To meet A maker (Amber please)

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

*29th Cryxatum*


A member of the city guard approached the Thanal building and moved to one of the guards, carefully he handed over a foled peice of paper and spoke quickly, "To be delivered to the Thane, Lady Amber Brightwing, from Dorvold Hammerhelm captain of the guard and head of the army." The guard turned and moved away from the building.

When the paper was opened the message inside was simple,

A great bear awaits in the towers above the city, he wishes to speak with you.

Dorvold Hammerhelm

Dimitri himself stood on the highest tower of the Vortexian Citadel and military compound, his eye scanned the horizon and he waited, waited to speak to his Imperial opposite, the fae who controlled the city in the eyes of the Empire. Things had to be said now, things needed to be resolved and their roles measured accrding to their positions, he did not intend to be silent for much longed. He was alone and he waited.

[Amber Brightwing]

Amber had been quite surprised at the letter. It wasn’t the fact that Dimitri was back in the city, that was something she had expected to happen eventually when she heard he had escaped. She’d probably do the same thing if she had been in his place. There were plenty of places to hide form the law and few people concerned with what Imperials wanted. Even the fact that Drovold had signed the letter wasn’t entirely unexpected. The Dwarf had been Dimitri’s second in command and as she had come to know ‘the great bear’ that would probably be the case until he died.

What she had not expected was for him, a wanted criminal, to invite her to a place crawling with city guards. Although it gave her answers on a few questions that had been left about how much power the old Captain still had over the guard, the downside was that he had more power left then she had suspected. Or on second thought, maybe not everyone was equally informed of his changed status.

She had considered just using the window as entrance, being an easier way to enter then flying spiralling staircases, but as she didn’t know what tower or even what floor she was invited to, so she just presented herself at the gates.

“Drovold requested my presence.”

While she followed whomever would be leading her to the right room she slipped into Clara. Not that she expected there to be trouble, but it was always handy to be able too fall back on something and while she could just have brought her bodyguards, she preferred having control over things herself.

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

A member of the Vortexian military stood on guard with two of his fellows when Amber arrived. It was a male human and he looked bored, truth be told being a member of th military consisted of training and some basic patrolling. Raiding troll nests and flushing out bandits had stopped recently, orders from the top. He almost leant on his spear but had the poise to spring upright when he saw Amber.

Carefully the guard bowed and spoke, "Dorvold said you would be blessing the fortress with your presence Lady Thane. You should look to the highest tower, I assume you could just fly up?" He turned and pointed to a great tower, the largest on the fortress, it stood at the northern end and commanded a view of the plains below Vortex and onwards to the great mountains, a faint silouette could be seen up at the top already.

The guard smiled, "His family have protected the city for aeons from this fortress. They stand at the top and look to the Great Mountains, always dreaming of what lies beyond." The guard clearly keen on talking to someone other than his two companiosn realised his work was done and bowed again before heading back to a nearby guard station.

Above the stars shone like burnished diamonds and the the mountains in the distance were illuminated just for a moment, a glorious view.

[Amber Brightwing]

His family? It took her a few moment to realize he probably hadn’t been speaking of the Dwarf. “Thank you.” Window entrance it was then. That mad things a bit easier for her. She flew up, out of sight of the guard, but keeping some distance from the tower as well for now. Not half a minute of meditation later she’d be comfortably in Clara and continue her way towards the indicated tower. If the windows were closed she’d knock – assuming there even were windows – but otherwise she’d just fly in.

“Serale Dimitri. It’s been a while since we met.” She grinned. “So do you like the life as a wanted criminal so far?” Despite the slight jab in her last words she was still friendly as always.

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

The very top of the tower where Dimitri resided at present was open to the elements and Amber was able to just fly up to speak with him, he stood by the edge of the battlements his eyes gazing at the Great Mountains, show capped and wonderful in the distance. His soul yearned for them, to see what resided at the top of those ivory peaks and to plant his flag upon them.

Without turning he spoke in a controlled and careful manner, he had no intention of offending her at present, "Being a wanted criminal in Vortex is rather like being religious in Diana or an elf in Sylrosia." He smiled and turned round bowing his head slightly, "I apologise for the foolish Elsdragon, he arrested me on nothing more than circumstance and jealousy. Yet I will not deny the Empire would look unkindly on some of my activities, then again I have never been keen on the Empire." He smiled and turned again to look at the mountains.

