War had come to Formaroth once again.

Lanaya Triskell Dionisia, perched on a tall, narrow rock jutting tens of meters out of the sea near Nyhem, considered how this had come to pass. It had been a tumultuous month indeed.

[Hider=Lana Reminisces]
It all started with the king's death. Lana had been out of the city on one of her usual monthly escapes when King John Remonnet had passed away under somewhat mysterious circumstances. She had arrived back several days after he died, late to the news. Thankfully, during the time of mourning nothing of great import had been done, and the fool Lord Thale hadn’t made any overly stupid decisions about the matter. She had promptly set to planning, maintaining an outward appearance of mourning while plotting how best to take advantage of the situation.

Initially, very briefly, she had entertained the idea of trying to seize the throne herself. A pleasant daydream, but a dream all the same - the idea was preposterous and quickly abandoned. The reality of the matter would be that one of the existing noble houses would seize power. Though some of them had some small amount of magic in their bloodlines, none of them had mages as immediate, or even competent, heirs to their throne. She would not be able to place a mage in power so easily and within the system, and so her planning had turned to other methods. She had options. She could try to gain the ear of whoever came to power and influence them into passing laws that would give mages additional protections and require rulers to have Isles sanctioned advisors. Or she could try for a more overt power play, and attempt to marry either into the new king's family or even the new king himself.

It’d be tiresome to arrange and live in a political marriage of the sort, but a mage Queen would certainly be something new. From such a position it would be easier not only to ensure the line continued with magic (motherhood was something she was willing to bear for such an assured legacy) and it would be simple to steer the law in favor of mages. She was young and beautiful, as well as competent in the political arts… But so were many of the other ladies that might vie for an unmarried king’s hand. While the choice was clear to her, she also knew that magic would not be considered an overwhelming feature in her favor by most.

And then there was the other problem - most of the Lords who stood any chance were already married.

In the days leading up to the meeting of Lords in the grand hall, she had taken stock of the contestants, and considered who to back. Duncan De Reimer was clearly making moves to get the populace of Nyhem on his side and stood a strong chance of assuming the Throne. He was also quite reasonable, or so Aurelia had told her, and single. She knew Aurelia would support him, and that had certainly swayed her - she did not want to lose Aurelia’s friendship without extremely good reason. That said, it was not without reason he was known as ‘The Snake.’

Andrew Manshrew was the other most likely contender. He was an interesting individual, though she knew relatively little of him compared to the other, closer realms Lords. He was said to be a fair man who governed justly, valuing equality. Lana was inclined not to believe that he was bloodthirsty, but she also knew he would be extremely critical of anyone else chosen to be King. A man who states he is fair and just will measure others against his own standards, and for a great many reasons, often find them wanting. Besides, fairness was not what Lana wanted.

The others with a reasonable chance in her eyes were the Blackwells and the Sutharlans. Giles Blackwell was unpredictable and very capable. He was one of the few that Lana feared - he might just be able to manipulate her without her knowing. If she were to support the Blackwells, it would need to be only after Giles was dead. The Sutharlans were easy for her to form opinions on. They disliked magic, and by extension, her. She suspected it would not be difficult for the wrong influence to spur them into outright hatred and persecution of mages. She returned their dislike with little consideration.

When the meeting arrived, she had attended alongside Lord Thale, and as usual, had spoken for him, with the meager might of House Thale behind her words. Though few words were said. In such a forum, her words on the benefit of mage advisors would fall on deaf ears. In the end, she had thrown her support behind Duncan De Reimer. Manshrew’s position was not strong enough for her to feel justified in betraying Aurelia’s friendship.

She had known war would shake the land once more following that day. It was clear in the meeting that Manshrew would not stand for a De Reimer king, and the Blackwell’s were already preparing for war, gathering allies about them.

Lana hated war.

She had seen the effects that the last civil war had had on the land and the people. She had lost her family to the war. She had lost many good mage friends. It was inevitable that mages would be requested to aid the armies of all sides, and when they joined battle, many would inevitably die, their lives and potential wasted at the whim of some petty Lord somewhere who saw them only as artillery pieces.

Plotting aside, she was somewhat concerned for her friend. Aurelia had been acting strange since the meeting. Something was eating at her, but in neither their correspondence nor her visits since then had she been able to figure out what. Aurelia did her best to act normal, but Lana had known her long enough to tell when something was amiss.

With the thoughts about her friend, her mind began drifting back to the present. She had no hand in the war, starting it or preventing it, but she would make the most of it.
[/hider]
Far below her, the Ocean crashed against the stone. This was one of her favorite spots to come to when she needed to think or be away from the troubles of life in the city. A spire of rock jutting out of the water utterly inaccessible except by flight, it was truly her place. There was enough room for perhaps two other people to sit if they crowded together, though Lana had never tested this. She sat cross legged, her waist length copper hair caught in the unceasing coastal wind, fluttering like a pennant atop a castle tower. It was cold, biting wind, and she clad in a very functional winter traveling outfit, despite the otherwise warm season. Deep blue in stark contrast to her hair and form fitting, the outfit was nonetheless multi layered and thick. She would change out of it as soon as she returned home.

Occasionally, she would raise her voice in song, choosing at random from the songs sung at court or a few sea shanties she knew. Ordinarily, the wind would carry away the sound quickly, but her skill with illusion magic let her cast her voice unnaturally far with a simple spell, even in these conditions. She idly wondered if she had inspired any tales of mermaids or other fantastical sea creatures in the sailors that passed nearby from time to time.

Glancing towards the sun, she realised how long she had been here. She had a meeting with Duncan De Reimer to attend this afternoon. Standing atop the spire of rock, she began muttering words in an arcane dialect. She could shape shift without the incantation, but shifting clothes and all took a more complex spell. After several moments of chanting, her form altered to that of a sea-bird and she spread her wings to catch the wind, rising elegantly into the air.

It was a short flight back to her house in Nyhem, a moderately sized but very well decorated and kept townhouse in the higher class area of the city. She landed on the second story balcony and shifted back to her normal form, stepping inside and beginning to shrug off the thick winter clothing. She considered her current plan while she changed into one of her more expensive dresses. 

A number of her students and several of her associates had been in touch through correspondence - they all knew of the impending war, and they knew that the state would desire mages for its armies. They also knew that if they banded together under Lana, she would be able to use their services as a bargaining chip in the politics of Nyhem - and so they had. Many of them were young and idealistic, much like her. Less interested in money and more interested in changing the world for the better.

That had led to her current plan. It was not her usual kind of plan, for it involved sacrificing mages on the altar of war, and yet, she had deemed their loss worthwhile for the sake of the many. She would offer their services to the Imperial Concord at significantly less than a battlemage group usually cost, in exchange for the creation of laws protecting mages. She was sure Duncan would see the value in both the service of the mages and the laws themselves, it would be a deal too good to pass up.

As she finished dressing, now clad in a flowing red dress of the style currently popular in court, she moved towards the carriage that would take her to Miserth keep and her meeting, touching up her appearance with a few illusory pieces of jewelry as she went.Normally she avoided carriages whenever possible, despising the time they took and the inevitably bumpy ride, yet in this instance it would be both too much magical effort and likely rude to fly straight up to the soon-to-be King.