RP:Failed Diplomacy with Dragons

From HollowWiki

Satoshi is on her way toward the cliffside gates when a shout is made by one of the guards. Eyes narrowing in suspicion, the magus quickens her step until she's drawn closer and can spy the familiar-looking visitor halted at the entrance, two Frost Giants towering over him with firm grasps upon their weapons. "If you're here to desecrate our graves, I advise you return to Vailkrin," Lady Frostmaw calls, her melodious voice carrying through the frigid air without being raised.


Firewing looks over to the cat and smiles, his Staff Flaming and melting a tiny bit of the snow on the ground. "ahh...Miss Satoshi...Always a pleasure...and I -did- restore the grave back to it's original form..."


Satoshi arches a brow in feigned surprise. "-After- you used it as your personal lounge," she retorts, while one of the guards grunts in frustration. "What brings a sand bug this far north?"


Firewing smiles, still behind the guards. "I have business to discuss with you...it's extremely important...involving my desert, but...umm...I can't talk when I'm behind these two...may we go somewhere more private?..."


Satoshi returns the smile, albeit her expression is considerably more vulpine. "No." Nonetheless, the kit gestures for the two guards to stand aside and reluctantly they take steps backwards, making themselves unobtrusive while still capable of leaping between dragon and foxkin. Another gesture, and a half-sung word, conjures Satoshi's golem from the ice behind her so that the lumbering construct can tower over its creator protectively--a shameless display of the cryomancer's distrust. "Only a fool speaks in private, when the Lord Leech wants their head. Speak here, or not at all."


Firewing smiles at her and laughs. "Wisdom...One of the best qualities a leader must have...I must say, I am truly impressed, miss Satoshi...Very well, out here would work, very much so..." he walks towards her, his Flaming staff losing it's fire as it returns to a Normal, Black, Staff. He smiles at her kindly, but his eyes show evil and malice.


Firewing said, "now...I propose a Deal...your new "Royal proclamation" has caused me some trouble...I have not been able to fly north and hunt for my very special Yeti-meat...Everytime I even get near these mountains, I must turn around and fly back to my desert..."


Satoshi's own staff finds itself manifesting within her grasp, and with a bored, casual air the magus leans against the glacial length of the Xalious tree weapon. "Then my proclamation is doing multiple forms of good, as the yeti tribes are an ally of Frostmaw. If you think I care that it inconveniences a poacher or two, you're sorely mistaken. State your 'deal', sand bug, and be done with it. I resisted the urge to kill you when you disrespected Ginger's funeral, because it was Jolie's territory and her place to act. I do -not- have such inhibitions here."


Firewing looks at Satoshi with pure hatred and anger. "Well...I propose a deal...I shall let any of your members, Any of the Frostmaw, or allied too the Frostmaw to enter my desert...and come out alive...If you remove the Proclamation...not for all dragons, at least for me..."


Firewing smiles with kindness, however, his eyes show Greed, Hatred, and Malice...


Satoshi said to Firewing, "The people of Frostmaw are born warriors, raised to fight and destroy. I've seen desertkin from the Useless Desert before, and they've all been broken under the people that call my land home. You offer me nothing we're not quite capable of taking ourselves." With a pause she hefts her staff and bounces it upon her shoulder in a decidedly bored gesture, meeting the dragon's gaze unflinchingly. "I hunt your kind for pleasure. You're trying my patience and making that hobby highly tempting right now."


Ranok appears at the gate to the frosty lands that were their namesake. He didn't have a cloak tightly wrapped around him, amazingly enough. But he did have his mask pulled tight over his head and his duster's collar was yanked up around his neck. Said duster was firmly closed to the elements, and a pair of goggles inhabited his face. In his hand was a stave that occasionally coiled the air around it with some sort of magic. He strolls up to the guards on patrol, as neatly as you please. And waited for the challenge.


Firewing glares at Satoshi with pure Anger. "Miss Satoshi...perhaps you do not know who I am...I am Firewing the Red...and I -always- get what I want..." his robes begin to ripple with sheer magic power, small flames appearing behind him out of anger.


Satoshi's guards bristle at the second figure strolling up, and as they did before, they stride forward and call out, "Halt. State your name and business." Satoshi glances between the masked one and the dragon, grip tightening upon her staff as her golem shifts restlessly.


Satoshi said to Firewing, "I don't care if you're Sven's left ball, you do not demand anything of me aside from death." The very permafrost rumbles beneath their feet, a reminder that he stands upon Frostmaw's lands, a weapon under the queen's control. "Think before you speak."


