Hollow Henry

The king clapped his hand together slowly, letting out a deep and pleased laugh. In the same moment, the players both felt the spell keeping them paralysed fade away. Andy sprung to his feet and took a big step backwards to get away from the man in front of them. He couldn't move far though, since he just bumped into one of the wide eyed former prisoners.

“Magnificent,” the king boomed with a wide smile. “That truly is an impressive power.”

Looking around the room, Henry could see that the guards lining the walls and the man on the stairs were all relaxed. A few of them were even laughing along with the king. The mood of the room had completely changed, as if everyone was in on a joke he didn't know about.

“What?” He blurted out, unable to manage anything more complex.

“What the fuck?” The princess spoke up from behind the small crowd. “Does somebody want to tell me what's going on,” she demanded, pushing her way to the front to stand in front of her father.

“Just feeding a curiosity is all,” the king assured her, resting his big hand on her shoulder. “It's good to see you Lee. I look forward to hearing about your journey.” He looked up to the Demai guard that had been holding the players under a spell. “Please see to getting these people to where they need to be,” he ordered, gesturing at the former prisoners. “Welcome home everyone. Therveinia will be sure to get you anything you need.”

Henry raised an eyebrow at Lee. He hadn't heard anybody else call her by that name. The only reason he used it was because it's how she introduced herself. He wondered if he'd been being too personal with her. She never tried to correct him though.

“Come now,” the king continued, turning his attention to the players and Lee. “We have much to discuss, so I'm told.”

They nodded, and followed behind him after retrieving Hamish. Henry was speechless. The morning had taken just about every turn he could have expected it to. They never thought they would be meeting with the king at all, but his advisor instead. It was apparent that the king knew more about Henry than the player realised. He'd been too public with his abilities. Everyone kept warning him about it, and he was starting to see why. Word travels, even in The Hollows. They were taken into an office behind the throne room. The room itself was round, with a massive wooden desk close to the far wall. There were fancy couches lining the walls everywhere that the desk or door wasn't. In the centre was another couch in a crescent shape facing the desk. The room must have been used for meetings. It looked official with its lack of decoration. Not even a painting hung on the black and silver marble walls. However official the room was, it was still made to be indulgently comfortable. Henry could have fallen right to sleep when he sunk into the cloud that was pretending to be a couch. The king sat on the edge of the desk rather than behind it. He had a much more casual posture once they were behind closed doors, and that only left Henry feeling even more intimidated.

“I'll cut to the chase, gentlemen,” the king began to speak. “You have come to Therven at a tumultuous time. We're facing some political pressure from two sides, as well as a potential problem across the badlands. It's no secret that Therveinia is facing a potential conflict.” He let the statement hang, waiting for the player's response.

“We'd be lying if we said we hadn't heard any rumours,” Hamish offered politely. That surprised Henry. It was the first that he'd heard of a potential war.

“It's these times that a king might start to seek an alliance with other powers that share similar interests,” the king continued. “Which is what has brought you to our capital today.”

“What the hell do you think we could do about a war?” Henry scoffed, blanching at his own sudden interruption.

The king laughed again. “You’re definitely strong, Henry. But that is not exactly what I meant. If I've been informed right, you may have information on a potential ally that I would be interested in hearing.”

Hamish raised his eyebrows. “We do,” he confirmed politely. “If your potential ally is the outworlder group known as the Admin.”

The king nodded, and gestured for Hamish to continue.

“Forgive me for speaking out of terms about your friends, but they're a bunch of cowardly shites if you ask us. The Admin are like a disease. They claim to have your best interests at heart, but all they want is control. I've seen them set up in a city, and have control over it within the year. They're a totalitarian decentralised network of torturers and thieves. You're better off getting in bed with a giant tick, at least that would only suck you dry and your people could stay out of it.”

The king listened along calmly the whole time, seeming to consider the big man's every word.

“That's what I thought you might say,” he admitted eventually. “Your concerns echo my own, but there are those in my court that feel otherwise.”

“Isn't it your decision?” Henry asked dumbly.

The king shook his head with a gentle smile. “If only it were that simple. I have powers beneath me to manage my lands. Each of those lords ultimately hold claim to the section of Therveinia they manage. The kingdom is mine, but I am not the king to take a man's holdings.”

Henry nodded. It made sense. In a world filled with powerful people, it would be difficult for a single man to own and manage so much land. The lords beneath him would have been fairly powerful in their own right, so a fealty that was closer to an alliance stood to reason. It would be difficult to convince a strong minded immortal ruler that their idea is a bad one, so the Admin issue was a bigger problem than they thought. It would be nice if they could wipe their hands of it and just continue onwards, but it wasn’t going to be that simple. It would be like leaving the prisoners behind for the stoners. It just wasn't right to walk away.

“Is there any way you can convince them?” Henry asked, deciding to get the obvious questions out of the way first.

“Of course,” the king said with a sardonic grin. “But most of the most reliable methods are somewhat counter productive. The best way to go about it is by letting the decision making process run its course as it always has. We just need to convince them it was their idea.”

“And that's a lot easier said than done,” the princess added. “It's like trying to convince a fish to come down from the sky. It's not impossible, but it takes a lot of work.”

Henry shot her a questioning glance. He'd never heard that expression before. It sounded like fishing might be a little more challenging in The Hollows. He still failed to see their relevance to their political situation.

“Why should any of it matter if you have a war on the horizon anyway. Wouldn't it be easier to convince your court to focus on your enemies before you invite in more allies?”

“We need more allies if we hope to survive the war,” the king admitted with a shrug. “Again, it's not much of a secret. An outworlder force would be a remarkable asset for our kingdom in the short term. It's the long term that I worry about.”

