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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 3563981" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #398] Welcome to New Mellorell[/PLAIN]Karak planted his axe haft in the soft earth and laughed - the sound seeming particularly loud in the tense atmosphere of the campsite. He nodded at the tentacled figure standing beside Huzair and said, "Well now, it seems you have our dark wizard at a disadvantage. You are in a loin cloth, yet Huzair feels more naked without all his buffs, I'll warrant ye.""All I want is my bird," Huzair hissed, his empty hands held out at his sides.Karak laughed again and pulled out the Goblet of Life. With a word, he brewed up some ale, slurped some down, and proffered the remainder to the man in the loin cloth. "After a jump like that, I figured you'n might be thirsty."Premarch Brah, the man in the loincloth, reached out one of his tentacles toward the Goblet, studying its contents with the eye at its tip. After a glance he shook his head, his lips set in a tight scowl."Premarch Brah follows an ascetic path, Karak," Premarch Rabanmar explained from his position on the edge of camp. "He believes that enlightenment comes through denial of fleshly pursuits, including the consumption of alcohol." Karak snorted and downed the cup's remainder."His loss, then," he said, wiping a hand across his wet mouth. "So where might this Sovereign, o' yers be?""We will escort you to him," Premarch Rabanmar told him. "The eyehold of New Mellorell is but a short distance to the southeast.""New Mellorell, eh? I have to say, we all be needin' to spend time in a town," the dwarf nodded. "I know I could use a good bed to go with my good ale. An' me armor and weapons need a tendin' to. A good runesmith could go a long way, too. Do ye have one of those?""We have skilled artisans. Of course," Premarch Rabanmar explained. "Lord Hofralix may permit you to make use of their services provided an agreement can be reached.""Agreement?" Ayremac asked and a trio of eyes snaked around the edge of the Premarch's hood to stare at him."Lord Hofralix will speak to you on that matter," Rabanmar told him. "For me to speak further on it would be to overstep the authority of my position in the hierarchy." Huzair groaned."Does Hofralix's hospitality include getting my familiar back safely?" the mage asked. "That is the sole reason I was ready to attack you." Premarch Rabanmar's eyes regarded the wizard coldly and he nodded once."The bird basks even now in the company of our Sovereign," the Premarch said. "Come with us to New Mellorell and he will be returned to you.""And if we don't want-" Huzair started to snap and Morier reached out and jerked his arm roughly, cutting him off. The wizard's eyes blazed into the albino's and Morier mouthed the words, "Shut up!" The expression on his face conveyed the rest of his sentiment: "Or I'll kill you myself!""I reckon we can go with ye," Karak said, hefting his waraxe."I must take a moment to commune with my goddess before we depart," Shamalin interjected quickly and Karak studied her face for a moment before nodding."It'll take us a few minutes to break camp," he said. "Ye do what ye need to in that time."The two Premarchs retreated to the edge of camp while the the Order went about the process of breaking down camp and Shamalin knelt in prayer."I feel like I'm being marched to my execution, here," Huzair grumbled to Morier as they stowed bedrolls. Ayremac approached and looked gravely at the wizard."Huzair, could I have a word..." he asked, beckoning for the mage to follow him a discreet distance away. Huzair looked at Morier and rolled his eyes, but he stood up and followed. As he went he produced a pair of cigars, offering one to Ayremac. The holy warrior declined."I am not one for idle threats, or pompous posturing," Ayremac told him in a conversational tone. "I don't need to be the leader and I don't need to be always right, but I do need respect." Huzair lit his cigar and exhaled a column of smoke toward the night sky."Uh huh," he said, the mage said, his own tone was disinterested."I understand that you were upset over the apparent loss of Sparky, but you flash to anger and disrespect too quickly for my liking," the Officer of Umba told him and Huzair snorted laughter."Damn straight, I am upset. I want my bird back," the wizard replied. "If you have not noticed, I am the type of guy to flash to anger. Just roll with it, angel." He gave Ayremac a companionable punch on the arm, but the holy warrior was unmoved."I am going to say this one last time," he said. "Do not disrespect me again like that or it will come to blows between you and I." At that Huzair's jaw dropped open."For Lisori's sake, if Morier hit me every time I went off on him, I'd be black and blue... already black, though... ha. My quick reaction is a curse and a gift at the same time," the wizard defended. "I have never seen us so well prepared for battle as we were after my outburst. Thus the gift. Hurt feelings can be the curse. Take the bad with the good.""I will not be disrespected by you, Huzair. Regardless how much of a gift you consider your flippant tongue to be," Ayremac said simply. "I will not be called an idiot. You will treat me with respect or your mouth will get soap every time it's needed." Huzair sighed and shook his head slowly."It would not be the first time my words have gotten me into a fight, but just a warning, fly boy. I am not some bookworm that can be pushed around and I do fight dirty. I learned that on the streets of Farmin, so be ready if you want a piece of me," the wizard told him. "I hope it does not come to that. It would be bad for both of us." Huzair