Kaldora By the time the hunt returned it was all over. The invader was defeated and the gardens were devastated, and upon seeing them, so too was Zouyu. Attempts to console him proved futile and so after a final hug and a promise that [color=Crimson]“Whoever did this. They will pay.”[/color] Kaldora left the Druid to his mourning. Afterwards she caught the scouting party from the Beast Pens and got something of a summary of the end of the fight before getting them to send a report to take the pens off of high alert after Graft gave the all clear. No one had any interest in simply going back down when there was still so much confusion going on and so when Kaldora arrived at the climax part way into Graft’s speech it was at the head of both the hunt and the scouting group. Despite the vampire’s curiosity about the situation, only Kaldora and Arthanar entered the climax hour and joined the discussion properly, the rest of their kin lacking the nerve to fully butt in and instead hanging back outside the entryway to observe the meeting. The vampiress nodded to the others in greeting as she came in, but remained quiet while Graft and Salem spoke despite the clear irritation on her face. Her patience was rewarded by a villain’s speech from Graft and the first coherent description of what was actually going on she had received since the entire debacle began. [color=Crimson]“Thank you, Salem, for actually explaining what the blazes has been going on here to everyone.”[/color] Kaldora said [color=Crimson]“or rather thank you for letting everyone Graft deigned to add to this line of his, which, considering most of the people who have been called to these discussions are outwith the Chateaux at the moment, likely does not include the majority of the individuals who were actually in a position to help fight off this incursion. Legions of undead, hordes of gobines, my kin down in the Beast Pens. With the highest level individuals of their floors away they were left completely in the dark despite the fact that the invader was killed by a level 30 skeleton butler.”[/color] she glanced back at the scouts who had seen the end of battle for confirmation [color=Crimson]“Level 30! And yet dozens and dozens of people of that level who might have helped who could have prevented the death and destruction brought to our home were given not a second though because like Salem said: we are a mess.”[/color] [color=Crimson]“That's not to say Graft's line was unappreciated, or that it's even his fault so many where left out, it's simply indicative of a larger issue we have right now. We need better lines of communication, proper chains of command so the buck doesn't stop at the highest level person in a section and most of all...”[/color] Kaldora took in breath and voiced the concern her people had been discussing offhandedly for a while, and which had come to a right up to the forefront of that discussion while they had been traveling to the climax hour [color=Crimson]“I don’t know if running the Chateaux like a bunch of independent kingdoms only tied together by a single leader is working.”[/color] She raised her hands as if she could ward off any angry disagreements before she explained herself [color=Crimson]“Hear me out! The Sable lords, our leaders, creators, our… parents,”[/color] she glanced at Salem before adding [color=Crimson]“However you feel about them, their number has been cut down to one. Just. One”[/color] She turned to the man who the gorgon had come to capture, [color=Crimson]“Rodius… Rodius Darling,”[/color] she paused, trying to find the words [color=Crimson]“It’s a heavy burden you’ve taken on your shoulders, trying to fill all those vacant thrones. Graft is likely right, without you we might fall apart entirely, but that doesn't mean you need to be the only one holding us together.”[/color] [color=Crimson]“Which is why I wish to suggest the formation of a council to manage the Chateaux. If we want to wield the power our comrades are apparently fighting to acquire do right now, if we want to take revenge against these people who dared attack us, if we want to avoid tearing ourselves apart, then we need a proper, official mechanism by which we can work together. All of us. Not just the people on this call but all of the people of the Chateaux. We are broken, ladies and gentlemen, we are a hydra with only one head left and apparently we almost lost that final one today. So do we hunker down and pray our foes fail to strike down that least head every time they come at us, or are we going to grow new heads, spitting in the face of cruel fate as we do so, to take the places of those that have fallen?”[/color] she said, concluding her own little speech with growing volume and passion, before stepping back and relinquishing control of the floor.