Chương 20: Chapter 17

Trixie had spent the past few days oscillating between terror and exhilaration about her impending diplomatic journey to the underground kingdom of the spider-people. Terror because no matter how many times Krivax reassured her, she knew that there was always a possibility that she would not leave Northrend alive, and exhilaration because she was about to see things no gnome had ever seen before. This was why she had chosen to join the Explorer's League instead of becoming a Tinker like the rest of her family…

at least not as her main profession. A part of her wished that they could have gone immediately after they finished negotiations with the tuskarr, but there were preparations that needed to be made first. However, today would be the day that she, Malzie, and Oscar would meet with the leaders of the spiderpeople and plead their case for a peaceful and diplomatic future between them and the Eastern Kingdoms.

Now she was just waiting in the middle of the tuskarr village for Krivax's mage mentor to teleport in and open a portal that they could use to travel to the spider kingdom. She did wish that he would hurry up though; unlike the spiderpeople, her clothes didn't completely protect her from the cold.

"Are you ready for this, lass?" asked Malzie, looking just as nervous and excited as she felt.

"As ready as I'll ever be, big man," Trixie said as confidently as she could.

"How about you? How are you feeling about all of this?"

"Not entirely sure how I should feel," Malzie admitted reluctantly.

"This ain't really something people can prepare for, is it? Still, if we make it out of here then we'll probably end up the most famous members of the League next to the Bronzebeard brothers and Muninn Magellas themselves!" Trixie smiled at her friend's optimism. If she truly managed to become so famous, it would do a lot to help convince her family that she made the right decision in becoming an Explorer.

"Who cares about fame?" scoffed Oscar. The man was shivering and pulling on his fur coat, but that didn't seem to dampen his spirits at all.

"If we succeed in forming a relationship with these spiderpeople, we could all potentially become fabulously wealthy. What does fame matter in the face of that?"

"I don't see how that would apply to me," Trixie said dubiously.

"I'm an Explorer, not a merchant."

"That's simply because you lack vision," said Oscar bluntly.

"If we make it back to the Eastern Kingdoms, then the three of us will be the ones who have the most experience dealing with these creatures. That fact alone will see any number of Merchant Guilds eager to solicit your aid at the least." She thought about the merchant's words and decided that while they had merit, it didn't matter much to her. She wanted to be an Explorer, not run off to work for a Merchant Guild.

Trixie turned her attention to the spiderperson wearing black and red robes who was quietly speaking to his friend in his harsh chittering language. Two smaller spider-like creatures with a thin membrane between their legs were currently sitting on his back. According to him, the creatures were the same species as him, except they weren't sapient? Except when they were?

These two particular flyers were only about as intelligent as one of the hounds that humans seemed to like so much, but there were apparently some that were as intelligent as a person. Trixie was doing her best not to think about it.

"Krivax, how much longer until your mentor arrives?" Trixie asked while speaking tuskarr.

"He should be arriving any time now," answered Krivax in the same language, turning his attention to her.

"I'm not certain why he has not arrived yet, but Vizier Hadix has always preferred to… move at his own pace." Trixie hummed in acknowledgment, even if she was not fully satisfied by the answer. She didn't appreciate being made to wait out in the cold, but Krivax was not the one who she should take her frustrations out on. He had been nothing but friendly and helpful these past few days and had done a lot to ease her worries.

Trixie was just about to ask more about what they could expect from the spider kingdom when a bright violet light suddenly began to shine a few feet away from them. If she weren't wearing her goggles, then she would probably have been forced to turn her gaze away from the dazzling light, but as it was, she was able to watch as arcane glyphs formed on the ground and 'Vizier Hadix' appeared in the center of the light.

As Trixie strained her neck to look up at the spiderperson, she was once again befuddled by the variety of appearances of this race. Standing at what she estimated to be ten to twelve feet tall, Vizier Hadix possessed four legs, four arms, and was wearing a set of extravagant teal robes and a headdress that would put even the wealthiest of mages to shame. He also seemed to exude a subtle air of danger that had the hairs on the back of her neck standing up.

Trixie wasn't sure if it was just because she knew that he was a powerful mage, but her instincts told her that Vizier Hadix was not someone she wanted to get on the bad side of. The Vizier completely ignored everyone aside from Krivax and began speaking to him in their language. Trixie had no idea what they were saying, but she could tell that Krivax was acting much more respectfully while talking to the Vizier than he had ever acted with her or even the tuskarr Chieftain.

After a few moments, their conversation seemed to finish and the Vizier immediately began to cast a spell without any further comment. Trixie watched in awe as a portal quickly opened up a few feet in front of the Vizier, revealing several armored spiderpeople waiting for them on the other side. She was no mage, but she was fairly certain that creating a portal was not a simple matter.

"It's time," said Krivax.

"Vizier Hadix won't hold the portal open for long, so we'd better get moving." With that said, the two spiderpeople quickly made their way through the portal. After sharing a nervous glance with Malzie, she decided to follow after them. The first thing Trixie noticed as she stepped through the portal was the relative warmth and complete lack of breeze. This was not particularly surprising given the fact that they were underground and there was a brazier in the corner of the room lit with a blue flame.

