"M'Lord, with respect, why do you insist on traveling with the men?"<br/><br/>Makado Sagaan looked up from the map he was studying, lightly running a steel gauntlet over his hairless head as he turned to examine the speaker. He was a small, timid looking advisor garbed in the dark blue robes of his station, although they were heavily stained by travel. They were a long way from Castle Argencrafht.<br/><br/>"Excuse me?"<br/><br/>The man lowered his gaze, blinking nervously; he had small, watery eyes and always looked like he was on the verge of tears. It was somewhat surprising to see Anmund in the tent- the men all knew not to enter unless they had good reason. Behind him, near the tent flaps in a small but sturdy chair lounged General Losengrad, who was watching the advisor with narrowed eyes.<br/><br/>"It's just- these lands, they're filled with bandits and barbarians. The lowest denizens of Argonafht, less like people and more like lawless beasts. They could attack our camp, or ambush us when we're on the road- I'm just worried about your safety, M'Lord."<br/><br/>__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF8000">General Losengrad growled in disgust. “Are you suggesting that Lord Sagaan does not bear the ability to defend himself against a common criminal?” he asked, rising to his full height of six feet nine inches.<br/><br/>Anmund began trembling as he turned to face the general. “Please, I meant no disrespect, I only wanted to be sure that-”<br/><br/>Losengrad sneered “That what? were you expecting to gain a promotion by pointing out useless opinionated information?” He spat on the ground and put a hand on the hilt of the broadsword clipped to his belt. Anmund started shaking like there was a tremor going throughout the tent. Losengrad’s smirk widened considerably. “And this is why you are only an advisor, my dear Anmund. you fear the cut of a blade on your skin, while I relish in the thought of battle. If you are done shaking, I would suggest you listen to Lord Sagaan and stop wasting his time.”<br/><br/>And with those words he sat back down as if nothing had happened. </span><br/><br/>__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/>Anmund blinked several times, suddenly looking dazed after the General’s verbal onslaught- Sagaan regarded him for a moment in silence before turning back to the map, his eyes rapidly darting around as he studied its contents. After a few moments of tense silence, the man cleared his throat, his voice even shakier now.<br/><br/>"Please M'Lord, could you tell me what it is you're searching for? If I knew, I could h-help you… I could be of use to you."<br/><br/>Sagaan straightened up once again and turned to stare at the man again, this time with the edges of his lips twitching upward to form the slightest of smiles. The man saw it and immediately straightened up, his eyes widening fearfully.<br/><br/>"You ask many questions, Anmund."<br/><br/>The man looked like he was deeply regretting his decision to enter the tent; he took an involuntary step backwards, as if increasing the distance between them would get him out of his current predicament. He then seemed to realize the step moved him slightly closer to Losengrad and he quickly moved back forward as if he’d been burned.<br/><br/>"M'Lord, I mean no harm, I’m only trying to h-"<br/><br/>""Every person who learns a secret then becomes another mouth that can divulge it," Sagaan interrupted. "The more people who know a secret, the more likely it will be told to others. Understand?" "<br/><br/>"Yes, o-of course, M'Lord, but I'd never do anything like that! I'd never share your secrets," he said, suddenly appearing somewhat forceful in his desperation to prove his loyalty. Sagaan watched him for a moment, then turned back to the table holding the map. "On the island of Valernac, there is a tribe of dwarves who are known for the interesting methods they employ in obtaining information." He picked up a small dagger that had been lying on the table's wooden surface and held it over the flame of one of the candles he had on either side of the map. As the fire licked the blade he turned to watch Anmund, who was now fidgeting on the spot.<br/><br/>"Tell me, my trusted, ever loyal advisor, would you hold out against such torment? Would you stand strong in the face of pain and death, taking my secrets with you to your grave?"<br/><br/>The blade was now so hot that he could feel its warmth through both the handle he gripped, and through the steel gauntlet adorning his right hand.<br/><br/>"Or would you break?"<br/><br/>"I wouldn't… I wouldn't betray you," Anmund answered in a voice that was scarcely louder than a whisper. He licked his lips nervously, his eyes continually darting between Sagaan's face and the dagger he held.<br/><br/>"Do you care to test that assertion?" Sagaan asked as he removed the blade from the flame and turned to face him directly, the dagger held out in front of him as if it were a gift. He could see a hungry look suddenly appear on the General’s face- yes, Losengrad would enjoy such a sight.<br/><br/>The man's face went entirely pale, as if all the blood had been abruptly drained from it. He looked like he was actually going to start crying in earnest. "I.. I don't… please, M'Lord, I-"<br/><br/>"Maybe you would break, and maybe you wouldn't," Sagaan cut him off dismissively, turning back to the table and throwing the dagger back onto it. The smooth wood beneath the blade immediately began turning black, scorched by the heat emanating from the metal. "It is not within my power to know such things."<br/><br/>He turned to regard Anmund one final time, the smile now gone from his face. "However, it<span style="font-style: italic">is</span>within my power to decide what<span style="font-style: italic">you</span>know. You may leave."