[IC] The Horde of Evil - Tresspassing through treacherous tribes' territory! (RP closed)

[Bright_Ops]

By the time Ekusha had deemed fit to give Twich a visit, the kobold had been somewhat busy with some basic preparations; His belongings had already been covered in cloths that had been treated with wax to make them water (and fluid) proof; Such a practice had been made standard procedure after an unexpected body burst ruined several of his books to the point were he had to burn them. Twich himself had already donned his black work robe (Treated with wax), but had yet to done his 'bird mask' when Ekusha arrived.

The Kobold respected Ekusha enough to listen to what she had to say; She was one of the people that had listened to his plan during the raid after all, it was the least he could do. It was also clear that she was one of the more intelligent servants of the Master and thus he could actually have something of a half way decent conversation with her... but that intelligence also made Twich cautious of the woman in turn. That which is intelligent can plot, and that which can plot can plot against you...

"You make a very persuasive offer but at this point in time I will have to say no to your proposed alliance; It is only early days yet and we only have a basic idea of who the other is. Even more so, we know even less about the Rakshasa and if his anger and pride continue to keep him on the Master's shit list he will not last all that long." Twich explained respectfully before taking a breath and continuing with "That said, I am not against collaboration or co-operation between us. And the first issue that we are going to have to address is that of That Which Consumes Peace."

"While he has his uses, you and I both know that his very nature means that he will become an issue for us somewhere in the future. It's merely a question of when we are forced to deal with him." It was a simple statement, but Twich trusted that Ekusha had already foreseen the problem as well.

[KabenSaal]

Emily saw Torren's eagerness to burn stuff, and blushed slightly. It would be awkward to tell him the truth, but if she didn't then it would lead to more awkwardness down the line.
"Nothing. I, don't know why he said to bring you along, but if my endevours are to suceed, I need you not to burn anything. You may draw energy from the fire if the Kitsune responds, but I don't know how Muspelheim fire behaves in relation to normal fire. It could just as easily cause you pain, or the Kitsune could take you as part of the Gift. If the Kitsune does come, you could probably ask her to set you on fire, that'd do something. But, until it does, or doesn't work, then I need you to...not burn anything"

Emily wasn't sure how Torrens was going to take this news, but hoped it would be well. Or, at very least well enough to not go setting fire to things she needed without good reason.

[Cyclone]

The next morning, imps scurried about the dungeon in search of the Keeper's various champions. Upon being found, they would each be quickly briefed on what their new work was. There was evil to be done and mayhem to be wrought.

Octavius' Task

Octavius' human form would allow him to blend in rather well, so he was sent north to the closest proper town. These hamlets fell easily enough, but larger towns like that one would put up more of a fight. Beyond just knowing what defenses the town had, it was also necessary to learn about the state of any garrison and where valuables could be found. It would also be useful for Octavius to simply listen in the taverns, to learn what the latest rumors were and whether the people were beginning to catch on to the rising threat in the south. The Horde could only retain the element of surprise for so long, after all.

*=_-_=*

@Lugubrious
@Elitestpotato
@Bright_Ops
@Didos

The Dwarven Outpost

Aside from that, there was a dwarven mining in the nearby mountains that had caught the Keeper's eye. Despite his best efforts he found himself unable to scry the dwarves' capital or even any of their colonies, so his eyes were blinded. He was interested in what the vile dwarves were doing, and besides, one of their illustrious halls would surely have plenty of treasure and other rare substances. He would send Twich, That Which Consumes Peace, Ekusha, and finally Clotho and her minions. A small group of imps would accompany them as well, because their magic might prove useful and they were most likely better at looting than Clotho's army of insects.

Clotho was an obvious choice because to take a dwarven settlement would require some numbers, and her antlion diggers and Myrmidon soldiers would be ideal for this task. That Which Consumes Peace and Ekusha would hopefully be able to aid in the fighting, but they would also be able to help by inciting chaos and fighting amongst the dwarves. If the dwarves were quarreling amongst themselves, they would be easily beaten by an unexpected and determined attack.

