RP:The Cakelog Plot

From HollowWiki

Part of the Thy Kingdom Come Arc


Summary: Balgruuf’s son, Balder, has been ordered to slay Hildegarde. He calls on his cronies Mimsgor aka “Grunt” and Hege to explain the plan. Grunt is to leave Frostmaw, find Hildegarde, profess he is an ally, and share a treat of cakelog with her. Of course, he has very specific instructions about which cakelog is for the silver and which is for him.

NPCing by Josleen.

Cold Alley

Balder sneers and throws a nervous glance behind his shoulder. He's been brooding over the task he's been assigned; he is to slay the Silver. "Can't be that hard," he grumbles under his breath, each syllable a white puff upon the frosty air, "everything dies." Despite his self-reassurance, the warnings of his father continue to echo in his head. Looking around the alley in agitation, he finds a discarded crate and gives it a kick, knocking it to splinters. He feels a little better. Balder know's he in the alley early; he couldn't keep his mind off matters, and he's been pacing the snow-strew cobblestones for a while now, trying to find some kind of center and solidify his plotting. "Everything dies," he grumbles, trying to say it with finality and confidence.


Josleen is a scum-blood outlander helping the Silver regain the City of War, so it’s for the best that she is nowhere near this alley with Balder and his cronies, Mimsgor (his mother, and only his mother, calls him Mimsy; friends call him Grunt) and Hege (HAY-gee; who has a crush on Balder and will beat the snot out of anyone who outs her). Grunt and Hege are siblings. They enter the alley to meet Balder as summoned. Grunt spits loudly against a discarded metal bowl to announce their presence. The small bowl was dropped by an elf this trio beat up the week prior. It rings now under the force of his loogie, like a boxing bell ringing after a match has been won. Hege looks at Balder, but as soon as he returns her look she looks down at the trampled snow and stones and mean mugs. Grunt crosses his arms, leans against a wall, and lifts a chin at Balder as if asking ‘what’s up.’ He grunts like a question. “Hrrmph?” Hege flicks the spit-covered bowl with the toe of her boot and while it’s still mid-air kicks it at a window that faces the alley. She breaks the glass that once belonged to an elven family that evacuated the city shortly after Balgruuf seized control of the city. “Score.” She makes a fist and pumps her elbow inward in victory.


Balder turns his bearded face the moment he hears a sound, and he shoots a hateful, bedaggered look toward the alley's opening. It softens into mere displeasure at the sight of his cohorts. "Get in here." Though Grunt and Hege might consider him a friend, Balder doesn't use a very civil tone when addressing them. "This is big time stuff. Tell anyone about this and I'll make you wish you'd never been born." Clearly unsettled, Balder peeks past his fellow giants, craning his neck to make sure they weren't followed. "You came by yourselves, right? No one else? Right?" His words are suspicious and demanding, and when his eyes connect to Grunt's, the brutish young ringleader must not see something he likes. Balder snarls and makes a fist, raising it up and brandishing it inches from the fellow thug's face. "Right?!"


Grunt and Hege have grown accustomed to Balder’s abusive tone. Normally they would return it with indignant poses and scowls (but never an insult, never), but beneath their surly exterior lies an unshakeable loyalty to Balder. The vitriol forms the master-and-subjects bond between the trio, rather than erodes it. But today there is something different in his approach that has them spooked. They spare a sidelong glance at each other, a non-vocal ‘you seeing this?’ What they both see in Balder is fear. He’s scared, and that’s new. Fear breeds dumb decisions and paranoia. The latter appears mere seconds later as Grunt finds himself on the fist-end of Balder’s fear. “Right! Right!” He tries to shake Balder off him without escalating into a full blown fight, aka a lose-lose for Grunt. Hege interjects, “Just us, boss. No one knows a damned thing.”


Balder's nostrils flare, but the wildness that had entered his eyes begins to subside again when he hears their confirmation. Gradually, he lowers his fist. "Listen well," Balder's gaze flickers sharply between the two, "both of you. Nothing I tell you," he steals another quick glance past them, "leaves this alley. Hildegarde's back, and we're gonna put her back in the ground where she shoulda stayed. Look at this." Reaching into his bulky coat, he pulls out a delicate little white dessert box painted with pleasant vine and berry motifs. "I got this put together." Very carefully, he removes the lid, revealing two finely shaped cakelogs within. "Everyone knows it’s her favorite dessert. But look!" Baldur points at one of the logs, the one on Grunt and Hege's left. "She's gonna eat this one," and his eyes raise to Grunt, "because you're gonna give it to her."


