Eternal
Year 50
With all business taken care of, you tell Talia to let you know if anything important comes up since you’re going to catch a few moments of sleep. Seems like you don’t do much of that anymore.
As you settle down for some much needed rest, you drift off thinking about all what you’ve managed to accomplish.
Quala is essentially under your thumb and you haven’t even resorted to an army to do it. You’ve got people from there paying you left and right to assassinate their enemies whether it is in tangible goods or simple favors that you intend on calling in some day.
It doesn’t stop there either; you’ve even had a few people travel all the way from the Arat province and even Rask to use your services. It of course helps that you’ve never failed to assassinate a chosen target.
As a result, you’ve accomplished much of what you first envisioned. You’ve managed to put enough dread into those in power to not want to invade Delerg for fear of their own deaths or on the more pragmatic side of things they’d prefer to have you around in case they want to get rid of someone.
“You’re enjoying all this aren’t you Eternal? I know you’re playing the emotionless cold hearted assassin guild leader and all, but deep down you’re enjoying every moment of it. It’s okay to admit it, not like I’m going to tell anyone.”
“Of course I am, but not for the reasons you believe. I’m enjoying this because things are going well for the shadows for once AND I’m not terminally bored while leading them. For the longest time I could achieve one or the other but not both.”
“Going well? Haven’t you had to execute ten shadows, including two of your own council? Theo and Yvette I believe?”
“It was necessary. They were conspiring and disagreeing with the new direction the shadows needed to go in order to thrive. Besides, I didn’t say we were without problems. I just meant things were good in general and you don’t seem to have a problem with what I’m doing. You even encouraged me when I made the effort to consult you about it.”
“Of course I don’t. In fact you’ve actually made the shadows more interesting than they have been in a long time. So…now that you’re on top of the world so to speak, what’s your next move?”
“Nothing major though I imagine it won’t stay like that for long. I don’t delude myself that the calmer times last forever, just that I should enjoy them while I can.”
Those words prove to be true considering that Delerg sudden gets a large influx of svelk mercenaries in the town of Sinkhole one day. What’s more disturbing is they weren’t detected until they were in the town. This could be the precursor to an invasion for all you know and you personally go with Cyrus and several other Blades to sort this out.
When you arrive, a few shadows that were in the town report that the svelk haven’t been doing anything except carousing at the tavern. He says they’ve been obnoxious, but nothing serious yet. Besides Mistress, the only dark elves you’ve had to deal with were those that were hired by the Empire to kill you during your time in Rask, so your opinion of them isn’t exactly high to begin with, but that probably makes you the same as everyone else in that aspect.
You know damn well they have to be here for a reason other than spending money on booze though.
You enter the tavern and it gets suddenly much quieter from the revelry you heard before entering. The staff looks miserable, particularly the waitresses and only a few other customers remain trying to hide in a dark corner, probably too scared to pass the dark elves to leave.
“Ah! The great Shadow Master graces us with his presence! I was wondering if we could be expecting you. I told my soldiers here that if we showed up unannounced that we’d get your attention. It is truly a testament to your patrols that we found ourselves hard pressed to evade them undetected until we arrived in this dismal town.” One dark elf says while sitting at a table with his fellows. You presume he’s probably their leader.
“What do you svelk want and make it quick.” You say.
“Straight to the point eh? Very well then. My name is Tyren and what I want is to hire your services.”
You don’t believe it.
“You? You want to hire the shadows to kill someone? Since when did svelk rely on assassins? Doesn’t your race learn such a trade from birth and gleefully kill as a matter of course?”
Suddenly Tyren stands up as if he’s offended by your remark.
“And what do you know of us, shadow? What do you know that you haven’t heard second hand from the grubby ignorant peasants?”
“Trust me, I know your kind well enough that your senseless posturing and fake attempt at being offended are not going to intimidate or second guess myself. You’re a race of sadistic murderous mercenaries that go from battlefield to battlefield profiting from conflict which I don’t have a problem with. What I do have a problem with is when a bunch of them suddenly show up in my backyard where there is no conflict. You come here saying you need our help, yet show up unannounced and without coming to us directly. That shows a severe lack of disrespect, and there is no reason why I shouldn’t just kill the lot of you now and throw your worthless carcasses to the Sul-Monkeys.”
You and your shadows take a step forward and Tyren’s demeanor changes immediately though he tries to play it off like he was joking.
“Sheesh, calm down. I didn’t realize you shadows were so fucking serious all the time. Fine I’ll explain in greater detail. I want you to kill the leader of another Svelk mercenary company. She goes by the name of Edolith. Currently she’s located in the eastern part of the Quala province fighting for one of the half assed warlords there. I want her dead because she’s been taking all the good paying jobs for years and also with her dead I may even be able to gain her warband which has no other viable leaders to take her place.”
Tyren takes a drink before continuing.
