The Hounds of War

"The Hounds of War" (2x06) is the sixth episode of Memory=Null Season 2, in which happiness turns to grief, and peace to war.

Synopsis
Emberlin points out the individual to Sharsu, but he is unable to see her. She shoulders her blade and begins stepping forward. With each step, the ground beneath her turns to stone until she is standing directly in front of him within the throne chamber. She embeds her sword and shield in the floor and reaches out a hand to pull Emberlin up. He takes it, and watches as all his wounds stitch closed. She introduces herself as Selik, the Herald of Pain and goddess of war. She says that she was the first one there when the Queen of Embers took godhood, and being the goddess of war, decided to test her- she was impressed. Then Emberlin came along, and made everything much more complicated. She asks what he wants, and he replies that he hasn’t really thought about it since he came into the world. She points out the chair she was sitting in when he awoke, and to a massive black blood stain in the center of the room where he was. He asks if he was made there, but she says he should ask his Queen. He apologises for not having an answer to her question, as having spent so much time with the gods has left him not wanting much. She, in contrast, says she should thank him and his queen for giving her everything she wants. There is a war coming, she says; the war between the gods and the lower lords, which the Queen’s actions started. She asks him to give her soldiers their marching orders, as he seems to be the errand boy for the divine, and he agrees. Opting not to take her mark directly upon himself, she forms a medallion out of blood from the stone floor- a shadowy, circular symbol with a snarling wolf’s head in the center which is ice cold to the touch. She tells him to go forth and seek the Dogs of War and, having other matters to attend to, shoves him out of the throne room and back to the clearing. As he quickly tries to get the medallion into his bag, he hears a faint whisper in the direction of the main island. Terr’mah retrieves their payment while Emberlin harvests what he can of the owlbears before Hex lets Toothy devour the remains. They then head back to the ship and return to the main island. Being late in the evening now, they make their way to an inn called The Wheek’s Respite. Inside, they find that the establishment is run by an army of giant spectral guinea pigs. They obtain dinner and a room while Emberlin squeals with delight the entire time (Sharsu spends the time baffled at everything surrounding him, while Hex views it as completely normal). Once up in their room, Emberlin begins to attempt to commune with the Queen of Embers, and invites them to join him. They both agree, with Hex trying particularly hard to replicate Emberlin and Sharsu’s actions. Eventually, Emberlin blinks and finds himself in an eternal blackness, with the Queen standing behind him. He kneels, and first asks her advice on the coming conflict. She confirms that there is a war, which her actions unknowingly began, coming, and that she fully intends to finish it. He then asks a ‘selfish’ request, as he puts it, of her. He asks that Sharsu and Hex be allowed to meet her- especially Sharsu. She spreads her wings and pulls the two companions into the chamber with them. It takes a few seconds for them to notice her presence, with Hex being the first to open his eyes; Sharsu goes wide-eyed upon seeing where they now sit. The Queen introduces herself, and then commends Emberlin for the work he has done so far. She then addresses Sharsu and offers to summon the goddess of knowledge if he would wish to meet her. Finally, she turns to Hex and speaks of her envy of him; how he has the blood of dragons already in his veins, and his potential. She turns back to Sharsu, awaiting his answer. He shakily nods, and she steps back into darkness with a look of sadness. A few moments later, they notice the presence of a massive figure sitting on one of the thrones. Appearing very young, but also incredibly ancient at the same time, the blue skinned, white haired figure, dressed in deep blue robes and holding a massive tome, stands up and begins walking towards the group. Sharsu, upon seeing her, goes wide-eyed and bows to the floor. As she gets closer, she appears to shrink in size, until she is standing where the Queen once was. She looks over them all before turning to Emberlin and says “you are a problem, aren’t you.” She then asks what his request was, noting that she doesn’t normally honor requests. Emberlin explains that he felt it was wrong that Sharsu, who has dedicated his life to serving her, should never get to meet her, while Emberlin has spoken with so many of the gods. She replies that this is the opposite of selfish, and that he just wanted to do right by his friend. She then turns and addresses Sharsu, and orders him to stand. “Sharsu Ironside” she says, “your past was mottled before you came to me. Problematic. But you renounced your old ways, and you served me for a time. And then you turned. So henceforth, I dub thee ‘oathbreaker’.” She snaps her fingers, and