Dramatic Scene: Is It Lynch Time Yet?

-=--=--=--=-<* Watch Constables - Jail Cells and Visiting Area *>--=--=--=--=-

          The cells at the Watch are often often full with various people: the
 usual, returning drunks, the occasional shifty halfling, and then a few
 Korites who appear to have a rotating door policy. Visitors may stand
 outside the cells to speak, while being overseen by an officer.

-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-- Contents --=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
 Kama'o          Older Egalrin female, greyish-brown in color.         3s   4h
 Alteri          Eldanar fighter; dark hair, pale eyes, shit luck.     0s   3h
 Svarshan        Be a brightscale! Chomp a demon!                      3s   7m
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--= Exits -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
Out <O>                   
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-

Kama'o found Svarshan earlier in the day. He was probably peeling potatoes under Greta's supervision. At least he has automagical potato peelers on his hands. In any case, wherever he was, Kama'o found him and told him that he needed to come with her. Now. If any questions were asked, she simply says it is, 'about Alteri-iiwa.'

...After which, she proceeds to lead him to the jail. When they enter, several of the guards seem to recognize Kama'o, and more than a few wilt just a little. Kama'o, meanwhile, begins to puff out her feathers to seem larger than she actually is. All of this, of course, is in the outer chamber, so poor Alteri will be completely unaware that anything involving her is occuring yet.

A ball of yarn walks into a jailhouse, accompanied by a small dog and a talking bird. Most jokes don't start out that way, but this one might. The small dog bounces in circles, grabbing at the yarn with its teeth...which just keep walking, though slowly. The apparition follows along behind Kama'o, though as it rounds a corner, it gives a slow sigh at its state, and says, "Storyteller, one is not sure that Alteri's underwear is that dirty."

Meanwhile, completely ignorant of what is afoot, Alteri is in her cell concentrating on teaching her flea friends how to jump through hoops. The guards have had to separate her from the rest of the inmates due to some misunderstanding about trying to steal her food and a fist in testicles. Some people just have no sense of humour about these things. Ah well, solitary confinement just means peace and quiet for the Eldanar stray.

"They are keeping Alteri here for something she did not do," Kama'o says, loud enough that everyone can hear her. And then...she marches up to the guard in charge. Thankfully, it's not Snady this time, but rather poor Hack, who sort of pushes himself further and further backward in his chair as she approaches. "Kama'o has brought the dragon-kin! Alteri-iiwa is to be released into his custody! Agril said so." She is...polite, but loud and firm. Alteri may overhear some of this. "Please check your papers. It was written down, Kama'o saw it yesterday."

"Sssaa..." Svarshan draws to a halt, and then grunts, slowly, as he looks at the yarn beneath his arm. The dog continues to bark, though now the little thing is reduced to yapping--its head bobs animatedly, wobbling back and forth with small, sonic bursts eminating from its skull. And slowly, he drags his gaze upwards, the inner lids sliding slowly half-shut...and open.

"I sssseee...one could always ussse help at the rrancch. Good day, Guardsman."

Between the caws and yaps, Alteri cannot help but look up from her hard work of whipping her fleas into shape. Bad timing, one just jumped up her nose. "ACHOO! Oops, sorry." And the poor flea goes flying, to 'thp' into her cell door. Stepping over, she carefully avoids stomping on her circus employee to peer out the small slit in the metal door. Just in time as a guard walks by, "Gods above, it's that shrill birdwoman again." the guard mutters, now running towards the source of the sounds to perhaps offer Hack some back-up.

"Um. Um. Well. Er..." Hack stammers, randomly selecting and then discarding bits of paper on the table. Kama'o finally helpfully taps one with a sharp talon, and he pulls it out of the pile, shaking as he reads it. "Um. Uh. You are...Svarshan, Sunblade of Daeus?" he asks the pile of yarn, reading from the paper before looking up. Kama'o steps back, lowering her feathers into a more polite position. She -is- smiling.

