Issunar

Jharhia smiled, to the two Witch Elves standing at the door she asked, "Apa sampeyan sing kabeh? {Did you get all that ?}" They nodded. She then turned to Roy and tilted her head towards the two Witch Elves. "You see the two by the door ? They are Brides of Khaine, very skilled, very deadly soldiers. And right now, aside from three hundred of them, the rest are not very happy right now." She said in a kind tone. "Monsters such as those that you speak of might as well be something to get their blades dirty." She said stepping up next to Roy. "We are on the southern most continent as it is. We can manage." She looked over the book carefully.

A journal such as that was an important item. One that held many things. And yet. There it was again. She focused her black eyes on him, "Did you say elves ? Dark skinned elves ?" A wicked smile graced her face. And those of the two other Dark Elves in the tent. "This will do grand! I highly doubt that those in this, underdark, will be able to fare against the razor sharp teeth and claws of a Cold One charging through their ranks." Cold Ones were practially scalled two legged horses. Pretty much dinosoaurs in a manner of speaking, but tamed and rideable only by Cold One Knights.

Jharhia wanted more information though, "these.... drow. What are they in terms of magic ablity, fighting, looks ?" Were they even elves ? If they were elves, then that made them a new target. With nearly a million troops at her command, and more coming. Jharhia was ready for anything at that moment. All she needed was the right information.

Either way Jharhia saw it as a means to finish a task, all she was after was maps, and knowledge, that was her task and mission, nothing more. So the more information she had on her target, and the means to get to her target location made things both easier for her and her army, and also better off in terms of morale.

"They may not be happy but it would be a fools errand to march through a place if you cannot see in complete darkness." Roy pointed out once more as he placed the small field mouse upon his left shoulder and crossed his arms a bit. This elven woman did not seem to be listening and though she was confident in her army and herself she had not the slightest clue of the dangers that lurked down there and those dangers were not all listed by the long lost scholar who wrote that journal.

'Roy has it ever occurred to you that helping these people might be your undoing?'

Roy looked down at the field mouse as it chittered away only to then watch as it rubbed its nose rather adorably. "These cold ones sound like they would be a formidable thing indeed if the Drow City could be reached fully on foot. They worship a Goddess who is like them but with the appearance of a spider. Lolth is her name and spiders and are her messengers and warriors." Roy had no need to lie to this woman and when she had asked about their appearance the only thing Roy thought of was Ulviir, a wizard who had once came to the Azure Citadel in search of power and an audience with the Suzerain himself. "Do you want the short history of the Drow and how they came to be from what is written or is this just going to be a cut short field lesson? I honestly do not think you or your army will survive down there with what little knowledge you have and to top it off the Drow use all that they can get their hands on, even their brothers who they shunned for becoming Driders." With that said Roy took a step forward and offered a rather warm smile as he looked over to a chair that was in the room whilst reaching for his wineskin he carried. "I can go on for days on how the Drow fight or what arcane mysteries they have mastered but I doubt you would listen peacefully and let me go."

"No, they are not happy." Jharhia replied with a nod, "Their private zone, an area set aside only for them, was violated by one of these..... drow. They are still mad at me for letting him free." She said, "ended up teleporting him to the deepest reaches of the Naggarothian Sea when my previous spell failed." She grumbled.

"Give us the short version. The more information we have, the better off both of us will be." Jharhia said. She nodded towards the two Witch Elves. "Sing bakal kabeh, tetep ing lawang nganti disebut. {That will be all, remain at the door until called.}" The two female Dark Elves nodded and left the main part of the tent without a wood.

Jharhia directed Roy to a chair after personally moving the thing to the center of the large tents main room. "Tell me what you know, fast and easy, and detailed as best possible. Their strengths, and weaknesses. My army has taken on our own kind and worse. Chaos has tried to take our lands, but thankful for the Watch Towers our King built to protect our lands from the ever enroaching Dread Chaos."

