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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 6216707" data-attributes="member: 6696971">@<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=42582" target="_blank">pemerton</a> You make your way up the winding stone stairs toward the apex of the Kingsmount. You get a deeper understanding why this fortress has been deemed impregnable. There are not nearly as many guards lining your course as you would expect. Only a handful greet you at the top. A refined steward welcomes you graciously and sees you into a great stone entry hall with 25 foot ceilings, great columns with ornate entablatures and a balcony on the far end with stairs leading from the landing to the floor on either side. Massive tapestries have been unfurled, serving as area rugs for the makeshift living quarters the hall has become. Silvered candelabras have been laid out geometrically to provide functional lighting but the recesses of the ceiling are concealed with darkness. You can tell that the great catapults of the giants have assaulted even here as large, unseemly cracks adorn the edifice. The nobility appear to be holding up here, now little more than refugees in relative squalor with makeshift living spaces replete with crudely fashioned wooden privies with privacy curtains, and servants changing out chamberpots as you enter. Most action comes to an immediate halt, all eyes are squarely upon the four of you, hushed whispers a chorus. The steward leads you down the central avenue of the hall to stand before the balcony. There, seated in a great stone chair (assuredly this is where pleas or cases are heard) sits a regal looking gentleman, hair grayed, face creased and all edges, eyes narrowed like a hawk. He is flanked by multiple guards in battle garb, of which each possesses a great canine at the end of a leash.Your herald Blaine regales the Lord Chamberlain with titles and deeds, the first of which is the Knight Commander of the Iron Tower. When he finishes, the Lord Chamberlain crisply notes, “It was the first that allowed you audience today. This kingdom has ancient accords with your order that supersede my better judgment, unfortunately. As you can see, a proper welcome is impossible under these circumstances and the War Council, over which I’m supposed to be presiding as it is one of my duties as primary functionary of the court and chair of all department meetings up to and including the convening of the War Council, is currently in session. As such, our time here must, to my chagrin, be brief. I have heard of your efforts in the rearguard, valiantly ushering in the lowland refugees, of which your herald so nobly recounted. I have heard of your many overt, unsanctioned actions to protect the city and instill hope in its soldiers and its people. The people seem to love you. I’ve heard rumor they want you to lead a charge against our aggressors. It is all very lovely and it would make a good story to tell wide-eyed boys unacquainted with life’s harsher realities. A thousand blessings upon you good sir knight. I’m sure you aren’t coming here for compensation for we have none to give. I’m sure you aren’t coming here for soldiers to recruit for the Iron Tower for we have none to give. So tell me, Knight Commander of the Iron Tower, why do you come to us in this late hour?”<I’m sure you can sort out whether or not he respects your authority!>Massive Entry HallHigh, Dark CeilingsChamberlain Seated On HighAll Eyes On YouGuards With DogsCracked Walls and ColumnsThe People Are With YouFlammable Floor Coverings and Loose CandelabrasFilled to BurstingWar Council Convening [MENTION=16586]Campbell[/MENTION] Inbox full.  Need to send a PM.</blockquote>

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