Hostage Exchange

5/22 dusk

Kam had returned to a friend’s house after his meeting with the king, and sent a note explaining the situation. Dagran had taken the deal, but only if I agreed to come alongside Anduin as a hostage exchange. He didn’t have a timeline in mind, but I did. Anduin had finally been captured today; that meant that he was both more likely to agree to it, and that he was not nearly as helpless as he looked. Anduin became quite the powerhouse when he grew up.

I was sending Doris along as my body double for obvious reasons. I fully expected both Anduin and Doris to be searched, so they would not be going anywhere with amulets on. Kam had one stowed in a locked trunk, so if he was allowed to serve as a point of contact I wouldn’t be blind. If not… well, I’d get Anduin and Doris back when Thaurrisan got Moira back, and not a minute later.

The meeting between Magni and Varian had gone reasonably well, apparently. He’d been amenable to any plan that might let him see his daughter, though he’d insisted on bringing priests and mages along to inspect her. Easy enough; I don’t collar her until after the meeting. Obviously I was going to be adding her to my retinue; I just had to lie about timetables for a bit. Magni had a day or two to spend with his daughter, and Thaurrisan was sending her over for a few weeks. The fact that they both assumed travel times would be relevant would be a tremendous boon, here.

I accompanied the two dear hostages in disguise as a high elven mage accompanying them. I was in my Erius form under the disguise; if they could somehow identify dragons, then a green would be much less alarming than a black. We simply appeared at the gates; in actuality Doris and I snuck there and summoned Anduin as we dropped stealth. The guards immediately arrested us, of course.

I was the only one with an amulet, which escaped notice while strapped to my waist under a snazzy suit of black and bronze armor. Generously provided by the clothes closet when Anduin was captured. It was a fairly modestly enchanted suit of armor, much like the others, but it was still a perfectly tailored suit of full plate that helped me channel magic more efficiently.We were brought to the jail, and then quickly transferred to the palace. All under extensive guard, of course. No opportunity to get in contact with Windsor, but I did take note of the layout as best I could. The Dark Iron troops were not particularly polite, but they were professional enough to not decide to randomly rough us up or any other such uncivil behavior. The city was probably swelteringly hot, given the lava rivers, but none of us were terribly bothered by it.

We were, eventually, escorted to a dinner table where a formidable man with skin the color of graphite, eyes that glowed with a very literal inner fire, and thick black braids was waiting for us. He was accompanied by a woman who looked enough like the Moira I remembered from the internet to be recognizable, but who was clearly altered to an only slightly lesser degree than the undead of the world.

https://imgur.com/a/zpBwKPm

In retrospect it should have been surprising to me that on the way here I’d seen no Dark Iron girls that failed to be perfect tens since arriving in their capital, but I’ve gotten used to beautiful women being all around me. Redheads with dark grey skin and generous breasts were a fantasy demographic I was happy to see well represented. I hadn’t really been involved in dwarves at any point since getting here, so I didn’t have much of a before and after on The Lost Pilot as a mission the way I did for The Hermit. I suppose I’ll never know what female dwarves looked like without the makeover. What a shame.

“Welcome to my table, prince Anduin. You lot, too.” The three of us bowed graciously, showing deference, but not too much. Anduin only bowed his head. “So two of you are here to stay for a time. I’m guessing you’re here to escort my wife?” He nodded at me. As he spoke, servants began setting the table around us, putting platters of food in easily accessible locations. We weren’t to start eating until he did.

“Yes, Emperor Thaurrisan. I am called Erius. I am something of a specialist in teleportation.”

He nodded. “Good. Less chance of trouble on the road.” Then he dismissed me, which was annoying even if it was the plan. As the meal properly started, I scanned the room. We weren’t the only people present, just the only outsiders. There was a lot of open hostility, most of which was directed at us, but some more restrained hatred was aimed at Moira, and a bit was squarely focused on Thaurissan. Most of that was coming from a group of robed men at the far end of the table.

While Doris and Anduin spoke with the emperor, I looked around me for someone who seemed like they would field questions from an outsider. Communication talent didn’t give me anything, but a thought scratched at the back of my mind. An idea. Something I could do. Something I knew intuitively how to do, like it was downloaded directly into my mind. Shadow Word: Charm.

