➶ quest

[Wolvine]

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Ａｌｙｃｅ  Ｔｏｂｉａｓ  Ｖａｕｘ

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Ｈｕｍａｎ  Ｓｐｙ

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Ｗｉｔｈ：  ｔｈｅ  Ｐａｒｔｙ

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It was a little comforting that Fabian seemed as unnerved by the dead men as Alyce was. That did mean though, that whatever they were dealing with here was something dangerous; she couldn't ever recall seeing Fabian startled by something, especially not something that was already dead. Neither of them were strangers to death, but there was something about these corpses that made the hairs on her neck stand on end. She found herself staring into the sightless, colourless eyes, transfixed by fascinated horror. When Fabian closed the corpse's eyes, she jerked back to herself, surprised that she'd lost concentration over some dead guy's eyes. She stood and turned away, leaving the knight to investigate the other corpse. Instead, she chose to inspect the donkey. It appeared to have been killed in a more conventional manner, with a series of scratch marks running along its hide. Strange. Why would the donkey have died differently?

Her head snapped up as she heard what sounded like a hiss, hand reaching for her weapon. She couldn't see anything, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything there. Carefully, she stepped further away from the caravan and the rest of the group, scanning the bushes for the source of the noise. Fabian called out to the concealed person to come out, a tactic which of course, always worked, and she took the opportunity to slink away and circle around, stepping as quietly as she could through the undergrowth. The aim was to try and flank whoever was there while they were distracted by Fabian. Hopefully it wouldn't be whatever had killed those men. She wasn't terribly keen to have escaped a hanging only to face whatever death that was.

She squinted at the undergrowth, spotting the vague outline of someone, though the gloom obscured most features. She could jus about make out the silhouette of pointed ears. Unlikely to be little more than an elven opportunist then, perhaps a scavenger. That was good. She approached, keeping her footsteps light, ready to leap should the elf try to make a run for it. It was entirely plausible for this to just be a scout, either for a clan or a group of bandits, and so allowing them to escape would be a mistake.

[Kitty~.]

a l l y a
role;; rogue archer
race;; elven
tagged;; the party
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Allya waited anxiously for the opportune moment to get away, her muscles coiled, taut under her dirty skin. She chewed on the inside of her cheek - a habit she'd picked up as a child when she was nervous - and watched with wide, green eyes. Although their conversations would usually garner amusement from the elf, she found nothing funny about it - too strung-up to even crack a snort or a smirk. The smell was almost suffocating at this stage, a putrid, rank odor that hung in the air like a heavy fog. Had she not come across that scent often in her travels, perhaps she would have retched. Instead, she sat silently, repressing the urge to gag as her senses - both sight and smell - were assaulted by the dead bodies. She still questioned what could have caused this. Surely, a poison? But for what reason was the donkey dead also? Although it appeared to have been mauled, it was curious as to why the perpetrator did not steal or use its meat. Nothing added up.

A rush of relief rolled over her body as the warrior closed the unsettling eyes of the dead. Ordinarily, Allya would have robbed these two merchants of their clothes, however she no longer wished to be near them, let alone touch them. The causes of their death were far too eerie - too...unnatural. Twisting suddenly, the man's narrowed eyes were now upon her and Allya's heart rate effectively skyrocketed. She froze, praying that his superstition would be exactly that - superstition. The Gods were not on her side.

"Get out. Now," he had said. The previous pink colour flourishing Allya's cheeks quickly drained from her features. 'Fight or flight' her body urged. Would she be swift enough to draw her bow, notch the arrow and let it fly? Or perhaps she could grasp that hunting knife, usually only used on the tough skin of an animal. Surely, her small lithe form could outrun him, but his horse? Not a chance. The woman too, as a rogue, was undoubtedly light on her feet. Fingers brushed the hilt of her blade as she hesitantly eased out of the dense thicket, eyes trained on the man before her. Her legs were bent, ready to evade an oncoming strike should either lunge. Warily, she made herself visible, her watchful gaze becoming a hardened and stoic glare. Showing fear meant showing weakness. Showing weakness was a potentially fatal mistake.

