Transcript of Eorl's Interrogation of Hippomache, a follower of Throk

(As transcribed by Perun, dictated by Eorl)

EorlOfXopolis: <knock><knock>

EorlOfXopolis: "I'm coming in."

EorlOfXopolis: Door opens.

Hal: There sit Hippomache & Ruth. Ruth looks less than pleased. Hip smiles when she sees you.

EorlOfXopolis: (not from charm though -- that's Marty, yeah?)

Hal: Oh, right. She scowls at you, you ugly loser.

EorlOfXopolis: That's better.

EorlOfXopolis: "Hello. I'm Eorl."

Hal: Ruth slaps her hand against her head. Hippomache stand up and says, "You're not so big."

EorlOfXopolis: "Calm down, there are guards in the hallway."

EorlOfXopolis: "I want to talk to you about Throk"

Hal: "If you need anything, there are guards outside the door. Many guards," Ruth says, sounding like she's quoting something.

EorlOfXopolis: heh heh

EorlOfXopolis: "Also, I believe you are only at 2 or 3 hps"

Hal: "Throk is in charge here," Hip says.

EorlOfXopolis: "Very good, I guess."

EorlOfXopolis: "My companions told me a little bit about you (Hip) and your situation."

EorlOfXopolis: "Let me ask you: do you know an Amazon named Demopha?"

Hal: "What have you done to Demopha?"

EorlOfXopolis: "I haven't done *anything* to Demopha!"

EorlOfXopolis: "She's a friend of mine, actually."

EorlOfXopolis: "We fought together in Magnesia"

EorlOfXopolis: "If you want to know who put her through hell, ask your Throkian friends"

EorlOfXopolis: "She got used as a dart board at the same time I did."

Hal: Petulantly: "Well, I don't know anything about Magnesia."

Hal: "Except that's supposed to be a place they worship the goddess. I mean the false goddess."

Hal: "I mean not-Throk."

EorlOfXopolis: "...sure."

EorlOfXopolis: "But you do know Demopha? And you know why she was passing through?"

Hal: "She was some kind of religious fanatic. She angled her way out of Themiscrya, even though no one ever leaves Themiscrya, or at least no one goes as far as she went.

Hal: Who was the last person to just go off like that?"

EorlOfXopolis: "I thought she was originally in the company of others..."

EorlOfXopolis: "Other Amazons, I mean."

EorlOfXopolis: "Anyway, was that before or after you're queen left?"

Hal: "I think it was Maphisa, but that was like 200 years ago, and she wasn't a true Amazon anyway, she was a vivipar."

Hal: "And if Demopha took some of her religious fanatic friends with her, what of it?"

EorlOfXopolis: "What nothing. Er. Isn't the pot calling the kettle black here..."

EorlOfXopolis: "I mean, you yourself seem to have gotten some of that olde thyme religion."

Hal: "Throk's message is a new message.. The revelation is that the revlation is not over. The gods still take an active part in the world. But where is the huntress? What has she done for anyone ately?

EorlOfXopolis: "Well, she killed a few peasants in Ephesus."

Hal: "Well, that's *something*"

Hal: "Who was with Demopha when you met her?"

Hal: Hip asks.

EorlOfXopolis: "Demopha was alone. She had been separated from her party. They were following rumors of Ortheia."

EorlOfXopolis: "I myself can vouch that the gods do take an active part in the world."

EorlOfXopolis: "...and that there are many gods."

EorlOfXopolis: "Even the monotheists are henotheistic under the surface."

Hal: "Sure, sure, many gods. But Throk speaks only for one."

EorlOfXopolis: "For Semuanya."

Hal: "So you know a thing or two. Perhaps there is more to you than a simple massmurderer."

EorlOfXopolis: "I am not a massmurderer."

Hal: "Surrrrre."

EorlOfXopolis: "Why has Throk chosen now to start speaking?"

Hal: Throk has been chosen, He does not choose.

EorlOfXopolis: "Go on...."

