Kasrjin had finished rifling through the corpse's belongings. A pouch of currency and rotten and frozen provisions proved that this wasn't a random act of banditry or scavenging. The Xaela folded his arms, deciding to pocket only the obsidian trinket. "Leave the body," he said solemnly. "It is merely a shell that had housed the person I once knew. There is no point in tending to it." A part of him recalled the conversation he and Roen had had--one of their first long dialogues--at the graveyard, with the Au Ra questioning the practicality of tending to dead bodies.
Nonetheless, he knelt down even in the snow and wind to examine the body for what he could, placing his gloved hands on joints and limbs. They had broken Kaizhan's wrists in order to prevent him from grasping weapons. Pale, grooved wrinkles near his knees indicated where they had bound him. There was no other fatal wound on his person, which indicates that Kaizhan's execution was as agonizing as it appeared; at the least, there was some comfort in the fact that Kaizhan likely died of exposure before he had died of bleeding out from the stake.
"Whoever killed him took something from him," Kasrjin spoke softly. He subconsciously patted the bag around his waist holding the keystone. Was there a relation? There was an Ishgardian war party in Dravania that had attacked the dragons. Was that a random excursion, or was there perhaps a more measured purpose behind it? It was too far of a leap to make right now, and it was even farther to assume that Kaizhan and the mission they shared had anything to do with it...for now. "I must verify the cause of his death, and what he had found before he was slain. I do not wish to leave loose ends of this nature. I will return to Ishgard."
The Au Ra glanced at Roen. "You have helped me obtain what I require. Your obligations are at an end, yet I expect you will insist on your involvement anyway.
Nonetheless, he knelt down even in the snow and wind to examine the body for what he could, placing his gloved hands on joints and limbs. They had broken Kaizhan's wrists in order to prevent him from grasping weapons. Pale, grooved wrinkles near his knees indicated where they had bound him. There was no other fatal wound on his person, which indicates that Kaizhan's execution was as agonizing as it appeared; at the least, there was some comfort in the fact that Kaizhan likely died of exposure before he had died of bleeding out from the stake.
"Whoever killed him took something from him," Kasrjin spoke softly. He subconsciously patted the bag around his waist holding the keystone. Was there a relation? There was an Ishgardian war party in Dravania that had attacked the dragons. Was that a random excursion, or was there perhaps a more measured purpose behind it? It was too far of a leap to make right now, and it was even farther to assume that Kaizhan and the mission they shared had anything to do with it...for now. "I must verify the cause of his death, and what he had found before he was slain. I do not wish to leave loose ends of this nature. I will return to Ishgard."
The Au Ra glanced at Roen. "You have helped me obtain what I require. Your obligations are at an end, yet I expect you will insist on your involvement anyway.