The second thing she noticed was the intense focus that the armored guards were directing toward her. Trixie had the distinct feeling that if she had not been explicitly invited that she would have already been skewered by their spears. After a few moments, Malzie and Oscar stepped through the portal as well and were forced to hastily move out of the way as the Vizier followed behind them.

The portal closed shortly afterward, leaving them with no way back A few harsh clicks of spider talk from the Vizier sent the armored guards moving to take a formation around them.

"Follow us carefully," said Krivax. Trixie hurried to do just that as the spider people started to make their way out of the building they had portaled into.

"According to Vizier Hadix, we need to start moving now if we wish to arrive there on time." Once they stepped out of the building, only the threat of the armored guards surrounding them prevented her from stopping and taking in her surroundings. Trixie was filled with a sense of awe as she looked at all the fantastical sights around her.

She could tell that she was currently in a gigantic cavern that stretched farther than she could estimate and was filled with carefully constructed structures of an architectural style unlike any she had ever seen before. Gigantic webs of silk were carefully woven between different structures, serving as some kind of road for spiderpeople to travel along and groups of 'flyers' freely flew throughout the cavern. There even seemed to be buildings suspended in the air purely by webs!

Once she saw that Trixie couldn't help but try and calculate the approximate tensile strength of the spiderpeople's silk. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough information to do so and she was also busy trying her best to keep up with the rest of the group. Keeping up with Big Folk was hard enough when they only had two legs like she did. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Thankfully, it seems like their destination was not far from wherever the portal brought them, because soon enough, they reached a massive ziggurat that was more ornately designed than the rest. It wasn't hard to guess that this was their destination. A few more harsh clicks to the guards from the Vizier had their group entering without much fuss.

Once they were inside, it was only a few more moments of frantically trying to keep up and ignoring the multitude of stares directed toward them before they reached the room that had been set aside for their meeting. She could tell that this was the correct room because waiting inside was a massive creature that matched Krivax's description of a 'Spiderlord.'

The twenty-foot tall creature possessed a bottom half that looked like a mixture between a beetle and a spider, a thick brown carapace, a large sharp horn, and scythelike arms that were larger than Trixie's entire body. As their group made their way further into the room, she was also able to make out a pair of wings hiding behind its carapace. Of course. It's not enough to be a terrifying twenty-foot-tall creature that could probably take on a dwarven steam tank, but they can also probably fly.

Standing next to the Spiderlord was a similarly gigantic creature that Trixie assumed to be a Queen. In terms of appearance, she wasn't actually all that different from the two spiderpeople who she had spent the most time with… aside from her massive size and the giant bloated abdomen behind her that Trixie assumed to be filled with eggs. The Queen was also wearing jewel-encrusted anklets around her many legs, a set of pure white silk robes, and a wide fanning headdress similar to what the Viziers wore.

Trixie also noticed how the Queen was being constantly tended to by at least half a dozen of those smaller spider creatures which were sometimes people and sometimes animals that Krivax called skitterers. She failed to hold back a shudder as she reduced the zooming function on her goggles. The Queen's massive size only made it easier for Trixie to make out the details of her terrifying face.

Standing behind and to the sides of the Queen and the Spiderlord were three large statues with lower bodies and heads that resembled large cats, upper bodies that were similar to gnomes with two large sets of wings, and were each holding a large crystal in their clawed hands. Trixie assumed that they were larger versions of the magic crystals that she had seen Krivax use to contact the Vizier.

The closest equivalent that her own people had was a gnomecorder, except a gnomecorder was unable to transmit visual images. Unfortunately for Trixie, they were also not powerful enough to establish communication between continents, otherwise she may have been able to ask for advice from someone who actually knew what they were doing. Aside from the Spiderlord, Queen, skitterers, and the three out-of-place winged cat statues, there was also a multitude of spiderpeople spread throughout the room.

Trixie could see several groups of Viziers standing off to the sides of the room and speaking quietly to one another, and several spiderpeople sticking to the walls with their webs or hanging from the ceiling. After their group reached the center of the room and the spiderpeople that had escorted them slipped into the crowd, the Spiderlord silenced the crowd with a few words before gesturing toward one of the groups of Viziers.

Trixie watched with trepidation as the Viziers spread themselves throughout the room and began casting magic. Their purpose became obvious as an arcane glyph manifested itself across the floor of the room and the Spiderlord spoke words that Trixie was startled to find she could suddenly understand.

"Are you able to understand my words, outsiders?" asked the Spiderlord in a deep voice.

"Oh! Uh, yes we can, your… grace?" Trixie said in a rush, speaking up for the group. She held back a grimace at her jumbled words. She hardly knew how to properly refer to human aristocrats, let alone spider aristocrats.

"Good," said the Spiderlord, seemingly uncaring of her ignorance.

"I am Underking Kuk'arak. With me is Queen Mel'ras, and we are joined by the various leaders of the city of Kilah'kuk. This meeting will also be observed via scrying crystal by High King Anub'arak and his council, as well as the leadership of En'kilah and Naz'anak. You are here to answer our questions about the land you refer to as the Eastern Kingdoms. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Underking Kuk'arak," Trixie said as politely as she could, struggling to pronounce the spiderperson's strange name.

