Inside the Dragon Chamber

However or whyever it happened, your character suddenly finds themself dropped into the Dragon Chamber, the hall in which the high lords of the Norlan navy hold council. It is a large, long room with a fire pit most of the way down the centre. Each high lord of the navy sits on a carved wooden throne on a high dais, surrounded by retainers, scribes, and other hangers-on. There are seven of them, all female and all Krafs of large areas of land. They are powerful, dangerous people.

The Dragon Chamber can refer to either the council themselves or the room in which they sit. This particular hall is in the citadel at Volunsvand, at the north-eastern tip of the Volunsgattir Mountains (the Mbala Mountains to the Azuangan Empire). West-south-west of here is the northernmost outpost of the Azuangan Empire, the city of Imur-Amkala, but that probably won't be relevant for the time being. Currently many of the high lords are away on official business, but three of them have attended and the others have sent representatives who sit on the steps before their respective thrones. Currently in the Dragon Chamber are:

Kraf Nihir Dragonclaw, Lord Protector of Skatha
She is known to be a terror in battle, but is patient and an unparalleled strategist at a light escort level (destroyers and light cruisers, mainly).

Kraf Fangrim Dragoneye, Lord of Tiermund Reach
Aged and grey as she may be, her skill as a sniper was legend in her heyday. She is a brilliant tactician, especially in the planning of large fleet battles.

Kraf Ilengar Dragonbreath, Lord Castellan of Volunsvand
As beautiful as she is foul-tempered, both her rage and her restraint are legendary. Her uniform includes the pelt of a red bear, said to be slaughtered by her in a fit of murderous fury. She does not suffer fools gladly, but is an accomplished (if impetuous) tactician.

Peter

Wherever I landed, it was in the middle of a fire. I sat up, blinking, and looked around. Suddenly, I felt someone else shifting into the area; acting quickly, I thrust my hands outwards to extinguish the nearby fire and ensure she arrived safely.

Sarah half-landed on me.

"Ah!" she exclaimed. "Wha--oh."

"Y'know," I started dryly, "traditionally, when I give the order for the team to scatter, we're supposed to go to different places."

"Bu--I...I panicked, okay?" She suddenly seemed to notice her position and scrambled off. As if she weren't already flustered enough.

"Fine, fine," I said, waving a hand, "but you can't do that in the future."

We climbed out of the apparent fire pit, and I raised my hands to bring back the flames I'd put out. Then I actually took a good look around the room.

"Oh...hello," I started carefully. "Sorry, we'll just be going..."

Kraf Ilengar stood, grabbing her axe-rifle from one of her retainers and grasping it firmly, ready to wade in and start hacking. Nihir also stood, hefting her brutal, titanic sword. Only Fangrim seemed unalarmed. She raised a withered but steady hand to signal the others to stand down before speaking. Her voice sounded like dry pages turning in an empty library.
"Who dares interrupt the Dragon Chamber?"

Peter

Well, looked like this situation could go one of two ways. I decided to just give them the truth, since I wasn't sure what excuse I could make for the two of us suddenly appearing in the room in flashes of light and bursts of sound.

"We're very sorry," I began. "It was an accident. We travel between worlds, and we hit some danger on the last world we were in. We had to make a quick escape to a new one; this happened to be one of the closest. But we couldn't control where in the world we'd land, or we would have arrived somewhere else. We didn't mean to interrupt your session."

"Kobatji spies!" snarled Ilengar. "They must be."
Kraf Fangrim sighed deeply and slowly. "Perhaps if you thought less with your axe-head and more with the head on your shoulders you'd realise the flaws in that assumption, Ilengar." She was silent for a moment before speaking to the newcomers. "What are your names? Speak quickly!"

Peter

"Peter Arkan," I said, "and my teammate is Sarah Rivers."

"See, Ilengar?" said Fangrim. "The Kob Cho are too clever to send spies among us with such strange names."
Kraf Nihir sat down again, resting the point of her sword on the floor and leaning on the hilt. "We should kill them anyway," she said. "Make an example of them."
Ilengar nodded. "Loth as I am to agree with Lord Protector of Skatha, she makes a valid argument."

Peter

"Uh, w-wait," Sarah started, still frazzled from earlier, "i-is that really necessary?"

Calm down, I thought to her through our souls. We can handle whatever happens, if it gets that far.

R...right...yeah...we can.

Ilengar shrugged. "Was it necessary for Kraf Ventrix to put a fifth of Skatha to sword and flame? No, but it got the job done."
Kraf Nihir gritted her teeth and growled. "Congratulations, Ilengar, you have persuaded me to side with Kraf Fangrim on a matter, something I would previously only have done were raptors pecking at my eyes and my hands chained to my ankles."
Kraf Fangrim cradled her head in her hands. "Perhaps it would be best to ascertain their business in the Dragon Chamber before we make a decision." She pointed a gnarled finger Sarah. "Girl, what is your business here?"

