Apostles of Doom

“Also, assure him that we will not kill his prisoners if he does not remove his forces,” Zargvarst stated calmly, much to the surprise of everyone in the room, particularly the orcs. There were numerous murmurs of surprise and consternation.

“No. They shall not die, ever,” Zargvarst stated menacingly. “We shall, instead, drag them and their mounts down into the deepest and darkest reaches of Mount Doom, in the Abyss; into an impossible prison, from which not even light escapes! And they shall be mercilessly tortured, their living flesh peeled from the bone; then they shall be forced through painful regeneration — only to have this repeated over and over for eternity.”

Jenn blanched at this, as did, of course, Gastropé. Even Maelen and Elrose seemed quite disturbed.

“Yet, fear not, there shall be some creative respites. When not peeling their live flesh, we shall eviscerate and disembowel them, and force-feed their living organs and bowels to their compatriots.” Zargvarst grinned menacingly. “Tell Prince Ariel that these are but the least of the torments they shall endure for all eternity if he does not remove every single alfar, and every alvaran ally, stooge, henchmen and other being from our territory,” he finished. The room went silent.

“Finally, should he agree, we will hold the prisoners here unharmed until we can verify that all alvar are gone from our realm,” Zargvarst stated, leaving another long silence.

Finally, Tal Gor spoke up. “Any questions?”

“I think not,” Trevin said quietly.

Zargvarst nodded. “Elgrida, get word of our proposal spread wide, outside of the orcs, to the alvar and others. Should Prince Ariel refuse our offer, I want everyone, in particular his own troops, to know what they can expect under his command. His loyalty to his soldiers is no better than his wizard’s loyalty to the patrol he led.”

Zargvarst turned back to Trevin and looked her directly in the eyes. “Enchantress, there is a bond between soldier and leader. It is a two-way street. Any leader who is not loyal to his soldiers deserves no loyalty in return.”

Trevin nodded tightly.

Zargvarst glanced around to the others in the room. “Those are the words of Lord Tommus as spoken to the commander of the demon soldiers whose leader, Lilith the Jilted Bride, abandoned them to certain defeat at the hands of Lord Tommus. Soldiers who now serve Lord Tommus, who shall be loyal to them in return.”

Nimbus: High Tea

“Skip the tea, I need a brandy!” Trevin said as they filed into the viewing room used for their high tea.

“Is there anything stronger?” Maelen asked, making his way to the serving table that held the liquor.

“I have no idea what’s left. There should be something; if not, we can send for something,” Trevin said, dropping into an overstuffed chair.

“Well, this Zargvarst just upended everything I thought I knew about orcs,” Elrose said going to the wheeled tea cart to pour himself a cup of tea.

“For a being who does not like negotiating, he is particularly good at it,” Maelen said.

“Wine?” Gastropé asked Jenn.

“Yes, please,” Jenn replied gratefully.

“I do not believe it, but I think Zargvarst has boxed Ariel in,” Trevin said, shaking her head.

“That was brutal, direct and no-nonsense; all traits I would attribute to an orc,” Maelen said. “However, it also showed a shrewd knowledge of the alvar and how to use their own tactics and weaknesses against them.” Maelen shook his head in wonder.

“The business of sending messengers to broadcast their threats — that was blackmail,” Elrose said.

“Indeed. A very un-orclike tactic,” Trevin agreed.

“Well, he is a five-thousand-year-old demon,” Gastropé pointed out. “I suspect that gives one quite the perspective.”

“How do you know his age?” Maelen asked.

Gastropé paused, as if surprised to be asked that. “Uhm, well, look at the statements he made, about when he was on Astlan as a mortal, the battles he fought? But more importantly, there were no D’Orcs made after Orcus was killed, so he has to be over four thousand years old, and he said he fought for centuries. I mean I suppose he could be older, but…”

Maelen nodded. “No, no, you are quite right. I guess I am just so taken aback by his play, that I am not putting the pieces together as fast as you are.”

“So do we think they will actually do all those horrible things?” Jenn asked. Those were exactly the sorts of things demons were known to do. Tom had claimed to be different, and she had almost started to believe him; however, if his commanders were making such threats…

“Oh,” Gastropé tilted his head back on his shoulders and rolled it back and forth. “I am betting they will get tired of torturing them after a few hundred years — a thousand, tops.”

Jenn blinked. That was a very un-Gastropé-like thing to say. This was the same wizard that had actually soiled himself in Tom’s presence, and he was now making casually flippant remarks about demons torturing people? His activities with these demons was clearly desensitizing and perhaps corrupting him.