' = Internal dialogue
ยจ= Normal speech
* = Sounds / Etc
-Chapter 56-
As I stood by and heard some kind of machinery activate upon inserting the staff on the pedestal before the miniature city of white houses, I sat down on a rock at the side, just waiting for whatever happened next to occur.
As the door thumped, I could sense the inside unlocking itself through an advanced mechanism and the result of the door slowly unlocking from the other side. Several furious stomps followed as the door slammed open.
A large stone woman came rushing through with a white mallet in her right hand, anger visible on the stone face somehow as she yelled, "None may steal the secrets of the Makers."
"Does it count that I already have? Though not stolen, but won through combat and given to me by circumstance?" I said calmly as I sat on the rock to the side. It looked like she would shout at me again until I reached for my bag and pulled out the Arcanomicon I looted off Malygos.
The sizeable female Keeper turned silent and straightened herself. Our stalemate kept going for three minutes before she broke the silence, "That item should not exist. It is a fake. Give it to me to preserve it until the Pantheon's return." She said in a tone of no negotiation and reached her hand toward me in a gesture for me to hand it over.
"No." 'Does she think I am an idiot?' I thought incredulously while I felt my eyebrow twitch.
"You have no choice. If you do not hand it over, I will initiate combat protocol." She said as I could see her eyes glow for a second, clearly thinking she could pressure me to do as she wished.
"Lady, this has been a long day. It's also one of the few days that I am unwilling to bend to the whims of a living statue. And obviously, you have no fucking sway over me.
Cease whatever action you have planned next, or I will break you." I told her as my eyes glowed with an intensity that reflected my current mood. I could see her slightly recoil as she had seen something that made her pause before she spoke, this time with a slight stutter.
"I-I-I Apologize for my transgressions, Chosen of an Old One. My directive had no information on your status. I humbly beg for your forgiveness." She pleaded as she went down to her knees and bowed, still towering over me though, as the Keeper is at least eight meters tall.
'What?' I thought, speechless at the turn of events, "Why... do you address me like that?" I asked.
This made the human-looking statue of a woman pause, "...There are two reasons, Chosen, your eyes... And..." She explained, then pointed at my fist, which were stained in blue blood. 'Oh.' I thought as I realized why.
'Now I just feel stupid...' I gazed at the Keeper, whose marble-like eyes studied me intently as if trying to discover my secrets by staring.
I wiped my hand with the inside of my tattered cloak while conjuring some ice that turned to water as I dispelled it to make it easier to get off.
And after pondering about what to do next, I looked at the Keeper, and said, "Well, now that this is out of the way, I'll be on my way. Goodbye, Keeper. I wish you luck on your quest while waiting for your pantheon."
I stood from the boulder I sat on and walked toward the shabby-looking excavated mining area. She almost frantically asked with a hopeful voice, "Are you not here for the Discs?" I paused briefly, then turned to the Keeper again and replied, "No...? I mean, why would I need to know the history of Azeroth when I live in the now? No, I will leave that to the adventurers and explorers to find. It is not something I need."
This made the Keeper freeze up for a moment before her face gained somewhat of a smile, "I see, then I have a request. Can you please take the staff out and channel some of your magic into it?" She asked hopefully.
I nodded and obliged. Within moments, the staff started to vibrate as the Keeper approached the double doors she had come from.
She just turned around at the entrance and smiled with that stone-like face as the staff disappeared in thin air and the doors closed in front of her.
'How to reset a boss fight, heh.' I thought as I saw the Keeper disappear behind the large stone doors.
'Now, why did I do this in the first place... It's probably just a higher being doing something weird.' I thought, and soon shrugged and started walking toward the makeshift excavation site.
As I entered the new area filled with earth, dust, and wooden pillars that seemed to creak under the weight of the tunnel itself, I could spot several ditches that were filled to the brim with reddish-brown scorpions for some reason; the insects, however, seemed to ignore me completely as I walked by, completely immersed in whatever scorpions would do within a mine like this.
As I kept my pace down the narrow excavation areas made by toddlers with beards, I found a trace of what I was looking for, or something that might lead me to it: a small mechanical doll lay on top of a plank on the side of the tunnel.