"Brightscale," Svarshan says slowly, distractedly. "Daeus, yes. ...she smells of rotten apples and three-day fish. Why is that?" the words trail off and he turns back around to eye the guard. The dog continues to bark. And yap. And bark. "...I would like the keys. And a copy of whatever it isss...she is charged with." These words come slowly, dredged from memory and difficulty, and spoken with a gentleman's Myrrish accent.

Recognising the sibilant accent, Alteri perks a little. Hastily straightening bangs that could use a wash, twice, she hurries to make her cot in military fashion, with the corners folded just so. Glancing about, all she sees left are the fleas on the floor. "If you follow me out of here, I will kill you." she warns them. Trying not to think of the possibility that she does -not- get released, or that she may have to make amends to the fleas she just threatened, she sits as innocently as she can on the side of her cot. Nope, no criminals here, just us innocent bystanders.

"Well...um...the investigation is...is...ongoing," Hack stammers, looking grateful and slightly more in control once the other guard arrives. "She is suspected of..." he peers a bit closer at the paper and frowns, "Murder. But...we have not charged her, yet," he tells Svarshan. "Um...the guard who arrested her and...and Father Agril said she was to be released to you, yes," he says, sounding a little surprised and glancing up at Kama'o, who is now doing her best fly-on-the-wall impression.

Svarshan's eyes narrow and he looks long and hard at the guardsman. "Murder." His nostrils flare and he looks over towards Alteri, and back. "I smell no Maugrim-stink on her soul. What has she murdered?" he asks. He tucks the yarn beneath an arm...and the little dog's body just quivers. Its eyes...brighten. And it stares hungrily, hungrily at the loose pile of colorful string. Buttwaggin'.

Alteri is in a walled room, with a metal door. But she swears she is not giving off any sort of stink, except one of ripe humie. A flea hops over, trying to stay friends. Reluctantly, she brushes it away, then begins twiddling her sword-callused thumbs. Nervous? She is not nervous. She is keeping her thumbs limber, they can stiffen when one is living in jail, doncha know?

"Well, we...um." Hack has to flip to a second page, and scan the text there. "Some...fishermen pulled up a corpse. It had no...had...no, head." Someone's going to get a talk about handwriting. "And...the suspect...had been in the water," he puzzles out.

Kama'o lets out a screech. "She was in the water because she was saving one of the fishermen from the low place," she informs Svarshan, feathers flattening as the words irritate her. "If they had asked questions, they would know that. But they have been..." she decides to let out another screech rather than say it to their faces, but Svarshan is another animal. He will understand the body language. They have been lazy and stupid, or at least not up to Kama'o's standards. "Kama'o was not there, but Agril was and he said she did not do anything except help fish the body out of the water," she tells Svarshan.

"I sssseee..." The Myrrish accent slowly vanishes towards something more primitively Am'sherian. And Svarshan leans back, not aware he'd even leaned forward. His mouth works once, twice, before it can force the words. "I am sure they have been...bussy," Myrrish again. And then he jerks his head back, and walks over towards the bars. Stares hard at Alteri. "We will take her home. Now."

"Now, now, we have had a lot on our..." Hack breaks off at a Look from Kama'o, and clears his throat. "Um. Well. Um, it says here that that's just fine. But...you'll need to sign for her. Here...and...here. It says you're responsible for anything she does. Bran, go get her." He's sweating. It's running down his face. He pulls out a hankie and dabs at it.

Kama'o immediately brightens, feathers lifting, as Bran heads first for the keys and then for the jail cell. "Your friends are here to get you," he explains to Alteri, before leading her back into the main room.

Alteri's twiddles freeze, as does the rest of her, under Svarshan's draconic scrutiny. Hesitantly, her lips peel back in a poor imitation of a smile -- the sort a child would dredge up if ordered to smile for the nice painter man. Springing up when she hears the door being unlocked, she shifts from foot to foot, impatient to get out. Those fleas are so clingy even after repeated rejections.

Entering the office under the guard of Bran, the Highborn immediately settles into a formal kneeling position and thumps her forehead on the floorboards in Svarshan's and Kama'o's general direction. "Sunblade, Wise One, you do me honour." Damn Eldanar and their stiff-necked customs.