"I appreciate your position Lady Brightwing, I understand from speaking with you that you care for this city. Why? I am unsure, I assume you see it as a necessary evil, you wish to train some sort of craft here, I am unsure." He smiled, "But you cannot understand my relationship with this city, the fate of my family is bound up with it, we are interlinked and I cannot let it go. I will ever be here, even when you have flown back home." He smiled and dropped his head for a moment.

"It seems we must co-exist, like it or not I am safe in this city. The citizens appreciate what my family has done for them, at the first sign of trouble when you will fly away I shall die in this place alongside them." He turned and smiled, "I remember not too long ago when a lot of people in this city died, have the Imperials probed how such a thing happened on your watch yet?" It was a return jab directed to show the Thane that she was not perfect and had failings just like he did.

[Amber Brightwing]

“Circumstance and jealousy, but enough to kill Imperial soldiers for it, so he must have had at least something substantial to base himself off. But a fool? I’d agree with that. I don’t know how you feel about the province outside of Vortex, but thanks to antics like his it seems that the governor wants to re-evaluate the relation between the Arium and the Empire.” She smiled. Not many people seemed to like the governor, but she hadn’t had any trouble with him so far. In fact, so far her dealings with him had been pleasurable almost. He had given her all she had asked so far.

“And I wouldn’t go around assuming too much. This place has become my home as much as the forest once was. Not to say I’ll be found amongst the smoking rubble if it ever came that far, but if I fled it would be shortly before that.” If it ever came to it, she would side with the city and make a last stand with it. She still valued her own health more then the city’s, but Vortex had come an important part of her life.

“As for the Master Mystic, they haven’t made any inquiries yet, but if they would then I’d tell them I did all that was in my power. There’s nothing I could have done that I’m aware of to shield the city from such an attack and I don’t possess the power to repel it myself, but I tried to find some masters that could as soon as I noticed.” She crossed her arms. “And might I remind you that it happened under your watch as much as mine.” She wasn’t perfect, far from it, but neither would she take the blame when she had done nothing to deserve it.


OOC: Result of trying to gather some masters is not yet RPed out so far, so don’t ask ^^

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

"The way of politics my lady Thane, often one oes not deserve any blame. But when one puts themselves as a figurehead over something, they come to embody all the glory and the failure no? In the history books that is what shall be written about during your tenure as Thane, for good nor ill?" He smiled, it was a cruel world.

"Yes good for the Govenor, a shrewd man despite being an Imperial puppet. Still perhaps he shall move away from them now. I should like to see Arium free at least partially of the Imperial yoke." He nodded to her, "Perhaps not in my time Lady Thane but one day the Dukes of Vortex shall be free of their shackles and will take this city to freedom again." Another nod, a glorious dream but perhaps one he would never fufill.

"Anyway the reason I called you here is simple, I wanted to discuss a few things and tell you what I intend to do in the near future, so you knew that I was not tucked away somewhere causing trouble. Enemies close and all that hmm?" A slight laugh and he began silently pacing the battlements as he spoke, animated almost by the ideas moving around in his head.

"I like to see myself like a thorn Lady Thane, I annoy you do I not but for the moment I am embedded deep and you cannot remove me just yet." He smiled, "I know you view yourself as the Master here, but their shall always be a Wladisyaw in the hearts of these people and they still sypathise with my family and our plight." He nodded, "In honour of my fair city I have been pondering on leading a small campaign into the great mountains, civilizing and forming commercial links with the tribes of humanoids that reside there." He cast his eyes to the great mountains and smiled to himself, "Do you have an objection to this?"

[Amber Brightwing]

“I don’t care about what people write about me in the history books on that event. I doubt much will be written about it though. It seems most of it went unnoticed by anyone but those in Vortex, and I actually prefer it that way. There’s nothing the Empire or the province could have done to stop it or to make things right again, so they can just as well stay out of the city then.” She shrugged.

“And you are jumping to conclusions again. I think of myself as a Master really. A leader, but more one that guides rather one that rules through sheer force. I’ve got control over the bureaucratic part of the city which isn’t bad and the guard answers to me – though I suppose there are other that could make the same claim.” She grinned at Dimitri. “There are quite a few powerful forces residing here I have no control over though.”