It appeared redundant to state that she meant no harm (for it was questionable whether they would believe the elf), but she did so anyway, vaguely aware that the other had circled behind her. Little hope for escape, then. "I-" she cleared her throat, struggling to articulate an appropriate phrase that hopefully wouldn't have her limbs lopped off. "I am a traveler, nothing more. I am not here to cause trouble." It wasn't her most eloquent work, but it hopefully got the point across. She eyed them cautiously, attempting to gauge their reactions whilst keeping her own neutral, if wary. Despite her statement, one hand touched soundly at her hunting knife. She did not often trust others, particularly humans. She was not going to reveal herself, hands up and unready. That would be disadvantageous. She felt strangely bare as she stepped completely out from the undergrowth, in plain sight of the two travelers. Her heart pattered against her rib cage like a moth within a cage, its beating wings struggling to take flight. Her face betrayed no such anxiety as she glared evenly at the male.

[Keriae]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ＦＡＢＩＡＮ ＳＨＡＲＰＥ
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
❛''''ＡＮＤ Ｉ＇Ｍ ＮＯＴ ＢＡＣＫＩＮＧ ＤＯＷＮ
I WILL STAND MY GROUND! I WILL STAND MY GROUND!
⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯

★x
★
★

ＢＥＣＡＵＳＥ
ａ ｃｈａｍｐｉｏｎ ｉｓ
WHAT THEY CALL ME NOW!

★
★
★

xxxxxxxage: twenty seven
xxxxxxxclass: warrior-knight
xxxxxxxtagged: party, allya

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Fabian was conscious of Alyce's unspoken decision to creep away into the forest and outflank whatever it was that was watching them. Once, he might have called her stupid for leaving the path, especially in a place like this, but with the scene of devastation around them and the threat of being killed. Hopefully they would stand a better chance of surviving should they be faced with what had killed the poor fellows lying in the dirt around him. Most merchants were no match for anyone who had a somewhat decent ability to use a sword, and it was no surprise that these men had died. Though the manner of their deaths still spooked Fabian, he could only hope that they would stick together and fight their way out should they need to. At the very least, he could trust Alyce to fight, if she had no choice; otherwise she would certainly make a run for it, true to her nature.

Keeping his gaze on the forest in front of him, the knight wrapped his hand around his sword and partially withdrew it from the scabbard in which it hung, so the metal blade could glint in the low light. He stood powerful, tall, his feet set a shoulder width apart. The cavalier hat on his hair concealed the majority of his features, casting his face into shadows as he scowled, waiting.

The last thing he expected to step out from the gloom was an elf.

Subconsciously, he let out a low breath, suddenly aware that his heart had been in his throat. In normal circumstances he wouldn't have been so wound up, so on edge, but things added together and he was glad that it was an elf they faced. Unless the elf had killed the merchants. An elf would have taken the silks, coin and any supplies, he thought, they generally need anything they can get their hands on, chiefly in these parts. Just one look at the female in front of him told Fabian that she was not capable of creating this carnage. Just the way she stood told him that. If anything, she looked like a deer caught when least expecting it, knees bent and a hand on her own weapon. Her hair fell ever so slightly over her face as her green eyes glared daggers at him. "Drop it, the man ordered, "drop all of your weapons or I'll do it for you." He had no doubt that he could forcefully remove the elf of her weapons. She looked like a sapling, weak and small, while he was thick and strong.

"You heard me. I'll give you ten more seconds and then I'll knock you onto your knees." There was no doubt about that.

[Wolvine]

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Ａｌｙｃｅ  Ｔｏｂｉａｓ  Ｖａｕｘ

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Ｈｕｍａｎ  Ｓｐｙ

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Ｗｉｔｈ：  ｔｈｅ  Ｐａｒｔｙ

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Alyce watched as the elf grew tense, clearly weighing up options, but not exhibiting any kind of threatening behaviour beyond reaching for what looked to be a hunting knife. It wouldn't be an awful lot of help against all of them, but it showed at least a little sense of preservation. Maybe she could be reasoned with after all.

