A New Power

[MDRud216]

A disturbing thought crossed Quarian's mind as he peered east down the valley of the Rakatal river until it curved and continued out of sight. From over the hills that hid the rest of its length faint and distant whisps of black hovered in the sky: a waning smoke signal. He turned and hurriedly walked back to the center of the western ramparts, where an arched stone bridge crossed the gap into the keep complex. he entered onto the second floor, just above the great hall and made his way to a tight spiral staircase of stone and went to the third, and made his way across the room to the familiar oaken doors that closed off the council chamber. When he opened them the table was already seated, with a few more additions with the arrival of Thrin's own country.

"Castle Greymoor has lit its beacons, smoke signals rise in the south beyond the hills, something happens on the coasts" he said before seating himself. "captain Aseir of habbasa, tell me your thoughts, we must act very soon. My rebellion did not have time to make a foothold before the invasion, but now we find ourselves responsible for this Empire. It needs a ruler, it needs an army and it needs to be rebuilt even as foreign invaders seek to conqueor it."

[Shadow of the Fallen]

OOC: Just a clarification, as I realize my post was not at all clear, the leaders of my country are not among us. Thrin will meet with them later, but for the moment they are being held away from the council chambers. Hence the "extra ring of guards".

 

IC:

 

Thrin could only ponder, as the question was not ment for him. His role at the table was beginning to feel enigmatic. First, he comes from nowhere and performs an act which, for a moment, made everyone doubt his good intention. In the next he is slaying enemy foes by the dozen on the front lines and barking out orders like a general. And then, somehow, he made it here--his reasons yet unkown to those gathered.

 

It was not coincidence, he was beginning to think, that his life expectancy had been prolonged. He was, after all, dead in spirit, his soul claimed by the Lord of the Underworld until a debt of blood be repaid. The Keeper of Death had reason to keep him in this world.. And soon he may have reason enough to grant him immortality. But who can fathom the the reasoning of such a being?

 

Thrin was suddenly struck with an idea, a peircing ray of light that penetrated the darkness of his brooding. He hadn't even realized that he was paying attention to what Quarian had been saying. Carfully, he cleared his throat before beginning, "You said this country needed to be rebuilt, did you not? You just witnessed my 'army'. They are nothing more then craftsmen, farmers, merchants. They are not warriors. Perhaps they belive that they can conquer land with thier numbers, but they would be slaughtered to a man by a force of less then half their number of skilled warriors. I do not like knowing that three countries have designated me their leader, place their trust in me to lead them to victory, only to be slaughtered by the thousands in open warfare."

 

He watched each face carfully as he spoke, pausing then to let the thought seep in before continuing, "I will send some back to their homes, those who I know I will establish as governers to make sure the people are well. The warriors whom you saw earlier, clad in armor, will be sent to raise a proper army. The men will need to be trained, and so the experienced warriors are nessecary." He let out a slow breath, "those that yet remain will be divided into two groups, the crafts men that are to help along your country, and most likely fuel our armies, and a leigion (sp?) of warriors which will be under my command."

 

He lowered his voice with meanace, not at those around him, but at himself for the prospect of what must be done in order to achive victory, "I expect no more then a thousand men to fight, perhaps half that. But I swear to you upon my own damnation that armies will fall by my hand alone." His aura of deadly intent had returned, and Thrin doubted that it would leave with any ease. His mind was set, and there was no turning back from this point. He had already given it a name, the commitment had been made.

 

The Leigion of the Damned.

 

A dead man could not lead the living.

[MDRud216]

Quarian, weary of the weaks events spoke in a way that he would later regret to Thrin: " I am afraid we will not know the extent of the damage to this country until we receive word from the rivers mouth, hold your dreams until then, lest you be stuck with a commitment you cannot handle." Quarian returned his gaze to Aseir.

 

ooc: MDRud216 calls out: PEREGRINE ! ? Aseir needs some... er controlling

[Peregrine]

Suprised that Quarian wanted advice on politics from a mere military officer like himself, Aseir was a bit slow to answer. Battles were his area of expertise; he prefered to leave the rebuilding to dreamers like the others. Besides, they had to know his reasons for being there... or did they?

 

"A ruler?" he finally asked. "Surely your Empire would never accept a foreign overlord such as myself. No... they would never throw off one outsider, just to replace him with another. And the chaos that would result... would be... against the best interests of both Habassa and the Empire. The selection of the new Emperor will remain an internal matter."

 

A slight smile replaced the Aseir's serious expression as he considered his next words. "As for Greymoor..... I think I can help you with that. Heavy reinforcements are on their way and will arrive here within three days. Ten thousand men, archers and pikemen. And more importantly, they bring full artillery support." He waited a moment for the full meaning of his words to make its mark on the others at the table. They had seen the devastating effect of Aseir's first wave, and one by one they understood what the much larger force would mean.

 

But Aseir was not finished. "My third group advances by sea. Another four thousand men travel under a full fleet escort. They will enter the Rakatal river by the end of the week."

 

"Your enemies will be caught between the two and crushed. Their choices are now retreat or death." There was no trace of arrogance or bragging in his voice... just the deadly seriousness of someone who truly understood the power he commanded.

