NationStates Jolt Archive

The large spherical body of the beholder rose in the air, traveling fast through the vertical tunnel, out of it's lair. Oonull, as he was called, had to answer the call of his master. He was unsure of what could have happened so unexpectedly that his master required his presence so urgently, but he was no one to ask. His duty was simply to comply, and Oonull was proud of being a loyal and dutiful servant. That is what was expected from him.
He emerged from the tunnel into a wide circular cavern, that extended horizontally in both directions. Several tunnels such as the one from where he just emerged connected to that cave in all directions, placed in a well ordered layout. He continued through the cavern, and in the way he passed by several other beholders, doing whatever task they had. He floated as fast as he could until he found the end of the cave, that opened into a massive miles-wide cavern. At the middle of it, a colossal pillar of natural rock rose toward the top of the cavern, with various towers and buildings carved from the very rock covering it's surface. Eyehold, the pride of the Dominion, a city so vast that no beholder has ever explored it entirely.
Oonull's target was the large square building that stood ahead, not far from his cave entrance. The building was erected as a place to store the human slaves of the western district of the city, and Oonull was one of the slaves' overseers.

He arrived fifteen minutes later. The tall triangular entrance to the building was busy as always: Long lines of chained humans in old rags walked slowly behind beholder overseers, that kept three of his eye stalks targeted on them at all times. Oonull floated into the building, and went to one of the rooms in the back, to which he arrived after crossing by the tremendous entrance hall.
Seeon, Oonull's master, floated slowly around a set of tables. Three humans lied there, their bodies converted into a mass of necrotic tissue. Something was ravaging those slaves, and Oonull suddenly understood why the alarm.

Seeon turned to him "Greetings, Oonull. You came quickly"

"Yes, my master. Your call seemed urgent"

Seeon nodded "And it is. Look at these slaves, they are roting"

"I can see it. It is a disease, my master?" Asked Oonull, even though he foresaw the answer.

"A disease, and one quite effective at that. It is killing these slaves at an impressive speed, and our magic is unable to stop it. As we speak, hundreds of other slaves are being quickly consumed by this ravage"

Oonull floated close to the bodies, and he noticed the destroyed flesh. The chest of one of the humans did not move, and the other two could do it barely "But what kind of disease can this be, master? We keep our slaves in optimal conditions at all times. This is certainly a surprise"

"We are shocked as you are, Oonull. We detected this disease not more than ten hours ago, and look how fast it kills them. The eyekin remains unaffected, so we are certain that this is a disease that directly affects humans. Our dwarven slaves are not affected either, even though we have not run any test on them"

"But with the numbers of human slaves we have, this should not be a problem, my master"

Seeon seemed grim "As I said before, hundreds of other humans slaves are already infected and dying. The rate at which this disease spreads is alarming. And we do not know if it is passed by air, contact, or even magically"

"I understand, my master. I will put my cluster to work on this disease at once"

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Three months have passed since then. The disease could not be contained: The infected grew in number by the day, and now almost the entire human slave population, that makes up the vast majority of the Dominion's slave force, was either dead or dying. Works on many areas, from construction to mining, have halted due to this massive lack of workforce, and the high spheres of the eyekin nation were speculating.

The Council of the Eye had been discussing the issue for several hours already.Taaen, Sovereign of the First Eye, the most important state of the Dominion, rose in the air in the large council hall. The sovereigns of the other beholder state that composed the Dominion remained in a circle around the hall, floating a few inches above the polished floor.

"This situation has the Dominion crippled. We must find a way to replenish our workforce, and find it now"

Ooan rose as well "And how do you propose we do it, Taaen? We have managed to keep our human population growing since the days of the Hunts, and now the entire reproductive method has been destroyed by this plague. There are almost no fertile women left, and they should soon fall to the Bane!"

"I understand that situation, Ooan, and that is why I propose a radical action: A new Hunt"

A long pause flooded the hall. All the eyes were focused on Taaen. Until Ooan spoke again "A new Hunt? How do you even conceive such a proposal, Taaen! The upperworld has been too long without our presence, dominated by the two eyed wherever you look. You have seen what the Foreseers have shown us: A world entirely different than that we left so many eons ago. A new Hunt in the upperworld is simply out of the question"

Naaoll spoke from his place "Then what do you propose, Ooan? To wait that our humans die entirely from the Bane and leave the Dominion without it's base? We would crumble in a matter of years, if not for these two eyed slaves. The dwarves are unable to reproduce at the required rates, and many of the slave tasks require humans to be performed. Just a few days ago my dear Eaal had to bring a dwarf home to act as a replacement to our human servant, and he is simply distasteful. No one will allow dwarves to act as servants, and we will have the entire nobility on our eyes"

Duual agreed "This is true, Ooan. Without humans, we are left crippled. And if we do not act, someone else will take the lead and we will be left as the shame of the Dominion. I say we follow Taaen's proposal, however bold it might be, and start a second Hunt. We must return to the surface and find a new race to enslave!"

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A long forgotten cave suddenly exploded. A large part of it collapsed, creating a much bigger cavern. The massive beholder that opened the way floated slowly into it, until it reached the mouth of the cave. Hundreds of lesser, heavily armored beholders followed behind, ready to battle in these unknown lands. Much must have changed since the last time the Dominion's eyes swept through the upperworld, many eons ago. But they had little choice. A new Hunt would begin.

OOC Farseer Future sight used with permission

The runes floated and Galdern stired and then slowly awoke around him his apprentices worked, the department of Xeno-magical studies was always busy. Interesting this thread, differs, holds much potential.

