Stone Eagle Rebellion

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"I don't 'like' you. You care about nobody but yourself. I have a camp to watch over." She replied, her voice still angry.
 
Marcos looked around and still couldn't remember where he was. He knew he was in the camp, but where in the camp he wasn't sure. He'd seen Ash leave, which was a little strange. Maybe he was hungry, so he went into the canteen after waking around and began eating a soup that was being given out.
 
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"Back to the camp with you, 'Missy'." She said. She signaled for the soldiers to move out and then tapped the horse with her heels slightly to get it walking. "We don't have all day. Let's get back to camp at least before night fall." She stated to them.
 
The ride back through the long tunnel was rather enjoyable for Assallya. Her horse seemed content to follow the others and barely needed any coaxing from her. Instead she focused on relations, using her finely honed social skills. She soon struck up conversations with the guards, each of which seemed most interested in getting to know her, and jockeyed amongst themselves to see which of them would impress upon her most. She engaged them in conversation, discussed a dozen meaningless topics. She tittered at the appropriate moments and looked abash when appropriate, everything the guards would expect of her.

Finally they reached the camp proper and she blinked rapidly as they moved from torchlight into sunlight.

"Ah..." she said as they came out into the clearing, "It's good to be home."
 
Daijira sensed the horses before he heard them, and heard them before he saw them. He watched as the group of riders entered the camp. He marched over to the group and started whispering with one of the guards, after a few seconds he clasped the man's shoulder and turned to look at the rest of them. He recognized Ash from earlier, but did not recognize Assallya.
 
She got off the horse and walked to Nyx. Her expression showed annoyance. "She was 'testing' us." She said as she air quoted. "Please tell me you won't let her do that again." Ash snarled slightly as her tail flicked.
 
Marcos finished the soup and went outside at the sound of horse hooves to see what happened. He saw Ash and Assallya and knew who they were. He classed one a coward and one a leader, but he classed both as trouble. "What happened?" he asked a guard and with the reply he was shocked and hurt.
 
Nyx and the red haired boy are in his arcane workshop. Nyx is milling about, while the red haired one is working on something on a workbench. "She will not be leaving again. She needs to be put to work because she clearly intends to stay." Nyx says, grabbing a book off of a bookshelf and flipping through it. "She needs to be a bit nicer to us, considering she would have been killed at some point if she wasn't mixed with our guys."
 
Assallya was in the midst of talking to the guards about including a daily password in addition to signed orders as a step of extra security, one that was known only to the guards and leaders when the gargantuan behemoth of a lizard walked by.

"By Myrkul's shriveled black balls," she said, voice filled with awe and jaw partially slackened, "What is that?"

The giant lizard was clearly something new. The blond courtesan hadn't yet encountered the beast. Assuming it was with the rebellion, that lizard was both a powerful asset and a liability in one package. While he could likely barrel through a dozen soldiers he was certainly hard to conceal and would be hard to smuggle into an area undetected. However, if one could manage it. The possibilities were endless.
 
Nyx telepathically calls to Assallya. "come to my tower. We must speak."
 
Ash walks away to go take care of her horse. She grabbed some hay and started grooming her while she ate.
 
Daijira smirked when he overheard what Assallya said. He entered the canteen, and was given some fish which he ate. He sat on the ground with the pile of fish on his crossed legs, and watched the small finicky beings go about their own business. Daijira had been asleep deep in the earth when the area was chosen for their camp, of course at the time there wasn't any tunnels leading to where he was encased. Eventually he was unearthed, and only a few of those who saw him had heard the legends about him.

His history was filled with being used by humans for their purposes. His strength and durability made him useful in combat, and doing hard labor. He normally would destroy anybody who attempted such, but with the power of magic he's been enslaved several times. Eventually he broke free, went on a rampage and killed all of his captors, who contained him in a volcano, which since has gone dormant and cooled, sealing him in thousands of tons of solid rock.
 
It took Nyx several attempts to get Assallya's attention. She was a mistress of the ephemeral arts and she instinctively resisted any attempt to contact her mind. Finally, his insistence paid off and she carefully, guardedly lowered the barriers she placed around her mind.

She didn't respond either. She never felt comfortable with telepathic communication. One never knew when one might be listening in from afar. It was bad enough that there was a mine here. The smoke would be seen for leagues in any direction.

Traipsing across the clearing, heading towards the large oak tree that served as Nyx's "Tower" Assallya considered a great many things. Her bare feet enjoyed the feel of the grass beneath her soles. First she was going to have to teach these people how to run a rebellion, that it had nothing to do with winning freedom. It was about making the rule of the current ruler untenable. Best of all, if she played her cards right, she would be part of the new ruling class and, with a bit of luck, possibly even the new ruler.
 