[MDRud216]

"I have trouble understanding the motives of your country Aseir, Whether or not there are other ones that i do not understand or if your support for my country is out of the goodness of your leaders heart." Quarain looked around the table to see if any had an objection.

 

"I truely thank you for your countries help, fore my resistance was doomed from the start, a troubled Empire and a rebellion of j ust more than a hundred men would both have been wiped out by these new invaders first wave if it had not been for you. But the thought 'why' has loomed in the back of my mind for quite some time now." Quarian leaned back in his seat at the head of the table, shifting his gaze from Aseir at the opposite end to everyone seated at the table until his gaze rested on Thrin.

 

"As for a ruler, It has become clear that in Golar this council is the prime governmental force, as for the rest of the Empire I am sure that the governments of the cities under this one are intact, things will most certainly change when we receive word from Castle GreyMoor."

[Shadow of the Fallen]

If he thinks these are my "dreams", I'd hate to see his nightmares, Thrin thought to himself as a slight smirk crossed his face. He treid to turn his mind back to the conversation as Quarian (sp?) turned to look at him once more. He stared back solemnly, not wanting to appear as though he had no interest. His brooding moods were hard to break out of when he wasn't being directly spoken to during a conversation.

 

Methodically, he leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on the table, and claspin his hands infront of him. "In a time of war, the generals of armies often become rulers where there is none. If you all are commanding armies, then you will become the rulers eventually. People look up to those who prove themselves with leadership and ability, and the exalt them... That said you are right that this council is the governing body here, and at the end of this war, it will most likely be what rules over the old kingdom of Galor." The smirk had vanished as quickly as it came as he spoke the words, almost interuptig. While it was, for the most part, stating the obvious, Thrin had thought it lead up well to the next part of his speech.

 

"That, my good Quarian, means that YOU are one of the leaders now, plan it that way. If we are to be leading our forces into battle, we must acknowledge that which will be the end result." He turned to Aseir next, "in the same way, this country will exalt you. Know that with the capture of the capital, anarchy will result. This county is already in a state of chaos.. And if you are not the only one ruling, then it matters little where you birth from."

 

He then sat back in his seat and gestured to the whole group, "You will be the leaders here, I already have three countries that call me as their leader... But I have to live before I can lead the living.. And for that I must uphold my end of the oath..." He let his voice trail away, giving a solid, determined look to Quarian to bar a likely reprimand. "The most important thing at the moment is to, as was said, determine the damage already caused.. B-" Thrin was about to say something else, but thought better of it and relaxed a little more in his chair.

[MDRud216]

"I must say that I agree with you Thrin, but we do not know the damage inflicted on other cities, many had an imperial garrison but not all of the governors of them were loyal to Darel... Whether or not that is the case in a city it would seem to them that they hold more of a place on the emperors throne than any of us, just because we have all found our way into this chamber... In fact It isn't clear yet whether the distant settlements of this country even realize that the Emperor is dead. All things will be understood in time I guess..." He regretted ending his speach with 'I guess', he had felt empowered when he spoke as always but the last line had left a bittersweet aura in the room.

[Shadow of the Fallen]

"Time," Thrin put a suble emphasis on the word, "will tell. And right now, I have several captains from my own country counting the time that I take in this room. And I am counting myself." He paused a minute as, once again, all eyes turned to him, "I am terribly sorry, but if this meeting does not finnish itself quickly, I am afraid I must take my leave. There are certain matters I must resolve before sundown. One of which is getting my people on their way back to their own land before they are slaughtered out in the fields. I understand what is at stake, but time is working against me it seems..." He let his words drift off, knowing that it seemed ignorant of him to want to attend his own matters before seeing to the troubles of a nation.

[MDRud216]

"I am weary from battle myself," says quarian, trying to bring about a softer mood to the room. "This meeting need not go on any longer until we receive word from the coast, until then everything is said that needs to be. Agreed?" he looks around the room, particularily at Aseir, and stood leaving the room, and ending the meeting as far as he was concerned.

He found an empty room with clean sheats and settled down for the night, in the morning he would wonder the city, inspecting the damage. His thoughts were interupted by a sharp and agonizing pain in his shoulder, beneath his bandages his wound was in pain, possibly infected but there was nothing he could do about it either way, so he let himself drift into unconciousness... sleeping through the night

[ensis]

Akechi left the meeting behing Quarain, but split off from him as he headed to his quarters. He stayed up late that night on the battlements, surveying the damage and thinking to himself. First of all, in the morning he needed to go to the garrison of the castle and look for more equipment, as he had only two arrows left. Even his dirk, for as thick and angular as it was, was chipped in many places. Too much force from a blow would split the blade on impact in it's current state. He decided he would get himself some light armor if he could find it as well.

 

Now that they seemed free from Darel, and with a moment of peace, he chose right then to become an agent for the empire of Galor just as his father was. In the wake of new leadership, he would find a group of hunters or soldiers similar to him and go on missions at the empire's bidding. After this thought, Akechi came out of his daze and picked up his bow from the rampart's side.

 

Now inside the castle he found his quarters. He saw Aesir, and it looked like he was headed to the same area. With a nod from Aesir, Akechi stepped in pace with him. There was a moment of silence as they walked to their quarters for the night.