The elf mumbled something about not meaning to cause any trouble, though it was evident that if that was what her intent had been, she had failed miserably. Unless of course, she was a distraction for something else. Was that a legitimate concern or just paranoia? They forest had the spy too on edge. She shook her head a little in irritation, trying to clear it. The sooner they get away from this place the better.

"I'd do what the big man with the sword says," she suggested, straightening from her spot behind a bush. She'd no doubt been noticed at this point, since stealth hadn't really been her main objective, and she really wasn't enthusiastic about straying from the track any more than she had to. She moved closer towards the elf and Fabian, keeping her movements carefully casual, exaggerating her easy stride in such a manner that it would be evident she was far from relaxed. Her dirk remained in her hand, and though the weapon was lowered, she was still grasping so she could raise it should an attack come suddenly. "He's got a nasty reputation. I wouldn't be terribly keen to find out how much of it is true."

As she approached, she took a better look at their attacker-come-captive. There was the grime of many days, if not weeks, of the Narivi on her face and clothes, and she bore the look of one used to roughing it. This was no city elf, but it was evident from her clothing and manner that she wasn't from an elven clan either. They were, or so she had been told, since she'd never had the ill-fortune of coming across one yet, far too proud to use lowly human craftsmanship. It confirmed at least part of the elf's claim; she was clearly a nomad of some sort.

ooc; short short short

[Kitty~.]

a l l y a
role;; rogue archer
race;; elven
tagged;; the party
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Allya's eyes swept to the blade at the man's side as he removed it from the scabbard. It would be dishonest to state that the sight of the sword didn't make her skin prickle. Even with her weapons, the chances of getting skewered were abundantly high, should he be provoked. The thought made her fingers twitch at the hilt of her small knife, if only for its comfort before the two strangers. It was adamant that they meant business. What business, Allya wasn't sure. In fact, she was significantly curious about their purpose, but idle chat and gossip could wait. They did happen to be pointing sharp, pointy objects at her, after all.

She felt a surge of apprehension and anger pulse through her at the warrior's request - or rather, threat. Were they not outnumbering her, two to one with close-range weapons? Perhaps if she stripped down to her smallclothes they would finally feel confident in their ability. "Fine," she spat. She unfastened the belt holding her knife and dropped it carelessly to the ground. Soon after, the bow and her quiver followed, slipping slowly off her shoulders and hitting the earth with a light 'thud'. Unarmed and outnumbered, Allya could feel spite seep into her level glare. One could liken her to a cornered hound, hackles raised and teeth bared as it snarled with fear and anger. Now, Allya was not snarling, nor were her lips curled, but the amount of hostility emanating from her form was unmistakable. Inhaling deeply, she attempted to calm her pattering heart as it raced against her ribs. Things were far too unsettling, far too open. If an archer wished to strike them down, it would not be difficult.

"I do not care much for reputation," she bit at the girl's remark, eyes narrowed into daggers. However disinterested she was in their labels, she was innately curious about her purpose within the forest. Usually, only merchants travelled the Naviri trails and lately, even they had been wise to skirt around...or the vast majority had, she thought as she idly glanced towards the corpses. They looked too intelligent to be common highwaymen or thugs, and the lack of a charge did not scream 'bodyguard' at her. She speculated them carefully in an attempt to divulge their secrets. Unlike many of the people walking these parts, however, they were not open books. They could not be read like the many dead merchants.

Her eyes flickered between the two of them, head held high with a carefully-constructed mask of confidence. She was no longer slouching in attempt to make herself smaller, hidden within the safe confines of the thicket. Instead, she was tense and tall (or as tall as she possibly could be, considering an elf's height. Regarding them for a moment longer, she parted her lips to speak. "If I may be so bold to inquire, what are you doing so deep in Narivi?" she questioned hesitantly, cocking her head.

