RP:A Meeting of Minds

From HollowWiki

Part of the Conquest:The Return of the Prek Arc


Summary: The Duergar Dergious oversees the delivery of weapons and a powerful tactical mind into the hands of the Preklek High command. The mind of the fallen Black Dragon Helich is placed into a Preklek body, Gualon's leader agrees to a betrayal of the remainder of the Lands in return for aid with city defenses.

Characters: Hepti, Dergious, Terra, Tristram, Triyul/Helich

LOCATION: Gualon; Near the Preklek Portal


Hepti trundles into view, at the head of a small caravan of high-sided wagons, their contents covered by sheets of sun-bleached canvas. The oxen pulling them seem quite tired, and the orc drivers and guard seem drained as well, as if from a long faring. Agonizingly slowly, they approach. At long last they arrive, the wagons creaking to a halt at Hepti's upraised hand. The smith looks Terra up and down in a very rude manner, and turns to Dergious. "Here," he grunts, apparently more moody than usual today.

Dergious said to Terra, "I gots stuff afoot! Mind yer own, less I be thinkin ye be a problem."

Dergious nods and eyes the wagons, "Dem pig snouted orcs do der jobs?" He asks, ignoring the man's mood.

Terra did not mind her own - obviously. She continued to stare and study the pair and the oxen. She would eavesdrop and steal glances, especially at the wagon since the contents remained concealed.

Hepti shrugs, and waves a hand at the wagons. "Aye, dey made it here without spillin' da goods." He inhales deeply, and spits. "An' at least dey be smellin' better dan dat one." Here, he indicates Terra, disgust written on every swarthy feature.

Dergious chuckles and eyes the woman, "Nuttin fer it. We dun be needin da attention guttin er would bring our way." he says, once again turning his eyes upon the wagons. "Dis be whut, eight er nine shipments?"

Hepti squints out over the caravan, nodding. "Da ninth. Da others should be passed out an' broken in by now. Cheaply made stuff, da lot, but better dan da clumsy lizards deserve."

Terra dropped to a seat on the incline. It wasn't comfortable but it allowed her the chance to subtly sniff the air around her, searching for the source of the awful smell they spoke of. She would wait and watch them a moment longer since they were content to talk about her as though she didn't sit nearby, staring. "Why are you doing this in Gualon?"

Dergious said to you, "Yer werst be better'n da surface scum's best. Dey be gettin whut dey be payin fer an den sum."

Hepti ignores Terra altogether, as if she never spoke at all. "Ya, dat be true. I be anxious to get dis done...how many boys dey got back dere? How many more shipments need be done? Da slave smiths be dyin', weak scum dat dey be, an' findin' more be gettin' harder."

Tristram was alerted to the latest portal traffic by a watchful street urchin, who sent a runner after the dragon and directed him down back alleys and toward the arena. He wasn't so concerned with movement into the portal as he was out of it. He came in at the tail-end of a mumbled threat; eyes darkened and step quickened until he reached Terra's side and assumed a casual stance there, one brow held at an arrogant, posturing angle. "Hello," was spoken to no one in particular.

Dergious said to Terra, "None o' yers, girly. "

Terra shrugged towards Tristram's arrival and Hepti's dismissal. Casually there was a mention of, "They think I smell. I feel it's a compliment."

Dergious stomps over to Tristram and looks up at the man. "Dis be arranged! Ye knows it arredy!"

Hepti eyes Tristram warily, obviously displeased at the additional company. "If dis one be ours, den make it get rid o' da other one. She don't be needed, an' it will prove dat dis one be truly bought."

Triyul :: Something materializes out of that portal. A being. A creature. A lizard-man. A tall, lithely framed male with just the tiniest hint of a snout - but with sharp teeth jutting out from every available crevice of his jaw. It was wary whilst it regarded the gathered - wary whilst it clung close to the portal it had only recently stepped from, "You are here." Words loud enough to carry over the empty arena, "All has been arranged."

