From above, the wicked shall receive their just reward
Well okay, it seemed like they were doing this. That was fine by Kronk. In kinder times, in gentler periods in history, Kronk thought the Gates could have been a sanctuary, a paradise for anyone who wanted to rest the soul with easy living on thick green grass beneath a light blue sky.
Now was not that time.
Now Kronk needed soldiers to guard that paradise, strong men willing to go to war for it. It was not a kind time to live in the Gates, and Kronk wasn’t looking for kind men to guard it. Soldiers, it was said, did not need to say pretty words. But, how did you recruit a stranger to pledge life and limb to a place he didn’t know?
You didn’t, that was the answer.
You just had to recruit strong men and hope that they saw something in the charred, burned place that had once been Heaven’s Gates. All Kronk could do was offer them a place and hope that place wheedled up into their soul and took hold. Love, duty and honor was like an infection. It burned through its host, causing their blood to boil and their heat to rise. It didn’t care about practically, and it didn’t care about priorities. Or at least it didn’t with Kronk, maybe others could rein in the feeling, could use it to their own ends. He could not.
But still, Hurricane suggested Solomyr take Kronk’s offer if he wasn’t cut out for the Tundra. Kronk let out a little bark of laughter. Sure, there was more food and warm sun in the Gates, that was true enough. The Tundra was bitterly inhospitable, but was it plagued by the Chamber? Maybe it would be soon. Kronk’s rye smile turned dead pan.
“I’m offering much of the same. I serve the Gates. Recently, we’ve had a little invasion problem. I’m interested in recruiting men who are prepared to see some action. We need soldiers, plain and simple. Or if not soldiers, than diplomats who can think their way out of a tough situation. We have plenty of scared women and children.” Kronk couldn’t say much more. There would be consequences, if word got out that the Gates was stirring an army. Still, you couldn’t stir an army until you had one, and the orange and white stallion had revenge on the mind. He just hoped the rest of his kingdom would be ready when the time was right.
Kronk
OOC: Sorry for the slowness.