[center][h2]Hard Men and Small Gods[/h2][/center]

A short horned woman in dark robes that bore the symbol of Xavior’s preisthood peered up at the titan of a man that was Frederick, one armed with a titanic blade and wearing the skull and fur of a Wolf King large as any had ever seen, and nervously adjusted her (freshly minted) spectacles.

“His ah, lordship will see you now” she informed the man, who had been offered refreshments while he sat and waited to be seen on the same veranda where Xavior met Dzallitsunya a few days earlier.

“If you would, ah, follow me please?” she added before turning to go.

With a hand the size of a brick, Frederick grabbed the tiny ornate cup he had been given, the vessel hiding behind his knuckles as he walked behind the steward.

The priest led the man through the halls of the temple, some of which had recently been expanded vertically such that they provided even the giant of a man with ample headroom. They passed by a few of the various scholars, pupils here to learn the new arts, bureaucrats and councilors who managed the state’s affairs, who filtered in and out of corridors. The main group they met, however, was a tide of the day’s supplicants who had come to barter or beg for the resident god’s divine aid, all of them flowing out of the temple and back into the streets of the city, a mix of joy and disappointment on their faces.  

All made way for the warrior and his priestly guide.

Once past that river of humanity they reached the chamber they had come from. It was a grand chamber, at the end of which sat an artfully made throne, made of a fine wood and covered in intricate carvings depicting events and achievements of the god and the state, upon a dais. Its owner, clad in fine robes with a purple cloak that covered one arm and which was secured with a golden brooch on the other, was not however found upon the throne at that moment. 

Instead he was in the midst of putting the finishing touches to a mechanical arm made from Ambroisen Fibres to a scared caravan guard, while the Merchant who had acquired the fibers at great expense and whose life had been saved by that same guard looked on with nervous energy. As Frederick entered the god stepped back front he warrior, who was flexing the arm experimentally, and then glanced towards the new arrival

“Ah, I see my next appointment is here, so I am afraid this will be all the time I can spare for now” Xavier said to the grateful pair before adding “thank you for the opportunity to try working with this new material. Given her conduct at our genesis, I am amazed and hartnened that Eleanna has turned out to be the kind of person to make something like this. I hope she lives up to the good sign that this is” before the pair bade their farewells and made their way out of the room. The priestess dismissed herself as well, leaving only Xavior and Frederick in the room… for all of a few moments before a titan of a woman with blue skin and who sported grand horns and wings stepped in behind him, carrying with her a table and two chairs.

“Ah excellent, thank you Annie” the god said to her as she set up the seating in the throne room, before saying to Frederick “Thank you for waiting, Frederick. Please. Do take a seat” while gesturing at an appropriately large chair  before moving to do so himself in the smaller one opposite him.

Annie, notably, did not leave the room, and instead leaned against one of the walls of the throne room, her arms crossed and her eyes never going far from their guest’s massive blade. Frederick only spared her a quick look before sitting in his assigned seat. The legs of the chair creaked dangerously as he laid his weight into it.

“Thank you for agreeing to see me, your majesty,” Frederick started.

“It is my pleasure. I always have time for someone who has done so much to rid my lands of those blight-some beasts” the god replied, nodding at Frederick’s grizzly trophies, before continuing “especially when he comes bearing word from our dear sister.” The ‘dear’ was a little strained, though the god found he meant it more than he would have in the days after she and he went their separate ways. Absence truly did make the heart grow fonder it seemed.

Frederick shook his head. “My achievements here were less than selfless, but rather a show of force. I am a single paladin, and I alone have done all you heard of. To speak plainly, the paladins wish for official endorsement from you to operate in the 12th node. As it stands, we do collect recruits from this area, but have no official quarters or staff. With the growing turbulence the crucible is hosting and the encroachment of doom, I implore you to consider such a proposal post-haste.”

“That- hmmm. Straight to the point I see” Xavior said, sounding not entirely pleased but getting over his initial reaction relatively quickly as he leaned back in his chair, stroked his beard, and considered the ramifications that would have.

One the one hand, with the threat of the cradle in the south and the wolves growing ever more bold/desperate, they sorely needed professional warriors. 

On the other, letting them operate in the 12th realm would all but cement his position as on Benea’s side of the war. Plus did they really want forighn troops camped in and around the city? One man alone was bad enough, but a legion of them? That would rankle both him and the people to say the least.

“I’ll have to put this before the council to get a final stamp of approval, but let’s iron out some of the details for when I bring you’re proposal before them” he explained, fairly convinced that he could get them onboarded with whatever was agreed here, before moving swiftly along to those details “Your martial prowess would be of great help, of that I am certain. However” he paused for a moment to decide how best to phrase his concern before deciding on, simply: “It would be good if you could clarify how you intend to operate in the area.”