Triyul :: This creature, Preklek by name - it seemed a timid thing. An ants bite hurt worse when they came en masse. He seemed content, if not -intent- on speaking only to the duergar. The rest may well not even exist.

Tristram said to Dergious, "I'm aware. Harming my lady friend here would void this arrangement. And now, to appease my ... displeasure ... I would like to meet our ... friend. Can you arrange that?" Tristram stared at the Preklek. He'd seen them before, of course - the portal was in his damn city after all - but he wanted to see this particular preklek.

Dergious said to Tristram, "Aye, ye'll be meetin im soon enuff. After dat shipment be gettin delivered!"

Triyul :: The Preklek took Dergious' words and contorted them into a request, a nod followed. It turned, and disappeared back into the portal.

Hepti glowers at Triyul in a truly frightening manner, but nods all the same. "We be here. It all be arranged, true 'nough. How many more be needed? I wanna get dese cows an' pigs back on da road, if need be fer more."

Terra took the cues for what they were and turned to Tristram with a half-smile. "Be seeing you." So she left without another look back to avoid further resentment.

Tristram said to Dergious, "Everything is arranged?"

Dergious said to Tristram, "Yep, provided ye be lettin us get on wit our werk dat is."

Tristram said to Dergious, "By all means." He gestured, but made no attempt to leave, or grant the duergar privacy. "Don't let me keep you from your work."

Triyul exits the portal this time. And by that exit, it looked nearly as if he were shoved out. Or kicked. The few stumbling, off-balance steps he took forward soon brought him straightening back out eyes on Dergious, Hepti - lingering a moment on Tristram - before settling finally on Dergious. "They said --" He seemed a bit...out of it, a bit off-key in voice and gaze alike. "I meet your...requirements? Let us -- finish this, my people await the payment."

Dergious spins away from Tristram, and nods to Hepti. "lets get im movin along! I knows ye gots elsewhere te be bein."

Hepti puts two grubby fingers to his mouth and emits a piercing whistle. At once, the orcs stab with their goads, fresh blood running down the legs of the oxen as they begin to move, hauling their heavy wagons straight toward the portal. The orcs look nervous, but they hold for now.

Terra loitered after the brief conversation to continue her silent observations. Triyul was eyed for a moment before she looked back to Tristram, an eyebrow raised.

Dergious watches the caravan for a moment before turning to Triyul. The dwarf walks around the preklek, examining him like one might a horse before purchase. He stops and looks into the creature's eyes, and when he speaks his voice is liquid and smooth. There is power in both his eyes and his words. "Kneel, an blank yer mind! Yer mine, heart an soul till I be sayin utherwise."

Tristram said to Dergious, "Speaking of payments ...."

Tristram tried to be diplomatic by not being as blunt as the preklek.

Tristram grumbled something about barbarism that only Terra would likely be able to hear. But he didn't seem to care enough about the apparent cruelty by putting any stop to it. In fact, he looked a bit smug -- even ... self-satisfied, perhaps.

Dergious turns away from the preklek and eyes Tristram with a scowl, "Aye, yer gettin yers bub... as agreed."

Triyul knelt. Duty was lighter than a feather, heavier than a mountain. "I see." It dawned on him slowly - the caravan. All of it. A prayer began to emit from those thin, reptilian lips.

Hepti cannot resist peering into the preklek's face as well, obviously taking a sort of perverse delight in the capture of the unwitting soldier. The caravan moves on without him, the covered crates with in clanking loudly as they hit each bump and dip.

Tristram said to Dergious, "And armaments for my city? You will command a faction of the prekleks to aid in restructuring some of our failing defenses?"

Terra did not know all the details of the arrangement but what she could see caused her to scowl and avert her gaze elsewhere. Not a word would be said against any of .

