Cerebral Paladin
First Post
Before reaching out to her agent, Kit discussed her background with the rest of the Council. Kit’s prior scan had identified Lady Baroness Breena Talinis as her agent in Debonai. Unlike almost all of the other agents linked through the fan, the Baroness detected Kit during her scan of the various agents. Both Alistair and Dame Brionna recalled persistent rumors of silver dragon ancestry in the House of Talinis. The House was also notable for the many paladins in the family, along with some hospitalers. One had even disgraced the family by becoming something of a private inquisitor-- something that might have won even greater honor if they had been Paranswarmian, but was viewed as contrary to church tradition by Glor’diadelians.
Kit was surprised to hear of the draconic ancestry and asked about whether Canberry should be reaching out more to good-aligned dragons. Alistair, who had been taught of dragons as more than just children’s stories, explained that while dragons are very powerful, they are even less likely to intervene than the Eldar and Noldar. The one major exception is that some lineages have long-standing alliances with human or elven families, and the dragons, even chaotic ones, will always obey their alliances. Half-dragons and quarter-dragons, on the other hand, tend to be very involved, because they are fascinated by humans.
In planning out Kit’s efforts, the Council focused on their analysis of the current situation. If the troops in the army marching from Debonai to support the Abomination remain loyal to the crown while the army’s leadership is not, the army would probably fall apart if the troops understood the situation. At the same time, the rank-and-file are unlikely to actively fight the chivalry leading them. The key would thus be to break the control of the leadership long enough to convince the troops, who would then mostly desert.
Kit snapped her fan open and focused on the crystal linked to Lady Breena. As soon as she made the mindlink, Kit heard “M’lady” in her head and the sense of a slight bow, although less of a bow than most of her contacts give. Kit heard Lady Breena shooing people away and then the amount of focus increased, as the Baroness could speak aloud.
“My apologies for the delay, m’lady, but you know how servants are. Mine are loyal and mean well, but they still gossip. I would not want them hearing anything inappropriate and creating security risks.”
“Quite. We wanted to discuss Debonai’s current military movements. We understand several detachments of troops have headed out under unreliable commanders.”
“I would hardly call them detachments. Several entire calvary units have gone missing.”
“Missing? You don’t know where they’re going?”
“The throne doesn’t and the great council doesn’t, but I have been quietly tracing them through friends. They represent some twenty thousand troops altogether. They left through the southwest border and are heading to meet up with the great horde ahead of them heading to the Spice Lands. We have had problems with the upper echelon of the knights for some time. There is a question of the legitimacy of the royal house. The old nobility support the royal house and control most of the money not controlled by the merchant clans. The younger nobility, the ones elevated in the recent border wars over the past three to four centuries have much less money, more sons, and a desire for conquest. These would be the ones leading the twenty thousand.”
Kit was surprised to hear of the draconic ancestry and asked about whether Canberry should be reaching out more to good-aligned dragons. Alistair, who had been taught of dragons as more than just children’s stories, explained that while dragons are very powerful, they are even less likely to intervene than the Eldar and Noldar. The one major exception is that some lineages have long-standing alliances with human or elven families, and the dragons, even chaotic ones, will always obey their alliances. Half-dragons and quarter-dragons, on the other hand, tend to be very involved, because they are fascinated by humans.
In planning out Kit’s efforts, the Council focused on their analysis of the current situation. If the troops in the army marching from Debonai to support the Abomination remain loyal to the crown while the army’s leadership is not, the army would probably fall apart if the troops understood the situation. At the same time, the rank-and-file are unlikely to actively fight the chivalry leading them. The key would thus be to break the control of the leadership long enough to convince the troops, who would then mostly desert.
Kit snapped her fan open and focused on the crystal linked to Lady Breena. As soon as she made the mindlink, Kit heard “M’lady” in her head and the sense of a slight bow, although less of a bow than most of her contacts give. Kit heard Lady Breena shooing people away and then the amount of focus increased, as the Baroness could speak aloud.
“My apologies for the delay, m’lady, but you know how servants are. Mine are loyal and mean well, but they still gossip. I would not want them hearing anything inappropriate and creating security risks.”
“Quite. We wanted to discuss Debonai’s current military movements. We understand several detachments of troops have headed out under unreliable commanders.”
“I would hardly call them detachments. Several entire calvary units have gone missing.”
“Missing? You don’t know where they’re going?”
“The throne doesn’t and the great council doesn’t, but I have been quietly tracing them through friends. They represent some twenty thousand troops altogether. They left through the southwest border and are heading to meet up with the great horde ahead of them heading to the Spice Lands. We have had problems with the upper echelon of the knights for some time. There is a question of the legitimacy of the royal house. The old nobility support the royal house and control most of the money not controlled by the merchant clans. The younger nobility, the ones elevated in the recent border wars over the past three to four centuries have much less money, more sons, and a desire for conquest. These would be the ones leading the twenty thousand.”