started to walk away and then turned back, pointing at Ayremac with his cigar. "By the way you should be happy; YOU WERE RIGHT! That is as close as you will get to an apology, so I would be happy with that, if I were you. And you were not the one who lost someone you cared about. How would you react if that happened to you? Hmm? I bet the same way. More a alike that you would like eh, big guy?" Now it was Ayremac's turn to laugh dismissively."We are nothing alike, Huzair," Ayremac told him. "I am going to say this one last time; do not disrespect me again like that or it will come to blows between you and I." Then he turned and walked away."The enemy of your enemy is sometimes your friend," Shamalin whispered to Karak and Ayremac as they tramped along through the woods following the two Premarchs. The shadowy forms of elven archers darted through the forest around them as they travelled, making no more noise than smoke. "When I cast my Divination, I asked 'What will be the outcome of being honest and forthcoming with the Sovereign of the Dominion of the Final Forge?' and that's what I got for an answer.""Cryptic," Karak observed and Ayremac nodded."That is the way of thing with such spells," he said. "The gods almost always leave themselves open to interpretation.""Still, it seems rather positive," Shamalin said and Karak nodded."Aye. It seems that this Final Forge holds no love for Aphyx," the dwarf said, spitting thickly after speaking the Rot Queen's name. "That at least be somethin'.""I'll try to speak with our guides to find out more," Shamalin said and hustled forward toward Premach Rabanmar. For the next hour she attempted to engage them in conversation in order to gather information about their soon-to-be host. But apart from learning that they did not worship Sato, the god of order, but rather an entity known as the Void Mother, they were tight-lipped deferring constantly to their Sovereign. Lord Hofralix would answer all her questions in due course.After a time, the more attentive amongst the Order noticed the dwindling number of elves who were accompanying them on their journey, and soon, they vanished altogether, leaving the Order alone with the two enigmatic Premarchs. Only Ayremac looked up and spotted the ornate wooden buildings built onto clever platforms amongst the canopy overhead, and so realized that they had in fact entered an elven settlement. He pointed out to those around him, the thin, wide-eyed faces of dark-haired elves staring down from above and soon the Order was walking along without watching where they were going. The elven houses were uniformly breathtaking structures of crystal, glass, and living wood whose outlines merged into the surrounding foliage with graceful ease. Here and there they spotted narrow rope bridges connecting one tree to another and surmised that both must contain a dwelling although they were often invisible to casual observation.The trees opened up somewhat when they reached a stream of cold water that meandered through a shallow gully. They followed along it to the south for a few hundred yards until they reached a spot where flat stones had been sunk into the river to allow passage. The two Premarchs moved over them as easily as they traversed the well-worn path, but for Shamalin and Karak the crossing was treacherous and required a delay as they carefully picked their way from stone to stone. On the other side of the river they spied some incongruous dwellings of wood and animal hides which were dug into the earth in concentric rings about an elaborate stone fire pit in which a fire blazed. The buildings were familiar to both Shamalin and Ayremac as designs common amongst the southern barbarians.Beyond the cluster of dwellings rose a bluff with narrow steps carved into its face. The steps slanted upwards at a steep angle before vanishing at the top of the rise. They could see the tops of monolithic standing stones at the bluff's summit, but the Premarchs led them to a perfectly round opening in the side of the hill.There was firelight within the cave, but Karak didn't need any light to see that the place wasn't natural. It cut straight into the hill, its sides perfectly even and perfectly smooth apart from a narrow bit of flattened earth at the bottom that served as a walkway. After a distance of sixty feet or so, the passage opened abruptly into a huge, spherical chamber every bit as smooth as the passageway. It was empty and featureless apart from the Everburning Flames that lit the place and another treacherously steep flight of stairs that cut down from the passageway to a similar opening set into the floor."What is this?" Ayremac hissed, looking all around."This is my audience chamber," answered a voice from the well in the floor of the chamber. It was deep and underscored with the same insectile buzzing that had underscored Premarch Rabanmar's. And then the speaker rose up from the well and they forgot all else. It floated upward from the round shaft, seeming to hang in the air before them. Its spherical body was covered with chitinous plates with a central, unblinking eye above a large maw filled with daggerlike teeth. Smaller eyes, attached to wriggling stalks, sprouted from the top of the orblike body, each glittering like multi-facetted gems in the light from the Everburning Flames.The gaze from its central eye fell upon the group and everyone felt their magical gear suppressed by a powerful anti-magic field. "I am Lord Hofralix, Sovereign of the eyehold of New Mellorell, and representative of the Dominion of the Final Forge. I would start our negotiations by asking what you know of the Dominion of Flesh Reborn."</blockquote>

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