Twich was there not only because he had proven himself a competent tactician, but also because he had a little mission of his own. It was well known that the dwarves made use of all manner of potent magical explosives in their mining. Such things would be undeniably useful as weapons, but the way to create such alchemical substances was a secret known only by the dwarves. Twich was a competent alchemist and it seemed that Clotho surprisingly had an interest in such topics as well, seeing as she had one holed up in her hive. The two of them were to seize any of the explosives and other useful substances that were to be found, and then later work on finding a way to replicate the bombs.

Essentially, the group was to storm down into the dwarven outpost (or breach it in some other way) and kill all the dwarves inside, except for a few. The Overlord wanted a few live dwarves to interrogate, but the rest of the outpost's denizens would need to be killed. Once that was done, the group was to ransack the place in search of anything valuable, particularly dwarven explosives. Afterwards, they would ideally do some misdirection, making the attack look like the work of humans. Dwarves and men had fought in these lands before, and it would not be so difficult to make them do it again. If the Horde could incite their enemies to kill one another, that could only make their work easier.

*=_-_=*

@Athinar
@yPro
@Boop_Im_A_Dragon
@Mattie_
@Saarebas
@Takashi

Another Raid!

While Emily summoned some sort of horrific monster that would burn down one of the nearby villages (apparently without Torrens, though perhaps the fire demon could feed on the flame or burn a nearby forest) there was one other village nearby. This one was the regional capital, which was not saying much considering that these southern reaches were all but desolate. Still, it was much larger than the other two and had a small garrison of guards that were tasked with protecting the nearby area. The town was also home to a newly built temple to some strange and foreign gods, with the priests there being competent sorcerers. It was ruled by several knightly families, so there were bound to be at least a few capable warriors, and to boot there was a wooden palisade for protection against bandits and the occasional orcish warband that slipped past all other defenses.

Sneaking up on the village would also be somewhat hard, as it was surrounded by many small farms and mines. Perhaps the best course of action would be to let the farm folk see them coming, so that they would all flee to the village's "safety" and be in one spot. That would come with its downsides, though. While less people would run off, the guardsmen, knights, priests, and militia would be prepared. A quick night attack might be a better option.

In any case, the Master actually wanted this village (and most of its workers) intact; it was better than the others and would actually be worth ruling. With its people enslaved, it would be a steady source of supplies for the war effort.

Athinar had asked for a position in command, and this was his chance to prove himself. This attack would not be so easy as the last, but it was still achievable. Perhaps the hardest part would be keeping his allies in line so that the entire village didn't go up in flames with all the people slain.

Everybody that wasn't going to the dwarven outpost or to Emily's ritual would be sent to aid Athinar in his conquest of the village.

[Athinar]

Athinar raised his eyebrows. He was halfway through teaching Meat how to rip a man's arm off, barehanded, when an imp slammed its tiny fist on his thick door. Opening it, and looming over the squat, horned creature, Athinar said with a terrifying growl, "Yeeeeees?" The minion, shaking, babbled something about the raid, and ran off.

His more competent companion sighed, and said, "Sah, what 'e said was that th' raid's goin' on. The master wants this 'ere town intact. Enslaved, too." Sizing up the imp, he noted that his horns were longer and more twisted than the other imps', and his skin a dusky orange, rather than a blood red.

Athinar turned to Meat, and said, "Practice what I showed you on this pitiful creature here." He pointed to the dazed imp, a lesser one, in the corner. Meat grinned, and said that he would, with pleasure. Athinar locked his door, and looked at the smarter imp. "See me, here, after the raid. If I have to stay in the village, then bring Meat along with you." The imp lazily nodded, and waved Athinar off. The insubordination caused Athinar to snap, mildly. Grabbing him around his thin torso, with one hand, he squeezed. "You WILL do as I say. If it doesn't happen, I will know who is responsible." This threat got to him, and he assured Athinar that it would be done. Throwing him to the side, he strode to the middle chamber, standing tall. He then placed his helm on his face, locking it there with several chinstraps.

