RP:Evil Courses to Guide Dwindling Forces

From HollowWiki

Part of the Thy Kingdom Come Arc


Summary: Balgruuf summons Trajek to discuss his plans for their recent captive, Josleen. Trajek doesn't miss his opportunity to bring up the significant military difficulties that Frostmaw now faces, but Balgruuf is more interested in Hildegarde. After explaining his plan to kill Josleen, Balgruuf goes on to confess his motivations to the paladin. Their business thus concluded, Trajek leaves to go check on their prisoner.


Frostmaw Fort

Trajek had kept himself busy since the glorious disaster of Balder's death. Many things must be done if Frostmaw was to survive. Defenses needed to be raised---wherever Trajek walked, he saw indefensible positions. Too many places, too many walls, and too many corners with far, far too few giants to man them all. The dead needed to be mourned---He walked past the pyres, bowing his head in silent regard to each and every giant so foolishly killed by the son of the man he marched to see. Too many defenses; too few giants. The numbers ran through his mind, and the ledger was always in the red. He came into the Fort much the way he left it before; dirty, his armor in desperate need for repair, his old eyes as lifeless in defeat as Balgruuf's own son. "You wish to see me, King?" He said, though he did not kneel. Even Balgruuf would be able to see that what weighed on him was too heavy for him to lift if he had.


Balgruuf stands before the great tapestry depicting the Gray Dragon's fall. He startles when addressed, and turns to glance over his shoulder. "Are you that confident? To address me like that?" It's a glum question. The giant looks like he could go on, but he bites back whatever he'd planned to say. "Don't answer that, and don't flatter me with any titles I haven't earned," Balgruuf takes a deep breath, "yet. I've been thinking about what to do with our captive, that Josleen girl." Raising one hand, the giant clenches and unclenches it, studying his knuckles, his rings. "We have a unique opportunity, here Trajek," the gloom in his voice had been replaced a cool, calculating edge, "and I'm ready to use her. We've captured a precious pawn." His eyes slide to his strategist. "I've been thinking."


Trajek dipped his head when Balgruuf asks of confidence, but even his attempt at faking it fails. He was ordered to not answer the question, so the old man does not. He walks up to where Balgruuf stood to eye the great tapestry. There was a history here he was not familiar with, a story he had heard one time, perhaps. "Something as majestic as this came at a cost. Those it depicts died for it, and those who made it sacrificed some parts of themselves to see it built. Death and sacrifice, Balgruuf. You have given and have been given those things more than most. That alone has earned you as much honor as this tapestry." He was quick to end his reassuring proclamation when the giant mentions their newest captive. "What do you have in mind?"


Balgruuf grits his jaw, looking less than soothed by Trajek's reassurances. Turning away from the tapestry altogether, he tries to put it out of mind, and he takes to pacing, arms folded behind his back, fingers interclasped, eyes on the floor. "The thought of her won't leave me alone, you see. She is close," a twitch jerks at his cheek, "to Hildegarde. Very close." One hand pulls free so he can wipe it down his face, tug at his beard. "It occurred to me, and now I can't dismiss, rather," Balgruuf shoots Trajek a sharp glance, "there is no alternative. Hildegarde will come for Josleen," his fist clenches suddenly and firmly enough to have his knuckles cracking, "and I will kill her while that scaly bitch watches."


Trajek turned as Balgruuf turned, and whereas Balgruuf crossed his arms, the old man tucked his behind his back. He listened with the greatest intent, his eyes as far off as the distant stars that bring what little light and heat to this land. He waited until the plan was allocuted in full before he began to pace from end to end of the tapestry. "I have fought her when she is angered," Trajek said more to himself than Balgruuf, more to the assessment of the presented plan than advice. "When she is determined, she is a force. When she is angered and determined, the only person who could stop her would be herself. She would bring the whole city down upon our heads if you killed her in front of her." Planning and pacing. Pacing and planning. He stopped, he turned, and he sighed. "We must have a two pronged attack. While Hildegarde is here watching her friend die, we should gather what army we have left and attack her forces. Without their leader present, we would have an easier time breaking them. If Hildegarde was able to escape, she would have no army to return to."


Balgruuf walks over to lean against the back of a chair. Trajek's warnings don't elicit much of a reaction. "Don't tell me what I know," the aging giant mutters back at him, dismissing the risks. Trajek's justifications, on the other hand, have him nodding along concurrently. "First she finds her Josleen dead on the flagstones," satisfaction enters his eyes, "then she leaves the rest of her merry misfits dead in the snow. If you can do this, Trajek," a pointed breath breaks his words, and Balgruuf must resume pacing to keep his mind moving forward, "her spirit will be crushed. The Steward won't fight when she hasn't anything left to fight for." He swallows, studying the floor once more. "This is our advantage against her. We will make it our advantage, and," he nods, "I will be glad to see her suffer. I can tell you this, Trajek," another nod, "I can, because there's no harm in it now. Nothing will please me more than to cause her pain."


Trajek had his mind deep within his mental ledger: who could be called upon, who could be spared, and what risks were slight enough to take. Red, again, is what he saw, though this time its hue was dark as blood. "It can be done, but it would be our final assault. No matter the victory nor the loss, we would only be able to put up a marginal defense of Frostmaw onward." He stopped his own pacing and stared at Balgruuf with eyes that would most certainly give him pause in his own thoughts of revenge. "We will need to discuss our final plan soon. This war is coming to a close, and we must be prepared to do what is necessary to make sure the Steward has no crown to wear nor throne to sit upon should we fail." Dark thoughts. Dark deeds. His plan was known by all who listened before Balder's needless demise. "But that can wait for another day. I will go see to preparations and make sure the prisoner remains alive."


Balgruuf feels Trajek's stare, and he meets it with a glance, a brief one at that, for he's quick to look away and walk toward the nearest wall of trophies. He swallows at the mention of final plans. "Quite right. This is the road we've chosen, and there's no turning back on it now." Balgruuf's set like cement, it seems. "I trust you to see to it, and," he hesitates, "thank you, Trajek. I know I've only just summoned you, but, yes, do go. Do go." The giant is careful to keep his back to the human.


Trajek walks out of the Fort like a boss.