[b]Northgard, King's Palace, Council Room[/b]

Duke Henry strode into the large council room, being one of the last to come in, along with a few other minor nobles; ones who would no doubt contribute little to this special meeting. It was a grand room, slightly bigger than even the throne room, with almost a hundred seats arranged in a semicircle. The King’s throne was near the top, filled with a tired looking King Augustine.

Just a few days after his initial conversation with Duke Ferral, who gave Henry a smile and a wave from the other side, the King had called for a meeting of various nobles and leaders to discuss the situation in Blight. Apparently a new report had come in of a larger quantity of foes than was initially detected., with reports of Giants themselves. Henry, Ferral and an odd assortment of others he knew would oppose action. Some of the military representatives and nobles would be decisively in favor of another investigation, including a strike force. The rest were wildcards.

Scanning the room, Henry identified a variety of people from most parts of the country. Ferral was obviously there, not too far from the King’s seat. He knew the man could be trusted as an ally in the coming talks. There were a few Lords from the northern reaches, or as he liked to call them ‘Barons of the Countryside’ who would also be likely to join Henry. He spotted Sir Rodger near the end of the semicircle. A few other merchants and diplomats were scattered that Henry had known for a while.

He spotted Lord Raelstine, just a few seats below. A good speaker, but Henry found him rather empty. He would no doubt be the primary advocate of a search party. Also in the crowd were General Vernin and the naval commander Orsillian.

[i]This will be a long one…[/i]

[quote]
[i]The result: After a long back-and-forth between the country’s finest, it had been tentatively decided to send a small task force of 20 men, lead by a captain as chosen by Duke Henry, to investigate the threat.[/i]
[/quote]