[Location] Thane's Estate

[Kalinda]

„Good. It’s good that you have no intention of interfering with our politics“, Alyanna said – every bit the arrogant young noblewoman that fought she was doing Amber a favour by meeting with her. “We wouldn’t have appreciated that at all. Our cities are not as closely tied to the Empire as you would prefer. And don’t worry, we have no intention of conquering your cities or trying to influence your politics. As long as you don’t touch our world, we won’t touch yours. Unlike some we have no interest in the surface world and its inhabitants.”

As somebody knocked on the door, she turned her head. Realizing that it was the much anticipated wine, she began tapping her foot on the floor, signalling to the guard that she was impatient and wanted him to hurry up. A somewhat puzzled expression crossed her face as she noticed how satisfied the man seemed to be. Was the man happy to serve her? Crazy surface dwellers. In Har’oloth the servants shivered when they had to taste her food. Poisoning was not uncommon in Har’oloth, especially if you belonged to one of the three ruling families.

She didn’t thank him. She took it for granted that he did this for you. A nod was the only sign that she wanted her glass filled now. As the maid and the guard had left again, she took a sip and turned back to Amber. “I have no wishes and desires, Thane, other than that you stay out of the Third House’s sphere of influence. As per our agreement, you may post your guards on the First Plane. Now what exactly it is that you want to talk about?”

[Amber Brightwing]

Humble? She couldn’t help raising her brow a bit at the words of flattery. She still wasn’t entirely sure what to think of Dimitri, but she surely didn’t consider him to be humble and whenever he was trying to be overly polite she could help but wonder what was behind it.

“That’s all I wanted to discuss for now, so yes, you’re free to leave.”

[Faust D'Rinishad]

OOC: Incredibly grandfathered post

The clatter of footsteps along the pathway leading to the manse proclaimed the arrival of the ebon-clad figure. Garbed in the color of shadows, his silver tresses contrasted strikingly with his dreary attire, which was elegant nonetheless. Aside the gracefulness of the traveler’s stride, most notable was the glimmering crescent moon emblem embroidered upon his obsidian mantle, which managed to conceal most of his slender frame. To many the symbol might have appeared to be ordinary and mundane, but to those of Vortex and Har’oloth, it distinguished him as a messenger of House Kitrye’veresi, the most powerful clan in all of Har’oloth.

Ardanon Kitrye’veresi, former House Mage of the Kitrye’veresi, strode evenly past the gates of the Thane’s mansion and towards the front door. His weathered hands, with many wrinkles testifying to his age, gripped a long oak staff that drummed against the earth with every stride. Despite the centuries that marked his existence, however, Ardanon nevertheless radiated an aura of confidence and authority that suggested that the magic of his younger years had not yet left his bones.

The older Vysstichi’s crimson eyes, flecked by the countless tragedies of many years past, bore down upon the two sentries poised outside. Calm and composed, Ardanon’s features were flawless despite the contours of his face that indicated his age. With the dignity expected of an emissary of Har’oloth’s most prominent family, the Vysstichi wizard nodded faintly to the two guards, shortly afterwards producing a scroll that they might recognize as bearing the seal of the thane. “I am Ardanon Kitrye’veresi, ambassador of House Kitrye’veresi, First House of Har’oloth, here to see the Thane as requested.”

[Amber Brightwing]

Amber rubbed her chin. That they were not interested in the surface world was of no surprise, but that they showed no real interest in the First Plane came somewhat as a surprise. She had always found it to have the feeling of a ‘Vysstichi/Esh’lahier outpost’ and found it strange how easily the presence of the Vortexian guards was accepted. Not that there was any reason not to accept them, but she found it strange how non of the houses seemed to show any interest in having some guards of themselves patrolling as well.

“Well, it seems that there is less to say then I suspected as aside from meeting face to face with neighbours of importance, the overlap between our two spheres of influence was the only thing I had left to discuss. Not that that’s a bad thing as I prefer mutual agreement to live and let live above constant bickering about everything and nothing.”

“And to come back to the overlap of our spheres of influence, are their places Vortex should avoid being interested too much on the First Plane? It’s always easier to avoid trouble from happening in the first place rather then trying to clean up afterwards.”

It would be her last question on the matter. And after that… well, the conversation would be pretty much over. It was strange how little their had been to say.

[Kalinda]

„Were you concerned that we would not tolerate the presence of your guards anymore?“ Alyanna asked as she heard Amber’s words. The look on her face was one of pure innocence now. Sometimes it was better to make concessions to the ones you did not like rather than going to war with them and fighting them every inch of the way. If you pretended to be friendly and agreeable, they were less likely to send their spies to places you did not want them to look. “Really, you shouldn’t have been. A constant state of war would hurt us both. We are sensible people.”

