[002] [video | during the black-out event]

[heirwithouthope]

[From the look of things when the feed switches on, a slow nineties R&B music video is about to begin, judging by the dark room, the candles on every available surface, and the rugged man sitting on the edge of a well-crafted wooden bed--okay never mind, that's Thorin. And he looks bamboozled about something.]

The dark does not trouble me. There is convenience to be had in the non-burning lights built into these towers, but they are not necessary. Clearly we have other means. [As he turns to gesture at the candles, the light catches on the soot and gray mixed into his hair, before he looks back.]

...But what I do not understand is the sudden stench of this place. Someone explain to me why darkness would cause a place to smell of flowers. [A not-so-hidden sneer of disgust.] I would like to know.

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[governorkang]

Thorin.

[He smiles, and nods at the seat across from him. He's already got a drink of his own, relaxed and leaning back against the wall.]

No dwarf spirits, unfortunately, but the ale is good.

[heirwithouthope]

Some that I have found. [At least the ales he's tried that don't come in bottles or cans--of all things wretched.

He pulls the chair back enough to ease into it.] ...Sadly no sufficient replacement for pipe weed that I have been able to find.

[governorkang]

[Don't even get Kang started on cans and how they ruin the flavor.]

It might take some searching, but I hope you do find one.

[heirwithouthope]

Perhaps--if some hobbits ever return. [The people of the Shire did grow some superior pipe weed.

He places his hands on the table, carding his fingers together.] But you called me here for a reason. [By Dwarfish standards, it was strange that he has not cut to the subject, yet.]

[governorkang]

Yes, I did.

[He sits up, becoming a little more serious.]

I should start at the beginning. I've told you already that my kind were created from the eggs of dragons?

[heirwithouthope]

[His expression darkens at the mention of dragons--a near-perfunctory reaction.]

You have mentioned this.

[governorkang]

Those eggs were stolen, and the dragons, metallics, were made to swear an oath to the goddess who had it done that they would not interfere with her latest attempt to take over Krynn, and they would get their eggs back safe.

[He pauses.]

Before I continue, I should explain the difference between the metallic and chromatic dragons of my world. The former are good in nature and serve the god Paladine. The latter are evil and serve Takhisis. Without the metallics involved, Takhisis would surely win.

[His expression darkens a bit.]

They should have expected that she would lie to them. She used them to create us, to be shock troops in her war.

[heirwithouthope]

[He tilts his head as he listens to Kang, taking it inside one ear as he stares at the nearest corner of their table. Thorin thinks about what he is being told.

Then the words dragon and good appear in the same sentence, and he fixes Kang with a scoffing glance.]

They should have. The idea that a dragon could be honorable and serve anyone but their fallen lord is laughable.

It is a grave mistake to trust them. No matter the type.

[governorkang]

[He almost looks like it hurts to say it, though he keeps his voice neutral.]

Different worlds, different dragons. I'm no fan of metallics, but I can assure you that they are good in nature, and the two that are here pose no threat to [The barest hesitation here:] us.

We were raised to believe that mercy is weakness, and to hate elves, dwarves, any other race considered to be good. Our side stole and burned and murdered and worse, and my kind became particularly notorious for destruction. Unlike our dragon parents, we turned out to be evil in nature; it wasn't just upbringing.

The metallics eventually found out the truth and joined the war, and shortly after, it was over, with our forces losing. Even if they hadn't joined, we were likely to have destroyed ourselves with the backstabbing and the fighting for power amongst our ranks.

[He snorts, disgusted.]

Many of us draconians had become sick of the war, and the way the humans who claimed to be our allies treated us, as dumb beasts who were only good for infantry or digging shit holes. After the war, most of us turned to banditry and mercenary work, the only things they knew, and the opposing forces began hunting us down; our allies did nothing. We'd outlived our usefulness. I wasn't interested in dying, and neither were my men, so I took my regiment to a valley in the foothills of the Kharolis mountains to live out however long we would in relative peace. We had no females, and no hope of a future.

[heirwithouthope]

[It was a long, hard journey to winning Thorin's trust. Admitting to possible murder (possible murder of dwarves) was not a roadside attraction. His jaw becomes tight as the rest of his body subconsciously adjusts to the possibility of attacking if he had to--though he notes that Kang was telling him about it instead of trying to keep it a secret in order to gain his trust or lull him into a false sense of security with less effort. And he wasn't recounting the violence as something he was proud of or submitted to.

