LithiumSedai

In the summer of 2020, I had been an NL dealing with another nation wholeheartedly embracing a flimsy, metagame-enhanced narrative in an attempt to justify a war against my own nation. I posted a report, and although a (very hilarious and oft-quoted, I admit) recording soon emerged of the rival NL ranting for seven minutes about his OOC reasons to instigate this war, the verdict I received publicly was that "RP consequences are RP consequences". In private, however, one of the moderation managers at the time contacted me and said "You were in the right and everybody knows that, but we just can't publicly admonish the community acting against you, they have too much influence. Just try to use the pending war rules rewrite to avoid the conflict if you don't want to fight." I did not do this - the war eventually played out in July and August, and by a stroke of luck my side secured a favorable peace agreement despite its initial weakness. Had I wanted to, though, the only other way out would have been acting in an underhanded OOC manner myself, one that would have possibly resulted in myself being penalized. Four years later, very little has changed. I don't recall a single serious metaplay report (Ferrymen early warning radar team vs Aaunite freecammers need not apply) that has been resolved in favor of the reporting party. You'll forgive me, @squakhawk, that I have very little hope that your initiative will succeed, or that it'll be taken seriously by your team to begin with; I know for a fact that when certain community leaders brought up a certain problem group consistently engaging in metaplay to the detriment of nearly every extant nation, and that since 2020 almost every single war has featured the same handful of instigators and has been conducted for the same OOC reasons, you told them almost the same thing that I had been told in 2020: "You are correct, but we just can't act - they have too much clout." I have no punchline. Here's a screenshot about the state of war in 2024:

Sinner After All Last Will. To my beloved brother, Tristan: I bequeath all my possessions, consisting of: twelve letters, three booklets, two bottles of Balianese merlot, one Tuvmas Gonk, one Breakwater war banner, two commemorative coins, one restored blade of Bl. Aran, one medal of merit of General Armand. Given at Whitespire, 1989.

"She is just like me," reportedly said Knight Katharina of Calliopeburg in response, awed by the confession.

"Worry not, brother," the Cardinal St. Godwin wrote in reply to his fellow priests, words laced with immense irony, "The Pontiff is aware of the matter; thus, he will go behind the pagans' back and arrange the partition of Aaun with Veletz by himself." @sergisala

"I have wished to meet the Vandalore in better circumstances," lamented Knight Katharina, the Proprietress of Calliopeburg, with a sigh. She began making arrangements to reach Reinmar, if at all possible before the impending siege.

Full Name of Man - George Lothar Halcourt Date of Birth of Man - 1958 Name of Woman - Francesca Marie Teufel Date of Birth of Woman -1962 Location of Ceremony - Chapel of Our Lady of Paradisus, Whitespire, Kingdom of Aaun Date of Ceremony (Year) - 1989 Name of Clergyman who performed ceremony - Father Jean

"Once your entrails nourish my Bloodtree, you might become real Renatians then," uttered at the declaration the progeny of Dragon Knights, Knight Katharina of Calliopeburg, readying herself for her first war in these lands, out of likely many to come. She grinned at the thought.

Full Name of Man - Ilya Ivanovich Date of Birth of Man - 1958 Name of Woman - Josephine Florentia Alstion Date of Birth of Woman -1955 Location of Ceremony - Church of St. Joren and the Broken Chains, New Valdev, Kingdom of Haense Date of Ceremony (Year) - 1989 Name of Clergyman who performed ceremony - Father Jean