“We will use funding from direct donation as well as from logistics from the northern Queendom. Recruitment will be both passive and active, with volunteers joining the ranks of the Paladins to successfully support their local area as well as, ultimately, the crucible as a whole.” Frederick gave his speech as if he had rehearsed it before falling into a different tone. “I am more than willing to prove the effectiveness of the training by besting each and every doubting council member in hand to hand combat. Just show me who you would like me to perform against first.”

Annie shifted slightly at her position on the wall, but Xavior kept a calm face “I’m sure that won’t be necessary” he assured the warrior. Had it been anyone else, the god might have put money on the muscled Argus taking such a challenger by surprise, but Frederick certainly made a strong point in that regard.

“Believe me, I do not doubt the effectiveness of your people’s martial prowess. It is mainly the” he waved a hand vaguely as he said “logistical and political aspects that might prove troublesome”

He tapped his fingers on the side of the table a few times thoughtfully and then decided that avoiding beating around the bush any more would work best with this man when he said “I’ll get right to the point. How willing would you and your organization be to operate under the patronage and guidance of the Eunomian state instead of the Queendom’s, at least when it comes to operating within our borders?”

“Would you like the simple answer or do you wish for an honest explanation, your majesty?” Frederick sat up, somehow making sitting down look more exhausting than standing up. His chair protested.

Even as Annie stirred, the god looked up at the towering human from where he sat and said simply “By all means, be honest with me.”

“While myself and some of the other original paladins haven’t forgotten the time we walked beside you as you claimed node 12, the younger generations and recent recruits only know you as the god who never showed up during the battles in the east. I know you had your reasons, but it cost a lot of lives. Now as the quarantine builds, we are still doing it alone with our Queen, whose life was nearly forfeit. As it stands, the organization will not find you a suitable patron, but hopes that this can change through continued official contact in node 12.” Frederick’s brow dropped. “This is for the good of the original alliance, especially as doom taints the crucible so freely now. I hope you can see from my own words that the paladins as a whole wear our faces on our faces and not under the table. As for political concerns, frankly, we are in good standing with every healthy god in the north — unless you are hinting at a friendship with Anak’thas, of course.”

“Yet it is the people of the 12th realm you will be working among and recruiting from. To them you are an alien force who are known for your proficiency at killing other humans. If you want to operate here you need official endorsement, and to be at least partially integrated with our own military. This… false narrative of my lack of involvement in the north will not sit well with people who as we speak fight and die to keep the land safe from inhuman monstrosities”

Frederick blinked. “Excuse me, your majesty, but first I would like to remind you that you had asked for my honest report on the feelings prevalent among the ranks. Secondly, I would like to remind you that the good people of node 12 have been in constant contact and in healthy trade with the Queendom since the opening of the road of light to merchants and regularly interact with the paladins who escort the traders along the way. Lasty, I would like to report that the Commander of the Pristine Palace has authorized me to mobilize over five-hundred paladins to secure your southern border should you agree to your official endorsement of the recruitment process. The stories of your merchants have met our ears well, sire.”

The god raised an eyebrow and glanced at Annie, who nodded.

“My apologies, I was unaware that you had also begun patrolling the northern road” He admitted

“It’s where I learned the best way to decapitate a being with a hard carapace,” Frederick chimed, which got a grin from the so far stoic Annie, who noted that “I find blunt force is best for cracking those things open, but that’s mighty impressive”

“I’m sure” Xavior said, before sighing and leaning back in his chair “However it is one thing to be protected by forighn soldiers in neutral lands, it is quite another to have them setting up residence around your own home. It is something that needs to be handled delicately. Your reinforcements, for example, would be welcome, because you are sorely needed.”

“but if an unchecked force as strong as yours, funded by forighn powers, sets up camp inside the city or near a town and starts operating mainly in the interests of itself and said power? There is a potential for there being unfortunate parallels to your actions in the north. Justified actions in that case, of course, but still” Xavior explained “I’d like to have some level of influence within your local chapters such that those kinds of fears and concerns need not arise. Influence that will also allow us to better support you in your worthy and welcome endeavor of making the lands safer for all humankind of course.”

Frederick blinked, as if he didn’t quite understand some of Xavior’s words. Shaking his head he added. “As the King of this realm you will be given the responsibility of approving specific locations for our buildings as well as setting the occupancy maximum. In short, you decide where we officially set up and how many Paladins can be present in your realm at a time.”

“Excellent, I knew I could bring you around. Now” Xavier said in a blatantly self declared win before he snapped his fingers and caused a scroll sitting among other documents near his throne to wisk its way over.

