Last Stand of the Dorinthians (Chapter 3 - The Imperials)

[Kobold Stew]

Danica listens to the speeches, but, to be frank, she does not follow their full import. This is all a whirlwind for her, and she has been caught up in a political intrigue that in no way resembles her life from six months previous. Her life from last week, for that matter.

But she has been given a job. Her scan of the surrounding area has detected nothing, it seems, and Dartis and theImperials are speaking with words that command such attention... And all for a shield. Surely our goal shoudl be to get the shield, and put it somewhere the Emperor does not know about. And that will buy time for our captured comrades.

She has another thought.

She starts to speak, "...", but then hesitates, remembering her place.

 

[Fenris]

Nefius cocks his head to the side, and leans on his darkwood staff as he listens with amusement to Dartis' demands. After the nobleman is done speaking he says, "Bravo, my young man. If you were bargaining from a position of strength, I would definitely be swayed. However, as it stands now, let me give you my own offer. Do as we say, otherwise I will be forced to execute one of your three companions we have recently captured; a death each day until you comply. I think I'll start with the elf, since he's a bit too high-and-mighty for my tastes. If you do agree to our terms, we will allow your men safe passage to enter the dwarven kingdom and pull our army away for a short time so you may safely do so and join your people inside. I may even release the elf in your care as a sign of good faith. Return with the shield, and our main purpose is complete, and we will release your other two companions and leave this place. What do you think of our terms?"

"Counsellor Nefius, what is weakness, but strength not yet realized." counters Dartis "As for doing as you say, as you demand, well if you were interested in executing your prisoners, you would have done so, and I know that you have no compunctions about doing so. But what if that should fail to sway me? Shall you be left with three corpses and no closer to your goal? As for your terms, they are not entirely unfair, yet you have still failed to provide the crucial component, that which I am sure Commander Sassarius would no doubt take umbrage with. You have failed to address by what means or measures we can believe that you will hold to these promises. What besides your word, of which you have still not given, shall be your pledge that the terms you have stated shall be adhered to?"

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Nefius grimaces at Dartis' offer, but Commander Sassarius gives him a hard look and steps forward, offering his hand to the Dorinthians. "We give our word, this I swear. And perhaps we can offer to release this elven prisoner. His name is Kel, and he's been a gentleman while under our care. I'll need the afternoon to move our men away from the gates so that you can enter by the evening."

 

[Fenris]

Nefius grimaces at Dartis' offer, but Commander Sassarius gives him a hard look and steps forward, offering his hand to the Dorinthians. "We give our word, this I swear. And perhaps we can offer to release this elven prisoner. His name is Kel, and he's been a gentleman while under our care. I'll need the afternoon to move our men away from the gates so that you can enter by the evening."

"With the release of Kel as a token and gesture of the integrity and sincerity of your pledge, I will accept your offer, Commander Sassarius. I shall hold you to your word as a man, as a military man." replies Dartis taking the proferred hand and meeting the Tallione's gaze.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Danica holds her breath, as she marvels at the interaction between these two leaders. Her nose twitches slightly, but she feels she may almost relax. Soon these men will be gone.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

As Danica looks at the Imperial commander and Dartis, she realizes that their similarity of appearance is greater than just fellow soldiers. Commander Sassarius has a face like Dartis' as well, In fact, the Imperial looks much more a Dorinthian than a Tallione.

Her thoughts are interrupted as the two sides break from each other. The rest of the afternoon is a flurry of activity, as the men prepare to enter the safety of the Bermax kingdom. One begins to sing a familiar field hand song, and soon the entire camp joins in, as men happy to be alive. When word reaches them of what agreement was made in order to save them from battle, morale shoots upwards and the troops flash Silas, Danica, and Dartis many smiles. Every now and then you hear snippets of conversations, such as: We were right to trust these heroes. Our leaders love us, and will not have our blood spilt unless necessary.

