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[Xander Morhaime]

Halsted and Silharrion arrived eventually as well. The eldar seemed awfully pleased with himself for some reason, while the guardsman's robes had several tears on the back, as well as a large dark stain over it. And bits of red showing through the tears.

"No more fething undercover jobs. Or at least none where the cover isn't allowed to wear armour and carry a proper gun," he stated, closing the door after them. "Well, I see the rest of you are back in one piece as well, and... Throne, what's that? We're collecting xenos or something?" he asked, pointing at the newly acquired Eldar.

Not feeling in the mood to argue, though, he moved over to his cot and sat down heavily. "I'm going to need someone's help here," he said, pulling off the top of his disguise and pointing at his back, where bandages made out of red cloth were stained a much darker red over his back. "Can't quite reach back there myself to clean it up," he added by way of explanation.

"Well, don't just stand there looking smug, show off what we managed to lift from the place," he added, glancing in Silharrion's direction.

[Malek Deneith]

- Well since you two weren't present for my little chit-chat with Marcus I'll just pass two most important details: It looks like we're in deep shit, and I don't think we can trust even the tech-priests... - Laz cuts in - The details, along with explanation where did "she" come can wait until the end - first let's see what you got, and then let's hear what our priest learned in the library - he turns to Marcus - I know what you've read there hit you hard - I won't make you go into details, just tell us what you think we should know.

Lazerus then turns back and waits to see what Silhar is going to show.

[Marcus Constantine]

Marcus approached Halsted
"I am no medic, I would probably only do more harm"

He turned to the others
"Let me just tell you what I managed to find out in The Great Library. I read quickly some books there. The ones that dealt with Chaos cults actually mentioned more about their rituals and bloodbaths instead the cult itself. So my information is really scarce. There is the Brotherhood of the Golden Snake. Very dangerous, since of the Administratum members decided to join the foul cult. Unfortunately, some of the members of this... Snake clan managed to escape the purging flames of emperor."

Marcus paused for a second

"The second cult is the Nine Crows. I cannot tell much about it either. Their hiding place (whatever or wherever it was, the tome did not mention a thing) was... blown into pieces by some unknown force. They are responsible for kidnapping nine people and sacrificing them foul Chaos Gods. Resemblance to the latest events is remarkable..."

[Passionario]

Pass examines Halsted's injuries and mutters something that would making even an Ogryn blush. With a frown on her face, she draws a deck of Emperor's Tarot (which has clearly seen better days) from an underarm pocket of her bodyglove, quickly flips through the top seven cards, nods to herself, and traces the bloodied bandages with her finger. Within seconds, the guardsman's pain fades to a dull and remote ache, as his wounds are instantly closed by the psyker's unnatural power.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[OOC: That was an Invocation skill roll, followed by an application of the Healer psychic power. While I don't have the book at hand at the moment, 17 should be more than enough to beat the threshold.

[Silhar]

"Yeah, we've got something that you would find handy for some reasons.", said the Eldar stepping into the room. There was a slight grin on his proud face. From between the robes he pulled out a tome and passed it to Lazerus.
"This... This is the Magos Alluminas's diary. May contain some vital information. I had no time to take care of it, yet. Also, we have found some unusual las weapon there. Why would Magos leave his place and not take his firearms with him ? Tobias, would you... ?", he finished his speech with a question, looking at the guardsman and waiting until he recovers and passes someone the gun he mentioned.
He came upon his bed and put off those tatty robes, revealing slightly ragged blue-yellow clothes... And a collar. Also, a bunch of grenades he unattached and put on the table, next to some little vial with Mechanicus symbol.

"Snakes. Crows. And to clue where to find any of those barbaric critters. Oh my head...". he whispered, sitting. You notice Silharriel's face is now even more pale than ever.

"And, Asuryan, may I be damned, who is SHE ?", he asked, a bit shocked, noticing another Eldar in the room. "Your another slave, I suppose ? How ? Why ? For what ?"

Gods, they are going to collect the whole Craftworld in here, are they not ?..., thought the Alien, a bit frightened and maybe slightly unpalatable. He lied down, placing his robes under his head and closed his eyes with a soft sigh of disappointment.

[Malek Deneith]

Laz listened quietly to what other said then took last breath of almost finished lho and extinguished it.

