3.22 In Which the Dark Lord Gets a Warm Welcome

3.22 In Which the Dark Lord Gets a Warm Welcome

Gizmit vanished at some point during the night, which had me actually worried for a moment before Zui said shed just gone ahead to report back to Sneppit. Apparently we were close enough that it wasnt much of a hike for an experienced underground scout like Gizmit.

It ended up being not much of one for us, either. A bit less than two hours after we broke camp and doused the fire slimes, our much-expanded troupe came to the first set of tunnel barricades covering access to Sneppits base, which was a sturdy-looking but clearly hastily-constructed wall of sheet metal with holes through which arrows were pointed at us.

Halt! a reedy voice echoed from behind the blockade. State the password!

There ensued the unmistakable smack of a hand impacting a head, complete with the requisite squawk of protest.

Not the time, Bazno! a different voice shouted. Weapons down, team, you all know who this is. One of you mooks help me shove this!

With an unpleasant screech of metal on stone, a piece of the barricade was pushed outward at an angle by several goblins, creating a gap big enough for us to slip through in single file. As soon as it was opened enough, the goblin leading the effort stepped back and waved at me. She wore the pink-tinted akornin armor of Sneppits security force, with a heavy truncheon dangling from a belt loop.

Welcome back, Lord Seiji. Gizmit came through and said youd be coming. Sorry about the nonsense, a lot of my colleagues here are in the habit of defusing tension with humor and dont have a great sense of appropriate timing. This everybody?

Yeah, we picked up a few extras, as you can see, I replied, forcing a calm expression despite my amusement. Honestly, the more I got to know goblins, the more I liked them.

Yep, Gizmit briefed us. The guard nodded and stepped aside, shooing her comrades out of the way for us. Miss Sneppit knows to expect you and everything should be set up. Just follow this tunnel straight, ignore the side branches and youll come out right on the tram platform; I think you know the way from there. By the time you get there somebody should be ready to meet you with supplies and whatever else. The bossll wanna catch up, Im sure. Oh, and we should have sleeping places and food sorted out for the new arrivals by now, she added, leaning to one side to speak past me at the crowd of goblins following. Its a little crowded in here these days, but were not to the point of starving or stacking on top of each other yet.

Thanks, appreciate it, I said, already stepping forward to clear the path for the rest to follow. The security goblin grinned and thumped her fist against her breastplate, which I assumed must be some kind of salute.

Yoshi and Aster stepped up alongside me as we progressed, which Ill confess was a bit of a relief because Zui had been getting underfoot quite a bit lately and I found her companylets call it vexing. We didnt have much farther to go from there, but it was a few more minutes before we reached the actual door to Sneppits headquarters: a heavy door of solid metal in a thick stone setting, which altogether looked more defensible than the much more temporary barricade behind us. But that was the nice thing about living in a tunnel system, you could expand your defensive perimeter without stretching your forces too thin. Made sense Sneppit preferred not to have any actual fighting right on her actual doorstep if it could be avoided.

This was also guarded, of course, this time with armored security out in front of the doors, but again they were expecting us. It was rather nice to be greeted cheerfully and ushered inside, almost like coming home to North Watch.

I really hoped everyone back there was holding out okay.

As the woman commanding the barricade had told us, the tunnel led straight onto the tram platform I remembered from our arrival yesterday morning. Like yesterday, it was defended, with full squads of armored goblins bearing slingshots and riot shields on the designated ledges which had clearly been designed for that purpose. The place was less generally locked down, though; there were more goblins present who were clearly not security, including an apparent engineering team working over a tram which was currently suspended from the track next to the main platform. There were also various other civilians whose reason for being here was inscrutable to me even as they rushed forward to greet us.

Sneppit herself was present, again perched at the top of the wide and tall flight of stairs, which was just too dramatic not to have been staged. She was conversing with a goblin who had a monocle and a clipboard, but looked up on our arrival. Then pulled down her pink shades to give me a wink over their golden rims.

Yep, I knew what she was angling for.

Scuze me, Lord Seiji?

The first of the welcoming party had reached us. In fact, most of them seemed to be milling around at a few meters distance, uncertain about getting too close. The exceptions were two men in casual clothes, one of whom did a somewhat awkward Fflyr-style folding hands gesture at me.

Sorry to get in your way, Dark Lord, but theres only rumor going around and no one will tell us

Wheres Rizz? the other burst out. Is she all right? What happened?

Taken aback, I froze for a second, staring down at their worried expressions, before it clicked.

Oh! You guys must be the husbands.

The pair exchanged a loaded glance and one of them grimaced.

Yeah, thats us. Same old story.

Rizz is fine, or was last I saw her, I explained. She split off from the group to rally the other Judges.

She did? Husband #2s expression sharpened. You musta found something really bad in that place if she not only took a side but believes the rest will, too.