It was not dusty at all, meaning it had been dropped off not too long ago. What bothered me, though, was that dried blood splatters were making a tiny trail behind what would look like something being dragged along the ground.
Increasing my pace down the poorly excavated and secured area, I levitated myself above several pitfalls while following the trail of blood that seemed to lessen in the amount lost as I went.
Finally arriving at a darker area, I could barely hear two gruff voices talk with one another around the upcoming corner, "We should'a never have accepted those bastards help Elgog! Having to treat the troggs nicely in the first place should have been warning enough! What is Galgann fockin' doing? What gave him the right to lead this incursion and treat us like goblin shite'..." The first voice spoke in clear common with a hint of dwarven tongue.
"Calm yourself, Edwin, the Ambassador must have had his reasons. We are not to ask questions regarding orders outside the mountain. You know this very well." The second voice of an individual named Elgog replied in perfect common.
"Bah, fuckin' mess this is, we shoulda' never left the mountain..." The first voice replied angrily, who went by the name of Edwin.
I stood by at the end of the corner. I peeked at the source of the two voices that had spoken, revealing that they were indeed dark iron dwarves, as their eyes were an ominous red-colored flame in their eye sockets.
I considered my next action and thought, 'Apparently, they are receiving help from someone... meh, I'll just wing it, I guess...' I then lifted the cloak over my head. I concealed my face with my remaining headpiece, wearing it as a bandana covering itself around my lower jaw and above my nose.
In contrast, the rest of my face was hidden underneath the dark cloak.
I slowly started walking toward the two dwarves after a few minutes after they had sat down in silence, clearly done talking for now.
The reaction was explosive as they jumped to their feet and held a blunderbuss pointed in my direction, "Halt! Who goes there!" One said as he had his finger on the trigger, waiting for a response.
"Reinforcements. The Ambassador sent me as a failsafe for the operation here." I said with a firm tone, leaving no argument; as a result, one of the two dark iron dwarves carefully asked, "Which Ambassador?
I brainstormed momentarily and realized that Gelbin had mentioned that his friend Sicco had tried to let a dark iron ambassador into Gnomeregan for weeks.
"The very one who is dealing with the Gnomeregan situation." I stated firmly. This made them lower their weapons and breathe a sigh of relief.
"Thank the mountain. If ye' came to this place under that man, I would want to immediately pass ya' through to the headquarters."
'Well... that was easy?' I thought, momentarily speechless, as one of them waved me to follow behind him as he turned around while holding a lantern in his left hand and a jagged saber in his right.
"I'll escort the VIP, Edwin. You know what to do if the troggs arrive." Elgog said as the other replied with a snort, "Ya' not shoot the foul fockin' bastards... I know, Elgog, tis' 'appen only one time! fockin' let it go already!"
The one named Elgog chuckled darkly as we both walked away from the clearly annoyed Edwin. As we went further into the next area of the tunnel, there were supplies, weapons, bombs, and many different tools to open locks and doors strewn all around with no sign of ever being organized. Except for the explosives, they were all in one area. Not very smart if you ask me.
As we kept our pace, we finally arrived at what looked like the start of a camp. Dozens of dark iron dwarves stood silently with their weapons drawn as I was escorted through the camp. After all, it was quite the spectacle to see a man taller than most other races they had seen before directly waltz through a camp of midgets. Eventually, we got further inside. I spotted a heavily fortified metal door at the end of the left side of the tunnel, the opposite way I was being led through the encampment.
However, my face strained as I saw someone waiting in the distance.
It was a human female with a neutral look on her face. She wore dark violet robes, a tiara, and a ritualistic dagger hanging from her waist.
She held her arms under her bosom as she stared aggressively at the dwarf escorting me through the camp. As we arrived where she stood, a large tent had been set up behind her. A curtain blocked any visual on what was inside.
"Who... is this? Wow... erm! Why is there a new arrival now?" She inquired as her hips swayed seductively.
The dark iron bowed and said, "Reinforcements from the Mountain, High Interrogator. Sent personally by the Ambassador."