EorlOfXopolis: "Here is what concerns me:"

EorlOfXopolis: "As you know, I am on Throk's list."

EorlOfXopolis: "But I'm not certain that I belong there."

Hal: "Of your own doing. You wrote your name there."

EorlOfXopolis: "Not intentionally, I didn't."

Hal: "The ink was the blood of Ratri."

EorlOfXopolis: "And what of my companion, whose throat she would slit?"

EorlOfXopolis: "Where was his name on Throk's list?"

EorlOfXopolis: "And why was it there?"

Hal: "Ratri was bluffing. Throk needed some of your companions, and was bargaining for them. But you broke every bargain, and proved to deal in bad faith."

EorlOfXopolis: "That is false. There were no terms and no bargain. I did not know of what crime my companions stood accused."

Hal: There were no terms? Did an old woman come stand before Throk and then slip away into nothing?"

EorlOfXopolis: "I had no control over her actions. I did not know of what crime she stood accused."

Hal: "Did the hairy Chrstian not come to a peace conference and begin casting spells and try to slay Sue?"

EorlOfXopolis: "I refused to accompany him! That hairy Christian later wrecked this city!"

EorlOfXopolis: "Is *that* not so?"

Hal: "Every time Throk has had one of you at his mercy he has spared you. Every time one of you has had one of us at your mercy you have slain us."

Hal: "I await the axe."

EorlOfXopolis: "I demanded that Deborah be spared, and she was taken from my city and killed."

EorlOfXopolis: "I had no control over this."

EorlOfXopolis: "And I *STILL* do not know what crimes my companions are accused of!"

Hal: "Always excuses. Always passing the buck. Ratri had the big one at her mercy and spared him. You had her at your mercy and did not. And yet Throk is some bogeyman to frighten children. Please."

EorlOfXopolis: "She did NOT spare him. Her knife was at his throat. I made my decision and in the instant I had, I took her life."

EorlOfXopolis: "...and I regret doing so."

Hal: You regret? Will regret bring all the people you've killed back to life?" Hal: "She could have slit his throat, but she made the mistake of talking to you. Is that not so?"

EorlOfXopolis: "No, she made the mistake of talking to me too little."

Hal: "Face it, Eorl, you are the bad guys here."

EorlOfXopolis: "I asked why they were doing what they did and they would not tell me... we all asked..."

EorlOfXopolis: "...still..."

Hal: "You've been given your summons; if you want to hear the charges, speak to the judge, not the bailiff."

Hal: "And Throk is judge of all the world."

EorlOfXopolis: "Yet you came here prepared to hand me my sentence as a knife in the dark."

EorlOfXopolis: "But never mind..."

Hal: "Resisting arrest is a fair assumption, as so many bailiffs have fallen before."

EorlOfXopolis: "It may well come to pass that I face my punishment squarely."

EorlOfXopolis: "There are far greater things at stake here than my life."

Hal: "On that we can both agree."

EorlOfXopolis: "What does Throk know of the end of the world? Why has he chosen to start spreading his message so late?"

Hal: "He did not choose, he was chosen. And the end of the world will come when Sumuania wills it."

Hal: "Before Throk, none were worthy to speak of Semuania's ineffable love."

EorlOfXopolis: "How? How was he chosen?"

Hal: "But Throk was made worthy by his pain. Throk has suffered as none have suffered before."

EorlOfXopolis: "A claim made by many, dieties and mortals alike..."

EorlOfXopolis: "How is Throk's pain so unique?"

Hal: Ruth says, "Suffering is the crucible into which destiny throws a man whenever it wishes to have a scoundrel or a demi-god." As though quoting.

EorlOfXopolis: "Those whom the gods would destroy, they would first make mad," Eorl says to Ruth through his teeth, gesturing slightly to Hip.

Hal: Hip says, "Have you fallen through darkness and through fire?"

EorlOfXopolis: "In my time, I have fallen through darkness. And through fire. And much else besides."

Hal: "The suffering of Throk, like the love of Semuania, is ineffable. It cannot be comprehended by mortals."

