How long had it been? Nahare paced around the inn room, burgundy ears flexing downward. She lost count of the moons by now. 'Too gods damned long.' She concluded and hissed to herself. Her lip curled, a low growl rumbling forth. Slender fingers clenched themselves into fists to the point her knuckles shown white. Jin'li Epinoch was an abomination, a mastermind of chaos, and saw fit in making her one of his marionette dolls for a spell. Effortlessly the warped man plucked at her strings and it was a wonder the woman hadn't buckled from it all. Well, technically she had, just not entirely. Much to Jin'li's chagrin she was too stubborn for her own good. At every opportunity she made it a point in being a thorn in his arse, be it through speech or defying orders. Considering she couldn't cause any harm physically, she did what she could otherwise. It sated her all the while until her freedom was secured.
Golden eyes cast a concerned glance to the bed. The sleeping male nestled beneath the sheets grunted and rolled over, his bomb earring jingling faintly from the movement. Good, he was still resting, and desperately needed to. The sun began its ascent to the sky, bringing about dim lighting through the curtains. It was there Nahare diverted her attention. She forced an end to her pacing and instead sauntered on much lighter feet toward the window. Along the way she grabbed a cigarette and match. The curtains were carefully pulled an ilm or two to the side and one of the panes cracked open. She then placed the cigarette between her lips and set the end aflame. Nahare lazily rolled her wrist to put out the match, taking a long drag afterward. Thin trails of smoke curled to form a veil that skewed her visage. Her brows furrowed, nose wrinkling with a snort, as she continued to ponder.
Tengri and Sarangerel came to mind first. She hadn't seen hide nor hair from either in quite a while, and considering she couldn't trust them as far as she could throw them (which wasn't far at all), she was more than happy to let their contract job fall by the wayside. She'd deal with it later. Jin'li slithered his way into her life instead and took center stage. Nahare reflected on their conversation through link pearl, back when the arse kidnapped his older brother in Limsa. She and Osric met with Epinoch in Coerthas only to be told that he passed Askier off onto someone else that wanted a piece of him. It took a good full moon to ensure Askier's return, and when he did, he was severely ill. The contagion made it difficult for any type of healing to take effect while simultaneously acting as a leech, draining his body. And if any healing efforts were made, it spread to the person making the attempt. It took another moon for a cure to be found and it came at the hands of Delial Grimsong and Franz Renatus. Though Delial knew of the second party involved with the kidnapping, she refused to tell Nahare, and Nahare respected the woman too much to be rude and push for an answer. The contagion no longer ailed her husband and that's all that mattered.
As Askier recovered and got back on his feet, her own condition worsened. She was loathe to admit that Jin'li had infected her with a disease of his own just before Askier went missing. The longer she remained afflicted, the harder she found it to control its effects on her. Outbursts of anger became more frequent, as did her panic attacks and bouts of insomnia. In a similar vein to her husband, healing did more harm than good, though only if it was through Conjury. The vision in her right eye slowly waned, as did the color of her iris. She felt herself weakening and breaking down, with only the countermeasures Jin'li instilled upon her to make use of when trouble arose. Not only that, but the bastard had access to her mind. She heard his voice often and could easily be subject to his whims by a specific three word phrase. For the next two moons she fought hard to hide what was going on, throwing her focus into work, or isolating herself when commands were given and playing them off as 'business trips.' Two of those said trips involved the alleged attack and deliverance of messages to Roen Deneith and Warren Castille. Instead of following through, she danced around her orders and warned them with her own message. She'd be damned if anymore harm came to those that didn't deserve it.
Eventually her unusual behavior caught up to her when Mikh'a and Siha noticed a pattern, and it didn't take long for the rest of the Dauntless to raise a brow, either. Unfortunately the cure founded by Delial and Franz proved ineffective for Nahare and Jin'li issued forth the threat that her only chance of freedom lie with the end of his life, but that'd mean hers would cease in the process. There had to be a way, and so everyone persevered to find a means to Jin'li's end, for he terrorized more than just one person at a time. Another two moons passed while they threw themselves sun in and sun out against their shared foe. During which Askier took off to Coerthas for work and once more Nahare was taunted over link pearl by her brother-in-law of her husband's demise, except this time he taunted with death and not kidnapping. At first she refused to believe the claim, deeming it absurd, until she was presented with Askier's severed ear, the bomb earring still looped through the lobe.
'A gift for a widow', as told to her, along with the promise of finding Askier's killer so long as Nahare continued to aid him where he saw necessary. Her head had been filled with a half truth. Indeed Askier's airship crashed in Coerthas, though not by the will of assassins, but by Epinoch himself. So blinded was she by emotion that she failed to realize the killer stood next to her and lingered within her mind all along. Mikh'a finally experienced a breakthrough with his research of a cure and immediately sought to administer it. She spent five suns in the infirmary, and while she vomited into bucket after bucket purging her body of the disease, it gave her the occasion to mull the whole situation over. The more she nitpicked the more she figured out that certain pieces didn't quite add up. One of those pieces came to her in the form of a slave named Khole.
Part of Jin'li's philosophy included the freedom of slaves, even making it a point to release an entire cage of them before her eyes. Khole was one of those many freed slaves, and it was through his guidance did the complete story unravel itself, and with it, a chance to bring Askier back where he belonged. Nahare took it without hesitation, and here they were now, hidden in Mor Dhona until the coast was clear. Mikh'a had succeeded in both finding a cure and the trick needed for Jin'li's demise. All that remained now was to wait. Nahare finished her cigarette, exhaling one last cloud of smoke, and flicked the butt over the window sill. The pane was closed quietly, the curtains pulled to, and she made her way back to bed. It was still early and she hadn't garnered much sleep. She crawled beneath the covers and cuddled herself against Askier's back, draping an arm over his waist and pressing her forehead between his shoulder blades. It would all be over soon.