This made the woman look at me with renewed interest, "Oh, how interesting, we have been waiting for someone of your caliber, but I thought my letter in this regard was denied..." She replied with a slight smile that soon darkened as she turned back to the dwarf.
She then stared at the dark dwarf for a moment before waving her hand dismissively, "You are dismissed, but before you leave... next time you bring an important guest through the camp... report it before you let them in..." she said darkly as a black smoke slithered out of her hand and flew directly into the dwarf's eye socket which made him scream out in agony as he fell to the ground and rolled around with frantic movements while the dark-looking smoke started coming out of his ears, nose, and eyes as tears of blood ran down his face as he clawed into his eyes with dull fingernails.
After a few more seconds, the dwarf went unconscious, and she pointed at a dark iron dwarf who stood some distance away and said in a dismissive tone, "Take him away." Which made the dwarf sprint to the one on the ground; he grasped one of the unconscious dwarf's legs and dragged him away from where he lay, where snot, tears, and blood pooled underneath him.
She then looked at me and smiled as she studied me intently. My current armor had been in tatters, and I left it behind in Gnomeregan. I only wore dark pants, boots, and the remaining part of my mask that acted as a bandana to cover my mouth and nose underneath the ragged dark cloak full of holes.
This meant, at this point, I was bare-chested, which probably was the reason for her grin. This made cold sweat trickle down my forehead.
"Envoy, come with me. We have much to discuss." She said with a noticeable purr in her voice, which made me shiver. 'Fuckin' hell, why did I have to encounter a horny cultist?! And why is this going so smoothly!?' My mind churned with questions, but then I realized what this actually looked like if I were indeed sent here by an Ambassador.
And Seeing her robes, I realized that there was some shit going on, and if I could gain any information about it... then I would perhaps stop whatever was going on here at its roots.
Because... I had just reencountered my old enemy, but this time... they have no idea who I am.
The Twilight's Hammer apparently had their hands involved with whatever was going on with Gnomeregan, the troggs, plus the dark iron dwarves. And I was even getting a slight inkling about what they were after considering their previous methods, rituals, and fancy ruins.
As we made our way toward her tent, she stopped momentarily before using some kind of spell on herself and opened the curtain.
As we both stepped inside, I felt some sort of intrusive magic attempt to bind itself to me. I quickly ensured it couldn't enter my body with a thin membrane of arcane magic layering itself over my passive barrier.
Inside was a violet silk-covered interior, fancy chairs woven with fine silk, a king-sized bed that also had the violet color theme, and at the middle... was an altar with a large hammer that had a circle of spikes behind it as it was supported by what seemed to resemble a red-looking wing from a black dragon.
The only problem with this sight was a gnome hanging upside down, as his hands and feet were chained to the supportive wooden pillars holding the tent up.
The gnome was clearly unconscious, and blood came running down his wrists into his palm as it dripped to the ground, spikes visibly embedding themselves into his arms and legs.
Seeing my gaze in the direction of the gnome, she just snorted, "Filthy cretins, all they are good for are being sacrificed for the good of all. It is a shame that our contact down at their disgusting capital has not progressed much with the plan." She said derisively, looking at the unconscious gnome hanging limp before the Twilight's hammer insignia.
"That being said, what has changed so much that our dear Ambassador has come to the conclusion of sending me an envoy of someone of your caliber? Are we starting?" She asked, clearly excited at the possibility of violence.
She clearly had some way to measure magic as she had considered my arrival here a true sign of change. That was when I realized why she had cast the magic earlier when we entered the tent.
She had isolated herself from the magic embedded into the tent's entrance to measure mine, as some kind of measure to see if I was indeed here under orders of the cult's higher-ups.
"...Not yet. I am here to observe the operation for now until further orders arrive." I told her as simply as possible in order to stay undercover.
Meanwhile, I was covered in cold sweat trying to keep up the improv up to this point without exposing myself.
"Aww, prat, and here I hoped you would be my escape back to my chambers..." She said with a pout that made me cringe. It did not fit the woman in the slightest.
