The Court of the King in Rags

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

If anything, they told the laws of the universe to be more consistent. This is asking the laws to be less consistent, an entirely different approach!

"And in this ritual vision, is just my mind in the past while my body remains here? What are the possible side effects? If this were risk free, you'd have already sent one of your minions to do it." So there must be some kind of catch that makes this endeavor dangerous.

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"It is not quite risk-free, no," the Queen admits. "Your body will physically travel into the past... partly so, at least. Any injuries sustained there will be felt by you after your return. But you will also have the full strength of your body at your disposal. Including the ability to make yourself appear human. The spear was held by a group of Jarowit's followers, before it was lost. You will need to infiltrate their ranks."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"I see. I presume there are some limitations, even if laws of the universe are being broken? How much of the past could I influence?" If Ilpholin can agree to this and just bail on the mission immediately to go on some crusade to fix the mistakes of the past, she wouldn't even hesitate.

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"The are limitations, yes. Let me put it this way..." The Queen steeples her long claws and leans back in thought. "What you will do is outside the margins of history. We will sneak you into what is known about the spear of Jarowit and its legend. It went missing and no one knows where it went, so stealing it will be accepted as yet another possible track of history. The fates of the people around it are also of little consequence to myth and history, thus malleable. But to leave its vicinity and try to enact change to what indisputably happened... history will snap back to its proper shape like a bowstring after being pulled."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"Fascinating." She can affect the unknown, which might end up as lost text somewhere or something, found many years later and becoming 'known'. That cat box thing that Nadas enjoyed talking about far too much. The only thing she could say about it is that it both made sense and didn't.

"Very well. I understand the mission well enough. Tell me about these recruits. I can pick anyone off the street and give them a pitchfork." She doesn't need the King in Rags for that. They'll have to have something above and beyond farming skills!

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

The Queen lounges back in her chair, relaxing. A very regal pose.

"Indeed you could. What I offer you is a ready fighting force. Thirty elves from among my followers... many come from the city you and Damon visited, in fact. They're hunters, warriors and primalists. That is to say, practitioners of a form of elemental magic that invokes fey power and that elves have an affinity for," she clarifies. "I chose them based on their skill and motives. They want to follow a renowned warrior like yourself and have no love for the demon-kind. Some have fought demons before, others haven't. None of them will flinch from killing them, one way or the other."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

Ilpholin's not looking forward to leading again, even if the allure such power offers lingers. She crosses her legs and puts her hands in her lap.

"You ask me to risk everything to steal a powerful tool from a god," A dead one. "And you offer responsibility in return. Mere potential." Ilpholin's seen those fighters in action. They are certainly respectable, so she cannot debate their quality. But she can still haggle all the same and lets her statements linger to see exactly how interested in this spear the Queen in Rags is.

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

The Queen lounges in her chair, relaxed. This of course belies the negotiation and haggling that are about to begin. But she seems determined to give a casual air regardless.

"A potential is what I can give you," she says. "More than that, and the power would be mine, not yours. I've led and fought armies. A weapon can be given, but an army must be raised. Shaped by their leader as an extension of her will. And you need an army to fight your war. The factions of the Nexus won't do what must be done."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"Or spies to fight in yours," Ilpholin points out. "I have no guarantees of their loyalties and convictions. Taking them in is a risk in and of itself."

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

The Queen smiles slightly. With satisfaction? Perhaps Ilpholin's answer is expected, or even pleasing.

"If that's your concern, perhaps our deal can include an assurance that they won't pass information on to me. You know what my contracts are binding, even to myself. The immortal Wyrd makes it so. But I have another proposition, if my terms are insufficient. Did you notice the two creatures who opened the door for us? Many of them serve me and I know where you can find three that aren't bound to me, or anyone else. You could make them your allies or servants."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

Contracts are binding, certainly, but also tricky. She'd have to approach it carefully. For now, Ilpholin raises a slight eyebrow. "Those dragon-like creatures made of wood? And you would teach me how to bind them to my service?" Learning how to bind a fey, even if just a specific one is not generally shared lightly. But would be quite valuable for growing a court of her own.

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"To the best of my ability." The Queen leans back, resting her clawed hands in her lap. "You're fey, but not from our world. And not one of the Gentry. You cannot treat with them as I do. But... you will be able to forge a contract with them. Of alliance or servitude. That will depend on how well you can convince or impress them. I can give you advice on how to do it."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

Ilpholin represses a frown, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. The Queen was offering the opportunity for Ilpholin to engage with more contracts. To get sucked further and further into fey politics, embroiling her until she was helpless and completely dependent on the Queen to stay afloat. The Wood Dragons were a trap designed to engulf Ilpholin by appealing to her greed and desire for power. Masquerading as a bonus to a deal being made. Insidiously the presentation of the Wood Dragons as a boon prevented Ilpholin from calling the Queen out on her machinations.

"That's quite unnecessary," Ilpholin says with a lazy wave of her hand, as if it would just be too much of a bother. "The thirty warriors will take up too much of my attention as is. They alone shall suffice, along with a contract assuring that they will not work for you in any capacity. However, I want Mister Squiggles present during the entirety of the time ritual that your servant will be performing."

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

A smile plays at the Queen's lips. Did she plan for this? Or was it just one of several potential favorable outcomes? It's really hard to tell with fey like her.

