[h3][color=thistle]Io[/color] at the Isolated House[/h3]

[@PaulHaynek]

Io surveyed the aftermath of the fight as the major din of the battle settled, thinking about what the last villager said, and looking over the bodies left. It was quite a selection. She hadn't been amongst so many fresh corpses in a long time - if she had to explain it to a living person, she would have likened it to setting foot in a garden full of freshly planted seedlings. There was plenty of potential here. But first, there were things to attend to. Weeds in the garden, so to speak.

Io allowed some of her undead hounds to chase the living ones off. She would have to re-make her scroll, but she didn't really want to retrieve the existing one from a living beast. She had standards, and it wasn't a hard scroll to recreate with some time. Next, came the issue of the unconscious Varjans. While she was still tempted to let them join the rest, she had to at least see if they would be worth anything to the villagers alive. She bound them with rope scavenged nearby.

Io kept her zombies on guard as she singled out one of the unconscious Varjans, taking them apart from the group. She had to figure out if they knew where this merchant was, and this was the most direct way to do it. Shaking the prisoner awake, she gave them a moment to come to before she crouched down and softly began asking them questions. "[b][color=thistle]Varjan. You will tell me everything you know about these 'iron marks.' And the location of a local merchant that has one.[/color][/b]" She took a moment to undo her disguising aura, letting her undead pallor return to her skin. She beckoned over one of her remaining undead hounds to draw close to the prisoner, with her grimoire in her other hand. "[b][color=thistle]Telling me now will be best. I have other methods if you refuse.[/color][/b]" Her normally deadpan expression gained a slight, yet noticeably sadistic smile. She would move on to the others if this one knew nothing - Io hoped that at least one had a clue. If not... That was their problem.