From the Journal of UltraMagnus - Felsite:Scheming may as well not be if you're going to be transparent about your intentions.
The downside to the Loyalists' position against our training bunker is that we have just as much of a view of them as they do us, but with less of the responsibilities that cause for distraction. Lately, I've been seeing them eying Ral. Why would they be doing so? Oh, right...
K:rsgangi x e x w i g m p s t r a s v m i l x s x r m i g r m z s v t q y p w i l x r v y x s x k r m c v x h r e w r e m p m z m g i l x k r m w s p g r i w i r s i l x i v e w x w m p e c s p i l x x e l x v i h m w r s g s x k r m t t s x w v i z i r v i a s t v m i l x s x x e i v l x h e f k m f e w e c p h e f s w w y i d m r s q i h s x x r e a c i l x i x y g w x m o g e f p e v x i k s x c v x s x w y s x w y w w i v t s x c v x s x k r m s k x f y s h s r i v e w x w m p e c s p i l x h r e a s r c f x y s r y v c p f e f s v t w e l m f m p e v y s k r m h e v e t w x w m p e c s p i l x q s v j k r m p k k y q w w m l x j s w a s r o c h e i v p e r m e x r y s q i l x c p i v y w i h e q w r s m x e m x s k i r v y s w e a x r i h m g r m k r m p k k y q w v s q v e i l x v i x j e c p i x e m h i q q m x w s q p e v i a s t x r i g i v e j s w r e p t i l x s x k r m h v s g g e w x w m p e c s p i l x v s j c s f v i x w s t e i f s x c p p e m x m r m w e a p e v x e l x i q h r m q i v s x w i z v i w x i p x r y e k c q r s x r m e t i l x
I called for my thugs to meet with me at the start of the month. Ral, Onul, Urvad, and Monom all stood there, awaiting today's lecture before hammer practice. I spoke, collecting myself in thought before deciding what needed to be encoded and what didn't need to be. Calmly, I graced the room with my words, "You are all excellent dwarves. Skilled, loyal, fierce... Skulls may rest in peace knowing that her legacy of dwarves has turned out to produce such fine beings as us all. That's why I'm going to reward you all; today we're going to have a break from hammer practice and get acquainted with civilian life. It shall serve to prepare us for an upcoming hiatus from training. Mind you, this doesn't not mean a disbanding of the group, it just means that we'll only be training when we need to prevent our skills from getting rusty."
Onul as expected was the first to speak up, "Ma'am, what about the... uhm... K:lgangpscepmwxw xvcmrk xsxeoi sziv xliwpyqw (did I encode that right)?"
I responded after a brief moment to decode that mentally. A month of training was starting to settle into the thugs, "(I understood that, yes you did.) K:lgangxlicvi kixxmrk fsxl eqfmxmsyw erhvigopiww. wssr xlivi amppfi tvsfpiqw jsv'iq fcxlilerh sjxli qsyrxemr, rsxsyvw. airiih rsxasvvc efsyxmx." Onul didn't seem convinced. He asked, "are you sure?" I nodded affirmatively.
I grinned to the thugs, "If it wasn't for those damn Loyalists' plotting co-opting the civilian defense force, this would be the perfect time for me to find a dwarf with a handsome beard and settle down into motherhood. For the rest of you, that's your call. I don't recommend getting yourselves pregnant, but do enjoy yourselves for the next season. We'll meet back at the end of each month to brush up on our skills, and resume full-time operations at the end of the summer, if the group decides that civilian life is rewarding enough."
The dwarves ran outside of the room on break. I have full intentions of making the most of this day.
- - - - -
"Ral," I asked in the courtyard outside the housing units, "What makes you happy?" Ral seemed straightforward in her answer, "The arts, the military, friendship, money, that type of thing, you know?" I chuckled back, "
The military? Come on, Ral, I didn't ask you so you could butter up to me, I asked so that I could get to know you better. We're still a small group, so I like to know each member on a personal level." Ral leered at me, "If anything it sounds like
you're the one that's trying to persuade a dwarf. Don't lie to me, tell me the real reason why this is happening. It's the Loyalists, isn't it?"
I took a moment to choose my words carefully, "Only partially. They were always clear in their intentions to make a mascot of you, even going so far as to trade you away for their own public image, all for moot once they made themselves the self-appointed guardians of this province. No, only partially because I need to clear my conscious of that bargain."
Ral's tone suddenly turned a little more soft, "You're throwing me our of the group."
I straightened my posture and asked Ral, "No, I'm asking you to join the thugs as a full-fledged member, none of this 'prisoner' nonsense. If you want to run off during this break and never pick up one of our hammers again, I'll turn a blind eye to it. Unlike the Loyalists, I don't value you as property or payment."
Ral was a bit flattered, but reluctant to fully accept my statement. "If that were true, then why did you even try to bargain me in the first place? What
do you see me as?"
I stared down Ral in the eye, a bit disappointed that she expected me to have made the decision to meet on a whim. "K:lgangxstvszi lsa qygl xlic vieppc hsrx gevi efsyx xlihaevziw mrxlmw tvszmrgi. My benefit from the trade-off may only be temporary, this is your decision, not mine. As for what I see you as." I took a moment to stare directly into Ral's eyes passionately (no-homo), before finishing my answer, "I see you as a dwarf with strong biceps that can avoid a goblin strike, swing with her mighty hammer, and then pause to wipe her brow because she was precise enough to get the task done. Whether the goblin is a fleshy invader or a stone figurine in progress makes no difference to this vision."
Ral seemed flattered. "But you don't see me as a thug?" I answered back, "I don't have precognition; I see a skilled dwarf with options."
Ral seemed touched. "In case I do make that decision, though, and the grip of my war hammer gets cold, you will show no scorn to me?" I laughed, "Such as long as you don't crawl back to the Loyalists that value your loyalty enough to trade you for something that they would later throw away." Ral didn't quite remember the meeting well, "Their stealth? Their security?" I shrugged, "Might as well be both? Know also that if the thugs do resume operations and you do re-appear to pick up your hammer again, I'll give you a big hug and formally integrate you into the group."
Ral laughed, "A hug? Get real, what's in it for me if I do join your gang? I could make a killing making stone cups on mass-produce for humans." I can't say that I didn't understand this predicament of hers. "If you make more cups, the fortress wealth will increase. If that happens, then more immigrants will come to the fortress. If that happens, then there will be more mundane workers that consume more of the few luxuries that we have have. You may call this a slippery slope, but let's be honest, why did
you come to the fortress, and how many immigrants have since then turned into haulers?" Ral seemed hesitant, but ultimately nodded at the statement. If she did so only to amuse me, I have no clue. "Let's not forget that any great tokens made will are taken by the Mountain for their own benefit. However, in Skulls' Thugs, we try to make every reward for our deeds with our own benefit. If we get the CDF needs us to calm a riot because they're too busy with other matters and offer us extra food as a reward, we get fat. If the mountain gives us armor for making a hit, we aren't taxed any more than other dwarves regardless of our metal. We're favorable to everyone except for the reckless Loyalists, and even they have only a mutual distrust of us."
Ral seemed to like the sales-pitch, but it wasn't enough to make a final verdict. I can't say that I blamed her, "It's a big decision, I understand, so I'm going to leave you with some time to think about it. Until then, I'll be off to practice my painting. Our fortunes rise and fall together."
- - - - -
After I set this logbook down, I have no intention of writing in it for some time.
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Topic: Glovedloved - MoK: Journal Thread [Year 5] (Read 6290 times)