The te dawnval sun had already set upon the Iyr, with the Iyrmen and their guests having taken to slumber, save for those who worked into the night, those who roamed the Iyr's nds against uhreats, those whose positions forced them to remain awake until the quiet hours of the m, and those who still had great topics to discuss.

  "Aldnd's forts dot the nd like moths drawn to a fme," Elder Wrath said, motioning towards all the new forts, with many along their own border and the surrounding nds.

  "Four," the Chief said, but his eyes passed along the six other forts which Aldnd had formed near enough to its borders, and near enough for their sideration if somethio occur between their nds. "The forts may be given to the and of the exiled orders."

  "If they are given and of the near forts, we will o secure greater defences," Elder Wrath said, gng aside to Elder Forest and Elder Gold.

  Elder Gold, an Oathkeeper, reached up to hold her as she thought, her eyes glued to the forts. "It will be difficult to create a fn terbance. If the King gives such great power to the three orders, the other orders will keep them in check. The King may choose to decrease the orders' influence across the nd with his new army."

  "The new army has left much to be desired," Elder Forest stated, almost disappoiheir ally had formed such a pathetic army. "He has already acquiesced to the Priests of Nahtu, but he will o surrender more to the nobles of the nd if he wishes to form his own army, especially one which may number almost one huhousand." Her thoughts fell to whether they should also create forts on the borders of their nds, or rather, whether they should be obvious or not.

  "His dream may bloom to bear fruit yet," the Chief stated, writing down a o the book. "Though he has pulled his bde away from Floria, his grip on power is greater than the Shen's, and with the expeditio, to the isnds he has cimed, we must assume his soldiers will grow powerful rapidly. A huhousand peasants in and wielding spears are almost irrelevant, but a huhousand soldiers in and wielding spears? The Iyr will o sider the possibility the King may make the poor choi wishing to covet our nd."

  "We should sider reinstating our One Hundred," Elder Wrath said, writing down a he Iyr already had its One Hundred Grandmasters, and One Hundred Paragons, who were officially made up of those at least at the rank of Grandmaster, with some Paragons within. "Even if they are uo secure any information about the army and its abilities, their proximity to the capital will assist in gathering more intimate information. If the King splits them up, we will have cast a wider ."

  "We should sider to rotate the soldiers so they may return with information at least yearly." The Chief wrote down another note, while the aides write their own from nearby, paying keen attention to the Great Elders and their words, formuting their own thoughts.

  "While the King Bckwater is trying to pass his reforms, King Merryweather is pushing through his own," Elder Wrath said, his eyes falling down towards the Florian nds. "With Lord Asa, their defensive capabilities are great. Their offensive capabilities are not as great as Aldnd, so there is little worry of them coveting our nds."

  The Chief remained silent for a long while. King Merryweather had taught King Bckwater everything he khe two sidered almost equals when it came to military stratagems. Their goals with their armies were pletely different. Whereas the Aldish were f a force to project power across far and wide, to quer distant nds, the Florians were currently trying to form a defensive army to deal with the threat from their north, having allied themselves with their long time enemy of the Aswadians, who were currently going through their own civil war.

  "Their current goals will be to create numerous forts along their border, deferoops that hold onto such forts, and a rge navy," Chief Iromin said, certain of his words. King Merryweather, outside of his great manoeuvre to which utterly decimated Aldnd's troops, was more predictable than one might expect.

  "Florian archery should not be uimated," Elder Peace said, with her words breaking the silence like a hammer. Her preseended out across the other Iyrmen, causing their hairs to stand on end. "Though Lord Asa and the Bloody Demoo the demise of our own, it was not a bad death, we should not sider the Florians as our enemies for now. Their threat is low, and their ships have little effect upon our way of life. Aldnd's rise is something we have sidered for some years, and though the King has failed for now, the dey may only st a decade. It is Aswadasad's sudden shift which brings greater worry."

  Elder Teacher let out a sigh, having realised all this new history the Iyr's curriculum required. Of all the things he had to teach, the split of the two greatest powers, and the fact that old enemies have bee new allies, from Floria and Aswadasad, to Aswadasad and many of its dragons. "It is ohing for the Crimson Terror to sider dealing with Aswadasad politely, but for White Frost to suddenly shift her position of rality to an alliance..."

  "Many dragons have shifted their position with Aswadasad," the Chief said, w if the rality of the marauding dragons had ged her minds, for they could have teamed up to fight her for her wealth. "With White Frost's new retionship with Aswadasad, the try may have secured itself against the emerging threat of this new Aldnd."

  "The retionship should be defensive in nature, but if it is a greater alliance, we may o sider if we allow su alliance," Elder Wrath said.

  "We may allow it," Elder Peace said, instantly shutting down Elder Wrath.

  "It would be dangerous."

  "There are cards to deal against White Frost," Elder Peace said, tapping the table three times, shutting the topic of versation down.

  'What card do you hold against White Frost?' the Chief thought, though he thought of the cards he, as the Chief of the Iyr, held in case of emergencies. Still, a card against White Frost, who was sidered an A Dragon, one which matched the strength of Lady Jaeryael? Regardless of how eager the Iyrmen were for death, there were handful of figures even they o take great care of, and White Frost was among those few.