Hal: "Semuania's love is so all-consuming it can be mistaken for hate. And Throk's hate is so all-consuming it is as warm as love."

EorlOfXopolis: "..."

EorlOfXopolis: "That sounds frightening to me."

EorlOfXopolis: "The gods of the elves do not act in such a fashion."

Hal: "A tower of fire consumes those it stands upon, but it brings warmth and cheer to those who look on."

Hal: "I know nothing of the gods of elves. But there are elves already among the true faith."

Hal: "They have renounced the glittergates. They will live and die in the shadow of Throk."

EorlOfXopolis: "Ha! Elves with skin like mine? Or elves black as pitch who crawl from the bowels of the earth..."

EorlOfXopolis: "...where Correlon put them."

Hal: "You're thinking of dwarves, not elves. Dwarves live underground."

Hal: "In Africa there are dwarves black as pitch. One came by Themiscrya once, two centuries ago."

Hal: "He had a magic ring, and could climb like a spider. But he was no elf."

Hal: "Amazons still deight in stories of his comical antics."

EorlOfXopolis: "Hmpf. Had he a name?"

Hal: Brunel.

EorlOfXopolis: "...and now you're looking for him again."

Hal: "What? No."

EorlOfXopolis: "No? Then my deputies must have lied."

Hal: "I assume he's dead, although dwarves live long.

Hal: "What did your deputies say, O Eorl?"

Hal: Ruth looks confused.

EorlOfXopolis: "Eh... I have it right here... in my notes..."

EorlOfXopolis: <flips through funny pictures>

EorlOfXopolis: You're looking for someone...

EorlOfXopolis: Goes by the name...

Hal: of...

EorlOfXopolis: Right... the name...

Hal: A tumbleweed passes through the room.

EorlOfXopolis: <cough>

EorlOfXopolis: "It's smudged."

EorlOfXopolis: "Look! I can't _READ_ ok."

EorlOfXopolis: "At least not very well."

EorlOfXopolis: "What, is Throk all snobby all of a sudden?"

EorlOfXopolis: "To good for the illiterate?"

Hal: "Well, I don't know anyone who's looking for Brunel, but perhaps if you found him it would teach you a sense of humor."

Hal: "A trait, like mercy and compassion, you're famous for lacking."

EorlOfXopolis: "I am not like that."

Hal: "Where's that charming you man? He was so well-groomed..."

EorlOfXopolis: "Yes. He's here."

EorlOfXopolis: "Tell me, why is it you like him so much?"

Hal: "I think he is gay."

EorlOfXopolis: "You're not alone in that assumption."

EorlOfXopolis: "(Personally, I think it's a false fag operation)"

Hal: Zing!

EorlOfXopolis: "badump-bump"

EorlOfXopolis: "One might say you started liking him as suddenly as you fell in love with Throk."

Hal: "No, it is different."

Hal: "The gay guy is very nice, and not at all like other icky men."

Hal: "Throk filled me with light."

EorlOfXopolis: "But can't you remember a time before you liked Martialis, just like you can remember a time when you had never heard of Throk?"

Hal: "Of course. I had assumed he was a testosterone-fueled farting machine, like the rest."

Hal: She turns to Ruth. "how can you bear to be near them?"

Hal: "To live among them?"

Hal: "Like monkeys, they have hair on their faces."

EorlOfXopolis: "Hippomache, if the Amazons found their queen and wanted to make amends, would you go home?"

Hal: "Feign would I go home. But me home is now in the Desert of Thar."

EorlOfXopolis: "Where?"

Hal: Ruth says, "There's where my heart is turning ever."

EorlOfXopolis: "No, that's the Semuanye ribber."

EorlOfXopolis: "Seriously, though -- where's Thar? How do you get Thar?"

Hal: "Far far away," Ruth nods.

Hal: "Eorl, I swear to you that if you let me free and climb into a sack tied up like an Xmas turkey, I will show you every step of the way."

EorlOfXopolis: "Not today, Hip."

