The Homecoming

[Aurangzeb Khan]

Tielion Loki, Alalehzamin

The lone Leviathan helicopter circled twice before descending sharply in a gut-wrenching dive down towards the sprawling and chaotic metropolis below. The Khan reflected in those few moments that it had probably been a bad idea to have indulged in a full roast dinner immediately before take off from across the border in Ashkenatza, where his close associate the Ashkenatzim Minister of Defence had been on hand to bid him a fond adieu amidst much toasting with vintage, albeit assuredly kosher, Champagne. It was however a prudent measure, this sickening downward spiral which felt like the most unnatural and terrifying thing imaginable, as - the Khan needed no reminding of this - his ancient family and bloodline was still, even two centuries after the event, far from universally popular in the ancestral homeland and indeed, in this heightened sense of chaos and controversy, bordering on the verge of rebellion and civil strife, there was no guarantee that someone might not try to spoil the homecoming with a pot-shot or two... or three.

The helicopter however corrected its sharp descent in a timely manner and landed amidst the ruins of the Palace of One Thousand Columns, most of which had long since crumbled with the combination of the passage of time and a studied neglect by the civic authorities. The side doors of the helicopter were slid back and the five men drawn from Bravo Company of the Elywnnbrigaden, chosen to provide the close security detail - and for whom, as the descendants of exiles, this also was a homecoming of sorts, debused from the helicopter whilst the rotors of the monstrous bird's engine turned still and took up point, positioned in an arc with their rifles pointed outwards.

Satisfied that nothing untoward was about to happen the pilot of the Leviathan killed the engines and the rotors came, after a few moments, to a halt. Now the main party, led by a man in a black three-piece suit topped with a red fez and a prodigious curling black beard, stepped forth onto the weed knotted rubble of what had once been the palace maidan. The bearded man passed his fez to a man standing beside him who was attired in the decidedly archaic full-dress uniform of a Major-General in the Imperial Gotzborg Army, and them promptly knelt down onto his knees and kissed the ground.

"Home, finally." He declared to his three companions who were drawn from the families Almagro, O'Neil and von Plettenberg. Standing up again he accepted his fez back from Rourke Patrick O'Neil, whose ancestor had once commanded a Gotzer garrison on Cibola, hence the affectation of his rank as though it were hereditary. All three nodded sympathetically, if the Khan was in a good mood at his homecoming then it stood to reason that there was at least a 50/50 chance that their arrears would be paid.

At that moment two men glad in the green garb of the old County Foresters stepped out from behind a ruined pillar making to walk towards the helicopter. The guard party cocked their rifles, chambering a round apiece and clicking safety-catches most decidedly to the "off" position. A tense moment followed as one of the soldiers barked a challenged in Babki only to be met with incomprehension by the advancing pair. An unfortunate incident was averted when someone remembered to repeat the challenge in Elw, whereupon the two promptly stopped dead in their tracks and briskly raised their hands skywards.

Two of the Elwynnbrigaden troopers stepped forward to frisk the pair for any concealed weapons - finding on each an axe and a knife blade - they were however forced to conceded that these were the tools of their trade and were hardly concealed, being after all carried openly carried in plain-sight. It was however deemed appropriate to confiscate these items for the duration of the impending interview lest they take to hewing something other than wood, the flesh of khans for instance.

The pair made slight bows in deference to the rank and ancient title of the Khan and introduced themselves as Lemuel Habedanke and Perkins Wattelforth, Master Stewards of the Foresters Guild, this it transpired is what the Zjandarian County Foresters Service had evolved into over the last 227 years. They asked if the Khan had been restored to his ancestor's citizenship and he was pleased to show them the note he had received from the Ministry of Immigration and Naturalization confirming the same. The Khan enquired in turn of the Foresters as to which Baron held the fief of Alalehzamin within his gift. At this they confessed their ignorance there being a flurry of decrees passed and suspended in recent times - however the general consensus was that Alalehzamin laid still within the Barony of Eliria whose Baron was Iskander Mirkdale who might or might not be still the Duke - the Barons were at present at council in Eliria deciding the matter. The interview concluded with the Stewards assuring the Khan of the Guild's continued loyalty to the Osmani surname and expressions of the utmost confidence that the Rustayisarbazi of Alalehzamin at the very least, if not through out all of Old Lesser Zjandaria could be raised if the Khan felt the necessity of it. The Khan in turn thanked them for their kind words, warmly expressing his confidence that there would be no need for anything untoward and that a 'quick chat' with Duke Iskander/Baron Mirkdale would go a long way towards setting things right.

With that he returned to the helicopter to discuss with the pilot and co-pilot the possibility of an onward flight to Eliria.

[Scott of Hyperborea]

Did we really leave the ruins of your old palace intact? Oh well; Rhoti never was much good at scorched-earth. If you want your old stuff, it's in climate-controlled glass cases in the Museum of Barbaric Cultures in Cimmeria. I'm sure the museum curators will be happy to part with it for an appropriate price. Well, close to appropriate. Maybe with an extra zero or two at the end. You know how those Cimmerians can be.

Eoin once famously called Iain "as slippery as a snake and twice as scaly." I don't know exactly what he's planning right now, but I have a pretty good idea, and if either of you think it's going to end with you as Duke of Elwynn, the good sense and collective memory of the Elwynnese and Shirerithian people backed up by several large military forces say otherwise.

[Iskander Mirkdale]

Well I was thinking of asking you if you were interested in coming back, but you've saved me the trouble. So welcome back.

[Jacobus Loki]

The Khan represents a portion of the Elwynnese population that has lately been less than active.

I for one, remember the battles off the coast of Bosworth, and welcome him back cheerfully.