Council of Leaders (August)
Plague in Lyssan
Rumours have been spreading that there is a plague outbreak in Lyssan. The Leaders approach carefully and discover the City is under strict militia control, with the North-Side quarter where the main plague outbreak is being locked down.
Members of the Council are escorted to Tower-Side quarter, which is off-limits except to the privileged few, where they assemble nervously for the meeting to start.
The Council of Leaders
The meeting starts late as they are waiting for members to arrive and make it through the city. By midday, Denerick has still not arrived, but Yuri calls the meeting to order anyway.
Yuri apologies for the plague, he suspects it was caused by the earthquake. He suggests meeting in Careine next month if the problem is still bad, which Mara welcomes.
Search for the Anuireans
Yuri says there is nothing new, just updates on existing issues. He asks Mara for an update on the Anuireans. Mara says they definitely went into the marshes near Luandar and were attacked by lizard men then crossed the river into Coeranys. Her agents are investigating in Coeranys but have no leads yet.
Lukas scoffs that he was hoping for more information than what they already knew. Yuri says he is disappointed and Mara says someone else can take over if they want, but Yuri says no she took responsibility. She says when she knows more she will let them know.
Search for the Pirates
Mara says her agents found no evidence of pirates in Luandar, Salviene and Tulear, but those in Mhowe and Hamein have not reported back yet.
Yuri then asks if anyone on the Council does not think that Denerick is behind the pirates. Charrek says it’s likely he either leads the pirates or they pay him to ignore them. Lukas says they are paying him a lot, have you seen the shoes he wears?
Vlad tells them he sent an agent to Mhowe, but he was shunned and driven out after trying to find out about pirates.
Vlad has heard rumours of ferries disappearing, allegedly due to krakens. More likely its pirates. Yuri wonders if Denerick has less money than his expensive shoes suggest.
What to do About Denerick
Vlad says Denerick is the most likely culprit. Yuri has always assumed Denerick did a little piracy on the side to top up his income, but recently he’s started getting greedy and annoying the neighbours. It’s time to put him in his place.
Vlad asks what we are going to do about him. Yuri suggests waiting for Mara’s investigation to report back next month. He’s too far south to just try to arrest him. He will likely escape in one of his boats and become a full time pirate.
Aidan Shalon expresses concerns about condemning a man who is not here to defect himself. Yuri says he knows Aidan is friends with Denerick, which Aidan denies. He has no idea why Denerick is not here, except perhaps the plague put him off.
Information on the Dwarves and Mages
Charrek says he had a word with Duaren the leader of the dwarves from Burak-Azhik. They have met with the representative of the Mages in Lyssan and spoke to their leader via some magical means. They plan to meet the leader of the Mages at a secret location in the south soon.
Charrek confirms to them that he is a Prince of Burak-Azhik, third son of the King and has been sent on this mission by his father. You don’t sent Princes on diplomatic missions.
Charrek then asks about records of meeting the Chimaera. He is considering whether to go to speak to her. Vlad suggests he takes many dwarves with him, so by the time she has eaten half of them, she will be full and may want to speak. Charrek says he will use humans not dwarves.
I Will Not be a Slaver
Lukas suggests he uses goblins and Charrek then turns to the issue of the law making goblins into slaves. He reveals that he comes originally from Mur-Kilad, not Burak-Azhik as is widely assumed, and that he was a slave there.
He will not support any government that condones slavery. Indentured Servitude to pay off debts is acceptable, but not slavery. If they want his help to find out what Duaren is up to, he wants the law about goblin slaves changed.
Dwarven Intentions
Mara mentions rumours that the Dwarves have been seen marching in big numbers in the north. It is possible they intend to invade and deal with the Brother Mages themselves.
Yuri points out they do not have the forces to repel a well-armed dwarven army. Charrek tells them that the dwarven city has been crippled by the earthquake recently and they are not going to be friendly with mages who caused the earthquake.
Vlad reminds them Duaren did not tell them why he wanted to talk to mages. Charrek says Duaren is not his friend. After he escaped from Mur-Kilad he tried to help his brother dwarves who are enslaved there. He believes that the Prince blocked his efforts.