"You will begin by introducing yourselves," said the Spiderlord, his tone brooking no argument.

"I am Trixie Tinkwrench of the Explorer's League," said Trixie, only just now realizing that her words were being magically carried across the large room. They had previously decided that Trixie would speak for them when possible, so she quickly introduced her companions as well.

"With me are Malzie Stonehallow, also of the Explorer's League, and Oscar Smythe, a merchant under the employ of House Ashfort."

"Your first contact with our people was several days ago when you met with an Initiate of the Circle of Viziers by the name of Krivax, correct?"

"Yes, Underking," said Trixie.

"During this meeting, you shared details of your people and your lands with Initiate Krivax, correct?"

"Yes, that is correct, Underking."

"Repeat those details for those who are listening," ordered Underking Kuk'arak. Trixie winced. This was probably going to take a while. Trixie spent the next few hours answering all the questions asked of her in regard to the Eastern Kingdoms while doing her best to make the continent sound like one the spiderpeople would want to cooperate with.

For the most part, the Spiderlord asked her about the Eastern Kingdom's politics, governments, and potential threats while the Queen asked her about its races, especially the elves and the trolls. Trixie answered what she could while Malzie and Oscar contributed by answering about subjects that they knew better. Some of the muttered responses to their answers—the source of which she could never quite find—were very… interesting.

"It seems that these Eastern Kingdoms are politically stable enough and face only minor threats. Nothing that should drag us into anything unpleasant at first glance."

"So the foolish elves didn't wipe themselves totally out after all. We will need to update their status from extinct to merely misplaced."

"It is unfortunate that these new lands also have trolls. The Drakkari are an annoyance enough as it is. It's possible that their damned Loa knew about this the entire time."

"These other races sound fascinating. So much to study…" Once they were done with those topics, one of the Viziers stepped forward and asked them questions about magic. Unfortunately, she was able to answer very few of those questions, although the Viziers did seem interested when she told them about Dalaran. After they finished answering questions about magic, the Viziers switched to asking about the Eastern Kingdom's technology.

Thankfully, Trixie was more than able to answer questions like that and a demonstration of her Shrink Ray on an offered skitterer—which she was assured wasn't sapient—sent many of the Viziers into a short frenzy that the Underking had to calm down himself.

"How in the world did such a small device reduce the mass and density of a living creature to such a degree without killing it? Does it function similarly to the Reduce spell?"

"Not only that, but this technology can be used by anyone. It's not unlike some of the low-level spellweaves."

"This goes far beyond the device that we studied earlier."

"Apparently, the small ones are the most technologically adept races on the continent. This opens up many possibilities."

"This will no doubt lead to the Technological Research Division getting a raise in funding…" The Vizier that Trixie recognized as Krivax's mentor stepped forward to ask about the potential for trade and Oscar stepped forward to give his best presentation on the subject. The merchant spoke at length about the value of the spiderpeople's silk and ores, and the various goods that the Eastern Kingdom could offer them in turn; focusing on foodstuffs, technology, and magical knowledge and supplies.

"To think these foreigners would be lacking in such basic resources. Pathetic."

"While it's doubtful that these lesser beings have much to offer that we can't produce ourselves, their knowledge and novelties might have some interest, at the very least."

"This 'Church of the Holy Light' seems like an interesting research subject."

"I very much doubt they have anything we could not replicate ourselves."

"I wonder if they have any foods as delicious as shellfish…" By the time they were done answering questions, Trixie could tell that the Underking was the only thing keeping the audience from breaking out into loud conversation.

"Does anybody have any more questions for the outsiders?" asked Underking Kuk'arak. The room was quiet for several more moments before the Spiderlord continued.

"Very well. The outsiders will be made to wait elsewhere while we discuss everything that we have heard."

"Thank you for your time, Underking Kuk'arak," said Trixie as diplomatically as she could.

"I hope the future of our people's relationship is one of cooperation." With that said, she and her companions turned to leave the room under the escort of the armored guards who had brought them there. Trixie had expected Krivax and Masruk to join them given they were the only ones who could communicate with them without magic. Apparently, they thought so as well since the two spiderpeople moved to follow them before Krivax was stopped by his mentor.

Trixie was barely able to hear what the Vizier said to Krivax as she passed by them.

"Not you," said the Vizier.

"You need to be here for the rest of this meeting. Your Warrior friend will go with them."

"Yes, Vizier," said Krivax. After saying a few words to his friend that Trixie could not make out, Masruk nodded and moved to follow their group. As they left the room, Trixie couldn't find it in herself to wonder about the little by-play, because she had more important things to think about. Trixie was not entirely certain what caused it specifically, but halfway through the meeting, her instincts started to tell her that she had seriously underestimated the xenophobia of the spiderpeople.

Trixie had a very real feeling that there was a chance that they would not be allowed to leave safely. Now, the only thing she could bring herself to focus on was praying to any god that was listening that the discussion that the spiderpeople were about to have would result in a decision that would allow her to see her family again.