IC Scene: The Council Chamber (Provinces / Free City Event)

Hurried footsteps echoed from the walls of the hallway leading to the council chamber. A guardsman pushed open the great doors of the room and followed by two further castle guards and a number of scribes Iskar Levellin entered. According to his office he wore an elaborately worked tabard over shirt and breeches and fine leather boots that made less noise than the ones of the guards. The tabard showed a fleur-de-lys, the Silvermist coat of arms, but was divided in the middle: The left half of the fleur-de-lys was golden-yellow on dark green for the Clarion Call and the right half was dark green on silver-white for the old Silvermist.

But it was not his order's business that had brought him and his fellow-rangers to Sarleon, he knew, his right hand clutching the letter from the king that had arrived earlier this week.

He turned to address the head scribe. Chadwell, put down the map on the centre of the great table - he pointed to the round oaken table that occupied most of the centre of the room. The other scrolls, deeds and lists are needed only later, so leave them on the sidetables over there - he pointed to the rear wall of the room - and stay in attendance, we may need your services soon.

Yes, M'lord. Chadwell made a slight bow and ushered the other scribes and their load of parchments to the back of the room.

Iskar checked the great map one last time, then sat down on a chair next to the high backed seat of the chairman and called for the guards.

You can go notify Grandmaster Caranthir that everything is ready. Then call the other orders so we may commence the council session.

As the guards bowed and left to comply with the orders Iskar let his gaze sweep over the map of Pendor once more...

The Great Map:

From the day they left Cez with their retinue of exactly a dozen armsmen, it had became painfully clear that they would be no more than mere guests despite their secret alliance. And they would have mostly the same opinions, too, except to differ in some previously debated points as to avoid suspicion. But Marcus - or Lucius, for that matter - was not accustomed to being treated as a guest. A Grandmaster of an Order was a highly-regarded visitor in any castle to whom most lords jumped when he said frog, but here he would be just another Grandmaster amongst the other five of them. Caranthir and Iskar could be trusted, but everyone else was a potential enemy.

As for today, however... today the meeting would commence. The Silvermist officials were already gathered, surely, but he wanted to be the first Grandmaster inside. As the summons came for the Grandmasters, Marcus and Lucius were standing right outside the Council Chambers, shouldering past the scurrying servants that now rushed out of the chambers. Upon entering the hall, Marcus could see that not every Silvermist was present. Caranthir, for one, was not there - but Iskar war. All the letters supposedly came from Iskar, so he liked him a little more than the distant-seeming Grandmaster. Sometimes he thought that Silvermists took the Noldor-worship a little too far - the Grandmaster was living proof. How could the man manage all of his order's business and remain so distant and mysterious, he could not figure out. Perhaps the true reins of power were somewhere else inside the Order. Iskar was currently his favourite choice, the easily-approachable Constable.

"I suppose that you will see me welcomed to these chambers? No matter. It is good to see you, my friend," he said, giving him one of his rare smiles. Even his smiles turned colder with time, and not fully because of his bitter hatred for himself. He hadn't recovered from that small problem, yet, although many were solved already. Lucius smiled, too, but in his own way; a mischievous strain of the mouth there, an ironic quirk here, his smile was a mixture of fire and steel; warm, but hard. He gave Iskar his own greetings as they both settled down on the Constable's left, reminding him of the Stormcliff Clove and the beginning of the Legion-Silvermist alliance. That was an allowed gesture of friendship, at least.

Iskar shortly rose to exchange the greetings.

Marcus, Lucius, I'm just as pleased to see you, my friends. But rest assured, this meeting will not be so much about friends and rivals but about a solution to the best of the realm.

After that he joined the quiet conversation revoking the warming memories of the victory at Stormcliff Cove, while waiting for the other orders to arrive.

Knight Posts : 1610 Join date : 2012-06-20

Isabel Tenorio entered the hall unannounced. She had been hoping to be the first to arrive, so that she could keep an eye on all of the arrivals.

She wore fine black clothing, trimmed with yellow-dyed fur. She glanced at the two 'conspirators' as she walked to the great table and looked over the map of Pendor.

Last edited by Saeros on Tue Sep 04, 2012 3:19 am; edited 1 time in total

Saeros Venator entered the hall inconspicuously. He wore the usual Silvermist ranger tabard, woven in a simpler manner than constable Iskar's. He did not go directly to the table; instead, we walked around the room, checked the windows and passed his eyes os the guards. With a relieved face, he came closer and addressed those present:

"My lords, as host of this meeting, the Silvermist order has taken every precaution to make this a safe environment for debate. The windows have been sealed and there is absolutely no risk that anyone not present here will overhear what we say and thus compromise your political stances. The guards in and outside the room will take care of any external threats. If you have any concerns about safety, please come to me for clarification. My name is Saeros Venator, assigned head of security for this meeting."