Svarshan's eyes narrow further, though he doesn't look away from the jailed female. "Saaa. Responsible." They're slits by the time he turns back towards the guard, the movement slow and his footsteps heavy on the cobbles. "I take it...no. One does not need to hear the answer." The sentence ends there, though there might be more of it. It hangs in the air heavily. "...the papers."

Whirlpool has arrived.

"Kama'o will be responsible, if you do not wish to be. Kama'o has seen her in several temples, and Kama'o is a good judge of iiwas," the bird tells Darshan, as Hack mutely hands over the papers to be signed. She's a bit bemused by Alteri's formal submission, however, and after a moment, responds with a strange and elegant dipping of her wings and baring of her throat. "There, there, Alteri-iiwa. It is all right." Kama'o immediately shuffles over and tries to help Alteri up, careful not to stab her as she pats her on the back.

Alteri is so grateful to be free of fleas (try saying that fast thrice in a row), she would likely submit to Kama'o stabbings without protest. Curious eyes watch the Egalrin's elegant response, though. Not seen that before. She tries, however, polite creature that she is, to keep a bit of space between herself and the feathered one. Not telling if a clingy flea might try to jump ship, as it were. "The winds of the gods blew favour on me this day," she mumbles, frantically looking about for her... Ah... she nods silent thanks to the guard bringing her confiscated belongings.

Svarshan gives himself a shake. He does so stiffly--irritation rolls off the reptile in silent waves. "...thank you. But." He sucks in his breath. "Get your bags," to Alteri. "We are leaving. ...ssaa. I know who did this, Kama'o," he says as he drops his muzzle to his chest with a half-smile. He looks at her out of the corner of his eyes. "I am...not sure why. It is humor...or he wants her out of the City. For a while."

Personal space? Pshaw. Kama'o is probably hoping that the back-patting turns into a hug, but when it doesn't, she does step away. The Egalrin would frown at Darshan's words, but...immobile beak. "Who? This is not funny. It was not nice in there. Kama'o had to take a long dirt bath to get rid of all of the lice, yesterday." she tells Svarshan, putting hands on hips. The guards seem content to ignore the three, assuming Svarshan signs the papers.

A sword and breastplate, one very moth-eaten purse, and a ridiculously frilly kerchief, is all Alteri had on her when she was brought in. These, she collects as directed by the Sunblade, in-between Kama'o's fluffy almost-hugs. Uncertain, she glances from guards to Sunblade, "Should I not be in chains until the investigation is over?" Kama'o's mention of needing a bath has the youngster's face turning beet-red, and she stammers an apology to the Egalrin for that.

"Not..." Svarshan is bad with words. Svarshan makes a motion with his claws, and then steps up to the desk. And eyes the papers. He begins to glance through them. "Saaa. Not of this. No." And then the scratching of ink on paper, and the shuffling and crackling of parchment.

*scribble*

*scribble* *scribble* *scribble*

Kama'o lets out a caw, and waves a taloned hand. "Kama'o needed a good dust bath anyway, iiwa," she says. "It was not your fault. And Kama'o does not think they will put chains on you, but Kama'o does not know why they put you in here in the first place." Scaleless are hard to fathom. Kama'o eyes the closest guard, who promptly attempts to look Very Busy (TM). Once Hack has the signed papers, he waves them out the door with a hand.

Assuming they have departed from the jailhouse, Alteri glances behind to ensure no one is close, then lowers her voice, "Forgive me, Sunblade, you said you know who did this?" Her eyes shift to Kama'o, "If wearing chains as a semblence of continued guilt will lull the true culprit into thinking they are free to act once more, it may aid... someone," she was going to say the City Guards, but her faith in them is being sorely tested. "In capturing the true murderer." That, was a lot of words. Alteri actually looks a little tired for saying so much in such a short span of time.

The further they step from the guardhouse, the more the sith's shoulders relax. They do so by degrees...though so slowly that they're still boards by the time they step onto the dirt road and street. "Mistakes get made," he says by way of explanation to Alteri. "...and I am not..." he twists 'round, and looks briefly towards the now-retreating guardhouse. "...sure, but one knows who asked me to take care of you," his muzzle twists. "The...I think Sunguard Doran would like you out of the City a while. I live up that way," he nods down the road, the implication being 'not in Alexandria.'