“Just avoid everything that’s outside the mercantile district. You are not allowed in the tunnels that lead to the Second Plane or near them.” She frowned as she regarded the fae. “Is there anything else you wanted to discuss or did you just send me here to remind me of the agreement? Thane Brightwing, what do you personally think of Har’oloth and the current situation in the city? Are you aware of anything that goes on below ground? What is your opinion – your personal opinion and not the so called official opinion of your Empire?”

[Amber Brightwing]

OOC: The guards are at the gates instead of the front door, but I assume you meant to stop where they stood.


The guard nodded at the Vysstichi. He hadn’t given more then a quick glance at the presented scroll. Having recognized the symbol on the man’s mantle and he knowing the other houses had already visited the man’s presence wasn’t that surprising.

“If you would hand over any weapons you have on you then we’ll lead you inside.”

After the small formality Ardanon would be escorted inside by one of the two guards. He would find a hall with white marble walls, richly decorated with paintings of exotic places, of beaches, snow covered mountains, jungles and swamps, of Vysstichi, Humans and Halflings. Two staircases on each side went up to the next floor. At the end of the hall, two more guards were standing each on one side of a door. They were Human and looked very alike, due to being twins. They had short black hair, black eyes and skin so pale that they almost looked as if they were dead ... or undead. They wore identical uniforms of black and purple, the colours of Vortex. They were muscular and the armour underneath their uniform made them look even bulkier. The guard brought him to the office to the left though, addressing the young Human sitting inside behind a desk.

“Ardanon Kitrye’veresi, the ambassador of House Kitrye’veresi, First House of Har’oloth is here to see the Thane.”

The blond girl looked up and dismissed the guard with a acknowledging nod.

“Serale. Please have a seat. I’ll notify the Thane you’re here and I’m sure she’ll see you right away. And do you want something to drink?”

She held out her hand at the empty seat in front of her. As soon as he had answered her question she would disappear out of the door, returning a brief moment later informing the Thane would see him now.

Inside the Thanal office, a thick red carpet, Arakmatan in style, lay on the floor. A huge desk made of reddish brown wood stood in the middle of the room. Several stacks of paper lie on the desk, forming small towers on each end and with only a handful of leaves here and there between that. Occasionally a books lay on the desk as well. Two huge broadswords , ornately decorated with silver and numerous gems, were hanging on the wall behind it, swords with hilts that were filled with a multitude of gems. Two cosy looking chairs were standing in front of it and two more could be found in a corner next to a small table. A couple of bookshelves and a fireplace completed the furnishing of the room.

In the middle of the desk sat a small Fae, the current thane of Vortex, on an equally small pillow, legs crossed and her eyes her eyes studying the man in front of her. She found it most curious that a male representative was send, knowing how Har’oloth had a matriarchal society.

“Serale and welcome. I’m Amber Brightwing, Thane of Vortex.”

[Faust D'Rinishad]

A flicker of energy pulsated from the Vysstichi mage’s eyes as his staff was demanded of him, though he reluctantly relinquished his grip upon the oaken piece and handed it over to the thane’s guard. In truth the dark elf’s power was not contingent upon the mundane staff; however, as his bones had experienced centuries of age, he had oftentimes employed the exceptionally helpful weapon to support his weight. Nevertheless, for the meanwhile he would do without it.

Following into line behind the pair of guards, the wizard’s head remained high as he strode, striking a pose of utter confidence and superiority. Ardanon had never harbored any fondness for humans, particularly as they had been the ones who had contributed to Kal’adriel Kitrye’veresi’s downfall, and thus he provided them no significant level of respect. He was not rude or impolite but rather apathetic and distant.

Gifting a nod to the woman in the office, the proud dark elf ensconced in the proffered chair and surveyed the interior of the room, casually noting its embroidery and the various decorations dispersed across the walls. Much like his brethren, Ardanon had always reserved a liking for the arts, though their taste was much different than that of humans or even light-born elves. Nonetheless, for the meanwhile he waited in relative silence until summoned.

Only a short while later he was called into another room, a beckoning that elicited an inconspicuous frown along the wizard’s visage. Having never enjoyed the rigmarole of bureaucrats, the Vysstichi did not delight in wasting time sitting down for a fleeting moment before being summoned again. In Har’oloth individuals were either forced to wait for excessive periods of time before seeing the matron or brought to her immediately –nothing in between.

Finally reminding himself that this was not Har’oloth, the Vysstichi mage dismissed his agitated expression and entered the office of the thane. A cursory glance of the facility highlighted the elegant decorations that had been distributed throughout the vicinity, though these paled in comparison to many of the wondrous sights that the elfin wizard had seen in his life time.

Indeed, nothing was like Har’oloth.

