Mysteries of Daraku

Jane rolled her eyes.
"If that had been a fatal blow, we'd all know about it. The contract is not something so easily broken." Jane responded. "Though I would have preferred if you weren't quite so rough with her. She was of no threat to you in that state." Jane shook her head, looking over Kathrynne with all the careful examination of a well trained doctor. "Though, I will admit, the irony of her words was not lost on me."

"But, as promised, I shall provide you with the information you wish for." Jane added.

"I shall start from the bottom. The third seat is a woman who goes by the name Jennifer, though I suspect it is just a pseudonym. She is an expert at magic, counter magic, and corruption through martial arts. She is the only person, that I am aware of, in Daraku who uses force to directly apply corruption. She is usually accompanied by a seductive midara of one kind or another. A carrot and stick, where she enjoys being the stick."

"Then there is Gwenivere, the second seat. She is a master of mind and emotions. She can corrupt with even needing to touch you, and can alter memories, making once close allies appear as enemies to each other, and even the most corrupted of beings see themselves as pure. You've probably encountered her work with Lasciel. Mind games are her domain, and whatever you do, do not fall asleep around her. She is usually accompanied by muscle, though I'm not entirely convinced they can fight. Or at least, they've never seen any combat action." Jane considered for a moment. "I'm pretty sure Gwenivere has them around to 'play with', if you catch my drift."

"Finally, there is Zara. Daraku's first seat. Master manipulator of dark energy and corruption. It is quite possible that she could use the power of your gauntlets against you, given the sheer amount of energy she could draw and redirect from it. She is capable of moving the corruption itself, and building it up, in any who are infected with it, on top of being able to send balls of corruption at her targets. And that's without going into her non-corrupting attacks. She is devilishly attractive, and knows exactly how to flaunt it. Be warned, she isn't the first seat for nothing. She prefers to travel alone, but is sometimes found travelling with a young girl. I'm afraid I have no details on her though."

"Any questions so far?" Jane asked.

"Balls of corruption... And the other one alters memories... Maybe one of those two is the one who corrupt us in the past..." She whispered, talking to herself.

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"If the leader can use your gauntlets against you, it might be for tbe best that someone else does it, or you just take them off," he stated. "Either way doesn't matter unless we can get through seats two and three."

"I can control them Ferro, they are part of me, had them since I have memory of myself... I promise, I won't let anyone turn them against me." She replied without a shadow of doubt on her eyes.

"I'm so close to find the culprit of what happened... I won't let them beat me now."

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"Alright, as long as you're sure. Now Jane, what about the meeting place? Do you know anything of note about this castle?"

"Unfortunately, my time spent in the castle is limited. They are likely to meet in the grand hall, or the throne room, but beyond that, I can't give you much in the way of information. I am unaware of the existence of any secret passageways, though I suspect some exist. And I cannot speak of the castles defences or entrances, as we have only ever entered through the front whilst invited." Jane responded.

"So we are going in blind basically, mmm..." Replied Dixi thoughtful, "Think you could find some entrance Yumi? You are used to infiltrate right?"

"I am not the best at it but I do a decent job. In honesty, I am surprised Jane had not expected me. I may be able to do the basic layout but any convert means past that is beyond me."

"I was rather focused on Ixana and Ferro at the time. I do suffer from tunnel vision. It is a weakness I am aware of, which is why I prefer travelling as a trio. More eyes to potentially notice threats." Jane explained. "If you wish for more intelligence on the layout of the castle, Kathrynne may know more. She has spent a long time in that castle." She looked down at Kathrynne, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Though, given how she reacted to you, I'm uncertain that she will be co-operative."

Dixi scratched her cheek, "I might have overdid it then... you think there is a chance to convince her to cooperate?"

"I think Ferro and/or I would have the best chance on that. I do not think she would favor you well even if you did not knock her out due to you behind the source of her loss of ability."

She acknowledge Jane's reason for her lack of awareness for herself. "I understand, we all must overcome an obstacle within ourselves. Best wishes for your progress to overcome yours."

"I could try to wake her so you two can try to talk to her..."

"It is likely she may be more amenable to the two of you, given that you were not as responsible for beating her up, sealing her, then knocking her unconscious." Jane commented. "I doubt I will be able to assist you in convincing her to cooperate. If she is thinking emotionally, she will be unlikely to listen to reason. And, if she is willing to listen to me, she will likely be thinking logically, and hence would agree to cooperate anyway." Jane continued to lightly brush Kathrynne's hair, playing with it between her fingers idly.

"Well let's give it a try, counting on you two, Ferro, Yumi..." Dixi walks back towards where she left Kathrynne, "One finger should be enough..." with that Dixi gives Kathrynne's forehead a weak hit with her finger, "Wakey wakey..."

Kathrynne's eyes seemed to close further, as if she had been woken up from a pleasent dream, and a slight groan escaped her throat. Slowly, her eyelids began to open up.

"Grnk... what happened?" She asked, looking disoriented. She seemed to relax a little as she saw Jane looking down on her, but tensed up as she saw Ixana, as she began to piece together her position.

"Whoa, whoa, relax, the fight is over..." She said stepping away trying to calm the woman.

"Calm down, Kathrynne," Ferro urged. "There'll be no more violence here and I'd say your position is more favorable than it could have been. You can thank Jane for that."

Yumi wasn't sure if she is distinct that she wears a mask while Kathrynne had seen her without one but there are similarities. "I hope that there is not too much distress that has been done but I fear that may be doubtful. Are you hurt anywhere?"

Kathrynne narrowed her eyes at Ixana, then turned to Ferro and Yumi.
"What the hell do you think?! Of course I'm hurt! My back. My head. My ribs. Hell, even my arms." She complained.

"She'll be fine." Jane responded calmly.

"The hell I will!" Kathrynne responded.

"That's what happens when you battle someone, especially when you lose," he responded frankly. "Trust me, I know. But when I said that your position was favorable, that's not what I referred to."

"I have something that may help alleviate the aching for everyone. Since we are not currently antagonizing each other at the moment." She goes to the corner where she was hiding initially to fetch a satchel of a sort.

"I could ask Ix to heal you, that's if you don't try to rip our head off when she tries..."

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Kathrynne continued to grumble.
"Do as you please. I'm not going to beg." Kathrynne exclaimed towards both Ixana and Yumi. Jane nodded towards them, as if translating her response to mean 'yes'.

"I wasn't going to ask to you beg..." Dixi sighed and changed with Ix, "Stay still, this won't take long..." Ix started healing Kathrynne.

"That's better, at least. Very well, I'm going to keep things simple," he huffed. "You're not a member of Daraku anymore. You're corruptive power is gone, you're heroic captain of the guard is just a few bops on the head from collapsing, and we're willing to offer you an alternative to a dusty, dirty jail cell. Besides, with how quickly you dropped, as the ex-fourth seat, how do you think the other seats will take your defeat? You're better of pursuing positions of power in less....uncouth groups."