[b]Dari, Svarygiya[/b]
The air of the inn was thick with the pungent smoke of the numerous patrons who had taken to smoking their pipes as the sun set and the day began to end. But though the light was fading, the inn was still buzzing with activity; men and women sitting on pillows as they smoked and drank and gambled to unwind after another long day. Prince Baladira himself was there, though strangely for him he was just sitting along the edge of the inn watching the activity as he sipped on a mug of beer. It wasn't particularly good beer, since Dari wasn't a major town and the inn was far from opulent, but at least it wasn't watered down. And it was free, as Dari's Thakura had offered to pay for anything he and his warriors bought while they were in town. It was as a thanks for rescuing those captured by the savages from Poertia, who were currently rotting in a cell until tomorrow. Then they would be taken to the center of Dari, and one by one they would be executed as punishment for their crimes. And after that, Baladira and his men would finally move on. It had only been a few days since they'd returned, but the Prince had wanted to live almost immediately; but his men didn't want to pass up free rooms and alcohol, and some desired to see justice carried out on the Poertians. And so Baladira agreed to stay at least until the execution, and then they would head out. As to where they'd head next, he hadn't been certain at the time. But after several days of thinking, he knew exactly where they needed to go.

But Baladira's lone thoughts were broken by the sudden appearance of Jita, now sans armour. The human man was young with dark, tanned skin and close-cropped black hair; he would probably have been described as handsome if it wasn't for a series of jagged scars covering the lower half of his face. "So, what are you doing over here all alone?" Jita asked with a smile, "Usually you have a beer in one hand and a woman in the other."

"I have been thinking," Baladira said, taking a sip from his mug and not even bothering to look up.

Jita scowled at the Prince, watching him carefully for a few seconds before setting himself down on a pillow next to Baladira, "So, what's the matter?"

"What do you mean?" Baladira asked, then sighed, "Was it that obvious?"

"We can always tell when something's the matter," Jita said, laughing as a grin spread across his face, "Well, I can at least. You're like an open book. So?"

Baladira turned to look directly at Jita, his eyes stern, "I've been thinking about [i]them[/i]. The Poertians."

Jita just stared at Baladira, his confusion plain to see, "Uh, what about them? We got them all, and I don't think anymore are coming."

"Not soon. Not in revenge for those savages at least. But more will come; more always come."

"And we'll kill them too, just like we do bandits," Jita said with a smile, "No problem."

"Yes, it is a problem Jita," Baladira said, "These savages aren't like bandits. A bandit will slit your throat for a handful of coins, maybe kidnap and hold you for ransom if they think they can get an extra handful that way."

"Go on, because I'm not following."

Baladira sighed in frustration, "These people aren't motivated by money or anything simple like that. All they want to is to drag people screaming from their homes and take them to their demon city so they can be murdered, only for the sake of the demons they worship as gods. And they'll never stop; if anything they've been getting worse."

Jita thought for a moment before shrugging, "I suppose a zeal's a better motivation than greed. Still not seeing the big deal here; the answer's simple: we just kill all of them that come here. Done."

"If you have a wasp's nest next to your home, do you just kill any wasps that fly into your home?" 

"What? Hell no; you get rid of the nest," Jita said, then his eyes lit up in understanding and he grinned, "You want to hit them back, don't you?"

Baladira nodded solemnly, "Yes, I do. We need to show them that Svargiya isn't to be trifled with."

"So, we headed to Poertia after tomorrow then?" Jita asked.

Baladira shook his head, "We're not exactly a force to be reckoned with. We need more men."

"So we get a bunch of men from here to head out with us."

"Okay, let me rephrase that. We need more warriors."

"So, where do we get more warriors?"

"Nowhere. We're not savages, and I don't think my brother would be happy about us just going and raiding into Poertia," Baladira said, "We're going to need to convince my brother."

"Your brother? You mean the Maharana?" Jita asked incredulously.

"Why do you sound surprise? I'm royalty, my brother just has a fancier title," Baladira said, his mood starting to lighten, "What's the difference."

"You don't run Svargiya or live in a giant palace," Jita pointed out.

"Only because I didn't want to," Baladira replied, "And besides, Manoratha's nice."

"But you think he'll agree to your plan?"

"Hopefully. He'll probably need some convincing though, and he'll probably call on his Councillors to advise him," Baladira said, "But I'm his brother, and my word should carry weight."

"Hopefully," Jita said, grinning, "It's been too long since I've been in anything bigger than a skirmish. Way too long."