<br/><br/>The man opened his mouth, then decided it wasn't worth staying long enough to say anything else. He bowed, backing away so quickly he nearly tripped over his own feet, then turned and practically flew out of the tent.<br/><br/>__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF8000">As Anmund further pressed on in an effort to see if he would be allowed the information he was seeking -quite pitifully in the General’s opinion- Losengrad was losing his tolerance for the man. his tolerence stemmed from the fact that patience was a virtue the General could only mimic.<br/><br/>He was about to say something akin to “How soon do you want to die?”, but thankfully, the heating of Sagaan’s dagger put his mind at ease, and added a cruel glint to his eyes as well as another widening of his already sinister smirk if that were possible.<br/></span><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">"Tell me, my trusted, ever loyal advisor, would you hold out against such torment? Would you stand strong in the face of pain and death, taking my secrets with you to your grave? Or would you break?"<br/></span><br/><span style="color: #FF8000"><span style="font-style: italic">That</span> was what did it, Losengrad chuckled darkly. he had always reveled in the scent of burning flesh. Anmund looked like he was ready to have his pants collect excretions. “Son of a firi’wuhn. I can’t wait to see this!” Losengrad thought. This conversation just got a whole lot more interesting to him. When the man was dismissed, he frowned.<br/><br/>“You are growing soft M’lord.” he said as he stood up, not particularly caring if Sagaan was in agreement with his statement or not. “Besides that, I’d say you could have made an example of him. None of the other men would bother you for days.”<br/><br/>At the look he was given, he held up his hands defensively. “Hey, your call, but I still say you should have thrown it through his chestplate!”<br/><br/>to himself he muttered, “I wouldn’t have gone easy on him, that’s for sure!” </span><br/><br/>__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/>Sagaan thought he heard Losengrad muttering something under his breath but he paid no mind; the General had a habit of doing that when he was in disagreement with him, usually not caring if Sagaan heard what he was saying.<br/><br/>"Greater than fear, and greater than pain… is the fear of pain,” he said, as if talking to himself. He might as well have been, as he was certain the other man disagreed- that much went without saying.<br/><br/>Personally, Sagaan wouldn’t have minded sharing Losengrad’s lust for blood- the only problem was that his army would be reduced to nothing but a pile of bloodstained armor and bone fragments within a year. The thought made him shake his head humorlessly. Hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, he turned to watch a soldier entering the tent, ducking down in order to fit beneath the tent flaps. Once the newcomer straightened up, Sagaan saw that he was of medium height with an iron breastplate and a helm that concealed most of his head. He could still see enough to recognize him as a Dark Elf- the pale hand branded on his left cheek stood out sharply against the grey of his skin.<br/><br/>__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF8000">Losengrad smirked again. how he loved torturing most of these filthy traitors to their own kind. Ahh, memories…. “Lieutenant Erebik, I assume you are not here to make idle chatter?”<br/><br/>This earned him a frown from the dark elf in question, but as he was a lieutenant, he had come to expect this treatment from the General. “No, sir. the first of the men you sent out has returned with crucial information.” he gulped and tugged on his collarbone, then explained further. “Unfortunately, it was apparently… and this is their words, not mine… necessary to *ahem*...” he fidgeted on the spot clearly dreading the results of the yet to be revealed news. “Kill the messenger.”<br/><br/>All was quiet. everyone in the army knew the General’s lack of tolerance for that particular phrase. another second passed, and the General had his blade to Erebik’s throat.<br/><br/>“Sagaan?” he asked with a deadly calm tone. “Is it alright if I kill this one?” </span><br/><br/>__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/>Sagaan watched the proceedings, completely unsurprised- as far as he knew, the only thing the General enjoyed more than tormenting other people, was tormenting dark elves. But now wasn’t the time for bloodshed- he needed information, and corpses couldn’t talk.<br/><br/>“I would like to hear what he has to say first, if you don’t mind, General,” he said as he walked to the tent’s opening and peered outside. It was very quiet in the camp- he would’ve bet anything they all knew what had happened. And they were waiting to see what would happen next.<br/><br/>The elf blinked as beads of sweat went into his eyes, but as the gigantic blade was still at his neck he didn’t dare move. He looked at Sagaan desperately, his eyes wide and terrified. Sagaan was more interested in what he had to say, however.<br/><br/>“Speak. Now.”<br/><br/>“W-we th-think it was someone from the village, but we d-don’t have all the infor-”<br/><br/>"How could a Shadow Legionnaire with the skills of Paalim be bested by some villager? Something about what you're telling me isn't making sense," interjected Sagaan.<br/><br/>"I don't know how, they didn't say, I swear I don't know!" he cried out desperately, the blade now resting lightly against his neck. Tiny droplets of blood were starting to trail down from its gleaming edge.<br/><br/>Sagaan glimpsed a shadow near the tents entryway- he stared, as suddenly a pair of glowing yellow eyes had come into view, peering up at him from a few feet off the ground.