Firewing calms down and smiles as he bows before her. "My apologies..." He then quickly stands up and looks at her. "I shall be off now...do watch yourself though..." he then turns around and strolls away, walking straight past Ranok, Glaring at him with pure anger as he begins his Long journey back down the Mountain.


Satoshi whistles, the ice before Firewing rearing up in the form of a behemoth serpent with fangs bared. "I highly advise you rethink those words."


Ranok makes no attempt to lie, "Ranok. Hy em here to pass through. See a few pipple." He produces prior established credentials. He had been in the land before, after all.


Satoshi glances briefly at the guards that step back from Ranok, his credentials approved of and the dragon's threats not going ignored. The pair move to flank Firewing, axes brandished. "Sir Clink, you have odd timing," the magus calls by way of greeting.


Firewing smiles as he continues leaving, not saying a word, as his form quickly begins to speed up somehow. Suddenly his form turns into a large Ball of Fire as it speeds down the mountain


Satoshi yawns. "I'll have to make a trip into the desert soon. Feckin' lizards are getting uppity again."


Ranok strools right on through the checkpoint, tucking the credentials into a pocket. Sato was spotted right off the bat. Well, that certainly made his life a little easier. He goes to the magus, stepping around the refugee camp as he does.


Satoshi said to Ranok, "What brings you up here, Clinks? I thought you hated the cold."


Ranok reaches up to give Sato a slight tip of the hat, "Hy deal vith vat Hy hate in my own vays." The smith had pockets of warmth emanating from points of his body. What was making them was impossible to tell, as they came from inside the duster. His hand lowers. "Und Hy em not so clinky hennymore." His armor, too, had been overhauled. Less metal, more ghroudium weave. It produced a much lighter, more mobile attire at the cost of a significant amount of protection when compared to the plate. On the upside, the duster was really snazzy. The tail of it, where it fluttered in the wind, gave bare glimpses of the interior. What could be caught of it was pitch black, and strewn with motes of light, but these glimpses would be fleeting at best. "Hy em here to speak to hyu, actually."


Satoshi sends a fleeting glance in the direction the fiery upstart had left before shrugging and looking back to Ranok, offering him a tip of her own hat. "I'll miss the music of your walk, then. What is it you wished to speak of?"


Ranok gets right to business, "As hyu know, de Parasite hes taken a goot mhenny kities viddout a fight. It's bolstered his numbers effortlessly, it seems. It seems dat nev measures need to be taken." He looks at Sato, "Frankly, , it's time doze uf Rynvale hernessed de dragons natiff to de lund. Und Hy tink it's time Hy've learned how to fly, too."


Satoshi tips her head to one side, ignoring the disgruntled mumblings of the guards who were denied the pleasure of dragon-pummeling by a fiery escape. She looks over Ranok with new interest, not unfamiliar with the way the man works, and his constant strive forward. "I think we can manage both those, and I've a few ideas on how to. You know where we spoke last. Find me there, and we'll discuss it further."


Ysmir wanders out into the snow, bruised and battered but more confidant now. She had put on an excellent display, earning her a place to train. The cold didn't bother her in the least, even in just her cloth and mail, and she decided to wander back to the gates of frostmaw to see them once more... she was surprised to find Ranok, and some others that she didn't know, at the gate, and quickly started trying to judge the mood, confusion apparent on her face.


Ranok nods somberly. The scorch marks where Firewing made his flashy escape were glanced at, "Indeed. Hy vill make my vay dere." And off he goes, duster trailing after him like a thing alive.


Satoshi after a moment more scrutinizing the cliff path, Satoshi makes to follow after Ranok and his duster, only to pause at the stranger lingering within the city limits. The lack of the guards' challenges suggest to the kit that this one has already been granted access, but Satoshi can't help eyeing her from head to two nonetheless. "You're an unfamiliar face," she states simply.


Ysmir looks back at the Queen of Frostmaw, with absolutely no idea who she is. "I noticed you were here with Ranok, whom I have wanted to speak with... and I only recently came to Frostmaw, with the healer Sophie, to tend to teh wounded elves and learn to fight." Her muscles were stiff and stiff and bruised under her light cloth and mail armor, but she did not shiver in the slightest in the wind. One particularly nasty looking bruise had caught her under the chin, but it almost seemed to melt away as they spoke.


Satoshi said to Ysmir, "Ah~, one of Sophie's. Welcome then." Giving the bruised woman a dip of the head, Satoshi begins moving along the path in the direction Ranok departed, her golem on her heels. "I imagine you'll see Ranok in the area again soon, if you're seeking him. I'll let him know, if you've a name to give?"


Ysmir said, "oh, forgive my lack of manners. My name is Ysmir. I am... from very far away, a place of little reknown."


