Steel Pacts and Old Feuds
Twenty-Eighth Day of the Eighth Month 293 AC
Her first question only takes a moment to consider. "While I do not begrudge the question or the manner of its asking, there will be no exceptions to the law against using magical compulsion to enslave others. The law would be frayed, and I have seen too much of
that in other realms. If you are interested in an example, search out what a Pentoshi 'bondsman' is."
"I can guess," she sniffs delicately. "They are not exactly trying very hard, are they?" After taking a lemon cake from the tray Hestior had set before you, she continues: "What of creating other protectors in lieu of enchanted foes?"
"You are free to commission such from the Myrish Glassmakers' Guild as a trusted ally with a letter of recommendation if you should require it, and if you would be willing to wait a while longer from my own enchanters." You pause, as though thoughtful, though truth be told you have been considering this since the day you first saw her on the deck of the Golden Wind: "The latter would mean we would have to speak of our
relationship." The last word holds enough teasing innuendo to make even Tyene proud.
Siduri laughs, shaking her head. "That would be so much more effective had I not seen you and Lady Lya together. As is, I am afraid even your skills cannot save it, Your Grace."
Another deftly given compliment. The sorceress' skill with them gives you some idea of how kings and lords may fall under the sway of flatterers and sycophants, though you do not suspect her of any long-term designs in that direction. It would be too great a waste of the arcane talents of which she is all too aware.
"Jests aside, I did mean the offer in all seriousness. I would even..." you trail off with a smile. "Better to show you than to tell. I do not think my words could do it justice."
Siduri's eyes sparkly with interest and understanding.
***
Though it is dark upon the hill, the lights of Sorcerer's Deep little more than a faint glow on the horizon, the sight before you is as clear to Siduri's eyes as it is to your own. The Herald looms as a dark mass against the stars, though not quite as large as your own draconic form, wrought of dark steel, flame bright as a forge's heart blazing in its eyes, claws sharp as swords, fangs like thrice-forged spearheads dipped in flame, but more than that is the wit and will behind those deadly weapons. You allow Siduri to question it on matters of architecture and history, law and custom, magic and the ordering of the spheres. While the construct's knowledge does not always match the depth of Siduri's own it manages to surprise her more than once. Its vast memory archives echoing true dragon-lore are particularly impressive to her.
It would make an unmatched guardian, healing constantly from the scorching heat of the Sea of Fire, utterly untouched by the weapons of many of its inhabitants, a fount of arcane lore, even a diplomat and messenger of sorts. Though of course it would ultimately be your messenger and therein lies the crux of the matter. To have the Herald watch over the Golden Wind would require nothing more or less than the allegiance of its captain and crew, not only as payment, but as a matter of practicality. Having an ally's servant of such power looming over them would leave them ever waiting for either treachery or a demand for supplication. Such are the ways of the Eternal Furnace and the corsairs who sail its burning seas.
"This will draw a great deal of attention," the enchanter muses. "Enough that we might wish to consider drawing other raiders to us, building a fleet so that we may weather the attentions of the Sultan's Fleet. Would any of your Unshackled Furies be interested in joining such a venture?"
"It is certainly possible," you answer, a touch startled that she would trust them on her ship, given her usual means of binding devils.
Something of your thoughts must have shown on your face, for Siduri explains: "The baatezu are beings of boundless pride. To call one with a spell is to leash it, and by that leash draw it forth. It is a fool, and an often a short-lived one at that, who then attempts sweet words and blandishments. There are some in Dis I would trust to trade in secrets when it is in both my advantage and theirs, but them I would never summon to my call as a master calls a hound to heel."
"But you do not object to my own pacts with the former warriors of the Third?" you prompt. To that question you know the answer already of course, for you had reports of Siduri speaking amiably with Leto after hearing of her performance in the melee, but still you would know why. You would know where she stands, this mage of fiend's blood and exile from Hell.
She shakes her head: "You overturned the board," she says, as serious as you have ever heard her. "No longer do they see you as a strident fool demanding above your station, but their rightful lord."
Silence falls then, broken only by the faint scrape of steel against gavel as the Herald shifts, perhaps in faint impatience.
"If you would be my lord also then you should know that I am not some petty mageling new-come to power, their bonds and grudges as sparks against the gale. You would win yourself no small number of foes, some great enough to give even the eldest wyrms pause," she says at last.
"I had never assumed either your foes or allies would be petty, my lady," you reply, then with care and forethought you add: "Such is the fate of Valyria's heirs, scattered though they be."
Siduri clearly understands the appeal to kinship, but she accepts it nonetheless with a nod. "I do not have the 'honor' of having made a foe of an Archduke of Hell, but only one of its dukes—Lorthact, master of the Academy of Chains, whose secrets I stole from the minds of its pupils. Unseen I have walked its halls, unfelt I have searched through the pages of its thrice-accursed tomes. Lorthact would see me broken and brought before his lord in chains, I would see him die True Death to repay the suffering of those I cared for. Tell me, Dragon King, do you still desire my oath, or aught to I go to Myr and seek out these glassmakers?"
What do you reply?
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OOC: Some really good rolls this update, though of course they could not have been made without the massive bribe on the table.