'Maldoran come, we are soon to have visitors, gather my Warlocks and follow.' The man he spoke too simply nodded, the longest walker of the Warlock Path that served under Galdern, he was by now used to the Farseers ways 'Oh and Maldoran no one outside of my Warlocks is to know of this, not even the Exarchs'
For a second Maldoran paused he had never had such an order, it was typically thought unneeded to hold anything from the Exarch's who if it where not a matter of war would not recall any conversation, whatever Galdern had forseen was... unprecendented.

When the Tunnel burst open then the Beholders where met by a strange sight as the Warlocks assembled in a semi circle facing the place they would exit in the center stood the figure of Galdern masked in the robes and armour of his position. Runes twisting on his clothing, bending time and chance around them, and hurting the eyes to look upon, around him the regal, proud and arrogant forms of the other Warlocks stood, eyes constantly searching fulfilling their prime role as protector of the Farseer.

Slowly Galdern strode forward, almost unconcerned by the presence of the Eye Tyrants he removed his plummed helmet the unmistakable face of an Keigh, coming to the far, he stepped before the newcomers, the strictly speaking invaders of the Earth outpost of the Yvresse, his face cold and cruel in the sun.

'Mon-Keigh,' he paused the inflection behind Mon-Keigh for now missed out the disgust and hate the word carried, Galdern had seen enough to respect the indivdual powers of these creatures, it was concievable this force could kill him and his escort. Although the retribution for such an act would lead likely to the destruction of the entire race and so with a hint of sarcasm added 'welcome, you come to hunt I gather. Know these two things I will not allow you to hunt Keigh, and that the rest, is open to negotiation.'

The beholder battalion halted at the sight of the eldar lords. The Foreseers had shown some of them in their periodical reports to the Council of the Eye in the past, but to beholders they had seemed like anything else: Two eyed walkers. However, now that they faced them directly, they could feel the aura of power that swept from them. Beholders have a keep sense for magic, and it was clear to them that these particular eldar had power.
The battalion had received the telepathically order to stop from one of the taskmasters, who wished to confront these powerful beings himself. The taskmaster rose from the battalion's rear and floated above his soldiers, toward the eldar envois. The taskmaster was clad in a heavy set of silvery armor, with long horns and barbed spikes. A protected hatch stood over the main eye, while the eyestalks above it's head waved slowly inspecting the surroundings.

Since the taskmaster was unaware of the eldar's language, he decided to communicate telepathically with the one that spoke to them. Although among beholders telepathically communication was common, doing so with two-eyed creatures was not seen as something correct.
He floated slightly higher than the eldar's head, in order to show it's superiority "I am Aatull, Taskmaster of this battalion. We come here to enslave you and your race. But you speak of negotiation, and the Eye always negotiate. Tell us"

Galdern smiled momentary as he adjusted his focus, turning to the Eye's seemingly favoured of method of communicating, mental. The Keigh of Yvresse as I said will not allow you to take Keigh, but we care not for the Mon-Keigh, as I presume you care not what people you gather in you hunt the suffering of the lesser races will not concern us. What does Concern me is knowledge you Xeno's races have many different approaches to the Immaterium, and that is what drives my work here. The rest of this train of thought went unsaid, hanging in the air....

Behind him the Warlocks hung back simply watching, the ways of Farseers where beyond them they simply trusted in their master.

Tell me what you want, and we shall see if we can reach a understanding, one that will not cost us both the lives of our people.

((Ugh Short post sorry))

Aatull floated before Galdern. As he heard the soundless telepathic message, the beholder observed carefully the eldar. He could sense the power emanating from him, yet he would not show the slightest sign of inferiority. Powerful or not, Aatull still considered him to be something lesser, unworthy. But he also knew about this eldar people, and confronting them was perhaps not the best option. After all, the Dominion has been without a battle for centuries, and he would not be the one to start a war that could endanger the nation. Yes, a negotiation was called for.

Aatull began communicating telepathically "What we seek, slaves. Beings of weak mind, to fall before our superior prowess, to work for us, to die for us. As many times in the past, we come to the surface seeking new races to subjugate, as it is our destiny and need to do so" Aatull thought that noting it as a need was not the best thing to do. But he said it anyway "A slave could be you, or them, matter not. If you say we can negotiate, and our terms be met, we shall leave you to be" The beholder taskmaster made a short pause, carefully inspecting the expression of the eldar. Nothing, impassive. He must have either never met a beholder or be truly brave "As you well presumed, we care not for who we enslave, as long as they work and fall under our control easily, as most of you two-eyed walkers do. You speak of lesser races; to us, every race is a lesser one. It makes no difference"

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The Foreseers had gathered in the Council hall in order to show it to the Sovereigns. They watched how the situation evolved, how Aatull confronted the two-eyed. They were aware of the telepathic conversation, and all of them had diverging opinions. Taaen of the First Eye was particularly annoyed by the situation.

"We must not cede before these two-eyed! The Hunt must be carried regardless of these unworthy ones desires. So says the Void"

Ooan smiled with his massive jaw of jagged teeth "Your interpretations of the Void's words are, as always, mistaken, Taaen. They hold power within their grasp, and could very well face our might, and even walk triumphant. We can not risk at that degree. A negotiation is the best way at the moment"

Taaen turned to face Ooan "May your eye become blind for those words, Ooan. Degrading ourselves to their level is and act of unworthiness that makes me ashamed. We should take over them while we can, and enslave each and one of them!"

"I can not even come to conceive how the First Eye has managed to survive this long, with these utterly idiotic way of resolving issues. Always force before any thought has been given!" Ooan turner to the rest of the Council "Anyone else here think we should follow the First Eye's way, and trample above these newfound two-eyed, risking our entire civilization in the process?"

The other Sovereigns remained silent, while Taaen scanned each one's face with his eyestalks, furious at this sign of weakness.

"So be it" Said Taaen, and he floated out of the hall.