[center][u]Of Crownless Kings: Chapter One 'End'[/u]
68th of Zieliah[/center] 

Shamgar was speechless, quite baffled in fact. Perhaps, however, he should not have been so caught off guard. The Paragon's had ruled Elyden since its inception, with the vast majority of those years being ruled over by a benevolent king or queen, with the church of the Sacred Flame to guide them. A Paragon as Regent in that light did seem to only make sense. But what truly surprised him as Conrad's support. He had fully expected the man to indorse himself, given his recent actions, yet it seemed what ever machinations he had planned went beyond the Regency. Shamgar realized he might have underestimated the Lord, a dangerous approach he now realized. Surly, after all, there had to be method behind his seeming madness. Yet as quickly as the voting begins, some remained silent, seemingly uncertain of whom they would place their support behind. 

Shamgar cleared his throat and stood. “Lords, I thank you for your support. While I never envisioned myself as Lord Regent-- and indeed, would have been more then happy to work with whoever occupied this position. Regardless, if this is the wish of the Great Houses of Elyden, so be it, I shall do my utmost to prove your trust in me was not misplaced. Now, I know he road ahead of us will be hard, I believe if we stay strong in our faith and stand together in these uncertain times. As for the members of the High Council, I believe those who have shown skill and initiative, as well as trust with unwavering loyalty. To this end, I name Roman Benedikt as my replacement for the position of Arch Dawnbringer. I shall speak highly of you in the Flame Keep, but from what I know of the other high ranking Dawnbringers, they much favoured you least I took ill and could no longer serve the role. As for Keepers of Kingdoms, Alistair Suttbray shall remain in that esteemed position, he as served the realm well while under Phoenix High King Taramyth, and I am certain he will continue to do so now. Master of Coin shall go to King Osmodeus Marrow for his support, should he wish to take it. While the position of Firstsword is open due to the relinquishing of the title by it's previous owner, I believe it should go to First Star Gori Lamillur, voice of Ashtoken, for his accomplishments during the Gnoll war uprising. At last, while I know little of you Master Heldan personally, if Lord Barad Anselm is willing to vouch for you, then the seat of the Seeker is yours. Though I will wish to speak with you personally before you officially take that position.” 

With that he gave one last look around the great table as he regarded each Lord before added. “Now lords, if that is all. I would like to call to the end of this Summit. We have much to do in the coming days, and little time to do them.” 

[center]
 [u]Chapter Two: A Coming Storm[/u]
70th of Zieliah, Year 698[/center]

The rancid smell of iron and blood was thick in the air, and seemed to sweep through the canopy of trees like a slow moving plague. The man standing over the last quivering beastling sent his sword through it's back one last time, insuring it was dead- and stayed as such. He wiped his blade clean with a fresh cloth, before resheathing it in one smoothed motion. The sound of movement behind him draw his attention, and he turned to see former Firstsword, Tynacenan of House Selerane, walking up the path behind him with several other men of his retinue. All around them the party was reforming after the unexpected encounter with a Gothian war party. Ealstain Paragon screwed up his face at the stench the creatures made in death. 

“I think we got the last of them milord, never knew Gothians to range this far from the mountains.” Tynacenan mentioned before spitting off to the side. 

Ealstain could only agree with his assessment. After fleeing the capital city in order to rally support for his claim, Ealstain had taken a trusted retinue of men and women before embarking to Castle Greenwood. It was not long before they eventfully restarted into the Greenwood proper. With help from the Forest Watch, whose captain was a long time companion of his, Ealstain and many of his supporters had managed to slowly gather unseen thus far from the crown. Nearly 6,000 had joined his cause thus far, a respectable amount of support but it was not nearly enough to push his claim. He knew better of course to rely solely on the lords of Aglil. 

