Snippet #801415

The Witches Lair - Arid Flats- Some Time Before Dusk

Once left alone to her own devices Ariadne's nails tapped a staccato rhythm upon her throne as she considered the next stage of her great plan. The trick of her scheme did not lay so much in the taking the castle, although that was the greater ambition as time went on. The heart of her current plans was to effectively put the Goblin King out of commission long enough to utterly destroy any credibility he currently had as ruler of the Labyrinth. While Ariad was not above taking things by force she was well aware that sometimes the easiest way to get what one wanted was to play using the current rules at hand. Never mind that she intended to take gross advantage of the standing nature of the game. Winning by way of minor technicalities, after all, was still binding in the world of the Underground. Never mind if her tactics weren't exactly fair.

Ariadne's callous musings were interrupted later as her refined ear caught the sound of Junk People and scraping feet on dirt. My my. Was it nearly dusk already? Naturally Ariadne was quite aware of the limited time she had to extract the information she wanted from the dwarf but then again she only wanted to know one tiny little detail before their meeting with Jareth occurred. Any other nuggets of information Ariadne could squeeze out of the hog faced gritty little worm of a gentleman otherwise know as Hoggle...was icing on the proverbial cake.

"Ah, my pets. You've brought me my present, I see. Generally Junk people are so seldom reliable these days." The dark lady drawled.

"As for you my little man; how kind of you to grace use with your presence. Ariadne said as Hoggle was shuffled into her chamber blindfolded.

Now shall we get down to business?" Ariadne was all politeness and charm but it was obvious to anyone with even a smidgen of sense that a dangerous maniacal edge awaited just under the surface of her pleasant tone. The time was nearly at hand.

"Tell me, Hoggle is it?" Ariadne didn't bother to wait for the dwarf to confirm his name. "Just how does Jareth produce those lovely little crystals he enjoys playing with so much?" Naturally being well versed in magical applications Ariadne already had a competent understanding of what allowed Jareth his versatile use of crystals in his magical work. However there was a specific detail regarding how Jareth went about materializing the crystals themselves that interested the witch.

Ariad leaned forward in her chair and rested her chin on one crossed arm. For all appearances she looked tranquil but if one was paying particular attention they would have noticed the steady tapping of the Lady's foot at the base of the throne. This was a clear indication that if Hoggle wasn't careful to be forthright in his response the witch was liable to loose her patience with him.

So that be yer game ye horrible hag. Hoggle thought to himself darkly. If there was one thing the Dwarf hated it was false respect. At least when Jareth wanted something from him the Goblin King was true to his character about getting it. Being openly patronized by Jareth might have been annoying, even frightening at times, but it was honest. While Hoggle was quite aware just how careful he would have to tread at this moment he was just as skilled as Araidne was at feigning an accommodating persona.

"Cor. Is that what all this be about?" Hoggle waved his hand idly at her as he nerviously cackled.

"Well your Ladyship there weren't any cause te pull ol' me away for THAT bit O' information. But, huh, seeing as I'm here and all..." Hoggle was trying to figure out how he could offer forth a satisfactory answer without actually telling Ariadne anything that she could really use.

"As for Jareth, Ma'am. I don't think anyone rightfully knows how he does ANYTHING." Hoggle replied with a snort.

Ariadne teeth ground ever so slightly upon hearing the dwarfs response. She really hadn't wanted to resort to violence but then again the tried and true methodes we always the most practical at times like these. "I see."

The lady had moved back into full attention and was now sitting up a little too straight upon her throne. The better that Ariadne's posture was while seated, the less genial she was liable to be and at that very moment Ariadne looked poised enough to skin a cat alive with her teeth.

"Well..." The witch said testily. Her words were sharp and fast again which meant she was annoyed. "Obviously our friend here has no further information for us. My my, such a shame. I was so hoping he'd have more to say on the matter...but never a mind. You know my pets, I don't think I've ever told you of my fondness for plastic beads. It's so hard to find more modern materials in the Underground these day and I do so enjoy the lovely durability of plastic Jewelry particularly since it's so rare to find..."

A frightening smile apeared once again upon the Lady's lovely face.

Damn. Hoggle thought quickly as the urge to take a step back overwhelmed his flight over fight instincts. The dwarf audiably swollowed when he heard Ariadne mention plastic beads. Had she perhaps seen Sarah's bracelet upon his wrist? Even if she hadn't the mentioning of plastic was uncanny and the dwarf quickly put both hands behind his back as if to keep his most prized posession out of her reach. Hoggle would willingly go to hell before he let this witch get her claws on aything that had once belonged to Sarah.

"huh. right..." The dwarf said lightly shuffling his feat. "Yes. Well! If that be all I suposse I'll just be heading on home now...Lots O' work te do...Ye know how it is.." Hoogle chuckled nervously as he did infact take a step backwards towards the exit.

"Oh no no no. We couldn't possibly let you leave that quickly. Seize him, and since the dwarf is of no further use to me as he has already avidly claimed...Strip him of his pretties and detain him some place untill we can conclude our business with his Majesty."

Ariadne knew full well the dwarf had a reasonably good idea of what she wanted to know. If polite inquiery didn't work perhaps a little bit more hands on persausion was required to scare him into being a tad more forth coming.

Ariadne ticked her tongue as Hoggle was being dragged from the large room. "Such a shame..." It was clear that the dwarf was far too wise on Ariadne for her to effectively question him herself. Such was the price of having presence of being. She was however deeply certain that at the hands of minions the dwarf would be far more willing to speak candidly when he realized what the Junk People WOULD do to him rather then what he knew Araidne COULD do instead.

If necessary Ariadne supposed she could always have Fidget guess where the Goblin King was most vulnerable. The draw back there being that if the trecherious little goblin didn't know where to properly strike Jareth he could either kill him outright or risk the chance of Jareth retaliating. Both scenarios were HIGHLY undesirable. At this point it would be mostly impossible to strip Jareth of his Magical abilities, that however didn't mean he couldn't be maimed to the point of making those abilities VERY difficult to effectively operate.

At any rate, Ariadne was running out of time. Lucky for her, plans could always be adapted to fit her needs. Hopefully her minions would alleviate the problem for her by finding out what she needed to know. If not, she knew just the right man who could get the job done instead.