"You will serve me."
"...You will serve me..."
Those final words echoed in Dantyreslithorn's mind as he lost consciousness, the pain (both physical and mental) too much to bear any more, total in their ruin of the once proud silver. He slipped into a realm of nightmare worse than any reality he had ever known.
Then, words came out of the darkness. Was it a memory, or a call to respite at last?:
"Dantyres. You are tired and wounded. Let me help you. You have but to give in. Release this foolish struggle. Serve me. And I will give you rest and healing. Serve me."
It was so hard to focus on anything, even that voice. To do so was pain incarnate. But the promise in that voice, the chance to truly rest....
"Help.....me. he cried out weakly. "Pleeeaase. Make the....pain go away, the nightmares....stop..."
He was afraid the disembodied voice couldn't hear him, that it would go away and leave him in this nightmare hell. He summoned the strength to finally call out:
"I....will serve you!"
That fire troll is going to go for a little swim...[/ooc]
Chan smiled and dismissed the fire troll. He made sure to reinforce the pain for disobedience and to make sure that the pleasure centers of the dragon's mind were stimulated when it fulfilled its mandate to serve him before pulling out of its mind.
He snapped his fingers and summoned a chest from his chambers. He opened it and pulled out a large bottle of blue liquid.
"Drink, Dantyres. Drink, and your pain will be no more."
Chan smiled and dismissed the fire troll. He made sure to reinforce the pain for disobedience and to make sure that the pleasure centers of the dragon's mind were stimulated when it fulfilled its mandate to serve him before pulling out of its mind.
He snapped his fingers and summoned a chest from his chambers. He opened it and pulled out a large bottle of blue liquid.
"Drink, Dantyres. Drink, and your pain will be no more."
Dantyreslithorn reached feebly for the bottle, his mighty claws trembling like a hatchling's. Finally he managed to grab it and swallow its contents.
"That's much better isn't it Dantyres?" he asked solicitously, all traces of cruelty put away for now.
"Perhaps we can continue this discussion in more comfortable surroundings. I'm sure you have seen more than enough of this stable. Come with me to my throne room and we will speak about how exactly you are going to serve me. Over a nice meal perhaps? I have a few fat cows and pigs just waiting to be eaten. And I believe a few barrels of dwarven ale," he added with a smile as he gestured for the dragon to follow him.
"That's much better isn't it Dantyres?" he asked solicitously, all traces of cruelty put away for now.
"Perhaps we can continue this discussion in more comfortable surroundings. I'm sure you have seen more than enough of this stable. Come with me to my throne room and we will speak about how exactly you are going to serve me. Over a nice meal perhaps? I have a few fat cows and pigs just waiting to be eaten. And I believe a few barrels of dwarven ale," he added with a smile as he gestured for the dragon to follow him.
He barely heard the words as his wounds mircaculously healed and the pain vanished entirely. The mention of food, however, brought him back to the here and now.
"That...sounds like a most agreeable idea. Thank you."
He gets up and follows Chan back to the throne room.
Chan lounged on his throne as the Silver wolfed down food and drink. He smiled to himself. Once Dantyres had eaten and drunk his fill, Chan leaned forward.
"Now, I think you and I have a lot to talk about. We'll start with how you got into Agartha in the first place. And then I have a few ideas...."
A fleeting part of him felt like talking to Chan was wrong. He couldn't quite place it....but the feeling was gone before he could truly dwell upon it. He had saved him from torment, healed his wounds and fed him grandly. There would be no harm in answering the questions of his educated and curious host.
"Of course. Are you familiar with the subset of arcane study known as chronomancy....?" as he proceeds to tell Chan how he managed to get to Agartha.
A fleeting part of him felt like talking to Chan was wrong. He couldn't quite place it....but the feeling was gone before he could truly dwell upon it. He had saved him from torment, healed his wounds and fed him grandly. There would be no harm in answering the questions of his educated and curious host.
"Of course. Are you familiar with the subset of arcane study known as chronomancy....?" as he proceeds to tell Chan how he managed to get to Agartha.
Upon ascertaining whether it was feasible to travel back and forth between Agartha and the Empire discreetly, Chan begins to list several ideas that he felt Dantyres could provide him with help by doing. Things like smuggling tech into Agartha, specifically to Chan.
Many hours passed. As Chan's throne room was not specifically designed with draconic comfort in mind, Dantyres shifted forms...
...to something more comfortable for the location.
After Chan's orders were made clear to him (quite the bright lad, he thought), Dyntares began making plans for 'acquiring' pieces of Imperial technology for him to use here. The portal would not allow for large materiel to come through, but there were plenty of other things that would. The rest could be handled by further use of magic. In any event, nothing that would be any great issue.
Once they were in agreement on the mission, Dyntares prepares to take his leave.
"But that would be so....limiting. And that just wouldn't do, would it Sweet Cheeks...?" ;)
: ... I was watching as I have been watching for some time when I saw the Silver. I do not know how it could have gotten here. I do not like it. The wards may be growing thin in places. I thought I could deal with it on my own. I was regrettably wrong. We were both badly wounded. I fled to the safest place I knew to hide. Chan'trikalliax found the Silver. I shudder to think what will come of that... :
After securing the ring, Tam remembers what Ryleh said about her lair's 'amenities'.
