[b]Conrad Felden[/b]

His strength wavered with the continual pain, and by the end of the fight Conrad was just sitting on his knees slumped against one of the walls. The tip of the blade he had picked up was on the ground and it wasn’t likely he could swing it if he wanted to. But thankfully enough, there wasn’t a need. Conrad winced as a fresh wave of flame induced pain rolled over him, and then Varkasan was there, with another survivor. [b]”I don’t know how you are even standing...”[/b] But he did, Conrad had always known that the others bore the pain better than he could dream of and it was to his own shame that the others were gracious enough to ignore his own lack of control. [b]”Thank you.[/b] He couldn’t find it in himself to say more, he couldn’t even put weight on the leg he had cast with. Instead, Conrad hung his head and let himself be put in a chair. [i]Water would be a light-sent bles-[/i] Two mages appeared, much as the dead-raiser had disappeared. They were entirely across the room from Varkasan and himself, but even so, sheer power held everyone in place as effectively as paralysis- or in Conrad’s case, pain.

Her voice had no emotion, and the mans had a banter that shouldn’t be present midst enemies. As for the trade to the Amulet... the Inquisitor did not disappoint in his challenge to the mages authority. He cast a Light spell that broke the bonds of power upon everyone, and the majority of Paladins in Conrad’s vicinity, including the one he had guarded in the corner with the wounded leg, charged the woman. The others charged the man, the Inquisitor standing out before all of them. Conrad didn’t move. He would have liked to, but his willpower was nothing versus the continual pain of burning alive. His body sat in the chair like a slumped corpse for all the control he had. That said, Conrad had the best [i]living[/i] seat in the house, thanks to Varkasan.

The blue light that expanded outward from the Azure Sorcerer petrified every man it touched into pure crystal, the light that had been cast toward him fizzling out on impact, and men themselves burning their corpses in their own flames, moments after their death. It was horrific, and Paladins leapt to their comrades aid, only to be crystalized themselves at a touch. It wasn’t a fight, it was an extermination. Those left could only stand back, except for one man. Levran, the Inquisitor. Levran the Lion. Projectiles flew at Levran, and he batted them aside with little concern. He was indomitable. And suddenly all the crystal in the room blew apart, massacring those that hadn’t moved far enough away. But Levran still somehow survived, and struck. And then Conrad’s hair stood on end and was blown back as smoke and light went everywhere. The inquisitor left little behind besides a blood streak larger than the mans corpse. And he was gone. The Azure Sorcerer ripped the Inquisitors Amulet from the body and walked back to the woman, leaving. Conrad was afraid all those around her were dead, until a few began stirring. He had ignored their fight, partially afraid of the pain that would come from turning his head, and of missing a moment of the others battle. It mattered not that she had left them alive however, because there was little left to live. Some had perished in eating the poisoned food, more from fighting the mages. Still more from fighting the corpses of the mages, those that had died fighting the mages, and those that had died eating the food. And then of those, half had died along with Levran assaulting the Azure Sorcerer. Still more may die of their wounds before morning. The force had been decimated, and it hadn’t been more than a day.

Conrad let himself be carried out, stripped, and doused in water from the local well, which- while it did little in stifling the magical flames, cooled and soothed his skin. After which, a bed, no matter how rough or itchy, let him pass out almost instantly into a mercifully numbing sleep.

The glow and the pain plaguing his body disappeared overnight, but the memory of the helplessness it caused did not. Conrad's will and determination grew from the experience.

[b]"Conrad's willpower has increased, allowing him to utilize more power at once and push through more pain before being rendered incapable of movement."[/b]