[Keriae]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ＦＡＢＩＡＮ ＳＨＡＲＰＥ
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
❛''''ＡＮＤ Ｉ＇Ｍ ＮＯＴ ＢＡＣＫＩＮＧ ＤＯＷＮ
I WILL STAND MY GROUND! I WILL STAND MY GROUND!
⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯

★x
★
★

ＢＥＣＡＵＳＥ
ａ ｃｈａｍｐｉｏｎ ｉｓ
WHAT THEY CALL ME NOW!

★
★
★

xxxxxxxage: twenty seven
xxxxxxxclass: warrior-knight
xxxxxxxtagged: party, allya

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

As soon as the weapons were on the ground Fabian stepped forwards and picked them up. The knife he held on to and the bow he was very tempted to snap but decided against it. If the female elf did not have access to her weapons there was no need to worry that she might try to attack them. Even with that look in her eyes, he had a feeling that she wouldn't dare make an offensive move against any of them, for they outnumbered her and trying anything would be a death sentence. No one would be that foolish, especially in the Narivi with no way to escape. Except she probably knows all the secret trails and ways out.

Speaking of which...... It might be handy to have an elf on their side. If she knew her way around this place, she could help to keep them clear of any dangers, such as the native elvish tribes. Then again, she may take the chance to lead them into danger and Fabian was not willing to risk that. He'd rather not loose his life to elves that wanted to roast him alive and eat his flesh. He'd rather stay living, thank you very much.

Fastening the hunting knife to his own belt, Fabian grunted at her question. "Business." Was all the man said as he moved around her and forced the bow and quiver onto Alyce. He didn't want to hang onto them: they didn't suit him, whereas Alyce was slim and agile, so they looked better on her. "Your name and purpose to be around this mess?" He asked as he turned back. He had not told her his name, nor the names of any of his companions, but that was for the best. But he wanted to know her name; he couldn't keep referring to her as "the elf" could he? Fabian wanted to get this problem wrapped up - they'd be bringing her with them, but he had nothing to tie her with, so she'd have to behave - and move on. As much as he hated it, the fate of their kingdom rested on their shoulders.

short? this is atrocious i'm sorry

[Wolvine]

█

Ａｌｙｃｅ  Ｔｏｂｉａｓ  Ｖａｕｘ

█

█

Ｈｕｍａｎ  Ｓｐｙ

█

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Ｗｉｔｈ：  ｔｈｅ  Ｐａｒｔｙ

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Alyce really wasn't surprised at the venom in the elf's voice, the barely suppressed outrage in her posture. Elves in general weren't terribly keen on taking orders from humans, which, fair enough, she could completely understand. She'd only witnessed a sliver of how elves were treated in Aelhaven, and that had been bad enough. Add that onto the natural reaction to be angry and defensive when cornered, and well, you got what was in front of them.

She seemed to be carrying only the hunting knife and a bow in terms of weapons, which suggested that she wasn't likely to be involved with any bandit groups; they wouldn't have sent someone who would be unable to properly defend themselves if it came to close range combat, would they? It seemed she was telling the truth then, not that Alyce had really doubted her.

Fabian's answer to what, in Alyce's mind, was a perfectly reasonable question, was curt and perfectly difficult, a very Fabian response. She was happy to let him be the boss though, and so she'd respect his choice to keep their motives quiet. It seemed unlikely, judging from the state of the girl's clothes and manner, that she'd been near anywhere populated for some time, so perhaps the elf might not know quite how bad things had got. Or maybe she did, and that was why she was hiding out in the forest.

