He does his best to straighten himself and he considered his options. In a forced calm voice, he says "I am the commander as you say of Castle Naerytar. The point of this place is to funnel money to the Cult of the Dragon. Its but a way station away from prying eyes. Its importance is rather low as I am given only a handful of cultists while the rest I had to make do with the residents of this swamp."
"Greed. Always greed." Thrax says disdainfully, hovering over Dralmorrer. He spares an inquisitive look at the yuan-ti briefly, considering his words, before turning back to their cornered foe.
It takes every iota of restraint to prevent Thraxinthos from caving the commander's face in, to end this in a spray of crimson. Instead, his thick claws grip either side of the cultist's head. "How do you do it? Control the residents?"
As if the words themselves curdle on his tongue, the dragonborn stares distastefully down at the captive, eyes of molten gold. "Tell us. Tell us how to send the guards away. Give us a reason. A reason to spare your life."
The young blonde selûnite takes a nimble step back to not have the prisoners blood and viscera all over her when Thrax's patience was at it's end, which judging by his temper could be at any moment now. She was happy to have the massive red dragonborn continue the interview while she memorized the intricasies of the prisoner's speech pattern and also studying his appearance before walking downstairs again.
"Easy now, big fella..." Zeds says in a placating tone. "He's helping, he's helping. Let him help... Right now we need him to help by staying quiet."
Turning from Thrax to Dralmorrer Zeds puts the gag back in place. "You understand. Can't have anyone hearing your voice coming from more than one spot. So just stay quiet and we'll all get out of this ok...."
The point of this place is to funnel money to the Cult of the Dragon. Its but a way station away from prying eyes.
When Dralmorrer talks about the castle as a way station on the path to funnel money to the Cult of the Draon, Ixsas makes sort of exasperated harrumph sound in disbelief. He interrupts his investigation of the hand cranks to say, "This man speaks nonsense. A 'way station' is a place that's 'on the way' to a destination, but I don't think that this castle is on the way to anything else except more swamp. If they're taking the loot north, then they'll end up back on the Trade Way, and bringing it here just wastes several days to very little purpose. And if they're not taking it back to the Trade Way, then what is its destination? Maybe the dragonborn can wring the answer out of him. Once the loot arrives here, where do they take it next?" Ixsas does not speak to Dralmorrer directly, nor does he attempt to interrogate the half-elf. He just addresses his comments to his companions, especially Zeds.
If the others ask, Ixsas explains his thinking. He's been wondering about it since they first made it inside the castle. The lizardfolk at Carnath House brought a heavily-laden wagon here: the deep ruts were easy to follow. But the castle only appears to have the one gate, and that leads to the same trail that they took on their way to the castle in the first place. They did not pass any other wagons going the other direction, and it doesn't look like the castle has any docks for boats. Ixsas does not remember seeing any other vehicles loaded with the loot since they've arrived at the castle. So...where did the loot from the wagon that they were following go? Has it already left the castle? And if so, how? Another underground tunnel like there was under Carnath House?
Dralmorrer
He does his best to straighten himself and he considered his options. In a forced calm voice, he says "I am the commander as you say of Castle Naerytar. The point of this place is to funnel money to the Cult of the Dragon. Its but a way station away from prying eyes. Its importance is rather low as I am given only a handful of cultists while the rest I had to make do with the residents of this swamp."
"Greed. Always greed." Thrax says disdainfully, hovering over Dralmorrer. He spares an inquisitive look at the yuan-ti briefly, considering his words, before turning back to their cornered foe.
It takes every iota of restraint to prevent Thraxinthos from caving the commander's face in, to end this in a spray of crimson. Instead, his thick claws grip either side of the cultist's head. "How do you do it? Control the residents?"
As if the words themselves curdle on his tongue, the dragonborn stares distastefully down at the captive, eyes of molten gold. "Tell us. Tell us how to send the guards away. Give us a reason. A reason to spare your life."
The young blonde selûnite takes a nimble step back to not have the prisoners blood and viscera all over her when Thrax's patience was at it's end, which judging by his temper could be at any moment now. She was happy to have the massive red dragonborn continue the interview while she memorized the intricasies of the prisoner's speech pattern and also studying his appearance before walking downstairs again.
"Easy now, big fella..." Zeds says in a placating tone. "He's helping, he's helping. Let him help... Right now we need him to help by staying quiet."
Turning from Thrax to Dralmorrer Zeds puts the gag back in place. "You understand. Can't have anyone hearing your voice coming from more than one spot. So just stay quiet and we'll all get out of this ok...."
When Dralmorrer talks about the castle as a way station on the path to funnel money to the Cult of the Draon, Ixsas makes sort of exasperated harrumph sound in disbelief. He interrupts his investigation of the hand cranks to say, "This man speaks nonsense. A 'way station' is a place that's 'on the way' to a destination, but I don't think that this castle is on the way to anything else except more swamp. If they're taking the loot north, then they'll end up back on the Trade Way, and bringing it here just wastes several days to very little purpose. And if they're not taking it back to the Trade Way, then what is its destination? Maybe the dragonborn can wring the answer out of him. Once the loot arrives here, where do they take it next?" Ixsas does not speak to Dralmorrer directly, nor does he attempt to interrogate the half-elf. He just addresses his comments to his companions, especially Zeds.
If the others ask, Ixsas explains his thinking. He's been wondering about it since they first made it inside the castle. The lizardfolk at Carnath House brought a heavily-laden wagon here: the deep ruts were easy to follow. But the castle only appears to have the one gate, and that leads to the same trail that they took on their way to the castle in the first place. They did not pass any other wagons going the other direction, and it doesn't look like the castle has any docks for boats. Ixsas does not remember seeing any other vehicles loaded with the loot since they've arrived at the castle. So...where did the loot from the wagon that they were following go? Has it already left the castle? And if so, how? Another underground tunnel like there was under Carnath House?