An account of the meeting between Harbonah and Salamiel, in the wake of the debacle at Charyk, as relayed to Cyan, by Right...

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In a chamber seemingly carved from solid flame, a wheel of fire waits.  And waits.  And waits...

This is Salamiel.  One of the more powerful of the eshurianti... feared and worshipped by millions, across a thousand worlds.  And it is not accustomed to being kept waiting.

Finally, there is a ripple in the chamber walls, and another of the eshurianti appears, phasing in through all sixteen walls simultaneously, and (in a serious breach of Archon etiquette) surrounding Salamiel.

Unintimidated, Salamiel snaps, + YOU ARE LATE!  WE WILL NOT TOLERATE SUCH INSULTS! +

+ AND WE WILL NOT TOLERATE SUCH AN ATTITUDE IN THOSE WHO SERVE US. +

+ AND YET, HARBONAH, IT SEEMS THAT TREACHERY AND BETRAYAL BY SERVANTS ARE TO BE TOLERATED. +
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:37, Tue 25 Sept 2007.

+ DO YOU FORGET THAT THE LARGEST PART OF THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CURRENT SITUATION LAYS WITH THE NEPHELIM?  OR THAT MANY OF THOSE NEPHELIM WHO INFILTRATED MY ARMY WERE FOLLOWERS OF ISRAFIL? +

There is a pause, perhaps to allow Salamiel time to reflect, and then, + WE WERE, INCIDENTALLY, WELL AWARE THAT ISRAFIL REPORTED SECRETLY TO YOU. +

+ CONSIDER, CAREFULLY, THAT OTHERS MIGHT HAVE SIMPLY ASSUMED THAT ISRAFIL WAS DELIBERATELY RECRUITING NEPHELIM, AND OPERATING UNDER YOUR ORDERS.  WE, HOWEVER, MADE NO SUCH ASSUMPTION, WHICH IS WHY YOU HAVE NOT, AS YET, BEEN DESTROYED. +

+ DO NOT FORCE US TO GIVE THIS MATTER FURTHER THOUGHT. +

+ ISRAFIL WAS A FOOL.  NOTHING MORE.  WE KNEW NOTHING OF THE ARCHONS IT RECRUITED.  THE ORDERS WERE TO REPORT ONLY THE MOVEMENTS OF THE ARMY, NOT ITS PRECISE COMPOSITION.  WE... +

Harbonah howls in rage.  + SILENCE! +

The Archon shrinks, pulling tighter about Salamiel, and blazing brighter, + DO YOU BELIEVE YOU WOULD STILL LIVE, IF WE SUSPECTED THAT YOU WERE PART OF SOME SCHEME, INVOLVING ISRAFIL AND THE NEPHELIM?  IF WE SUSPECTED THAT YOU WERE EVEN AWARE OF SUCH A SCHEME? +

+ ISRAFIL WAS DESTROYED AT CHARYK, BY TWO HUMANS SERVING THE DESPISED ONE, AND WAS BROUGHT BEFORE US IMMEDIATELY AFTER RENEWAL.  IT WAS MOST COOPERATIVE.  ALMOST KEEN TO TALK.  EVENTUALLY. +

Pulling away now, and moving to the far side of the chamber, Harbonah is silent for a short while.

+ WE ARE CONVINCED THAT NO SUCH SCHEME EXISTED.  ISRAFIL HAD NO KNOWLEDGE THAT SO MANY OF THE RECRUITS WERE OF THE NEPHELIM.  IT SEEMS THAT, AS THE CURRENT CONFLICT SHOWS, THERE ARE FAR MORE NEPHELIM, AND NEPHELIM SYMPATHISERS, AMONG US THAN WAS HITHERTO SUSPECTED. +

+ THEY HAVE KEPT THEIR NUMBERS A WELL-GUARDED SECRET.  WE HAD THOUGH THAT, WITH METATRON FINALLY GONE, THE OTHERS WOULD FALL.  IT SEEMS THAT WE MAY HAVE BEEN... SOMEWHAT HASTY... IN MAKING THAT ASSESSMENT. +

+ IS THIS AN ADMISSION OF A FLAW IN THE GREAT HARBONAH? + asks Salamiel, its mocking laughter sounding like the tearing of steel, + THE START OF HUMILITY, PERHAPS?  LITTLE DID WE THINK THAT WE WOULD LIVE TO SEE THIS DAY! +

+ OUR ONLY FLAW WAS THAT WE UNDERESTIMATED JUST HOW FLAWED SOME OF OUR SERVITORS WERE.  WE INTEND TO RECTIFY THAT MATTER, WHICH IS WHY YOU ARE HERE. +

+ YOU WOULD THREATEN US?  WE WILL... + Salamiel spins faster, starting to expand, and the flames intensify to a blue-white heat.

The chamber floods with heat and light, and Harbonah's voice, filled with anger, echoes back from the walls.

+ AGAIN, SILENCE!  WE ARE NOT THREATENING YOU, SALAMIEL.  UNLESS YOU HAVE GROWN IDLE, AND CONSIDER THE PROSPECT OF ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITY A THREAT?  IS THIS SO? +

A pause, to allow the other Archon to answer, but it remains silent.