Still while he had managed to hid his forces thus far, other problems had reared their head. He had learned that forest bandits and other things far worse plagued the Greenwood. Such threats hardly dared to trouble his forces directly, but the common wood cutters, hunters, trappers, or even those travellers passing through were not as blessed. Ealstain had used his time thus far in hunting down wild bands of men and beast alike, which in turn had earned much love from the people in and about the Greenwood. Tynacenan had already warned him that word could spread too quickly if they were not careful. Ealstain knew the wisdom in such warnings, but he could not very well sit still and do nothing for those he could. 

Ealstain eyed the tree line as he said. “We shall double back, once we regroup, hunt down any more stragglers before returning to camp.” 

Tynacenan handed down the orders quickly enough, sending riders ahead to bring the word to the encampment. It didn’t take long to retrieve their horses, but of the Gothians who'd survived the skirmish, if there had been any, there was no sign. They were forced to return to the site of the battle and burn the bodies. Ealstain knew well the dangers of leaving Gothica to rot, for even a few bodies would produce a black pudding as the wardens called it. At which point more of the vile creatures would spawn from almost indefinitely. The hunt, along with finding a suitably large enough clearing for the fire consumed three full turns of the glass before they were on their way back. 

It was well into midday by now. They rode through the forest in respectable silence, where on all sides the sun's light fought its way down to the ground, touching faint here, bold and strong elsewhere. Ealstain had found he had come to love the wild realm that was the Greenwood. It held a mysterious kind of beauty about it he had never seen before. Not in the works of men certainly, not even among the greatest of artists, of which the tilrinics counted among their number some of the brightest of Elyden. He was glad it had not all been cut down over the years of rule of House Paragon, and not just for it's convince now in aiding his cause. 

“Milord.” Came Tynacenan rough voice. “A word if you please.”

Ealstain turned to regard the old veteran, a man who had served in his uncles court during the time of Taramyth's reign. He was in his late forties Ealstain would guess, his face showing the lines of age, his beard worn fairly long which held a rust like color to it, while his head was mostly bald, though he currently wore a helm concealing that detail. His eyes however held the kind of energy and sharpness that bespoke of a quick mind. The man had a kind of restless energy around him, as if he had more years in him that what one might first assume. 

He nodded to Tyn, giving him permission to speak his mind. 

Tynacenan leaned back in the saddle as he began. “Well, we've gotten more lords backing us then we had dared hope for in Aglil. A few of the Royal Army are even willing to fight for our cause, but...” He trailed off meaningfully. 

“We need the Great Houses,” Ealstain said pointedly. 

“Precisely, if we want anyone to take your claim seriously, we'll need their support.” 

“Of course, we do, but who? The Houses are too damn busy biting at one another to see how bad things are getting. I already hear the first snows have been sighted in the passage, it wont be long now before midwinter is truly upon us.” He sighed in frustration. 

“Then you need to be the one to show them just how bad it is, you need to pull their heads out of their own asses and show them we need someone on the throne who can properly deal with whats coming. Things are only going to get worse before they get better without the crown; this is a time for men, not boys.”

“I know that, and you know that. It's convincing the Great Houses that will be the problem, some, like House Whiteshorn, would follow the current rule straight into an early icy grave.” 

Tynacenan, shrugged. “You don't need to convince all of them, in fact. A few choice houses might be all we need. I know of at least one man who would be willing to listen, if we can get the word past Lochbridge Port.” 

Ealstain eyed Tyn warily. “And who might that be?” 

“An old friend, of a kind...” 
 
[hider= Summary] 
The coming End of the Long Summer marks the end of the Summit of the Great Houses. Jame Conrads bid for power has failed,as Shamgar Paragon is named Lord Regent, yet the young lord seems unphased by this seeming set back. Much to the distress of his supporters. Whatever machinations are planned by the Shark of the Seaborn, none know but him...

Meanwhile Ealstain Paragon has begun his bid for power, calling on the lords of the realm to finally pick who they will stand with. The Young Phoenix is pitted against his more seasoned kin...yet a dark wing awaits out of sight to scavenge what he may. 

[/hider]