maybe it's because of the other side, but beating around the bush is pretty much what politics is all about, isn't it? But... Fine. You go first. But if they don't listen..."

She gave a small glare at Alric, whose words were even more blatantly abrasive than she was used to being herself. She snickered, looking to him with a playful smile. "Well, mister sunshine... If we need some bad cop good cop, I know who's playing the hard-ass."

Letting it go, she glanced to Alkaid finally. The woman had been the second to speak after her, but the final one to get her attention. Perhaps because she was the one Briar liked the most so far in thinking, or she just hadn't really gotten the kitten's attention because of going along with her ideals. It didn't really matter, though.

"For now... We'll let this one go in to get something out of them. If that doesn't work, we'll take a stab at it ourselves with a bottle of fleas and some flashing lights that only they'll get to see. And if all else fails... We can send mister sunshine in. Save the most blatant for last. If all else fails, he can be in charge of giving them their diagnosis." Since she felt pretty at ease at this point, the girl purred and smirked with ease. "Is this plan acceptable? If so, let's go inside. I'm getting chills just thinking about it!"

Soon, it'd be time for action. Soon, it would be time to get in some fun.


@Ueno Mizuki @Alkaid Zexis @Alric Stalwart

 

Given the people who she was working with Mizuki was pleasantly surprised that she didn't have to extend the argument to get the rest to go along with her plan. The white-haired woman she couldn't really make a guess at what she'd think or say, but the man looked like he didn't want to waste any time (and most of the time diplomacy was considered the more complicated route and also longer compared to just beating the answers out of someone), and the one who had spoken up first... Mizuki had half expected the Felis to declare that she was going to try to do things her own way anyway and run in. As Mizuki had already stated @Lady Briar gave the impression of being eager, which would not only make her more inclined towards exploration but also more inclined to go through with any plan she thought of. That this wasn't the case made Mizuki feel more confident about this job, since before now she'd been somewhat worried about how good a ragtag bunch of adventurers would be at dragging important information out of a bunch of prisoners. Especially since they didn't know much about the culture and traditions of those prisoners which could otherwise be used to help ease the information extraction, either through gaining their trust or exploiting their weaknesses.

"A jar of fleas would be quite the cruel illusion for Caenis, so let's hope it doesn't come to that." Mizuki commented when the two illusionists both were already thinking of ways that they could use their magic to torture the wolfmen without actually hurting or touching them. "So now we're all in agreement I'll approach them first and see if I can convince them to give us the information we want. Of course we know little of their culture, so it might be that we somehow have to prove ourselves... if we can even convince them to trust us enough to let us try that much. If that doesn't work I won't get in the way of your attempts at forcing them to talk unless I think you're endangering their lives. Although I doubt that'll happen, seeing how two of you at least seem to already have good ideas of how to use illusions for this." She'd be worried at how quick Briar and @Alkaid Zexis thought of ways to use their illusions for torture, but she figured that the kind of person who chose a mastery which granted illusory magic was likely to be creative anyway.

With all of that said Mizuki entered the prison which held the captive wolfmen, heading over to the cells where they would be held. It seemed that they had been given individual cells, but close together so they could still in a limited fashion interact and communicate. On one hand that'd make it harder to ferret out lies, since they could collaborate, but on the other it'd also be more beneficial in the long run if they managed to persuade them while they were together. Or in the other direction, if the other two got around to scaring them that fear could become contagious, which would make that more effective as well.

Mizuki sniffed the air before continuing on her path, until she stood in front of the cells which held the wolfmen. They didn't look like they were in that horrible a condition, so either they had been healed (sign of good faith or simple pragmatism that there was no reason to let them die and something to gain if they lived) or they had been smart enough to stay away from the frontlines even with Snefrid forcing the other tribes to help out in the fight. Since the Caenis weren't from Falderen they weren't controlled in the same way that the many Falderen soldiers had appeared to be, instead having been controlled through the much more mundane method of a more powerful tribe forcing the rest into submission and then pulling them into a war. From what Mizuki had gathered Snefrid's dominating of the other tribes had been pretty thorough, but even she couldn't have kept an eye on every wolf in that fight, so it wasn't a surprise that the surviving Caenis would be those who had done their best to avoid the frontline. Or maybe they just were really good at dodging. Who knew?