She looked up as the knight thrust the bow and quiver into her hands, and she took it instinctively. Upon inspection it was obvious that this was the elf's preferred weapon; there were a few tell-tale battle wounds on the curve of the bow. She knew not enough about such things to tell if it was good quality or not, but it definitely had seen use. "Ah, the bow. The weapon of the wise, as my friend Erui used to say. Probably why I never use one." She grinned cheerfully at their sort of captive, slinging the bow and quiver over her shoulder. She cocked her head slightly as Fabian asked his boring, albeit necessary, questions, resisting the temptation to add commentary. The fact that he was asking her name implied that they'd be bringing her along, which Alyce was glad about. This elf really was a curiosity, neither a tribeswoman or a city dweller, and not really something in between, but rather an entire different thing altogether. She was interested in what the elf would have to say, and would relish the chance to do some of her own investigation.

[Kitty~.]

a l l y a
role;; rogue archer
race;; elven
tagged;; the party
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'Business,' he had said. How very vague. Although Allya quietly acknowledged his practicality within the situation, she did not like the way her hunting knife looked on his person. A few months ago, she had stolen the blade from some gullible youths. She'd earned it fair and square. Although still tense, her posture relaxed a little. It was becoming apparent that the two had no intention for senseless violence, unless she were to attack first. Allya may have been irritable but she wasn't stupid and knew how to pick her fights. This was not one she could win, even if she wasn't liking how cozy he was with her knife.

Despite her hostility, the woman's comment brought an unprecedented smirk to her lips. It disappeared as quick as it had come, upon Allya's realisation. She didn't particularly fancy getting comfortable with these two humans which was exactly why her eyes narrowed upon the warrior's question. It was trivial - pointless. Couldn't they just let her go? She shot him a scrutinizing stare, deep green eyes boring holes in his armour (at this time, she wished she were a mage, so she could in fact carry such an activity out). "Although I am unsure of what significance my name withholds, I am known as Allya Ullisis," she stated. She saw no harm in divulging her title, for very few knew her. Unlike -apparently- the man before her, she held no such reputation. Stealth was her forte - she did not intend to be revealed to the entirety of the world. It was not in her nature. "And as I said, I am a traveler. I have been scouring this area for some time now and I simply happened to stumble upon this scene." That was a white lie if ever she heard one. Ordinarily, when coming across deaths such as these she would high-tail it in the opposite direction. It was the two before her that drew her closer and tempted her with the riches she unfortunately hadn't the skill to liberate.

Brushing her short, brown hair out of her eyes, she stood passively, attempting to read their motives. Admittedly, the rogue was amusing, however the warrior was most certainly not. Perhaps it was because he had taken charge of the situation, or perhaps it was simply his cold demeanor. Either way, Allya couldn't help but feel rather discomforted by his presence. Opting for suspicion, she glared petulantly at the two. Shouldn't they have released her already? Stripped her of her goods and thrown her out into the forest? She did not like where her paranoia was leading her, to say the very least. Everything about the two implied some sort of...bargaining, she supposed.

Unlike her captors, she did not require names. They could be known as 'rogue' and 'warrior', for all she cared. Besides, within a few hours, they would be long gone, right? Allya cursed herself for being greedy in the first place. How foolish of her to fall into the clutches of these two individuals, right before a particularly haunting picture. The Gods were laughing, she was sure. She did not appreciate their jest.

[Keriae]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ＦＡＢＩＡＮ ＳＨＡＲＰＥ
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
❛''''ＡＮＤ Ｉ＇Ｍ ＮＯＴ ＢＡＣＫＩＮＧ ＤＯＷＮ
I WILL STAND MY GROUND! I WILL STAND MY GROUND!
⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯

★x
★
★

ＢＥＣＡＵＳＥ
ａ ｃｈａｍｐｉｏｎ ｉｓ
WHAT THEY CALL ME NOW!