Which gets a little easier to understand as Kang keeps going with the story: that some of his kind ascended from the bloodshed and wanted to make a different life for themselves. Dragon-related or not, something sour turns inside his stomach at the mention of besmirching and betrayal from another race. He doesn't look particularly gleeful about the idea of Kang's people going to some mountain to go extinct, either.

He looks down at his hands, into the weaving pattern of his fingers for a moment, and then back at Kang.]

And this is the reputation that you spoke to me about. This woman gave you life and command, and you followed it into a war.

[governorkang]

As I said already, our upbringing is in no way an excuse or a full explanation for our actions, and we are still not a good race, as a whole. We likely never will be. I'm not what you would consider a good person. We don't feel regret for anything that we did, and that some of us continue to do.

[And it doesn't bother him. It's just who and what he is.]

However, I don't see the point in needless killing or destruction.

When we first met, I told you that my regiment shared a valley with hill dwarves for several decades. Draconians are poor farmers, and we are also partial to alcoholic drink, especially dwarf spirits. So, we began raiding the dwarves. Naturally, they would raid us back. It was a bloody affair on both sides at first, and while our side had a higher kill count, we had the disadvantage of never being able to replace any that we lost.

Then, I decided to try a new tactic on our raids. We tried to avoid causing death or serious injury, and were just as successful, and the next time the dwarves raided us back, they did the same. It became a game of a sort for us, a way to blow off steam. Things stayed like this for about twenty-five years.

[heirwithouthope]

[His hands curled into fists on the surface of the table. These were not dwarves that he knows--that he would ever know, considering it was another world entirely that Kang came from. He has no reason to feel loyal to them, or take their side in this conversation, but perhaps it was a little more visceral than that. Connecting emphatically to being robbed and invaded.

Violence rises within him, and the urge to do something about it was more than palpable...though vicarious rage for other dwarves was not enough to attack someone that has not threatened him, first (and save for a dagger tied to his belt, was mostly unarmed). Such actions would not be honorable or fitting for an heir to the throne of Erebor.

Instead Thorin gives him a distasteful look. His voice carries a patience that only hides hides his complete impatience with the subject.]

If your kind was in such desperate need of this ale, did it ever occur to you to simply trade with the dwarves?

[governorkang]

[He knows Thorin's mad, despite the patience in his voice, and he doesn't really blame the dwarf.]

In hindsight, we should have. I fully admit that. But, we didn't. And I don't regret it because if things had been different, we likely wouldn't have found out about the existence of females and had the opportunity to find them.

[heirwithouthope]

At the expense of others. Whenever you return to your world, remember there is no dwarf I have ever known to pick a battle over gold.

[governorkang]

It would be extremely disrespectful to you for me to lie, or to hide the truth.

[His voice is serious.]

It may not appease your anger any, but we are now on good terms with those dwarves. I'll freely answer any questions you have.

[heirwithouthope]

[Thorin leans back in his chair and continues to study Kang from a different angle. He's agitated, but he has said his piece, and Kang seems to have said all of his--there was nothing more he could add when Kang understands his feelings and stands firm by his actions.]

Very well. Tell me why I should trust you, if you have robbed my people in the past? Why should I believe these honorable words are not some cunning of yours?

[governorkang]

[It's a fair question.]

We have our own nation now, children to raise, and enough worries of our own. We don't need to add any further worries by getting on the bad side of other races and nations. And, while I don't expect, nor particularly want, forgiveness from the other races, mutual tolerance is all I ask.

[heirwithouthope]

You will have tolerance if you no longer try to take what is not yours.

[Detached as the statement is, he is referring to their own relationship just as much as Kang's situation back home. He would stay his hand as long as Kang didn't attack him or try to rob him. Perhaps this was the one partial benefit to being the only dwarf in the city: he only had to worry for himself.]

[governorkang]

Teyr has not, and will not do so.

[And neither will he.]

[heirwithouthope]

[His eyebrows lift into his forehead.]

Teyr?

[governorkang]

Our nation. And, I will not tolerate any others of my kind, from Teyr or not, that attempt to do so here.

[heirwithouthope]

There are more of you in this place?

[If there is uncertainty in Thorin's tone, it's just because he hasn't seen any other bipedal I-can't-believe-it's-not-dragons walking around.]

[governorkang]

Not yet. There is a chance more may show up.

[He simultaneously hopes, and doesn't hope, that more do. On one hand, it sucks being the only one of your kind there. On the other, he doesn't want others to be forcibly taken from home.]

[heirwithouthope]

[He can fully relate to that conflict of interest. Though he goes silent and looks at his hands again, contemplating them before changing the subject.]

What of the dragons of your world?

[governorkang]

Are any of them here?