I Am Falion A Salvian ball attended by Crown Prince Ottomar, c. 1789 ((The Pleasures of the Ball, Antoine Watteau)) “I am Falion.” She lowered her figure before the Crown Prince in an oft-practised curtsy, sweeping her foot behind her as instructed. But not a single word more followed her introduction, and in the young girl’s gaze flickered but pride and natural defiance, as if her gesture had already been a sufficient deference. The Prince, however, offered no complaint when he matched her gaze, responding with a simple nod before speeding onward. He was, after all, a boy of six summers, and despite his unusual eloquence for that young age, he appeared satisfied by the curtsy and wished for nothing more from the elfess, but a few years his senior. That she was also red-haired like him did not strike him as an oddity, nothing more than her presence in Fausten. Falion knew nonetheless that both of these were rare traits. That she and her family were to stand before Prince Ottomar was, by all accounts, an immense honour for her kind, and that sense of superiority, so innate an expression of a High Elf, even when leveraged against their own peers, permeated her behaviour and had featured greatly in her upbringing and the precepts of her family. From a very young age, she was made to learn of the circumstances which had led to their settlement in Fausten and her birth as one of the few native High Elves of that City. She knew well the course of her parents’ escape from their Silver homeland, where calls to purity were oft wielded as a weapon, and that they had chosen a shameful exile to the lawless reaches of Sutica over death by cutthroat politics; that in that hive of immorality they had languished surrounded by libertine masses of mixed blood which feuded daily and duelled by magic and by knife, and that when they were selected to partake in the Expedition as settlers, they grasped at that chance in spite of the imminent hardships of such an uncertain endeavour, and resolved to brave that three months’ voyage across the treacherous sea. When the first halls of the City were raised over the ruins of that fallen Republic of days past, and chaos still reigned in the colony, it seemed evident that it would soon set on the path to becoming Sutica’s daughter in sin. But soon word came from the mainland that against all odds, a new Monarch of little tolerance for excess had seized the reins, a human knight exiled from Oren who professed the Canon faith; and the Governor of the City, a strange Dark Elf whose House had also pledged to the Creator and worshipped Him openly, declared himself a faithful supporter. Her parents were observant enough to discern which way the wind was blowing. Soon these Dark Elves and their human allies occupied every facet of Fausten’s governance, and Sutican pagans and mix-breeds found themselves increasingly sidelined. Those who were smart and perceptive sought protection from Canonist priests and converted, and forged alliances with the Dark Elven Covenant of House Verethi; Falion’s father immediately entered the Governor’s service, and renounced his kin’s ideas of atheism, for which he soon attained high honours and considerable riches. Others, who stubbornly persisted in their adherence to “Sutican” ideals, soon found only hardships in Fausten’s labour market, and many doors to them were closed; most then sold their meagre belongings and returned to Arcas, and the few outspoken outliers were subjected to mysterious disappearances and natural accidents in the yet-inhospitable reaches outside of the City’s borders, and upon the surrounding seas. The City of Fausten, c. 1800 ((Market Day, Antwerp, Samuel Prout)) Such was the environment in the City of Fausten in which Falion was born, soon after the onset of the Merryweather War back in Arcas. She was raised to understand her superiority over the Sutican ilk and all those others who had failed to align with the new order of things, and the inborn arrogance of the High Elven race complemented these views well. Her parents had become ardent supporters of the Alstreim monarchy, and Falion remembered the patriotic fervour in the City when the Peace of Merryweather was signed. When Prince Ottomar was born to the King’s relatives in the royal residence in the City and declared heir, and Sutica was set to be ruled by a fellow native one day, Falion felt pride which could not be repressed even when the King was dethroned by pagan traitors. Although still a child, she cheered on the persecution of remaining mix-breeds in Fausten in retaliation, and pledged to take part in the glorious reclamation of Sutica once she came of age. Falion was thirteen when the Prince met his death at the hands of Suticans, at the end of his infamous journey to Arcas. Any hopes that her personality and psyche could develop free of this cycle of violence and disdain were soon dashed. She began to hate them deeply, and though she could never part with her notions of inherent supremacy, she attributed it solely to herself and reviled her Elven blood which she shared with many of those pagans. Though the Prince was now dead, she came to envy him. She coveted the position and privileges of the Alstreim royals, and bitterly wished she had been born a human. Like the Alstreims, she had red hair; among High Elves it was an undesirable trait, but among human Salvians, it denoted royalty. Her ideals of dominance manifested in a yearning for noble blood, and all those traits of Canonist sons of Horen which put them at natural odds with