Spheres of Influence: Alliance

MkFieldan nodded to the servant and stood to address the gathered assembly.

"Erm, pardon the interruption, this is most unorthodox but, there seems to be a representative from the Nogroon Khanate who wishes to discuss a matter with the states of the alliance. The ambassador claims to hold the Staff of the Prophet to prove the legitimacy of their authority to represent the Khan."

The new High Kingdom representative was a sturdy, gray-bearded dwarf named Durgan Alardhun. He was commonly referred to, however, by his nickname: Hammerhead. He had earned this nickname while fighting at the Battle of Bronze Pass, for stories told that he'd bludgeoned a bug to death with his famously durable skull after his weapon broke. When McFieldan addressed the assembly, he spoke up.

"Well, let them in then. My liege Thedrin counts Anora Khan among his friends. If they've come all this way, they probably have something important to say."

MkFieldan nodded to the guardsmen at the door who opened it for the Orc ambassador.

Exiro looked a bit worried, and fiddled at his clothing a bit. Things probably would continue to be... Well, not fine, but getting worse at a stable and acceptable decline. He hadn't been the one to make contact with the Khan, so hopefully his partner had left a good impression there and hadn't accidentally given the impression they were all assassins or traitors or something.

"Anyway, I am unaware of how the investigation went in Praterre, but even the existence of bounties for information may help. It could convince adventurers and other unique individuals to keep an eye out on other jobs, it could attract a traitor to this organisation, and it wouldn't cost us anything except the dividends of putting the money to more immediate use. If we have found nothing by the next general Alliance meeting, then I would move for general repairs and infrastructure, roads between our lands, etc. It would at the very least, encourage our unknown enemies to lie low, knowing that their actions will garner more attention, as would actually hiring a force to look into it actively, but this way the money will only be spent in the case of results."

"That is all I have to say on this matter, and perhaps now we should consider what else there is to say on the matter of the elves. I would say that... Perhaps the greatest threat of the elven empire, is their anonymity. The only country that survived standing against them, has only recently begun to reclaim it's former glory, a recent accomplishment we can all support and congratulate. Well done, to the High Kingdom Representative Durgan Alardhun." Cregit Exiro raised a salute to Durgan, paused for any other congratulations or applause offered, then continued.

"I believe, that we should use, at least some, of the reward money to look into reverse engineering these magical trinkets they are supplying us with, or to look into ancient elven remains or knowledge or artifacts. We know that their presence happened to expand to dwarven holds at some point. The more we know about their magical crafts and history, the better I feel, yes? No one can totally remove their presence from the world. I am certainly not suggesting any more expeditions into elven cities. Kor Vurneus will pay the price for that and I wouldn't wish that sword hanging above anyone here. But the world is large, and the elves ancient, and so maybe other enemies of theirs exist or memories of their ways and the tools they use. Scars or remnants or ruins of their actions and long lives. So little is known about them and even now, they threaten the Alliance to limit any potential to gain more knowledge of them. Why? Because they know that many times, the fear of a thing is greater than the thing itself, and the greatest fears come from that of the unknown."

"Make no mistake, maybe not now, but one day, we will need to face them. What rises, will fall, it is the way of things. But what the return of the Dwarven High Kingdom can commit to, is that what has fallen may rise again. And I don't believe anyone here would be joyful to see what comes of their worlds when the Elven star rises again." Cregit Exiro sat down, and took a drink, shaking slightly. Yes, he was motivated by fear, he wouldn't deny that if asked. He had a lot to fear, and so he would use it as nourishment for his life and goals.

As the Cregit speaks, an orc walks in. They stand at around seven feet tall, broad-shouldered and muscular. Long, wavy hair flows down their back, thin braid sresting between waves and curls; they wear colorful woolen clothes - a vest, a shirt, pants, and a bright blue cloth-woven belt. On the belt sits an empty scabbard; across their back, an empty quiver. In their hand they hold a finely carved staff, one which has clearly seen many years given the dirt and scratches upon it. They take a seat at the table, arms crossed, leaning the thick oak staff against the table.

They sit and they wait, not wanting to interrupt proceedings with their introduction until they have been called to do so.

The Cregit was done, and glanced over to the orc that had walked in as he'd talked. He had a minor take-back, as he looked the orc up and down.

I mean, dayum. He took another drink. "I'm done by the way. Welcome, our Nogroon friend."

MkFieldan nodded to the orc ambassador.

"Introducing the Representative for Anora Khan of the Nogroon Khanate. I will now cede the floor so that they may speak."

