Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Truthfully, Horhir was rather stressed out about doing negotiations, which was yet another reminder that he was not as pure of an undead as he wished himself to be, were he more like Loimos, this apprehension would simply not exist, only the cold calculations of how it could go right or wrong would exist in the knight's mind, approaching the small village on the back of a horse with long, thin legs, which looked more like a mass of fur as it was so thick and long that it dragged upon the swamp, as no battle had been declared upon the north, there was no need to worry, not only was Horhir attempting to negotiate something, he was also seeking to put in place a friendly occupation.

But that could only work out properly if his first objective was met, already, his approach had garnered some attention, obviously, to not appear threatening, he was coming to meet them during the day, right now, it was not quite noon just yet, but the northern folks seemed to already all be up, as this was the village where their king resided, the amount of pyromancers was rather high, all were practising diligently.

Cultivating the flame of pyromancy within them, they had been observed many times but the secret of their flame art had not yet been pierced, they were rather secretive even when training out in the open, jumping of the horse after it bent its legs one too many times, setting foot upon the over elevated platform, clearly, no one knew exactly how to react to this incursion, they believed that an undead has just arrived, but they did not know that it was the lieutenant in charge of conquering the region.

Standing firmly and proudly, Horhir shifted his hand upon the guard of his sword rather than the pommel, beckoning a small child to come over, since that one was by herself, no one was there to prevent her from being lured closer.

"Little girl, I would like to speak with your king, may I know the way?" in truth, the right hand already knew exactly where to go, but what better way to look good than to kindly speak to a child? Horhir was not quite certain how this was supposed to be done, but he thought himself to be doing pretty good.

Looking around worryingly, she eventually guided him in the direction leading to the king's hut, Horhir walked forth upon the wooden bridge, creaking and squeaking, stopping a distance before he even got close to the door.

'That… That is a bit problematic…' covering the child's ears reflexively, slowly guiding her the other way.

"My thanks for your help, go back to what you were doing…" now standing by himself, the undead was stumped.

'Should I wait, or knock? If I interrupt, this might influence the negotiations…' Horhir had imagined many things, but certainly not somehow walking in as the person he was planning on having a serious meeting with during the act of coitus.

'What would Sir Loimos do…' just as he wondered what his emotionless general might do about this sweaty sport, it seemed to settle down, waiting a minute, Horhir slowly approached the door, and knocked.

Bending forward as he did so, for some reason, the door here were all rather small, perhaps due to the lack of sources of wood in the swamp, standing a neutrally as is possible, he waited for a little while, until the door opened up, the glowing red eyes shimmering with surprise for a moment, but quickly settling down.

Irlke Combuscrus stepped out of the hut, inviting the undead to walk beside him.

The warking asked for the purpose of this visit, Horhir holding out one hand forward, revealing five small vials, each flickering with different colours.

"I have not come to declare battle, but for a peaceful conversation, a transaction of a certain kind" responded the knight, the vials in between each of his fingers containing flames, clearly catching the pyromancer's attention.

'As I thought' this was reassuring for Horhir.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Combuscrus, I am Horhir, Right Hand Of Loimos, and I believe that we have a lot to exchange" the undead's offer was simple, basically placing himself as a better ally than the other other territories, Irlke was a man of knowledge and the undead empire held much of such a currency, but they also had a variety of flames and judging from the gleam in the pyromancer's eyes, they clearly held some allure to him.

"I am willing to discuss in length, and make great concessions, in exchange of an accord in between the two us, pyromancy is the lifeblood of your people, not the life force that animates your bodies, I can prove to you that allying with is would be much more valuable, both in a short and long term" the two moved to a more secluded area, Combuscrus rubbing his chin.

"You are certainly right on one point, pyromancy is what truly matters to me and my people, our identity and culture orbits around the cultivation of greater flames, burns are signs of strength, and of course, although we can get along, no illusions are to be made, all regions despise one another in some capacity, we are only united in the face of death…"

"...Truly, I strongly doubt that this war will be won, the others are simply unwilling to bend their knees on the face of opposition"

Combuscrus looked directly into the slits of Horhir's helm.

"I too would find it greatly displeasing to accept undeath without fighting back" the undead shook his head.

"I have an offer" Horhir was not discouraged, this sort of speech was well within expectations, no living was truly willing to lay down their life, and especially not a group of warmongering people, to them, defeat was sinful, but they were not idiots either, they could understand the value of peaceful negotiations.

They, of all people, could realise when a fight was already on its way into becoming a loss.

"I will not ask you to join the undead empire just yet, for now, I ask that we conclude agreements, and to this end, we shall aid in the development of pyromancy, my general is very much interested in this practice of power, believing it to be a very specific sort of sorcery"

"Sorcery?" Irlke knew the term, but it was definitely being used to define something he was not familiar with.

"Indeed, General Loimos has created schools of sorcery himself, allowing for people with little talent in energy manipulation and such to excel in another domain, but when a sorcery becomes more tangible, people will also develop talents for it, that is the case for pyromancy" Horhir leaned forward.

"The northern people are the ones who hold the most dominion over this talent, naturally, and since we hope to make you into allies, it is only normal that we help develop this art"

"Very well, but what is it that you would want in exchange for this help?" Combuscrus was most definitely interested in receiving active assistance from a force such as the undead empire.

"Simple, we will both agree to non-aggression until the rest of the continent is conquered and then, as your pyromancy would have reached a higher level, you and your people will be allowed to fight for your own freedom, for your lives, not in a full clash of forces, but in individual duels… What do you say to this?

You receive assistance, and will retain the chance to try and gain victory, in a setting more advantageous for the north than the empire" Horhir presented the vials again.

"And as gifts, if you agree, you shall be given those vials immediately, Darksun Flame, Loimosfire, Bloodflame, Ghostflame and Funeral Fire, all are unique to us undeads"

Combuscrus covered his eyes with one hand, what he was going to say next would have dire consequences regardless of what he said, but truly, one made much more sense to him.

And he had to think beyond himself, about his people, about Hylop.

"Your offer is absolutely alluring, Horhir, I assume that this will all be settled via a vow, right?" the undead nodded in response.

"I can agree, but on one condition" the undead felt the red haze piercing right through him.

"I am listening" the knight was all ears.

"There shall only be one duel, between me and your general, on my own terms, is that alright?"

Horhir was taken aback, wanting to deny as involving Loimos without his direct approbation could easily be considered an awful decision for a subordinate to take.

"...Very well…"