Dergious places his greasy, filthy hands on either side of Triyul's head and the crown atop his head suddenly glitters in the moonlight. The dwarf's eyes roll backwards as his will is unleashed with a terrible and furious finality. The unsuspecting mind of the preklek, so weak and so trusting, is eradicated. The mind of the creature is simply crushed beneath the horribly fury of the dwarf's power. The preklek slumps to the ground, limp and weak. "Now... now lets see whut happens." he says to no one in particular as he produces a crystal that thrums with an inner light. He holds it to the fallen preklek's temple, and it's light fades slowly until the preklek stirs. "Stand!" the dwarf growls, "Stand an present yerself!"

Hepti's cackling fills the air as, having seen the mind leave the preklek, the smith fades into the shadows, content. The darkness seems to embrace him, swallowing him up. The sound of his laughter fades with him into the night.

Triyul :: Quiet darkness. A dark room. Only the a feeling told him there were walls at all. Dreamless. Timeless. A flash of light, rushing water - rolling dunes. Wind. Nay. Light - in the darkness. A rumbling noise, what was noise? He knew noise. He remembered noise. A distant voice, an echo - soon the world came up to meet his body - he felt as if he'd been plummeted to the ground. The air. It was out of his lungs, his eyes opened - the dark hurt them. So noisy. So much noise now. what was noise? He knew noise. Nay. Crickets. Somewhere far off. He heard them. Breathing. So much breathing. His own. Them. Who? It felt different. No wings. No tail. Legs. He could move them. Toes first. Yes. Fingers next, eyes squinted up - Dergious. That smell. Nay. This was not right. None of it. A flash of light. Breathing grew easier. The world stopped being ablur. He was...Helich. And he did not take commands from anyone. An armoured hand reaches for the Duergar's throat much sooner than he'd expected. He had speed. It clutched tightly against the scruff of his neck. He had strength. In a fury he pulled Dergious just inches from his face, froth, spittle - the words were beyond a growl, the darkest noise from the deepest pit - "Who are you to tell me what to do?"

Dergious meets the Preklek's eyes, holds them with his own. As he speaks, a pair of daggers lift from his belt and moves to Triyul's back. The move to creases in the armor's design, where they might find flesh. The do not strike, and the dwarf's words are light and easy. "Bah! I be da un dat saved yerself frum dat cold, dark ferever. Lemme down an listen, cuz ye gots a second chance cuz o meself."

Triyul slowly released him. The words struck home a truth - his death flashed before him. Every detail vivid. But devoid of feeling. "Speak." It was still in front of his eyes - that memory. Eyes that still held Dergious' own. They were a small trickle. Points in time. The past. But the personality was there. The accent, the arrogance. "Speak."

Dergious rubs his neck, wincing. He points to the portal, "Der be yer new home!" he says simply. "Dem preks wanna be runnin thru de land o' yer birth." He stomps around the man, once again examining the work like a prized steer. "Dey no gots whut it be takin. Dey no be havin it afore, an nuthin's changed... cept yerself." His face splits open in a grin, "I dun gave yerself a new life... an I dun gave dem yerself. A native wit knowledge dey be lackin! A man o' war, an o' power an a leader!" his voice is nearly manic, "Ye gots a werld te be conquerin!"

Triyul still didn't stand. But he sat up, elbows on knees. "You -- you brought me back to conquer? The last time -- I only got as that rag tag village before my orcs were killed." He was calm. Calmer, his voice teetered with anger flaring, subsiding - threatening to come agian. A sigh. "How many do they have? I had little under a thousand -- no no.." The Eyrie. That trickle was growing, ever so slowly. Everything going backward from his death. Every memory, interaction, flashing before his eyes - he could drown the audio out. A blind man, negotiating, was a blind man negotiating. As simple as that.

Dergious said to Triyul, "*chuckles evily* Dey be makin as many as ye be needin! Dey gots resources ye no be havin afore, an weapons supplied by me an mine! Gualon be off limits, in return fer free passage te da lands beyond it. Ye gots an army. Ye gots da will. Ye gots all ye be needin... but do ye gots da stones?"

Triyul said to Dergious, "Why? Why do you want this?"

Dergious said to Triyul, "Why do ye be carin? Jes be knowin dat I be gettin whuts mine, an dats all. Think o' it. Yer people await ye."