"Ah well, at least you are here to entertain me until the meeting then." She said as she made her way toward a glass cabinet while swaying her hips seductively as she poured dark-looking liquor into two crystalline goblets.
'At this point, I am uncertain if it's worth it to not directly incinerate this entire place...' A dark thought crossed my mind but stopped the moment I reminded myself of why I was here 'Undercover' in the first place.
As she was done pouring into the two goblets, she made her way toward the side of the tent, where she lifted up the curtain into another area inside the tent, "Come, the meeting will start in a short while, and instead of having to suffer the company of that filth... which still has his use for the time being, I'd very much prefer somewhere... a bit more private." She whispered while licking her lips as a smile appeared on her face.
'I'm going to end up killing this woman before the designated meeting... aren't I...' was my thought process as I watched the woman giggle. I sighed audibly. This reaction, however, made the woman's ugly frowning smile widen, apparently assuming something entirely different.
As she lifted the curtains entirely and indicated for me to follow, I walked casually through the opening after leaning down, as the entrance was around two meters tall.
The room had a large circular table in the middle and four fancy-looking chairs around it. The woman had walked over to the left of the so-called meeting room, picked up a stool, and placed it beside three chairs. She also took one of the chairs, walked over to the most fancy-looking of them, and set it beside it.
"I hope you don't mind sitting beside little old me during the meeting." She said as she suddenly faced away from me as if looking for something.
I maintained my silence as I stood at the entrance and waited as she stared blankly at the ceiling, "It would seem... I will not have time to enjoy myself before the meeting... they are here early... too early..." She stated dreamily before snapping her gaze back to me with a nasty-looking smile.
"Perhaps... another time then, shame." She stated seductively that if it were not for the fact that I had witnessed horrible events these past hours, I would not be numb enough to handle this situation, as I stood by and tried my best to act like she did not exist.
She then walked over to the chair that obviously was hers and pointed to the chair beside her with a hand gesture. 'Goddamit.' I thought as I walked over and stood beside the chair, clearly not following her demand by sitting down.
Just when she was going to insist, the voices of two individuals sounded out from the tent entrance as they made their way toward the meeting room, which was placed on the left side after walking to the center of the large tent.
Grumbling and huffing could be heard as two dark iron dwarves, a human with a violet hood and a staff that seemed to be on fire on his back, a typical dwarf with an eye patch and a thick black beard, made their way through, side by side, all the while one of the dark irons held his rifle threateningly at the back of the dwarf's head.
This made the woman who had literally been harassing me for ten minutes now look at the situation with a raised eyebrow.
"May I so inquire why are one of your men pointing a weapon at one of the senate's agents, Mr. Firehammer? I will not take silence as an answer." She said, voice growing somber.
This made the dark iron dwarf lower his muzzle to the ground as he looked at his boss. Then, toward the so-called, Mr. Firehammer sighed, "This focker' right 'ere kept tryin' ta' break down da' door to dem' sacrifices, Lady Gerstahn."
"That is simply not true! I only required the collarbone and some blood of one of them kids! And I was only going toward the meeting grounds! It's potent in them rituals, I tell you!
This made the woman, who went by the name Gerstahn, look at the dwarf in anger. "What have I kept telling you, Gerrig? This is the fifteenth time this week!" she shouted.
The dwarf named Gerrig had enough shame to look away sheepishly while staying silent as the woman stared at him until she facepalmed and returned to look at Mr. Firehammer.
She then pointed to the chairs and waved the dark iron with a rifle out of the meeting room as she sat down, "Why did you call for a meeting, Galgann? We had one scheduled later this week, and I thought you were busy dealing with the troggs, as I asked? She asked accusingly, no doubt a bit annoyed at the interruption.
The three just gazed at the two chairs and the stool and decided amongst themselves who would sit where. The dwarf ended up on the uncomfortable-looking stool and cursed as he sat beside the leading dark iron dwarf.
Galgann Firehammer now took a moment to look at me, with a scrutinizing gaze, this made the human male with red eyes underneath his hood stare at me silently, dwarf did so as well as his face turned from me to Lady Gerstahn questioningly.