the very mindset and existence of Sutican paganry. Three years later, in a cruel twist of fate, Falion and her family were beset by an ailment endemic to those they despised most. The final outbreak of the maligned Sutican rot in the City before its eradication swept across its homes and streets, and those who succumbed to it were fortunate to face a quick death. This was the fate of Falion’s parents, and their servantry and household staff. Falion was the sole survivor, and soon came to know unbearable torment. The rot first manifested upon her body as painful scarring of the flesh similar to marks left by searing flame, and this scarring soon overtook the elfess and covered her arms, shoulders and neck. It spread to her jaw and her cheeks, and soon claimed her pointed ears, whose soft tissue was susceptible to decay. Then came the fever, and where most who were afflicted died in such a state, Falion suffered through the inflammation which sought to torture and unravel her brain. As a parting favour to her father, amidst the efforts to subdue the outbreak, the Governor himself resolved to save Falion’s life. She was carried from her broken household to the holdings of House Verethi, and their greatest physicians and magi, immune to the Sutican rot, laboured around the clock to stave off the illness. And though all afflictions of the body could be remedied through ample effort, there was little hope for the spirit. The feverish state persisted, and Falion was trapped in her feverish mind; she was beleaguered by vivid delusions and scenarios which stretched for pretend-years in her thoughts whenever but a single night had passed. Falion believed she was human. In her mind played an entire constructed parallel life, in which she was born a scion of the House of Alstreim. She found herself a devout Canonist in those vivid scenes, dubbed herself a pagan-slaying dame, and over and over recollected her various knightly exploits which had never been, and her presence during many events in the history of that storied House. She explained her lifespan and everlasting youth as a miracle, and the scars which marred her as a pagan curse. The affliction of the mind persisted even when most scarring beneath her neck had subsided and once strength had returned to her body, though she sought to suppress and conceal her true thoughts. In the mirror, she perceived her mangled ears, and had the scarred tips seared off to the horror of her physicians. The observant eye of the Governor, Virvyn Verethi, could not be fooled by Falion’s mere physical recovery, and though she never spoke of her delusion even when the rot was made to withdraw from her vocal cords, he noted a significant dissonance in her bearing and behaviour. For reasons known only to him, however, he never pried regarding the nature of Falion’s hallucinations, and he allowed her to stay in the quarters he had assigned to her. Tutelage of any nature she desired was made available to her, and the Governor noted her penchant for the Waldenian language and the history of the royal family, and all which pertained to human knighthood and chivalry. The demise of RSS Laura, c. 1840 ((A Ship in Need in a Raging Storm, Willem van de Velde II)) After decades of studious isolation, Falion committed herself to physical fitness and martial pursuits, and sought to join the Royal Salvian Regiment. Virvyn Verethi, now elected Syndic, gave her his three blessings. She passed the rigorous aptitude tests and was assigned as a guard to a merchant vessel on a trade mission to Cathant. But while Falion was present in body, and partook in daily tasks alongside the crew, her mind was still seized by her vivid illusions, and she dreamed of commandeering the ship, the Laura, to her own ends. On a particularly gloomy night, as a thunderstorm raged across the sea, that plan was unravelled by the ship’s demise amidst the crashing waves. None survived but Falion, who was thrown upon a nearby rocky isle by a stroke of luck, moments from drowning; but the momentary lack of air, and the subsequent days of starvation drove her to a point of no return. Falion cast off her Elven lineage completely, and drowned herself not in the raging waters, but instead in her delusion. Her mental fortitude was shattered for good. She cursed the Suticans with every drop of her being, ambling about the isle and begging the Lord to send her, the Alstreim heiress, salvation. She chanted litanies and prayers in frantic voices, conversed with herself in the Waldenian tongue and archaic Common, and recited knightly ballads. Debris from the shipwreck was appropriated as her weaponry, and she practised in endless imaginary fights against legions of enemies unknown even as her strength withered. The rescue party came across her in this sorry and dishevelled state, and had her returned to the Syndic’s estate after a recovery regimen which lasted weeks. But to them her identity was unknown, and their rescue mission had been assigned to them privately by the Syndic himself once remnants of the ship were witnessed by Salvian patrols; he personally had the named crew of the Laura all marked as perished when Falion’s survival was relayed to him, and none but him knew Falion’s name when she was brought before him. She marched into the hall, head held high, and showed no sign of her earlier torment; but a fiery fervour danced in her gaze. The Syndic’s aide requested of her to introduce herself. I am Falion. I am Falion. I am Falion. “I am Katharina, scion of the Elder Line of Alstreim.”