Naturally I was suspicious of sudden flashes of insight, so I didn’t immediately cast it. I mulled it over while I ate a medium-rare worg steak. Why would I be suddenly inventing a new shadow word? And specifically charm? Warcraft was a fantasy setting that did not at all shy away from mind control and corruption, but I could only remember one person using a spell called charm. Sylvanas Windrunner, the dark lady, had it as her ultimate ability in both heroes of the storm and Warcraft 3.

That’s when it clicked: I’d gotten myself a rival. I was trying to outwit her in a game of mind control and manipulation. I was playing her game and we both knew it, and by the rules of soul talent, that meant I would grow to match her. I had a creeping suspicion that if I started training as a ranger, I would find myself excelling in it. Sticking a pin in that thought for now.

I didn’t use a new and untested mind control spell at the dinner table in enemy territory directly in front of a priestess, but it brightened my mood tremendously with speculation. The food was good, the drinks were plentiful, and thanks to body and addiction defense, I could drink as much as I wanted.

After the meal, I was asked to wait while Moira’s entourage assembled. I imagine she was also saying goodbye to her husband for the first time, and likely strategizing. She had a team of six guards and five servants, all female. Communication Talent speculated it was so I’d never have an excuse to isolate her. Covert talent informed me that all but one of her handmaidens were combatants as well; probably magic users of some kind. Getting her under my control would not be easy.

I very seriously considered just using the nightmare Skitterer on her, but it felt wasteful. I had about a week with her under my thumb; if I couldn’t get her under my control with that kind of timeframe, I should turn in my necklace and go be a farmer. For now, it was enough to escort her entourage into my apartment, and then a minute later into the chambers prepared for her at Stormwind castle. The servants, led by Onyxia’s personal maid, took them off my hands.

I couldn’t do anything much with her until she spoke with her father, and I didn’t want my first experiment with Charm to be on someone even tangentially important. No charming her entourage until I know they won’t have glowing pink hearts for pupils or become irrepressibly fanatic.

Gretchen was being kept in a cell again, but she wasn’t in any distress, just a bit bored. I sent her one of those books I stole from Northshire; the one about Hakkar. It wasn’t exactly light reading but I figured it was better than nothing. I had sent Valeera to my Duskwood community, hoping that Talaada and a bunch of high elves would be able to keep her busy for a few more hours. I was toying with the idea of busting Marshal Windsor out and leaving behind one of Vanessa’s worgen as a body double.

It’s at around this point that I realized that I still had six prisoners in my inventory. Six! So, I brought in Harnea just in case something happened and pulled one of the two remaining girls out. She was a scrappy girl, thin, and didn’t look like much of a lover or a fighter. Obviously that either meant she was tougher than she looked, or she had some other skill Vanessa valued. Maybe stealth? I slapped a collar around her neck, specifically Harnea’s, forbid her from initiating aggression, and healed her up.

She was a lot more wary than some; cautious, rather than aggressive. That worked to my advantage. She stared at me silently, sizing me up. Of course she couldn’t attack me unarmed, and she was entirely alone, but she clearly was still looking for a way out.

“Hello, my name is Erich Bismark. I’m afraid you were betrayed by Lady VanCleef, but don’t worry, you’re not going to be turned into a slave. I really don’t need more bimbos, and Vanessa clearly held you in high regard. Unfortunately, I’m fairly sure you’d try to kill me if you had a knife right now, so we are going to need to figure something out.”

I started slow; it was a shadow word, after all. I didn’t want to risk scrambling my brain. The first trickle of energy made her look far more appealing in my eyes. I found myself wanting her in my retinue more. It was subtle, but if things held up then she was probably feeling something very similar but twice as strong. She still seemed wary though. I added a bit more fuel to the fire.

I started to feel bad for her. She was clearly scared; she’d suddenly been sucker punched by someone she thought was safe, and then passed out for weeks. Now she was being stared down by someone she thought was pure evil. She was starting to relax, and I smiled at her. That made her panic; she thought she knew what I was doing, and it terrified her. It reminded me of Dena, at war with herself. I couldn’t leave her in this state; I needed to capture her as quickly as possible. Testing her like this was just cruel. I needed to overwhelm her inner conflict.

I opened the floodgates, and as my magic finally overwhelmed her willpower I realized that she was perfection itself. We fell into one another’s arms, and as she proclaimed her love for me, I rejoiced. The magic of the amulet refined her already breathtaking beauty, somehow improving upon perfection. She was mine, I was hers, and everything was right in the world. At some point I would need to ask her her name.

https://imgur.com/a/HfPfUnP