  With Elder Peavokis only she khe Great Elders tihe topics of discussion, still worried of Aswadasad. As the night tihe Iyr awoke with a fresh sense ency. The various he Great Elders and their aides were collected and distilled, sent out to the various Elders.

  Elder Zijihe m report, with Churot beside him, cheg the books once more. Most of the notes were generalised for all the Elders, but the bottom of the notes were personalised with more perti information. Elder Zijin couldn't help but to agree with the the bottom, whiderlihe source of the chaos which filled the air, or perhaps, more dangerously, he was not the source, but one of the many points in which the threads crossed together, along with his two panions.

  "It seems we will be busier this year, Churot," Zijin said, sipping his tea.

  "Okay," the boy replied, though his lips formed a smile over his books, the boy eagerly w the numbers.

  While the Elder wondered about how much work he'd o do with all this chaos, a storm thundered elsewhere.

  "No!" shouted a voice, dashing a cup across the floor, before she cackled.

  Jirot blinked, staring at the girl, before she smirked. She raised her cup, and readied a throw before Mirot csped the girl's wrist. Jirot stared up at her nana, before smirking.

  "Jitool," Citool called, causing the tiny girl to gnce her way, the girl blinking before she smiled ily. "You ot."

  "No!" Jitool cackled, before looking to Jirot, who smiled, but the green girl was quickly distracted by Mirot pig her and her brother up, taking them away.

  "Jitool. You ot."

  Jitool frowowards her mother. "Yes?"

  "No," Citool replied calmly.

  "No?"

  "N me the cup."

  Jitool hoisted herself up before rushing up to the cup she had dashed. Once she held it in hand she smiled, raising her hand up high, before her mother's voice cut through the air calmly. The girl turo her mother and smiled, rushing up to her with the cup in hand. She blinked ily.

  "You ot throw the cup. No throwing. You must say sorry."

  "Sorry," the girl replied, smiling.

  "If you throw it again, I will not feed you fruit."

  The girl's smile suddenly dropped. "Okay."

  "Okay?"

  "Okay."

  Citool pulled the girl close, embrag her close, before allowing the girl to sit beside her once more. The twins were brought back a short while ter, given their potatoes to eat, as the Iyrmen, with Iyrman efficy, dealt with the threat known as a child's trouble instantly.

  'Father will enjoy the story,' Mirot thought, letting out a sigh, already hearing the echoes of the old man's ughter. The woman thought of the twin's father and wondered what trouble he was causing.

  Adam gasped for air, coughing the water he thought he had within his lungs, but he gnced all around, finding himself within a stone room, with metal bars to one side, aiween the bars. He groaned as he sat up, feeling the ache within his body.

  Exhaustion: 1

  'Damn! What happened?' Adam rubbed the side of his throbbing head, before feeling the greater ache within the rest of his body. He gnced aside to see the rest of his panions all beginning to e to, while hearing the otion through the air. After a short while, the otion stopped, and heavy footfalls approached the cell.

  Mrinned wide as he waved towards the group. "You're finally awake?"

  "Yeah." Adam stretched out his shoulders before hearing the gentle ting of magic to his side, and the healing magic flowed through his wife, before she did the same for the rest of the group.

  Health: 90 -> 91

  "Thank you," Adam said, feeling the warmth of his wife’s magic fill him, like that of a mother’s touch.

  A group of humanoids, each with skin of all manner of colours, with mostly webbed fingers approached, adorned within scale cuirasses. Their helmets covered in coral, with one wearing a particur piece full of coral that had been shaped into a helmet. The look of annoyance filled his face, his ft, wide nose fring slightly as he tried to allow the stress to flow through him.

  "It seems our presence here has caused a mess," Morkarai said, ily, as though he wasn’t the source of the trouble.

  "A mess"

  "I caused trouble by not using the official els."

  "Why didn't you do it?"

  "I wanted revenge."

  "Revenge?"

  Morkarai was about to say more, but he could feel Karza's gaze upon him from the distance, and he knew how keen her ears were. "I am petty, and that is all you o know."

  "Even after I invited you to my wedding?"

  "I have invited you to mioo."

  "I'm going to tell Lanarot you bullied me."

  "I apologise, Jurot, for bullying you like this."

  "Okay," the Iyrman replied.

  "What, that's it?"

  "Prince Morkarai has taught you to be careful."

  "That's why you 't trust royalty," Adam huffed, before noting all the gazes fall onto him, the mermen gring at the half elf. 'Ah, right.'

  Morkarai owards the mermen, who stepped away into another room, before the bars as each slipped away into the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. Morkarai then spoke a few words to the mermen, who gnced between one another, before they eyed up the merman with the fa helmet. Though he was quite young, the mermen seemed to respect his authority most.

  A thought passed through the merman's mind, which most guards uood, for it loosely trao, 'I don't get paid enough for this shit.'

  There's ohing that transds culture, and that's not getting paid enough to deal with Adam.