And this is the truth of the universe: to live, you must kill. We can be as moral as we want, but the calories have to come from somewhere, and humans can’t eat stone. Death feeds life, and life feeds death. The line between greed and necessity is a thin one, even in the all-consuming vacuum, even as we spread past Mercy Station to the entire damned galaxy.
-Karen Osbourne
"The mine sir in chaos, this lathes are en revolt an' the last mule train if are was tacked by brigands!"
Rolf puts his thumb and forefinger on the bridge of his nose as he lowers his head. In truth, hearing Bromdaeg's deep voice would be cause for celebration in nearly any other circumstance, but presently, the thick, barely discernible brogue seemed to be one more bit of confusion to add to a raging bonfire of bad news, misinformation, and awful circumstance that seemed to have engulfed him in just the past few moments.
"An new," Bromdaeg is shouting at Broskow now, spittle flying far from his thick beard as he stops short several paces, as if he doesn't trust himself to approach any closer.
"Hans says yew bin tech in about geld in the mine!"
Rolf and the others in the caravan had made their way into
Three Corners a few days ago and mostly disbanded, although the only months-old town did not really have the infrastructure to spread out just yet. Though new clay brick buildings were starting to rise and form a town center out on both sides of a single, main road, most of the transient workers and miners were still housed in a large, barracks style building that housed hundreds of beds and a canteen with dozens of cooks working to produce enough food for two meals a day - a breakfast just before the miners went off to work at sunrise, and a supper as the workers returned back at dusk.
Rolf had therefore found himself in transient lodging for the time being, though he had made an appointment with the new governor to discuss the caves and the skulls the caravan had found just a day's ride to the north.
It was there, at that appointment, or rather
here at that appointment, that Rolf had been barraged with new information, most of which was not welcome.
Firstly, just before he had entered, he had been told that the governor was none other than Lieutenant Broskow, though it seemed he had shed all ties to the military at this point. Rolf didn't really
dislike the man, yet anyway, though he strongly suspects that having Darran in charge of their missions to find the mines deflected much of the ire that could have been sent in Broskow's direction. Overall, Rolf had the impression the man was self-important, overconfident, and useless. Just the sort of person that could be catastrophic in the position of a governorship... especially in a new town that was scraping by for its survival.
Secondly, as Rolf entered the door and met Giles 'J'naeth' Hind, another lieutenant from the fort that he had not had the pleasure of meeting yet, he learned not only that his entrance into the city had been monitored, but that he had already been impressed into a sort of service here as the governor's mage... with an apprentice no less. It seemed that Broskow had been informed of his coming and assumed that he would take the position of
Three Corners mage... enough so that he had spread the word and Giles had been sent to assist and to improve on his own magecraft.
Lastly, it seemed quite clear after a few moments conversation, that if he
did accept the position (and he hadn't really thought through any other options) that the task would be quite an uphill battle. As could have been expected, without a real leader at the helm,
Three Corners had devolved into a sort of lazy anarchy where the law was written but not enforced, and settlers would do what they felt they could get away with.
And now it seemed, based on Bromdaeg's frothing beard and rage-filled eyes, there was more bad news.
"Does anyone know what he is saying?" Broskow murmurs, apparently missing the non-verbal cues the dwarf is shooting out like lightening bolts and looking about the room to Giles, Rolf, and Cinar, his executive of sorts.
"I never know what he's saying... Can't you learn to speak proper Anglish?"
"Something about Gold I expect, sir." Cinar responds before anyone else can, recoiling slightly from the dwarf.
"He seems to be quite angry though."
"Ah, yes! Possibly one of my best ideas! I started the rumor that we had struck gold in the mines! Greed is a powerful motivator, and workers have been flocking here..."
"Yew slag-headed ass!" Bromdaeg's words burst out, cutting across whatever else Broskow was about to say.
"Workers may have cam bet new they thin I'm held in out on 'em! Leaving! Bet the brigands don't seem to mine stick en around! Hay get five men miss en with a full lead a cupper!"
"Easy..." Broskow's eyes narrow. Though he seems to have difficulty cutting through the dwarf's accent, there can be no missing his hostile attitude at this point.
"Hay kin dell with the miners..." Bromdaeg starts over again in a slightly calmer voice, though his jaw is still squared forward.
"Bet the brigands need ta be dealt with. Han our men found if et's possible."
"Well." Broskow's easy smile returns as he glances over at Rolf.
"Who knew you'd be so well engaged so soon then? Who better to deal with these pesky brigands than our own mage and his apprentice?"
This is an exclusive thread for Giles and Rolf
OOC: Ok, welcome back gents and thanks for the patience. Giles, obviously your side of the story is slightly different. Major Brashear was told of the mage (Rolf) in the town and attempted to work with your wishes by apprenticing you. If you two can't manage to cut through Bromdaeg's speech, the gist is that a shipment of copper ore was attacked and the 5 workers seem to have been taken hostage along with the whole wagon load of ore and the mules. Bromdaeg wants the brigands dealt with as well as his men rescued if at all possible.