Satoshi nods once more, by way of greeting and farewell. "Satoshi Azakhaer. And I'll be sure to tell him."


Ysmir thought for a moment, thinking she knew the name as Satoshi walked away. Once she realized where she had heard it, her knees turned to jelly. She had just informally addressed the Queen of Frostmaw. She stood there like a fish as satoshi walked away, mouth agape, only in small part because the queen of Frostmaw was a feline that smelled of vampirism.


Satoshi told Kasyr, "*a nudge through the frostband* That fellow with the airship plan is scheming again, this time with dragons, if you're curious. *something of a mental shrug follows*"




Satoshi enters the cavern and, once the golem has passed through the entrance, a blaze of blue light covers the opening. Peering closely at Ranok, she says simply, "Speak. Wards will keep your words here."


Ranok waits in the cavern for Sato to come by. As he had left first, it stood to reason that he'd make it there first. He say on a convenient rock formation, with a bit of metal in his hands. In his hands was also some scalpel or cutting instrument, and it looks like he was inscribing something into the metal itself. When Sato enters, he looks up, tucking it into a pocket. His formerly preoccupied hand turns upwards, "Vat Hy hed saeed earlier iz vat Hy veeshed to schpeak uf. It hain't very much uf a secret. As much as Hy'd like it to, de konstruction und trainink uf an aeronautics segment uf henny military kan' eksactly be hidden."


A shake of her head is given before Satoshi answers, "Whether that's hidden or not, various ideas should not be voiced in the open. I've learned that lesson before. Even if they're ideas we won't use, -he- may very well choose to twist them to his own use. Better safe than sorry."


Ranok gives a half shrug, "Hy don' discuss business in public hennyvays, so it doze vork out. Hennyvays. It vas simple. Rynvale hes a large amount uf native dragons. It iz reachink de end uf hatchink season. Now vould be de time to grab zum uf de young, yah?" He remains sitting on the rock formation. "Ve hef measure in place to stop invasion...but bolsterink our numbers vould be goot."


Leaning back against her golem, Satoshi listens while thinking and nodding. "Aye, now is a good time for gathering young. And eggs that haven't hatched yet. Dragons are more compliant, when they haven't impressed upon their own kind first. Rynvale's are a tad more feral than most, but that works well if you've got druids, mages, and the sort capable of coaxing animals into obedience. And I know a few psions that could help with that. They're familiar with saurian minds."


Ranok waves a hand, "Ve'll deal vith it ven it komes. Vat iz a larger problem iz acceleratink de growth uf de hyung. Hetchlinks do no goot ven de men vo vant to ride den are bigger by several times. It vould be mondds before dey grev to de point vere trainink vould be feasible. On dis, Hy hef no sane schortcut to use." He frowns at that.


Satoshi muses aloud, "Accelerating a dragon's age is dangerous business, and rarely attempted. Those that -have- fail, often fatally. They're far too magical a creature to think flooding them with magic or potions will go well. And even if you were successful, they'd have skipped over vital learning and development periods. You'd have a fleet of overgrown hatchlings in the air, more concerned with chasing glints of light than fighting a threat. Your best bet isn't the younglings, but turning the grown ones to your cause. We've managed something of the sort here, with the help of psionics, dragonkin, and the like."


Ranok stands up and paces, slightly. His breath came out in puffs of air, but he wasn't shivering. What was keeping him warm was still going, obviously, "Every adult vould be a schtruggle. Doze formulatiff years? Dey vouldn' hef been schpent in society. Vat hyu propose...iz to kompletely und utterly break der minds in helf in order to injeck vat ve kan use und piggyback uff der motor functions."


"What you desire is nothing short of slavery," she murmurs, eyes narrowed, "I won't help with that. Nudges in the desired direction is one thing. Breaking minds and controlling the body are the foul tricks of the Leech. I don't play his games. I -earn- my allies, not make them." The kit grits her teeth and shakes her head, before adding, "I've given you the options and methods we use in the Eyrie, but I won't stoop to the parasite's level."


Ranok makes a pacifying gesture, "Kalm. Vat Hy say vould be necessity. Feral dragons are chust dat. Feral. Dey're intelligent, but dey lack basic schtructure. Hyu see? Onless Hy misunderstund dem. Hy hed assumed dat de feral dragons hed tinks such as a lack uf schpeech und a luv uf tiny tinks dat dey formerly ate." He shakes his head slightly, "Hy mean to enslaff no vun. A dragon's intelligence iz useful. Vat dey vould lack iz de knowledge. Yah? Hall dey know are schiny tinks und de schtruggle to surviff. Feral dragons are schmaller den vuns kept in kaptiff. Hy suppose vat needs to be done iz both. Raise hyung und feral vuns."