She turned towards him as he sat. "I've seen things that you have only seen in your nightmares. You think you can scare a Daughter of Khaine ? You shouldn't, what you should do is look to fill her every need, and my every need is information that you possess to give to me. Mutants of Dead Chaos, Chaos warriors, massive men with black hearts and black blood and a lust for battle and death without giving any survivors of battles. No, these Drow do not scare me or my own soldiers. They intrgue me. they interest me. I want to know more about them. So let us stop with the lies, and tell me what you do know. And not what you do not know. Are we clear young human pup ?" Her tone said it all, be truthful, to the point, and detailed. And make sure she is happy through out it all. That was a really risky move, being this close to a Dark Elf Sorceress, a powerful Daughter of Khaine at that. And simply talk, no torture.

This was in a word, a very strange day.

The small field mouse hopped down from Roy's shoulder as the young man took a seat only to sit next to him on the floor looking at the elven woman as if trying to see something else of her that was not there visibly on the surface. Every word she spoke went through the small field mouses ears and Roy listened intently upon them like his companion for her words seemed to lack the basic knowledge of one truth. All Horrors differ from Men to Dragons alike and she, this so called Daughter of Khaine, was no different. "Lets make one thing clear before I begin." Roy spoke in a rather calm tone as his brown eyes looked at the dark orbs the elf had. "My name is Roy Rikard Cullens and you may claim to know things far worse than what I know but for what I have seen, well, lets just say it does not bode well to speak of them so lightly, the company I am keeping as of right now would not be right to share such things." The small field mouse glanced up at the young man and tilted its head only to then curl up by his foot and rest for now as it would be a long day before it could see the city and the treats Roy had promised to bring back to the Azure Citadel.

As simple as it was to try to describe something there would only be more questions later that this woman might want to ask about these elves. "History tells of a story of the Elves who appear just as you do but in a conquest against a great enemy those elves who remained on the surface shut the others off. Those elves who were left beneath the surface and away from the light of day grew bitter and resented their brothers for betraying them and with that a divine figure appeared before them within the darkness, Lolth." The name brought a shudder down the spine of the young scholar as he had his own troubles with the Drow though he could not say that all Drow are evil, just the majority. "You see Lolth does not condemn those who she claims as her children from summoning and binding demons to their services. The Drow are a elven peoples whose skin turned dark due to their hearts falling prey to that Goddesses evil intent. Further more they live as long as most other elves do and are very skilled in all magics."

Roy began to look over his shoulder as he glanced around the room just to then laugh a little. "You know what the worse part of it all is. Me telling you this information that is." The young wizard turned his gaze back upon the elvish woman before him only to shake his head. "You see you look like the norm for most elves and the Drow being who they are will hate you for that. If you are unsuccessful they will bind your people to chains and offer them as sacrifices to Lolth in chambers filled with venomous arachnids in pits that are as deep as any ocean." The young wizard began to shake his head a bit and lean back in his chair just to scratch his chin a little. "Any weaknesses? Tell me does as 'Daughter of Khaine' have any weaknesses as like most elves I do not know them to be so easily killed off by things like paper cuts?"

Jharhia did not even smile, nor did she introduce herself. Yet. Instead she brought out a book, ontop of which was a cloth image. "When I spoke of horrors beyond your imagination. I spoke true. Even now we are ever vigilant against Dread Chaos. The enemy wthin. You think what you know and wish to tell is to scare me. Think again. I'd take you to the priosons on a 'tour', yet we are pressed for time. So I will have some of those tainted by Chaos to wait outside my tent that you are within. But I must warn. to view such things is to invite Chaos into yourself. I do hope you are of staunch enough will and bloodline to keep yourself free of any taint."

Mutants tainted by warpstones and strange energies known as Chaos Magic, were dangerous, deadly, and scary. Some of them so twisted, so vile, they were not human any longer. Just twisted forms of flesh. The Daemons were worse, Bloodletters, Daemonettes, Greater Daemons, Daemon Harpies to name a few were dangerous creatures made by the Chaos gods. It was then that she smiled. With what Roy just told her, it was perfect.