Kama'o, on the other hand, seems perfectly happy to have accomplished her goal of getting Alteri out. Nevermind that she doesn't truly know whether or not the woman is an axe-murderer. "Kama'o does not understand humans," she opines, bracelets jangling as she shuffles along beside them. "But they were being silly. At least they could have asked the man she saved."

The talk of mistakes being made has Alteri wryly glancing back at the slowly disappearing guardhouse. "Indeed. The guard also asked that I become scarce for a while." Absently jingling her very light purse, she adds, "I will comply. There is a clearing on the edge of the forest that I know." Cheaper than staying at the Den! "I hope someone looked after Stupid while I was gone," she muses quietly. Then, coughing, she scratches ruefully at her cheek, "I believe they did, Mistress Greyfeather. He said I assaulted him."

Svarshan makes a sound in the back of his throat. "One..." and he does not know what to think. He walks a while, listening to the two females talk, one eye slanted towards the slowly thickening woods. "Huhhhrrrurrmmm... there isss a place. You will ssstay at one's lodge, Alteri. ...and we will talk to this man," he adds, half-beneath his breath.

"...Oh." Kama'o doesn't seem sure what to say to that. So, she fluffs up her feathers and then shakes them, sending dust flying as they walk along in the heat. "Kama'o is just glad that you do not have to spend any more time in there," she says finally.

Shocked, Alteri blurts, "Surely not, Sunblade? House a convict? Is that not beneath your station?" The woods, the Eldanar eyes as well. Gods, she hopes there is a stream somewhere nearby. And soaproot. If she had feathers, she might well be fluffing them up like Kama'o is doing, simply in anticipation of being clean again. "As am I, Wise One. The jail... needs better bathing facilities." Surrepticiously, she scritches at a buttcheek. Must have been one of the fleas she had rejected.

Kama'o caws, a little louder than usual, since they're a bit further away from most of the scaleless than usual. "Kama'o does not speak this language very well, but Kama'o is pretty sure that you have to be shown to be guilty of something before you are a convict." With a little more room to stretch her wings, she does exactly that, fanning them out to their impressive span before folding them again.

Svarshan slows, which for him is going from just 1 mph to 1/2. And he stops then, and looks towards

the ground a while as he turns things over in his head. And then looks towards Alteri. "...youngling, you are with me because one is to see to your behavior." The way he pauses after saying that means he'd been about to add more--and doesn't.

Alteri does not see the humour in this, so worried is she for Daeus' good name. "But, Wise One, perception is everythin-" Svarshan's ponderous explanation cuts the Highborn's protests off at the pass. Oh, right. Ears reddening, she nods stiffly. "Yes, of course. Apologies, I am not thinking straight." Scrubbing tiredly at her face, she glances down the crossroads to the other section of town, "If I could trouble you a moment? I should collect my horse and belongings in the Den." Gods, she forgot Stupid too. She really is not thinking straight right now.

Kama'o is completely oblivious to the tension, and decides to turn into Happy Old Grandmother. "Kama'o would invite you to stay with me, but I do not think that humans would like to sleep in a tree any more than Kama'o likes your beds," she rambles. "....Horses." That makes her wilt just a touch. "Horses do not like Kama'o." The feeling seems to be mutual.

"..." Svarshan looks back towards the city, and nods, once, in the human style. "...I will send someone for them. If the Sunguard wants you out of the City..." he makes a noise, and starts down the trail again, though Kama'o's words draw a half-smile. "Then away from the City we will head." After a while, he...pats...Alteri awkwardly on the shoulder. Like one would a fragile glass or oddly shaped lump that might either break or produce squishy goo.

Awkward.