EorlOfXopolis: "But I wouldn't rule it out entirely."

Hal: "Let us head East. We will reach there eventually."

Hal: "But I ween it is a long trip." EorlOfXopolis: "You see, I hadda little talk with this angel..."

EorlOfXopolis: "And he told me... things."

EorlOfXopolis: "One of them was that gods sometimes masquerade."

EorlOfXopolis: "Sometimes, you think you're worshiping one... but really it's another."

EorlOfXopolis: "Or sometimes one goes by a certain name... but it isn't a *true* name."

EorlOfXopolis: "Do you dig?"

Hal: "Do you imply that Semuania is not his true name?"

EorlOfXopolis: "No. I merely imply the possibility exists."

Hal: "Many things are possible. I would not doubt that many gods do not reveal their true names. Perhaps only Throk knows Semuania's true name."

EorlOfXopolis: "Perhaps only Throk's right and left hand know Throk's true name..."

EorlOfXopolis: "I have a hunch, though."

EorlOfXopolis: "Throk may have lit a fire in your soul, Hip..."

EorlOfXopolis: "But I, myself, try to refrain from buying a pig in a poke whenever possible."

EorlOfXopolis: "The choices of my elven brethren notwithstanding..."

Hal: "I hear you instead put your faith in returning cuttlefish or some such."

Hal: "A much more reasonable proposition, doubtless."

EorlOfXopolis: "Hip, you like Martialis so much because he charmed you. It's magic."

EorlOfXopolis: "He's a druid."

Hal: "He's a homo."

EorlOfXopolis: "You may have faith that Throk does not work in such ways."

EorlOfXopolis: "I am not yet convinced."

Hal: "He's the first male I've ever met who did not turn my stomach."

EorlOfXopolis: "Would Throk lead the world down a blind alley, knowing what was in store for us...?"

EorlOfXopolis: "Or could it be that we share enough common ground that if the Enemy ever did return, he would ally with us against it?"

Hal: "He didn't stare at my chest, and he looked so lost and confused, like a retarded puppy."

EorlOfXopolis: "Are you listening to me, Hip?"

Hal: "Sorry, thinking about Marty."

Hal: "Throk stands for Semuania, and for those who love him. Your enemies are no concern of his.

Hal: "Except insofar as he is one of them."

EorlOfXopolis: "...but this may not be so, Hip."

EorlOfXopolis: "And if we share an enemy..."

EorlOfXopolis: "...then that might well be an alliance worth my life."

Hal: "Do you mean the one-eyed elf?"

EorlOfXopolis: "...and elves have very long lives..."

EorlOfXopolis: "What, Harald Greycloak?"

EorlOfXopolis: "He is the one I demanded relinquish Deborah. And he refused."

Hal: "Sure. Our common enemy."

EorlOfXopolis: "He is not an elf. I have never, ever, ever, known an elf to act so cruelly.

Hal: "I hear they eat placentas."

EorlOfXopolis: "Hip, does Throk speak of Kebnegard? Of the lizard-men slain therein?"

EorlOfXopolis: "Sorry... that would be the mountain, Kebnekaise."

Hal: "I have never heard of Kebnegard."

Hal: "Or Kebnekaise. Strange names."

EorlOfXopolis: "A mountain to the north then. And a dungeon. Very old."

EorlOfXopolis: "Home to a race of lizard men. All dead, now."

Hal: "A mountain covered with snow. Home of the white and shaggy man. Throk is very cold."

EorlOfXopolis: "Why is Throk cold?"

Hal: "Snow, I guess. Of lizard men I know nothing."

EorlOfXopolis: "Throk slew the white and shaggy man... where is his corpse? At the mountain?"

Hal: "Throk slumbered inside it. Then he moved on. One presumes it is still there."

EorlOfXopolis: "Inside the mountain? Or inside the corpse?"

Hal: "The corpse, of course."

EorlOfXopolis: "Of course."

Hal: "Throk is no dwarf!"