★
★
★

xxxxxxxage: twenty seven
xxxxxxxclass: warrior-knight
xxxxxxxtagged: party, allya

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

An elven traveller known as Allya Ullisis. There was no reason not to believe her, really, but Fabian couldn't help but be suspicious. There was every reason not to trust the elf and whatever she said, and this name could easily be an alias. God knew Fabian had used plenty in his time, as had Alyce, probably. Aliases were a safety net he had always planted to make sure he had something to fall back on, though many had known his true name and eventually, the guards had become smart enough to guess who he really was and then he had had nothing. That had been the beginning of what he saw as a downward spiral into "the way of the light". And even now, he could still perform some of the tasks he had done before: his new position was a blanket that smothered him from the view of everyone. No one believed a man with such a noble rank would have relapsed back into a life among shadows and death. What a perfect cover for his activities.

Moving back to the upturned caravan, the man began rooting through the chests in a distracted sort of way, throwing the fine silks to the muddy ground, where they were trampled by his boots as he moved from chest to chest. There were no weapons, and only dried, salted meats (and even those were few and far between) and one small bottle of brandy. I'll be taking that. Fabian decided in a split second, removing the glass from the chest and tucking it into one of the saddlebags on Hector's back. Unfortunately, there was no rope in the chests, which was a surprise. Many merchants carried rope for it held many purposes and could be useful in many situations. He wasn't going to take the coarse leather that had tied the bloated, deceased donkey to the caravan. No one else had had the forethought to bring rope with them - how had that slipped all of there minds? - but it was worth asking Alyce if she had any. So Fabian did just that.

"You don't happen to have any rope, do you, Alyce?" He very much doubted it, and without it he would likely have to use a vine or something from a tree, but it was better than nothing, especially if it meant keeping the elf from escaping. He didn't trust her one bit and he wasn't about to let her have the opportunity to escape his clutches. She was far too valuable for that, despite her grimy look. They could use her as live bait in a dangerous situation: Fabian wasn't above that and neither did he care if she lived or died. If her death gave them the chance to get away then who cared? She wasn't part of this quest, and as much as Fabian didn't want to be either, he didn't have a choice and why shouldn't he pull someone else down with him? It might bring some amusement.

[Wolvine]

█

Ａｌｙｃｅ  Ｔｏｂｉａｓ  Ｖａｕｘ

█

█

Ｈｕｍａｎ  Ｓｐｙ

█

█ 

Ｗｉｔｈ：  ｔｈｅ  Ｐａｒｔｙ

█

Was that a..? Alyce's grin spread even wider, her eyes crinkling up slightly in amusement. She'd made the elf smirk, even if only for a second before she'd caught herself. Finally, some appreciation for her comedic genius! Bringing the elf along was growing more and more appealing by the minute. Not only would they have someone who might be able to navigate the Narivi, but they'd also have someone other than herself who'd laugh at her jokes.

The archer identified herself as Allya, a very respectable, very elf-y name. "A traveller, huh? How much have you travelled along these parts then?" She was distracted by Fabian's oh so very masculine and dominant display for throwing around the silks and treading on them, which was a little unnecessary. They were perfectly good materials for some other opportunist to have taken, perhaps someone with a little more luck than their scavenging captive. She saw him remove some food and what appeared to be a small bottle of something alcoholic, which he spirited '(ha)' away pretty quickly. "I hope you're planning on sharing that, my good ser," she called to him, but it was obvious she wasn't being entirely serious. It was more than a fair trade for her pouch of coins, which he'd know she had re-homed.

"Why, as a matter of fact I do! Coils and coils of it. Its the one thing I asked the guards to give me while I was rotting away in a cell how lucky for you," Alyce responded, deadpan. "And I thought we were deliberately avoiding using names?" She gave a snort, shaking her head and turning back to Allya, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Isn't tying her up a bit extreme? I mean, where is she going to go? Running into the Narivi with no weapons isn't a good idea at the best of times. Right now, well, you could end up like those poor sods." She nodded towards the dead corpses. "I get the impression that you value your life. It'd be in your best interests to co what he says." Alyce wasn't sure she'd be able to stop Fabian if he chose to stick a sword through the woman's gut. If Allya came willingly, it certainly would simplify things.