"Ferals -can- be won over, exactly because of their love of the shiny things. As well as their highly territorial nature. Harness those, and their pride, and you control the dragon willingly. It's done best with the use of the higher-intellect dragons serving as diplomats. Not something that tends to run long term, but it -can- be used to turn them against the Leech, and his pets in Gamorg."


Ranok rubs his hands together. Perhaps the cold was finally getting to him, "Hy vill hef to be schown. In de meantime, Hy tink perheps odder options uf flight ought to be perused. Dere hef to be kreatures dat kan be trained to fly faster. Hm. Gryphons are possible. A month und dey're mostly fully grown."


Satoshi nods mildly. "Gryphons are also easily obtained, fully mature wons are generally willing to work alongside you. Wyverns and drakes likewise, weaker than dragons, but faster, smaller, and trainable. We employ both and more in the Eyrie, along with the occasional phoenix and such."


Ranok gains a thoughtful expression, "Dragons are useful. But dey're known. Ekspected. Dere hes to be zum eksotic kreature dat ve kould herness to turn de tides. An onknown element, so to schpeak . Dere are a great number uf eksotic kreatures roem de lunds, no?"


A chuckle precedes Satoshi's answer, "So much so that the truly exotic are the mundane~. But yes, there are some that would be highly unexpected. Perytons for one. We've yet to have such a creature grace Eyrie's ranks. Rocs aren't uncommon, but they're likewise seen only on occasion despite their usefulness. I personally prefer my partners, an angha and a couatl."


Ranok gives Sato an aside glance, "...vy do Hy get de feelink dat dere iz zumddink vith hyu und Perytons?" She was right about viewing dragons as mundane, but what else was there to do? They roamed the northern plains, and he bumped elbows with intelligent ones on a weekly basis, more or less. His hands are breathed on. The cold was definitely getting to them. He glowers at said hands like they were betraying him, "Rocs are fearzum kreatures indeed. Hy tink Rynvale's environment suits dem perfectly. Dey vill do for de heavy hitters. Preyink on elephents gives dem a bit uf a reputation. But vat are anghe? Hy hef heard uf kouatls...doze are interestink kreatures. Herd to find, however."


Satoshi grins in amusement. "I'm fond of the deer-ish types, doubly so when they're capable of flight. As for angha, they're much like wyverns but with more fur and feathers. Agile, clever things. Couatl are a different story altogether. Natural-born psions and highly dangerous -looking-. But they're incapable of lying, and killing sentient creatures. The pacifists of the winged world, they don't tend to rise to a fight unless their lands are threatened."


Ranok lowers his hands slightly, "Hy'll bow to you visdom, in dat. Intelligence iz vat Hy need. A kompanion, uf sorts, iz vat Hy seek. Dragons are...a faurly decent choice, but dey tend to do poorly on de 'kan dey fit in a house' eksercise. Hennyvays." Her words on couatls were noted, but doubted. The man didn't believe in an all black or white world. It was simply too inflexible to survive in. But that was simply Ranok being his untrusting self.


The kit snickers, shaking her head. "If you want to ride it, generally it cannot fit in a house. Believe me, if my couatl partner could, he wouldn't have to linger outside Frostmaw waiting for me." The mere thought of trying to squeeze a seventy foot serpent with a massive wingspan through a door is enough to make Satoshi shudder.


Ranok grunts, in what could be with amusement, "Dat iz true enough. Kan' hef it hall. Onless Hy kan discover zum ekslusiff shepeshiftink schpecies. Zumddink to tink about. Hy might, perheps, like to meet you koautl. Hy hefn' ever before. Ven ve nekst meet to discuss matters uf gettink fliers up und runnink in Rynvale furdder, yah?"


"If we meet next in Rynvale to discuss this all further, he'll most certainly be with me. He's my means of travel outside of Frostmaw." Satoshi's words trail off then and her eyes grow distant, as if she's listening to a far off sound. After a moment she smiles, shaking her head and coming back to the conversation at hand. "He'd like to meet you as well. What he can glean of your mind from our conversation intrigues him. He likes thinkers~."


Ranok claps his hands together, "Very vell den. Hy'll see if Hy kan begin preliminary scoutink for qvarters for de beasts. Und if not, hef zum made. Luckily, de measurements ought to be faurly simple. Hm. Hy'll konsult de local Eyrie vink hyu hed for schpecific instructions on how to ekspund."


