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[@Maxx][@The Ghost Note][/center][hr]
The Golem had briefly caught Artur's attention, if only for the fact that it had plainly stated its opinion of him. Though he found it somewhat queer - magical constructs were things that few men encountered in Deadwood, let alone lived to tell the tale. [color=9ecff9]"Aye,"[/color] he simply answered, though in truth he wasn't sure what to make of Fourteen. [color=9ecff9]"Follow me and you'll do well."[/color]

Onwards they stepped, until finally they came to the regal interior which both dwarved snd made a hovel of the only other throne room he'd seen. And Tabitha? The Witch-Queen was no less a surprise - perhaps a part of him expected her to be clad in totems and sigils like some hermit sea witch of the Shattered Isles. But all the same, the regal finery and excess of decorum felt hollow to him. His own experiences as a boy, well before the cusp fo manhood, had taught him to be wary of such places, vipers' nests of plots and court intrugue. 

[b]"... What did you all come here for? Riches, safety... but why? Down there, money is truly worthless when you get down to it."[/b] 

[color=9ecff9]"And yet you've a use for our lot from the Lower Realms,"[/color] Artur interjected bluntly, [color=9ecff9]"Elsewise you wouldn't have fed your sorceress and her guards to the desert to bring us. Your Majesty."[/color] Though the bastard's tone lacked the insolence one might've expected of a sellsword, he never stooped low to kneel or bow, merely offering a forward tilt of the head in acknowledgement of Tabitha's place. Deference wasn't in his nature, though he was wise to recognise just [i]who's[/i] guests they were. 

[color=9ecff9]"Some of these might want a place in your Kingdom, or riches mayhaps - but I'm a simple man, with simple tastes and I'll ask only for what's mine. The drunken whoreson who sired me named his bastard after a greater grandfather, nothing like the arselicker keeping the dust off our seat."[/color]

[color=9ecff9]"I mean to have it back. Swords and spears. I have some wayward bastards of my own for that purpose, but a Queen's favour is one I'm not like to forget."[/color] Artur glanced towards the rest of the group, [color=9ecff9]"No less would I forget any other. I am Artur, of the Bastardborn."[/color]