He then shouted above the din, yelling loud enough to echo throughout the entire Dungeon. "NARZA! UMBRA! DARKWRAITH! AZAVARN! GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE!" It didn't matter where they were. They would hear him. When they got close, he said, "Thank you. As you know, the Boss here has put me in charge of this next raid. Our target is Ilfracombe, the regional capitol. We also need to capture it, mostly intact." It was at this time, he grinned under his head, and said, "Mostly."

[Bright_Ops]

When Twich was given his latest task from the Master, a part of him was somewhat annoyed that he was being called away from his experiments so soon after they had began. Granted they were only the preliminary tests but being absent for them might result in him losing information and delaying his research.

While not ideal, Twich managed to rope a couple of Imps into staying in his lab and gave them some basic instructions; They were never to touch the bodies, they were to observe and keep note of anything out of the ordinary that happened and if one of them died they were to write down the time of their death (Twich had made sure his clock was properly freshly winded up for just that purpose). It was the best he could do under such a sudden deadline through...

Speaking of the mission that he had been given, Twich's mind was already combing through his current set of objectives and the information that the Master had to provide for the third time as it tried to piece together a plan of action. He already had a fairly decent way to pin it on the humans and have already sent a messenger to the Master requesting at least two weapons and two sets of armor from whatever passed for the town watch from that village that they had raided the day before. A second messenger had been dispatched to whatever lair That Which Consumes Peace had taken for itself with a request that it carefully pick two of its slaves to come with them; They would not be coming back.

At least there was the starting of a plan; First and foremost they needed more intel but that would have to wait for them to arrive there. Taking the time to make sure he had his supplies topped up, the kobold went to meet with the rest of his team and get underway.

[yPro]

Shukra received word of what was to be done, and sighed. No rest for the wicked, as the saying went. He took a sip of the stale mead the orcs had made, and let out a sigh. A larger village, wanted intact, with sizable defenses. He took another sip from the stone mug, then grunted. And the master put a bloodthirsty barbarian in charge of an operation like this. It was foolish, madness, idiotic. Some of the orcs around him could see his frustration, and began to make themselves scarce. His frustration often led to someone getting burned, and while it was rare that someone died because of it, no one wanted to be out of commission and miss a raid. But, as it were, he didn't want any of them out either. There was no telling what the others would bring, but he was going to bring as few of his own as possible to the fight. He wouldn't get them all killed in whatever hairbrained scheme Athinar cooked up.

The enchanted equipment had been handed out, but those men would stay behind and lead in his absense. It seemed that he would be out in the field more than he would be conquering the mountains, as he wished. No matter. The orcs weren't going anywhere. They had no drive, simply killing and eating, living like animals. All the better to make them his. They were weak minded, easily pliable. He would correct that with the introduction of humans to his forces, but for now, he'd have to rely on his own mind and their brute strength. It would be enough, for now. The cat scratched his chin, then stood and began rounding up some forces. Now that he thought about it, he might benefit himself by coming in full. Ah, decisions, decisions.

Rather than consult with his own forces, he began to make his way towards his quarters. Which consisted of little more than a large pavilion made of animal hides crudely stitched together, with a bed, chair, and desk inside of it. He sat at the desk, facing a tall, wide mirror. He mumbled a few words and passed his hand over the mirror, and in to view came Athinar, who was just now shouting for the others that were put under his command. Rolling his eyes, he tapped on the glass. "Athinar, turn around," he said, his rich voice coming from behind the oaf. There would be am image of Shukra, just his head and shoulders, but there. He narrowed his eyes slightly, then said, "My forces and I await orders." His voice was calm and cold, showing his obvious lack of respect for Athinar.