"The gremlin talks - well, writes - too much," the aforementioned Cardinal St. Godwin commented to a deacon after digesting the missive in its entirety - a thirty-minute-long torture for his ailing sight. Though of Auvergne blood, he had never been a hot-headed man; the final rebuke of his efforts to settle the matter without much pomp bothered him little, and he kept true to his word that he would act only if his fellow councilors' remedy proved unsatisfying. However, he commanded the deacon to bring him ink and a quill, and penned a simple response to the bothersome goblin: "Know your place."

JEAN BISHOP and CARDINAL ST. GODWIN | TENTH of SIGISMUND’S END, 1982 ☨ T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S ┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ SECTION I - OPENING PRAYER SECTION II - CALL TO THE PRIESTS AND CALL TO SERVICE SECTION III - THE CORONATION OF THE HEARTLANDER MONARCHS SECTION IV - ON THE MARNAN MANIFESTO AND ITS REBUKES SECTION V - INVENTORY OF HOLY SITES SECTION VI - ON THE MATTER OF LOCAL VENERABLES SECTION VII - ON THE RECENT EXCAVATIONS IN AAUN SECTION VIII - ON THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE LORDSHIP OF ALBA ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛ ☨ S E C T I O N I - O P E N I N G P R A Y E R O LORD, Merciful and Almighty, grant unto Thy servants of the Heartlands wisdom and serenity, and in times of trouble be their guide and bulwark; to them grant, O LORD, the grace of Thine eternal host of Saints and Prophets. A M E N . ☨ S E C T I O N I I - C A L L T O T H E P R I E S T S A N D C A L L T O S E R V I C E It is once more that I summon the faithful ministry of the Diocese of SAINT GODWIN to the Royal City of WHITESPIRE to convocate for the purpose of coordination. Many years has it been since our last conclave, and the absence of many of my clerical brethren has been noted since, though where needed, guidance and services to the flock were still provided, and the parishes remained tended to through the virtue of still active clergymen. Nonetheless, the Diocese remains in need of administrative restructuring. Thus, all PRIESTS of the Diocese are urged to send a letter to me AT ONCE, denoting their availability to meet within the SAINT’S WEEK. Let it also be known that the CALL to join the ministry of the HOLY MOTHER CHURCH within our Diocese remains OPEN to all pious individuals willing to take the holy vows. All citizens of the APOSTOLIC KINGDOM and their brethren in faith of the SYLVAN DUCHY, or the COASTAL REALMS are hereby invited to seek me out regarding tutelage in the CHAPEL of OUR LADY of PARADISUS in the City of WHITESPIRE. ☨ S E C T I O N I I I - T H E C O R O N A T I O N O F T H E H E A R T L A N D E R M O N A R C H S By my hand, having been granted the necessary dispensation by HIS HOLINESS, and in the eyes of the LORD has the UNION of the HEARTLANDS been duly affirmed through the DUAL CORONATION of the APOSTOLIC KING of AAUN, CHARLES II, and the QUEEN of the PETRANS, ADALIA. These CANONIST PRINCES were offered BAPTISM in the TEMPLE of the EXALTED PROPHETS, and thus raised to the reverent highest offices of the HEARTLAND REALM. Let there be no doubt that this UNION has been blessed by the LORD, and that this association of the once disparate HEARTLANDER folks is pleasing to the precepts of our FAITH and to the HOLY MOTHER CHURCH. My full support is thus granted to any effort which binds the denizens of AAUN and PETRA and to any individuals whose deeds strengthen the fabric of this UNION. ☨ S E C T I O N I V - O N T H E M A R N A N M A N I F E S T O A N D I T S R E B U K E S It has however saddened my heart greatly to hear of the STRIFE and numerous ails caused by the so-called MARNAN PETITION and MANIFESTO, and by those who were proven far too hasty in their judgment of their fellow HEARTLANDERS, causing a regrettable divide within these HEARTLANDS. My friends, INIQUITY and DISCORD are the loathsome fruits of the DENIER, the work of the perfidious SAULITE among us; give not into HATRED and DIVISION, and when in doubt, seek counsel always from the MOTHER CHURCH and her MANDATARIES in the HEARTLANDS. SIR TIBER, I beseech you to heed the words of your BISHOP, and to call to mind the OATHS of FEALTY you have sworn to your LIEGES; though PAGANS, and no doubt a number among them WITCHES, reside in the lands of the EAST, to rebuke them and root them out is the solemn duty and call of the HOLY MOTHER