Alteri is tough! She can take Holy Censure, and awkward pats. But, she is rather worn from being kept up nights by overly friendly fleas. Shoulders drooping a little, for she missed her horse, she manages a tight smile, "If they look for the smartest horse in the stables, that will be Stupid." Tilting her head to the fluffy Granny, she adds, "I would like to study the high place you make your bed in, actually. It will be good to know, if my stay outside becomes an extended one." Then her smile widens a little, touching her eyes, "That is because horses know you are a fierce predator. They are not stupid..." a pause, "Except Stupid, who is also not stupid."

"Perhaps Agril-iiwa will bring your horse," Kama'o brightens once it becomes clear that they are not going to go get one of those animals. "Kama'o has several trees she sleeps in. But I can show you the one where my things are hidden. You said you would like some of the twine, yes? Kama'o will bring you some." She seems to have every intention of going home with Svarshan at the moment. Well. -Someone- has to make sure everyone is comfortable.

Mobs are not subtle things. Let's be frank about that.

They are not subtle in the -least-. As the lot of you depart the guard house, head north along the street, you see a rather large number of people coming the opposite way. With torches.

One of them up front has a length of rope. A very long length of rope.

A lot of them have haggard looks. Some of them are refugees.

Svarshan slows as the crowd nears. He doesn't say much, just tightens the grip on Alteri's shoulder, and moves her behind him. "...I hope you don't object to swifts, Storyteller. ...is there any chance they are after you?" to the young warrior.

Alteri gives Kama'o a blank look. A long moment, with gears turning in her head... "Oh, yes, him. Mistress Halani, who was also there, thought he was the murderer. He was bloodied with birth waters." Nodding, she brightens, "Yes, could I pay for them with hunted game?" Broke-ass warrior is broke.

The buzzing of the mob impedes itself on Alteri's senses, and her attention breaks away from the Egalrin to see... Carefully bundling her sword and armour in her tatty cloak, she carefully hands it to Kama'o. "If something happens to me," she says in a low voice, "Please donate this to the Temple of Daeus." Straightening, she lifts her chin, the setting sun shrouding her face in shadow. Only the pale glints of her eyes show any hint of colour, picking up hints of the fading light. They fall on the Sith'makar, showing a measure of regret, "Please, step away."

"Kama'o likes Srassha," the Egalrin says slowly, tilting her head to the side as she looks at the oncoming mob. "And hunted game," she adds, as she accepts the bundle of armor and sword. After a moment, she, too, steps in front of Alteri...just in case. Letting out a loud caw, she takes another step forward. "Kama'o sees you," she calls. "What is it you are doing, iiwas?" It sounds like a perfectly innocent, perfectly reasonable question. "Do you need help? Is anyone hurt?" Objective: Engage them in discourse until their common sense kicks in.

Oh yes. They're definitely after Alteri. That's for sure. The one with the length of the rope says, "Stand down, paladin... bird.. thing. We're here for the traitor." A finger is pointed at Alteri.

"She and her ilk have escaped justice far, far, *far* too long. We're going to end this here and now. If the city guard is too corrupt to do it, we'll do it. Do you know *what* she's done?"

He growls. He's very growly. The others, many of them appearing to be Sendoran in descent, are beginning to spread out more. Looking like they're ready to rush forward and seize her at any moment.

Svarshan takes a slow and steady breath. And lets it go. "You are not a mob," he says firmly, looking at them. "Those are not torches. ...that is not a pitchfork. And you are not going to make a liar of me in front of the Lord Daeus."

"Kama'o does not know." The Egalrin is still keeping her body language friendly, neutral. "Why don't you tell Kama'o what has happened, iiwa? Kama'o would be happy to listen to your story. My people like stories. Kama'o is thinking of a few stories about silly people like you who did things that made them very sad later when they thought about them." Yes, that was too many prepositions. No, Kama'o is not a bard. In fact, no one seems to be paying her rambling the least bit of attention.

GAME: Svarshan rolls diplomacy: (2)+12: 14

Alteri visibly stiffens at the label the growly man places on her. Still, her posture remains erect and unashamed. Sidestepping around Svarshan's bristling bulk and Kama'o's more beneign fluff, she stares down the mob, "Please go," she pleads aside to the two with her, "This is not your fight. Gods willing, I will repay my obligation to you in my next life."