"Greetings." She waited for a response from the wolfmen, either waking them up with her greeting or drawing their attention. Regardless of whether they reacted or not she'd continue after a couple of seconds. "You've been reluctant to tell us of the location of your homes so far, and it isn't difficult to understand why given the circumstances. However as someone who saw Snefrid on the battlefield it's also not difficult to understand that she was the driving force behind your attack. As it stands the higher ups and everyone who took part in that fight agrees that the rest of you were forced and that there's no real reason for us to take revenge on you." She swished her tail behind her, looking at her fellow Caenis with her heterochromatic blue and gold eyes. "There's also the fact that our side was the one on the defence. We never had any intention of attacking Falderen despite what may have been claimed by others. Falderen attacked us and we fought back, and the only reason we killed their king was because it seemed like the fastest way of ending a war we never asked for."

She wasn't exactly the best orator, but she tried her best to sound convincing as she spoke to the wolfmen. "So as it stands we have no reason to harm you or your tribes. I'm pretty sure those in command of this place would be willing to return your freedom as soon as we know where to find your tribes so we can try and approach them peacefully. We'd rather avoid having to deal with another fight where your tribes go wild amongst our soldiers so we're willing to do quite a lot to convince you to give us the information we need." She then waited another couple of seconds before adding. "On a personal level I'd also just like to learn more about your culture and traditions, since, well... I'm kind of like you but I'm not from any tribe so I don't really know much about my origins." It wasn't even exactly a lie, since Mizuki did really know little about the Caenis, a race which she was now part of.

 

What… Was even happening anymore? At some point the others had decided to enter the prison. There was no point in waiting outside so Alric followed along of course. Though doing so only further pushed his question from earlier. Why'd he bother coming along if there wasn't anything he could do to contribute?

***

Standing away from the cells, he watched Mizuki ramble on about… Something to the Caenis prisoners. Did they even speak the same language? The only example he had seen other than the woman was the alpha, Snefrid. She wasn't exactly normal though. Just as in real life, it wasn't hard to imagine the higher ups of her society being well versed in multiple languages while the lower classes stayed uneducated. He'd have to stay optimistic about this whole endeavor. Maybe it'd be good to get a second opinion too. @Lady Briar seemed just as knowledgeable as anyone else here, so she'd have to do.

“Psst, cat-thing, does it look like this is working to you?” He whispered while leaning in close.

 

The dungeon was roughly what Alkaid had been expecting, although not quite as bad. Stone walls and iron bars did wonders for keeping all sorts of things in. Frantic scratches on prison doors, stains on one wall or another, every single footstep or sneeze that echoed throughout the corridor – all reminders that everything sent here was trapped in this cold, dark place. That there would be no escape, and only the bare minimum of comfort would be provided for those within, the damned or forgotten.

And yet, at the very least, there were a few signs of hygiene and maintenance. The dungeons held a foul odor – a fact that made her feel a bit sympathetic to all the Caenis present, "real" or otherwise – but they were no cesspool for rot and disease. No place where maddened screams and whimpers were just the start of a slippery slope.

Thus Alkaid waited, watching intently as their captives moved from hostile to more compliant, then guarded once more. To some the logic and incentive @Ueno Mizuki was providing seemed to sink in, and indeed, she could see that the Caenis putting her heart into the matter had reached most.

But, there was always one. One always had to play the tough guy. From outside the cell, Alkaid saw that the owner of the voice was a large, brown wolf-like figure. "You? Like us? I can't tell if you've noticed, child, but we're not exactly in the position for jokes."

Suddenly, the figure tried to rise. Alkaid readied a spell to stun him. That was, until another voice boomed from within the cell. "Galarr!"

The figure paused, still half-risen, and then met Alkaid's gaze with eyes filled with hate. She stared back, waiting for movement.

Moments later, he snorted. The Caenis returned focus on Mizuki with no less intensity than before, "Do you think we don't know what you are? We can hear things down here, you know. I know I could snap that tiny neck of yours like a twig and you could still come back and try to assimilate into our people! But know this. You have no clan. No tribe!" Inching forward, he snarled, "And you will never be one of us."

Outside the cell, Alkaid gave a momentary glance toward her two companions. They might have better luck separating the group into more compliant members, and handle the rest with worse means, but she also felt it might be best to let their own Caenis speak first. It was still possible one of the others might be more compliant.