[Saarebas]

Azavarn didn't bother sleeping, mainly do to the fact that he didn't need to, so he had spent his night in the dungeon's tavern, though it would be more suitable to call it a filthy hole in the ground. The demon's evening consisted of out drinking the imps, no easy feat given the pigswill that they were serving, and swindling them out of whatever trinkets they were willing to bet. It was only a matter of time that one of the imps spilled the news that Azavarn would be heading out on the next raid, and to be lead by one of the humans no less. So he took it upon himself to wait in the larger cavern in the cave, and just as he thought Athinar came there and began to bellow for those who would be joining him. " 'Bout time you woke up boss, thought I was going to have to wait all day. I don't have eternity you know... Wait I actually do." Azavarn said with his usual sly smile on his face, he was seated on a near by bolder. He got up and walked over to the muscle bound human just as the fur ball Shukra appeared. He couldn't help but smirk, the 'warlord' had quite the ego didn't he. "As great as it would to have the orcs around, I don't think they would be great for this action. You know keeping the town unflattened." He said as he looked at the mirror image of the cat man. "Though, if I may be so bold as to give to advice, I would recommend that you order your forces to surround the town. They would make quite the useful neat for catching any runaways." He said before he turned on his hill to face Athinar. "And our oh so brawny leader may I suggest that you allow me to do what I do best and make a deal?" He said in a calm tone. "You put some muscle down on the little settlements around the town, let word get back to whoever is in charge. With the panic of an attack on their mind making a deal for ownership of the village will be easy."

[Lugubrious]

The rabbit took some wrangling to remove from its little box and keep in place upon the table, but it was nothing that the swarm queen couldn't do. With the alchemist and his young assistant looking on in fearful but intrigued anticipation, Clotho pinned the small animal on the table and held up her left hand. From a groove in the palm, a short, bladelike prong emerged, leaking a dark liquid that glistened in the yellow-green firefly-lanterns' light. Once her stinger had fully extended, Clotho reached down toward the captured mammal's belly and nicked the skin beneath its scrubby brown fur.

The changes were immediate. Growing very still but for the occasional twitch, the rabbit began to slough off its hair. Where the fur fell off, greenish plates of chitin formed, taking on a rough similarity to segmented plate armor. Legs grew longer, and a third pair began to branch from the middle of the bunny's torso. Its ears hardened and curved inward, like the prongs of a Hercules beetle, and even the texture of its eyes altered until the thing's vision was compounded. Spiky mandibles extended around its mouth, and its teeth grew sharp while joining to the gums. “Fascinating,” Clotho breathed. “Now for the moment of truth.” She let the miniature monster go.

Predictably, it remained statuesque except for the constant motion of its orange eyes. This gratified Clotho immensely. “The prototype serum is satisfactory. Subject's body structure has been altered immensely, and...” she gave a sharp, high-pitched chirp, and the former rabbit rolled onto its back. “...it is fully receptive to instruction. Congratulations, alchemist Omer,” she said to the man. “It would appear that you're useful to me after all. I understand the knowledge is limited, but please continue to work on the serum as much as you can. Work assured that if you do well I shall not use it on you. Soon I will leave, and you know what fate awaits you should you venture out of my hive.”

At that moment, an imp rushed into the room. Before it could even blink, Clotho had reacted, her rapier drawn and nestled against its throat, prompting a terrified squeak. If she'd still have been human, Clotho would have rolled her eyes. “Announce your presence next time, small one,” she chided as she replaced her rapier on her back. “I am not fond of surprises. Do you have news from the Master?”

Afterward, Clotho was pleased indeed. “Dwarves...master builders and engineers, and less well known, alchemists. This could be exactly the thing you need to complete my transformation toxin.” She zipped into the hive's main atrium, where the bulk of her forces spent their time. Looking down upon on Myrmidons, Antlions, and Lambent, she silently thanked the Master for giving her an opportunity for her minions to shine. A series of clicks and shrieks communicated everything that Clotho required, and soon after she emerged from her dungeon with her minions not far behind. At the entrance, she encountered Twitch, who the imp had said would be joining her on the mission. “Hello again, whiskered one. The Master has trusted us with a task most important. I am sure the both of us will prove beyond a doubt's shadow that we are worthy of his trust.” A quick look around determined the absence of Ekusha and That Which Consumes Peace. “The demon and the spirit have not yet arrived?”