She called in a messenger. A Black Guard appeared in the room of the tent. "Tansen! Wajib kita Curior Skaven sing kita persetujuan bakal diajeni lagi ndeleng Pas. Enteni wayahe a, aku luwih tugas kanggo sampeyan. {Tansen! Inform our Skaven Curior that our agreement will be honored as they see fit. Wait a moment, I have further tasks for you.}" She said. The guard stood ready without a word

She turned back to Roy, "It is not my people that I am sending. My people will go later. It is another people my own kind have an agreement with. They will go in our stead." Sheer force of numbers, that and Skaven naturally loved the underground networks of tunnels and otherwise as it was as well. "They will see to it that our path through this underdark will be cleared." She said

Then she said "You speak down to me ? You truly dare to do that boy ?" She growled out. She nodded to the Black Guard, who took his leave on the spot and left. "If you must know, as a Daughter of Khaine, I am a Sorceress, powerful and skilled. Compared to you, far better with Chaos Magics and defending against them. Do not tempt me to do anything rash." She growled. He did however do as she asked, without even needing to be prodded, well just great. Just good freakin' great. She wanted to damage somebody Khaine damn it!

The field mouse continued to sleep next to Roy's foot as the young wizard remained in his seat looking at the elven woman as she spoke more of being more skilled than he. "You might be more experienced but you are lacking the wisdom to realize that not all experiences are the same." Roy was not afraid of this woman at the moment and it showed as to how he acted before her and how he spoke. The Suzerain would be proud of seeing this if not laughing himself to an early grave.

On another note however the young wizard took a sip of his wine once more just to then frown a bit and move his hand over the wineskin just to mutter a strange draconic word altering the flow of arcane energies in the area and making his drink a bit colder thanks to the rather novice spell. "You act much like a Drow would yet you do not share their ebony skin. I have never even heard of this Khaine before but I am to presume that it would be just another deity that sits someplace out beyond in the planes above or bellow."

"What you call wisdom one also calls something entirely different. I for one call it tough choices. I know when to make the right choice, but making it is tougher then one thinks. In this case. If you try to goad me into making a mistake, think again. I am not like that." After all she lead an army of nearly a million troops of her own! That and their current ally, the Skaven were itching for some fun anyhow. Sheer force of numbers, ratling swarms, you name it. The Skaven could do it. Hell with some of their warpfire and jazzial teams alone could wipe out these.... drow.

"We are not these, Drow. We are Druchii. Dark Elves." Jharhia said. "Nor will you ever hear of him again." She was close to frying his tail end right then and there, but the chair was expensive and it cost a pretty penny to repair or replace it. She turned and picked up the steel firepoker. Flicking a finger against it the end glimmered a brilliant white, almost as if it were afire with white fire. "Now" She turned back to Roy, firepoker in hand. "What else do you not know of my people that you can make these claims of being akin to these... creatures ?"

Roy was not impressed with the elf and her display and as quickly as she heated the metal Roy spoke the words once more and flicked his wrist at it chilling it instantly and watching as it would crack from the sheer stress alone. "I have not resorted to insulting you nor do I threaten you with childish intentions. I might be young but I must constantly contend with the Suzerain and his children." Roy did not raise his voice and he remained calm only to take a sip of his wine and began to look down at his sleeping friend. "You are acting just as they would now. My comparison has not been flawed yet and considering you call yourself Dark Elves only adds to what I have to say sense the Drow themselves are Dark Elves." The young wizard began to lean forward a bit just to then look over to his travelers pack he had left on the floor and glanced at his pipe only to frown as he did not want to leave this spot just yet.

"Now let me go back to your 'allies' you are about to send to the slaughter. Though I have not had the common luck to run across one of your friends I assume they are in your eyes worthless to some degree? What makes you so sure they will be able to go through there so unscathed that you and your army alone will walk through without a single problem?"

Jharhia brought the rapidly cooled rod up to her eyes. Seeing the cracks and stress marks fuse back to smooth metal. She smiled, flicking her finger once again against the metal she lit it aflame. "Brave of you boy, but foolish." She said. Moving to his side to where there was a stove set up. She thrust the rod into the stack of logs within the stove and without a word the flame caught and the tent rapidly began to warm properly. Chaos Metal, gotta love it, gotta hate it. Need to use it. Really complicated when one thought about it.

While standing at the stove she spoke. "By now most humans I have had within my presence were begging me to spare them their lives. But, once thy gave me what they could, I let them go." She smiled, then said "Into our main markets. Slavery. But you, you are different. You are braver, more foolish." She took the firepoker out of the stove and blew on it a bit to cool it before setting it aside. "And yet, more informative."

