[ He listens to her carefully, pressing his fingers together and his lips into a line. It's interesting. he thinks, that she groups vampires and lycanthropes together— it never would have occurred to him.

Then she describes seeing her city destroyed. He thought her story must have been something like this, to inspire such anger, but it's a different thing altogether to hear it. How would he feel, to see his home destroyed? He can't picture it. Crystal Valley is (still) the largest and best defended city he's seen or heard of, and he's not sure if he could really call it home these days, either. No, Nash decides. He has no idea. ]

I'm sorry. I don't have words for that. [ And he is visibly affected, if only in subtle ways— a glance downward, a turn of the lips. Does she think he goes in for that kind of thing? But he doesn't think she wants pity, so he continues. ] When you say… "corrupted", do you mean with magic? Some sort of—
[ vague handwavey gesture ] puppet spell?