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

Io turned away from the Varjan brigand after he had confessed, satisfied with the information. This wouldn’t be quite as easy as she hoped, but she had captured a few enemies. Hopefully the others would find value in her bringing Varjans alive. If not… It was not Io’s problem. 

She brought the Varjan back to the group, and touching his forehead, drained him of enough energy to knock him unconscious. It wasn’t her preferred method, but given the situation it was the best he was getting. “[color=thistle][b]Get these ready to move. I will return in a moment.[/b][/color]” 

Io returned to the abandoned house. It wasn’t much, but the structure was sound enough, and there were plenty of dead nearby. She touched the floor, quickly mouthing some basic spells. A simple ward against wandering animals and something to slow the rate of decay in the nearby area. She’d need to get her zombies back in here to clean the house up for her, and prepare some further magical implements, but Io could store her notes and… potentially other things here in the future. The thought of having a contingency pleased her.

Io returned to her zombie servants. “[b][color=thistle]We are returning to the village. Let the living sort themselves.[/color][/b]” Grabbing one of the prisoners, she turned back towards the village. She had to report the details of the iron marks to the villagers and the fighting between them and locals at the very least. 

She would then send her zombie servants to return to the abandoned house, in order to prevent them from drawing too much attention. Then she would simply take some time on the temple grounds to mull over the recent events, scrawling notes and reflecting. She would have to peruse her memory to find the right spells. Provided nobody interrupted her, of course.

As she began to meditate, she made a mental note: ‘[color=thistle]Find more intact clothes for current zombies. Something fitting for a servant. Perhaps maids.[/color]’