[centre][b]Ashänti, Kingdom of Tyrisine[/b][/centre]

A pale moon rose over Ashanti and its stony streets glimmered with the soft lights of the floating lanterns employed by the Elves who called it home. Out in the streets of the mountaintop city, they moved about as ghosts would with slow care and deliberation. They meandered across the cobbles, resting at fountains to read books or chatting to each other quietly as they went. Soft harp and lute music could be heard on the warm breeze that breathed its way tenderly between the large, stone hewn manses that the Ashanti Elves called home. Far below, the forest expanded endlessly in all directions, a sea of verdant green illuminated in great spots by the villages that called its leafy expanse their sky and its soft, moist floor their homestead.

The Elves of Tyrisine were well known for their guarded dispositions and the their aptitude for thinking events through with an unprecedented thoroughness. Their long lives and calm cities meant that, on occasion, government decisions could take weeks to be discussed amongst the various levels of society - the Queen, her advisers, the merchants, the priestesses, the Dukes, the petty lords... all talked at length and frequently, a Tyrisinian custom that pervaded their system of government. Discussion and debate were some of the nation's most prestigious hobbies, and everyone from the lowliest farmer to the Queen herself participated in them on some level or another almost daily.

Today, in the Palace of the Sky at the centre of Ashänti, debate raged fiercely. It was not often that the debate was fierce in the echoing marble halls of Queen Elsannis III's primary residence, but tonight in the open topped Chamber of the Moon, while the stars bore witness, echoing shouts of passion and fury rebounded. The ambassadors from Norin had arrived early in the morning, but they had been kept waiting in the sleepy tranquility of Ashänti for a whole day, fed on the sweetwine, figs and honeyed veal that the Queen had presented them. All important business was conducted in the night's air in Tyrisine, for it was the belief of its Elves that the night aided thought and facilitated cool and calm discussion. This night, however, not even the moon's pale and disapproving face could halt the passion.

The chamber was circular in shape, its open top allowing creeping vines to travel down its marble face. A ring of stone hewn benches surrounded a central area complete with a raised marble dais that allowed a speaker to address a crowd unmolested. Echoes rang out imperiously across the chamber. In the centre, at this moment, was the ambassador from Norin, who had come representing the interests of the Galan League. The clamour in the room died down as he continued: [i]"...my Elven brethren, it is your duty to support the League in this matter. Our request to ready your armies is not disputable. It must be war,"[/i] 

The ambassador trotted sheepishly down from the dais and back towards his cohort on one of the lower levels of the bench. Opposite the entrance to the room sat Queen Elsannis herself, flanked by guards in gold gilded armour and herself clad in the imperious robes of state - red silks threaded with ermine and a great lace headdress that accompanied the vast and opulent tresses of her golden hair. She would be beautiful and pretty if she were not so imperious, so icy. Her demeanour was a calm mask that did not allow any such faction to read her expression.

Next to the dais came Marïthriel of Myrth, in his old age weighed down by the heavy and ornate runic robes of his position as First Chronicler of the Order of the Leaf. It was he who preserved the culture and traditions and histories of the Kingdom, and in times of crisis such as this the Tyrisinians always turned to their venerable and long past in order to secure faith in the course of action chosen. "My Lords and Ladies," the old man breathed at length. "War has not been seen by our people for generations. It is deliberately thus - it disturbs the calm that we call our own. We are a nation of careful cultivation of peace and prosperity, and for that we have our gracious monarchs and the ever lasting wisdom of the Council of Elders to thank,"

He paused, rubbing at the long white beard that trailed down to his middle. "However, war is not always avoidable. We made a pledge to our Elven brethren. It is imperative that we maintain this contract, this concordat, for there is nothing in this realm more important than the preservation of the Elven race. There are those out there who seek to destroy us; every man, woman and child will suffer under the reign of the Dwarves. These creatures care not for art, for the fine music that hangs like a thread on the Ashänti night's air, nor the bloodlines that have maintained our nation's prosperity for so many years. We must go to war, for we have sworn it, and if we do not, then we will only have ourselves to blame when our fine cities and our forests burn against the pale expanse of the Dwarven domain," He bowed, descending to a sea of muttering. Opposition to the war seemed to have been softened considerably by his words.

Next came Raelin Malthusîan the Green, the First Arrow of the Queen's Army and High Ranger of the Kingdom. He was much younger, no lines creasing his soft features. He wore the fine splendour of the upper echelons of the army with a winged and gold gilded helm, and an ornate, tree hewn bow at his back. A smile came easy to his lips, and as he ascended to the dais he did it with much less heaviness than the others before him. "My Lords and Ladies," he began, as was customary. "Our armies are largely defence based. I am sure that the League have taken this duly into consideration. It is true that our nearest neighbours are not what we would all call friends, and thus I would see it unwise for us to send a large force to fight an aggressive war. For we are not an aggressive peoples - and to send the bulk of our army would leave us helpless to the whims of the Dwarves and their allies. Instead, I say we act as a defensive bulwark against the advances of those who would seek to destroy our enemies to the south, and instead send a much smaller expeditionary force forward to those frontlines. Without it, we may be helpless," He bowed, a lock of his raven hair escaping his helm and brushing forward across his eyes.

Silence reigned supreme for a minute, and then the Queen rose. She did not descend down to the dais, but spoke with a clear and icy clarity that did not allow a murmur to disturb her speech. "I thank you for your counsel, my leal Lords and Ladies, and I thank the ambassadors for their patience. I will respond to this call to arms favourably, but it is the way of Tyrisine to plan defensively and carefully," She paused, icy eyes surveying the assembled crowd. "I and my councillors will begin discussions as to the semantics of this. Ambassadors, you may remain in my hospitality for as long as you so require. I do not go gladly to this war... but I do go to it," She paused, let out a small sigh, and then swept from the room with her attendants in hot pursuit.