"We are Druchii. It the Imperial words we are Dark Elves. One of three kinds of Elves according to the Men. The other two, Wood, and High Elves both are our primary enemies. These drow you mention them again. Dark skinned, they are not Druchii, nor are they Wood or High Elf. And yet you say they are elf kind. Impossible." Jharhia said. But it did not matter to her at that point anymore. He asked about her allies.

With a smile she said simply. "Skaven are our allies yes. And yet, they are not to be trusted fully, they backstab each other, they look down on each other and other races. And yet ot us they look up to us and treat us with respect. Yet we do not look down on our fellow Druchii. Only on other races. We honor our allience with the Skaven. And they honor it with us as well. And yet we do not trust them fully as one might expect. After all, they're masters of deceit. Masters of the world underneath us."

Jharhia explained as she went to the desk and took a seat behind it. "The Skaven are a race of ratmen. What they lack in skill they make up for in pure sheer numbers and insane war machines. Their Plauge Monks are their most feared members. Spreading the blessings of Nurgle everywhere they go. Even staining the ground where they walk. I for one, do not give a whit of sacrificing them. Over time their sheer numbers will overcome the enemy. For they were respnosible for the nearly whiping out of the Empire decades ago."

Roy turned his attention to the elf and watched as she went onto her business. The young wizard noted that the metal did not stay cool for long and as a mental note decided that any of these dark elves would be best avoided if they held hot pokers in hand from now on. "Tyretlethen, the Suzerain as he is called, has said the same thing to me before about my personality." Roy muttered just to then go for his pipe and set the long neck betwixt his teeth were he would then scour around inside his personal bag in search of his tobacco. It was during all of this that the small field mouse began to stir just to then move its way across the floor and up onto the desk of the she elf were it would stare at the woman intently while Roy began to light his pipe.

"On another note I have not once heard of this empire of yours or these ratmen, though they sound to me like in description like some of the Rat Folk I have seen in the past, I will be sure to steer clear of them if I can help it." The young wizard had nothing to truly be afraid of and yet there was something that was nagging him as he began to straighten himself up a bit and looked over at the elvish woman with a slight look of being puzzled. "Why are you wanting to attack this fort anyway?"

"Information. Maps. Nothing more." Jharhia replied, pointedly ignoring the fieldmouse. Though she had a treaty with the Skaven, she trusted them only as far as a warpfire's range. "The Men possess maps of where I am to go. I need that information. the sooner the better. The Brides wish to kill, My Black Guard wish toi overrun and sell into slavery those they find. Me, I am content only with getting the maps. Any and all maps I can get my hands on. I want nothing more, no weapons, no weapon designs. Just the maps. That is why I need information on that area. It is all I want. Nothing more."

"My champion, Jinjssr, has already left in the vain hope that a missiv sent to us for a possible alliance between a Young Lord and myself can set things in motion. I merely need a means to move my army. Jinjssr can take care of the rest." She continued, "This underdark you speak of. The horrors that are within it. I doubt very much they can withstand a Skaven attack. And yet, I do notyty doubt they shall meet a resistence of some form. Their Grey Seers are powerful mages. Not as refined as myself or my sisters mind. But still potent wizards"

She took careful look at a map on her desk. withdawing a short dagger she pointed at different towns. "Altdorf, the heart of the Empire, Praag, the heart of the Chaos Wastes. Brittonia Basin. The heard of the Border Princes. All of them our enemies, and yet, many of them our source of economy." She quieted then, softly speaking "I hope Jinjssrr knows what she is doing. I fear this may not work well for either of us should she fail."

It was then she complained while giving Roy the evil eye "Does your Ratling always stare at strangers ? Because it is looking more tasty as the day grows older." She wasn't hungry, but she knew the Cold Ones were

Roy took a couple of long drags on his pipe just to then raise an eyebrow at all that was said just to then shrug a bit as he walked over to the table just to then produce yet another small scroll from his sleeve. "This mouse is a scroll eater and is very hungry." The small field mouse turned its attention to Roy now and took the scroll that was offered to it just to then begin nibbling. "On another note would it not just be easier instead of fighting to send someone on friendly terms to look over the maps and copy them or take them?" Roy picked up the small mouse just to then smirk a bit as the thing continued to nibble on the scroll.

Master has arrived, coming from Terra.

Master has left the area, heading descend to Lutetia.

Suddenly, a swirling vortex appears to the in. You can see something appear in that direction.