[center][B]The Small Council[/b][/center]
The small council chamber doubles as the king’s study and war council room. The dome like chamber is lined with shelves and chests, containing maps, battle plans, history books, trade ledgers, letters from far aways kings, and much more. In the center of the circular room sat a massive stone roundtable, etched with a map of the kingdom engraved in the tabletop. The table is on a round platform with a small set of steps wrapping around. Candles sit on table and on bookcases, keeping the room well. The chamber is located in the north tower of the main castle, with one window facing each direction, letting in natural light and fresh air.
The three high lords in the room are accompanied each with 2 of their own personal guard, filling the left side of the room, where Lords Ballanger & Filtiarn, & Lady Weyenburg sit. On the left side of the table Sat prince Hugo, Matilda Thackery, and commander Grux, along with 6 royal guard standing behind them on the right side of the room. King Gustavo sits at the center of the group, flanked by his brother and Dromeus. There is a light layer of smoke in the air as both Lucian and Grux are both smoking pipes.
“First, I would like to congratulate my brother and Lord Filtiarn’s lovely daughter Elaine on their beautiful wedding. I hope you two find all the happiness in the world!” the king proclaimed, thrusting his mug in to the center of the table, met with six more mugs and a collective “Here, here!!” from the group.
"And soon they will be joined by my dear Veltsa and Lancelin. I hope your son ages better than you have, Dromeus." Gustov let out a roaring laugh, clearly finding himself much more funny than Dromeus, who only flashed the faintest of smiles.
"Yes, the wedding planning is already underway," Dromeus continued, shuffling some parchments. "I imagine there will be quite the expense on both of our parts."
Gustov once again let out a hearty laugh. "Aye, Dromeus. I wish for my daughter to have all of the best for her wedding day. I will spare good coin for the event as long as you are willing to pay your part, too. But that is not what we came here to talk about."
Sitting back in his chair, Gustavo turned his attention to Lady Rosaline, who sat in her father’s chair. “My lady, do you have any idea when your father will grace us with his presence again?” the king spat at her, the obvious disdain for being stood up.
“My apologies my king” she bowed her head “He mean’s no disrespect by not appearing here himself, he is just incapable leaving the house right now. He has a violent…” she was cut off.
“What is it this time, a stomach ache? The measles? It seems to me your father has been sick about… four or five months now. Are we even sure he’s alive?” Grux barked at the small lady.
“Stand down Grux. We shall not blame the lady for her father’s poor health.” the king said, reigning in his dog. Looking back to Rosaline, who was sitting rigid in her chair, the king spoke much more softly.
“Please do tell your father that his king wishes to see him. I did put him on my small council after all, the least he could is show up to a meeting, is it not.” the king asked kindly. Rosaline only nodded in agreement. the knot in her throat was keeping her from speaking.
“Moving on then.” the King continued, his voice and demeanor quickly changing over to a more regal commanding tone.
“The guild is opening today, and is expected to bring the head of the monster that has been terrorizing our waters and killing our sailors.” the king explained, the disdain in voice apparent.
“There is still the problem of the Lycan infestation.” Dromeus sounded off, “They may not be affecting our trade, but they are killing our people in the streets and on our roads.” he spoke pointing to the main roads entering and leaving the city on the table map in front of him.
“What good is trade if there is no one to buy the product?” Dromeus asked, trying to make his point.
“There’s also the blood suckers running a muck and causing havoc. People don’t even go outside after dark for fear becoming a nocturnal blood fiend.”  Lucian said, now packing more tobacco into his pipe. “I agree with you that the Lycan problem is in fact a problem, but need I remind you there is more than one monster lurking in the shadows.” the old gruff lord said through a cloud of smoke.
"Aye aye we have plenty of threats to take care of. Let us discuss each in turn, starting with the closest threat: the creature on Trieste Island. I have already informed Captain Drystan of my desire to have it taken care of immediately. It will prove a good test for the new hunters to show their prowess. I have full faith in my Captain that he will take care of it." Gustov nodded, glancing up at the table members.
"And after that, what should we set our hunters after? We have an abundant amount of monsters to take care of," Matilda replied. "There's the aforementioned lycans, vampires, wendigos, and we have received increasing reports of the necromancer tribe to the south."
Gustov let out a guttural grunt, nodding his head thoughtfully. "Aye, we've many threats. Let us begin with the sea creature and we will work on contracts for the others."

[center][b]4 Hours Later[/b][/center]

Lucian took a long drag from his pipe, staring through the the faint cloud lingering around his head, directly into Dromeus’ dark dead eyes.
“What are you planning Ballanger?” Lucian asked with mix of venom and curiosity. Dromeus had risen with the others as they had left the room, and now stood opposite of the old gruff lord, the only two men left in the room.
“I’ve stared at your ugly mug for enough years to know when the gears in that bat sized brain of yours are turning.” Lucian said with just the right amount of sarcasm and disdain to be infuriating. 
“I’ve got no idea what your talking about old man. Perhaps your age is beginning to take your mind?” Dromeus replied, an equal level of venom in his voice. 
“Careful how tread dear old friend, you know what happens when an old dog goes rabid.” Dromeus said through a sly grin. Lucian stroked his beard, feeling the warmth in his face build as he struggled to contain his temper. 
“Hows your wife?” Lucian asked with an icy tone.
The room went silent as the two men stared at each other with immeasurably intensity.
“Alive and well.” Dromeus replied, obviously shaken by the comment. 
“Wish I could say the same for yours.” he spat at the old man. 
Lucian slammed his fist onto the table as he rose to his feet, the mugs left by the rest of the council shaking violently, spilling wine and ale onto the table-map. The two men were now eye to eye, both ready to jump the table and go to blows. Luckily a knock at the door broke the tension. Young Lancelin stood in the doorway requesting his father’s presence elsewhere. Dromeus did not break his gaze from Lucian as he quickly shooed his son away with the wave of a hand. 
“That’s a nice boy you got there Ballanger. A real standout citizen, he’ll be a great leader one day. It’s just astonishing how far the apple can fall from the tree, is it not?” Lucian asked still standing nearly nose to nose with his longtime rival. 
“Yes, he is, and his children will carry on our great legacy. What about Luther’s future kin?” Dromeus asked, breaking away from the staredown.
“What do you think your son will do when he finds out he is in a marriage destined for failure and heartbreak?” Dromeus asked, as he strode to the door. He stood in the doorway, he turned back to his bitter old rival and let out one last remark, “Essenia would be so disappointed, you should be glad she’s dead so….” He did not finish as he quickly slammed the door to block the incoming mug launched by Lucian. Dromeus only chuckled as he made his way down the hallway, his son still waiting for him.