Then she lifts her voice and addresses the rabble, "Pray, do not cause trouble in the city that has accepted so many of our brethren." Jeers and hisses greet her daring assertion to be brethren to -any- of them; a few spit at the ground. She expected nothing less, given the hostility surrounding her, held off just barely by the shield of her remotely cool gaze that now sweeps over them. Making a swift executive decision, she lifts her hands, showing she is unarmed, "They are not a mob, they are friends, here to take me for a walk to catch-up on things." she states evenly, and begins walking toward the ones they face.

GAME: Kama'o refreshes spells.

There is a long pause from the mob. They all look at Svarshan. Then at Kama'o. Then at Alteri. They hesitate. Svarshan is a paladin. Paladins are good people, after all. Even if they're terrifying Sith-Makar. One of them finally says, from the back, "But I DO have a torch."

He's cuffed.

"This one and her family betrayed Sendor, honored sir. You should be here with us, doing justice and Daeus' work! Her family starved others! Enslaved them to the ogres!"

Svarshan reaches out and makes a grab for Alteri's collar. "...shut up," he snarls, meaning both of them. "Was it this-one who made you slaves?" he hoists Alteri in the air like a sack of potatoes. Uncomfortably, but also--roughly, barbarically, in his own way showing her as a helpless 'thing.' "...answer!"

Kama'o also reaches for Alteri, but misses when Svarshan grabs her away. "Kama'o may be a bird, but Kama'o is not stupid, iiwa," she asides to Alteri, before shuffling forward again. "Everyone does things that they are not proud of, later. Kama'o thinks that if you are not careful, today -you- will be doing those things. What would your nanas say, if they could see you now? Would they be proud of you? Kama'o does not know what Alteri-iiwa has done. But Alteri-iiwa has put wreaths on the new monument, and helped rebuild the Moon's temple. Are you -sure- you have the right woman?" Pause. "You all look alike, after all."

Alteri takes one step. The second step never happens. The second step is sacrificed upon the altar of a Sith'makar's barbaric show of, uh, moral support. "GURK!" She is indeed, quite helpless. A few days of watery gruel and no sleep does that to one. Dangling by the grace of her shirt-maker's skill and nothing more, she flails a little, and tries her best not to turn blue.

"...she's got the family name. They're traitors and cut throats," says the man with the rope, glaring at Alteri and Svarshan and, yes, Kama'o too. She's a bird. She's not human. She's probably here to take their jobs or something. At any rate, these humans and their mob are not exactly happy looking with having been stopped, but its clear they don't exactly want to tangle with Svarshan. He's a well known figure about town -- and Kama'o's talons looks like they'd hurt.

"One of them hanged my brother! It's only fair that we hang her!"

"Yeah!"

"I do not smell the stench of the Conqueror on her." Svarshan lowers the Alteri back to the ground carefully. "If she was like her blood, her soul would stink of rusted iron and molten fire." He releases her shirt, and looks across at them.

Kama'o suddenly begins to swell. No, really. Her feathers stand on end, her tail spreads, she raises herself up to her full height, and suddenly it's a lot more obvious how sharp her bill is. Her feathers sort of...frame it. "Kama'o has taken responsibility for Alteri-iiwa," she says loudly. "Kama'o will not let any of you hurt her." Her eyes darken, and the breeze begins to pick up. Clouds suddenly coalesce above and behind her, making feathers and hair stand on end with static electricity. A small, but powerful, rain shower occurs underneath. It...would obviously not be good to be standing in the middle of it. "Kama'o does not want to hurt anyone," she says. "But Kama'o will, if you give me no choice." This might make them pay more attention to the bird.

GAME: Kama'o rolls intimidate: (19)+0: 19

Alteri heaves a breath. Another. She leans a hand weakly on the Brightscale's arm a moment, "They... They lost much. If my blood will appease them, perhaps it is for the best. At least my name will be of some use to the people we swore to protect." The last she admits bleakly as she views the people, -HER- people, with shuttered eyes. Pushing off Svarshan's solid form, she is about to head over to them when the Egalrin pulls off a big show of intimidation. Gaping, she looks from Bird-kin to the sudden thunderstorm. "No, please, do not hurt them. They are my people, regardless. It is -they- I must protect if need be. There is no honour in hurting... such dear friends." Torn, the Eldanar looks from mob to Paladin and Druid, to mob.

