Snippet #1789630

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The morning was still, moreso than most would expect. Then again, this close to the abominable Tower, even the woodland creatures knew to fear the wrath of the unholy mistress within. The only sound that punctuated the silence was the occasional staccato scuff of Feng’s curious wooden footwear on the roughened stone of the pathway. He’d been traveling for scarcely thirty minutes, but registered dimly somewhere that it would take twice as long to get back, given that he’d have new recruits in tow. The knowledge made him… irritated? No, bored. Same scenery twice. Monotonous.

Blinking lazily, he slowed from the reckless breakneck pace of his sprint into the ordinary shuffling of a casual stroll, just in enough time to crest a hill and peer downwards, only half-seeing what was there. Not as many. Supposed to be hundred. Wait- the others were somewhere else, someone had said something like that. Unimportant.

Approaching the group, he simply stood before them until such time as everyone had ceased their chatter and taken to looking at him, either in perplexity, patience, or exasperation. There was something… he was supposed to do something here. Frowning slightly, he slipped his arms into his sleeves in front of him and rocked back and forth on his heels for a good few minutes before it came to him.

“Follow me.”

With this minimal pronouncement, Feng turned abruptly and picked up a brisk jog. Someone had been specific about this. Triple march pace. For him, this was not at all difficult, but he was vaguely aware that such conditions were generally considered unfavorable. The road itself was slick with yesterday’s rain, and tough footing, but Feng moved with deceptive ease across it, no warning in his demeanor of what the unwary would discover soon enough on their own. For those who knew anything of the way the Children were organized in hierarchy, the iron-grey trim about his sleeves would have been enough to stay any protest at his mannerisms. In the ranks of Nihalistrix the Black, the closer an officer’s stripes to the ebony of her own hide, the more authority they wielded.

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The triple-time march concluded approximately an hour later, though their destination was visible from the very start. A stark white spire, thirty stories tall and miles wide, jutted from the ground to challenge the skyline with a haughty arrogance matched only, perhaps, by the Dragon Lord who called it headquarters.

Nihalistrix sat atop a throne-mound of bleached white bones, watching the proceedings of those beneath her like so many ants scurrying to and fro. Ah, her darling Children. Spotting precisely the one she’d been looking for, a good score of assorted recruits behind him, she rumbled low in her throat, a pleased humming sound that signaled one of her shadows, her precious Thanes, to detach from her side and stride forward. The woman, elven in descent and lovely, with thick sheets of hair in the dragon’s favorite color, approached the group without excessive haste. The strange one bowed at the waist, and stepped backwards to allow Ethne to speak.

“Greetings,” she offered in smooth tones, casting a rather unimpressed eye over those assembled. “And welcome to the Tower. From the moment you entered this place, you pledged your life and your service to the Great Mistress of us all, Nihalistrix. It is now for us, her lieutenants, to see if you are worthy of making such a promise. In the next room, you will be stripped of everything you own and given the robes of an initiate. Don them, and select what weapons you will from those provided. After that, you will follow Captain Tao, who will explain your initiation rites.” A smile, slow and predatory, crossed her face, but lingered for only the most fleeting of moments. “Please the Lady, and you will be allowed to join the One True Army, and become the arm of her will. See to it that you do.”

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While the recruits were ushered into the vestry and outfitted with their new robes and weapons, Ethne returned to Nihialistrix’s side, carrying the dossier she’d received from Feng. “You wished to know of these, my Lady?” There was a slight shift, and the unfathomable obsidian disc that was the dragon’s left eye moved to fix upon the Thane, who couldn’t help the shiver that coursed down her spine. One never did get used to that. Bowing her head, the tall woman began to recite.

