Back inside the relatively safe confines of the City once more, Dharen felt another source of tension leave him. Though he had been able to traverse through the dungeon over the night, it had taken a heavy toll on him mentally and physically; the arduous escapade had well and truly exhausted him.

The only person inhabiting the chamber was not a person at all; the Golem was located at its usual post, ready to administrate the Spire’s teleporter. With nobody else around, Dharen approached the Golem. Acting quickly, he received the 200 Contribution Vouchers that he had earned for the single Nulzan that he had killed. After absorbing the energy contained within, he walked out of the large chamber.

⥫⥬⥫⥬⥫⥬

Contribution Added:

+1000 Points

Remaining Contribution Points: 5250

⥫⥬⥫⥬⥫⥬

He found himself stepping lightly in the vicinity of Duende’s office, cautiously avoiding meeting the man unexpectedly. As he stealthily made his way past the man’s office, the sounds of conversation emanated from within. Unable to help himself, he sidled closer to the door so as to make out the contents of the discussion.

“And if they become hesitant now that one of their number has been lost?” a voice said.

“They are well in hand, Ledan. At this point, I do not believe that any of them would even think to question a suggestion that came from me, with the possible exception of our dear Anand. The idiot is prideful enough by nature that subservience rankles him somewhat, even now. Regardless, there is little to be worried about. I only need to work on them a little more to cement their loyalty permanently. Additionally, even with the loss of Dharen, our chosen warriors should have enough strength to outperform the other Alliances - without losing any of our core Alliance members and allowing us to preserve our full strength, I might add. For now, we will ensure that the remaining five only hunt down the Nulzan and outside Alliance members during the daylight hours to avoid needless losses.” A voice that Dharen recognized as belonging to the Vezian Alliance leader faintly reached him. To his ears, the man sounded different than his memory indicated. Whether it was due to no longer being subject to the man’s geas, or simply his own views on the man influencing his perception, Dharen was no longer drawn in by the man’s mere voice. There was still something tantalizing about it, which Dharen could now reasonably understand to be the man’s overwhelmingly high Charisma, but it had lost a large amount of its effect.

Still, paranoia was not something to brush off. As his pool of Spirit had regained a miniscule amount of Spirit, Dharen activated Miasmic Cloak briefly, emptying out his Spirit once more. As he felt the brief pull on his Spirit stores, he noted that he would need to set aside time to rest and fully recover his Spirit soon; he could not risk traveling about defenseless.

His short activation of Miasmic Cloak did not result in any notification of mental influences being resisted. Dharen took this as both good and bad news; the good news was that Duende’s voice alone did not passively hold any power that could be classified as a “mental influence”. The bad news, however, was that it meant that Miasmic Cloak would not protect him from the general effects of charisma itself - only from abilities that warped his mind and potentially amplified its effects.

After a momentary pause, Ledan responded: “I apologize, sir. I am very well aware of your reliability in these matters.”

The two continued to talk, though it soon devolved into matters of no consequence to Dharen - the minutiae of managing the Alliance’s sector. Feeling that he would gain no more useful information from the conversation and wary of being found alive and eavesdropping, Dharen extricated himself from his position beside the doorway.

Later, having returned to his inn without major incident, he chewed on a small loaf of bread that he had managed to scavenge from the downstairs kitchen. With his hunger pangs slightly diminished, Dharen stripped off his armor and collapsed in a heap onto the waiting bed. Due to the dangers present in the previous night, he had not yet had a chance to sleep or rest. Though his Endurance and Vitality were high enough that he typically did not suffer overly-severe ill effects from going without, the intensity and strain had finally caught up with him.

His dreams were plagued with nightmares of being unable to fully control his own body, of being trapped within a small corner of his mind.

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Dharen awoke from his restless dreams. He looked outside of the small window that served to provide light to his room; fortunately, it was still light out. There was enough time to make some preparations. However, there was an important matter to settle before setting off. With his Spirit pool relatively restored, Dharen quickly flashed his Miasmic Cloak on and off. It activated minutely, causing a small wisp of smoke-like darkness to evaporate from the surface of his skin. He breathed out a sigh of relief, seeing that he was free of mental influences.

Perhaps it was paranoia, but it was useful paranoia. Establishing a habit of briefly using his Fear Boon to resist potential mental effects could very well save him from a life of servitude.

His fears eased, Dharen set out to begin his preparations. Though the day was coming to a close, he knew that he still had some time remaining before the Market district had been emptied of vendors and merchants. As such, he made that a priority destination - there were a few things that he wished to investigate.

The first thing that Dharen looked into was the personal teleporter that Riell had employed while in the jungle, as it seemed prudent to have such an effective escape method handy in case of emergencies. It took some time to track down the Golem that sold the device, but Dharen eventually managed. Unfortunately, he found that the item degraded upon use and was exorbitantly expensive - far more than he could ever hope to afford at the moment. Slightly dispirited, but happy to have found some answers at the very least, Dharen continued to search for various other supplies that he had a need for. He purchased some minor supplies, but held off on others, making a note to himself to come back later for some of the more expensive items.

As night fell, he finally exited the Market district. His eavesdropping of Duende and Ledan had allowed him the knowledge that the others would not be challenging the jungle while under cover of darkness. Thus, he set out to find them. Fortunately, the group had been meeting together at a particular tavern for drinks over the previous few days - he knew just where to find them.

He had considered going to another Alliance for aid. However, he found himself hesitant to do so. With Duende’s abilities, along with the remarks that he had made regarding having ‘friends’ and ‘eyes’ among the other Alliances, he had no real way of distinguishing friend from foe. While, yes, the Alliance heads would almost certainly be free from Duende’s control, anyone below that position presented a sizable risk. And with the large number of individuals within the organizations, he had little doubt that word would soon reach Duende. He had no wish to find himself unexpectedly murdered by one of his supposed allies in his sleep.

Despite that, he did need allies. And if he was going to take a risk with humans that were possibly under Duende’s influence, he’d rather do so with known variables - that way, he would not be surprised if things went sour. Not to mention, he did feel a certain kinship with his former party. Though they had been brought together by Duende, he still liked them. He had no desire for them to remain under another’s thrall.

Having finally reached the tavern, he pushed his way through the front door. The common room was filled with noise and cheer, men and women drinking to celebrate the accomplishments of the day. In stark contrast was a small group that huddled over their mugs, sitting quietly in a booth in one corner of the room. Dharen approached the sullen group. As he did so, he could hear small bits of quiet conversation between the brooding figures.

“He could have still made it out. There’s always a chance.” Riell stated with determination, as if daring the others to speak against her.

“We searched for him the entire day, and saw no sign of him within the jungle. With the strength of the Nulzan, he is either captured or dead. We’re not all as lucky as you, Riell.” Beran said, looking regretful but full of certainty.

Anand spoke up next. “I agree with her.” Hearing this, Dharen was slightly surprised. “There’s something off about him, like there’s more to his attributes than there should be. It’s not there often, but I’ve seen moments where he has moved in ways that he shouldn’t be able to at his level. ” Being Anand, he couldn’t help but finish off his statement with a dismissal. “Either way, whether he survived or not matters little to me.”

Dharen sat down next to him. “That hurts. It matters to me, though.”

The others started at him for a moment, eyes transfixed and mouths agape.

He looked at them, a grim expression plastered across his face. “There’s something we need to talk about.”