“Now I know what you’re thinking why don’t I do this myself or even join an opposing side and kill her on the battlefield that way. Well it is with great risk in front of ALL my soldiers that I admit that I am neither clever or strong enough to take her on, though I would remind my soldiers that I could easily kick all of their asses.” And with those words he quickly draws a dagger and stabs one of his men in the throat. The dark elf spits out a glob of blood and falls backwards gasping for life until Tyren finishes him off with a crushing stomp to his head.
Naturally all the rest of the svelk look upon this as a normal thing, Tyren then turns to you.
“So I call upon you, the shadows for help, the greatest assassins ever known in recent history. I believe that your order has the skill to pull off her assassination. So do we have a deal?”
“Not really considering you haven’t even described payment yet. What could you possibly offer? Svelk mercenaries aren’t known for their wealth and trust me you’d need a considerable amount for me to even consider this.”
“Hmmm, well what about we owe you a favor?”
Now you laugh.
“A favor from you lot? Not likely. We have no need of mercenaries and I doubt if you’d come through with it anyway. We’d probably have to slaughter you all and while that would be doing the world a favor and maybe even sort of fun, I’d like to at least have something tangible if I’m going to help you.”
“You’re incredibly suspicious of us. You sure you don’t have svelk blood? No probably not, you’re pretty ugly even for a human, but what can you do seeing as you all evolved from those Sul-Monkeys out there right? Ha ha ha ha! Okay but seriously… Zarren! Get over here with that big bag!” Tyren shouts at one of his underlings.
Zarren comes to Tyren’s table with a big bag and dumps the contents out on it. What is revealed is more than just regular valuables. There are also some books and other objects as well. So much that part of loot falls to the floor.
“Hey, I recognize that book…its one I read during my days at Gloom! I thought it was lost forever.” Dravin suddenly exclaims. “In fact a lot of these objects are from Gloom! These ceremony rings, these cups…where the hell did you get this stuff?”
“Oh we svelk do a lot of trading with all kinds of people in our travels, those rock eating dwarves just being one of many. We sort of thought you all might be interested in lost objects from your old stomping grounds. Along with the gems and gold, I’d say this should be more than enough payment shouldn’t it?”
While you aren’t overly attached to any “lost objects” from Gloom, you can see Dravin is pretty fond of some of them. You imagine the older human shadows that are still around would be happy to see such things again. Even Cyrus is looking at a couple things, and you know Talia would be interested in them. The actual valuables are probably a fair payment for a job such as this.
Still part of you doesn’t trust the svelk. Something about all this seems a bit sketchy. You don’t know what exactly, but it just doesn’t feel quite right to you.
With all business taken care of, you tell Talia to let you know if anything important comes up since you’re going to catch a few moments of sleep. Seems like you don’t do much of that anymore.
As you settle down for some much needed rest, you drift off thinking about all what you’ve managed to accomplish.
Quala is essentially under your thumb and you haven’t even resorted to an army to do it. You’ve got people from there paying you left and right to assassinate their enemies whether it is in tangible goods or simple favors that you intend on calling in some day.
It doesn’t stop there either; you’ve even had a few people travel all the way from the Arat province and even Rask to use your services. It of course helps that you’ve never failed to assassinate a chosen target.
As a result, you’ve accomplished much of what you first envisioned. You’ve managed to put enough dread into those in power to not want to invade Delerg for fear of their own deaths or on the more pragmatic side of things they’d prefer to have you around in case they want to get rid of someone.
“You’re enjoying all this aren’t you Eternal? I know you’re playing the emotionless cold hearted assassin guild leader and all, but deep down you’re enjoying every moment of it. It’s okay to admit it, not like I’m going to tell anyone.”
“Of course I am, but not for the reasons you believe. I’m enjoying this because things are going well for the shadows for once AND I’m not terminally bored while leading them. For the longest time I could achieve one or the other but not both.”
“Going well? Haven’t you had to execute ten shadows, including two of your own council? Theo and Yvette I believe?”
“It was necessary. They were conspiring and disagreeing with the new direction the shadows needed to go in order to thrive. Besides, I didn’t say we were without problems. I just meant things were good in general and you don’t seem to have a problem with what I’m doing. You even encouraged me when I made the effort to consult you about it.”
“Of course I don’t. In fact you’ve actually made the shadows more interesting than they have been in a long time. So…now that you’re on top of the world so to speak, what’s your next move?”
“Nothing major though I imagine it won’t stay like that for long. I don’t delude myself that the calmer times last forever, just that I should enjoy them while I can.”
Those words prove to be true considering that Delerg sudden gets a large influx of svelk mercenaries in the town of Sinkhole one day. What’s more disturbing is they weren’t detected until they were in the town. This could be the precursor to an invasion for all you know and you personally go with Cyrus and several other Blades to sort this out.
When you arrive, a few shadows that were in the town report that the svelk haven’t been doing anything except carousing at the tavern. He says they’ve been obnoxious, but nothing serious yet. Besides Mistress, the only dark elves you’ve had to deal with were those that were hired by the Empire to kill you during your time in Rask, so your opinion of them isn’t exactly high to begin with, but that probably makes you the same as everyone else in that aspect.