+ WE HAVE DECIDED THAT WE WILL NEVER AGAIN TRUST THE ARMY TO A SINGLE GENERAL, AND NEVER TO ONE OF AN INFERIOR SPECIES.  TO THIS END, WE ARE ASSIGNING YOU LEADERSHIP OF ONE FOURTH PORTION OF OUR TROOPS. +

There is a thoughtful pause, as Salamiel fades down through the spectrum, and considers the implications of that statement, then, + ONE FOURTH?  AT LAST YOU SEE FIT TO RECOGNISE OUR WORTH. +

The voice is tinged with irony.

+ OR PERHAPS NOT, SINCE WE ARE MORE THAN CAPABLE OF COMMANDING THE ENTIRE ARMY. +

+ DO NOT MAKE US RECONSIDER OUR DECISION.  WE HAVE APPOINTED SIX COMMANDERS TO OVERSEE THE TROOPS, SO ONE FOURTH IS BY NO MEANS THE SMALLEST PORTION.  IN ADDITION, THE ARMY HAS BEEN... EXTENDED. +

Harbonah laughs, as the walls of the chamber fade out of existence, and the pair are hovering above a horde of Archons, rank upon rank of flame and metal and lightning, all surrounding a pyramid of light and shadow.  A horde which extends to the horizon, in all directions.  A great voice roars commands from the pyramid, and the Archons move accordingly.

+ THIS IS YOUR PORTION OF THE NEW ARMY.  YOU WILL RECEIVE INSTRUCTIONS, AND YOU WILL TRANSLATE THOSE INSTRUCTIONS INTO ACTIONS, AS YOU SEE FIT. +

Clearly not slow on the uptake, Salamiel speaks, + LORD HARBONAH.  WE SHALL LEAD THIS FORCE IN THE CONQUEST OF WORLDS, AT YOUR COMMAND. +

+ NO.  WE HAVE ANOTHER PURPOSE FOR THIS DIVISION.  YOU WILL LEAD THEM IN A HUNT FOR THOSE WHO WOULD OPPOSE OUR WILL.  YOU WILL SEEK OUT AND DESTROY THOSE ARCHONS WHO WORK AGAINST US. +

+ AND YOU WILL LOCATE THE DESPISED ONE, AND ALL OF HIS ALLIES.  THEY WILL ALL BE DESTROYED IMMEDIATELY, SAVE ONLY TWO. +

Salamiel considers this, for an almost dangerously long time.  Harbonah, too, is not famed for patience.

Then, + WE ARE TO LEAD THIS PORTION OF THE ARMY IN ROUTING OUT TRAITORS, AND OTHER ENEMIES.  VERY WELL, WE WILL DO THIS. +

+ YES, YOU WILL.  THE ALTERNATIVE IS YOUR IMMEDIATE DESTRUCTION. +

Around them, the chamber reappears.  Harbonah expands and contracts, sending pulses of flame to wash against the walls.  + CONSIDER THIS.  BY FINDING, AND DESTROYING THOSE WHO WOULD PREVENT THE EFFICIENT FUNCTIONING OF THE ARMY, YOU WOULD FREE THE ARMY ITSELF FROM THOSE DUTIES, AND SPEED US TOWARDS OUR GOAL. +

+ YOU MAKE THIS SEEM A TRULY VITAL ROLE IN YOUR SCHEMES. +

+ WHILE WE APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONTINUE OUR CURRENT EXISTENCE, AND REALISE THAT THIS COULD CHANGE, AT YOUR MEREST WHIM, WE ARE COMPELLED TO ASK ONE QUESTION. +

+ WHAT OTHER BENEFIT IS THERE IN THIS, FOR US? +

If a sound like the shattering of all the glass, in ten thousand worlds can, truly, be described as a "chuckle", then Harbonah chuckles.  + ALWAYS SEEKING AN ADVANTAGE.  CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT IT WOULD PLACE YOU IN A POSITION OF DOMINANCE OVER OTHERS?  WHEN ALL IS FINISHED, YOU WILL RETAIN AUTHORITY OVER THAT PORTION OF THE ARMY, SUPERCEDED, ONLY, BY OUR OWN REQUIREMENTS. +

+ THIS IS ACCEPTABLE. +

+ WE ARE GRATIFIED THAT THIS MEETS WITH YOUR APPROVAL. +

+ THERE ARE TWO MATTERS WHICH MUST BE GIVEN PARTICULAR ATTENTION AS PART OF YOUR DUTIES.  TWO INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE NOT BE IMMEDIATELY DESTROYED.  THEY ARE, INSTEAD, TO BE CAPTURED, AND BROUGHT BEFORE US, STILL ALIVE, FOR APPROPRIATE PUNISHMENT. +

+ THE FIRST IS THE FORMER GENERAL OF OUR ARMIES.  THE SECOND, AND MORE IMPORTANT... +

+ THE DESPISED ONE? +

+ THE DESPISED ONE IS OF LITTLE CONCERN.  IT HAS A STRONG EMOTIONAL CONNECTION TO THE FORMER GENERAL.  WHEN IT IS PRESENTED WITH THE BROKEN REMAINS OF THE HUMAN, IT WILL BE NEUTRALISED. +

+ NO.  MUCH MORE IMPORTANT TO US IS THE CAPTURE OF THE INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OBLITERATION OF THE IMMATURES AT HOSK.  CAPTURE AND TORMENT OF THAT ONE WILL STRENGTHEN SUPPORT FOR US, AMONG THOSE WHO YET WAVER. +

+ AS YOU COMMAND. +

Harbonah signals approval, and is gone...
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:21, Tue 25 Sept 2007.