We're here to help WHO?

[Darastrix]

Schuldig snorted. "In that case, he probably thinks we ate them. Or that we sent them over to visit Dispator before we had him killed."

[Kender Bard]

Twilight just laughed in amusement and saw to it that each man and their entourages were shown to their rooms and settled, all needs taken care of. Afterwards, he brought Shyamal to a meeting chamber and instructed the servants to summon Lucifer and Trevor as well.

Shyamal licked his lips nervously and took a seat near Twilight.

"Relax," Twilight told Shyamal, patting him on the back softly.

[Devon]

Trevor arrived in the meeting room and gave Shyamal a small bow in greeting. "Nice to see you again Prince," he told the boy as he took his seat around the table. Trevor relaxed in his chair and waited for Lucifer to arrive and the meeting to begin.

[Darastrix]

Lucifer entered the room a few minutes later, nodding his head to those present. "And so this is the one who would claim rulership over Morilanta," he murmured as he looked Shyamal over. "I feel I should both apologize and warn you in advance; as these discussions begin in earnest, I will have my personal guard in attendance."

He looked to Twilight. "I've no doubt you recall Schuldig's...excess of personality, shall we say?"

[Kender Bard]

"Yes and we did warn Shyamal," Twilight remarked.

"I thought you were just making a joke," Shyamal murmured, squirming with a look of discomfort.

"No joke, brace yourself," Twilight told him quite seriously. "It'll be good for you. Politics is a heartless game no matter where you are; it's best to toughen yourself up unless you want to surround yourself by men who do nothing but nod their heads and lick your boots."

"No," Shyamal replied quickly. "I don't want that. Thank you, Lord Elric and Lord Kazimir for coming to assist me in my quest."

[Darastrix]

"Hold your thanks for now," Lucifer stated as he sat. "As I am holding my final decision until I have a considerably firmer grasp of the situation."

~And I'm sure you'll want to withdraw them anyway after we've had the chance to "chat,"~ Schuldig put in. ~Lucifer is calm and patient. I'm not. And if you can't handle ME, there's not a snowball's chance in Hell that you'll be able to hold any position in Morilanta but slave.~

[Kender Bard]

Shyamal rested his hands on the table top and replied, ~Well actually most people in Morilanta are all honey-tongued, sweetness, and bowing to your face, if you're in authority. The nastiness generally goes on behind your back.~

Twilight decided to reiterate the situation. "As it stands, we have here one young man who, truthfully, has no 'right' to the throne of Morilanta - but does, however, have the dubious position of being amongst the best suited to take it by force. As this is a land where might means right, that's no small thing. However, to do this would require the simultaneous deaths of the high priest and the current leader. It is in that precarious moment where there is no one on top that such a usurper would be able to step in and fill the hole in hierarchy, one way or another. Of course both men would be well protected and not everyone would greet Shyamal warmly."

"I also want to limit the amount of deaths involved to be as small of an amount as possible," Shyamal put in. "I've been informed that's highly optimistic but it's still something I want to bear in mind when looking at all the options and plans we may draw up. It's important to me."

"So we have called you here, Lord Trevor, because you have already agreed to assist Shyamal under his original terms that you need only supply a handful of highly specialized men. Please in mind, this premise may change, and you have the right to withdraw your bid if it suits you. Lord Kazimir, you are here to supply us with as much support as you see fit; we are currently only asking for advice as recent history reminds us that you and your men pulled off a very clean, very quick takeover of Khelek."

[Darastrix]

~And who will consider you--child, pretender to the throne, sacrificial lamb, heretic--an authority? You've lived what, four, five years? Even if you remember more, your memory is untrustworthy if your most recent impressions are of Morilanta almost ten years from NOW. Your very mind conspires against you while you muddle through some idealistic fantasy dreamed up by a "sheltered" and "protected" child--so far as those words apply to the upper class--who has no idea just what his people are like, what they can do, what they may be prepared to do at THIS time.~


"Our success in Khelek was dependent on several factors which may not apply here and may never," Lucifer stated. "Crawford's visions, and his interpretation and planning based upon those visions played a key role in our coup. Schuldig's mental manipulations and information gathering skills were another invaluable tool. There was also the fact that Khelek's elected leader, Haukea, had disappeared before we even arrived. There was fear associated with the position at that point. The demon, which Haukea had allowed to live and serve as an advisor to him is rumoured to have been rather fond of having high-ranking guests for dinner. Few people were ambitious enough to risk his notice by that point."

[Devon]

"How is the relationship between the current High Priest and King Nissar?" Trevor asked after Lucifer had finished. "I'm sure both of them have a lot of support on their side, if they were united it would make things more difficult for you."

[Kender Bard]

Twilight addressed Lucifer with a touch of dismay, "Aye that sounds like a bit of a small miracle in lucky chances to hope for a repeat of anything similar."

Shyamal, for now, ignored Schuldig in favor of paying more attention to what was being spoken. He told Trevor, "No love lost between them. Bastion wants my father's position for himself and Father... well it's hard to discern his motives, ever. As I have told you and several others, his mind is deteriorating into madness. Rumor had it that it started when my mother died. Then again rumor also suggested he was her puppet." He gave a small shrug. "Whatever the case may be, I feel that Nissar keeps Bastion around for his amusement. Bit of a dangerous sense of humor, that, but there you have it. In the future, it wasn't until Bastion met Nissar in direct confrontation and combat that he roused himself long enough to slay him. So, to more directly answer your question, Bastion hates Nissar passionately and Nissar is... apathetic towards Bastion."

[Darastrix]

"As far as you know," Lucifer said after a pause. "Though my intent was to bring him in later, Mastermind does make a valid point. Do you remember things as they currently stand, here in the year one thousand-ten, or is your mind elsewhere in your recollections? Is this their current attitude, or is it what supposedly will be in the year when you are actually supposed to be the age you now are?"

~And what's going to happen now?~ Schuldig asked them all, abandoning all pretense at being absent. ~Since that's the "future" he knows, he's like a seer, planning for what a vision provided. Unlike a GOOD seer, he's not stopped to think on how his change may have altered that future. The "heir" is gone. For all we know, Nissar might have snatched some other child that looks enough like this one is supposed to and Morilanta still believes it has a "prince."~

[Kender Bard]

Shyamal sunk lower in his chair, his mind a mental growl of frustration. Why am I even here then? He shut his eyes and withdrew into himself, seeking reassurance once again that he was doing the right thing.

"We need more information," Twilight agreed. "And Anarlina can supply that with a little bit of time. I can contact a specific individual amongst the Beloved Knights who is very good at information gathering and send him to Morilanta to find out what he can on the current situation."

[Devon]

Trevor nodded to Twilight agreeing. Glancing at Shyamal he said, "Twilight and Lucifer bring up good points, more information on the current situation in Morilanta is needed for us to make the best move against them. If Bastion and Nissar are really at odds then we can try to play them against each other to make your entrance easier, but we do need to confirm that first."

[Kender Bard]

"Then I suppose we are concluded until we can determine more information on the situation?" Twilight suggested.

Near the doors to the room was a flash of movement, someone pulling away from the slightly ajar door.

[Darastrix]

Lucifer's eyes narrowed when he caught the movement. "We are being spied on," he murmured.

Outside the room, he thought for Schuldig to pick up, though he was reasonably sure that the telepath was already aware. He'd been listening in thus far, after all.

Indeed, almost as soon as Lucifer had noticed the uninvited party, Schuldig had been ready to teleport. "I don't recall there being any rats sneaking around last time I was here," he commented as he appeared in the hall outside of the chamber.