CHURCH, and yours is to obey your MONARCHS in all things which they command that do not blaspheme the VIRTUE. Make no mistake: though I am assured that it would certainly please GOD for the BRABANTER folk to defer to APOSTOLIC GRACE, I command no power to order them such, and remind you that they are our brethren in FAITH and friends to the APOSTOLIC THRONE. I assure you by my inviolable GUARANTEE that no harm shall come to you should you present yourselves before THEIR MAJESTIES, and that any who have deemed to accost you should you obey shall face my full ire and INTERDICT. And you, BON’OX, GOBLIN of the LEGION, I also admonish, for it is no business of a mere SOLDIER sworn in FEALTY to the MONARCHS, much less a SON of KRUG, to judge a man of ROYALTY and to give opinion on matters of FAITH and POLICY. It is not your right to deem the SONS of HOREN sinful and in error - that right belongs to the LORD and His HOLY CHURCH alone. Until you retract your BLASPHEMY and your BASELESS SLANDER of THE PRINCE JOHN, and face COURT-MARTIAL by your PEERS of the LEGION, you shall be BARRED from my SPIRITUAL DOMAIN and face repercussions of whichever severity I mandate. ☨ S E C T I O N V - I N V E N T O R Y O F H O L Y S I T E S Hark, LORDS and GOVERNORS of the APOSTOLIC KINGDOM of AAUN, and the CANONIST DOMAINS in the EAST. For the purpose of assisting PILGRIMAGES of the FAITHFUL, I request of you that an INVENTORY of all HOLY SITES, SHRINES, RELIQUARIES and PLACES OF WORSHIP, along with their PATRONAGES and HOLY RELICS, is conducted in a timely manner and conveyed to me. In this matter you shall enjoy the administrative support of the Diocese in any way available, and where required, FUNDS shall be sought and acquired for the MAINTENANCE and REPAIR of these sites. ☨ S E C T I O N V I - O N T H E M A T T E R O F L O C A L V E N E R A B L E S It has pleased the Diocese to receive from the HOLY SEE the affirmations of SAINTHOOD for these persons of pious renown celebrated within our ecclesiastical borders. I hereby affirm the local cults of SAINT CALLIOPE of MERRYWEATHER and SAINT PONTIFF TYLOS II in the domains of MERRYWEATHER and WARSOVIA, and indeed in the wider territory of the APOSTOLIC KINGDOM, and urge the faithful flock to follow in the steps of these EXEMPLARS by their own acts of SELFLESS PIETY and REVERENCE. I call upon the authorities of MERRYWEATHER and WARSOVIA to establish annual celebrations of their FEAST DAYS; likewise, I implore the various cultural groups of the Diocese, among which are numbered the AUVERGNIANS, LECHIANS, WALDENIANS, the DENCYNN and the DAELISH, to report to the Diocese all practices of the FAITH which deserve to be celebrated. ☨ S E C T I O N V I I - O N T H E R E C E N T E X C A V A T I O N S I N A A U N With great expectations I have observed the recent EXCAVATIONS of ANCIENT HORENIC SITES within the APOSTOLIC KINGDOM. I have been informed of the unveiling of both HOLY SITES which affirm the presence of our FAITH in these lands prior to the arrival of the FRANKISH HOST, and the location of many SACRED TOMBS of KNIGHTS and ANCIENT DEFENDERS of the FAITH. The Diocese of SAINT GODWIN shall pay reverence to her namesake by partaking in the archeological efforts of AAUNIC RESEARCHERS and the NORTHERN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, for the purpose of PROTECTION and PRESERVATION of these HOLY SITES, and to assist in the CATALOGING of these fallen KNIGHTS. I urge all participants to treat these SITES with utmost care and respect. ☨ S E C T I O N V I I I - O N T H E O B L I G A T I O N S O F T H E L O R D S H I P O F A L B A Having been informed of the recent incursions of purportedly DAELISH BRIGANDS within the domains of various CANONIST REALMS, and aware of the connection of the true DAELISH CLANS to the APOSTOLIC CROWN, and also the role of the HOLY MOTHER CHURCH and the LORDSHIP OF ALBA as the SAFEGUARDS and GUARANTORS of the DAELISH TREATY of VISTULIA, which saw the LORDSHIP of DAELAND returned to true CANONIST CLANS, I request of the LORDSHIP of ALBA, held currently in substantive tenure by HIS APOSTOLIC MAJESTY, CHARLES II, and represented territorially by the HAMLET of ENSWERP, to restore the so-called HOLY SITE at ALBA, whose important presence is a prerequisite for the protection of the LORDSHIP of DAELAND and its continued custody in CANONIST hands. Let the schemes of these PAGANS be dispelled in cooperation with the LOYAL DAELISH CANONISTS. ☨ ☨