It clattered down onto the table and unfurled, revealing itself to be a map even as conjured tokens and playing pieces plonked down onto it to mark out cities, armies and foes.

“Let me give you an outline of where those places will be. First off the simplest of these is here,” he pointed a finger and a figure with a sword held in two hands with the blade planted in the ground appeared in the north at Twilight’s rest, the settlement on the other end of the road that wormed through Monica’s realm “Based on what you said earlier, I take it there is already something of an ad hoc presence in the area. Paladins resting before going home and so on?”

He glanced at Annie, who nodded, and then continued that “we might as well make it official, and add a permanent wing to the local barracks. I should ask if you would be willing to do the same on your side for our local forces, so as to at least make an attempt at integrating them into one patrolling force with an overall commander at each posting? One of yours and one of ours, naturally”

“Sure.” Frederick leaned forward, causing the blade on his back to violently rub against the wooden chair he was in. He plopped an elbow on the table and held his chin. “So you agree with the official endorsement, then?”

“If you keep to the place and numbers we set, as you said, and also agree to keep to our laws, I don’t imagine there will be much trouble getting an endorsement” Xavior said while still ruminating over the map.

“I don’t see why not,” Frederick agreed. “A minimum operational number will have to be devised regarding the troop maximum to prevent the structure from caving in should the number be rolled too low, but I feel that can be hashed out between the logistics corps and your own.”

“I’m sure I’m sure. Speaking of which, how centralized is your structure? I ask primarily to know how feasible it would be to have you set up an emissary that could properly facilitate relations between our government and your order” Xavior asked while setting down another paladin piece

“Easily done. Benea had the wisdom of creating a precursor to a proper embassy structure after her last visit with Queen Dzallitsunya. I can relay your desire to the Pristine Palace.”

“A touch roundabout… we would welcome representatives from the queendom itself of course, but will you have a… regional commander, say, who could send representatives, or have an office in the capital?” another piece went down

Frederick perked up. “Oh! Yes, I misunderstood your question. A regional commander will be introduced to the area to oversee and represent the Paladins of Node 12 in all matters. Of course this means you will have a direct connection to the infrastructure whenever you need it.”

“Good good. We can get them something down by the lakeside, perhaps, maybe make something of a diplomatic district” Xavior said as he popped down the final paladin. Joining the one in the north were two at the passes leading into node 18, one by Stone Lake and a final bastion on the far side of Lake Bulwark, close to but not in the capital city.

“There we go. We’ll need to bring this before the council, of course, and there's the issues of numbers, local funding, military collaboration and so on and so forth to hash out, but I think this will make for a good basis for the proposal” Xavier said, while Annie noted that each and every paladin garrison was in a place it could be checked by local forces in terms of influence. “If you agree?”

“Looks good to me.”.

“Marvelous,” Xavier said, dismissing the tokens and picking up the map as he stood “then let's get this all sorted out and onto paper then, shall we? I’ll set up a council meeting as soon as I can, and then you or a messenger can be on their way with a formal invitation to the Paladins… within the day let’s say?”

Frederick stood up as well, casting his shadow over both the table and the god. “It shall be done, your majesty.”

“Good good. Annie will show you somewhere to wait for the meeting” The god replied, and then with a “I’ll see you there” he made his way out of the room while the demoness stepped forwards, casting her own shadow over the human and table. She grinned a fang filled grin and then asked “So, want to show me how you decapitate a being with a hard carapace?” 

[hider=summary]
Frederick, the big man paladin of Benea has come to Xavior town and he is here to install some of his buddies. Xavier, perhaps a touch intimidated by this wolf and bandit slaughtering man, holds a meeting with him in his throne room with Annie the Demoness present as a bodyguard.

Things start off a bit roughly, with Fredric offering to beat up the council to prove the effectiveness of his order, and relaying some of the younger paladin’s disdain towards Xavior that they feel as a result of him not being in the north.

Xavior meanwhile is not comfortable having a bunch of paladins, an order known for occupying other gods' territory, simply setting up camp with oversight.

Things clear up once Fredric offers Xavior full control of both how many paladins can be in the region and also where they can operate, which resolves most of his concerns. Xaviro then maps it out so that there are 5 groups (Twilight’s rest, Stone lake, east and west passes into node 18 and finally one at the capital) all of which can be checked by local forces if necessary. They also agree to get an embassy from Benea’s people into the city, as well as one from the paladins, namly their soon to be regional commander.

With all this agreed with words, Xavier moves to get it in writing by holding a council meeting, which will invite the Paladins into the 12th realm and initiate more detailed talks about numbers, logistics and military cooperation and so on. 
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[hider=mp]
Xavior 4/9 mp (+1 from quiz)
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