“A pleasure to meet you at last, your grace.” Ardanon replied to the perched faerie with a humble bow, lowering considerably to denote his natural respect for Vortex’s leader. The fluidity and perfection of his bow suggested, too, that he had performed a similar gesture hundreds of times before –and truly he had. “I am Ardanon Kitrye’veresi. I apologize, too, for the lateness of my arrival. This was the soonest that I was available.”

[Amber Brightwing]

“Well, if you had no longer tolerated the presence of Vortex’ guards then you probably would have muscled in while the city was without leadership. Since that hasn’t happened I wasn’t too concerned.”

After all, there would have been none to put a halt to them. The situation in the Southern Quarter showed well enough what could have happened in such a case. Fortunately the Vysstichi and Esh’lahier were smart enough to realize that there was more to gain from cooperation.

“No need to worry about us venturing past the First Plane. I just wanted to know if there was anything that ticked you off or thing you thought that could be handled better, but that you chose not to bother bringing up to avoid conflict. As you said, we’re both sensible people, so I’m sure something could be worked out if such were the case.”

“As for my opinion? I keep my ears open to what happens below, but aside from wanting to keep up to date with what’s happening around me the dealings in Har’oloth are of little interest to me. Unless it has some influence on me or Vortex, like drawing unwanted attention from the Empire, I really couldn’t care less what happens below the First Plane or what you do in other parts of the Empire.”

She grinned. The well-being of others was not something she concerned herself with. If she helped anyone it was only because she saw some benefit in it for herself.

[Amber Brightwing]

“The pleasure is all mine, please, have a seat.” She gestured to the chair in front of her. “And no need to apologize, I’m much more patient then most of my kin.”

She was rather glad he had chosen to come. The uncertainty due to the lack of any reply had not made the wait a pleasant one. If the most important faction in Har’oloth would choose not to see her that would be annoying, but since that faction might threaten Vortex as a whole with its exploits outside of the cities borders a refusal to meet would have disturbed her quite a bit.

“I’ll just start with the most bothersome matters first so we can get those out of the way. The Empire’s gaze had wondered away from our fine city, but due to recent Vysstichi visits in Silrosia they have turned their eyes back on us. They haven’t reacted to it yet, but another misstep and we’ll have the legions knocking at our door and I think that’s something that should be avoided if possible.”

Her tone was factual and in no way angry or threatening. From the rumours that had reached her she had gathered that those responsible were no longer in power, but she knew very little about those that had taken over the helm. She’d rather hear whether such things would happen again or not from their own mouth.

“Now personally, I’m not interested in involving myself in the politics below the First Plane and neither do I care what happens to elves in Silrosia. In this case however the event had a direct influence on Vortex itself and I do care about that.”

She paused and waited for a reply.

[Faust D'Rinishad]

Ensconcing gracefully in the proffered chair, the Vysstichi Mage folded his hands ceremoniously in his lap as he tilted his head upwards to regard the petite thane upon her plush cushion. Although many would have found it difficult to take the miniscule fae seriously, Ardanon Kitrye’veresi had purposely been sent as the representative of House Kitrye’veresi subsequent of his extensive experience in personal relations.

The ancient dark elf did not miss Amber’s allusion to the Vysstichi invasion of Silrosia. His wrinkled visage, however, did not indicate anything save his undivided attention that he continued to provide to the woman. In truth, though, he was already beginning to understand where the conversation was heading.

The Silrosian invasion had yielded numerous repercussions, many of which had ironically proven detrimental to the dark elves. It had weakened the First House of Har’oloth considerably, and the Second House had suffered similar losses as well. Even more drastically for House Embracing Oblivion, however, had been their weakened condition that had allowed a certain Archmage Necromancer to waltz through their domain and murder many of their esteemed figures.

This was not necessarily a bad thing for House Kitrye’veresi.

Nevertheless, Alaret Kitrye’veresi, the former Matron of House Kitrye’veresi, had erred in her decision to listen to the treacherous Lydia Cain and waylay Silrosia –much like she had blundered in assassinating the previous Kal’adriel Kitrye’veresi, former Matron of House Kitrye’veresi. Alaret had been slain but that hardly mattered in the eyes of the Imperial government.

To them one dark elf was as detestable as the next.

“The parties that were responsible for the Silrosian invasion have all been eradicated, your grace.” Ardanon began, speaking with the poise and calm of one who collected their thoughts before articulating. “But even if they had not been…even the legions would have been hard pressed to have done anything about it anyway.”

Choosing his words carefully, the mage sighed momentarily before continuing. “Nevertheless, your grace, I understand your concerns. Life has been bearable without the legions barking at our door and most of us would prefer to keep things that way.” Nodding simply, Ardanon hoped that his statement would explain what Amber probably hoped to hear.

[Amber Brightwing]

She grinned as she heard the not entirely unexpected answer. All seemed to point at Alaret’s actions and behaviour had been rather unorthodox and that the chances were small anyone was interested in repeating them.