There is a pause. Between Svar's comments, Kama'o's comments and then.. well.. then there is Alteri's. Faces fall.

Let's be honest: It's no fun to get your vengeance when the one you would take it on is being meek and martyrly. There is a lengthy pause before one of them lowers his torch and tosses it into the trough nearby.

"This is bullshit," he mutters.

"Maybe we don't have the right person."

"She doesn't seem very bloodthirsty."

"Maybe it's a trick?"

"If it was, the paladin'd know."

"Feh."

There's a lot of general muttering and discontent about this and a few people begin to peel off the mass of the mob. Than a few more. Finally, only a hard core of angry Sendorans is left, all of whom have lost too much to be dissuaded so easily just yet. They slowly stand aside, but with obvious rage in their eyes.

Svarshan lets go a sound, and then looks up towards the mob. "Saaa. ...this is why you lied." It is not a question, it is a...open statement. That one of them had framed her for the murder--just out of hatred. "Is that what one is hearing?" And he looks at them, then, really /looks./ He catches the eye of the one who had flinched, and /holds/ it.

"Allowing them to kill you will not help them, iiwa, even if it makes them feel better right away," Kama'o says gently, deflating back to her normal grandmotherly self, while still keeping an eye on the worst of the troublemakers. "Later, when they are older, they would regret it. If you would help them, do what you can to make their lives better. Even if they spit on you for it. They cannot spit forever, and even if they do, you will change thier children's minds." Pause. "But, you might want to be with one of us when you try."

GAME: Svarshan rolls sense motive: (1)+18: 19

He doesn't quite meet the paladin's gaze. He's just so -angry-. He looks down, his hands clenching into fists. "... it's all their FAULT!" He roars, finally, bashing his fist into the nearby brick and mortar wall. It doesn't go well for his hand.

Cool blue continues to watch the remaining Sendorans, but her low voice she pitches only for her companions. "It would wash away the stain of failure, Wise One." She seems almost sad to see the mob dispersing. Her head snaps to one Sendoran in particular. In the chaos, she had no realised, but with the Sith'makar's words she sees the one being addressed for the first time. Her eyes widen in recognition, then wince when his fist meets brick. "No wonder..."

"...ssaaa." Svarshan's tail drifts to the earth, and he falls quiet for a while. He watches the man, and doesn't make a move--just lets him rage. And after a while, walks over towards him, and grabs the man's fist. "Hit me," he says. He looks at the man, glances at Kama'o as though to say: it is alright, before she scratches his eyes out, and then back again.

"No, iiwa. It would serve no purpose. Besides. If you truly think you are at fault," Kama'o says quietly, and gently, "Then allowing them to send you to the gods is a coward's decision. Much harder to face it, and try to make amends." And then one of them punches a wall. Kama'o clucks, and starts to shuffle toward him...but Svarshan beats her to it. She gives him a little nod. She would have gone for a hug, but his way is probably better.

Mouth open to argue at first, it snaps back closed again. Head dipping, the Eldanar submits to the greyfeather's wisdom, quietly closing the door to the early death she might have sought. Looking up, she blinks at Svarshan's actions now. Alteri tries to get between the Sith'makar and her accuser. Honestly, this human has no sense sometimes. "I should be the one he hits, Sunblade. His grievance is not with you. House n'Aijma must not suffer further stain of a Servant of Daeus bearing her blame."

Wordlessly, Kama'o reaches out and gently folds her arms around Alteri, attempting to prevent her from interfering in the fight between the Sunblade and the Sendoran. She is not strong, and does not have a death-grip of any sort. However, she is fairly certain that Alteri won't try to force the issue. After all, who would want to hurt harmless old Kama'o? She could fall and break a hip or something.

