When a man aids my enemies

I hate the thought of it. Terenor Tomebinder was always an... Interresting subject. Misguided, ofcourse, but interresting nonetheless. Somehow, I just knew he was above the crowd. Stormwind had tons of mindless citizens, just going about as drones every day, letting the Church and all its henchmen control their very thoughts every single day of their sad and meaningless lives. But Tomebinder, he was above that. An interlectual. A thinker. In that aspect, we were not so unalike.

That is why I hated this. But it had to be done. My slight bitterness flickered away by the necessity of it all.

"Good evening, Tomebinder."

Unable to hide the spite in my voice, Terenor sounded surprised to see me. Just like I anticipated. I had made sure to look shady enough to get my message through, but not enough to fuel an arrest and with my entire face shrouded in black cloth, he would never know who I truly am.

"What can I help you with?"

No need to be subtle now. I had made sure that all the ethically obliged men in the library had other duties to attent to elsewhere. I had made sure that the guard patrol route would be slightly different.

"I am a reasonable man. And, reasonably enough, I get angry when someone aids my enemy"

I know he was looking for a way out now. But on the first floor, the only two ways down was down the stairs, blocked by me, or a fall great enough to break his legs - if he was lucky.
He sounded uncertain. I know he was trying to make me believe that he did not understand. But I knew him better than such. He knew exactly what this was about.

"You should have put them to the blade, Tomebinder. The dark riders of Duskwood will not take lightly on this"

There was a moment of thought before he replied. It was obvious now. My lack of fear when it came to the mentioning of such things showed my dedication to preperation. I had made sure that there would be no way out.

"You know, it is awfully hard for a judge to give a verdict which is not in accordance with Stormwind Law"

His voice was firm and matter-of-factly. I know he was just trying to gain more time. He knew he could not talk his way out of this one.

"You teach the people of Stormwind that they should abide strictly by the law, even if it means being hunted by cultists, Tomebinder. You are a pinacle of ethics to the people of Stormwind. You know I cannot allow such things to spread. I may have to kill you."

My voice was as calm and emotionless as ever. I wasn't controlled by the virtues of the Light. When murder made sense, it would be done. And all men who worked against my attempts to undermine the city authorities and the Holy Light would have to die to teach the rabble of Stormwind how such "noble deeds" of ethics are rewarded.

"Somehow, I believe that several people from the courtroom would praise your name for it..."

What was that? A slight bitterness in his tone? Damned be my inability to read his body language.

"The rabble of Stormwind do not want justice, Tomebinder, they just want blood. Deep down, no man cares about ethics or honour. That is just false things created forced into their minds by the Light. Once you penetrate the surface, the masses become bloodthirsty, vengeanceful and awfully easy to control."

I let the words hang for a bit. I wanted him to feel that he had the world against him. His despair would show how carefully any man, even a judge, should think before he crosses the Sphere.

"I am a reasonable man, Tomebinder. You have one option to avoid death: Flee. Your fearful submission to us should spread enough fear through the streets to allow you to live. I am a man of reason, I would not kill you if I do not have to. You do the work that could otherwise be done by your death, and you'll live"

He was thinking now. I knew very well the impossibility of the choice. No man save the fanatic wanted to die, and he knew very well what we were capable of.

"And how would I do that? What should I do exactly? If I just resign my position and flee, they won't buy it. If I write a public paper where I express my fear, they won't buy it. What should I do?"

Was that honest desperation in his voice? Was he still buying time? I cannot tell. It would not matter. If he was afraid now, his terror could only increase, and if he didn't take this serious, he would be shown how serious it was soon enough. Ofcourse, it was an impossible choice. I cannot think of anything that would work better than his death, save one: Him falling into utter desperation, despair and dread... Just before I kill him.
I was not lying to him. I would not kill him if I didn't have to. I know he would hang on to that, try to please me and do as I say to keep himself alive, but if he looked at it rationally, he would know that there is nothing he could do to keep himself alive. Nothing would spread sufficient fear save his death. He was franatically trying to decieve himself.

"Tomebinder, please. I give you the oppertunity to be creative here. I am giving you a fair chance: Make the mob fear the Sphere to the same level as they would if I simply killed you, and you may live. Ofcourse you'd have to flee. And if you wonder where you should flee to, let me make it easy for you: To a place where we can't find you. For if we can, we might aswell just kill you. It would make a good test for the young acolytes."

A long silence went by. His mind must be at a loss.

"I thank you for being so generous..."

Perhaps he was stunned by the vile intentions he correctly percieved in me. Perhaps he was merely rejoicing in the irony of it all.

"I'll give you time to think, Tomebinder. But I will not tell you how long. I urge you to work quickly, lest you may find a dagger in your back before you know it."

I turned and left. Whatever Terenor chose he would be doomed. His slow realisation of this would only further my goals. Now it is time to call in the Duskstrider, he will take good care of this...

OOC: I know there may be spelling mistakes in there. I just wrote it here and not in word, so my appologies there.

This is a writeup of a small RP session between Terenor and I yesterday. Though it is not an exactly account, the things that have been said there are roughly the same as in the actual situation (Terenor may correct me if I'm way off :p)

Remember that everything being said is Mordazan's perception of things! He would never do anything like this if he didn't think he was 100% in control of the situation (he is a control freak, remember?). He constantly analyses the situation and uses logics to determine the situation and the future. He may be right, he may be wrong, but he himself thinks that he has it figured out to the last details...

Now, we outta wait and see what happends!

A mastermind ^^ I really enjoyed this story here..