“The rumours of their death had already reached me. I mostly wanted to know whether the new matron had any interest in repeating the actions of her predecessor. I would have to agree with you on Empire not being able to get Vortex and Har’oloth on its knees. Just look at the trouble they had retaking Narim and Paxia. I’m not sure if they realize it or not though.”

They had after all not retaliated for the attack on Silrosia. Perhaps they realized that if they wanted to gather the needed forces they would have to recruit elsewhere in the Empire, weakening their positions there. She had seen how easy it had been for a singly Archmage to take on a legion and Vortex had more then just one Archmage at their disposal.

“Still, in many ways our cities flourish because of the trade with the rest of the Empire, not to mention the food that’s being imported or the destruction and many pointless deaths a war would bring. So I’m glad to hear we’re seeing things from the same side. As far as I’m concerned that settles the Silrosian matters.”

She paused again to see if her guest wanted to add anything on the subject before they moved on.

[Grim]

TS: First Brightening of Autumn, Era XIII Post Fractum

A large detachment of West Wardens, totalling 600 in number arrived at the Thane's Estate bearing a letter from the governor. The Lieutenant Commander in charge had received strict orders from his superiors, while he was temporarily under the loose command of the Thane, he would not subject his men to undue danger where Vortex troops could be used in their stead and while he would, for now, take orders from the Thane, should she give bad orders that could all change very, very quickly. He, Alexei Deinrovich, a nasty scar running down the side of his face, knew that much. He had grown up in a village not far from Vortex, the scar he had received while fighting Vysstichi, his antipathy for those Nexians termed Eddies was well known.

They were all infantry, each carrying a shotsword, a shield and a spear or bow and arrow and they'd all seen action before. Be it chasing down bandits in the great mountains, fighting off orcs in Paxia, Vysstichi in Nexus or demons in Eville. The Lieutenant Commander who commanded them carried a message in a plain envelope bearing the Provincial Seal of Arium and the Seal of the West Wardens to keep it closed.

What was found inside was written in the hand of someone who was obviously a scribe by the neat, flowing script, but the medium it was written on was nothing more than standard grade paper. Nothing out of the ordinary or expensive in this case.

Secrets : From the desk of General Ivan Lastoniev of the West Wardens These troops are to be placed temporarily under the command of her Grace, the Thane of Vortex by order of his Imperial Excellency the Director General of Arium for the purposes of exterminating a gang operating under the name of the Blood Alley Gang.

And that was it. No signature, nothing more but the seal of the West Wardens.

[Roland Moonstar]

OOC: Sorry, lost my Internet for a bit: my DSL carrier made a typo in my credit-card information and it took some time to get everything straightened out. As this is now grandfathered I will just exit and return again in the current season.

IC:
Roland listened carefully, and his face fell at the news. Such a disaster! He shook his head. "Truly, I had no idea. I had been whisked away by a Lamia, and then had some other adventures in some far off ruins and dungeons. Good for my own personal strength and endurance, not so good as far as keeping myself abreast of the goings-on in Alleria." He bowed to the Thane. "My most sincere apologies for forcing you to be the one to be the courier of such dreadful news. Please forgive me."

Roland nodded. "Speaking of which... all right then, if you change your mind about needing a courier, just send word to my abode before I depart. " He shrugged.

"Thank you for your time. It is been both a sad and enlightening encounter. I came for news and information, and you have given both in spades. Should you ever need anything from House Moonstar, never hesitate to ask. Thank you again for your time. By your leave, Lady Thane...."

[Amber Brightwing]

The sudden arrival of 600 West Wardens was quite a surprise. There had been no further communication to either tell whether it was or wasn’t possible to receive provincial help in the matter and now they had suddenly showed up. Not that she could complain, but it had given her no time to set up what was needed to receive them. Luckily the Vortex Military Compound should be large enough to give them a place to sleep until they were put in action.

So they told that the next day a meeting would be held with the Thane, the Captain of the Guards and Lieutenant Commander in charge of the detachment of West Wardens for further explanation. For now they were lead to the Military Compound with the request not to reveal what they were here for. Even though the corruption of the guards had been dealt with there might still be some present that held allegiance to the Blood Alley Gang or didn’t mind a fat bribe.

[Kalinda]

Alyanna looked suspicious as Amber spoke. No interest in anything past the First Plane, sensible, trying to avoid conflict, no interest in Har’oloth at all? It sounded almost too good to be true. The young woman narrowed her eyes, but then she relaxed and smiled. “Good … good … we have an agreement then. I’m surprised though that you deemed it necessary to have a personal meeting about such trivial matters. It seems unnecessary. Neither I nor my mother like such things …” She frowned. She didn’t sound as “friendly” anymore, but more like a spoiled young woman who was used to getting her way. “I assume you prepared rooms for me here as I asked? I’m afraid I have no interest in one of your inns.”