Scene #781: A Wolf In The Halls of The Elvenking

Owner	Pose
Bigby Wolf	And so the giant Wolf entered the throne room of Thranduil, King of the Silvan Elves, his fur matted with spider blood and guts, his tongue panting out slightly between parted jaws as he catches up to the tail end of his breath after that rather impressive display of gale winds outside. Surrounded by the elven scouts who fled the dark wood when he stirred up the spiders, he walks among them unconcerned by any threat of their bows or blades, because fuck that, he is the baddest thing around and he just did them a solid. His eyes rove over the intricately decorated hall and his ears flick to catch the sounds echoing from the shadowed corners, and he has to admit to himself, it's one of the nicer palaces he's been in lately. Feels cozy. Den-like. He could like it here. He pads up to the King, halting just below his throne as if he were an invited and honored ambassador, and rakes the man with his intense yellow eyes. Standing some eight feet tall, he can practically look him straight-on even from down here. He inclines his great, shaggy head in an approximation of a respectful greeting. "Nice place you have here."
Thranduil	Thranduil has calmed down just a bit, not having been externally freaking out but internally his heart had nearly lept out of his chest. There is a slightly visible hint that his demeanor has changed, a subtle shift in the size of his pupils as he watches what he believes to be a skinchanger like Beorn approaching. "Welcome, to the kingdom of Mirkwood, skinchanger. I am Thranduil." He stands looking Bigby straight on, one hand clasped over the other at his waist. "I suppose this is the point where you take advantage of my gratitude and ask for some meaningless trinket or attempt to extort something of great value out of my people. Well, go on. I am listening for the moment."
Bigby Wolf	Sitting down, the Wolf shrugs, absently flicking a bit of spider-guts off of one claw. "Don't see why I should," he replies, in a casually growly voice. "I wasn't actually expecting to find /elves/ here. Kind of a dark forest for your sort, isn't it? But in any case, I was just exploring when I smelled the spiders and thought I'd have some fun." Still, there was a purpose to his wandering and this seems like a good opportunity to work on it. "My world's only recently joined the Multiverse, see," he explains, having no idea that this one is an even more recent acquisition. "So my... community," he decides on a word that isn't 'friends' or 'pack' but still accurate, "sent me to scout things out. Make some connections. I don't think we're gonna want to have anything to do with this whole Union/Confederacy warp gate war. We just want to coexist. Peacefully, you know. But making friends wouldn't hurt. Maybe your people'd like to meet mine sometime." As ambassadorial extensions go, it's rather informal, but at least it's amicable. For a giant wolf. "My name's Bigby, by the way."
Thranduil	Thranduil steps down from his throne to bring himself a bit closer to Bigby. Almost nose to nose. "This forest was once called Greenwood The Great. It was full of life and bathed in light from the sun and moon." He clasps his hands behind his back and begins to pace. "Then the darkness began to move in. It began in Dol Guldur, just a few Orc parties thinking they could overtake our lands. They cut down the trees to build their war machines. Then a great sickness came over the forest from which we have not been able to recover. How is it you do not know of this? I thought even the skinchangers would have known the story of Mirkwood." He turns to face Bigby again. "There is that word again...multiverse. Union. Confederacy. While I obviously know the word Union, these other words have no meaning to me. if you are affiliated with this Union, however, I will no longer tolerate your presence." He remembers Bigby's name when he gives it, but does not otherwise aknowledge one he sees as being lower in status.
Bigby Wolf	Bigby's muzzle stretches in a seeming smirk. "Hey. I'm not from this world. I don't know shit about your history. Just passing through." The smirk fades, though, and his eyes seem to sober as he remarks, in a softer voice, "Although I gotta say, that sounds a lot like what happened to us back in the Homelands. The whole... spreading darkness thing. Evil creatures with war machines. I don't THINK our worlds are connected, though, at least not by anything other than these new warp gates, so your Adversary probably isn't ours. Still... hey. Maybe we could help each other out." The Wolf is thoughtful for a moment. Diplomacy isn't really his thing, but he's been stuck with the job as the only one who could be trusted to /handle/ himself in the great unknown just now. "I guess you guys are new too," he reasons. "We were pretty surprised, too, when the warp gates appeared. Thought the Adversary was invading us. But it was just this... unification thing. The Multiverse is BIG, Thranduil. Bigger than the Homelands, bigger than... anything I've ever tried to understand before. The Union and the Confederacy seem to be the big players in it. But I have nothing to do with their war and that's what'll be in my report when I get back, too. Recommendation: stay the hell out of it."
Thranduil	"How is it you are not from Middle Earth? We know nothing of other worlds, only other lands. I don't understand these words 'warp gates', or 'unification'. From where do you know these words? All we know is the moon disappeared from the sky and the stars are not our own. I have sent scouts on horseback to gather information from lands outside of our kingdom such as Ered Luin and Rivendale. If our kin cannot unravel the mysteries of what has happened, then for the moment we are lost." Thranduil begins pacing again. "The Union invaded our lands, disrespected our home and brought more outsiders to our borders. They have declared themselves an enemy of the woodland realm." Turning back with a slight fling of his hair he folds his hands in front of him. "With a war already upon us, I have no desire to risk the lives of my people to become involved in another, especially when that war lies far beyond our borders. Within these walls, we have endured for centuries. To venture out into these other worlds seems foolish."