Kel reaches the outskirts of the camp, led by a small contingent of Tallione cavalry, which then leaves him to quickly return to their own lines. Your elven healer reports that Alexander and Rix are fine, although Rix's mouth has gotten him pushed around by Imperials more than once.

As the Tallione soldiers leave the mountain, your troops head towards the gates in an orderly column. Soon, you can see the mighty steel gates of the Bermax halls, two large dwarven kings carved upon their surface. The mighty portals slowly swing open into a great hall, and allow your force to enter before closing mightily behind you.

As your eyes begin to adjust to the dim light, you can see that the tall, granite pillars of this dwarven hall disappear into the darkness above. Rows of dwarven soldiers surround your men and begin to greet them as saviors, although one tired and dour dwarf approaches the party directly. It is Lender Bermax, who has worked many times at your refugee camp. He looks you over, then at Chalik, and says, "Chalik, we ask you to scout around and instead you chase off the entire Tallione army. Still, it's hard for me to smile when I fear what agreement you must have made, or is it Tallione trickery at play?"

 

[Ilium]

Chalik greets his liege with a sour expression and says, "A bit of both, I fear, my lord. I'll let Lord Dartis relate the details of his arrangement, but I'm sure the Tallione command is up to no good. Even if one of them can be trusted to keep his word, they look ready to plant an axe in each other's back at the first chance."

 

[GlassEye]

Silas gazes wide-eyed at the craftsmanship of the dwarven stronghold greedily absorbing every sight. Murmuring to himself he says, "My master said the dwarves were masters of stonecraft. I never imagined..."

As the dwarves come forward to greet them Silas will return the greeting in their own language.

 

[Kobold Stew]

The parley broke, or disassembled, or withdrew. There must be a word for it Danica Swann thinks to herself.

She maintained her posture, Let Dartis lead, and as she followed, in her official capacity, she successfully resisted the urge to look back and see what the enemy were doing.

As the word goes up, and Dartis is being clapped on the back by many, Daica courtsies and withdraws to find her pack. She remebers the two guards she placed in the depths of ther cave--a silly precaution, given that we are moving out--and she goes to them and relieves them of these duties. "Thank you for your assistance; it is appreciated" is all she says.

And yet...

As they move out, there is Kel, and he has a story of Rix, whom she realizes she misses, though he's not been in her thoughts at all for the past day.

As they walk, it becomes clear that they are decending again. She notices a subtle, carved design on one of the cliff-face walls, and is proud of herself for having been so observant. We're nearing the dwarven halls she thinks. But then she looks again at the rock, and realizes that what she thought were subtle carvings were only the most obvious of a complex interlacing of patterns of hewn stone--as she looks up she sees that the entire wall has been carved, and that the etchings must extend back for at least 15 minutes of their journey. So much for being observant she thinks, and rolls her eyes at Silas, whom she is walking beside. She gives a self-effacing smile.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Dartis takes the time to explain the situation for Lender, who frowns deeply. "Damn Imperials," he says and spits. "The king won't like this at all, but at least you bought as a decent chance at survival. We can't survive a lengthy siege... not with the supplies at hand. I warn you, though, that there was a reason why our people sealed up that entrance. We encountered a strange group of savage creatures we called dwellers. The battle was hard-fought, but this happened long ago, and we don't really have a decent account on what tactics worked against them. In the tales they were a savage race, more muscle than brains. You'd best be careful down there."

The dwarves are able to get each member of the party a week's worth of trail rations and a refill on your waterskins. Kel and some of the dwarven priests are able to fully heal everyone, and you and your men are placed in the large hall that you entered into. It's large enough to place your bedrolls and lay comfortably, although some of the louder snoring from your fellow Dorinthians makes it for an uneasy night.

OOC: Please check on the OOC thread for XP for last section. I need overnight actions and special preparations, if any. Also, do you plan to bring any of the men with you into the narrow caves of the dwellers, and if so, how many?