You know damn well they have to be here for a reason other than spending money on booze though.
You enter the tavern and it gets suddenly much quieter from the revelry you heard before entering. The staff looks miserable, particularly the waitresses and only a few other customers remain trying to hide in a dark corner, probably too scared to pass the dark elves to leave.
“Ah! The great Shadow Master graces us with his presence! I was wondering if we could be expecting you. I told my soldiers here that if we showed up unannounced that we’d get your attention. It is truly a testament to your patrols that we found ourselves hard pressed to evade them undetected until we arrived in this dismal town.” One dark elf says while sitting at a table with his fellows. You presume he’s probably their leader.
“What do you svelk want and make it quick.” You say.
“Straight to the point eh? Very well then. My name is Tyren and what I want is to hire your services.”
You don’t believe it.
“You? You want to hire the shadows to kill someone? Since when did svelk rely on assassins? Doesn’t your race learn such a trade from birth and gleefully kill as a matter of course?”
Suddenly Tyren stands up as if he’s offended by your remark.
“And what do you know of us, shadow? What do you know that you haven’t heard second hand from the grubby ignorant peasants?”
“Trust me, I know your kind well enough that your senseless posturing and fake attempt at being offended are not going to intimidate or second guess myself. You’re a race of sadistic murderous mercenaries that go from battlefield to battlefield profiting from conflict which I don’t have a problem with. What I do have a problem with is when a bunch of them suddenly show up in my backyard where there is no conflict. You come here saying you need our help, yet show up unannounced and without coming to us directly. That shows a severe lack of disrespect, and there is no reason why I shouldn’t just kill the lot of you now and throw your worthless carcasses to the Sul-Monkeys.”
You and your shadows take a step forward and Tyren’s demeanor changes immediately though he tries to play it off like he was joking.
“Sheesh, calm down. I didn’t realize you shadows were so fucking serious all the time. Fine I’ll explain in greater detail. I want you to kill the leader of another Svelk mercenary company. She goes by the name of Edolith. Currently she’s located in the eastern part of the Quala province fighting for one of the half assed warlords there. I want her dead because she’s been taking all the good paying jobs for years and also with her dead I may even be able to gain her warband which has no other viable leaders to take her place.”
Tyren takes a drink before continuing.
“Now I know what you’re thinking why don’t I do this myself or even join an opposing side and kill her on the battlefield that way. Well it is with great risk in front of ALL my soldiers that I admit that I am neither clever or strong enough to take her on, though I would remind my soldiers that I could easily kick all of their asses.” And with those words he quickly draws a dagger and stabs one of his men in the throat. The dark elf spits out a glob of blood and falls backwards gasping for life until Tyren finishes him off with a crushing stomp to his head.
Naturally all the rest of the svelk look upon this as a normal thing, Tyren then turns to you.
“So I call upon you, the shadows for help, the greatest assassins ever known in recent history. I believe that your order has the skill to pull off her assassination. So do we have a deal?”
“Not really considering you haven’t even described payment yet. What could you possibly offer? Svelk mercenaries aren’t known for their wealth and trust me you’d need a considerable amount for me to even consider this.”
“Hmmm, well what about we owe you a favor?”
Now you laugh.
“A favor from you lot? Not likely. We have no need of mercenaries and I doubt if you’d come through with it anyway. We’d probably have to slaughter you all and while that would be doing the world a favor and maybe even sort of fun, I’d like to at least have something tangible if I’m going to help you.”
“You’re incredibly suspicious of us. You sure you don’t have svelk blood? No probably not, you’re pretty ugly even for a human, but what can you do seeing as you all evolved from those Sul-Monkeys out there right? Ha ha ha ha! Okay but seriously… Zarren! Get over here with that big bag!” Tyren shouts at one of his underlings.
Zarren comes to Tyren’s table with a big bag and dumps the contents out on it. What is revealed is more than just regular valuables. There are also some books and other objects as well. So much that part of loot falls to the floor.
“Hey, I recognize that book…its one I read during my days at Gloom! I thought it was lost forever.” Dravin suddenly exclaims. “In fact a lot of these objects are from Gloom! These ceremony rings, these cups…where the hell did you get this stuff?”
“Oh we svelk do a lot of trading with all kinds of people in our travels, those rock eating dwarves just being one of many. We sort of thought you all might be interested in lost objects from your old stomping grounds. Along with the gems and gold, I’d say this should be more than enough payment shouldn’t it?”
While you aren’t overly attached to any “lost objects” from Gloom, you can see Dravin is pretty fond of some of them. You imagine the older human shadows that are still around would be happy to see such things again. Even Cyrus is looking at a couple things, and you know Talia would be interested in them. The actual valuables are probably a fair payment for a job such as this.
Still part of you doesn’t trust the svelk. Something about all this seems a bit sketchy. You don’t know what exactly, but it just doesn’t feel quite right to you.