Of Treasures Old and New
Thirty-First Day of the Tenth Month 293 AC
"I think, my lord, that this is going to require a second opinion..." You hesitate a moment, not sure how much of what you had seen you should share. The proud Lord Celtigar might be shamed to know himself descended of a mutineer, for all you see that same ambition and will in him. "You will have a chance to meet a priest of the Merling King sooner than anticipated."
So saying you draw out a scrying mirror from your cloak and weave spells of far-seeing into the glass under the ever more intrigued gaze of the Red Crab. "Are they riding dolphins?" he asks at the sight of the company Breath Taker and Blight's Bane travel in. "I suppose it's true what sailors' say about them being clever. Are these sea folk like dolphins, then? Needing to breathe air though they dwell in water?"
"No, though they do have an affinity for the sunny shallows by reason of our mutual foes..." your mother begins to explain, going on to give a succinct account of the customs and manner of the sea folk.
To his credit Lord Celtigar listens closely, though he does look a touch sour when the manner by which the tribes are ruled is brought up. "Little wonder they were not able to gather in strength if every decision is at the mercy of the mob."
"Yet they survived against a foe as implacable as it is vicious," your mother counters. "I would call this rule-by-all worse than a good king, but better than a poor one, and I do not think the Children of the Seas could afford poor rule even for a moment."
"Well then it is good they will have His Grace to rule them soon," Lord Celtigar says lightly, though his gaze is thoughtful.
When you do introduce him to Breath Taker, still dripping with the waters of the southern seas, the Red Crab is a courteous as he might be to any priest or scholar, not that the old Triton is paying more than a modicum of attention with his eyes fixed on the horn: "An old thing that, and perilous..." Silver-scaled fingers run over old ivory. "A tool of dominion for all that swims beneath the waters is the Lord of the Depths' to command, but for such power must a great price be paid..."
"What price?" you ask, wary and intrigued all at once. To be able to not just draw out but command some of the most perilous beings to serve the Deep Ones is no small boon.
"I cannot say seeing as it is now, too much of the enchantment has been worn away by the tides of time," the priest sighs, handing the horn back to you. "It would have to be restored through the blood of the tainted, a grand working it would be."
Lord Celtigar clears his throat. "Well I can't say I object to the damned things dying, by whichever means you would care to use, but there is still the matter of the horn's worth."
How much are you willing to pay for the horn? (The sacrifice of a Deep One being of at least CR 18 is required to empower it)
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The deal done, you offer to have a mage about to undergo their Journey of Wisdom come to Claw Isle just as you had done for young Lord Blount and with even more cause. It should be one of the Dragonseed sorcerers and thus hopefully not a very noteworthy arrival, allowing them to work as an adviser or come to that a last line of defense against the uncanny. "On that note, if you have any relatives you wish to ward and who would not be under much scrutiny, they might come to learn magic in the Scholarum as well," you add.
"I have a few young cousins and nephews serving as household knights who might have the skill and the temperament for it," he replies thoughtfully. "Yet now I need only decide which of them I can afford to be without, no easy choice, though the aid you have offered makes the decision to send them easier than it would have been."
You go on to offer a chance to trade through Astral Currents offices for the goods of the Genie Realms as well as suggest the possibility of a trading expedition further afield into the realms of the Endless Ocean familiar to the Tritons as it is to Relath, though unexplored directly by you and your companions.
"It would be an honor, Your Grace," the Red Crab says, bowing low as the garnets of his cloak sparkly and glitter with the motion.
"Speaking of honor, I am also of a mind to give most of my loyal bannermen Valyrian Steel weapons and armor, though I hear you already have the former... and see you have put it to good use." With a grim smile you add, "You can look forward to a second, then, when the Dragon Banner falls upon the lands of traitors... make that another two, your heir will need it no less in such perilous times."
"Your Grace, I would say I have no words for such generosity, but as your lady mother would be quick to assure you, that would be a lie." A charming smile that one might imagine gracing the court flashes across his face. "I am never without words." His expression then grows more serious, almost grave. "Thank you, Your Grace, for being here."
You leave Claw Isle satisfied that the island is in good hands, though as evening begins to fall over the Deep another matter looms, one you had been considering since you have first revealed Heaven's fate to Zherys a month ago. Who else among your vassals should be trusted with the knowledge and how to present it?
Who do you invite to the gathering to speak of the Sundering and how do you approach the matter?
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OOC: I did not want to just stop at the horn again since it would have been retreading the last vote so here we are, at the conference. It's just this and a few more reports until the closing of the month.