- Right, time for my story it seems... In the beginning it looked like my walk through the pubs will be as uneventful as Pass claims her was. I went to supposedly "largest" canteen there was, bought a highly overpriced rotgut and sat down trying to listen to what patrons - who were few - had to say. Sadly most of them seemed to be content with staring blankly at half-empty beer-mugs and contemplating their dull life - the only barely interesting thing I heard was that there is a power struggle between "Divine Light of Sollex" and "Magna Fellowship" regarding which faction will field a captain for the fleet. I went out bored to go back and see if I can ask somewhere along the way about these two factions. Of course my boredom was soon cut short by a cannonade that skitarii did their best to ignore - which was enough of a hint for me that it's worth investigating

Laz paused for a longer moment as he started to check the weapons he brought with him - The first thing I saw was a dead body with some kind of rifle lying next to it - I didn't even get to check it out as someone ran into me and promptly got shot by three men coming after him - I tried to convince them I'm a harmless passerby, but that didn't work out. At least they didn't shoot me on spot, but instead brought me to their leader, a man named Du Pont who - surprise, surprise - claimed to have ties to Magna Fellowship. Once again my tries to talk myself out failed and I got knocked out.

Laz checks the power packs on his new weapons and curses - Hey Halsted, I hope you have some spares - these look like they've been in the cooker one time too much... Anyway I woke up in a prison cell of some sort - without my equipment, but thankfully they underestimated me and I managed to slip my hands out of handcuffs - they helped me then to choke the guard that came to check me out, and much later I used them as an less harmful way of restraining her - Laz nods at the female eldar - But before that happened I was sneaking down a corridor and came upon guarded crossroads - I was honestly only trying to get out and perhaps recover my gear along the way, but when I got past the guards and heard some voices while checking out the first corridor I took a chance and came closer to listen - it turned out I came upon a discussion between Du Pont and two other people, whom voices I didn't recognize - not everything I've heard made sense but what was clear is that they have been capturing Sollex workers - most likely the missing people we were told about - and putting them through some sort of brainwashing. They also speculated that Inquisition is here, though Du Pont didn't believe it then and they mentioned a "special" prisoner. Thinking about it now, that last thing might have meant the missing Magos, but it could as well mean the eldar here.

- As for her... well I heard a woman's cry after returning to the crossroad and in some stupidly heroic impulse I decided to check it out - two corpses later I found her - she was tied with barbed wire, beaten and half-drowned due to tortures. I didn't know she was an eldar until I got her out of the pool, but I decided to take her with me regardless. - he turned to Silhariel - Don't get me wrong, I don't like your species more than you eldar like us humans, but killing her just because of what she was, after I took time and effort to save her, and seeing that she might know something would be stupid at best. The rest of the escape was easy - a bit too easy if you ask me, but I'm alive and for the moment that is enough for me.

Laz thought for a moment again - To sum it up: Someone from the higher echelons of tech-priest hierarchy must know what Magna Fellowship is doing, seeing as skitarii didn't react to the fighting. Probably the same for the Sollex. Either way we can't trust the "authorities". And if they took time to search for my stuff - which I hope I'll be able to get back at some point mind you - they probably found the rosette - i.e. they now for sure we're here. And there is this new eldar - Silhar, I'd like you to speak with her, just make sure she won't scream or do anything stupid before you ungag her - I don't want to explain all this to Tech-Priests as well. As for what we do, my first instinct would be to go back to place of my capture and go in lasguns-blazing but that's a bit risky plan so I'm open to counter-suggestions. Either way we have to consider should we contact Lady Sophia, and are we able to do so inconspicuously should we choose to do so...

[Silhar]

"As you wish, I may try to interrogate her.", answered Silharriel, opening his eyes, rising on his elbows and glancing first at Laz, later at the woman. His face shows no emotions with an exception of being tired, and so do his eyes, slightly bloodshot. Veins are very visible on his neck and temporal regions, one can barely see the blood rushing through them with a high speed. Silharriel coughs and sits on a bunk.
"The smoke... Inside the Vaul's Blacksmith it was surely much easier to breathe. What is this ?", he asked, still unemotional and cold. It's quite suprising that the Eldar's sharp senses felt the vivid scent after such a long while.

The Eldar stood up after a while, stretching. Then he came upon the cage and crouched next to the moment, looking her in the eyes.
"Get on with it.", whispered Silharriel to himself, then started speaking in his native tongue.

