Ryan let out a chuckle, and shrugged. This Dark Elf obviously hadn't seen him before. Fire? Really? That was the least of Ryan's worries. Hell, he had once put out a stovetop fire with his palm, and emerged without a single burn. to demonstrate this fact, he walked towards the Dark Elf and extinguished the flame by wrapping his fingers around it and forming a fist to give it no oxygen. He smiled.<br/><br/>"You were saying?" he said, opening his palm to show no burn marks of any kind. He tossed the small kavodrum canteen at the Dark Elf. "Now then, We have a few questions to ask you. Firstly, Why were those -for lack of a better term- bullies knocking you out?" Since the Dark Elf didn't answer straight away, he continued. "Secondly, do you or do you not know why the Empire burned and killed the entire village west of here, and Thirdly... your earlier threats make you sound more like an enemy than a friend, so being the goodnatured person that I am, I am going to need some sort of proof that you can be trusted. If you can provide it, I will without hesitation offer you my friendship. Otherwise, Well... since I am trying not to vomit over beheading the man who assaulted you, I shall allow miss Eira or Thykahm here to do what I did to your assailant."<br/><br/>~~~~~<br/><br/>Rosalin meanwhile, had left the others when she heard the twig snap and was now looking around for the one who made the noise. "He-hello?" she called out. "I really hope that was just a bug... I don't want to die because one of those stupid 'Shadow Legion' bastards followed us..." she said as she walked directly under Dar’Rabiisi's hiding spot.<br/><br/>_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/><span style="color: #00FF00">Sagaan walked through the village, calmly observing the damage/looking at corpses, etc. Although his features were fully composed, he was furious. <br/><br/>The village was a dead end. Nothing but a waste of time. <br/><br/>He suddenly caught sight of a trio of soldiers, 2 Dark elves and a human, approaching quickly; Sagaan had only to see the way they moved to know something important had happened.<br/><br/>"M'lord, we caught two Orcs attempting to slip past our perimeter. They claim to be bringing a message for you." <br/><br/>"Bring them to me," Makado said curtly. <br/><br/>The soldier bowed and jogged away, the two elves following in his wake on either side. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Strange… Orcs tend to keep their distance. They know the Dwarves no longer fight with the Empire's support. They know better than to draw our attention.</span><br/><br/>He could now see that two people were approaching, surrounded by five men in Empire gear; the Orcs had their heads bowed down, and their wrists were shackled together with by a device consisting of a thick metal chain and 2 manacles. <br/><br/>Sagaan, abruptly deciding that the street near the end of the village was hardly a good place to conduct an interrogation, turned and surveyed the building behind him. It appeared to be in decent condition, and had evidently escaped the flames that had engulfed the majority of the village during the attack. <br/><br/>He walked inside, gesturing to the men that their visitors be brought in behind him. As he entered the dwelling, he noticed one thing immediately- there was a hole in the ceiling. He peered up at it, frowning thoughtfully; deciding he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation for it, he did at least recognize that it was roughly large enough to accommodate the shape of a person. Directly beneath the hole, he spotted a shirt, and a chain mail shirt of a similar size. Something about them seemed peculiar. He rolled them into a bundle and threw them onto a table in the corner of the room, making a mental note to take a closer look at them when he had some time. <br/><br/>The Orcs were pushed roughly into the cottage; the soldiers behind them looked questioningly at Sagaan, who waved them off. They exchanged a look amongst themselves but remained silent, leaving him alone with the prisoners. <br/><br/><br/>Sagaan did not fear for his own safety- Orcs were not unknown to him. His father had made sure of it, telling him the savages would one day rise up as they did thousands of years before, before the Empire's formation, when the lands were covered by their foul flesh and jagged blades. <br/><br/>One of the Orcs was quite large, although his shoulders were rounded and his back had a rather severe hunch as if he'd ruined his posture through years of heavy toiling. His sharp fang-like teeth poked out from beneath his lips even though his mouth was closed, and his yellowish eyes seemed listless and confused. It took half a glance for Sagaan to deduce that it was the Orc's smaller companion who was the brains of the operation. <br/><br/>He wasn't quite a Goblin, but he was obviously a mix of some sort. He was around medium height, as tall as a larger Khajiit, with a pointed chin and slanted eyes that never seemed to stay still, darting from Sagaan, to Kahat and back as if trying to measure them up. While his comrade seemed somewhat lost, he looked to be more on the nervous side. <br/><br/>"I am told you have a message for me," Makado began, his attention fixed on the smaller of the Orcs. "Out with it, then." <br/><br/>"You are Sagaan," the small half-orc replied in a voice that sounded like a raspy whisper, "Chief described you well. Tall and cold, eyes like ice. Skulk and Rap honored to stand before great Sagaan, Lord of all men," he added with the shadow of a grin, the large brute beside him nodding his head in agreement. <br/><br/>The attempt at flattery did nothing but instill Sagaan with a pang of impatience. "The message. Now." <br/><br/>"Yes, Sagaan is man of action, no idle chat. Our Chief, Urghakursh Blackblade, most powerful of all forest chiefs, knows what you seek." <br/> <br/>"What does your chief know of me?" Sagaan inquired, his eyes staring holes through the half-Goblin. <br/><br/>"Blackblade knows all. He is great shaman, has all answers. Chief knows you razed village of Elves to the ground. Chief knows you seek object of great power. Chief has this object."