Mage Contact in Lyssan
Charrek has the name of the contact for the Three Brother Mages in Lyssan, a Khinasi called Suleiman. Yuri knows him and will have him arrested and interrogated. Charrek and Mara recommend a more subtle approach of watching him. Yuri accepts this for now.
Goblin Infestation in Hamein
Vlad then mentions that he has a lead on the location of one of the mages in Hamein, somewhere in the foothills below the Iron Peaks. However, his investigations are being hampered by a large infestation of goblins in the area, who came out of the mountains after the earthquake.
Yuri says this is serious. When the army is ready, that needs to be its first target, but it is not ready.
Charrek suggests that this new law has driven the goblins into the arms of the mages by threatening to enslave them. Mara still says she does not trust making deals with goblins, but Hakim says they have not caused him problems in Barniere.
Negotiation with Goblins
Vlad says no one has told the goblins in his area they are now slaves. They have taken over land themselves and fortified it. Charrek points out their room to negotiate has been cut by this law. Vlad says taking over their own land and fortifying it is just not acceptable.
Yuri suggests that the new law is suspended and then approach the goblins telling them either they do what they are told or they will be enslaved under the new law.
Mara says goblins cannot be treated like normal people. They cannot be trusted, drive them into the mountains. Yuri says that is not a good idea, for years goblin raids from the mountains have been a problem, we do not want to go back to that.
What are the Wizards trying to Achieve?
Charrek questions what the Mages want here. They want to get rid of the Chimaera to become stronger. How would causing an earthquake help them? Vlad wonders if they have opened something under the ground. Charrek says may be that is why the dwarves in the north are involved, because they are aware of things happening underground.
Yuri says Charrek needs to keep talking to Duaren to find out more. He will watch Suleiman in the meantime.
Send the Army In
Vlad says there are hundreds of goblins in his province and they will need to be dealt with as soon as possible. Mara proposes having the army attack them now, but Yuri points out that militia are not trained to fight together yet.
Vlad mentions that the goblins claim to be protected by magic and Charrek says that could be costly if a battle happens.
Vlad and Mara suggest send the army to Hamein now as a show of force, but don’t provoke a battle yet, while they train up.
Charrek asks about a commander for the army. Yuri says he was going to get a leader from the Red Eagles, which Charrek says is now urgent.
Yuri will get an up and coming officer in the Red Eagles and offer him the chance to become a commander. Once in place, he will send the army into Hamein and co-ordinate with Vlad.
Quarterly Finances
Aidan then interjects to talk about the finances. He reminds people that under the militia mustering arrangement, each member pays 200gp less this quarter, the remainder of which is due this month. He points out income will be down this quarter therefore and waffles on about the finances for a while.
Yuri then reminds people to keep their eyes open, especially Lukas in Luandar. If he finds any information about the Anuireans make sure Mara is informed.
Yuri also tells Mara to focus her investigations in Mhowe and try to be subtle. Any damning evidence against Denerick would be useful.
Law Suspended
At Yuri’s suggestion, the Council agrees to suspend the law about goblins until the problem in Hamein is dealt with.
Yuri thanks Hari for providing the men he was supposed to. Hari hopes he will not regret it. Yuri says the only thing he will regret is not doing what the Council orders.
Mara asks if it is possible to cross the Iron Peaks and get to the goblins from behind, but Yuri reminds her the mountains are notoriously impassable except at certain points.
Cavalry and the Civil War
The goblins will have their backs to the mountains. Yuri says some cavalry would be very useful against goblins, but we do not have any.
The Council discusses the possibilities of getting some. Mara wonders about getting land owners to provide horses, but Yuri says people do not like losing their horses. If she can raise some cavalry from Careine, the Council would be very grateful.
Vlad suggests arranging to sell some horses from Coeranys to the two sides of the Rohrmarch civil war and they could import some for a small profit. Yuri suggests working with Mara to make this happen. Charrek says there is an opportunity to make money out of this civil war.
Charrek suggests using Friedburg as their intermediary in trade and Yuri says he is already doing that with the arms he is selling them.
There is further discussion about the possibilities of trade through Barniere until Yuri suggests individual members sort out the details between themselves.
The meeting is then called to an end. Members decide, given the problems with plague, to depart Lyssan quickly.