09-13-2013, 05:24 PM
Maximillion had never been an easily pacified man. When he wanted something done a specific way, he ensured that it got done, or found a suitable alternative to his plans that were just as good. He knew well that too many compromises resulted in regret, and he had far too many regrets as it was.
So when he was told about the various realms, about one that offered wealth and power, one that offered honor and the like, he had spent plenty of time thinking on it, and thinking hard.
In the end, he was won over by Bradley's arguments, and his offer of providing the largest, most expansive library in the Omniverse; surely, had he been lying, one of the other individuals - who seemed committed to telling the truth, although omitting incriminating details - would have called him on it immediately, or so the ebony Ancient had reasoned. And what greater power was there but Information or Knowledge?
He had served as an Information Broker and Bounty Hunter since before he knew these vocations had official names they went by. Both required combining Knowledge with Know-how. What better trade for a man who aspired to learn all the great things Existence had to offer?
He was a gluttonous man with a bottomless stomach, in an orchard full of trees that dropped fruit in endless waves; the fruit was knowledge, and the orchard - it would seem - was in Coruscant.
"I believe I have come to a decision..." Maximillion said finally. He removed his hands from where he had stuffed them into his pockets, then strode right up to Bradley, a smirk forming along his lips as a few of the men accompanying bradley stiffened more and more the closer he got. What intrigued him most was the look in Bradley's eyes. His face conveyed no apparent anger, irritation, haughtiness or contempt. They were the eyes of a man who was used to giving command, who was a powerful leader, but who also was intelligent enough to know which emotions to convey openly and which to keep veiled; which tactics to employ in the presence of whom, and which not to; what constituted a threat and what did not.
Maximillion's eyes met Bradley's not in brash arrogance or some delusion of superiority, but with the resolve of a man who was secure in what he wanted out of life, and the knowledge that he wouldn't stake his life over something pointless and unnecessary; that Maximillion was a shrewd man in and of himself, and his looking Bradley in the eyes wasn't an act of defiance, arrogance, or even some notion that the two were equals, more or less....merely that Maximillion acknowledged the man, his status, and that he hadn't come by his status on accident.
And as the smile spread along his ebony features, so too would he seem to say You have piqued my interest, so as long as your words remain true and your demeanor polite, I will see what you have to offer.
"I will come with you, no sooner or later than you are able to lead the procession into the city. There is much regarding this world I have yet to learn, and I have a feeling you'd know better than anyone what might interest one like you and I, however different the worlds we come from."
The two of them, men who weren't unaccustomed to wielding power, both competently, and intelligently. Men who valued information, but knew when to keep their mouths shut about what they knew until the last possible second, until it would actually be of benefit for them to spill the proverbial beans.
Maximillion didn't have a data sheet in front of him about the man, nor had the man given much about himself. However, Maximillion was pretty good at sizing people up and assessing various aspects of a person by viewing how they talked, walked, presented themselves and handled challenging situations.
And he was sure that, with time, he would learn even more.
"So then, when shall we proceed?"
So when he was told about the various realms, about one that offered wealth and power, one that offered honor and the like, he had spent plenty of time thinking on it, and thinking hard.
In the end, he was won over by Bradley's arguments, and his offer of providing the largest, most expansive library in the Omniverse; surely, had he been lying, one of the other individuals - who seemed committed to telling the truth, although omitting incriminating details - would have called him on it immediately, or so the ebony Ancient had reasoned. And what greater power was there but Information or Knowledge?
He had served as an Information Broker and Bounty Hunter since before he knew these vocations had official names they went by. Both required combining Knowledge with Know-how. What better trade for a man who aspired to learn all the great things Existence had to offer?
He was a gluttonous man with a bottomless stomach, in an orchard full of trees that dropped fruit in endless waves; the fruit was knowledge, and the orchard - it would seem - was in Coruscant.
"I believe I have come to a decision..." Maximillion said finally. He removed his hands from where he had stuffed them into his pockets, then strode right up to Bradley, a smirk forming along his lips as a few of the men accompanying bradley stiffened more and more the closer he got. What intrigued him most was the look in Bradley's eyes. His face conveyed no apparent anger, irritation, haughtiness or contempt. They were the eyes of a man who was used to giving command, who was a powerful leader, but who also was intelligent enough to know which emotions to convey openly and which to keep veiled; which tactics to employ in the presence of whom, and which not to; what constituted a threat and what did not.
Maximillion's eyes met Bradley's not in brash arrogance or some delusion of superiority, but with the resolve of a man who was secure in what he wanted out of life, and the knowledge that he wouldn't stake his life over something pointless and unnecessary; that Maximillion was a shrewd man in and of himself, and his looking Bradley in the eyes wasn't an act of defiance, arrogance, or even some notion that the two were equals, more or less....merely that Maximillion acknowledged the man, his status, and that he hadn't come by his status on accident.
And as the smile spread along his ebony features, so too would he seem to say You have piqued my interest, so as long as your words remain true and your demeanor polite, I will see what you have to offer.
"I will come with you, no sooner or later than you are able to lead the procession into the city. There is much regarding this world I have yet to learn, and I have a feeling you'd know better than anyone what might interest one like you and I, however different the worlds we come from."
The two of them, men who weren't unaccustomed to wielding power, both competently, and intelligently. Men who valued information, but knew when to keep their mouths shut about what they knew until the last possible second, until it would actually be of benefit for them to spill the proverbial beans.
Maximillion didn't have a data sheet in front of him about the man, nor had the man given much about himself. However, Maximillion was pretty good at sizing people up and assessing various aspects of a person by viewing how they talked, walked, presented themselves and handled challenging situations.
And he was sure that, with time, he would learn even more.
"So then, when shall we proceed?"