Devil’s Deal

Thinking about the mold, he couldn’t truly find when it had taken hold. One moment he had full clarity, then there was the fog, that insufferable cloud that only filtered the darkest impulses and nearly drove him mad.
“Madness. Absolute madness that made it hard to think and sleep, almost turned us against eachother several times. Would make a group of soldiers tear eachother apart from paranoia and rage if they didn’t know it had taken hold.”

The Duke nodded, his eyes avid for every tidbit of information he could squeeze from Tarmen. For a moment he appeared to consider the other man's words. His mind calculating how he could best use this information for the benefit of the city and the Empire.
The Duke stood and walked to his side table and poured two generous portions of brandy. He passed on to Tarmen before returning to his seat behind his desk.

He looked at another pile of papers to his left.
"Our records say you are from Kru'll. A cave diver..." He stated casually. "What brought you to Arcadia?"

The question threw him off with how out of context if felt. He was silent for a moment as he honestly had to remind himself of the reasoning in the moment.
“Wanted a new adventure. Mercenary work suited me, but in the end something was missing. So figured I’d see if it was over here, have a new adventure.”
At the time it made sense, a trip to new lands for new trophies and stories to tell. All these months later it sounded hollow. A child’s attempt to be with the adults. For sake of professionalism he didn’t chuckle at how he sounded, like he was some grizzled old man looking back at his youth.

Instead he looked to the Duke and gestured to his arm.
“Guess I found it, just not what I had in mind at the time.”
Concluding this, he downed the offered drink, grateful for something to help with the discomfort.

"I came to Arcadia at the request of the Emperor." He retorted twirling the cup in his hand looking at the man from Kru'll. "To turn Ostiarium into a gate into Arcadia. A bridge between the Old world and the New. But I also came because some opportunities only cross our paths once in a lifetime. Maybe be two, if we are lucky." He drained his cup as well.
"Reports suggest you are solid under pressure, have potential as attested by your actions in Sentinel and now Aquilo. Not perfect but good enough for someone without a military background. But it's obvious you have a problem with authority." He lifted his hand before Tarmen could protest.
"Folks from Kru'll are oddly independent. But personally I always felt they lack goals. Long term goals." He paused.

"What would you say if I offered you the resources to go and explored this so called Ypogeios?" He asked bluntly.

With or without context, the offer stunned Tarmen. Not too long ago he would have jumped at the idea, left all of this behind to disappear into the depths for glory and freedom.
Now he felt uneasy about it. He didn’t like the idea of the Empire controlling such a complex. He also knew he would want his crew with him, but after what he and the Arbiter went through, he didn’t want any of them going through that.
Still, play nice until the time was right. It was the best plan he had.
“Would be nice to push back against those cave freaks, though not sure if you have enough resources to take on all of it. Not many soldiers here are well armed against tight spaces and darkness.”
He mulled over it more seriously for a moment, seeing a chance.
“With time to prepare properly here, I could get the operation started at least.”

The Duke turned his head slightly, curious at Tarmen's choice of words. He noted the assumption of taking over the Ypogeios but said nothing further on the matter.
"Get me a report by the end of week. How many men you would need, what resources and equipment to explore the Ypogeios. In views to map it..." He said making a point of enunciating 'explore' clearly.
"In the meantime rest. Recover your strength." He said and dismissed Tarmen to consider the proposal he had just received.