https://i.imgur.com/8VGOKRV.png There was an abruptness to Thomas' action. The red gaze lingered on the checkerboard after each move, watching with each step; no matter how hard he tried, Thomas still had the upper hand. When Zilrud's final piece was taken from him, he watched it removed from play ...

https://i.imgur.com/o5M4Zjt.png Zilrud’s first thought was the next game of checkers. He was certain that Thomas was going to win the particular game that they were playing. His gaze was wandering over the pieces to see if there was any salvaging, or at least how much damage Zilrud could inflict on...

https://i.imgur.com/o5M4Zjt.png Zilrud may have seemed like someone who was straightforward and did not have many things up his proverbial sleeve. However simple he may have seemed to many, there was definitely something beneath the surface when it came to the Orkhai. Nothing else really needed to ...

https://i.imgur.com/o5M4Zjt.png He did not say it often, but Zilrud enjoyed hearing about the differences between how he as an Orkhai grew up or experienced something and hearing how Thomas, an orphaned human experienced the same idea, just in a different fashion. As his counterpart explained the c...

https://i.imgur.com/o5M4Zjt.png Zilrud had been trying to put as much of what he was experiencing with the gameplay to memory, or at least the motions of it. What it meant to have a piece becoming a King or different routes one could take to try and get a piece to the other side of the board. He ha...

https://i.imgur.com/eyOAQq4.png Zilrud did not enjoy the floweriness many people put around things in life. There was always a direct path to something and the less chance of it being surrounded things of a frivolous nature, the easier it was to accomplish his tasks. That was not to say, Zilrud did...

https://i.imgur.com/b81nIBM.png Zilrud had no plan of winning the game. He knew that he was going to lose. The Orkhai also learned that Thomas was not merely placating him and trying to make him feel any particular way, just as he knew Thomas winning was still a win against the Orkhai. In a way, pl...

https://i.imgur.com/lEb66x6.png Zilrud had not had any worries about not knowing how to play a silly little game with Thomas. He found it a good idea as an avenue to showcase his warrior prowess in terms of funny little pieces that moved in funny little ways. But after that initial move and they ha...

https://i.imgur.com/4GPYuwE.png It had not been very often that Zilrud found himself unable to speak. Frequently, he desired to watch and take it in simply. Most people answered their questions and resolved their situations if they were given the space and chance to do so. He also tended to be an O...

https://i.imgur.com/o5M4Zjt.png The Orkhai listened to what Thomas had to say regarding murdering people and fighting on his behalf for protection. All of that, of course, earned a snort of either approval or disapproval; it was unclear which one it was, really. "I have already learned to let you s...