[Boop_Im_A_Dragon]

Over the past few hours Umbra watched Christopher solemnly as he played with a few small wooden toys and an imp. They seemed to have taken a liking to each other, but soon the Master’s orders had arrived and Umbra was sent off onto another raid with Athinar as the commander. In response he quickly possessed the nearby imp and turned towards Christopher “It seems I will be needing this imp's body for a bit. Try not to get hurt while I’m gone.”

Christopher being both slightly naive and overconfident responded “What could possibly hurt me here when I have all these powerful monsters protecting me?”

If only Christopher had realized those ‘monsters’ were exactly what Umbra was afraid of. Luckily enough for Christopher, none have paid much attention to him and hopefully it will stay that way as long as they have other ‘toys’ to play with.

As he was approaching Athinar’s location he could loudly hear him shout in the distance. When Umbra had finally arrived to Athinar’s location watched both Shukra and Azavarn make a show out of their arrival, whether they had realized it themselves or not. Umbra on the other hand chose to quietly walk up to the group and sit off to the side. Considering he was in the body of an imp he would most likely draw little attention, which he was fine with.

[Didos]

Twitch's words were fair: maybe it was too early to have approached him with the idea of a makeshift alliance within their group, but Ekusha was happy enough she had brought up the idea. She was sure it would grow more appealing over time, especially if and when the conquest grew to larger, harder to manage proportions. As for his issue with That Which Consumes Peace, she agreed that he would potentially be a thorn in their side, given his violent nature.

She departed his workspace and began wandering the halls, and with the help of some imps, slowly learned how to navigate their base of operations. Soon enough one had approached her with news of another mission. The group had a very odd composition, at least at face-value, but the potential between all of them made more and more sense as she made her way to join them.

At their meeting point, she saw Twitch and Clotho were already gathered. They were to capture a dwarven mine embedded in the mountains and rid it of its inhabitants. They would be in close quarters, which should be fairly easy for this group: a closed tunnel system would mean paths would be limited, and the outpost would be littered with choke-points.

"This mission sounds easy enough: painting mines with the blood of dwarves and capture a few strays, if I'm not mistaken. I may be over-simplifying this, but entrapment and execution seems like a quick job between all of us."

She turned to Clotho, essentially a military commander of insects with a grotesque appearance: "It would seem that if you begin flooding the entrances, all the rest of us need to do is begin inciting the chaos. I can seek out the larger areas of congregation with their caverns, like resting and dining areas, and throw some suggestions into the minds of their heads of security. From there, That will bring chaos to these large groups."

Ekusha then faced Twitch, who has already validated himself before the rest of the group with the last raid: "You should direct the advance. Other than their intelligence and utility, I know nothing of dwarven culture or structure. Your own eyes on the ground will likely be able to spot more detail than any of us."

[knighthawk]

Octavius left without ceremony, taking all his personal possessions so no one could cast against him while he was gone. He and tinker looted the larder for two weeks rations and wine from the most recent raid before leaving on summoned mounts. They would ride east along the orcish mountains to come around to the town dressed as adventurers, he as a fighter and her as a bard.

They were successful warriors who slapped some orcs around and had some gold to spend. He was looking for a wizard to identify some magic items or a priest for some divination. They made a bit of a scene of themselves, all the sooner to be the flash in the pan and forgotten by townsfolk. Soon enough they would be part of the scenery as the gold ran low and they looked for small jobs in the city to keep the coppers rolling in.

[Elitestpotato]

That Which Consumes Peace smiles when he gets the news from Twich's messenger but frowns when he hears the plans for two of his humans. The demon appears beside the kobold.
"You cannot use my humans. Use your own. They are destined to die anyways." That then turns towards Clotho and Ekusha and gives a small nod of his head then turns back towards Twich and scowls. "You do not touch my humans, kobold. Either find a new plan, or use your own humans." The demon finishes the statement with a narrowing of his eyes.