When she arrives to the tower, the red haired boy is occupied with peering through a glass lens at something on a table. The inside of the room they stand in has a warm feeling to it. The stone floor is kept warm by the fire in the pit in the center of the room. The fire's purpose seems to be to heat a cauldron above it. The room is lit up with small balls of glowing light hovering around the room. The top of the tower is open to the skies. Looking up, one can see three arches with a bright ball of energy in the middle of them. It was not visible during the day, but at night it shines with a vibrant glow. The walls of the room are occupied by worktables and books with various titles. Some of the ones that pop out read "Circle magic", Utilizing the Blood Moon", and "Rites and Rituals".

Nyx stands to greet Assallya with a cold stare. "Are you aware of the uproar you caused with your disappearing act?" Nyx asks with a calm demeanor. He regards the red haired boy with a nod. "This is my apprentice Ellaum"
 
The blonde courtesan peered about the lab as she entered, seemingly unconcerned. The stone was warm beneath her bare feet, her blue eye scanning the furnishings. She winced, her mouth pursing with distaste at the wasteful use of magic. To squander such a resource on something as trivial as lighting a room when mere torches or lanterns would do seemed quite wrong.

The room was remarkably uncomfortable, clearly meant for work. The tomes upon their shelves clearly reference material. Completely at ease despite Nyx's demeanor the blonde elf slipped over towards the bench at the work table and sat herself gently upon it, crossing her legs and leaning back, placing her elbows on the table in a provocative pose that seemed completely natural.

"Greetings Ellaum," she said extending a hand with manicured fingers pointed downwards as if expecting the knuckles be kissed despite the distance between them, "I am the Lady Assa'alliyeh Kressanthair, more commonly called Assallya by human tongue."

Strange that, the dismissive way in which Nyx introduced his red haired apprentice. Assallya had some experience there, being an often ignored and maltreated apprentice. Then again, as a slave, that had pretty much been her entire existence. Such a weakness, provided it was not feigned, could be an advantage to be exploited.

"It is in my nature to find flaws and exploit them," Assallya continued, answering Nyx, "One could say, by the ease with which it was accomplished, that I was invited to do so."
 
Ellaum doesn't seem to notice Assallya. He is too engrossed in the stone on the table. Nyx looks angry. "You do not appear to be aware of what this place is. This is not just a rebel camp. This is a refuge for families forced from their homes. Children live here. Husbands and wives. You put their lives at risk. The empire knows of this place, but only knows it as a safe place for refugees and exiles and people forced from their homes by the rich. Would you put their lives away for some coin?" Ellaum hears Nyx's voice raising as he speaks. "Nyx! Im trying to do what you asked me to. Lower your voice." Nyx glances at his apprentice "My apologies, Ellaum. Please return to your studies." He looks at Assallya, awaiting a response.
 
How disappointing. Normally Assallya's presence was enough to distract an entire ballroom of nobles. These two must be eunuchs. That must be it. They must have been magicians serving the King and had their manhood snipped to ensure that they experienced no illusions of a starting a new line of nobility or worse, unseating the king with their magical abilities. That was the only explanation she could come up with.

Then Nyx went on at length about causing difficulty. She couldn't help but wonder if a minor little thing like what she did was a problem, how would he deal with something more significant? Further, what was this Nyx trying to do, make her feel guilty? He was acting like she had rode all the way to the King's palace and prostrated herself before him. Secondly, why would she feel guilty? She didn't take the rebel headquarters in the middle of a refuge camp. That was an exercise in stupidity. Sooner or later one of these refugees was going to crack and give them all away. That was the way of humans. They betrayed one another blithely, they stepped over one another to take what they willed. It was also one of the reasons the elves wouldn't take her in after she escaped her decades of slavery. She had the stink of humanity's ideals on her.

"Is that not what humans do?" Assallya replied answering with questions, clearly not ashamed in the least, "Turn against one another? Do your people not have a thousand year history of doing such? Is that not what your tyrant king does?

"You don't have an inkling of how to fight a man like that," Assallya added, "I have walked amongst their number. I have heard them refer to you as kine. I know how they think. How do you think I survived all these years as one of their number without a house to back me?"
 
Ash's ears perked up as she heard Nyx's voice raise. She smirked slightly. "The swine is getting some anger out of Nyx. Impressive. He's usually calm as far as I know."
 
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