Lords of the East - Council Chambers

[Thanatos Eclipse]

At the news, Malek moves to say something, but Amr stops him. Malek looks at the Captain, puzzeled.

“Let the Shah explain himself” Amr calmly says.

“What does the Shah have to do with the Cusaders?” Malek demands.

Amr, narrowing his eyes at the Khwarezm diplomat, replies “As the strongest Islamic nation, other than the Ayyubids, he would rather bring war to his brothers in faith, then stop the Crusaders before they could make this betrayal that anyone could have foreseen coming. Well Khwarezm, what do you have to say in defense of your leader? Tell us why he has failed Allah.”

[Thanatos Eclipse]

While waiting for the Khwarezm’s response, Malek quietly queries Captain Amr, “What has happened to that first mate of yours, Femr Ushem?”

Amr chuckles, “Oh, yes; he partied a bit too hard after the fall of the Malikate. After falling under siege twice of late, I did not think Baghdad would survive if he was allowed in the reigns of one of the great Elephant beasts; so he has been left to take care of the ship for now.”

Malek just grimaces, muttering something about ‘drunken sailors’.

[Thanatos Eclipse]

A messenger arrives at the court. He quickly finds Captain Amr and hands him a letter. Captain Amr opens it and reads the message

“Ha, ha, ha”

Amr’s booming laugh makes several nearby dignitaries jump. Still chuckling to himself, Amr faces the Khwarezm diplomat and speaks “It seems your Shah’s subjects also find your leader’s cowardice quite laughable. What, we destroy your one magical ballista and he runs? Are none of his soldiers large enough for him to hide behind during battle?” Amr pauses, looking more intently at the Khwarezm diplomat, “Is this why you have not responded in defense of your Shah, have you too, lost faith in your leader?” Amr turns away, bursting into laughter once more, “Ha, ha, ha,” but he quickly stops and spins back around on the Khwarezm. “Waite, I know what it is. The poor Khwarezm are scared of water; saw the Omani coast and ran for the hills! Better not get too close to me Khwarezm, I practically sweat the stuff.”

Malek, not amused by the Captain’s jokes, says “Amr, you just got back and you have already drunk yourself silly!”

Smiling broadly, Amr replies “My friend, if I had drunk myself silly, you would not be sitting there with a frown upon you face; besides, I do not need drink to make fun of cowardly land-lovers, it’s second nature to me.” Turning back to the Khwarezm, sobering his act up a little, Amr continues “Unfortunately for your Shah, it seems news of his acts have traveled fast across his lands, sparking rebellions among his own people. I do wish you could ask your Shah to keep a tidier house, taking rebel settlements will be so much more work; the Rebels might actually have backbones.” Amr smiles at the anger spreading across the Khwarezm’s face, then walks back to his table, leans back, and props his feet up.

While Amr takes a sip of his drink, Malek, with a look of scorn on his face, asks Amr “Why did you have to go and anger him?”

Amr smiles behind his glass, “Maybe now he will respond.”

“Ya,” Malek mumbles to himself, “with a sword.”

[Quirl]

A second letter comes into the court. It is delivered by Kamelya's servant boy, read to her in quiet, and then taken away. The woman smiles, then stands and bows to the Omani circus.

Masters, it seems we are in communion with one another. The Qara-Khagan has heard the call of the Omani Admiralty and have accepted your contract. Let all those who oppose your will fear hooves and arrows of the Ghul.

With this simple statement she bows and takes her seat--turning slightly to the quiet Khwarezm diplomat and licking her lips.

[Thanatos Eclipse]

Amr smiles, “I’d ponder whether the Shah will make his stand on the Omani coasts or run back to protect his homelands, but we all know the real question is which master will he go crawling to first, groveling on his knees and begging for mercy: The Ghul, the Omani, or the Rajputs?”

Amr nudges Malek, laughs a little, and says “If this does not stir the Khwarezm diplomat to speech, maybe someone should check if he still be among the living; might have died of fright.” Amr laughs some more.

Malek just mumbles something about being left out of the loop again, but the news of the Shah’s imminent demise had clearly brightened his spirit all the same.

[Thanatos Eclipse]

At the far end of the Omani table Em and Zurm are huddled together and whispering, occasionally sneaking quick peeks off in Kamelya’s direction. Zurm says “Look at the way the witch licks her lips. Betcha by the time it is all said and done she kills that Khwarezm diplomat and eats him.”

“No way,” Em replies, “she’ll sick that demon boy all over him, then grind the Khwarezm’s bones into dust and use them for her magic.”

“I’ll take your bet!” a sailor sitting beside them intrudes, thrusting a handful of gold coins on the table in front of them, “Cause the way I have it figured, the old witch is going to spell that land-lovin’ coward into cutting off chunks of his own flesh and hand feeding them to that servant beast of hers.”

Em and Zurm eagerly get out their own money as a few more sailors join the pot. As they quietly trade stories of myths and magic, they eagerly await the old witch’s next move.

