17.5 Collared

General Summary

Day 211

Dusk falls and we set out for the keep to dine with Torrick. Bran, dressed as a blacksmith with his guild knot as dwarves find the presence of a smith more prestigious than a mystic. Kadia (not Hella) has dressed herself very differently from her normal apprentice garb. She looks older, more subtle, and mature.   The dining hall is simple and practical with a table set for ten: Three autumn fae adventurers, the three of us, and three local dwarves who look like they might be leadership amongst their professions.   Over our dinner we share cultural stories about the concept of leadership as service, chosen family, and the logistics of such a large family as mine. The young fae start off with apprehensive looks at me (similar to Nidet, and for similar reasons I imagine) but warm up as the conversation and ale flows. In my description of my family I mention Lyssa, thoughts drifting back to her in the Dreaming, and I see a well-contained reaction from Torrick.   As the other parties retire for the evening, he asks me to have some more private drinks with him. Leaving Kadia and Bran, we retire to the balcony atop one of the keep’s towers, darkness and starlight above us.   Quietly he tells me of the stories he’s read of when dwarves and elves served the same master, about how he’s spent the entire dinner resisting the urge to kneel before me, about how he’s not sure he’d be capable of disobeying a direct order. The magic that binds all Ventari has been growing stronger and stronger as more elves have crossed and the Barrier has weakened. They are simply uncomfortable when uncollared, he tells me while tugging at his own leather collar.   He tells me that dwarves joined the last War in order to survive, bartering away their freedom in exchange for safety. At the end they were cast aside, earning nothing for their service. There are hidden stories of heroes who slipped their chains and withdrew to the Valley of Storms, but those stories are only known to Ventarri and kept under lock and key. He asks if I’ve come to bind the dwarves again because it feels like I’ve stepped out of that time with all the power and magic that comes with it.   But no, that’s not why I’m here. I’m here to reforge things that weren’t done right the first time...or release them if that’s what’s needed. That’s why I was considering a stop at Afan before I realized it was occupied by someone already. At this, Torrick sighs. Apparently Warlord Krosht is his blood brother.   He went looking for magic to control his collaring - he’d heard stories of enchanted collars that forced absolute obedience and could not be removed. He planned to collar the Ventarri and upend the dwarven caste system. When Torrick found out he turned in his brother, expecting the punishment to be research on the lore and irresponsibility of the plan. Instead Krosht was cast down to Drettir and lost in the mines. It took Torrick ten years to find him and then they left together to found this nation. Krosht eventually left to build his army and they haven’t spoken in twenty years. He still wishes to march against the Ventarri but Torrick and the Armed Nation stand between him and their homeland. He’s still afraid of his brother and will not move forward without defeating Torrick first.   It’s a poignant story mixed with him recounting some of their childhood together. He tells me he won’t give up on his brother and we speak for a little while about the logistics of waging war and trying to capture him alive or help him in some way. The burden he carries and the pain he has experienced is unique to him - even if another were to experience the same it might not hurt them the same way.   From within me I hear the Empress telling me to touch him. When I offer my hand he takes it easily and I feel the warm shadow envelope him too as he kneels before me.   “Help me,” he asks, “And I’ll offer you anything I can,”   When I join him, kneeling on the floor with our hands clasped, I promise I will.