When Svarshan grabs his fist, he tenses. He looks so angry. And then he hits Svarshan as hard as he can. He really does. It doesn't really do much. There's a lot of scales. Thick scales. And he's not exactly all that strong. "I LOST EVERYTHING," he roars. "BECAUSE OF THEM! BECAUSE OF HER FAMILY! BECAUSE OF THE ONES LIKE THEM! Oh god. They had enough. Why did they have to take what little I *had*?" He slowly drops to his knees and buries his face in his his bloodied hands, bursting into tears.

Svarshan looks down at the man, and grunts, a slow, rough breath tinged in ash and smoke. "...It is what he needed. Saaa. He needs the priests, Alteri, not...martyrdom. You are an...a *focus*. Not a...*cure.*" And after a while, after struggling with words and meanings and translations, he grimaces, his shoulders shifting at some difficult decision. And a low voice, "You never saw this. None of you." And he slowly crouches down by the crying man, leaving Kama'o to take care of the warrior.

Feathers surround her. Soft, fluffy feathers. Startled that her defenses are so shoddy -- the Egalrin had no trouble invading her personal space whatsoever -- Alteri immediately ceases in her attempts to put herself between the paladin and her accuser. She would die before breaking a granny's hip. Such dishonour would be a stench unto her name for seventy-seven generations! If she ever bred children, that is.

As the man begins to cry, a faint crack shows in her stoic demeanor, "Many lost everything." she grates out, "I lost family, holdings..." her throat works as she forces words past the sudden lump in her throat, "The other half my soul. The half I would die a thousand painful deaths to bring back, to change the course of time." her face twists as she fights back the rictus of grief. "I -know- loss, I live it every, single, day. It dogs me like a curse, never lets me forget. I -never- forgot my people, even as they would as soon forget me!"

Kama'o hugs Alteri tighter for a few moments, and then releases her and gives her a gentle nudge toward the crying man. Kiss and make up now, her body language suggests, as if this were just a fight between a couple of children. ...Well. To her, it is. "Can you fix his hands, paladin?" she asks quietly. Otherwise, she seems content to let the scene play out.

He's hopeless at this point, sobbing quite a bit.

The remaining Sendorans are looking away, effected by the emotional display and outbursts.

None of them want to say anything.

Svarshan grunts at the grandmother's words, and looks back at the man then, and, "Let her live, and she will work to right the things her family did." And then he grabs the man's chin and makes the man look at Alteri. "/See/ her." To Alteri: "/Talk/ to him!!" His claws dig in slightly. Not cruelly. ...he's just...

Not. Human.

Alteri is unsteady enough that Kama'o's nudge sends her stumbling to the ground by the sobbing man. Uncertainly, she looks up at the Egalrin, then to Svarshan. She is supposed to do -what- now? Not one for physical displays of affection, she only manages to pat the man on the back, if he would let her. Even so simple a task has her looking vastly awkward. "I am sorry for your loss." she says hesitantly, but sincerely. We were betrayed as surely as the rest of Sendor was." She brushes impatiently at suspiciously bright eyes, "I swore on my blood and the blood of my beloved that I would hunt down the ones who sold us to fire and destruction. That vow, still stands."

Kama'o waits until Alteri begins to speak to the man, and then shuffles slowly over, rounding all three individuals until she is behind the sobbing man. Taking a sprig of holly out of a pouch, she tucks it into his hair and puts a gentle hand over it, not even making contact with her claws. Her eyes darken once more as she begins a slow chant, and soon his hands are...well, they look much better. Suspicious individuals, however, may note a conspicious lack of bad-smelling ointment.

GAME: Kama'o casts Cure Light Wounds. GAME: Kama'o rolls 1d8+2: (1)+2: 3

He finally looks up. HE finally looks at her and tries to talk. He does. But he simply weeps and begins to babble about 'sorry' and 'so sorry'.

It's human weakness. All too real human weakness and frailty on display.

Kama'o totally goes for a group hug, and doesn't care how much snot gets on her feathers. ...She also slips a coin in the man's pocket.

He finally straightens up and wraps his arms around Alteri.

And then? Then he hugs her. And snots on her. And bawls into her. That's all he can do.