A most peculiar ability|Darkthrone | New Morilanta

[Kender Bard]

A young courtier, hoping to garner favor and status with Imperator Nissar, tries to approach him, grinning in a very silly manner. "M'lord, I wish to speak to you of some amazing news I have discovered."

[tuo]

Nissar stares at the young courtier and begins to pry into his mind as he usually does. "And what news would this be that you have for me?"

[Kender Bard]

The courtier speaks true, his mind echoing his words.

"There is a woman in the city who claims to have discovered the methodical secret to breaking Minds for slaves!"

[tuo]

Nissar pauses and stares heavily at the courtier. "...How many have heard of this from her?" Already he stands up and begins to make quick strides out, mentally calling out to some of his elite guard.

[Kender Bard]

The courtier scrambles after his lord, hoping he'd done well to inform Nissar. "I'm not sure of the number, my lord. She was making loud claim in a tavern and so I suppose many have heard her. Word has spread like wildfire."

[tuo]

Nissar mentally curses, doing away with the courtier or erasing his memory would do no good if too many others know of this secret. He waves the courtier to begone. "You have done well, I shall see that your actions receive the attention they deserve." He begins to make his way to the tavern, wrapping illusions around himself to avoid being noticed as some of his elite guards go on ahead to make sure it is safe.

[Kender Bard]

The lady in question was a regular of the tavern. Even now, those in the slave trade were drawing close to her, buying her drinks and food in hopes of soliciting her for advice and information on Mind breaking. For the moment, she was content to just smile and leave but the merest hints, milking them all for they were worth before depositing a small kernel of information.

[tuo]

Nissar arrived in the tavern and noted that both Flamestrike and Coldfire were in there in cloaks and he himself moved to a table close enough to listen in and scan there minds, still with his illusion disguise.

[Kender Bard]

"Please, tell us a little more," one patron urged, pushing another glass of wine towards the woman.

She smiled and accepted it, taking a modest sip. "The problem is," she murmured, feeling generous enough to drop a tidbit of knowledge, "Is how people perceive Mind slaves. They think of them as dangerous animals, exotic and in need of taming. In truth, it would be more prudent to think of them as dangerous tools, like a sword."

[tuo]

Nissar raises brow and gives a mental command for Coldfire to approach the table with the slavers and have her ask a question. "And just how is that supposed to help them in handling a mind slave?" Coldfire asks while tossing down two silver coins.

[Kender Bard]

The woman's brow raised and she took the coins with a swiftness that spoke volumes of her. "Ah, well, perhaps madam you would desire a private instruction? Such a handsome sum... for a bit more I would be happy to oblige you."

[tuo]

Coldfire nods and turns to guide her to a more private table where Stormstrike could more easily keep it private before she sits down and sets a small bag of coins down in front of her to wait for the woman to sit down there.

[Kender Bard]

The woman, Shivali, was about to protest that she would prefer a private room, where her secrets would not leak to others, until she sees the money. Sitting swiftly, she takes the bag and begins. All her qualms were gone. With her voice only barely audible to Coldfire, in hopes it would not carry, she began her explaination. "Minds are peculiar elementals. They are generally honed, like a tool, for a specific purpose. They are well made tools, generally equipped to defend themselves against breaking - like any good tool is. However, all tools have some point of weakness, and Minds are no exception. They are very sensitive beings, whether they intend to be or not. It is their nature, their purpose. Therefore, that can be easily turned inward, against them, if one has the right tools."

[tuo]

Coldfire gave that careful thought before giving Shivali a curious look. "I'm not sure I understand..perhaps you could offer an example?"

[Kender Bard]

"I can elaborate," Shivani agreed. "What one must do is this... keep your Mind under strict captivity but do not make them work. Do not demand anything from them except the most simple of information. Ask them their name, their home, their family. If they refuse, beat them without mercy. They will learn swiftly that withholding such basic information is not worth a beating. This takes great time but you must continue to ask them these things, gradually working into more personal and intimate things. You must know your Mind's past better than they know it. Then, when the time is right, begin to demand things. If they refuse, they must be beaten - but while punishing them, insinuate internal weaknesses into it. Make them think that their situation is a result of events in their past that led up to this moment. That it was inevitable or their own fault or somesuch. They will become confused and anguished. The result is either they will become so apathetic with misery that they become much more malleable, or they because so absorbed in their perplexion and contemplation that they no longer feel a desire to resist, only to figure things out."