[Mattie_]

Narza shivered as she thought back about the end of the raid, when the humans and loot were being divided up amongst the minions. I was totally invisible, and he looked right at me. Like he knew what I'd done, and was warning me. Like he was going to hit me next...

Of Derrik's memories of the Master, none were specific, but the general emotions came across clear as day. Awe, envy, and a generous amount of fear. As she consumed more souls, she could feel more and more of Derrik's memories. While most were rather dirty and perverted, detailing lurid and nasty encounters with various summoned creatures of the dark that Derrik used for personal pleasure, some were actually helpful, teaching Narza how to use Derrik's Magic. In addition, all the extra souls allowed Narza to actually absorb information from the souls as she tore them apart. Most of it was boring villager, but the priests led fairly interesting lives. Unfortunately, Narza could already feel that it was impossible for her to use the same magic as the priests.

---

A problem faced Narza. Derrik's giant chest of valuables was hers for the taking, as only the dark Mage himself could open it. Fortunately, holding Derrik's soul made her count as close enough to Derrik to bypass the magical protection. Unfortunately, the classic-looking wooden chest with golden trim was also enchanted to be weather-proof and spirit proof. For the vast majority of corporeal beings, this wouldn't be a problem. However, Narza was incorporeal and got by in daily life by using wind and water magic whenever she couldn't pass through things. Doorknobs, bodies, and imps were all usually opened up with gusts of wind and water. This meant that Narza's best attempts to open the chest were met with utter failure, as blast after blast of wind and water dissipated harmlessly upon the surface of the chest. Could she have asked someone else to open the chest for her? Certainly, but Narza was both too frustrated and too prideful to go to another for help.

"Stupid girl, why don't you just become solid for a moment?"
"Who the ogre-f***ing s***bag are you!?" Narza screeches, shooting up into the air in a panic.
"I'm your maker, now bow down you foolishly foul-mouthed peasant. I'm taking over this body now." Derrik orders arrogantly, assuming a tone of confidence and power.
"Eww, no!" Narza flat out refuses, crushing Derrik's mind under a torrent of the souls she had absorbed. A short while later...
"I give, I give!" Derrik cries out, submissive and apologetic in defeat. His mental strength was poor to begin with, which is why he had been absorbed so easily originally.
"Tell me how to become solid." Narza orders, their positions reversed.
"Just focus your thick spiritual energy into the shape of a limb and it should appear." Derrik answers meekly, still afraid he'd be tortured further.
In response, Narza tosses Derrik's soul back into the whirlpool of souls.
Before she could open the chest, a tremendous roar rings out through the cavern. The chest forgotten for now, Narza flies towards Athinar, eager to begin the next raid.

She turns visible sitting on Athinar's shoulders, looking like a pale little sister riding the shoulders of her big brother. "Hey Boss!" She leans over Athinar's head to see his face and smiles at him before straightening up. "Hiiii kitty!" Narza waves at the image of Shukra as well. "Hiya funny hat guy!" Narza waves at Azavarn next, and then at the imp hidden in the shadows. To others, it seemed like she had just waved at a mere imp, but Narza had sensed Umbra's unique soul situation immediately. Note: Any attempts to dislodge Narza will probably pass right through her. ^-^

soul count

Something or other, too tired to retrieve and paste in atm.

[BBeast]

Torrens' face turned to a disappointed frown when he was told that he was not to burn anything. This would be the second time he had been sent on a mission and not been allowed to utilise the full extent of his abilities. However, if all did go well there would be fire of great strength. He did not fear the Muspelheim, for he was certain that no fire which produced heat or burned, however magical or exotic, could do him anything other than good. He did not worry about the Kitsune. There may be a great feast if he followed Emily, although in the long run it would do little benefit for that mission would be spent doing nothing and being unproductive, again.

Torrens rubbed his chin in deep thought, then asked, "So how are you summoning this Kitsune? Another massive rune, I suppose. If so, how do you plan on drawing it this time? Last time the village was completely distracted by the pillaging and raiders, but this time there are no such distractions. I doubt they'll just let you draw a massive rune across the entire village. And since you want everything intact the obvious option of me going in and setting things on fire and sowing panic is out. Did you have any plans?"