<br/><br/>"Kill him later, General. We have things to do," he said as he moved towards the eyes, even as they vanished once again. At that point he realized the space between the tent flaps has been dark enough to suggest it was the middle of the night- he knew the Legion had mastered the use of shroud-spheres, and used miniature ones to signal each other.<br/><br/>When he straightened up he saw an unusually tall Khajiit dressed entirely in black standing several yards away from him. He was armed with a long knife, visibly hanging from his belt on his left hip, but Sagaan knew members of the Shadow Legion typically carried at least four daggers on their person at all times, usually intended as a last resort. Usually.<br/><br/>"Kahat. "<br/><br/>The Captain of the Legion inclined his head, his eyes still fixed on Sagaan’s very seriously. "The ones who did this. We will find them, yes?"<br/><br/>"Yes. You lost a good Legionnaire."<br/><br/>The Khajiit made a sound that sounded like something between a grunt and a hiss. "Good soldier, yes. Killer, yes. Good killer. But not a good shadow." The two of them were surrounded by movement, reminiscent of being in the midst of an ant's nest that had been kicked over. The camp was stirring.<br/><br/>"The killing, is too messy, yes? Slitting too many throats, too many corpses falling down, too many ears hearing, yes? Better to sneak. Paalim, he did not understand this."<br/><br/>__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF8000">"I don’t give a damn about whether or not <span style="font-style: italic">you</span> think he was good! the fact remains that he was better than you accredit his abilities," growled the general as he emerged from the tent behind them. Kahat watched him warily. “He was good at his job <span style="font-style: italic">because</span> he spilt blood, instead of sneaking around doing diddly-squat while the empire took care of the enemy!” Losengrad finished speaking in a very near shout. At this point he did not care who was listening. His mood had officially been compromised.<br/><br/>“Pardon me, but Kahat not familiar with term ‘diddly-squat’. Can someone explain?” Kahat asked. Losengrad brought a hand up to his face. He didn’t have time to be giving English lessons! Deciding to take the conversation in another route while ignoring the presented grammar question, he asked, “So are you here to complain about a dead cat, or to help us in our current state of affairs?”<br/><br/>Kahat seemed slightly offended that he had been called a cat as a race, but it wasn’t like he could do much about it. He was, after all in the presence of the two most powerful men in Argonafht. while his train of thought led elsewhere, he decided to say something different.<br/><br/>“Kahat will be going now… Kahat is very busy, yes?”<br/><br/>Losengrad frowned. why was it that everyone around here was such a lily-livered idiot? As Kahat left them, Losengrad turned to Sagaan. “Sir, although I must wait for your orders, I urge you to trust our fallen comrade’s intel. It would not be sporting of us to pass by the town without avenging his death.” </span><br/><br/>__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/>“If there’s even the slightest chance Paalim’s suspicions were correct, we cannot risk letting this chance slip away,” Sagaan replied, even as he gestured to one of his runners, a human boy who couldn’t be more than a teenager. Age wasn’t much of a concern to the Empire- if a person could follow orders and had half a brain in their head, work could be found for them. Argonafht was a hard place, with little room for people incapable of pulling their own weight.<br/><br/>“Boy, I need every officer in this camp aware of the fact that we are congregating at the outpost north of here.” That outpost was situated just north of the village in question, and was close to the Empire's Forbidden Forest encampment- it was the last place Paalim had been seen alive, and it was also a good place to set out from. If they could establish a perimeter, they could cut off any possible escape. That is, if they weren’t already too late.<br/><br/>The runner stared at him for a moment, then sprinted away, his footsteps kicking up dust as he began relaying the message in a shrill voice that covered quite a bit of distance. It wasn’t long before they could see movement in every direction as the camp became aware of the situation. Sagaan reached into the inside pocket of his cloak and withdrew a cloth bag, which he opened silently, aware of eyes on him but not caring.<br/><br/>He looked down in silence for a long time, before finally closing the bag with a tightening of his facial muscles. Nothing yet. But he had a feeling…<br/><br/>__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF8000">Losengrad noticed when Sagaan withdrew the bag. he knew what his Lord was looking for, but said nothing until the bag was put back in it’s place.<br/><br/>“You shouldn’t be so careless.” He said calmly, once again not caring what was thought of his opinion. “Someone could be watching, and then it would be over.”<br/><br/>Grabbing the Dark Elf who was attempting to leave before he was discovered, Losengrad slit his throat and yelled to the nearest group of soldiers “Get this corpse out of my sight, before I behead all of you as well!”<br/><br/>He didn’t have to say anything else.<br/><br/><span style="font-size: 125%; line-height: 116%;">~~~T~I~M~E~ ~S~K~I~P~~~ </span><br/><br/>Losengrad looked over at his lieutenant one last time. “Are the men in place Azlum? We can’t risk being in these accursed forests any more than necessary! they are called forbidden for a reason!”<br/><br/>“Yes sir, we have the town surrounded. what are Lord Sagaan’s orders?” Azlum answered. General Losengrad didn’t hesitate with his answer.<br/><br/>“Kill them. Kill them all.” the General snarled, then for no apparent reason, he clicked his tongue three times. The lieutenant nodded ever so slightly, then turned to his messengers.<br/><br/>“Send out the message to the others! We attack at dawn. Now MOVE!”</span>