Peter

"Oh, uh," Sarah started, "exactly what he said... We travel between worlds, but we ran into...a situation on the last one and had to make a quick escape. We really can't control where we'd like to arrive, or we wouldn't have ended up in a place with people..."

She looked really exhausted. I decided to be ready in case she collapsed.

Fangrim nodded slowly. "Why this world? What sort of situation? I suggest you answer promptly before Kraf Ilengar decides that you're more use to us as chopped meat than as interviewees."

Peter

"Well, you see..." she began, but she started wobbling. As I'd expected, really. I caught her before she could fall over, then helped ease her into a sitting position on the floor.

"I ask that you please excuse her," I said to them. "She's not used to using her abilities so extensively. It can be very tiring. In any case, I can explain: We're part of an organization that fights a cult called the Sybek. The Sybek destroy worlds and can kill you with a single touch. My teammates and I were traveling through a few worlds to do reconnaissance when we were ambushed by an entire Sybek group, so we had to scatter to avoid death. Sarah and I arrived at this one because it was one of the closest worlds to where we were; the closer the distance, the less danger you put yourself in while traveling."

"I assume she has given you permission to speak on her part, boy?" asked Kraf Nihir. "I would hate to be in your position if she were to awake and find that you had spoken for her against her will."
"Quiet," snapped Ilengar before focusing her attention on Peter. "Tell us more about these Sybek. They sound like powerful allies."
Fangrim said nothing, but narrowed her eyes.

Peter

"The Sybek are no one's allies," I said, a bit severely. "You're either one of them, or you're dead. If you don't actively oppose them but don't join them, you just die when they destroy your world. I wasn't kidding about them being world-destroyers. Every single living thing on the planet slowly dies."

For a moment, I found it strange that the other woman seemed to automatically assume I was Sarah's subordinate. Then I took a good look at their uniforms, and it clicked. This place was either very similar to the Norlan Empire, or the Norlan Empire itself.

There was a furious, muttered conversation between the venerable Kraf Fangrim and two of her retainers. Nihir snorted quietly in contempt while Ilengar shifted her grip on her axe impatiently. Finally, Fangrim addressed the Chamber at large.
"World destroyers, you say? There are records of an event some centuries ago known as the Time of Unmaking. Many still speak of the Red Wolf in hushed tones. Could she be one of these... Sybek, you called them?"

Peter

"No," I said. "The Sybek didn't exist centuries ago. But even they had, and even if she had been, there would've been no one left to speak of her, hushed tones or not. When I say everything on the planet dies, I mean that very seriously. Every last plant, every last creature, and every last man, woman, and child slowly has a decline in health and dies. There's absolutely nothing left but an empty planet devoid of all life. Then the Sybek move on to the next one."

Fangrim nodded slowly. "I see. Are they bullet-proof?"

Peter

"Unless you can catch them off-guard, they essentially are."

Fangrim smiled thinly. "That is all we need. Let them come. No matter what they think they will face, they will be wrong. We have weathered worse threats with acceptable losses."

Peter

"If that's all, then," I started, "may my teammate and I leave?"

"I say we kill them now," said Ilengar.
"If I had a silver crown for every time you suggested we kill someone needlessly, I would have bought Volunsvand from you long ago," said Nihir. "Let us hold them for questioning."
"Yes," said Fangrim. "Incarceration followed by interrogation. I trust you will lend cells to the cause, Ilengar?"
"If I must," she snarled.

Peter

I wasn't liking how this was turning out, but it looked as though we didn't have any other options. Sarah was on the verge of unconsciousness, and even if she hadn't been, fighting our way out with our powers had the chance of giving us away to the Sybek. Not to mention that the both of us needed to stop and rest anyway... I didn't want to make enemies, either, especially not of people who appeared to hold a very high rank in whatever country this was. As long as we went along with them without protest, they'd have no reason to hold anything against us, right...?

How are you holding up? I thought to Sarah.

Huh, wha...? she thought back. What's happening...?

They want to hold us for questioning. But it should be alright after that.

Um, oh... Uh, okay...

I could sense she was nervous. Really, don't worry, I thought. We're not their enemies, and we've got nothing to hide.

Okay...

Ilengar turned to one of her subordinates. "Go. Fetch some guards. Have the boy clapped in irons in the upper dungeon. Take the young woman to one of our guest rooms and find a physician. Keep both of them under guard."
Fangrim nodded approvingly while Nihir simply sighed noncommittally.

Peter

Urgh...at least this would presumably be over soon enough. I wasn't surprised by the glaring difference in the conditions we'd have; if this culture was similar to the Norlan one, sexism was to be expected. Not that I was happy with it at all.

A group of guards entered, their axe-rifles held at ease. "Come with us," ordered a woman with a silver stripe on her left arm. "You will not be harmed unduly."