The Dun Pennot Library

"Ay know hees nayme. Dis Biçak. Dhis iz all."

"Mmm, better than nothing I suppose. Names do hold their own power."

He focuses on the separate segments of information, backtracking and progressing as he thinks.

"Tell me of your mind powers. I know what they do, but how do they work? Do they require eye contact like Basilisks? Or something along the lines?"

Her mind lingers on the previous thread.
"Ov kourse, eef dhe other tu arr anydhing tu go by, Dis Biçak will ehko dhe peepl ov dhe land een wheech he slepht..."

"A bunch of backstabbing heartless criminals who usually go out of their way to make life difficult for others."

His tone suggests a lot of personal experience.

"This will... complicate matters."

She nods.
"Ay haf nevir been tu Shuru. Ay am...noht shur eet weel...agree widh me."

Hans sighs softly.

"And the Aurikai beachhead remains an issue. I doubt they'll take kindly to Vampires..."

He shakes his head slightly.

"Even with trying diplomacy first, there's too much occurring that might set them off. I don't like this. I don't like it at all."

"Ay ma shur yu arr ryte...Ay haf seen dhese Aurikai, wons. Een Lanet. Dhere banner woz similr tu dhat ov dhe Sun King, buht...also noht. Yu weel forgeef me, buht ay deed noht introduse myself tu dhem."

"Understandable. Followers of the Sun King are a bit... zealous when it comes to the undead. This bunch more so, I think. Safer for you to stay well away."

His eyes close and he sighs in thought, and a whisper, barely heard, crosses his lips.

"How am I going to bring them back this time..."

She nods.
"Eet iz my intenshun tu du so. Dhis tyme espeshully. Wat els du yu know ov dhese Aurikai?"

"Not enough."

His hands start to shift through the air, as if piecing together information that he can only see behind his eyelids.

"They're arrogant, want to use us as cannon fodder against the Dark, and force us to convert to the Unconquered Sun, their religion dedicated to the Sun King, which won't happen."

He sighs

"I have the feeling negotiations are going to be short."

"Arrogant. Andh against dhe Dark."
An short, ironic hmmph.
"Dhis remynds yu of anywon?"

"Too many others. But blind arrogance is easy to manipulate. There are subtler ways of influencing others than invading their mind."

His tone goes from amused to ambiguously dark, and it hints at experience in the field.

She chooses to ignore the latter part of his statement.
"Ay woz dhinking ov Araign Coeur..."

"Kur is indeed arrogant, to near unseen levels. But... that might yet prove useful..."

His eyes glint dangerously with the semblance of a plan.


"Their own master turned on them once, I wonder how hard it would be to turn them against each other..."

The woman visibly cringes.
"Plees dohnt puut me in dhe meedel ov dhat. Eet waz hardh enov tu purrswayd heem noht tu keel yu een Lanet."

"I'm not putting you in the middle of anything. Well, I might be. I don't know yet, depends on how that plan would go. Suffice to say if it succeeds it would make all our lives easier. But you are right, safety comes first, and I'd rather he didn't turn his ire against us."

"Eef yu arr az...subtle, az yu say, purrhaps an arraynjment kuud be attempted? Ay am fayrly shur dhat dhe Aurikai wuud fynde dhe very idea ov workiing widh won ov dhe Lords...well...buht eef dhey deed noht know? Who kan say wat powerhs dhey may hold. Andh dhen, aht dhe very leest, eef dhey were tu turn ohn somewon, bettr dhat eet waz noht yu?"

"I was indeed already going to try something along those lines, have them help but separate from each other, and at the end let them duke it out between each other in their ineveitable disagreements."

"Help? Tu du wat?"

"Fight the Dark, of course."

He breathes heavily.

"No doubt i'll have to thwart any ulterior motives of theirs during the time, but on the whole both groups can be useful until we've beaten the Dark, that is if the Aurikai can be believed in their claim that they are battling them on their continent and that they're coming this way."

Syuzanna looks confused.
"Ay dhink yu know somthing ay donht."

"The Aurikai, when last we met, claimed to be fighting the forces of the Nameless Dark on their continent, and tried to pressgang the Lanetian Queen into having all of Xenos become their cannon fodder."

"Purrhaps dhe fyte duz noht go whel fure dhem, eef dhey arr koming here, hm? Yu dhink dhat dhey arr followd?"

"I doubt the forces of the Dark are happy to give up at mere land barriers, so yes, I think they are being followed. What annoys me is I've no idea where their followers might land."

"Eef dhey arr purrsyuing dhe Aurikai, shurely dhat iz weere dhey weel be?"