Bigby Wolf	The Wolf lets out a long, low sigh through his nose. Even this is enough to ruffle the king's robes and hair. This concept was a lot easier for him to grasp, because the world he came from was already sort of a multiverse in its own right. Just... a lot smaller. "Okay, try to put it this way. Imagine a world OUTSIDE your world. Not just a different country, a whole other world with its OWN kingdoms and countries completely different from yours. Different moons, stars, maybe even different natural laws. And this other world can only be gotten to with magic. Or... these things they call warp gates. They're like magical portals that take you across worlds. I've been exploring some of them for the last week. And let me tell you, the difference between one world and another is WAY more than crossing the border into another kingdom." "So your stars have changed, King, because your world is now unified into this huge collection of others, and everything's been moved around to make room. Does that make sense?"
Thranduil	Thranduil's eyes widen just slightly and he takes a step back, though still in hair puffing range. "How do we destroy these gates?" Is his first question. "Is that how the Union was able to invade the forest? They did not smell like Man or Dwarf. If you are not a skin changer, then what are you? Wargs do not speak like Man. You seem to be vaguely intelligent. Is it by one of these portals that you entered the forest?"
Bigby Wolf	That's a lot of questions. "I'm a Wolf," Bigby answers one of them simply, ignoring the 'vaguely intelligent' comment. "Actually I'm THE Wolf, but I don't know if your world has heard my stories or not. In mine, I'm kind of the archetype for the bad guy in every scary bedtime story you tell your kids. But don't worry," he grins, showing his teeth, "I've reformed. And yes, I CAN change to human form, but seeing as how I left my /clothes/ back at the edge of your forest, I thought it'd be more polite to stay in this one." "I don't think the warp gates can be destroyed. My people are working on a way to block them, or at least hide them from the general population, but all the preliminary spells the witches have cast have indicated that they're kinda permanent. And yeah, that's probably how those Union guys got in. That's how I got here." He hesitates for a moment. "It's really weird, that the Union would try to invade you. Everything I've heard so far, that sounds more like the Confederacy's thing. You sure it wasn't just a SNAFU?"
Thranduil	Thranduil tilts his head to the side, his eyes twitching narrow ever so slightly when Bigby uses yet another word that does not come back to him in Sindaran. "If you need clothing, that can be provided for you." He lifts a hand and two guards move away to go find something that would fit a standard sized Man. Elves are taller, but much more slender than Men. "Perhaps if we can find it, it can be enclosed so that only those who are friend will be able to pass while others are turned back. The Union came into our lands uninvited, and showed hostility when they were confronted and asked questions. They were disrespectful of our rules, and disrespectful of our kingdom when they were held for questioning. We knew not if they were friend or foe. When traveling into anothers lands is it not customary to not behave like a diseased animal?"
Bigby Wolf	Bigby shrugs. "Hey, I'm not defending them. What you do in your own kingdom is your prerogative. Especially if they were assholes. I'm just saying it may've been a mistake, their landing here in the first place. Especially if your world just unified, they might not've known the gate they used would take them here." His luminous yellow eyes follow the backs of the two guards as they leave, idly. "But yeah, that's the idea we had too. To /control/ the gates -- or at least the one near our community -- to stop just anyone from blundering through. Unfortunately, warp gate control seems to be a big part of what this whole war is about. And there's a LOT of firepower on both sides. Right now I'm kind of just hoping neither of the big factions decides to take an interest in ours."
Thranduil	"I will do everything within my power to protect my land and my people. If that means turning away potential allies, then so be it. I would rather seal off any entry into Middle Earth from other places than allow them to come here and destroy us. The Dragon Smaug resides in the kingdom that once was Erebor. How do we know that there are not other dragons that will come rain fire upon us?"
Bigby Wolf	"You don't," Bigby agrees. "Matter of fact, there are statistically more dragons than ever who could come through here. If you want to try to turtle it... well again, that's your prerogative, but as a friendly suggestion I'll recommend you send some scouts out into the other worlds to get a feel for what you're up against. You might want to get hold of a radio too. Lets you listen in on what the big factions are talking about. I'd show you mine, but I left it with my clothes." He stands up. "But if you're not interested in trading ambassadors or anything, I won't waste any more of your time. You need any more help with those spiders though, give me a call. Most fun I've had in a while." He dips his head. "Good luck, King."
Thranduil	"What is a radio?" Thranduil asks his guard as Bigby seems to be leaving. "Escort our guest to the edge of the forest so he does not become lost. Though daybreak has arrived, there are still many dangers." He feels completely confused, uncertain what to make of the night's activities as the dawn light begins to filter through the tiny windows near the surface. He stands there watching, his hair blown back by a sudden breeze that blows dried leaves around in a small whirlwind. "I will be in my chambers." He is getting much too old for this crap.