“Pylarea. Nightmarian moth, psionicist. Safir Garethson. Human knight.” It was something of an effort, but Ethne managed to keep the disdain out of her voice upon the word “human.” Her own opinions on the matter were well-known, but she knew better than to infuse them into her reports. “Corinne Shorebas, halfling artificer. Jivven Noda’Razzr. Dark elven shadowdancer.” Hmph. She hadn’t seen anyone with the actual skill in over a century, but this too was extraneous. “Vortigern Weylin. Elven berserker. Zulii Ma’kaurubaen Sleekfeathers. Harpy… witch-doctor.” Ethne’s lips twisted in a knowing little smirk; spellcasters were in for a different experience than the ordinary Child of Fire, and it was not at all pleasant.

The list continued, and even as the last syllable passed Ethne’s tongue, she observed from the corner of her eye that Feng was entering the vestry. The time moved apace, then.

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Feng glanced over the assembled, now uniformly garbed in pristine, unmarked white robes. Blinking slowly, he tilted his head to one side. This time, though, his words were relatively immediate. “I am Captain Feng Tao. If you survive, you will be initiates of the Aesr. Units are named for… hatchlings. Leave all of your old things here. If you have need of it, it will be replaced. Initiates are not permitted the prejudices, stigmas, and remnants of what they were before.” Certain he’d said all he needed to, he once again turned, this time leading them out a separate door, which opened into a narrow stone staircase. This, he followed downwards for quite a distance before turning and opening a set of double-doors, fitted seamlessly into the bright stone of the walls.

The doors emptied the initiates into a large, elliptical stone bowl, the floor of which was covered with soil, fresh from outdoors if the scent was anything to go by. Through three identical sets of doors, more initiates entered, all also clad in unmarked white and carrying durable, plain weaponry. Looking up, it became obvious that Nihalistrix and her Thanes had moved from their previous location, as all were now near the lip of the arena. There was a glint of malicious amusement in the ebon creature, though the initiates below would be hard-pressed to hold her gaze long enough to tell. Ethne appeared once again at her side, even the tall elf dwarfed by the Dragon Lord’s foot beside her.

“Initiates: there are those among you who will form a unit beneath the honorable Aesr. Two hundred of you stand before me. Fifty of you will leave this arena alive. Attempting to escape is… inadvisable.” There was a low, rasping rumble from behind her that seemed to fill the entire room, and the sharp would perhaps be able to guess that it was draconian laughter. “Captain Tao will remain in the arena with you, but attacking him is also inadvisable, unless you wish for your own death.” Her tone suggested that it was not impossible that they soon would. “If at any time he approaches you, do as he says. Now. Begin.”

At the final word, the barred gates on either end of the arena cranked open, and at first there was naught but a chilling silence in their wake. Then, the shuffling and howls began, and it was not long before the gnolls were pouring into the space. Once a civilized, lupine race of Norr, these had clearly been driven from their minds, reverting to something more animal than humanoid. They did not hesitate, ripping at once into the nearest initiates with extreme prejudice, and in short order, the fresh earth was drenched in blood.

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Hmph. That damned red says jump, and the whelp asks how high. Neira shook her head slightly, causing her lieutenant to shoot her an aside glance, but the man, an old soldier by orcish standards, was smart enough not to ask. In silence, she waved a hand in a lazy gesture, and her unit formed up behind her. Much like Neira herself, her battalion served multiple combat purposes as needed, but today they were there to soak up damage and draw away the riots and the worst of the criminals so that the others could more precisely extract the people they looked for.

Presently, they awaited the signal to move, and it was not long in coming. She felt the tickle at the edge of her consciousness, and opened her mind to the link. Not something she particularly enjoyed, but a necessity. Xeron’s mental instructions were passed to everyone, and so there was no need to repeat them, though she did chuckle to herself at the footnote. How unprofessional of you, she replied, though only to him.

Turning, she nodded to Karthak, and as one, her group moved, fanning out and making as much of a distraction of themselves as possible, though not quite so much that the gambit would be obvious. The smell of steel was on the air already, and she inhaled of it deeply and grinned.

Some things never changed.