“With all due respect, sir. You're still beating around the bush,” Hamish said flatly. “Where do we fit into all of this? If you were already concerned about The Administrators, what's the point in even seeing us?”

“Very well,” the king replied with a polite smile. “I have a proposition for you. For Henry in particular.”

The room was silent for a moment while Henry stared blankly at the man in front of him. “I beg your pardon?” He asked dumbly.

The king walked behind his desk, suddenly seeming a lot less casual. “I don't make a habit of turning my throne room into a theatre. My scouts and spies had already told me about your interesting abilities, Henry. I just wanted to see it for myself first hand.” He said, finally taking a seat in his high backed chair.

“I hope I played my part well,” Henry joked. “I never even memorised my lines.”

The king smiled at the joke, easing the now growing tension a little. “You played your part very well.” He softly laughed. “I had a look at your Temple Realm, and it is truly impressive to have accomplished such tangibility for someone so young. You have broken all of the rules of building a Temple, and it fascinates me,” he admitted.

That must have been the pressure and resistance he had felt in his Temple when he first saw the king. The man had looked inside and seen what Henry had thought to be hidden.

“Your Temple Realm means you do technically hold the rights to land. Which brings us to my proposition. If you were to agree to become a state of Therveinia, that would give one more voice in court towards your concerns.”

The offer hung in the air for a moment, allowing Henry the time to really consider how insane it sounded.

“You want me to agree to become a part of your kingdom?” He asked, sounding it out slowly to make sure he had it right.

“That is the proposal,” the king confirmed.

“You do realise how crazy that sounds, right?” Henry continued questioning.

“I know exactly how crazy it sounds,” the king laughed. “And I know it will piss on the furs of some of my least favourite lords.”

“You don't even know me. I don't know you either for that matter,” Henry argued, trying for some reason to screw himself out of a good deal.

The king gave him a kind smile, trying to come across as friendly as possible. “I mean this in the least threatening way I can, but if you become a problem for me Henry, I could just remove you from play.”

Henry gulped. The king was right of course. He hadn't seen the man fight, but he could feel the undeniable power surrounding him. The king had to be tier 5 or 6 at least. Not that Henry really had a scale to measure against, but he was without a doubt near the power of a Praetorian. Most people referred to the Praetorian innkeepers as Goddra, the step below actual godhood. If the king was scratching at the surface of that kind of power, Henry had no delusion he would stand a chance against the ruler.

The whole idea was insane. It made some semblance of sense though, since the king apparently wanted to affect change in the members of his court. There was no such thing as a free ride though. Scratching his chin, Henry considered the offer. “What would you need me to do?” He asked.

The king smiled wide again, knowing he had the outworlder on the hook. “There would be responsibilities of course, like attendance to parliament and other gatherings of lords and notables.”

“Well that doesn't seem too bad,” Henry said, feeling a hint of relief. He could dress up all fancy and funny from time to time and rub elbows with the rich. He didn't really have any experience with it, but it couldn't be that complicated. The king remained silent, his lips still moving subtly as if he wanted to say something.

“That's not all, is it?” The outworlder asked, slumping his shoulders.

“There would be the matter of tax, and your access to resources, but that can be sorted in time,” the king said hesitantly. “As well as the matter of citizen settlement,” he finished with an apologetic smile.

“You just said a lot of questionable things,” Henry decided. “I don't know how I feel about having a bunch of citizens running around inside me when I'm not there,” he admitted.

“That's a reasonable concern,” the king agreed. “A concern your citizens would share. For that reason I will be appointing you a proficient Temple user as your adviser and correspondence to the capital. For your citizen’s protection and yours as well. If you choose to take me up on the offer of course.”

“Let's say I'm considering it,” Henry admitted, earning a questioning look from Andy. He took note of his friend's glance. “And I do mean considering,” he said to quietly reassure the marksman. “How long would I have to stay in Therveinia?”

He knew exactly what Andy was worried about. The three of them had talked a lot about seeing the world. There were incredible things to see and do, and they weren't planning on staying bogged down in one place. Especially if that place was about to see an insurgence of dangerous players, as well as fight a war they were at a disadvantage in.

The king shrugged. “Under this agreement, Therveinia goes wherever you do. It's your lands and your title to them that grant you the right to have a place at the table. You're not the first traveller to leave with a piece of the kingdom. We have three islands beyond our stationary borders that still fly our flag. You can attend your duties through a speaking-stone, or astral projection. The latter should be easy enough at your level of mastery,” he declared with a hand wave.

‘Slippery’ Andy:

Now that sounds interesting

The ‘Fragile’ Henry:

Do you want people living inside you?

‘Unstoppable’ Hamish:

Depends on the people

I think you should do it

The ‘Fragile’ Henry:

Are you both still high?

This is insane

‘Slippery’ Andy:

If it doesn't work out, become independent

The ‘Fragile’ Henry:

And then he'd get mad and kill me

‘Slippery’ Andy:

We'll be so far gone by the time that you make that decision that it wouldn't be worth his time

‘Unstoppable’ Hamish:

Did you not hear the part about kingdom resources?

The ‘Fragile’ Henry:

Did you hear about the taxes?

‘Slippery’ Andy:

Pussy

Do it for ‘The Henrys’

Henry rolled his eyes. It seemed like the decision had already been made. He looked over to Lee to see her watching him intently. She didn't seem put off by the prospect, but it seemed like news to her as well. His friends were right. If it didn't work out, he could just kick everyone out of his Temple and avoid the Kingdom. He still couldn't shake the nerves though. It was a big decision to make all of a sudden. He couldn't deny how exciting the idea was. With sweaty palms and a racing heart, he turned his attention back to the king.

“I guess you can call me Lord The Henry,” he said with the most confident tone he could manage.