Sharsu’s shell cracks. “You may be doing what you think is right, but you have not followed your oath to me. You are no longer mine.” She turns to Emberlin and says “I know this was not your intent, but this was happening eventually. Now be gone.”, and with a snap of her fingers, they are thrust back to the Wheek’s Respite. Sharsu, white faced, falls to his knees, unable to comprehend what just happened. Emberlin tries to help him to the bed, but he gently pushes him away, stands up, and with a “I’m gonna go for a walk”, leaves the room. Hex, having a small hexistential crisis, calls for a guinea pig to bring up several bottles of alcohol. They sit, drink, and occasionally talk for a while before they both fall asleep. They awaken the next morning to find that Sharsu has still not returned. They head out to search for Sharsu, but find him sitting outside with an empty bottle next to him. They invite him to come search for the Dogs of War with them, to which he half-heartedly agrees, before Emberlin hugs him and apologizes for what happened. He says he knows it’s not what Emberlin meant to do, but that this was his own doing, and not his. With that, they head off to find some street meat before beginning their search. Emberlin begins focusing on the whispers of the medallion and follows them for a while, moving further and further from the major populated areas of the city, before reaching a point where there is no one at all. The medallion eventually points him towards a door in the side of a hill. Emberlin knocks on the door, and a few moments pass before the door opens and a dragonborn peeks out. Emberlin simply holds up the medallion, and the dragonborn, after a moment of speaking with somebody inside, ushers them inside. Inside, they travel down a tunnel until it opens up into a large common area with several individuals sitting around and talking. The sound of a forge echoes up from one of the tunnels leaving the room, which Emberlin makes a beeline towards in an effort to look like he knows what he’s doing. The hallway begins to spiral downwards before opening up into a large chamber with several forges being operated. Spotting a gnome running around shouting orders, Emberlin walks over and introduces himself. She annoyedly asks what he’s doing there, but when he announces that he was sent by Selik, the entire room goes quiet. She tells somebody to go sound the horn and everyone makes their way up to the main room. She introduces herself to him as Dellidyne Morselgnaw before introducing him to the group. Standing up on a table, Emberlin, trying desperately to remember what he was supposed to say, announces that there is a war coming, and that they are to prepare for it. The room becomes somber at this news, and after a few moments of contemplating what this means, everyone gets to work, apparently already having their marching orders. Dellidyne sticks around to talk to Emberlin, asking about how he came to be the one to deliver this message. They head to her room where, seeing that he has no idea what’s going on, explains who they are. While they are known as the Dogs of War to hide their identity, they are actually an army of individuals afflicted with lycanthropy whose mission is to fight the demons that will spill forth in the coming war. They have several locations throughout the world, and mainly try to keep hidden from the order of Az Otho, and to simply exist. He gives the medallion as a gift to Dellidyne, and tells her that if they need to contact him, to leave word at the Golden Wake. If he should need to contact them, he will put up a job advertisement for a crab rave. With the message delivered, Emberlin and friends leave and make their way to the local Golden Wake Hall. While Emberlin files the completed contract, Sharsu heads to the local hot springs, while Hex goes off to run an errand. Emberlin gets a cup of tea and starts going over his journal, planning out what comes next, with a short failed experiment in singing when everyone begins singing a song about a sailor who fell in love with a fish. Sharsu and Hex eventually make it back and the group turns in for the night. The next morning, they have breakfast and discuss their plans. They decide to head back to Tajemma to do some research on the lower lords and Tynlu. A drunk Sharsu tells a story about meeting someone who claimed to be one of the Nasile, who offered a deal which he refused, as a shadowy individual with fiery eyes in the dark offering you the world is probably too good to be true. They finish breakfast and head to the ship, while Sharsu makes a pit stop to buy a large amount of alcohol. A few days later they arrive back in Tajemma and make their way to Roran Eldwin. He is ecstatic at the progress Hex has made with Toothy and feverishly takes notes, being especially impressed when Hex is able to command Toothy to turn into various weapons and to come to him when called. Emberlin asks Roran about where to research the lower lords, and while he guides Emberlin away from the library due to their horrific organization scheme, he recommends, against his better judgement, an individual by the name of Duke “the Duke” Duke.