The orc nods and stands. They speak in a thick accent, but with a fluent tongue.

"I am Rojhad Meltemoni Nogroon, Priest-Mage of Mother Nightsea and Speaker on behalf of Anora Khan, Master of the East, Child of the Stars and the Horizon. I have been trusted by my people to exercise divine guidance and properly represent the will of the gods and their children in this forum. I thank you for receiving me."

"I arrive because the Khan received word of the supposed misdeeds of Kor Vurneus against the elves, and because we were promised death if we were to assist them. That the elves think they may presume to order the Chosen of the Gods in how to conduct their personal matters is a laughable display of their arrogance. We will not be hindered from speaking our truth, and we will not cower in fear. Our truth is thus: We are here to pledge our support to Kor Vurneus and its allies should this become a military matter. We are of one mind with the Cregit - the Elven kingdoms, as they are, cannot stand. The wickedness of the elves cannot be understated. They slaughter men for minor transgressions and call it justice. They delivered death upon the Dwarves and called it justice. They abandoned their young, their kin, the most vulnerable of their people and called it justice."

"In the eyes of the gods, to turn away from the suffering caused by the unjust is an injustice unto itself. To accept the unrighteous as an unavoidable, unchangeable fact is the greatest injustice of all. We cannot wait for them to deliver their judgment upon the nations of the elves. We must be the instruments of that judgement. Perhaps it will not be possible on this day - our nation is nascent, yours are burgeoning, and time is on our side - but let it be known: should the aggression of the elves come to bear, the Nogroon will stand by the side of the righteous, and the blood of the ancients will be shed should they seek to bring death to the gentle and the decent. By the Mother of Mysteries herself, I swear it: when it comes to blows, you will not fight alone."

Their eyes swing across the room, studying the various diplomats. They settle on the Cregit.

"As for this situation: I do not come to dictate the decisions of sovereign states. I will listen, and hear what you intend to do, and offer what wisdom the gods have granted me in order to give all of us the greatest advantage in the coming conflict. Your choices this day do not affect the promise I have made. So long as righteousness remains in your hands, the Nogroon will be at your side. That said, these are my suggestions, having been appraised of the situation as best I can: to hand over the artifacts today will give us time to solidify our power bases and have a greater chance of withstanding the inevitable elven tide. We are as saplings, freshly planted, and the elves are the rolling winds on the horizon. If we are to fight now, we may bow or we may break; if we grow sturdy and strong, we will be unmoved by their wrath. This is my position, as of now."

They nod once more and sit. "Thank you for giving me the floor."

A servant entered the room while Rojhad was talking, and swiftly approached the ambassador from Des-Accor, delivering a whispered message. Spluttering, the ambassador quickly left the room.

Alyn is here with more druids this time. They nod at the Orcish ambassador's speech.

"We are gladdened by your words, Rojhad Meltemoni of the Nogroon. I too, have a strong sense of justice, and it is an honor to have you with us here."

The Cregit began a clap, looking around to see if it caught on. He kept going irregardless for a bit. "I thank you for your support Rojhad Meltemoni Nogroon. Hearing your words does help bring a sense of security to us in this time, and we are glad to have you by us."

The Deputy was back baybee!

And felt like this was all a little over dramatic. But whatever, didn't change that pleasant expression. Nothing really did. Not fearmongering or the entrance of the Hottest person in the room, though he had to wipe a little tear away at THAT speech, those damn orcs. Always got to 'em. Gaara warned him. Horribly, relatably righteous.

There were a couple of appropriate places to clap in there, and so he did, and cleared his throat after the Cregit finished. Thanked the Khan's representative for their attendance and input, and the knowledge that they were of one mind, of course. He agreed with the Cregit on the matter of bounty-placing and, if they were to accept the reward offer, which he still did not feel well about, researching the artifacts given. It occurred to him over the break that this might be expected of them, so they might not glean much from it, but it was worth a shot. Plus, bringing people on the ground into the mix was sure to bring up results they wouldn't find even with the most careful searching.

Hammerhead watched the Des-Accor representative leave, then looked back towards the Cregit.

"I thank you for your kind words regarding the High Kingdom," he said to the Cregit. "The bugs are getting their much-deserved come-uppance."

And then he looked towards the Nogroon representative.

"And your candor is appreciated, my friend," he said to them. "Aye, the Elves are genocidal, abusive, inhumane bastards. Their crimes are without limit, and while I hope war never needs to happen between our two people again, if forced we'll fight til our dying breath. Just like we did last time."