EorlOfXopolis: (subtle circular motions around the ear to Ruth)

Hal: (Ruth holds up a number of fingers indicating the number of hours she's been with Hip) EorlOfXopolis: "But he didn't sleep inside the corpses of the brightly colored men, did he."

Hal: "How could he? Is he a dwarf to fit inside?"

EorlOfXopolis: "No, but neither were the brightly colored men very small."

Hal: "I have no reason to believe they were large."

EorlOfXopolis: "Prophets or prophets-to-be seldom tussle with halflings and brag about it."

Hal: ("Unless they are brownie prophets," Ruth adds.)

EorlOfXopolis: ("Point taken.") EorlOfXopolis: "Do you know why he slew them?"

Hal: "Presumably they sinned against Throk."

EorlOfXopolis: "That was before he spoke for Semuania, though, wasn't it? He wasn't a prophet then. He was just a man."

Hal: "Uh...as far as I know it was before he spoke of Semuania. But does that make him less of a prophet?"

Hal: "And they say that Throk is so mighty, or so pained, that he cannot be seen as a man, but appears as other things."

EorlOfXopolis: "Like what?"

EorlOfXopolis: "A dragon?"

EorlOfXopolis: "A demogorgon?"

EorlOfXopolis: "A liche?"

EorlOfXopolis: (I mean lich)

Hal: "I don't know. I imagine a woman with the head of a lion and wings for ears."

EorlOfXopolis: "Pfft! What?! That's preposterous. Has Throk appeared to you in this form?"

Hal: "No, that's just how I imagine him. Throk only 'appears' as a light in the heart."

EorlOfXopolis: "...so the other thing is just the coinage of your brain."

Hal: "It seems to have the proper amount of majesty and mystery."

EorlOfXopolis: "Hm..."

Hal: "Eorl, what do you want from Throk? Other than to hurt him wantonly, I mean.

EorlOfXopolis: "I want to know him only as he truly is."

EorlOfXopolis: "And then I will decide what I will do."

Hal: "You put too much stock in choice. You believe Throk chooses his role, when really he is called. You believe you can 'decide' what to do when before a prophet of god."

EorlOfXopolis: "Choice is what I have, Hip."

EorlOfXopolis: "Pity those who don't. They are called slaves."

EorlOfXopolis: "I believe Throk was a slave once..."

Hal: "We are all slaves before the gods. The only choice lies in akowledging or denying this fact."

EorlOfXopolis: "I see. Then, if I were to release you, you would only immediately return to kill me?"

EorlOfXopolis: "Because I would very much like for you to speak with those who gather at Diaspolas on what we have talked about today."

Hal: "I would do what Throk commanded, of course. But that does not mean I would return and kill you."

Hal: "You were, after all, a sidequest."

EorlOfXopolis: (oh, harsh!)

Hal: (Sorry, but true.)

EorlOfXopolis: "Does Throk speak to you even now? What is it that he commands?"

Hal: "Although I feel his comforting presence, he has not commanded my with anything.

EorlOfXopolis: "Then take his counsel, and I will return anon."

EorlOfXopolis: "But Hip..."

Hal: ?

EorlOfXopolis: "Martialis *has* charmed you. And he is no god, believe me."

EorlOfXopolis: "Beware of false prophets. Even if yours is true."

Hal: "He is no god. But is he not a good man?"

Hal: "Is he not worthy of our respect and even love? Many have sought to spread lies and spoken the truth in its stead."

EorlOfXopolis: "Ay, there's the rub. There's the rub."

EorlOfXopolis: "Perhaps in time..."

EorlOfXopolis: "...you may think differently."

EorlOfXopolis: <knock><knock>

EorlOfXopolis: "Coming out."

Hal: "How do we know you're Eorl and not a lady disguising your voice by raising it an octave?"

EorlOfXopolis: "I leave that to you to riddle out."

Hal: "Say something only Eorl would know?"

EorlOfXopolis: "Ruth is wearing blue panties with green trim. And Hip... you're not wearing any at all."

EorlOfXopolis: "Ta ta."

Hal: The door opens.