Hu Dynasty/Holds of Karag Mor

It was a typical day for the hunter commander, Ya Pikan. He had been given a tip that a thief hideout was in the hills in the area. His group of around twenty men searched said area, but came across nothing. Deciding to continue further into the mountains of the southern region of Meidi, Pikan and the hunters came across a pathway that was remarkably smooth for being uninhabited. The group pursued the pathway for nearly two hundred meters before stumbling upon a large tower that overlooked an entrance to the cave. At first, Pikan thought it was the thieves, but the architecture was too fine, too smooth and definitely not any type of architecture made by the humans who lived in Meidi.

Observing that there were people up on this tower, Pikan took his group closer, to speak with the foreigners.

Hoping for a peaceful response, he yelled out at the tower, "Hello there!"

Druzhina Gymnir Icefist sat on the stone chair, legs relaxed outwards atop his desk. It had been awhile since the Huskarl had any form of real activity and the boredom was really beginning to set in. Already he had tossed a Regiment worth of throwing axes at the passing wildlife, and even worse, the immobile objects when no fauna dared get close to the tower.

"Hello there!"

Startled, Gymnir fell backwards off his chair, rolling backwards all the way back onto his face. Grumbling and snorting angrily, Gymnir stood up, brushing himself off then rushing towards the watch towers crossbow ports. Outside he spotted entire Column worth of men standing in a loose formation outside his tower. Gymnir's jaw dropped slightly at the thought of action. With distinct over exaggeration, Gymnir sprinted down the staircase as fast as his stubby legs would take him yelling loudly in all directions.

"Contacts! Contacts outside the Tower! Contacts! Up and at em'!"

As he ran, heads popped out of doorways to find out what the commotion was about only to be ran into by the sprinting form of Gymnir. The message traveled like lightning, all the way down into the tunnel section of the tower. Fully armed rangers rushed to their positions, crossbows locked in firing position, preparing to push out the invaders. With his best coat of fur and mail, a hood of green linen, and his vision of the perfect victorious smile, Gymnir strode from his tower. He realized the men spoke a dialect of the Common Human language, something he had been well versed on during his time in Ranger Training.

"Hello to yourself lad! Be aware, you are completely and utterly surrounded," he said before stopping to think, realizing his men were in a tower and in no position to surround anyone. "Aye, surrounded . . . Anyways, what is your purpose here manling?"

Startled by the armed response, Pikan held his hand near his jian sword, ready to draw it in the case of battle, feeling slightly nervous, he responded, "I came into these parts searching for any bandits. I was told that there was a small base set up near hear, I saw your tower while exploring for the camp. We do not intend to fight you."

The other soldiers were looking around searching for any possible attack from any angle. Several failed to see any threats except from the tower.

Gymnir grinned wryly at the men. The man's nervousness was audible in his shaky voice, along with the startled and worried reactions of his men. Gymnir was proud of himself for he had pulled off a textbook maneuver. In his head, at least. Now he had the men right where he wanted them. With the gusto of a giant he pushed the door to the tower wide open, short strides propelling him towards the humans.

"Alright then lad! If ye' come here searchin' for bandits you haven't found any! This is a Way Tower of the Holds of Karag Mor, the finest in the Holds if I do say so myself!"

Without noticing, he had put himself directly in front of the band of soldiers, making it quite plain that he was a alone. And short.

A couple men laughed at the small man. "Ohhhh, xiao shan ren!" one cried out in laughter. Pikan quickly and commandingly quieted them down before they said anything else.

"Pardon my men, they have not seen your kind. I have only once before seen your kind, though it was them who stumbled upon us that time." Pikan said smiling, "I am glad this did not end violently."

Pikan lowered his hand to his side, not thinking about his sword anymore. As he approached the dwarf, he extended a hand as a greeting, though most of Pikan's men were still unsure about the gesture. Many of the hunters, the ones who were not familiar with the stories of the xiao shan ren or had not seen them, were still alert and very nervous. Regardless, Pikan was confident nothing would happen to him.

Gymnir's face tugged into a slight frown as the men laughed at him. He was not expecting that at all, along with the term thrown at him "xiao shan ren". Regardless, their leader seemed to be a honorable and polite man, so Gymnir decided to drop his facade of superiority. As the man stepped forward, Gymnir gave a low bow before taking his hand and shaking it vigorously. Although only coming up to the mans chest, Gymnir was as thick across as two of the men standing abreast. His big meaty paw seemed out of place shaking the thin hand of the human.

"Welcome to the holds friend. It's always good to see friendly manlings about. Not much of you left it seems. Whatever the case, it is good to see you're untroubled by these Bandits. Ah! But where are my manners? My name is Gymnir Icefist, at your service," he said with a flourish and a bow, "And who might you be?"

The large muscular hand seemed to encompass Pikan's own. Ending the handshake, he replied to the dwarf's question.

"I am Ya Pikan," he said proudly, "It is nice to see another dwarf again. Oh and do not worry about the name xiao shan ren, it is merely a name our people gave your kind long ago. Translated it roughly means small mountain people. It is not meant as offensive, though I guess it could be used as such. Anyways, now that we are acquainted, I suppose a diplomatic approach would be beneficial."

Gymnir chuckled heartily, a large grin showing his pearly white teeth hidden in his braided black beard. Small Mountain People, now that's a good one. I'll be using that one myself! thought Gymnir cheerily. One thing he remembered loving about humans the last time he met a useful one was their sense of humor. Or maybe it was just his sense of humor making their phrases seem funny . . .

"Of course, of course! I guess that'd be for the best. Alright, c'mon then. Let's get you inside and put a hot meal in your bellies. Then we can get straight onto this diplomacy stuff. I guess it's about time us Dwarves interact with outside World for once."

Gymnir motioned for the entire band of soldiers to follow, walking back inside the Tower with them in tow.

Pikan followed the dwarf into the tower without much thought. Several of the other followed without hesitation, though others were still suspicious. After several seconds, the remaining bunch joined to enter the tower. The architecture was interesting, it was definitely different than their own architecture. It seemed more cramped than their own buildings, but this was probably because the tower was meant for defense, not for the accommodations of humans. Some soldiers admired the structure of the building, noting how different it was. Unsurprisingly, the more honorable and polite men carefully eyed the architecture, but took great care to seem as professional as possible.

Gymnir led the band of men through the tower, past the prying eyes of Rangers whom had prepared to kill the men only seconds earlier. Gymnir just grinned as he walked into the depths. The tower itself was squat on the outside yet was much bigger on the inside. Like an iceberg, the greater part of the defensive structure was underground. At the bottom of the spiral staircase was a barracks, an armory, a mess hall, and a long, hardly lit tunnel that reached out into the distance.

"Alright, your lads are welcome to take from our food stores, although it's Mushroom day, so I doubt they'll like what they'll be getting. I know I don't. Anyways, business between you and me, yeah? I don't think I'm in a position to make any serious deals, however I think we can get a perfectly reasonable trade deal going on eh?"

Gymnir was once again proud of himself. Druzhina today, Viceroy tomorrow! thought Gymnir cheerfully. It wouldn't be long till an entire hold just sat down and praised him for his genius. At least, he liked to think that. The more he gave the idea thought, the less likely it became.