"Acceptable. Mister Squiggles can't follow you into the past, but he will stay here in the present to ensure nothing untoward or unexpected happens to you. And we will word our contract to make certain these elves will have no connection or contact with me once I bequeath their services to you."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"I wouldn't want him to anyways," Ilpholin clarifies. "Once I've had an opportunity to review and approve the contract, we'll have a deal." Any sooner would be premature.

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"Of course." The Queen's smile doesn't disappear. This is, after all, what she wanted. "We can write the contract now, if you want. Make sure everything is in order as we do. A servant can bring us some paper." The Queen (or King) in Rags has shown the ability to make such things appear out of thin air before. Why ask a servant?

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

Ilpholin imagines it's another power play. A 'look I have servants, they're beneath me' sort of thing. Drow nobility and priestesses did it all the time. Sure they could stand up, walk two steps and pick up the pen, or they could summon one of their well dressed males or exotic slaves to fetch it for them.

So she really doesn't give it a second thought. "Very well."

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

The Queen claps her hands and a servant comes in through the door. It turns out to be a large masculine figure draped in a toga, his body covered in short black fur and his head like that of an ogre, coal-like red eyes, twisted horns and long teeth. He bows and departs after leaving a sheaf of paper and a quill on the table. The Queen takes the quill and begins writing on one of the sheets.

Contract between Ilpholin Xar'Cha and the King in Rags.

Ilpholin will willingly undergo a ritual by Amalungak, the King in Rags' servant, to travel into the past and retrieve the spear that once belonged to Jarowit, known as the human god of war. She will return once the spear is in her possession.

IN RETURN

The King in Rags will bequeath the services of thirty elven warriors to her. These warriors will answer to her and will not aid the King in Rags, obey his commands or deliver any information to him unless Ilpholin expressly instructs them to do so.

"This should be a start, but we may need to refine it," the Queen says.

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

Ilpholin glances over the contract. "Looks fine to me. How would you refine and continue it?" If this is just a start, then it must go one for another three hundred pages!

"And it brings up an interesting point. How will I return exactly? Click my heels three times?"

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"Perhaps it can stay as simple as this," the Queen agrees, before answering the other question. "I have asked Amalungak about it. To return, you will need to go back to the place where you emerged into the past, drive the spear into the ground and say 'I return with the spear of Jarowit'."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"So the only way to return is to succeed," Ilpholin points out, essentially locking her into a past where she cannot affect written history and is doomed to obscurity if she fails. Possibly a fate worse than death.

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"Mmm, not quite." The Queen smiles slightly. "I have accounted for this. If it's clear that the spear is beyond your grasp, thrust a tree branch into the ground instead and say 'I return without the spear of Jarowit'. But the ritual will not work again, so we only have one attempt at the prize."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"Hmph," Ilpholin replies dismissively. "Such safety nets are unnecessary. I won't fail." Though now she can't hold that huge risk she's taking over the Queen in Rags' head. No doubt exactly why the Queen included such a clause in the first place.

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"I have no doubt in your success. But every plan needs contingency measures." The Queen smiles pleasantly and lounges back in her chair. "The ritual will take place in an arid valley out in the hills. It needs to be an area similar to the one you will visit in the past. The humans you'll deal with belong to a community of warriors, believing themselves to be humanity's defenders. Your own martial skill will be key to ingratiating yourself with them. Most of them come from a now-extinct culture of hill-folk, but there will be others too. Of course, as with any warrior culture, there's a number of servants who handle menial tasks for them. The details are blurry, but the spear seems to be held in or near a hill fort that houses a self-sufficient community."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"Will they have a problem with an outsider joining them?" Even if Ilpholin could blend in with looks and tone, she would still know no one and have no one to vouch for her.

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"Some might." The Queen traces a circle on the table with her claw. "This community was of some renown in its day, so they had outsiders come to them with some frequency. As such, it won't arouse suspicion, but you will need to prove yourself with martial skill. This shouldn't be a problem, of course." She seems to consider something. "It might be best if you introduce yourself as coming from the principality of Iravvi. It was a well-known but faraway civilization in those days, whose people tended to be pale of skin."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"Hmm... I don't need to be fair skinned, but if it will assist in ingratiating me, very well. Is there anything else I should know?" Ilpholin asks, as prepared as she feels she's going to be.

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"Those are all the specifics I can give you," the Queen says. "Be bold and be cunning. These are the last of the humanity's ancient warriors; last gasp of their kind's glory, aside from the Vigil commander. They are slow to trust and not easily impressed with strength and martial skill. But I have no doubt you're up to the task. And you will see that world... not quite how I once saw it, but close." She smiles again. This time it's not like the kind of playful, lustful and knowing smiles Ilpholin is used to seeing on this body. It's almost wistful and nostalgic.

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"Hmm... you miss them." It's a statement, not a question and Ilpholin stands, collecting the contract that the Queen in Rags drew up. "I will contact Mister Squiggles. When will your ritualist be ready?"

[Morty]

[Ilpholinvitation]

"Yes... I do, I admit. This Nexus of words does contain some individuals with the same spark I saw back then." The Queen looks Ilpholin up and down as she stands. "Amalungak will be ready in four days. We will meet in the valley at noon then." A map suddenly appears on the table, showing a stretch of land out in the wilds. "You are free to come visit the court before then, of course. Or at another time. I've created some very comfortable chambers here." An innocent statement, but the half-lidded look she gives the nymph makes the invitation rather clear.