Tomb of Eternal Night
Palace of Night-Medical Wing
"So, Ezekial what would you advise me if you were looking at this situation from the outside looking in?" Jacob asked the bedridden spy.
Ezekial did look horrible, even more, pale than usual and even though he was awake now, several negative status effects still plagued him. "Honestly I would tell you to execute me, I would be too much of a security risk to be allowed to live. That if the Cult of the True has any more acolytes within the city, they might try to free any survivors of the Queen's plan," Ezekial responded before a coughing fit stopped him from talking.
"As far as the city is aware, you are dead. Your death was announced with the other traitors. How you or anyone else got mixed up with that cult amazes me. Even with benefits, the tradeoff is too much." Jacob lamented at the thought of the tortured people from the Fallen House of Thorn dungeon.
"Everything has a price, Jacob." Ezekial responded and the Heart Guard tensed at the use of his name but at Jacob's glare, they relaxed. "I see the Heart Guard has transferred their loyalty too you readily enough and that you are now King. Don't blame Talia too much for that plan, it wasn't her idea but mine." Jacob was stunned but before he could respond Ezekial continued, "Yes, it was my plan to name you heir to House Lightsbane. Talia had become too short-sighted and compromised by multiple factions including the Cult of the True. She made the same mistakes her father made and it insured her downfall. You, on the other hand, are a fresh start and untainted by anyone, in addition, you are an Immortal, so your loyalty is not compromised. You were the best bet for our people and a candidate that all our internal factions can support once you put them in their place. So how many challenges did you have when you ascended the Throne of Night?"
Jacob considered blowing off the question, but he lost nothing in telling the former spymaster and might gain something in return for the information, "5 Challengers stepped forward, I managed to kill them all somehow and was appointed King. Not a position I was trying to attain as you know. So why don't you tell us if you are part of the Cult of the True?"
Ezekial winced before trying to sit up and failing, "Yes I am a member of the Cult of the True, but I was ordered to infiltrate their ranks by the former Queen Talia to determine the extent they have infiltrated the city and palace. I was not a true convert to their ways. I would never truly betray this city or its people."
"Some of the statements are concrete and leave little to interpretation, while others have a large amount of wiggle room." the Truth-Speaker stated after Ezekial responded.
"He believes he is telling the truth and from what I can find, he is not lying about anything," Cathrine stated
Jacob nodded before turning to the Royal Torturer, "Nathaniel I will let you take over the questioning. My wife will be staying to assist with the Mind-Magic, questions only for now." Jacob told him before leaving the room. "Cathrine, if you need to take a break do it and try to keep it from getting bloody in their please dear one," Jacob told her through their link as he walked away and headed toward the council meeting to update them on everything that was going on and to get any insight they might provide.
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Unknown Location
Hyperion gazed at his reflection in the mirror, he was still pale from the Vampire feeding off of him and his powers were still diminished and yet to recover fully. Worse was his neck was now scarred from where the damned Vampire had fed off of him. None of the other Titans had been willing to spend precious energy to fix cosmetic damage and Hyperion lacked the resources to fix it himself.
"How are you feeling little brother?" Atlas asked from the doorway. His solid black and brown eyes boring into his own measuring and feeling the other Titans new weakness and grimaced at what he could see.
Hyperion nearly lashed out at his older brother judgment but could not alienate the other Titan, "I will be fine brother. I am safe here in our family's stronghold. None of our enemies have ever found it or breached its defenses. I just need time and energy to finish recovering."
Atlas snorted at Hyperions arrogance, "THe Pantheons never found this place because after we were cast out and defeated us in battle, they no longer saw us as a threat. If they believe we are trying to regain our former power and positions, that viewpoint will change. Time is something I can give you, energy is another thing. Your orders for the foreseeable future is to stay here. You are not allowed to leave, we cannot afford to lose anyone else brother." Hyperion nodded his head at the command before Atlas turned and left.