A devious grin appeared on her tiny face. “While the situation is annoying to some extend, you’d have been dead or caught by now if I found you really annoying.” She left a small pause between her words, but not enough for him to interrupt her. “Just imagine what a hefty bounty and lots of posters with your face through the city and at the gates of every city in the Empire would do. Wladisyaw may be in the hearts of many people, there will always be enough in this city that are willing to sell their own mother for the right amount of crowns.” She left another pause to let him consider the consequences of such an action. “But luckily for you, you’re that Elsdragon’s problem, not mine. If he had send a note for your arrest before capturing you himself I might have considered it, but right now I see no reason to invest any effort in it.”

She didn’t care much about how deep he was imbedded in the city. If anything came in the way of her own goals the obstacle would be removed. She’d even do it herself if needed. “I do have suggest not to link yourself so openly to the guard however. If you became too prominent, the wrong people might notice and I’d rather not have Imperial troops knocking at my gates again. I’ve no intention to let them in that easily again, which could get me in trouble.” She simply smiled at him. He could call her Imperial puppet all he wanted, but she served none but herself.

“As for your expedition, I’m surprised you ask. Orcs have never been prosecuted in Vortex, so there aren’t any objections to people going over and speak to them legally and I wouldn’t know what uncivilized barbarians have to offer to our city commercially, so what’s the catch?.”

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

"The Imperial presence in this city is but one faction, you head it and enjoy much power. It will last for some time I imagine." He smiled and kept his eyes on the mountains on the distance, "and Elsdragon is too fickle, he wont get far in the military. You must be a consistent man or woman and have a spine, he is motivated by his own petty desires, the Empire realise that is dangerous." He turned to Amber and rested against the battlements and chuckled, "The charges would have never stuck anyway, I however dont like to be chained. The death of a few Imperial soldiers does wonders for my reputation in some circles at least."

"The catch is simple." He began as she spoke with him, "My motives are not holy Lady Thane, I will forge agreements and military alliances between myself and all manner of tribes, in times of need I may call upon them." He smiled, "Those that do not agree, like the stubborn mountain men may be enslaved and shipped to the dark below." He shrugged at her, "They are Barbari though I suppose, I am able to enslave them no? I will seize the Great Mountains with the help of mercenaries and the dark elves, mineral deposits, wealth and who knows what else shall be channeled to help this city. I myself shall make a move towards the old Temple of Aetheria, a deeply magical place I am told, unexplored so far also." Dimitri shrugged gently, "Would you object to me having a little party, just a few lords of this place, and so forth or do you prefer me to stay more elusive? I do not wish for trouble Lady Thane."

[Amber Brightwing]

“Imperial? I don’t consider the government an Imperial faction. I’m Thane of Vortex and as such I try to do what’s best for the city. The only things I really concern myself with about the rest of the Empire is promoting trade and trying to keep their desire to level the city low enough so that they won’t act on it.”

She made a mental shrug at his comment on Keldon. Fickle as he may be, he had already managed to get pretty far in the Imperial ranks. Whether he would keep his position was another matter. One thing was certain and that was that he wouldn’t pull off a similar trick again. The next time Imperial forces showed up they would find themselves in front of closed gates.

“There’s nothing in the law on Barbari, so I don’t see the problem. Vortex is using plenty of them as slaves after all.” She thought about it, wondering why he had taken the effort of informing her. Not that she didn’t appreciate it, but he’d no doubt execute his plans with or without her approval. “As for alliances and parties, just try not to draw any Imperial legions again. Either by making your presence in the city a bit too known so that mister Elsdragon shows up again or by using those armies wrongly. If things like what happened to Silrosia repeats they won’t ignore it again.”

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

"Yes he has gone far, perhaps the Imperial army shows its weakness in this, Vortex cannot be free until the Empire crumbles but one day it shall Lady Thane, and the Wladisyaw name shall rise again." He nodded carefully and spoke further, "But I hope we can work together or at least not annoy each other in the future." He smiled at her, "You lead here now and all I wish is to be free to walk around in my own city, the Imperial army shall not come for me I shall make sure of that, but I shall also not hide under the earth, I shall be in this fortress and in the gaol and drinking in the taverns." He paused and nodded, "But I shall keep a lower profile, fear not."

He cast his eyes back to the mountains and smiled, "I still lead the army of Vortex, our little mob outside the city to patrol. An important task Lady Thane, very important." He resumed after a pause and a deep breath of the cool night air, "I wish your persmission to create a small force, one hudnred hands or so into a form of elite troops, an extention of the secret network, the owls I have been forming." He turned, "Dorvold told you about us I beleive, we hide in plain view and help the city of Vortex whenever we can, you are welcome to use us also." He smiled, "A force of men who would be recognisable around the countryside, to clear bandits and perform other such tasks, may I begin to equip such a unit?"

