[center][u][h1]The Warrior and the Senator[/h1][/u][/center] [center][h2]A Scalethein Empire Post - Spring, 500 A.E[/h2][/center] [hr] [b]Character:[/b] Warmaster Bloodaxe [b]Location:[/b] War Summit of the Stone Guard, Uthein The axe, as massive and as heavy as it was, flowed through the air like a delicate feather, until it came to a sudden and crashing standstill in the face of a straw-stuffed practice dummy. Bloodaxe grunted, and heaved the weapon backwards. The dummy was torn into an incoherent mess by the backwards pull, and fell into a pile of hessian and straw at the mighty Dwarf's feet. "Very good my love," a woman spoke seductively from nearby. "But I fear the armour suited you better when you were younger." Bloodaxe turned his head, and his armour creaked with the movement. Losha was his favourite of whores; as stout as she was beautiful, with two wholesome breasts and the curves of a real woman. Her freckled face looked out from strands of red hair, and she bit her lower lip in an attempt to entice him nearer. "Perhaps," he retorted. "But it aint how a warrior be lookin', it be 'bout how 'ard he can swing." Losha rolled her eyes, and leaned back onto the table, spreading herself over its width. "Eloquently put, my love. But what do they say about a warrior's ability to fuck?" Bloodaxe smirked beneath his helm, twisting his face into a spiderweb of wrinkles. "They be sayin' that a man that cannae fuck, aint a man at all - he be a corpse." "And are you a corpse, my love?" The mighty Dwarf let his axe full by his side, and it clattered onto the hard stone of his personal training room. He marched over to Losha with the thoughtless purpose of youth, fumbling with the straps of his armour as he went. And then there was a thunderous knock on the great oaken doors. Bloodaxe froze, weighing the enjoyment of Losha against the more pressing matter of an unexpected visitor. "Warmaster," a voice called. "The Senator has arrived, he wishes to speak with you immediately." Bloodaxe snarled, and Losha feigned disappointment at the interruption. "Already?" He shouted back, and made for the doors. [hr] [b]Character:[/b] Senator Ackwell Stonebrim [b]Location:[/b] War Summit of the Stone Guard, Uthein The Senator had not attended the latest meeting of the Senate, who had gathered to address the infamous Stone Guard Review. He'd been more than confident that the Queen's will governed more than two thirds of the Senate, and so his vote was surplus. Considering that he'd introduced the motion, and had been favoured to chair the Review, the wily Senator had seen fit to reach Bloodaxe before the war monger had a chance to put on a show. He'd sat outside of the War Summit for three hours, waiting for his servants to bring him the news of the Review's legal ratification. A few minutes ago, Plythe, his personal secretary, had indeed brought the news, and now Senator Ackewell Stonebrim was launching the political equivalent of a pre-emptive strike against Bloodaxe and his cronies. The guards had initially tried to bar his passage to the War Summit, but after enough shouting and waving his Senatorial seal around, they had relented and let him through. More guards tried to ferry him through the massive complex, but he shooed them away under the threat of arrest. They'd laughed and snarled at him, but stayed their hands - it was obvious Bloodaxe had ordered for the Senator not to be harmed or blocked in any way. One of the guards had yelled for the Warmaster's attention as Ackwell approached the man's personal training room, and then had scurried away, leaving the corridor empty save for the Senator. As the solid oaken doors swung open, the Senator had to take a moment to study the Warmaster. In his mind, there was no way that he looked upon a man of 90, let alone a Dwarf at all. Bloodaxe was tall for a Dwarf, this was known, but his armour cut an impressive and intimidating figure. The Senator guessed that he, a Dwarf of 61, would struggle to uphold the weight of all that Zaqiri steel, yet the Warmaster came strolling towards him as if he wore nothing at all. "My dear Senator Stonebrim," Bloodaxe called out, opening his plated arms to embrace the Senator. "It has been too long." Ackwell hesitated for a moment, before returning the gesture, and the two Dwarves embraced for a moment. "Indeed it has, Senator Florin." "Bah," the Warmaster hissed, breaking away from the embrace and waving a hand in dismissal. "I'm not a Senator. You know that." Ackwell sighed, "you were the last time I checked the Senatorial Roll Call, which was this morning. You should have more pride in the Empire, Florin, I fear your idealism fools your perspective." Bloodaxe growled, his face still obscured by his heavy steel helm. "We're a nation of whores, pandering to a bunch of baby lizards. My perspective is fine, Senator, perhaps you should re-evaluate yours." "Let's drop this ballocks," Ackwell said suddenly, his fat jowls wobbling with each word. "You seek to upset everything we have built over the span of centuries. You. One man. What right have you to cause so much misery?" In one fluid movement, Bloodaxe tore his helm from his head, and cast it over Ackwell's shoulder; the Senator cowered beneath it, and watched as it struck the floor and rolled to a stand still. "Drop the ballocks ye be sayin'?" Bloodaxe sneered, his words suddenly slurred in their usual fashion. "Upset? Misery?" He drew himself close to the Senator, his steel-plated form towering over the smaller man like a titan of old. "Ye be comin' in 'ere, shoutin' yer accusations at me, accusin' me of treason." Ackwell took a step back, suddenly feeling vulnerable and unsafe. Would the Warmaster murder a Senator? Was it in him? "And yer be right, lad," Bloodaxe said at last, his nostrils flaring. The two locked eyes, and stood for several seconds before Ackwell mustered his courage. "Then I will inform the Senate that the Stone Guard should be disbanded with immediate affect." Bloodaxe's wrinkled features creased into a broad smile. "And so ye should. Sooner ye be runnin' yer whore mouth, tha sooner I can get to fuckin' killin' you all!" "This is TREASON Florin!" Ackwell screeched, his face drained of colour as he realised the implications of the Warmaster's position. "You will be arrested and put to death." "Excellent," Bloodaxe retorted. "Send yer Queen bitch's guards to Zaqiri, and tell 'em to hurry though eh?" "What?" Ackwell asked with a frown, the situation quickly escaping him. "I be leavin' for the Almurzani," the Warmaster muttered, making to walk past the Senator. "I have left orders for me men; if you or your Queen bitch be tryin' anything before I be gettin' back, they'll lock this place down, and you'll have a fuckin' lengthy siege ahead of yer. I be wonderin' what tha citizens of Uthein be makin' o' such a spectacle, aye? Best ye be reconsidering yer decision to immediately disband the Stone Guard, and launch a proper 'n long winded investigation, eh?" Ackwell tried to grab Bloodaxe as he walked by, but the old Dwarf grabbed his wrist with a cast iron grip and shoved him aside. The fat Senator fell to the floor with a whimper, and tried to clamber to his feet. "You wont get away with this, you fucking lunatic!" "Already 'ave, lad, already 'ave," the Warmaster uttered without stopping.