"It is not yet too late, but the hand of the clock ever inches towards midnight," commented Sir Daris Verethi upon receiving the latest Pontifical wisdom while on patrol with his crewmates. He pinned a familiar poster upon a crumbling marble pillar somewhere in Lurinite lands once more.

Although a staple of medieval (fantasy) culture and featured prominently in media that have commonly inspired LotC RP through the years, such as A Song of Ice and Fire and its TV adaptations, jousting has seldom been in the spotlight within the past few years aside from an odd event. As someone fond of RP jousting tournaments, I am curious to hear our community's thoughts and opinions. If you're interested in sharing your thoughts, please take the poll and reply below.

"One can always trust an Ork to be an Ork, but the pagan will drape himself in one hundred deceitful disguises groveling for help and understanding. The one hundred and first will deliver a knife into your back," wrote Jean Cardinal St. Godwin in reply to the Pontiff's wise response.

Fav char of yours? Fav char of mine? What was your most fondly remembered RP encounter? Do you believe that Colonel Jaramy's death in a labor camp in Poznań in 1956 was orchestrated by the authorities of the Polish People's Republic, fearing his potential role in organizing a full-scale anti-communist uprising?

Father Jean, whose sight had somewhat dimmed in the recent months, nearly missed his own name when he first read the letter. He crossed himself, turning his weary eyes to the Skies with little to comment other than: "I wonder what Mother would have said." One thing was certain: he made it a long way from the dungeons of Gwynon.

As he watched the lifeless body of the King, surrounded by his grieving family, Father Jean was speechless in shock. His greatest friend and benefactor, his savior from the damp cells of Gwynon, gone. Merely an hour prior they had discussed mortality; he felt the cold grip of irony in that moment, seeing the King's worries become so brutally manifest. In his thoughts, he uttered a prayer, but he knew that was all he could do.

