“Thank you Julia, you have been a great help. Have a nice day.” I said as I walked away. I heard her grumbling a bit, but couldn’t make out the words. I didn’t really care, simply heading up the stairs to the conference room. I saw a red hand print prominently glowing on the door, even without mystic vision active, which must be their system for ‘No Entry.’ I gave the door three solid knocks and stepped back to wait.

A few seconds later, the light flashed green and the door opened to reveal Master Faraldo. “Angus! Good, ya got here early. Come in, come in. The Stonefists are already inside, I hope you can hold up to your promises.” Judging by the amount of white in their beards, the three dwarves sitting at the table facing me were fairly old, while the six standing in the back of the room were younger bodyguards. They weren’t threatening with full plate, but they did have decent looking scale type mail on and sheathed swords strapped to their waists.

“I suppose some introductions are in order.” Master Faraldo started. “This here drakeling is Angus. And these are.”

“That won’t be necessary, sometimes it is better to see if the meeting holds promise before everyone needs be introduced.” The central dwarf interrupted, and I was slightly shocked to see Master Faraldo backing down. I started to frown, as I rather liked the affable dwarf, and hadn’t expected these dwarves to be quite so rude right out of the gate. As I took a seat unbidden, I caught a flash of a frown on the dwarf on the right’s face, but it was quickly hidden. My assumption apparently caused a nervous tick in the middle dwarf, as he was slowly rotating a ring around his finger.

“We represent the Stonefist clan. You called this meeting, what is it you think would interest us.”

Shaking off an initial impulse to reveal everything, I remembered when the guildmaster would chuckle at Djarleen’s habit of always hiding something in reserve. Starting with something that I hoped would only generate goodwill, I spoke. “In my recent adventures, I believe I came across the resurrected remains of one of your legendary ancesters. Does the name Grumblespark Stonefist mean anything to you?” While I was talking, I was focusing on the upper part of the central dwarf’s head. I knew anyone they sent would be adept at hiding their glee, but was hoping the bodyguards weren’t as well versed. I almost swore I caught some tell-tale signs, but was distracted by that twisting ring before I could recognize anything.

“That would be impossible, I’m afraid to say.” The central dwarf spoke, his voice oddly cool. “See, Grumblespark was elevated to a Dwarf Hero in his lifetime, which prevents his remains from being utilized in a necromantic ritual.”

“That’s normally the case, but I was sent by Thanatos to kill the necromancer precisely because he had found a way to resurrect the remains of heroes. Thanatos wasn’t too thrilled by him breaking that taboo.” As I merrily babbled things I had wanted to keep secret, I noticed all three of the seated dwarfs sit straight up.

“Truly? You know this way to resurrect fallen heroes?” As he asked that, and kept spinning that damned ring, I had to bite down on my tongue and clench my claws into my palms to keep from immediately answering. Catching Master Faraldo out of the corner of my eye frowning was all the confirmation that I needed.

Everyone I knew as a child practiced talking without moving our mouths once we learned what puppeteers did. I attempted to do the same thing, only kept my voice as quiet as possible, “[Mystic vision].” The world burst into colors of magic, and I could see violet bands emanating from that rotating ring and forming some sort of cocoon around my head. The bastard was using some form of charm magic! One of the bodyguards must have detected something, as their hand dropped to sword hilt as my anger swelled. Slight twitches of my fingers sent streams of magic into the construct, and my lip curled just a bit as I tugged it apart.

The sudden cessation of pressure that had been building so subtly was amazing. “You FUCKING DARE!” I yelled, shocking all of the dwarves at the table. “I come to you with the body of your ancestor, looking to return him to his rest, and explore an alliance between the drakelings and the Stonefist clan, and you try and charm me?!” When I mentioned charming, the ring stopped twirling and Master Faraldo’s face drained of color.

“Just who do ya think ya are, talkin’ ta me like that?”

“Just who do you think you are, talking to me like that? You try and charm an emissary on their first meeting? Not only that, but dig to get information on a taboo ritual in the hopes that, what, you’ll be able to resurrect heroic blacksmiths of dwarven history?” When he didn’t reply, I knew I had hit the nail on the head. “That’s it, you greedy bastards. We already turned down the offer of one greedy clan, in the hopes that we could bargain with you for training.”

“And just what could a pathetic drakeling have that could be worth the training ya be askin’ of the Stonefist clan, eh?”

Leaning forward, I stared right into his eyes and let him know just how badly he had fucked up. “I have the working notes of Grumblespark Stonefist, for each and every metal he was a master of. Everything. From smelting the ore to working the metal and how to best prepare it for enchanting.”

“THOSE ARE LEGACIES OF THE STONEFIST CLAN AND YOU WILL RETURN THEM TO US!”

“THOSE ARE SPOILS OF WAR I TOOK FROM THE RESURRECTED BODY OF YOUR ANCESTOR! THE BODY THAT YOU COULDN’T EVEN GUARD IN DEATH!” I screamed over the dwarf’s voice, slamming my fists on the table and standing. “You greedy bastards will never get the bones of your ancestor, as you can’t be trusted to return them to what rest they deserve. I know you will want to study them, and see if you can figure out the ritual.”

“We could learn so much.”

“IDIOTS!” I interrupted. “There was a reason I destroyed all his research without looking at it, for it doesn’t belong in this world!” When I dropped that bomb, everyone save Master Faraldo looked at me like I was crazy. “Worms, the lot of you. Crawl back into whatever holes you came from. You’ll never have the bones of your ancestor, nor will you receive the knowledge he dedicated his life to.” Turning to Master Faraldo, I said, “Master Faraldo, I do hope we can remain friends. I just want you to know that I will never hold you responsible for the actions of others.” At his smile, I turned back to the table and said with as much derision as I could, “As for the rest of you, I will have nothing to do with you or your clan. Never catch yourselves in my sight again.” Spinning on my heels, I strode out the door to the grumbling of dwarf voices behind me, not bothering to pay attention to any of them.

Storming down the stairs, I caught Julia’s eyes and spoke as I walked past, “You aren’t as bad as them yet. I would emulate Master Faraldo more if you are going to be interacting with more than just dwarves for the rest of your life.” Not slowing down, I headed out through the portal to Djarleen’s shop, trying not to lash out in anger and destroy random stuff.