[TriforceV]

A messenger arrives at the court. He quickly finds Captain Amr and hands him a letter. Captain Amr opens it and reads the message

“Ha, ha, ha”

Amr’s booming laugh makes several nearby dignitaries jump. Still chuckling to himself, Amr faces the Khwarezm diplomat and speaks “It seems your Shah’s subjects also find your leader’s cowardice quite laughable. What, we destroy your one magical ballista and he runs? Are none of his soldiers large enough for him to hide behind during battle?” Amr pauses, looking more intently at the Khwarezm diplomat, “Is this why you have not responded in defense of your Shah, have you too, lost faith in your leader?” Amr turns away, bursting into laughter once more, “Ha, ha, ha,” but he quickly stops and spins back around on the Khwarezm. “Waite, I know what it is. The poor Khwarezm are scared of water; saw the Omani coast and ran for the hills! Better not get too close to me Khwarezm, I practically sweat the stuff.”

Malek, not amused by the Captain’s jokes, says “Amr, you just got back and you have already drunk yourself silly!”

Smiling broadly, Amr replies “My friend, if I had drunk myself silly, you would not be sitting there with a frown upon you face; besides, I do not need drink to make fun of cowardly land-lovers, it’s second nature to me.” Turning back to the Khwarezm, sobering his act up a little, Amr continues “Unfortunately for your Shah, it seems news of his acts have traveled fast across his lands, sparking rebellions among his own people. I do wish you could ask your Shah to keep a tidier house, taking rebel settlements will be so much more work; the Rebels might actually have backbones.” Amr smiles at the anger spreading across the Khwarezm’s face, then walks back to his table, leans back, and props his feet up.

While Amr takes a sip of his drink, Malek, with a look of scorn on his face, asks Amr “Why did you have to go and anger him?”

Amr smiles behind his glass, “Maybe now he will respond.”

“Ya,” Malek mumbles to himself, “with a sword.”

The Kwarez Diplomat rises finally, and speaks

"The Omani dogs taunts are as threatening as their warriors are in battle, and thats not saying much..
Does the Captain not forget the last huge battle between our people, and the complete ahhnilation of his army?, I'm sure it is something he and his people would love to forget, how they were humilated not with sewage that leaves the mouth of bitter diplomats but with the actions demonstrated on the field of battle"

"I Suspect the Captain knows nothing of military matters or he would not question the direction and actions of our armies, I have never been one to act on the wishes of an enemy but to ensure the opposite"
If the Omani wish to demonstrate their greatness, then it is their turn to act, perhaps they can start by recapturing lost land..."

The Kwarez Diplomat sits back down.

[Quirl]

Kamelya has been absent for several days. But word has spread: The Ghul have invaded Kermanshah and Hamadan, sparking war between the Qara-Suu and the Crusader States. A new contract has been written and now hangs from the standards of the Qara-Khagan.

It seems the invasion of Khwarezm was a mere ruse...

[phonicsmonkey]

Orloomo looks puzzled for a moment and turns to his advisors.

Kermanshah and Hama...Hamadan? Oh, we did? I see - hard to keep track of all these new territories!

He says, to no-one in particular.

It's a pity the Ghul appear not to respect the value of existing business relationships - we could have had much more business for them in the future and we have much greater resource of coin than their slave paymasters.

Still, if they are hell bent on their own destruction who are we to argue?

[Thanatos Eclipse]

Malek looks taken aback by the news of the Qara-Suu invasion, but Captain Amr appears to have more important things on his mind. He pats the speechless Malek on the shoulder and says “I’ve got captain duties to attend to.” Amr walks to the far end of the table and picks up the pile of money that had formed. Before any of the sailors can protest, Amr says “Seeing as you all lost the bet, it falls on me, as your captain, to collect the winnings.” Captain Amr smiles and puts the money in a bag. With a few sighs of defeat the sailors go back about their business. Em, about to form his own protest, was quickly shut up by a sailor beside him.

Amr sits back down in his seat, kicks back and rests his feet on the table, like he was about to take a nap. Malek coming back to his senses asks “I won’t bother asking why I was not informed about this either, but are you not going to respond to the Khwarezm?”

“What!” Amr says, sitting up straight again. “You mean he finally talked? Hmm...” Amr considers, “must have missed it; so many more interesting things going on. So what the boring little guy say this time?”

Malek responds “He wants us to come to him-”

“Of course he does,” Amr interrupts, “he’s in the middle of a desert, no water there!”

Malek ignores the interruption and continues, “He also spoke of the battle-”

“He calls fighting those land-lovin’ peasants a battle! Wait, wait, wasn’t that fool from the old Imamate leading that rabble. I heard those idiots went running for the hills after they heard of the Khwarezm’s castle crushing ballista. Surprised the Khwarezm could even find them. Sure is unfortunate we had to destroy that ballista, though, would have been a nice addition to my ship. Imagine a powerful piece of equipment like that on a ship; probable punch through a ship’s hull with a single shot. Wouldn’t even have to bother with boarding any more; could be sinking ships before they probably even knew we were there...” At this point Malek just tunes Amr out, as the Captain continues to imagine all the possibilities of such a wondrous machine.