Golden eyes cast a concerned glance to the bed. The sleeping male nestled beneath the sheets grunted and rolled over, his bomb earring jingling faintly from the movement. Good, he was still resting, and desperately needed to. The sun began its ascent to the sky, bringing about dim lighting through the curtains. It was there Nahare diverted her attention. She forced an end to her pacing and instead sauntered on much lighter feet toward the window. Along the way she grabbed a cigarette and match. The curtains were carefully pulled an ilm or two to the side and one of the panes cracked open. She then placed the cigarette between her lips and set the end aflame. Nahare lazily rolled her wrist to put out the match, taking a long drag afterward. Thin trails of smoke curled to form a veil that skewed her visage. Her brows furrowed, nose wrinkling with a snort, as she continued to ponder.
Tengri and Sarangerel came to mind first. She hadn't seen hide nor hair from either in quite a while, and considering she couldn't trust them as far as she could throw them (which wasn't far at all), she was more than happy to let their contract job fall by the wayside. She'd deal with it later. Jin'li slithered his way into her life instead and took center stage. Nahare reflected on their conversation through link pearl, back when the arse kidnapped his older brother in Limsa. She and Osric met with Epinoch in Coerthas only to be told that he passed Askier off onto someone else that wanted a piece of him. It took a good full moon to ensure Askier's return, and when he did, he was severely ill. The contagion made it difficult for any type of healing to take effect while simultaneously acting as a leech, draining his body. And if any healing efforts were made, it spread to the person making the attempt. It took another moon for a cure to be found and it came at the hands of Delial Grimsong and Franz Renatus. Though Delial knew of the second party involved with the kidnapping, she refused to tell Nahare, and Nahare respected the woman too much to be rude and push for an answer. The contagion no longer ailed her husband and that's all that mattered.
As Askier recovered and got back on his feet, her own condition worsened. She was loathe to admit that Jin'li had infected her with a disease of his own just before Askier went missing. The longer she remained afflicted, the harder she found it to control its effects on her. Outbursts of anger became more frequent, as did her panic attacks and bouts of insomnia. In a similar vein to her husband, healing did more harm than good, though only if it was through Conjury. The vision in her right eye slowly waned, as did the color of her iris. She felt herself weakening and breaking down, with only the countermeasures Jin'li instilled upon her to make use of when trouble arose. Not only that, but the bastard had access to her mind. She heard his voice often and could easily be subject to his whims by a specific three word phrase. For the next two moons she fought hard to hide what was going on, throwing her focus into work, or isolating herself when commands were given and playing them off as 'business trips.' Two of those said trips involved the alleged attack and deliverance of messages to Roen Deneith and Warren Castille. Instead of following through, she danced around her orders and warned them with her own message. She'd be damned if anymore harm came to those that didn't deserve it.
Eventually her unusual behavior caught up to her when Mikh'a and Siha noticed a pattern, and it didn't take long for the rest of the Dauntless to raise a brow, either. Unfortunately the cure founded by Delial and Franz proved ineffective for Nahare and Jin'li issued forth the threat that her only chance of freedom lie with the end of his life, but that'd mean hers would cease in the process. There had to be a way, and so everyone persevered to find a means to Jin'li's end, for he terrorized more than just one person at a time. Another two moons passed while they threw themselves sun in and sun out against their shared foe. During which Askier took off to Coerthas for work and once more Nahare was taunted over link pearl by her brother-in-law of her husband's demise, except this time he taunted with death and not kidnapping. At first she refused to believe the claim, deeming it absurd, until she was presented with Askier's severed ear, the bomb earring still looped through the lobe.
'A gift for a widow', as told to her, along with the promise of finding Askier's killer so long as Nahare continued to aid him where he saw necessary. Her head had been filled with a half truth. Indeed Askier's airship crashed in Coerthas, though not by the will of assassins, but by Epinoch himself. So blinded was she by emotion that she failed to realize the killer stood next to her and lingered within her mind all along. Mikh'a finally experienced a breakthrough with his research of a cure and immediately sought to administer it. She spent five suns in the infirmary, and while she vomited into bucket after bucket purging her body of the disease, it gave her the occasion to mull the whole situation over. The more she nitpicked the more she figured out that certain pieces didn't quite add up. One of those pieces came to her in the form of a slave named Khole.
Part of Jin'li's philosophy included the freedom of slaves, even making it a point to release an entire cage of them before her eyes. Khole was one of those many freed slaves, and it was through his guidance did the complete story unravel itself, and with it, a chance to bring Askier back where he belonged. Nahare took it without hesitation, and here they were now, hidden in Mor Dhona until the coast was clear. Mikh'a had succeeded in both finding a cure and the trick needed for Jin'li's demise. All that remained now was to wait. Nahare finished her cigarette, exhaling one last cloud of smoke, and flicked the butt over the window sill. The pane was closed quietly, the curtains pulled to, and she made her way back to bed. It was still early and she hadn't garnered much sleep. She crawled beneath the covers and cuddled herself against Askier's back, draping an arm over his waist and pressing her forehead between his shoulder blades. It would all be over soon.