<br/><br/>Sagaan felt the edges of his lips twitch; he suddenly knew where this was going. <br/><br/>"Chief will gladly give you," finished the half-Orc, who Makado assumed was the one called Skulk. <br/><br/>"Really? And is the Chief going to do this out of the kindness of his heart?" <br/><br/>The swarthy creature smiled again, displaying two rows of razor sharp teeth. "Chief will give you what you want. In exchange for lending Orcs aid against ghrizaams." <br/><br/>"Your Chief is offering me what I seek in exchange for help driving the Dwarves from the mountains?" <br/><br/>"Sagaan speaks truly," Skulk responded, still grinning wickedly. "Service for service." <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">These creatures believe they know my mind, and that they can use their supposed knowledge to manipulate me. A terrible mistake has been made, one that will forever change the future of their race</span>, he thought grimly.  <br/><br/>Sagaan smiled. "Your Chief has a deal." <br/><br/>The orcs, both Rap and Skulk grinned, their faces indicating a mixture of pleasure and relief. <br/><br/>The fools. </span><br/><br/>Losengrad had been listening halfheartedly from his guard post outside as the Orcs had foolishly tried to barter. He smirked, noting their mistake all too soon. He turned heel and walked inside to not only examine the house, but to end the Orcs miserable existence if Sagaan were to “decline” their offer. He pretended to be observing the house, first out of boredom, then out of curiosity when he too noticed the hole in the roof. He moved over to where Sagaan had tossed the shirt and chainmail, and let himself sneer. So this massacre wasn’t a<span style="font-style: italic">total</span>loss, then. He was not about to lose the trail now…<br/><br/>“Sir, allow me to assemble a group to escort them back to their leader. We will deliver our help as a gesture of goodwill.” he said, feigning agreement to the deal as well. he planned on finding the Orc’s camp and killing them. All of them. but he didn’t say this aloud.<br/><br/><span style="color: #00FF00">Sagaan watched Losengrad closely as he made his suggestion; although the General didn’t mention what was really on his mind, Sagaan recognized it on his face. Without speaking on it, they both knew precisely what needed to be done. And of course, the Orcs remained oblivious to all of it. <br/><br/>“Skulk and Rap, my General will escort you back to your camp to ensure your safety. As well as to send along my regards to Chief Blackblade.” <br/><br/>Skulk stared up at Losengrad for a moment, his eyes unreadable, but then nodded after a moment, appearing to be somewhat reassured. Rap didn’t seem to care either way- Sagaan wondered if the creature was capable of even stringing two words together.<br/><br/>Frowning, he realized it didn’t matter. He was certain they’d both be dead within the next few hours. <br/><br/>“General,” he said with a faint smile, “I leave our honored guests in your care.” The Orcs turned and began moving towards the exit, their chains clinking with every step. Sagaan caught Losengrad’s eye one last time before the latter could leave. <br/><br/>“Don’t disappoint me.” </span><br/><br/>Losengrad had his mind on how he was going to… dispose of… the Orc Chief when he heard his Lordship say those three words. “Like I need to be told what NOT to do.” he muttered, knowing that Sagaan wouldn’t be able to do much even if he<span style="font-style: italic">did</span>disappoint him. Walking over to one of the Lieutenants whom he had personally promoted to said position, he clicked his tongue three times, then said “Gather a group of soldiers and prepare them with full armor and weapons. we leave to… assist, the Orcs in twenty minutes.”<br/><br/>The lieutenant nodded and selected a group of twenty well armed able bodied men. Losengrad saw out of the corner of his eyes that the Orc/Goblin mix… Skull was it? had a glee filled murderous look in his eyes. it almost made him sorry the smaller Orc would die by his blade… almost.<br/><br/>The trek to the Orc’s camp was relatively silent. When they got to a crudely made opening in a hillside, Losengrad smiled sinisterly. his smile faded when they found Orcs with large clubs in an ambush.<br/><br/>“Skulk! Chief see they traitorous!” Losengrad heard one of the orcs say as he raised his shield to block a spiked club aimed at his neck. “Well now, this makes things easier. Search and destroy! Don’t come back unless you have the Chief’s head!” he shouted.<br/><br/>Several shrieks later, the group of Orcs decided to run for it. THAT pissed off the General. Well that is, until he saw a group of torches in the distant trees. “We've been duped! First one to retrieve the chief’s corpse gets promoted to head of my personal guard!” he shouted. unfortunately the Orcs were on their way to escaping.<br/><br/>“After them you dogs!” he shouted.