Torrens had decided that if he could be any use to Emily, then he would go with her. However, if it turned out that he would be doing nothing more than leeching off the spoils, he resolved that he would hold out for a proper mission, such as a raid, where he could prove his usefulness. Not that feasting on fires of great strength wasn't great and all, but he needed to think more long term. He had no hope of being granted things like soulflame if he gained a reputation of being lazy.

((Recall that news of Athinar's upcoming raid came after Emily's assignment))

[KabenSaal]

Emily pondered for a moment, trying to think of a long-term benifit of Torrens coming. One that allowed him to be productive, coming along. Then she scoffed.
"Mortals don't see what they don't want to, or can't understand. Runes do not properly exist in this world until that which they are drawn for is cast. It's the same reason they can't percieve Death when he comes, before they human brain refuses to percieve that which it can not immidiately rationalize. Or though, I guess there would be an execption to that. Say, if Death was in a play, and people expected him to appear, then they would see him. Just, put away his appearance as good costume work" she then gathered herself, getting side-tracked again.

"But, as for productive, I guess it is a risk. I have a feeling that the Kitsune could grant you a greater understanding of the nature of your element, but it is possible that nothing could really happen. So, if you want to go on a raid, then I guess that would be the better of the two. I don't mean to offend, but you don't seem like the scholourly type who would seek enlightnment or absolute knowledge. Just, setting things on fire" She then remembered something, and held out her hand, a small, white flame blossomed into existance. Or rather, the casing of a flame, the actual casing was empty for several seconds, until a spark caught and filled the container, small as it was. The flame was also white, rather than the usual red or orange, which made it clear this was no ordinary fire.
"I don't expect any trouble now, but this is more of a future investment. If you ever run into any trouble, eat this. I am not sure how well it'll go down, butwhen it activates, it'll certainly outweigh any bad" she then held it out to Torrens, for him to take.

[Bright_Ops]

As the others gathered and explained their ideas, Twich took the time to listen but his mind was already gearing up with his own plotted course of action and that required getting the demon on side for it. Turning to meet That Which Consumes Peace's gaze despite his small structure, Twich felt much bigger and more confident due to the fact that their master favored him more then the demon and that if he was struck down there would be consequences.

"My humans cannot pass for solders, but yours can. They are not going to be dying for nothing... they are going to be valantly sacrificing their lives in order to ensure that the cool headed and peaceful factions of both the dwarfs and the humans will be unable to get a word in edgewise about a peaceful solution when everyone else is drowning them out with a cry for vengeance and blood. Surely you've sacrificed more minions for less then a whole blown dwarf/human war? Besides, you can always grab two of the dwarves to replace the men you gave up; Not only haven't you lost anything from the exchange but you've increased the versatility of your minions and where you can have them operate; And with the coming human/dwarf war... well, you'll be able to have agents on both sides, egging it on to further heights..." It was an appeal to the demon's very nature and the Kobold might have been laying it on a bit thick, but hopefully the demon would be inclined to listen to him and commit to his plan if only out of self serving greed.

Turning to address the group as a whole, Twich took a deep breath in order to puff himself up as much as possible and to give him some air to talk with. "In truth Ekusha, before I commit to either yourself or That Which Consumes Peace to enter the mine I wished for the ever delightful Clotho to send in her little friends first in a more covert role in order to get us an idea of what is going on inside. After all, the Master has made note they the dwarfs seem to have some means of blocking his magic and I would rather not send in the magic users until we can work out how they are doing so and figure out how to disable it. If nothing else, it gives us an idea of where everything is and thus better plan or actual assault on the place."

"While Clotho is information gathering on the dwarves, That Which Consumes Peace and Ekusha will be gathering a few pieces of equipment and information on the local human kingdom. Namely, I want you to find out the name of the king, the name of the local lord of the area, several of the human kingdom's flags and if at all possible, a blank document bearing the seal and signature of the local lord. Don't want the dwarfs mistaking this for simply banditry, now do we?" The grin on Twich's face could only be called delightfully evil at the thoughts that were going through his head.