Grunt and Hege’s eyes go wide briefly at the revelation that Hildegarde is back. If it were anyone but Balder they’d be asking for proof. Hildegarde resurrected? That’s madness, and they know better than to suggest he is mad or wrong. The lovely dessert box looks downright ridiculous in this alley of thugs. They huddle around it to take a good look. As Balder explains the plan, Grunt’s face twists in distaste. “You want me to poison an enemy...like... like a woman?” Hege pommels Grunt’s tricep, raking her knuckles between the muscles to maximize the pain. “Hey!” she shouts. “I’ve never poisoned no one. That’s for sissies.” Then realizing she called Balder’s plan cowardly—pale face blanching further, jaw slackening, eyes widening— she shifts gears and says, “But that’s why she won’t see it coming! Genius, boss.” Grunt smacks Hege with the back of his hand but the sibling scuffle ends there. He asks Balder, “So where is she? How should I get it to her?”


Balder sneers up at Grunt, but Hege beats him to the punch, literally. "Everyone knows it's not the giants' way," he reprimands the dissenter, "and that's why you're gonna do it." After flicking Hege an appreciative glance, one as much as to say 'can you believe how dense your brother is?', Balder goes on. "She's wandering around down south. Dad thinks she's brewing trouble for us, so here's what you do." He levels a finger at Grunt, narrowing his eyes severely, knowing that this, too, will sit ill with an Aramoth-fearing giant. "You're gonna lie and say you're with her supporters, like you've been on her side all along." Balder begins carefully slipping the lid back on the dessert box. "Make up something about a 'resistance', say they want to meet her, babbling about being her friend." Carefully, he offers grunt the box. "Then give her the goods. Listen," he points at the left side of the box once more, "the left one's poisoned. She's one of those lovey-goody types," he turns his head and spits on the ground, "and if she wants to share, hurry up and take the right. You got all that?" Nostrils flare again, and he grits his jaw, swallowing hard. By the severity of Balder's expression, Grunts answer had better be "yes".


Hege shakes her head in disapproval of Grunt for Balder’s benefit (and her own: giant love, it’s brutal but necessary for the propagation of the giant species). Grunt starts shaking his head despite the fact he knows he needs to say yes. Subterfuge? Poison? What’s next? Grunt needs to dress in drag as a nurse and stab Hilde while she sleeps? This is outrageous. “...Her f-friend?” He’s incredulous, head still shaking in disbelief, but he doesn’t dare say no. Still, suppressed somewhere deep beneath his bravado and Aramoth-fearing faith, there must be a tiny kernel of relief that he isn’t expected to challenge a dragon to combat. Hege decides to try out what few soft skills she has and says, “Grunt, think about it. If Aramoth doesn’t agree, then she’ll survive the poison and you’ll have to kill her in combat, right? But if Aramoth agrees that just this one time this is the best way to ensure that Frostmaw belongs to Aramoth’s people, then…” She shrugs slowly. “Balder and Balgruuf are Aramoth-fearing men. They wouldn’t ask you to do something Aramoth couldn’t forgive. You have Aramoth’s blessing.” Grunt bites his tongue and nods reluctantly. “Right. I got it.” He doesn’t look at either Balder and Hege. He feels sick. This isn’t the giant way.


Balder scowls gravely. "You better. If this works, then none of us ever have to think about this ugly business," his tone lowers dangerously, "or Hildegarde ever again." His eyes flicker to the cakebox, diminuitive in his giant hands, and he gives a snort of repulsion. "Don't let anyone see you with this." Eager to be rid of it, he hold it out for grunt to take. Not so much as a 'good luck' or a 'thank you'.


Grunt takes the box sulkily and hides it in his overcoat. Hege grins secretly because at least it's her brother who has to do this, and not her. It doesn't cross her mind that the plan won't work at all. Afterall, their new leaders are infallible, aren't they?