At this time, the cloak-veiled Heldan gathered himself up from the bench behind the seat of Lord Barad Anselm and approached the great stone roundtable. He drew back the gray wool cloak that obscured the upper part of his face, revealing a wizened visage and his unsettling, blank eyes. He shot a glance down to his lord seated beside him, who nodded in tacit approval of his speaking.

“My lieges and majesties, Lord Anselm and I are in full agreement with the esteemed First Star As has been stated, the vile East menaces us all at this dark hour. And our vulnerability will only become more apparent as snow falls upon this world. For the first time in seven cycles, a winter settles down upon us. As the world freezes, the monsters of the East will know that our plight is dire indeed, and they will launch against us yet another Black Armada to subjugate us all. But even if such a thing did not come to pass - if whatever sadistic tyrant that rules that savage world were to have some mercy on fair Elyden - our realm is in great peril yet.”

“Lord Anselm and I are quite convinced that winter itself is as much a mortal danger to our realm as the prospect of an invasion from the East. Consider, my lieges and majesties, that our serfs have been utterly spoiled by seven cycles of summer. For the better part of a millenium, our peasants have been able to extract from their fields as many as three harvests per turn. This bounty has allowed a vast population the likes of which was unimaginable in antiquity. And now, we have a peasantry that has not seen so much as a frost in thirty generations. If we are to be subjected to a long winter, then our people will be all but starved out. The Black Armada might well arrive on our frozen shores and find that there remains no Valerien Empire left to conquer.”

“This cataclysm may be averted yet, but we must all work in concert to find the Phoenix Crown. For the time being, locating the crown is of the utmost concern to every Lord and King of Elyden. As such, I wish to announce my intent to serve as the Seeker of Secrets to whichever Lord is elected as regent - that I might facilitate a unilateral effort to quickly locate the missing crown and help to avert the calamity that threatens us all.” At this revelation, Lord Anselm’s jaw dropped. Seeing the concern on his Lord’s face, Heldan stooped down to Barad’s level and whispered something in his ear.

“I am in accord with my adviser and have nothing more to add.” Said Barad, still rather perplexed but far less so than he was previously.