Call me anti-RP, but I don't particularly understand the point of making every location accessible - every fortress so indefensible, every group so susceptible to attack and thievery. This may be a critique of a matter far more serious than redstone doors, but I believe that an egregious imbalance already exists where there is no entry barrier to committing villainy of any sort: any gathering of aspiring troublemakers can just create a dozen unkillable, throwaway personas and enjoy complete advantage of initiative in choosing where, when, or how they strike at their targets, with no obligation to justify their association and their goals in-character, no obligation to prove their foreknowledge of the ideal circumstances of their heist or assault (Can they prove their RP knowledge of guard unavailability at certain hours, or knowledge of their desired targeted items' locations?) , and no obligation to render themselves available for investigation and retaliation afterwards, contrary to the good-faith policies of RP give-and-take LotC espouses. Potential defenders enjoy no such boons: they must rally in certain ways, in certain locations, under certain time limits, and constantly justify their own involvement. My (I do note) subjective experience as someone who's done "villainy" is that I've never quite been interested in or able to justify to myself a particular need to breach a secret location or to steal anyone's item for any reason other than thinly-veiled OOC desire for humiliation; thus, I've never done it. Risking going completely off-topic, but I am curious about other people's experiences and explanations as to why unrestrained heists and absolute entry availability, given the aforementioned lack of RP restrictions, are essential for an RP story. That being said, I have never created an LotC redstone door myself, and aside from this debate, I ultimately have no stake in how its mechanics are to be handled by the rules in the future.

The next morning, upon the locked doors of the derelict Merryweather Marshal's Office, was pressed the flower of a single white rose in the form of a seal. By the door was set a bottle of Walter's Waldenian Whiskey, one of the last remaining from the Knight-Immortal's ill-fated distillery.

The officiating Bishop, Father Jean, was known to sorely despise weddings, and had begun his mental preparations for the event well in advance. However, once the occasion was formally announced and the Bishop reviewed the list of invitees, a particular name caught his eye. To know now that the esteemed Lord Jaramy, Colonel of the Lechians, could grace the wedding with his presence was reason enough for Jean to forget about his reservations.

"The King who would be Sovereign - and the Beggar in his service who would be Baron thousandfold, and Prince, King and Emperor all at once," commented the Bishop of Saint Godwin, Father Jean - the former governor and scourge of the despised and excommunicated Stassies, whose status as rat-refugees in the Realm of Ravenmire yet remained a glaring issue, unsolved by the Sovereign's concession.

Father Jean, a scion of the now-obscure Talraen lineage, and once a burglar and thief extraordinaire, jutted out his finger to point this passage to his brother, Tristan. @Caranthir_ "Centuries ago, a Talraen could almost be trusted with coin."

"Look, Mother, I am a governor again," spoke the aforementioned Bishop to the paper, his eyes darting upwards. Whether a pious expression of thanks to the Lord, and appreciation of his deceased parent, or a gesture of utter irony and disdain, none could tell.

Father Jean admired his likeness in the paper, though, truthfully, there was little to admire. As an afterthought, he murmured a hasty prayer for Their Royal Majesties.

Sir Daris Verethi and his compatriots kept the courier detained at the Salvian legation in Whitespire, suspecting a plot or conspiracy of some sort. However, when his motives and authenticity were proven, Daris penned a reply and released the courier so it might be returned to the tribesman. @Norgeth TO MUNDOBERHT OF TUHROSWEYK, MESSENGER OF THE OWYNHAR ALLIANCE, Three blessings to you and Saint Ottomar's eternal grace and protection. I am overjoyed to know that this outlander Venerable of yours has not been forgotten here, and I assure you that his remains are safeguarded by our Syndicate and treated with utmost piety and respect that a brother of the Faith deserves. However, if your wish as his next of kin is to have them returned to the Outlands, to the custody of the Mother Church, I shall respect that wish and see to it that Ven. Fr. Wert's relics are shipped back to Aevos. Long has it been since the days of a Church infested with trickery and betrayal, and His Holiness is a Waldenian ally trusted by the Syndicate and a proven enemy of the Deceiver. Within a Saint's Week, our honor guard will have the body returned. WEALTH BEYOND MEASURE,