Although really, she wanted to walk in and give a good slap.

@Asch

 

She had hoped that by reasoning and approaching them as people to convince rather than prisoners to intimidate she'd be able to persuade them into cooperating. Mizuki really wanted to get along with the Caenii, because even if she wasn't born a Caenis she felt on some level that she wanted to be part of their culture, their society and their traditions. Maybe it was the simple idea that just as Mizuki had seen Terrasphere as an opportunity to experience a second life together with her first life, she also on some level had seen it as an opportunity to be part of something. Well, that was just a stray thought, not something solid. For all she knew maybe she just thought the Caenii were much more interesting than the humans or even the Felii. Maybe it was just a result of inhabiting the body of a Caenis.

Whatever the reason was, it looked like it wouldn't be as easy as she had hoped. She had seen at least some form of interest in the eyes of some of the prisoners at first, but it wasn't enough, and when one of the prisoners stepped up and outright defied their request for a peaceful resolution the rest of the prisoners were swept up by Galarr's daring challenge. Now the party was faced by a group of prisoners who had solidarity, refusing to give in unless their ringleader was defeated.

On a personal level Mizuki felt a pang of pain at Galarr's words. She knew that it was silly, but on some level it still hurt to be rejected like that, treated as an outsider whose hopes of joining the group would never be realized. That together with Galarr's challenge and aggressive behaviour had the female Caenis narrowing her eyes, one icy blue and the other... turning from a more mystical gold to a furious red, a soft growl escaping from MIzuki's mouth as she gave Galarr a glare that would have pierced him if stares alone could kill. The only thing keeping Mizuki from doing something she would certainly regret afterwards was that, even in her pain and anger, she still knew she had a mission to fulfil by coming here and a personal goal to achieve. Closing her eyes Mizuki wiped Galarr's spit off of her cheek, then took several deep breaths before opening her eyes once more. The red eye had returned to gold, even though Mizuki's expression was still unfriendly.

"I can't deny that I'm an outsider, and not exactly like you, but I still want to try and learn more about you. However if a fight is how you want to solve this, that's fine by me too." She looked over her shoulder at the others, to see if any of them had objections, before turning back to Galarr while fishing something out of her pocket.

Mizuki somewhat nonchalantly tossed Snefrid's Tooth up into the air before catching it and holding it up between thumb and forefinger, allowing Galarr and any other Caenii prisoners nearby to get a good look at it. "This is the tooth of the Lunatic Princess who subjugated all of your tribes and dragged you into the war. We killed her." Once she was sure that Galarr at least had gotten a good look at the tooth Mizuki put it back in her pocket. "I'll fight you if you want me to. Just remember that it might not be as easy as you think."

She then turned towards the rest of the party, her tail swishing once behind her as she showed Galarr her back while addressing her companions. "Does any one of you have objections to me fighting this one? It'll be faster than trying to convince him with words alone it seems." She didn't say anything about keeping spells at the ready in case he tried to escape, partially because she didn't think she had to, and partially because she somewhat trusted Galarr to not try to escape now that he had something to do other than languish in a cell. Showing him her back casually was also meant to be a message, that she wasn't too afraid or wary to willingly remove him from her field of view.
@Raid Master @Lady Briar @Alric Stalwart @Alkaid Zexis

 

A sardonic smile graced Alkaid's features. "A problem with this, you say?"

In truth, she couldn't help but admire the Caenis player's audacity. Although Alkaid's own knowledge of the conflict that so damaged Astorea was limited more to the aftermath, the woman's message was clear. She had faced much worse than the likes of him. She was more than just some bleeding heart yearning oh so much for their approval.

A sparkle in at least one of the prisoner's eye told Alkaid all she needed to know about how some of them might have felt about it, too. Fear. No, more than that. Respect. Something much more important for negotiations in the long run.

All she needed to do was add the right push, then. "I believe you're more than capable of dealing with this quickly. Of course if anyone decides to be a bit dishonorable, well," she paused for a moment, turning toward Lady Briar and Alric. In her eyes were a hint of glee as she suggested something to add the mind games a bit, "We'll happily return that tenfold, won't we?"

@Lady Briar @Alric Stalwart @Ueno Mizuki