Satoshi nods in response. "Sounds good. If you wish, you can take one of our Snowflake Imps with you. They'll be able to carry messages more safely, and faster, than the typical bird, if you need to reach me without having to trek all the way here. On a side note," she adds with a glance toward the looming golem, "have you heard of a dragon calling himself Firewing the Red? Twice now he's been a fool toward a city official, and I'm curious if he's no more than a prideful, overgrown lizard, or one of the Leech's new pets."


Ranok looks a little frumpy at the offered imp, "...very vell den. If it iz more helpful." He would stick it in some corner if he could get away with it, where there was no chance of it eavesdropping on anything important. No, he didn't trust the kit, even as he asked for her help. But that was just precaution, "As for de dragon...Hy hef seen him. Vunce or tvice. Around Kelay. Alvays vith de sund. He eidder inhebits Kenril's beaches, nearby, or flies in from furdder south. Or schtuffs his pockets full uf sund." A foot taps as the man recalls everything he knew, "He's made no proclamations. Not assertions uf halliance. Didn' even know his name ontil hyu mentioned it to me chust now. It sounds like a prideful kreature. De Parasite's minions are never, ever subtle."


If she could read thoughts, she'd likely tell Ranok he was wise for not trusting her. But as she can't do such a thing, she instead responds to his actual words, "I had figured as much, but second opinions aren't an ill idea when it comes to parasite puppets. Pity, however. It means when I descale him, it won't provoke the damned Leech from paying me a call. Not that I expect him to, as he's done nothing but make half a threat on parchment after I killed his strongest wraith."


Ranok rubs his bearded chin, "Vuryal iz vun uf doze schtory book villains. Hed zumone told me uf vat ill deeds he's done, Hy'd hef laughed dem out uf de room. as it lies, his hallies run tin. He'll kome to hyu ven he's actually got de schtrength to. Hy suggest dat hyu go to him." Then he looks thoughtful, "De trubbel iz locatink him. Pullink an entire kestle out uf de dirt vas no mean task, nor his hidink it impossibly. But it kan be found. How...hm. Easiest vay vould be to simply track zumone dere..." Ranok would go silent for a few minutes. The wheels in his head were turning, plans formulating and being discarded.


"Non. I will fight him here, or not at all. If he won't come to me, I'll simply amuse myself by devouring his forces little by little, while he scribbles idle threats upon the boards to try and maintain his reputation. His little pets are no more than toys to practice on."


Ranok had a fwe good ideas, but since Sato didn't seem to be interested, he kept them to himself for the time being. "As hyu vish. It begins to bore me, however. Vun gets de feelink dat he vill simply write on de boards ontil people simply ignore him, und den he vill strike." He rolls his eyes. And then sticks his hands into his pockets, stamping his feet to get the cold shaken out.


Satoshi glances sidelong at the man, taking note of his displays of feeling the chill but making no comment. "It's possible, but I don't intend to be caught flatfooted. I'm a patient hunter, I'll let my prey come to me. Kasyr however is of a different ilk. He's actively seeking out the Leech and his hiding place."


Ranok just seems to be having issues with his extremities, but little else, "Perheps Hy'll talk to him about it. Ontil den, liddle to do but trow up de valls for him to schpear himself upon. It vill be goot fun. Hy suspeck he may even shed a tear ven defeated." Ranok really did seem to be speaking from contempt, there, and not just making idle fun, "Regardless. Hy tink Hy schould be gun. A long trip home. Tinks to do. Shell ve meet tomorrow in Rynvale? Chust, uh, send vun uf doze imps. Or vatever." He had the strangest feeling that the imp supplied to him would make it its god given right to be a thorn in his side. For some reason. But he shakes the premonition off and bends down to scoop up the stave he'd used as a walking stick.


The magus dips her head in farewell. "Until then. I will likely speak with you the day after next, or near abouts. I've work to tend to tomorrow that will detain me in Frostmaw." Plus, she's not quite willing to give out her exact schedules for when she intends to leave her borders, to avoid inviting ambushes or assassins to an easy target. After a moment she adds, as if reading Ranok's mind, "Mind the imp. Those little buggers are excellent messengers, but as troublesome as a lycan pup cutting its teeth if allowed to grow bored. They -are- imps, after all."


Ranok frowns. Maybe he could get a sharp stick to whack and/or poke the imp if it got out of hand. When. Oh, what a lovely beginning to a man/imp relationship was had. A slight shake of the head later, a hand reaches up to touch the brim of his hat, and he would be gone, leaning into the chill of the night air.


Rocking back on her heels, the foxkin whistles to herself and murmurs, "How does a bit of dragon-hunting sound to you, Buster~?" The ever-silent golem, of course, doesn't respond.