General Stone

*Leon and Derrick prepare their horses for travel, they say goodbye to their loved ones and mount up. Before they can leave Leon is approached by Heath* "Boss I've been lookin for ya, I have an update about our orc situation. My source tells me that Bron is planning a meeting, we don't know with who but it can't be good. What do you want me to do?" *Leon closes his eyes and thinks for a moment* "See if you can spy on the meeting, but be careful we don't want Bron knowing we have eyes in his camp." *Heath nods* "You got it boss, and don't worry about this place while your away, me and my pack have it covered." *Heath and Leon shake hands and smile at each other. Derrick rides up beside Leon and speaks quietly* "Lord, it's time to go." *Leon nods and snaps his reins riding with Derrick away from their homes and towards the dwarven kingdom of Yarden.*

*Leon and Derrick ride across the vast plains of the west, their journey takes 3 days but at noon on the third day they see the city over the hills, it's been months since either of them had seen a proper city. The wall iron walls of the dwarves remind them of just how small their little town is. They shake off these thoughts and ride into the city, the guards quickly let them inside and take care of their mounts as they head for the castle. On arrival they are greeted by captain Kuvok* "Good afternoon gentlemen, I am pleased that you could arrive so quickly. Although just a bit too late I'm afraid." *Leon looks at Derrick in confusion then back at Kuvok* "Too late, what do you mean?" *Kuvok turns around and starts walking inside* "Follow me."

*As they walk through the glorious halls of the dwarves full of various works of craftsmanship Kuvok explains the current situation* "Not an hour before you two arrived we received another visitor." *Leon tries to maintain focus on Kuvok and not the works of art around him* "Another visitor, who was it?" *Kuvok leads them to a large door and turns around with a grim expression* "General Stone." *Derrick knew who this was, the expression on his face was one of fear, Leon did not know this name but he immediately felt a force overtake him, like just the name placed a darkness on his soul* "W-Who is General Stone?" *Kuvok does not answer and simply pushes open the large Iron door revealing a meeting room where only two men sat at a large table that could easily sit one hundred. The first man was the familiar King Thron although he weaker and had lost his usual spirited aura, the second was not so much a man but more of a mountain. The man was easily 7 feet tall, his grey hair showed that he was of higher age but you could not tell that from his physique, he wore black armor that seemed to darken the room around him and he had heavy scarring on his neck and face, his aura was so powerful that Leon almost fainted upon entry. When the door fully opened the man turned and looked Leon in the eye, when this contact was made Leon felt as if his soul was stripped from his body, this man was something else, there was no way that this thing was human, it was more like...a demon*

*Leon could feel a presence behind him, this one was familiar and comforting. He turns to see Derricks aura pulsing and trying to push back the aura of the tall demonic seeming man. When Derrick attempts this Leon turns back to see the man smiling and retracting his aura slightly. The dwarven king Thron looks at Leon and Derrick regaining some of his usual demeanor* "Leon my friend, I'm glad you could make it." *Leon breaks eye contact with the man in black armor and walks to Thron giving him a hug* "I heard you needed help, after all you've done for me and my people I am glad to pay back at least some of the debt I owe you." *Leon and Derrick sit down beside Thron and Leon looks back at the man in armor* "So Thron, who is your guest? I hope I didn't interrupt anything." *Thron begins to open his mouth to speak but is cut off by the man* "My name is General Stone my lord, and do not worry, me and King Thron were just finishing up." *General Stone stands and reveals his full height now being closer to 8 feet tall. He bows slightly maintaining eye contact with the other three members at the table* "I hope you consider our deal carefully Thron, I assure you that it is quite reasonable." *He turns and leaves the three friends alone in the large meeting room*

*Their surroundings seemingly brighten up at the mans departure, they all look at each other but Leon speaks first* "Forgive my language Thron but who the hell was that?" *Thron takes a deep breath and looks down for a moment gathering his thoughts* "That was General Stone, he leads the Knights of Black Steel that Kuvok told you about." *Leon put his head in his hands and gathered his thoughts, Derrick however looked at Thron in somewhat disbelief* "So that was him...I have heard of him in stories and even read about some of his adventures. But seeing him in person is another thing entirely, it's like a nightmare has come to life." *Thron nods* "Indeed, my father and even my father's father would tell little ones tales of him when they were young to scare them into being good." *Leon looks up and looks lost* "Wait, your father's father? How old is that man?" *Thron closes his eyes and thinks back into his memory* "If I recall he is over 200 years old now."

*Leon's mouth drops and he looks down in disbelief* "T-Two hundred years old ... how is that even possible?" *Thron shakes his head and sighs* "The world is a strange place boy, some say that he is a god sent here to make us mortals pay for our sins. Some say he is the reaper himself collecting the souls of those whose time has come." *Derrick speaks up* "Whatever the case him being here cannot be a good thing." *Thron nods and stands up walking over to a large map of the nation that is on the wall* "Indeed Derrick, he came here to ask permission to move his troops freely through my lands. You see without that permission the church would be declaring war on me and they know that would invoke the wrath of my cousins in the north."

*Leon looks up with a hint of optimism* "Well that's good right? As long as they don't have your permission they can't move their forces." *Thron shakes his head* "Unfortunately it's not that easy Leon. You see on paper I could just stop them here and everything would be fine. But the church is crafty and soulless, if I don't give them passage then they will get angry, and when the church is angry people tend to disappear. I have a family Leon, my wife is with child, I cannot afford to anger these people." *The room is quiet for a moment then Derrick speaks up* "Thron, you called us here because there was something you needed us to do, what is it?" *Thron takes a moment to collect himself then sits down again looking at Leon and Derrick* "I need you to kill General Stone."