"Do not bother. It's the envoy from the Ambassador. He is authorized to be in this meeting." She said calmly, making Galgann and Gerrig turn back to her and slowly nod.
"My lady, de' scheduled meeting with dem' leader hours ago... there ain't been no sign of de' troggs since this afternoon invasion for dem' sacrifices." Galgann said calmly in a slight dwarven tongue.
Just as he finished talking, the dwarf named Gerrig also started talking, "I was at their main camp with my guards earlier this evening to get materials, and I saw nothing out of the norm... Are you sure the stupid creatures did not establish another foothold inside the tunnels? It wouldn't be the first time, though, after the lesson Lady Gerstadh taught them, I would have believed that fear would have been a good motivator..."
This made the woman lean forward and put her elbows on the table deep in thought, displaying her cleavage for all to see.
Then she looked at me with a smirk and asked, "What is your take on this... dear envoy? Did you not enter through the usual passage on the way here? What is your opinion?"
The question coming out of nowhere almost caught me off-guard. Still, I had been preparing to be questioned to a degree and replied, "I saw nothing out of the ordinary. The filthy creatures were playing around with their toys as I made my way through unnoticed." I said calmly, even if I felt angry at myself for saying it.
'Not much longer now...' I thought.
As the three waited for me to continue but soon realized I wouldn't, Galgann reached into his robe and took out a flintlock pistol that had its fuse lit aflame, whipped it in my direction, aiming directly at my forehead, and said calmly, "How dare ye' disrespect the lady." Then he continued, "Answer her. She asked for ye' opinion, envoy."
The human male just sat there and gazed at me manacingly with his face hidden in the artificial darkness inside his violet cloth cowl, with his hand covered in some sort of shadow, apparently ready to join in on the fun if it came to blows.
'What the fuck are these people's problem? I guess if he fires that gun at me, they all die.' I thought, internally shrugging. I was almost hoping for the gun to go off, especially after hearing the dwarf's casual mention of slaughtering children for mere body parts. But part of me hoped to hear something noteworthy before sending these creatures to the beyond.
Gerstadh, The High Interrogator of the Twilight's Hammer, looked at the situation with amusement and barely hidden sadism, insanity, and... overwhelming lust. She kept her silence as the fuse of the flintlock pistol continued to become shorter and shorter as I kept my silence.
And in the last moment before the fuse had been used up entirely, Gerstadh raised her hand, and as a result, the dark iron dwarf with the pistol raised it to the ceiling as it went off with a *BANG*.
'Ahh... that's a shame...' I thought briefly. I did not show any outward reaction, "Mr. Firehammer, you will fix that hole before the morning, envoy. Is there any reason that you won't give me your opinion on the matter?" She ordered the dark iron dwarf, then turned to me and asked curiously.
"No, I just have nothing productive to say." I stated calmly. This, however, made the woman cackle wildly, "Gwahaha! Our dear envoy almost died because he had nothing to say! Fucker is crazier than I am!" She replied with a crazed smile.
Then the dwarf Gerrig mumbled something along the lines of, "Now you have done it... fucker's got her into crazy mode again. I guess heads will roll tonight... I'm gonna go camping..."
"Meeting adjourned! Mr. Firehammer, you will seek out the troggs with a squad of your own men. Mr. Bonegrip, you will stay away from the sacrificial chamber, or I will personally show you how I became High Interrogator of the Twilight's Hammer!
And I will show our dear envoy the attractions of our operation here." She said with glee.
Then she continued, "If you encounter any complications, bring it up with my secretary!" She shouted, and Gerrig mumbled again, this time much lower, "But you killed poor Berta last week... you no longer have a secretar-"
But that was all he had time to say before the human woman uttered a shrill scream as dark iron dwarf and dwarf were sent screaming in unison out of the tent by an unseen force.
The human male, however, just ambled out of the meeting room in silence. If it weren't for the fact he was tearing up inside the enchanted hood, leaving a wet spot in the ground in front of him as he walked, I would have believed that he was entirely unaffected.
'What in the actual fuck is going on...' It was safe to say, I was utterly confused at the whole situation.
-Chapter 56 End-