un: whitewolf / video: ota / text: private to Vanessa Ives / forward dated to 2 March

[northerndragon]

[Jon Snow has looked better, but he's also looked worse. His dark hair is not pulled back smoothly, as it typically is; curls escape to hang around his face. He has small wounds, nothing too recent, a scabby scrape on his cheek. His expression is complicated: troubled, angry, disgusted, but all in a quiet way.]

I've just returned from a meeting with Rathakku.

He makes an offer. He will withdraw his forces from Alem and allow evacuation, if --

[(his lips press together; this is clearly the part that he mislikes so greatly)]

Ten of us agree to join his ranks. Ten, and Deimar, as the dead who walk, who fight for Rathakku.

[A hard shake of his head.]

If this is enough for him -- if he has the fortress, I think the lives of those who leave are like to be forfeit either way. But I think they may leave ten of us tied in the yard to have that chance.

Half, then twelve, then ten. The numbers keep getting smaller.

I say none.

[He has decided, perhaps, that he does not wish to negotiate with undead lords after all.]

[PRIVATE TO VANESSA IVES]

My lady, I have what you wanted.

[OOC: Mod post for volunteers! Hit it up if it's a "yes" from your character.]

Comments

un : dappled peals of the parted seas (voice)

[beitangmoran]

Absolutely not.

[northerndragon]

What will he do if he doesn't get his ten soldiers? Next he'll ask for eight, or five.

It's the place that he wants.

un: Black Prince; text

[blackscales]

I think this undead lord is fond of games. If he can control some of us already, why ask?

[northerndragon]

He can't keep control. He knows it. It must be easier for him to have willing soldiers.

un: bee

[allforthecause]

Why they think he can be bargained with, I don’t know.

[northerndragon]

Why this offer after such a long siege? He wants as many of us as he can get, and he wants this place.

What will anyone's lives be worth after he gets it?

[This isn't a rhetorical question. He remembers the tales of the dead coming to Ellethia.]

un: white pawn; video

[chosenbylight]

[The frown on Anduin's face feels permanent these days.]

I do not doubt that you are right. If Deimar -- or anyone else in the royal family here for that matter -- thinks there is any truth in these words, there is a chance they might try and take him up on his bargain.

But there is no line in the sand for men like Rathakku. Nothing to hold him to his word, once he has been given exactly what he wants. Especially once he understands he can frighten us into just handing him whatever he so desires.

[northerndragon]

Better to take away as much of his power to cause fear as we can.

If he gets what he wants here, how long will the survivors really live? This is one lord wanting something held by another, and he must have a reason for wanting it.

un: absterge

[downswing]

We stand in agreement.

Concede to evil once, concede unto eternity.

[northerndragon]

What next? He asks for eight, five, three, and always the place itself.

If he makes any offer at all, he fears that he might lose. I do not think he means his offer as a kindness.

un: man's greatest treasure;

[reparo]

No - absolutely not. None. What a clever way to sow discord too. Give Deimar's soldiers a reason to want to fight us, keep them distracted, give Rathakku the city as well as a weakened army.

[northerndragon]

He fears that he will lose. But so do they -- and their fear might be more trouble to us for now. A hungry man is a desperate man.

un: headless ragdoll (private)

[matermali]

[ Curious, but straight to business. She'll write out some directions to a supply space behind one of the abandoned forges. ]

Well done. Meet me near the forges in an hour.

text/action

[northerndragon]

I'll be there.

[And so he is, with a curious, tired expression on his face. He holds a small, folded packet of cloth. Dubiously clean, but there is only one hair within it, dark and bristly.]

What do you mean to do with this?

audio | un: off scarlet

[westviews]

Not a chance.

[northerndragon]

Good.

We haven't spoken before. How much of this place have you seen?

un: ut malum pluvia | audio

[somebadnews]

[ This would be a time when the math should seem easy. Sacrifice ten to save the world. Unfortunately, their group is too powerful to trust in the hands of a death lord. ]

...He must think a lot of us if he's willing to negotiate. How long did he give you to decide?

[northerndragon]

Five days.

[He's too unamused to attempt any sort of jest about this number at the moment.]

Don't think most of us will need that long.

un: eclipse | audio

[soloritur]

[ Marcos really hopes people aren't seriously considering that offer. If it were him, he's not even sure he would have given the option for people to choose to sacrifice themselves when they have no guarantees a death lord will keep his word. ]

You went alone to meet with him? [ Unless he missed something, which is entirely possible. It's been pretty insane around here. ] How much does he know about us?

[northerndragon]

Aye. I was sent as an envoy, to hear his words.

I don't know how much he knows, or how he might know it, other than what he has seen. Are we sure that no one here, no one in the wards, aids him? No one in the king's family?

[dog_eat_dog]

But volunteers don't mean shit if Deimar doesn't also give himself up, right?

[northerndragon]

I don't think they do. Not sure Deimar himself means much without ten of us, either.

[thebrideoffire]

His offer is as flimsy as his assurances. We have moved past negotiations, clearly.

public/private

[northerndragon]

Aye. A negotiation should not insult the other side, or it is no negotiation at all.

[He then sends a private message.]

It's good to hear you say this. I was afraid you might want to take the offer -- to spare everyone else.

un: brightsun | voice

[stephanivien]

[ yes, yes, the undead want their very special magical special selves. Old news...

Or, rather, intriguing news, in linked context with everything else. ]

...Rathakku requested Deimar by name, specifically?

[northerndragon]

Aye. Ten of us and Deimar.

Might be there is something here that he can't get to without Deimar. [But he also recalls an old threat, one from back at home, that would have seen him fed to dogs after his eyes were taken, and...] Might be that he only wants Deimar to suffer as payment for resisting for so long.