Having said that, Saeros calmly walked to the table, taking place directly opposite to Iskar, on its other side. He turned to his left and greeted the woman standing there:

"My lady", he smiled and bowed his head slightly. It was obvious for the others that the two had already met before. .

"But can we trust the guards to not sell what little information they can hear through the door?", Marcus said icily at Saeros. Truthfully, he was concerned about the security - just in a different manner than everyone thought, perhaps. Or perhaps not so different. Only the details differed, really.

Knight Posts : 1610 Join date : 2012-06-20

Isabel looked at the man in the Silvermist regalia for a moment.

"Venator? It has been years, hasn't it?"

The woman's accent immediately marked her as a native of Barclay, yet she was wearing the colors of the Griffons. She attempted to conceal her accent as best she could, but even her best would leave it plainly obvious. She turned to look at the other man who had spoken.

"The Veccavi are known to remove the tongues of illiterate guards. Perhaps you'd prefer to move the discussion to their homeland?"

Isabel smirked slightly, seemingly an attempt to lighten the mood.

Last edited by Iskar on Tue Sep 04, 2012 4:37 am; edited 1 time in total

Calm yourself, Marcus, Iskar said in defense of Saeros. The guards will be waiting outside the room during the negotiations and are chosen from our best halberdiers. Trust me, all of them know that it would not be wise to betray the fleur-de-lys.

Last edited by Saeros on Tue Sep 04, 2012 4:42 am; edited 1 time in total

Saeros turned to Grandmaster Marcus and answered with a calm voice:

"These are my guards. I know them since they first stepped in the Clarion Hall. I know their names and the way each one of them prefers to hold his halberd. I know their accents and their idioms. If any word gets out, I will know who said it. And then I will cut his hand off."

The guards knew he meant it.

Then he turned to the lady

"Indeed, it does seem like years have passed.
I need their tongues. The linguistic variations of the secrets they - hypothetically - sell out allow me to track down who was the one who said it. As I so often told you, books are a fighter's best ally."

Knight Posts : 1610 Join date : 2012-06-20

"I thought you always said a halberd is a fighter's best ally."

Isabel took a moment to look over the guards, her face at least appearing as though she was not impressed.

"I'm disappointed in you, Venator. I thought you'd already have the weak wine out, to lure us into security before bringing out the strongest wine."

Abruptly Marcus realized that he had not welcomed the Silvermist Captain's son in any way. It felt like a trivial matter, one not worthy of pursuit, but somewhere deep inside he could feel disappointment. It was a part of his daily life to feel the pain of failure, nowadays. And Lucius. The old Lucius would've disliked him for that. The man was trying to imitate him now, though. How long till he began to have conspirational thoughts? Just like he did? Although, that could not be very soon. He shoved the matter to the back of his mind just in time to hear the newcomer Griffin woman address him.

"The Veccavi are known to remove the tongues of illiterate guards. Perhaps you'd prefer to move the discussion to their homeland?"

Marcus tugged at his silver-embroidered black coat, pretending to examine the fine silver ravens embroidered on his coat while thinking for an answer.

"They indeed are. I fought them. As for their homeland - we have placed an ally on the throne. If she must decide to go rogue, however, we do have the Mettenheim to assist us ifit ever comes to a war. I do not see any reason to talk about Veccavia - not just yet, good knight. Veccavia will have its time when the meeting has started. As for Pendor - we are living a rather peaceful era if we compare this to what it was a few years earlier, or even a few months. The King... or shall we say, the King's vassals, have accomplished much, don't you agree? By the way, I am Marcus. You might know me as the Grandmaster of the Shadow Legion. Who might I be speaking to?", he said, his emotionless voice ringing of its well-earned iciness. At least he thought it was well-earned - what else could a man so bitter be? Icy, hard, relentless. A device designed for a purpose. He could recognize himself in those words. This device, however, had a will of its own. It was dangerous, viperous, and fierce. He very nearly smiled at himself, but his face didn't even twitch. He didn't think it worth laughing at. Very few things were.

He carefully changed his tone into a tad warmer, welcoming tone in spite of his own reluctance. The ranger deserved it.

