Plot Delusions of Grandeur

[The Narrator]

𝔇𝔢𝔩𝔲𝔰𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔊𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔲𝔯​ "Do you know what they say about Khare, Us'nan?" Us'nan Yurah was positively festooned in feathers, high quality silks, small silver chains, and she wore a muted blue face-powder on her face. Thenis, as good of a broker as he was, had not been able to find out where the woman was from. He suspected that she was from Tethis, but that was more of an assessment based on her obvious wealth and her accent when she spoke. However, she dropped the accent on several words—payment, was one of them. "That you can get whatever you want, so long as you have the correct payment method." There it is again, Thenis thought as he listened to the woman speak. She did have, for all the pomp and circumstance of her mannerisms, a rich and beautiful accent. If only it were real—Thenis would have been more convinced that she'd be able to afford what he was offering. Still, he thought to himself, she's never had trouble paying before. Us'nan leaned back in the plush chair in her sitting room, the soft crackles and pops from the nearby fire filled the dead spaces between their words. The light from the flames danced along Thenis' bronze mask. Us'nan had never had difficulties in finding people to do her dirty work, but Thenis was different. He was effective, reliable, and remarkably hard to kill. In her experience, thieves, information brokers, and most other gutter-filth, had extremely short lifespans. They lived dangerous lives, after all. Yet... The Crowhoods were quite skilled. How Thenis had gone from petty thief and murderer to the head of such a powerful organization had always impressed Us'nan. But they were expensive, and they always wound up costing more in the end than initially quoted. Us'nan hated that particular element of their business relationship, but it was what it was. If the Crowhoods were trafficking in something, it was always worthwhile. "That's not exactly how the saying goes, but for someone from... Tethis," the merest pause, "I'm well impressed that you know how things work around here as well as you do." Thenis smiled beneath the mask. "The Cityport of Secrets is where you can get anything at any price," he said. "Almost the same, but not quite." "Well then," Us'nan's voice was a soft purr, "What is the great Thenis' price then?" Thenis reached into his coat and pulled out an envelope and placed it on the table between them and slid it over with two fingers. Us'nan raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow and leaned forward, picking the envelope up and opening it. She read carefully. "That's quite the ask," Us'nan said drily. "You also seem to believe that you have intimate knowledge of what my ambitions are in this city." "Am I wrong?" "You are... adjacently near-accurate." Us'nan smiled. "Close enough to not be worth arguing about the minutia. Well, if that's your price, then assuming the rest happens to come to play, I'm willing to accept that payment." Us'nan quietly wondered if she would be the one that put Thenis into an early grave, or if this relationship would go on for a great many years. She reminded herself that Crowhood information was always worth the price. "What's the information?" Thenis turned and gestured to his companion, the large, broad-shouldered thug that always seemed to move far more quietly than he should. The man turned and left the room. Thenis turned back to Us'nan and gestured towards her expectantly. She signed and nodded at her own guards who bowed and departed, leaving the two of them in solitude. "Tethis is likely to fall by the end of the year, Khare is at risk of the same." Us'nan gaped. "How?" "Far to the east of the Infinite Wilds, spies have found... something. Some kind of presence. We do not know what it is, but it registers as being far more dangerous than your run-of-the-mill warlord." "They have an army?" "Not yet, but they could assemble one." Thenis seemed to have some small amount of genuine concern in this voice. "Who would join such a force," Us'nan asked. "No one... It would be brought... from elsewhere." Thenis leaned back in his chair. "There's some kind of rift and what is coming through is... not meant to be here." "Why tell me?" "You know what I want, and I don't get what I want if Tethis and Khare fall. I can spare Tethis, but not Khare..." "Always the pragmatist, hm?" "You know me well, Us'nan." Thenis stood up abruptly. "Last I have for you is a name, The Herald. I don't know what it means, but you're a woman of considerable resources, perhaps you know who to ask about it." Us'nan rolled the name off her tongue while Thenis slipped his hands into his pockets. "If you save Tethis and Khare, you'll be able to pay me back, I'm sure." "Indeed," Us'nan said flatly as Thenis walked out the door leaving the woman alone in the room. The Saviour of Tethis... The Salvation of Khare... Thenis certainly knew how to push her buttons. While there wasn't a lot of information, there was enough. A name. A place. And Us'nan had resources that she could now put into play. Let this Herald come. Us'nan would see them crushed under the heel of her boot.