I instinctively hesitated, but this was not a secret, after all. We wanted the word to spread as far and as fast as possible.

The Spirit in there had been corrupted into a Void altar. The Goblin King has been trafficking with devils, and his best friend Hoy is an actual Void witch. It took the Hero and I both to drive him off, and we didnt manage to take him out. All these folks were actually with him, until he started slaughtering them just to make a point.

The Misters Rizz winced in what looked like well-practiced unison.

Is Rhoka okay? Shes still with Rizz, right?

Didshe give you any message for us?

Yes, yes, anduh, no. Sorry.

Typical, the first one said sourly, prompting the other to drape a comforting arm around his shoulders. It occurred to me that if this conversation was going to carry on much longer I should probably get their names.

Maizo? I asked, turning to him. What were you able to dig up?

The biggest news I think is that Jadraks organization is very much a crackable shell, Maizo reported. Its half-cracked already. Working with secondhand reports like that, hard numbers and percentages are things I was just not able to getwouldnt have been even if our adoptees were a representative sample, which itself is a long shot. But, after speaking with everybody I can confidently say the Goblin Kings followers have deep currents of disloyalty. The core of em are absolute fanatics, of course, but theyve also press-ganged a lot of people whore just trying to survive this insanity and didnt get far enough away in time. Its not just the unwilling recruits; with the way thingsve been going, even the less-committed early volunteers are starting to have regrets about this whole business.

In isolation, thatd be the best news Ive heard all week, Sneppit said gravely, but the big news changes the whole character of it. Sounds like Jadraks organization is going to start tearing itself apart as soon as he loses momentum, but unlike my previous assessment, that is no longer a win condition for us. Were dealing with at least one Void witch, probably two, a bunch of loyalist sorcerers and a fucking devil. As soon as Jadrak starts getting desperate, hell start pulling absolute chaos out of his ass and handling it with less and less precision. Aside from all the indiscriminate death and property damage thatll cause, Im not sure any defenses we gotll hold out againstwell, that.

I agree that attack remains our better option, distressing as that is, I said. Anything else of note, Maizo?

Yeah, actually. We already learned firsthand that Jadraks company like their explosives, and according to the buzz I gathered, theyve got plenty more. But, the kinds theyve got and the way they can be deployed are somewhat limited. He leaned forward over the table, grinning smugly as he continued. Seems they werent able to bring along the alchemical or metalworking facilities theyd need to manufacture explosive slingshot ammo. In fact, what they had was what they sent with the strike force to take out the Dark Lord. Which means, while theres very little of that shit left, its ours now. So if we push forward, well still be dealing with mining explosives and people who know how to use em, but thats way more likely to take the form of traps than grenades bein flung at us.

Seems like they should be able to make up for that, Yoshi said, frowning. How hard can it be to make an explosive throwable?

You can throw anything, Gizmit answered with a hint of disdain. Crafting ammunition that will reliably explode on impact and not while youre transporting it is a whole other beast. If demolitions work was that simple, everybody would have slingshot grenades.

Now thats some good news, finally, Sneppit said. Thanks, Maizo, glad to have you on the team. On our end, weve gleaned a couple updates on the situation in Kzidnak that you guys missed out on while you were off raiding. The first and worst part is that Jadraks people have locked down Fallencourt. They control the city itself and every access in and out. As expected, they blew up my tram rail as far from the station as they have effective control, as well as the other lines heading through there, she added with a bitter grimace, so we no longer have an easy path right into their territory.

Okaysorry if Im interrupting, but that gives me an idea, Yoshi said, wearing a pensive frown. Doesnt that seem like something we can take advantage of, in combination with what Maizo found out? Like, I remember the city itselfits big, and its a maze of tunnels and bridges and stuff. And we know Jadraks struggling to hang onto his followers loyalty. Seems like we could take the opportunity to start a kind ofcounter-insurgency in the middle of his domain. Right?

Giz? Sneppit turned toward her spy, raising an eyebrow.

Gizmit was already shaking her head. Its a pretty good thought, but not something were in a position to act on. Yeah, youre right, the conditions are so perfect for a rebellion against Jadrak that its basically inevitable even if we dont do anything. The problems are our available resources and the time frame. Im the best weve got at that kinda work, and I am not up to the task. Somebody stealthy enough to get into the heart of Jadraks territory and skilled enough in both military matters and politics to put together a resistance on the extremely tight deadline weve got before this all blows up, which is days at most Well, were talkin about a professional operative of the kind major governments field. So unless youve got a Lancoral Gray Guard or Savin shadow scout in your back pocket, and a way to make em behave, thats not a path we can pursue.

Damn, he muttered, sinking back in his chair. Sorry.

Dont apologize, kid, Sneppit said with a smile. You got good ideas; keep em comin, even if they dont all work out. Thats how we eventually come to one thatll work.