"I know, I know you find this situation uncomfortable, but listen to me. These mon-keigh are not our foes. Or, at least, they are foes of our foes. They will not harm us if we do not do anything inconsiderate. Alright ? Suin not, fear not, resist not, just answer my questions. Maybe we shall both avoid dannan. Understood ? I shall ungag and untie you in a kilithikadya if you promise to be polite.", he said calmly, softly and slowly, looking for any reaction.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

According to this, Eldar words' meanings go like this :
Mon-keigh - "Lower race" most oftenly "humans"
Dannan - "Death"
Suin - "Wail"
Kilithikadya - "Moment", "While"
More spacious dictionary highly required and very appreciated.

[Gargulec]

After a short while, the eldar nodded in response. After Silharriel removed the gag from her mouth, she moaned, and started speaking.
Even though you did not understand a single word, one thing was more than apparent - her voice was weak... very weak. You've heard such voices before - they belonged to people who endured torment so intense, that it had to leave deep scars, in both flesh and soul. Such scars slow to fade.

[Silhar]

Silharriel listened carefully to every one word spoken by the woman. When the silence fell, he whispered one word to a woman and turned his head to Lazerus, speaking in Low Gothic :
"She begs me we untied her. Her hands are badly wouned and she is likely to lose consciousness anytime due to pain. We may lock her inside that cage instead, do not you agree ?"
Afterwards, he turned to Pass.
"Madame, you are a healer, are you not ? Can you help her before she collapses ?"
Later on, he continued speaking with the other Eldar.

[Malek Deneith]

- Alright, if her hands are that much of aproblem so be it. - Laz nodded

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Laz will go on and put the eldar woman in the cage, removing the handcuffs afterwards. All done with proper caution of course

[Xander Morhaime]

At the mention of the laspistol he and the Eldar had found, Halsted seemed to become a bit uncomfortable, but eventually took the weapon out from where he'd hidden it among his disguise and set it down on his cot, up for examination by whoever wanted to do it, while he went to change into his uniform again.

"I'm hardly an expert in these matters, but it's not mass-produced, I can say that much. Or at least it underwent some customization after production. The focusing lens is non-standard, I've noticed, but what it'll actually do..." the guardsman shrugged lightly.

"Keep in mind I only have three spare charges for the las," he told Laz, shaking his head. "Either we go shopping, or we start to exercise proper ammunition discipline."

[Malek Deneith]

- Well even one would do - it's not as much the amount of amunition I have that I'm worried aboout, it's the state of the laspacks I got with these weapons - they look ready to blow up straight in my face

[Silhar]

"Well, my dear mates, that is all for now. She is much too fatigued to recall anything. What I have managed to reclaim from her is that she was not alone. They probably were roving corsairs or a Craftworld expedition, all were caught by an unknown force and tortured later on. So, it is very possible that she was not that >>special guest<< her captors mentioned. Isha damn me, it is certain, this must have been somebody else...", told Silharriel, standing up and facing his comrades. He seemed slightly worried about the woman's state, but only a little.

"Bizarre, do not you think ? People we think that are our enemies are torturing and killing Eldar. And the others we think that are our allies have lost some important person working on how to kill Eldar more efficently... Do you get, what I am trying to tell you ? Our enemy should have sought the help of my fellow men if it really wants to ever think about facing Cult Mechanicus. Damn that, I *must* get some sleep, my mind is too clouded for now.", he was pondering loudly. He tried to come upon his bed, but he staggered and almost fell down on his bunk.

"Shopping, ya say ? I appreciate the idea, but will I be able to get one of thzzzn... zzz..."

[Passionario]

Upon hearing Silharriel's request, the psyker frowned:

"Calling upon the powers of the warp to save a valuable agent of the Inquisition is one thing. Doing the same to help a random xeno of dubious value and origin is another. And keep in mind that this sort of healing is not without its risks; a single act of psykery will likely go unnoticed, but multiple manifestations in a row can attract all sorts of wrong attention. I'm still not quite sure whether she's worth the risk."

She lifted her head and looked at Laz:

"It's your call, boss. I'm not going to patch her up without a direct order, that's for sure."

[Malek Deneith]

Laz ponders for a moment then shook his head - Sorry Silhar, but I think Pass' decision will stand - psyker powers are risky, thank the Emperor she used them once without problems, let's not press our luck. Unless someone here has some knowledge of regular medicine your kin will have to heal on her own, with time. This also stands for the rest of us: unless it's a life or death situation, be it one of us nearing death or a situation where every one of us is needed I don't want Pass straining her abilities. Regular wounds will have to hear the hard way or with help of some doctor.