An Ultimatum

[Aislin 4354]

Aislin nods to the wench that wipes a bead of sweat from his bow with a soft cloth, unable to with his armored hands, and then continues to swing away at his men happily outside the Alrasian War Camp to the East of Salvus. As he kicks Gorum to the ground and places his steeled boot upon his chest, grinning widely, he looks up at the familiar sound of a hawk screeching. The hawk swoops down, and Aislin recognizes it as his own blood-red Hawk, Sparky. Aislin pats Sparky on the head and takes the note from its immense beak, skimming it over.

"Aislin, Me presence ha' been requested i' Salvus, I need ye tah head ther' as soon as possible, Ah'll mee' ya ther'.

-Syrio."

He raises his eyebrow as he reads the letter, then feels his lips contour into a wicked smile, assuming that Salvus has decided to surrender to the great and almighty Kingdom of Alras. He had finally proven himself as a military commander, and could barely control himself; he was giddy with excitement. Aislin steps off of Gorum and tells him to organize a handful of them, and to wear their best armor.

We're going to Salvus. Mount up.

After a few hours' walk over the scattered isles to the East, the armored squadron of soldiers march up to the gates, ignoring the Ordinators, with an occasional dirty look shot their way. Upon reaching the gates of the Keep, he gestures for the men to remain outside, and smiles a bit as he turns over his shoulder to see the Alrasian and Renatian men getting on well. He strides inside, the iron boots echoing down the grand halls. Upon seeing the gathered men, he nods to Pok and bows to the Kings. He turns to Edwin.

Greetings, Ug. My King sends his regards, it is quite a journey from our capital to yours, your Grace. He should be here shortly, but in the meantime you have a "humble soldier" at your service.

Aislin grins in a cheeky manner as he takes a seat, then turns to Pok and nods to the jerky.

Is that Jutra's beef? I've heard good things about that meat, could I have a piece?

[_pok_ 1768]

Pok nods to Aislin and leans over the table, lifting up the papers and the rest of the jerky that Edwin hid. He throws it over to Aislin and looks at Edwin for a moment.

"Now dat mozt ob mi friendz am 'ere, ah gruk dat lat zhuud tell me aboud dat map. Wub wuz dat knife duin' where Renatuz waz zpoze tu be? Eh? Ah'm zure dat deze shara 'ere wuud /lubb/ tu 'ear diz."

Pok tilts his head slightly and stares Edwin in the eye.

"Oh, agh nezt tyme ah offa lat zum jerky, nub wazte id. Juz' blah nub."

[Agnub 605]

The Prince-Archbishop and his scribe entered the meeting room alongside King Godfrey and the other nobles of Renatus. After the customary greetings were given, James mingled with the assembled royalty and nobility. He made extra effort to say hello to his newly discovered relative, Aislin Hightower, before seating himself at the table near King Godfrey.

James waited patiently for any indication that his King needed him as the map that was tossed about by Rex Ugluk was examined by the assembled royalty and nobility.

[TheRedNinja 30]

**More guards have filled the palace, they stand throughout the halls hands on their swords.

Edwdin nods to Godfrey and to the noblemen that follow in his wake. Once Aislin sits and the Rex takes the beef and tosses it across the table, Edwin smirks and chuckles slightly.**

Ha, I was merely putting it aside for later.

**Edwin picks up his pewter pint and downs the last of the ale, he wipes his mustache before looking back to the Rex and smiles.**

I believe I did that out of anger once I learned Renatus planed on blockading Henseti from aiding Salvus, just an old mess, nothing to worry about.

Now we only need the High King of Alras and you can tell me why you have called this meeting.

[Aislin 4354]

Aislin leans back in his chair after sharing a brief word and a laugh with his brother, and then chuckles lightly at Edwin's comment.

Waiting for the High King is a practice I am most familiar with. With your Grace's permission, I believe we can commence, my King may be several days, and I can speak on his behalf. I'll fill him on that of which he missed.

Bows his head slightly and grins.

[MediocreGamer 838]

Syrio rides into the gates of Solace to the sounds of horns, drums and a myriad of other musical instruments, announcing to all that the High King has arrived. His small but sturdy white horse walks slow and sure, much like the King himself, and the several dozen soldiers behind him follow at an equal pace. After unmounting his steed with the help of two of his Elven soldiers, he strides into the Palace with a handful of his finest men. As Syrio enters the room in which the rest of the men are seated, he hears Aislin speaking and walks over to him.

"Waiting for the High King is a practice I am most familiar with. With your Grace's permission, I believe we c-"

Syrio smacks him upside the head as he rushes to stand and chuckles heartily.

Har har, ye best watch yer tounge la', or I might hav' ta order ye ta remove i' yerself.

Still grinning, Syrio nods to the other nation leaders as he takes his seat to the left of Aislin, putting him at Syrio's right side as always.

Good ta see ye all, wha' brings us all 'ere today?