[Amber Brightwing]

She thought about it for a moment. There had never been any proof presented to her about his right or wrong actions and even for the killing of the Imperials she had but a letter with the written account of someone who most likely overstepped the boundaries of his power by entering her city and taking over the guard. There hadn’t even been a bounty posted on his head, nor any follow up, making her wonder how wanted Dimitri was exactly.

“As long as you don’t have small armies looking after you showing up at my doorstep again then I don’t see why I should prevent you from going where you please.” She’d probably have to kill him anyway to actually keep him from doing things the way he wanted. She wouldn’t free him from his guilt though. If he wanted legally go about the Empire again he’d have to sort the mess out himself.

But back to matters that mattered. “Yes, I’ve been told about the Owls. Would this mean another hundred men added to the army or just providing further training for a part of the existing force and nothing more?” It was just a question of curiosity though as she didn’t see why she should oppose the idea. She wanted to be informed of the changes however. Even with a hundred extra, better trained men this army would still be a token force when it came to posing any real threat to the Empire. “In any case, if you need them to properly address the needs of the surrounding lands then you can certainly equip such a unit.”

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

"If you want to free Vortex a little from the Empire without antagonising them then this force will do some good." He smiled and nodded to himself agreeing seemingly with the most important person in the idea, himself. "We patrol the outlying villages, help them with their problems and collect taxes, escort merchants and do everything we are able to do. We make sure our men are soldiers from Vortex and not the Empire however." He kept smiling and spoke further, "The men would receive a little more training, one hundred picked from the current crop of men and merely taught how to ride better, use a variety of weapons and perhaps give one or two a little magical training, I shall fund it personally." He smiled, "Dont worry however, I wont have necromancers rampaging around raising zombies everywhere....though?"

He smiled carefully and prodded her armour a little, "How would you feel about a hidden necromancer group like in the old days? Just to work alongside our army, a little lab up here and some research on the behalf of the city. They could be seen by the outside world as administrators, or would you prefer this did not happen? I understand I am still your underling....Lady Thane."

He smiled and leant on the battlements precariously close to the edge, one quick spell and he would hurtle to earth and end the annoyance to Amber, yet Dimitri knew how she felt, he just hoped she would see him as a chaotic opportunity than a risk to be finished.

"Do you have any ambitions I can help with Lady Thane? I can be a help as well as a hinderance sometimes?"

[Amber Brightwing]

Nothing major then. Just a few men that would be better trained then before. She didn’t see how much more free it would make them, but she refrained from commenting. The Empire already left them at their own devices as long as taxes were paid.

His talk about employing Necromancers was topic that raised some questions though. “Research? What do you think Necromancers could research that would benefit the city?” It’s not that she was completely against the idea, it’s just that she failed to see what practical use Necromancy could have in running a city. “The only time I can see them providing useful aid is when at war. If it would ever come that far however the Necromancers of our city would almost certainly join the defenders of the city. Even if you hired a couple they’d probably keep their ties with their Master and you’d just end up paying people for things they would do without a wage as well.” She shrugged. If she’d ever need anything she couldn’t do herself she could always ask Aribeal to help her out anyway.

“As for my personal ambitions, I see nothing you can help me with in the near future.” He wasn’t a Master mage and as such he didn’t qualify for the one thing she might need in the foreseeable future. He might know master mages, but then she could just as well ask those directly.

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

"Admittedly the art of necromancy is somewhat suited to war, I apologise for my naivery in this regard, I have a fondness for improvement in all things but perhaps the advancement of the dark art should remain the luxury of a civilian membership." He smiled in a knowing fashion and took a step towards Amber as he listened to what she said.

"I get the feeling you dont like me Lady Thane." He smiled, "I find that troubling considering we move forwards together after the same goals, we both dislike the Empire to a degree, we both want what is best for this city and we both feel ourselves untouchable by the other I feel." he grinned his primal grin, his sharpened teeth showing, "Still perhaps away from each other we might work towards such goals and end up benefiting each other." he nodded carefully and spoke further, "One more matter I need to discuss, I once sought the restoration of my title fairly, now I have adopted it. However I seek land Lady Thane, are you in a position to somehow award me such?" He smiled, "For a price I imagine."