A Fair Unbinding
Twenty Fifth Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC
Your envoys in Yin had been rather surprised when you had asked to borrow the
Queen Rhaella, as had the locals you imagine when the great ship vanished from the harbor, but you have need of the insight of its guardian spirit. So it is that a full sixteen of you descend into the depths of the Shadow Tower, amid the hollow trophies of battles fought and won.
What better place for a council of war?
Among your companions you had called upon Vee and Lya, the first for her knowledge of nature, the second for her deep lore of magic.
And because a queen should be there if the king declares war. A small insistent voice in the back of your mind chines in. You shake off the thought. Not all present would lightly argue for war. Zathir looks incongruous in these shadowed halls and not only because he had shrunk himself down to better fit in the chamber.
The High Priest of Yss by contrast observes the proceedings with a cold dispassionate gaze, a glint of gold within them reflecting the serpent god's own intent stare. Melisandre too arrives a moment later and though the eye of R'hllor does not seem any more affixed upon her than in any other moment, the spark of crimson flame suspended above her heart marks that even that is more than enough. Never before have you asked gods to send representatives to such a gathering, but so they had arrived, perhaps the powers' own pondering of the future giving a sign of the portentousness of the event.
Only Bloodraven had chosen not to attend directly but speak instead into your mind, so as not to reveal himself to all the others present, but you can feel his will close as the shadow of wings over the sun.
Among the deathless fey who have little use for gods there is Rhaella Nemyos, 'Seaborn' in the tongue of Valyria as she had chosen to be called, but also her father, the Once-King of the Orphne Court who embraces her tightly in greeting before somewhat gingerly seating himself next to Melisandre, his curiosity about a shadowbinder visibly at odds with the dislike of divine meddling. Glyra of course suffers from no such subtlety, complaining about the 'smell of moldy gods' and that there is no window to open before settling as much as Glyra ever does. Thankfully Moonsong's newly elevated position makes her react with slightly more decorum, she only takes the chance to flirt with the Red Viper by reminding him 'of all the places she hasn't journeyed to and enjoyed properly'.
Were Zherys one to perform so inelegant a gesture you suspect he would roll his eyes. Soft Strider by contrast merely looks bemused, the manner of human courting and seduction still opaque to her for all the companionship of the once-mortals who joined her kin.
As to the other city rulers present, they are taking the presence of gods and spirits with surprising alacrity. Ferrengo Antaryon is doing his best to take in all his fellow guests and their relationship with each other without seeming to gawk. Doing a very good job of it too. Without magesight you could have well missed the spell of silent speech that connects him to Alysande Redsail of the Silver Eye. Though Hermetia has no such direct support she finds her seat next to Shara quickly and turns to you expectantly as though you are about to announce some minor change to the tax code. Then again, a change to tax law is likely to have more of an impact on her responsibilities than any conflict with the Court of Stars.
You lay out what you have discovered at Ashford and in subsequent divination had revealed as well as the ultimate intention of the Queen of Stars and her court for those who do not yet know. Three paths stand open before you, mitigating the Court's influence, or better yet reversing the effects of deals already struck, preventing further deals and removing the assets by which they were struck and lastly removing and dissolving the entire court, preferably while absorbing as many of its members as you can, though removing them if necessary.
"I think..." the Orphne Lord begins, an unexpected first speaker. "That we need to first learn why they are forging such pacts. These lands that you have described as under the influence of the Star-Crowned share no commonality of purpose or spirit, they are not even close to each other as the raven flies," he motions to the map. "We are seeing an edifice built upon sand, which means either the Court of Light has grown foolish without warning or there is a keystone we cannot see."
"Flawed or not we cannot ignore the current entanglements of the Lords of the Reach," Zherys interjects. "The most straightforward way to reverse a ritual is with its initial casters, which if I understand correctly includes the lords themselves, 'wedded to the land'."
"It is an old magic and one particularly suited to the Sunset Lands where the roots of its lords go so very deep," Melisandre agrees. "Make use of the Lord or Lady and the place of power in which the ritual was wrought and it shall be undone without harm to land or people."
"Thy words are wise, yet they fill me with a chill deeper than the shadows of this place," Zathir hisses softly. "What use would you place those who forged this bargain to?"
"Sacrifice them," Melisandre meets the winged serpent's gaze without flinching. "Else they would have to pay some heavy forfeit. Death on the other hand wipes many a slate clean."
"That," the Sealord says, his voice soft but firm. "Is politically unfeasible, or at least not feasible in any case. The lord who made this bargain to protect his people when no other aid seemed forthcoming could not be made to die a justifiable death before his peers unless we are to argue that the Court of Stars is as great a peril as the Hells or the blackest Abyss."
Lya clears her throat. "We have the Tyrells and the Florents for that matter, if their claim to the old Gardener blood is indeed better. Make use of their authority to enact our own ritual, proclaiming the bonds already in place illegitimate, null and void. That would not be a breech of contract, would it?"
Moonsong starts giggling. "The look on the Queen's face. 'Oi, you bargained with the petty lordlings so we stole your high lords when you weren't lookin''."
"That... should be possible," Melisandre draws out the words looking first to Zherys, then Vee and receiving nods from both. You are inclined to agree and that neatly solves the issue of preventing further such pacts from being enacted, though that raises another concern...
"A ritual that proclaims, 'no, this place should not be protected' might have unforeseen and likely unfortunate consequences," you point out. "A shattered gate is an invitation to foes who would walk through it."
"So we replace one protector with another," the voice of Bloodraven echoes in your mind, whisper-soft.
"The Old Gods care nothing for how men choose to live their lives, only for the land, and knowing when one is touched by Hell or the Deep Ones sets foot within the villages and towns of the Reach would certainly be useful."
"We are goin' to need to know how this magic of theirs really works out there before we can plan much more," Vee points out practically. "Get folk down there to see with their own eyes. Hells, ask the one's that aught to be doin' the persuading on the lords that haven't decided yet what they are meant to be doin'."
"And you think they will simply tell us?" Rhaella asks incredulously.
"Bribe 'em," the girl replies. "It's worked a treat so far on all sorts of folk."
How do you judge the notion of a counter-ritual?
[] Worth pursuing
-[] Write in plan and timeline
[] You have more questions
-[] Write in
[] Impractical, look for other suggestions
-[] Write in
[] Write in
OOC: Wow, I don't think I've ever had to handle this many distinct characters in a scene before. Hopefully I struck a good balance and did everyone justice. 
For fucks sake.
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