[deathmetus 152]

*Reynard leaves his black horse close to the front of the keep with three of his personal guard his remaing four move quietly behind him as he enters behind Zibean and Godfrey. Instead of sitting however the Duke remains standing watching as the room begins to swell with guards and nobles alike. He watches as Syrio comically hits Aislin upside his head and then puts forth the same question that they all must be thinking. "What are we truly here for? Why did Pok call us of all people?" Reynard continues to stand silently watching for anything amiss, and with this he spies the map with the hole where Renatus should be, "How. . . Interesting. . ." He silently watches Pok and Edwin to see perhaps what they may be thinking.*

[ThanksChris 605]

High Scholar Nemantius Maehr of Alras rides into Solace atop his pure white horse, stepping down with grace, clutching an apple in his hand. He strides up to the castle indignantly, preparing a quill and walking with a guard on either side of him. He soon makes it to the throne room, standing aside Syrio and Aislin.

"Syrio, my lord. I am prepared to document the meeting."

He turns and nods to Aislin as if to say hello, and whistles, summoning his vibrant red cardinals, one of which drops for him, a piece of blank parchment.

[Aislin 4354]

Aislin clenches his teeth and glares at Nemantius, fingering the hilt of his dagger specifically for the removal of disrespectful tongues.

"High King Syrio." Don't let your tongue run so loosely.

[ThanksChris 605]

Nemantius looks to Aislin

"Oh come now, I'm one rank below his majesty and yourself, you can't settle for "my lord"?"

[_pok_ 1768]

Pok looks around the room, taking note of who is here. He nods to himself and turns. He barks an order to his Khesig.

"Blaw, Urara, seal de duurz. Ib anehbodeh tri tu kum through, caztrayte 'em. Nubbodeh pazzez now."

The doors of the meeting room slam shut with a loud 'thud' and the Khesig crosses their axes in front of the door.

Pok turned back to face the assembled nobility he called here. He leaned back in his chair and reached down for his belt. From his belt he pulled a magnificent scroll. He also lifted a small bone dagger from his belt and placed it against the seal of the War Uzg and cut the seal. Its shamanistic bindings faded away and Pok laid it against the table. He spread it out across the table and then leaned back in its chair.

"Peep ad dat."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Treaty of Solace

After months of war and pain the nations of the Coalition offer the nation of Salvus with an end to its suffering.

The crater that is now Riven serves as an example of what could have become of Salvus as a whole.

We extend to you an offer to bring peace to our nations and to end it so that both nations will benefit.

Our Requests to the Nation of Salvus

~The handing over of most, if not all land to the Coalition~

~The dissolving of any and all military order inside Salvus. ~

~ The dissolving of the government of Salvus~

~The finest weapon in the nation of Salvus is to be handed over by King Edwin himself to the Rex of the War Uzg.~

~ 20,000 Minas will be paid to the Nations of the Coalition by the King Edwin of Salvus [Minas to be paid to the Orcs, Alras, and Malinor] ~

~ The abdication of the Crown of Salvus ~

Our Offers to the Nation of Salvus

~ Salvus’s citizens and towns well being ~

~ The ruling families will not be harmed ~

~ The protection of the capital city of Solace and any other outlying towns and villages ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[deathmetus 152]

*Watches with suprise and laughs inside, "So nothing for the Renatans who fought in the war?" Reynard stands almost smiling watching his fellow nobles and the King for any reaction.*

[Aislin 4354]

Aislin reads over the scroll after Syrio does, and shares a few whispers with him. Aislin then stands up speaks on Syrio's behalf, addressing the entire room, and turns his gaze between Pok, Edwin and Godfrey.

How will the land be distributed? We ask because dividing a nation so would greatly fracture its people, to have several different leaders. If the land is to be divided, no doubt Solace would be divided as well, for this is the hub of Salvus, and the nation that holds Solace essentially holds Salvus. However, dividing this city would only further disrupt the nation's productivity and its people.

We propose that Alras takes control of Salvus. Not only do we have the financial strength and stability to support Salvus as well as ourselves, as well as our military being well trained and rather expansive, but Alras and Salvus are both built on very similar principles. Both nations started as independent trade nations, multi-racial in nature, and seeking to remain peaceful. We fought this war for the good of the Salvan people, and I believe them being suddenly inducted into a reign under the Coalition would contradict their lifestyle and reasons for being Salvan citizens.

Aye, Renatus could take control as well, however if we look at Renatus they are very fundamentally different to Salvus. Salvus is a nation of small government, few nobles and a heavy focus on the capital city as well as peace and prosperity, while Renatus has an intricately designed government spanning many tiers and levels, it has a large focus on religion being a large part of life on both a political and domestic scale, and furthermore, Renatus is built on the very foundations of war.

Aislin rests his gaze on Edwin before sitting down.

[MediocreGamer 838]

Syrio remains in his seat, listening intently to his words and stroking his beard. Once Aislin sits down, Syrio pulls out a minas coin and flips it over to Edwin, grinning.

Jus' a taste of wha' it's like unde' Alras. Har har.

[Agnub 605]

Listening to the offers of Alras, James couldn't help but speak with a grin.

"Aye, I agree! Alras and Salvus are indeed very similar - both are quite empty and yearning for a higher purpose."

James went on...

"The Honourable gentlemen from Alras would have the nation turned into colony with the purpose of milking it like a cow to get the most profit from it. Alras is a merchant nation with profit in mind, this nobody can disagree with. I would suggest instead the lands be given to the human nation from which it formed and it's pious and just King Godfrey."

Content with his say, the Prince-Archbishop returned to his seat.