And then he looked to the rest of the Council.

"That said, Rojhad is correct in saying that we'd stand no chance against the Elves. Not now, anyway. Even my ancestors at their height, with all the power and might of the High Kingdom, were probably on the backfoot when the mountains were sundered. It'd take all of us, united and strong, with a common purpose and a lot more preparation to even have a chance of giving them a bloody nose."

He sat back, nodding.

"We shouldn't seek out a fight with them. But if one comes? Doesn't hurt to be prepared, I agree."

The ambassador from Des-Accor returned, shakily delivering news. They were requesting help from the Alliance in investigating a double assassination.

Duchess Tara de Cazou, as well as her only daughter and direct heir Anneliese de Cazou, were dead. Their bodies had been discovered during the winter solstice celebrations at their holiday estate in Cazou. Tara's eldest grandson Jacob de Cazou was set to be declared Duke of Des-Accor. And with their entire army lost during the reclamation of Khuln Verdaral, they were in a very weak position and unable to try and find out who was responsible for this themselves.

Díuc MkFieldan looked shocked at the news. He immediately blurted out a promise to commit to the investigation immediately.

Hammerhead's face dropped in horror as the color slowly drained.

"By the Gods. We'll help however we can. It's our responsibility, considering your army lost their lives fighting for our cause," he said. "I'll need to send a letter to King Thedrin. Excuse me, everybody. And I'm so sorry, Ambassador."

He got up to go write that fucking letter to Thedrin.

"Des-Accor's army has been demolished?" MkFieldan asked. "I will, on behalf of the Ríoch, immediately offer to transport two of our cities now standing levies to guard and secure Des-Accor's borders and independence if the new Duke accepts the help."

Ok! There was something that could make the Deputy stop looking so cheerful! THAT wasn't good! He took a pause in shock, and then quickly pulled his note pages in front of him, scribbling some things down before too swearing to assist. They already knew some damn good investigators on the case in-

...

...

He scribbled some more. And reconsidering what the uhh. Situation might feel like, right now, the FBP would fund 100k of the general effort uninvolved with themselves, and hunt themselves down a small investigatory team, so as to not uhh. Upset.

"Oh dear." The Cregit frowned a little. Probably a bad time to attempt to use this to buy more vineyards. Anyway. He glanced around, reading the room. He hadn't actually checked for mind-control signs of magic again he either so, he flicked on his super-Andrasic-senses.

"It isn't technically my business to promise this, but Kor Vurneus will, if you desire, send over some soldiers to help keep order considering your loss of military until you recover from your losses, alongside Tiranogs." He said to the ambassador of Des-Accor.

He didn't promise any investigators but... "Perhaps, the fine from Kor Vurneus could be put towards... this?" He ventured, continuing to check the room.

Capra has replaced Ovis in this meeting! He is too shocked to react in any ways whatsoever besides wincing. When Exiro mentioned the investigation in Praterre, whose results are still not fully public knowledge, he winced. When the silvertongued orc mentioned the elves launching a war, he winced. The news of the murder? He winced the most.
But at least, he managed to mutter a few condolences, and excused his country for being too low on money right now to launch an investigation.

Rojhad 's eyes swing over to the shocked Diuc. An eyebrow raises. "The death of a few people with long names? If they were your clanmates, then you have my condolences, but are you appraised of every murder in your lands?"

They tut and shake their head. "Returning to the matter at hand: We do not require thanks, Kregit. The Nogroon and their Holy Khan ask only that you remain steadfast in your stand against the evils that wait beyond your gates. If I may appraise myself of this situation, though: Why would Kor Vurneus be fined? Has some sort of wrongdoing transpired?"

MkFieldan turned to the Orc and replied bluntly.

"We care, good ambassador, because a member of the alliance, and a leader of a people was murdered. Mayhaps that may not matter much to you, but it does to us." He said, pausing for a moment before continuing. "And to answer your question, yes some wrongdoing has transpired, but it is being dealt with, Kor Vurneus has shown contrition and willingness to pay the fine, and we were discussing what to do with the money to benefit the Alliance as a whole in order to settle the matter."

The orc shrugs. "It seems plain to me that this matter - important as it may be - isn't what we came to speak about, is all. Tackling matters in a scattershot manner is rather counterproductive. Unless all the alliance members find this matter pertinent, perhaps we can recenter our focus on the topic this meeting was called for?"

Hammerhead came back in, having written his letter to Thedrin. He took his seat.

The Deputy LOVED this fuckin dude but didn't say SHIT. A hero.