Tidings of War

"So the deed is done?" Vander asked as he sat as his desk, behind him were well armed guards of a significant level. Clearly he was more prepared for this meeting than he was their last, Sven gauged as he looked around the room for any signs that it was a trap.

"This isn't a setup, you're safe here so long as you've enacted your side of the deal." Vander could see the unsteadiness in Sven's eyes as they scanned the room for escape routes or signs of ambush.

"I killed Bergh and freed the dark elf, Adriana. He was indeed keeping her hostage inside of his mansion, although his purposes for keeping her didn't seem to be for marital or sexual purposes." Sven admitted, the whole crux of the operation was so that Vander could dig up dirt on Bergh and then have him honorably discharged and then 'done away with in secret'. But if Bergh wasn't keeping her to add her to his harem, then no crime had been committed and Vander would be seen in the wrong by the eyes of the council. After starting a blood stained military coup, the council were breathing hot lava down his neck in ascertaining his reasoning, if Sven told the council that Bergh was technically innocent, Vander would be executed for infighting without a just cause.

"That's perfectly fine, so long as the council knows he was keeping her in his house, and so long as she testifies that he had his way with her, the council won't push matters further." Vander mused as he sipped his evening coffee. Sven was sure if Elise wouldn't agree to such terms, but Sven looked at the case as a matter of picking the side of the lesser evil. Vander's cause may not have been just or lawful, but Bergh wasn't exactly a stellar person to begin with.

"At any rate, send the young elf in and lets wash our hands of the entire affair. You've done me a great service Sven Gate, I will see to it that you are pardoned of all crimes and have them cleaned from our records, that and we will allow you to keep those trinkets you 'scavenged' from Berghs mansion." Vander said with a knowing look, Sven inwardly smirked as he thought over the admirals blunder. Right now, in his inventory and courtesy of Commander Bergh, he had a slip of paper that could make or break the man sat in front of hims entire future under the Triadom.

As Sven weighed what he would do next regarding this titillating piece of political intrigue, Adriana was escorted into the room free of chains or bindings as per Sven's request. She'd lived life as a **** for too long, and he promised that she would be free and he meant it. Seated next to Sven, she was handed first an official looking parchment embezzled with golden insignia's and secondly an inked quill.

"Write upon the paper your signature and then stamp the hot wax with your finger tip, the story has been fabricated for you, all we need is for you to sign on the dotted line and then show proof of your identity via the finger print." Vander explained, nodding Adriana signed her initials and then stamped her fingers down onto a warm red wax. Smiling, Vander looked over the signed document briefly to make sure everything was in accordance before standing up.

"You have done the port city of Vassir a great service, you have honored your end of the bargain and hereby do announce that Sven Gate and his party, including the recently freed **** Adriana to be allowed free access to all 3 Triadom cities under the roaming citizens act in accordance with our stance on foreign relations with enemy factions. You are free to leave, Sven, try not to cause too much trouble for my friends across the desert now, won't you?" Vander filed the document inside of his desk for safe keeping, Sven deciding Vander could be trusted, reached into his inventory and pulled out the aged parchment he had plundered from Berghs estate.

"I can't make do such a promise, I have matters more serious at hand and if I share them with you, I can only promise you that I will inevitably cause more trouble for your friends. That is, if they're still your friends after I show you this document." Sven looked seriously at Vander for a moment, handing him the parchment the admiral took it cautiously. Just what was so troubling about a tiny piece of paper? Opening it up, Vanders face grew paler at every word he read, hardly containing his shocked horror at the promises to come.

"This means..." Vander began, making sure he was reading this all properly and it wasn't just some unfunny joke. "This means there's to be a civil war, no not just a civil war, this could mean the downfall of our entire empire." The guards behind Vander stiffened at the notion, could it be that the humans were siding with a power hungry faction of a lesser royal house? Such a partnership wasn't unheard of in their recent history but all such attempts had been subdued long before they were ever a real threat to the Triadom's existence.

"It means that your fellow generals have no trust in their current line of succession. They plan to overthrow the king, Vander, those names that you read down on that list. Are they a **** capable of pulling off such a feat?" Sven asked seriously, Vander nodded as he read over some of the names of the generals involved in this treachery.

"Yes, 14 treacherous generals out of the 20 generals we have in total. Myself and the other 5, we would stand no real chance against such a mismatch in forces." Vander's brow was visibly beginning to dampen with sweat.

"We can take it to the council, they will-" Sven began to say but was interjected by Vander shaking his head at such a notion.

"No, the council can't stop this, and even if some of them could help, there might be council members loyal to the other treacherous generals, in which case we would've just lost a huge tactical advantage over them." Vander considered as he now paced his room, the guards behind him stiffened at the prospect of yet more infighting.

"Why haven't they attacked yet then? If they have such an overwhelming advantage in forces then why do they remain inactive?" Sven questioned the thought on everyone's mind.

"Maybe they're trying to minimize losses of our infighting? If they get all of the generals on board with their plans to overthrow the king, then they don't have to kill so many of our own? Honestly I'm not truly sure, if that were the case then why was I left out?" Vander wondered, if he was left out of this little plan then there might be more to it than he currently understood.

"Is the king really that bad?" Sven blurted out a little insensitively.

"He's a wonderful king! These cretins on this list are just power hungry fools who care more about who wears the crown than they do in protecting our people from the bastard humans! Oh, er, no offense." Vander coughed to hide his embarrassing slip of the tongue.

"None taken. But if he's so wonderful, then why are 14 generals willing to put their lives on the line to change who sits on the throne? If it was 1 or 2 good friends I could understand the personal greed behind it, but what is there to benefit 14 individuals in teaming up together to take down such a 'wonderful king'? There has to be more to this than just a simple power grab." Sven concluded, Vander sighed as he sat back down.

"Who knows? At this point it could be anything. I have a mission for you Sven, do you have it in you to do this country one last favor?" Vander asked as he poured himself a little something-something inside of his evening coffee to strengthen it just a little bit. Sven sat up straight and looked into the orcs eyes.

"Unlike last time you have no leverage over me, so I expect if I'm able to pull this 'mission' off for you that I will be properly reimbursed for my accomplishments." Vander stared at Sven for a while before smiling. Holding out his hand he offered it to Sven in the form of a handshake, just as they had done before.

"We have yet another deal, Sven Gate."