Back in 259, the Empress had paid some of the dwarven caravan masters to act as official messengers of the Empress. She had instructed them to travel to all four corners of Sil Gomath, bringing the good news of the ascension of a new Dwarven Empress that laid claim to dominance over all royal dwarven lineages in the world. The caravan masters were always looking for more beer money, and quickly agreed. It took them many many months to cross Sil Gomath. For over a year they meandered along their trade routes, stopping for months at a time to get drunk and spray their spores on local girls. They spread news of the new Empress, and everywhere they went, the terror of Urist's name had preceded them, and the locals fell to their knees and agreed to send tribute.
At long last however in a place far to the north in the land known as the Jade Irons, a ruler felt he was in a strong enough position to callously disregard the rule of the Imperatrix Magnus.
It again was a long journey before the caravan could bring the response to Blockedlance's gate. The caravan riders did not have the courage to deliver the message personally, and instead simply dropped off a few boxes at the front gate and paid to have them sent to the Empress. Then, hurriedly, the merchants raced out of town.
Urist sat on her adamantine throne as her courtiers brought in her daily mail.
"Tribute from the western dwarves m'lady," said Mogror as peasants slowly dragged in massive bags of worthless junk crafts. Apparently Blockedlance wasn't the only place in Sil Gomath trying to pass worthless baubles off as treasure.
"Very good. Throw it all in the atom smasher," was the cold reply of the Empress. It was all just a dominance game. She didnt really need the tribute, she just needed the other nations of the world to know that she could ask for anything at any time and they better oblige.
"Next....we have the tribute from the northern lands. The land of the Jade Irons."
"Ahhh," smiled the Empress. "I have been waiting for news from this land for some time. It is quite far away, and I hear it is a very rich and powerful kingdom. I bet this is the one place that could actually afford to send us tribute that is worth saving and not smashing into oblivion. I am very eager to see what my loyal subjects of the Jade Irons have made for their Empress!" Urist leaned forward in her seat as three boxes were brought in. The boxes were laid before the Queen. She beamed a large smile as the lids of the boxes were removed, all at the same time. She had been expecting gold, or silver at least. Maybe some diamonds or rubies? Artifact crafts would have been alright. But that was not what they had sent....
There in the boxes were the heads of the caravan masters she had hired as her emissaries. They had been pickled so as to preserve them over such a long journey, but they had begun to rot anyways. The stench was unbearable, and the look on the faces of the disembodied heads was enough to show that their last moments had indeed been terrifying.
There was a loud gasp as everyone felt the shock at once. Then the room fell silent.
These northerners would pay for this. They would pay dearly....
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Topic: Blockedlance - No More Stops Until Ragnarok! (Read 433970 times)