"Any man can be bought," he said emotionlessly as if talking to himself, "and any halberd turned with enough leverage, be it money or something dear to them. Let us make sure that this does not happen amongst our Orders." He was trying to give himself more time to recover from the small emotional shock, now. Such things were so rare with him that he always needed a little bit of time to recover. Was it another flaw? He was full of them. How could he live with himself anymore? Because you're a coward, the voice answered in his head. He thought they were his own thoughts. They seemed to despise what was Marcus, and the thoughts were his. So he hated himself. What a big surprise.

"It depends on the situation. And don't play that finding-game here. Half the guards are hidden and should remain so, don't make the others look up. Look at me."

"Shut up, the constable is here", he said only with his lips. If he blushed, no one could see. His years serving in the South had made his skin as tan as his father's..

Knight Posts : 1610 Join date : 2012-06-20

Isabel's eyes sparked as Marcus mentioned the King's vassals.

"I am Isabel, Knight of the Griffon. The pleasure of our meeting is mutual, I'm sure."

She took a moment to glance over the map again before taking a seat.

"As to the King and his vassals... if a noble Centurian as yourself is to take credit for the victory of a battle, the King is to take credit for the peace of the realm. A dog fetching a stick is not honored, only the Master that trains it." She made every effort to speak clearly in the tongue of Pendor.

A man in a dark chain-mail/leather tabard entered, with no emblem displayed. Glancing around at those present, he focused his eyes first on Marcus, the commanding presence in the room, then at the rest. He walked over to the map, and smirked after reading 'the Free City of Singal'.

After noticing the current bantering happening, Varys smiled and whispered under his breath,

'let the fun begin..'

The man was closely followed by Sir Azrael of the Griffons and a squire. They were having a conversation over something, but no one could hear what they were talking about. The squire broke from Sir Azrael who continued to the table without further incident. Taking a seat next to Isabel, the only other Griffon in the room, he asked her:

"Anything important I missed?"

Knight Posts : 1610 Join date : 2012-06-20

Isabel turned slightly to Sir Azrael, speaking softly.

"A treasonous tongue."

She gave a slight smile and began to speak loud enough for others to hear.

"A lack of wine as well. As you see, we've a fine map and many guards. This man charged with security assures me that they are not mute, and can sell our secrets at the cost of a hand."

The squire kept walking slowly around room, noticing the sealed windows while the fresh air would certainly be welcome in a room like this.

after a few moments he stopped pacing the room and positioned himself standing behind the Griffon loremaster. It was not his place to talk in this room, unless spoken to.

Last edited by Pravenstern on Tue Sep 04, 2012 4:24 am; edited 1 time in total

Sir Azrael was rather bemused by Isabel's answer. Well, the woman was known for her rather weird habits and humour so he let it slip. This time.

"Eh, I'll take your word for it"

Varys noticed a new arrival, and walked over. He looked at the squire and said,

"I haven't seen you around before. I am Ser Varys. May I.. inquire as to who you are?"

Last edited by Saeros on Tue Sep 04, 2012 4:22 am; edited 1 time in total

His father used to tell him about how quickly things used to go wrong when grandmasters gathered for a meeting, but only now Saeros realized that old Theo was actually being modest - the people here were only neighbours and allies. Fearing what would happen when members of the Dawn, Eventide and the damned Gauntlet arrived, Saeros shouted to one guard, in the Noldor language:

"<Go, bring double; position outside the hall. Make sure all have deposited their weapons at the gate.>"

Aelos was suprised that this man adressed him, dressed in a dark attire, Eventide perhaps?

"I am Aelos, squire to Sir Kamos."

As a squire, and former pupil of Sir Roland, he did not want to prolongue the 'inquiry' for the fear of causing trouble.

Varys smiled. "Ah, another Griffon. It is good to have such loyal persons in our kingdom. See to it that you make your benefactor proud."

Hearing the Saeros address the guard, Varys lowered his voice and said to Aelos, "I wonder why our.. generous.. host here would be talking to his guards in the Noldor tongue. Perhaps he is saying things he wishes us to not know?"

Last edited by Saeros on Tue Sep 04, 2012 4:37 am; edited 1 time in total

"The Silvemists always issue orders in the Noldor language", Saeros answered. "This meeting is no exception".

not to appear rude, Aelos would answer.

"I am sure the man will do an excellent job. If I had my doubts, I would have brought some guards to assist him."

With this, Aelos looked at Saeros, nodded, and returned to a more statue like pose.

"And I would not have come at all," the Shadow Legion Grandmaster broke in grimly, showing his respect with a tight nod of his head.

"I don't see much to discuss, however. Most, if not all of our concerns, will be addressed during the council meeting."

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