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Hyperion would obey his brothers' orders for now while he gathered his strength again or until he had an opportune moment to strike at the arrogant bastard that had scarred him. They had few assets left though within the Tomb of Eternal Night and Atlas would be less then pleased if they were exposed due to his drive for revenge, so he would wait and watch. Eventually, a weakness would be exposed and he would strike.
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Underdark
Narrows
Tarren watched as the long line of armed and armored warriors, archers, and magi of the First Legion marched through the Underdark. For the last 6 days, they had traversed the Narrows, the best location for the Sisters to ambush them before they arrived at the Fortress of Baereghel, and no sight of the enemy had been mentioned. Plenty of monster spawns, but no reports of enemy troops. They had also located two dungeons so far, both had been too high of a level to clear though.
They had many minor injuries, but no casualties so far and supplies were holding up, but two thousand mouths ate a lot of food. Depending on how the siege went, they might have to use portals to bring in more supplies. More troubling was word had been received that trouble was brewing on the surface and that Jacob had failed to come to an agreement with the local guild of Immortals.
Suddenly a pack of Void-Wolves materialized and attacked, this was not the first time nor would it be the last. The Legion quickly formed up in response to face the threat. Crossbow Bolts slammed into the wolves, swords, axes, and hammers hacked/slashed/pummeled away while the magic wielders either struck at the enemies or healed allies. Less then a minute later the pack was either dead or fading back into the darkness of the Underdark.
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Tomb of Eternal Night
Palace of Night-Royal Barracks
Jacob ducked under the swing of the practice sword before darting forward and ramming his shoulder into the Heart Guards stomach causing the guard to stumble back. "Keep your guard up Ian, during a fight your whole body is a weapon, not just your blade." James Shadowstrider barked out at the guard who nodded before bowing and leaving the circle. "Next!!" the former Sergeant barked out and Chalxae, June, and Eiloma all climbed into the ring. "Well, well, looks like we got a real challenge now. We have three new challengers for our king, let's see how he deals with multiple opponents boys and girls." Jacob could see Cathrine smirking in the background.
The training arena had few rules, no combat magic, if your opponent yielded stop immediately, don't hold back, and do your best to learn. The ladies immediately started to split apart so Jacob dashed forward to assault June, the one with the least amount of experience with close quarters combat experience. She smirked and suddenly jumped back while June and Eiloma quickly dashed forward to intercept him. Shit.
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Cathrine watched as Jacob constantly backtracked and led the ladies on a merry chase but they were starting to corral him and limit his movements. It was only a matter of time until the pinned him down and defeated him, the question was when. "He is a 'dead' man, don't you think?" James asked, but never took his eyes off the combatants.
Cathrine was going to agree with the man when she looked into his mind and got a feel for his state of mind and his plan. She smirked at the new Captain, "Just watch James." Suddenly Jacob jumped off of one of the fence posts and over Chalxae and Eiloma and dashed toward June who had been moving to flank him. June's eyes bulged as she saw what Jacob did and tried to turn away to gain some distance but Jacob slid and slammed his blade into the back of her knees causing her to fall forward. Jacob immediately capitalized on the situation by tapping her on the throat before whirling to intercept Chalxae and Eiloma as they flowed toward him.
"Ok, the boy has some skills and he is learning to think on his feet, but he still has a lot to learn," James said as he darted forward to engage his king from behind. Cathrine laughed as Jacob was startled with the new opponent and was trying to recover but it was only a matter of time until he received a killing blow now.
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Ezekial watched as the new king sparred in the ring, musing over what the future held for him and if he would survive the coming days. "Prisoner, come away from the window and get back in bed," Nathaniel said from where he was sitting. "Or we can head to one of my chambers and we can start your questioning in more interesting ways."
Ezekial shuddered knowing he would endure much before his innocence was proven, but even if it was he doubted that he would ever be trusted. The former Queens regime was tainted by her choices and now even innocents would be punished by her actions.