"If that silver got here from the outside like I did, we need to try and find out if it was a one-way trip, or if there's an stable portal somehwhere in the area. With the mandate your kind had in establishing this place, would you have ways to check for such an 'anomaly' in Agartha's wards?"
"Yes. In addition to what I myself have collected over the years I have had access to many other treasures and artifacts that were left behind after...." She sighed sadly. "After the rest of my kind were slaughtered."
"Follow me." She walked over to a section of wall between niches and waved her hand. The stone moved aside to form an arched doorway. On the other side of the doorway there was a room full of scrying materials, crystal balls, mirrors, ornate basins and so on.
"Each one is set to watch a different part of Agartha."
Tam let out a soft whistle as he took in the scale of the room and all of the scrying devices within.
"Wow." ^.^
"You're drooling, hon," she said with a grin.
She glanced over at Ryo.
"Okay, you're both drooling." ;)
"You're drooling, hon," she said with a grin.
She glanced over at Ryo.
"Okay, you're both drooling." ;)
[Wipe Wipe]
"Right - I'm okay now. Sorry." ;P
He purposefully shoves his hands in his pockets before he started examining things.
"I am not," he says as he wipes his mouth to be sure.
"But even if I was, can you blame me? Scrying is not as easy for me as looking into the future or past, and here I can look upon parts of AAgartha I have never even seen or heard of!"
"I wonder if Razzy is following my instructions and keeping explosives out of his mixtures until I return?"
"I am not," he says as he wipes his mouth to be sure.
"But even if I was, can you blame me? Scrying is not as easy for me as looking into the future or past, and here I can look upon parts of AAgartha I have never even seen or heard of!"
"I wonder if Razzy is following my instructions and keeping explosives out of his mixtures until I return?"
"You can see whatever you wish, all you have to do is find the right device. If you tell me which general area you're looking for, I can help direct you more effectively," she said laughing just a little.
Ryo shakes his head slowly.
"No, I think I'll look on my own. We still have a day before I have to be back in the horrible place, doppelganger or no."
He begins going around the room, glancing upon vast seas and huge caverns filled with hidden life, small communities deep in bigger ones and floating vehicles forgotten high in the clouds. He does manage to find Razzy though, and is amused to find his newest ward blatantly disobeying his wishes.
"Ha, knew he'd do that. He's about to become very cold..."
Ryleh ignores the rest of the scrying devices and walks over to a large uncut crystal. She calls forth an image within it and groans.
"This is not good."
Inside the crystal is the image of Chan sitting in his throne room speaking companionably with the Silver dragon.
Ryleh ignores the rest of the scrying devices and walks over to a large uncut crystal. She calls forth an image within it and groans.
"This is not good."
Inside the crystal is the image of Chan sitting in his throne room speaking companionably with the Silver dragon.
"Oh great. Guess that's a 'no' on trying to rescue the Silver now. He also doesn't look injured in the slightest..."
"If Chan'trikalliax has healed his wounds it is because he is certain that he has gained his loyalty. He is a cunning child. I only wish he had not twisted that cunning to become...this."
Aananda gave her mother a quick hug.
"You still have me."
"Yes, I do," she said with a faint smile.
"How did you...?"
"James. The demon that stole him twisted him up pretty good too."
She looked at her feet, concentrating very hard on not crying.
"Even knowing that he isn't really my James doesn't make it hurt any less."
Ryleh hugged her tightly.
"I will do whatever I can to make sure that future never happens," she whispered.
"We've already taken the first steps to guarantee it doesn't," Tam utters very quietly to himself as he returns his gaze back to the crystal, memorizing every defining detail of both Chan and the Silver that he can...
"If we must fight it, I'll handle it. You and Ryleh need to keep near Aananda and make sure she doesn't get hurt. Master Quo and Ruji can help me if I need it."
He pauses as he looks at the device hard.
"I keep getting this feeling that we're missing something though, like we aren't seeing everything..."
"The scrying is of necessity limited. There are many protections surrounding Chan'trikalliax. The only reason this works is that this crystal has been attuned to him and only him since his birth. That one over there is attuned to Aananda'reavekki, and the blank ones....well, it's best not to speak any more of that."
"Perhaps you are relying too much on what you see with your eyes. Perhaps that is why you are missing something. Or perhaps I'm just a crazy old man who likes spouting wise-sounding nonsense," he added with a chuckle.
Ryo is silent for a long time, just staring into the device...
Then he leaves the room to sit alone, thinking without distractions. He starts to whisper under his breath as Ruji curls up in his arms...
"Well, we should probably turn our focus to whether or not there is some kind of reliable portal back to the Empire, especially if this guy is under Chan's sway now. What have you got here that we can use to that end, Ryleh?"
She picked up something that looks like a tuning fork.
"This is supposed to be able to track traces of magic through scried images, but I have no idea how to use it."
"Aside from following the Silver if and when he returns to the portal, I am not sure how to find it. Even if we searched every lightly habitated region in Agartha, we don't know exactly what we're looking for."
She picked up something that looks like a tuning fork.
"This is supposed to be able to track traces of magic through scried images, but I have no idea how to use it."
"Aside from following the Silver if and when he returns to the portal, I am not sure how to find it. Even if we searched every lightly habitated region in Agartha, we don't know exactly what we're looking for."
"Maybe I can puzzle it out while we wait and see if the Silver does actually leave. I can give it a try at least."
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