I kept my mouth shut, suddenly grappling with the worry that I now knew exactly where my mysterious dark elf stalker had disappeared to and it was basically my nightmare scenario. They were fine and useful while shooting my enemies with arrows; if that fucking idiot started trying to do their idea of politics again it would be a disaster. Jadraks uprising was a far bigger hornets nest than the cat tribe.

The other piece of news I have for you is better, Sneppit continued, shooting me a grin. Jadrak made a push at the tunnel entrance the Dark Lord took into Kzidnak and was apparently very surprised to find it fully staffed by his followers and heavily fortified. We havent managed to actually get in contact with your people, Lord Seijitheyre on high alert and also theres a lot of Jadraks goons between them and us. But I had my own scouts find out what they could, and it seems theyve turned that tunnel entrance into a death trap. Wasted a whole mess of Goblin King partisans trying to take it before they eventually backed off. Thats great news for us, and not just because it means Lord Seijis people are okay: its a major threat way too close to Jadraks current center of power for his comfort, and something he has no choice but to keep forces assigned to hold because for all he knows, the Dark Lord can launch a major offensive right into Fallencourt at any time.

Not just for all he knows, I mused, I actually can do that. Id have to find a way to get through that blockade and contact my people, though

Way faster to go around, Maizo opined. There are a lotta surface exits, Jadrak cant possibly control em all. We can get a message to your allies pretty easy.

I tensed for a moment, but he didnt mention North Watch. Either Sneppit had caught his ear during the few minutes itd taken us to set up the meeting, or Maizo was just professionally discreet.

We need a plan and a way to coordinate that attack with our own first, I said quickly into the ensuing pause. Charging in without a plan will just get a lot of people killed. They dont even know what theyre up against.

Thatll factor into whatever plan we settle on, Sneppit said. Ill draft a message for your approval, Lord Seiji, and well send it to the surface to get to your people from the other side. Meanwhile, Ive put together something for you that I think lays out the situation pretty clearly. Zui, maps.

Zui smoothly rose from her writing desk, picking up a couple of large rolls of paper and bringing them forward to unfurl across the conference table. I couldnt help but notice that she did this smoothly and silently, with zero backtalk or eye-rolling, despite the fact that Sneppit spoke to her far more curtly than I ever did. I guess you get certain privileges when its your signature on all the paychecks.

These are for reference, Sneppit explained as her assistant/hairstylist spread out the maps in front of us. Ive got a map of our tram lines, with new notations showing which ones are still serviceableJadrak hasnt bothered sabotaging the ones that dont lead right into his own business, at least so far. After Gizmit brought her report last night I also put together this second one: it shows the positions of every underground Spirit on Dount.

The Spirits? I frowned. You think theyll go for them as well? Do they even do anything thatd be useful for a campaign of conquest?

Debatable at best, but thats not the point. Jadrak has backed himself into a corner and now that hes put himself on your shit list his only possible source of help is his devil friend. And devils make the worst friends; they dont do anything for free. He and Hoy only have the two souls between them to barter with, and Im betting those bargains were made long before this Goblin King business started. That means theres only one other thing they can offer their devil in exchange for more favors.

Oh. Shit.

But thats good, though, said Yoshi. It means we know where theyll be going.

Exactly! Sneppit pointed at him. Jadraks survival depends on keeping his little crusade moving forward. He has to placate his people by attacking the humans of Dount, and he has to placate his devil by corrupting more Spirits. So while we cant predict exactly what forces will be sent to which objectives, we know the next steps he has to take: hell be launching a major offensive at Lord Seijis defenses, and he will go for every Spirit within reach.

And with every passing hour, his task gets harder, Gizmit added. Even the Judges cant do anything against a Void witchtheyll be disadvantaged against Jadraks pet sorcerers, for that matter. But what they can do, and what Rizz will have them doing as soon as she can gather them up, is laying groundwork. Getting in position, organizing resistance, putting people and resources in place to back up the Dark Lord when he makes his move. Furthermore, Rizzany of the Judges, in factare shrewd enough to put all this together for themselves, and they know their way around Kzidnak without the need for maps. Jadrak has the initiative right now, but everywhere we go, we will begin to find support. More and more the longer this carries on.

That means Jadrak will be getting more desperate and therefore more dangerous right up until the end, I murmured.

It does, Gizmit said gravely.

But it also means this is far from hopeless, Yoshi added. From the look of it Its obvious what we have to do next. We just need to plan how.

You said it, I agreed. Jadrak will be most careful with his own safetysomething tells me I know exactly whos going to get sent to handle the Spirits. And thatll be our job. What do you think, Yoshi? Ready for round two?

We didnt blow that bastard Hoy up nearly hard enough last time, he growled. Time to fix that.