[@Rhiven Knight]
Rhayven's studied expression broke into a smile. He shook her hand and introduced himself. "My apologies Ma'am, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Sir Rhayven DarkMourne, or Rhayven if you prefer. It was unfair of me to rush you so, but it really does not do to be late to these things."

Rose squeezed his hand harder and lifted her chin in faux superiority. "Apology accepted, Admiral." She gave him a half-smile.

The knight inclined his head toward the corner, where a man in a ragged cloak stood with unassuming presence. "I see this meeting is serious; you will [u]subtly[/u] note the younger prince's presence, and some of these knights are from far afield in the frontier. This is no casual council meeting."

She noted the way his smile faltered and eyes widened. The others in the room, too, had long lost their smiles, and the Prince in particular looked to be in a foul mood that she did not want to engage with. The haste with which Rhayven dragged her here, the informality of the gathering, the use of costly teleportation magic, everything pointed to this being a matter of great urgency. With so many heads of state present for the meeting, it was surely of great import too.

Rhayven had already picked out the names and ranks of several individuals. "It would seem, madam doctor, that we are in esteemed company: foreign knights of great renown, and the countess Ysabelle, the young prince, and by the look of it another member of the aristocracy, a Count, if I dont miss my guess. Instinct tells me this meeting is no casual affair, and it would seem our meeting, as such things can often be, will be starting late. We should introduce ourselves, don't you think, seeing as how we have the opportunity?"

He turned his enchanting blue eyes on her. Calm, keen, professional, good-looking... she brushed a stray hair behind her ear and averted her eyes. "Yes, you're right. We absolutely should." She stuck her hand out to shake- to him, again. A smile drew its way up her face as she quipped, "Hi! I'm Rose. Nice to meet you."

Her hand lingered there a moment before her smile faltered. Rose withdrew her hand with an embarrassed flush of her cheeks. "Right, serious meeting. Sorry." She turned away and subtly stomped her foot, whispering "stupid" to herself before moving to make introductions with the other knights.

The sudden entry of the king and queen made her stop in her tracks and flee back to Rhayven's side. Both of the royal couple looked deathly serious. Though they weren't wearing their ceremonial garb, they carried themselves with no less authority- or gravity.

Alexander planted his hands on the table and looked around the room.

"My apologies, everyone, for the informality of this meeting and urgency of its summoning. Abraxas kidnapped my daughter Primrose, and he destroyed a whole city to do it. Somehow, we have angered that legendary beast to the point of open hostility, and we need to know why. We also need to know how to stop him." His eyes turned to the Queen.

[@Pie Flavor] Queen Vali set down the stack of documents she was carrying and rolled out a map. Her voice carried clear across the room. "We should have seen the signs a long time ago. When he struck Ispar and burned it to ashes, we didn't think he would come for us. When he started hunting down knights from around the continent, we failed to see his pattern. And when we heard of cremated villages wiped off the map, we chalked it up to the routine frontier threats. Now that he crossed our border and brought his trail of violence with him, we are unable to ignore him any longer."

[@Darkwatck01][@Lumiere] She pointed to Northaven on the map. "My sources tell me Abraxas makes his lair here, in Castle Ispar where the nation made its last stand. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to stop the dragon and rescue my daughter. Please do not kill the dragon, at least before you discern his motivations. If his wrath can be assuaged, or if we wish to avoid repetition of history, learning his reasons will be critical in our mission. He is immune to conventional attack and resistant to magic, so a diplomatic solution would be ideal, but if force must be applied, only the Ancient weapons can do him any real harm. How should we handle this?"

[@AtomicNut] Prince Gerald, who up to this point had spent his time cozying up to the other nobility in the room, approached the table and traced his finger on the map all the way from Southaven to Northaven. "I say we send an army of mages and attack. If he's immune to normal weapons as you say, but only resistant to magic, we should employ our best mages and make the most of it."

[@unicorgi] The Count of Runglas, infamous for his rigid adherence to tradition, sniffed and lifted his chin, pointing with his cane at the four sides of the map. "I say we go get the Ancient relics. They were always our inheritance anyway. If they work, I see no reason why the other nations should keep them from us."

Queen Vali clenched her fist, but said nothing. King Alexander rubbed her back in solidarity. "Nonetheless, they will try," the king replied, "and whether or not the relics are our inheritance, we cannot simply show them a Will and expect compliance. Their cooperation will be paramount if we expect to put a stop to the dragon's rampage. If nothing else, we need them to stay out of the way, which will prove difficult if we antagonize them."

The Queen looked to the knights. "Whatever we decide here, you will be the ones asked to carry it out, so your input here will be vital. What are your thoughts? [u]Can you stop Abraxas?[/u]"