[Didos]

Ekusha found Twitch's plan reasonable, but felt a bit offended with the way he had given them orders in such commanding rhetoric. A list? Nonetheless, she would indeed have rather been out probing the humans than the dwarves. She possessed no magics, no powers to bear any impact on a physical level, no projection of her self except through communication, and even her image was nothing more than an image, but all that information seemed negligible: the humans have always had much more potential than any other race in her opinion. She had no objections to this reassignment.

"Very well, I shall set out for the humans at once, however I'll be unable to bring back any objects. I lack the power of teleportation in a corporeal form, and my non-corporeal form cannot physically interact with my surroundings." She turned to That Which Consumes Peace, now her cooperator in this mission. Although she did not approve of his being, she felt whatever he did out there, with the two of them being the only ones among the humans, would only be beneficial for her. "I think we should split up on this one and bring back two different reports. We can compare notes and re-visit any discrepancies. The synthesis of our two views would shed better light on what we're dealing with in the range of our perspectives."

[Takashi]

Kor had spent the entire night enjoying his new chair, which entailed mostly sitting in it and asking the imps that passed by which pose looked more menacing. Eventually, he started ordering the imps to squat in front of him and act as foot stools, but he found that they were too bony to act as a decent cushion. Maybe that's what humans are good for... he mused, but before he could experiment any further, Athinar called, apparently with a new mission. It was about time; he was getting hungry.

Kor silently rose from his chair, dismissing the latest footstool imp, and calmly walked over to where Athinar was beckoning for him. Already the minions were engaging in their ridiculous shenanigans. The naughty kitty was refusing to appear in person, Azarvan thought it prudent to tread on the cat's pride and propose how he ought to use his troops, and the ghost girl mistook Athinar for a horse. Kor was glad that nobody could see the grin behind his helmet and wondered if blood would be spilled before they even got to the village.

[Elitestpotato]

That Which Consumes Peace nods grimly as he agrees to sacrificing two of his humans. He did not like to sacrifice them, but there seemed to be a greater chance of chaos if he did. He teleports back to his cave and picks the two oldest men. "Prepare yourself. We're going on a mission that you may not come back from. ", is what he tells the men. He guides them back to Twich and begrudgingly hands them over.

After listening to the kobold's orders and the spirits words, he replies to both with a simple "Aye." and a small grin. He then disappears to the group, presumably to a village. However, he appears in the Master's quarters beside the dungeon keeper.
"Master may I be provided some information about the human kingdom? Their king, their flags and the like? It is very important, master. "

[BBeast]

Torrens thought over Emily's words, until Emily conjured a small mote of a magical flame for him. Torrens stepped over, swiftly swiped it, and stepped back to where he was. While to those unfamiliar with him it may have appeared to have been a rude snatch, Torrens was simply taking caution and minimising Emily's close-range exposure to him- many of his physical mannerisms center around that motive. He stared at the palm of his hand where the flame had sunk in and his face broke out into a big grin.

"Ah, yes, thank you. This will be most useful. Empyrean, yes? I've heard a lot about it," Torrens said. He closed his eyes for a moment, then added, "Not quite real Empyrean, though, I sense. Still, powerful all the same. Thank you again. Good luck on your mission."

As he was leaving, Torrens added, "Although I like burning things, I'm not a senseless brute about it. I've been in this game a lot longer than you can imagine, and I already know a proportionately vast amount about the nature of fire and heat and it's applications. I've got to. I wouldn't have made it this far if I didn't. Just letting you know."



Later, Torrens joined the group assembled by Athinar in preparation for the raid. Already various personalities were making a big show of the matter. Athinar did not look like a tactician, but at the same time looks can be deceiving. "For consideration in whatever plan you choose, my strengths are arson, sabotage, drawing enemy fire and frontal assaults. I'm not good at stealth," Torrens offered helpfully.