[h2][color=chocolate]Caslan
Tomb City of Scribes
Fall Meeting of the Kycer[/color][/h2]

In early Fall, all the Zupans in Caslan along with the members of the Kycer were ordered back to the Tomb City of Scribes in Hilgas. On the roads to the city, danger and trouble was usually afoot, which prompted most of the Kerkian members of the Kycer to bring an assortment of bodyguards. It wasn’t usual, as the Blyamen guarded the city and the Kycer itself, but usually kept the tomb city’s inner walls. [color=orange]Shov Coladdic[/color] made his way first to the city, as was his habit, and began to greet his faction before the arrival of others, while also discussing political strategy in the privacy of his clan’s catacombs. What was more abnormal however was that he had brought a larger contingent then usual, allowing his Beurian bodyguard and slave [color=orange]Drasken[/color], to enter. Many of Shov’s allied clans were not very sure about this, as it was abnormal for a head of the assembly to need such protection, especially with so many undead to guard them in such a neutral environment. It wasn’t forbidden, it just wasn’t done.

Shov however had his reasons, as he was quick to exclaim his intentions to them. He saw the trouble in northern Caslan between the Hydov and Gasner clans as an opportunity they could not miss, and wished to use the trouble to it’s full effect. His vicious glare soon came on [color=orange]Tomov Gasner[/color], who was a member of his faction. Tomov was not a minor priest, but he was in the Zupan council, but the reveal of his clan’s actions against the Hydov’s lost tomb city had created a black spot which Shov did not want his rivals to use against him. Shov ‘politely’ asked Tomov where the necromancers of the clan who defiled the Hydov ancestor were being kept. Although Tomov continued to insist in desperation to his fellow Coladdic clansmen of his innocence, Shov nor his priests did not care.

Tomov relented, saying that the two necromancers were outside the tomb city in disguise, one being apparently a brother and another a brother-in-law, both of whom were in good relations with Tomov and had asked him to seek forgiveness. Shov was pleased by this news, and ordered Drasken to take them into custody. Tomov pleaded for mercy, but was shut down by Shov, who ‘comforted’ the Zupan by exclaiming that he would ‘take care of the troubles’.
_____

[color=orange]Lavar Brav[/color] was looked up towards the familiar tomb city, with a shortness of breath as he affixed his purple robes. His assistant Okan servant kept close behind him, turning from side to side in worry. Lavar may have had experience climbing the stone stairs, but [color=orange]Lila[/color] was younger, and was less exhausted when they climbed. Several members of the Kycer were behind them, and several more in front of them in a line of purple, red, green, and black. She saw a number of Kerks had brought bodyguards of all types. She could see several Kerkian bodyguards, two Okan Ghilmen, and a Beurian mercenary. Yet, the most common type of guard were the undead, as several necromancers walked together under the shadow of Husks.

“Keep up, Lila” Lavar politely asked of the Okan. Lila snapped back to attention and came even closer to him “I am sorry, sir. It feels like we are marching with an army.”

“I noticed.” Lavar looked around him as well, less impressed and more annoyed. “No doubt everyone is on edge due to the recent events in Nasklan and Fesdan, or they tire of the raptor attacks.”

The name sent shivers down Lila’s spine. They were creatures the Kerks brought over from their homeland, and have menaced the isle since. They could move fast, were intelligent, and hunted in packs. Yet, Caslan was brutal to them, the creatures hibernated in deep, warm caves, as they perished out in the snows of winter. In all her studies, she wondered where the Kerks came from to have such beasts, and yet was quick to wonder why the Kerks even brought them over to start with.

“You think the Kycer is going to do something about the violence there?” Lila meekly asked. Lavar nodded. “Hopefully, but that is not my full business with this session today. No doubt it will come up.”

Lavar and Lila continued onward, coming up to the main gates. Meeting them there was [color=orange]Dylon Geuder[/color] whom Lavar had hoped to see. Lavar greeted his fellow Zupan gracefully, but noticed that Dylon’s company was a bit off. Instead of his usual sycophants, Dylon was in the company of his son [color=orange]Polchov Geuder[/color], and a Beurian named [color=orange]Daygov Geuder[/color]. To Lavar, this was abnormal. Most times, heirs were not seen with the patriarch, as they were off gaining experience or aiding in administration back home, much like Lavar’s own heir. Daygov is a Beurian, a bear beastfolk who was adopted into the Geuder clan and was Dylon’s brother, but more realistically was his bodyguard as was seen by the large cloak which covered the creature’s large blade he bit to the side of him.

“Ah. Dylon. I was hoping to see you inside, what pray tell makes you live outside these gates?” Lavar asked. Dylon looked to him, as if annoyed by something. He wondered why Lavar was being so kind to him, and was quick to ask “What is it you wish to discuss Lavar Brav. I am in no mood for jests or clever talk.”

“Normally you are.” Lavar shrugged. Lila came up to the side of Daygov as their two respective superiors talked. Daygov gave one quick glance down at the Okan, holding onto a tome for which to write down the Kycer’s business. He grunted as Lila looked a bit uncertain as the two Kerks spoke in an increasingly passive aggressive tone with one another.

“I was hoping the business in my city will be put aside for the good of Kycer, if that is your intention of course, Dylon.”

“Believe it or not Lavar, anything I do is for the good Caslan, not always for the good the Kycer.”

“Is not Caslan one in the same with the will of the Kycer, and thus the gods?”

“Ha! As if the Kycer is meant to represent the will of the gods. You are an idiot and a fool if you believe Shov Coladdic is using the Kycer to embetter the lives of us all.”

Daygov could see Lila was anxious and tried to comfort her with a tidbit of information, whispering “They are being honest with one another, they do not mean much by it.”

Lila looked up at Daygov “They practically sound hostile.”

“They are Kerks, they always sounds hostile.” Daygov lightly chuckled. Eventually, after some complaining, Lavar got to his point.

“Dylon, I know you and your Geuderians do not have much trust in the Kycer, but please I wish to discuss an important matter with you. I wish to bring forth legislation with the help of your faction, since I know Shov will already vote it down. I wish to laxen the laws towards new membership to the Kycer. A friend of mine, an intelligent friend mind you, the merchant [color=orange]Tenser Uman[/color] wishes to put up an election to join the Kycer itself. I would have introduced this sooner, but the trouble up north concerns me greatly.”

“As it does.” Dylon rubbed his chin “I was out here actually because of that. I await both Zupan [color=orange]Duman Hazel[/color] and [color=orange]Maryl Hydov[/color]. Your proposal intrigues me, but I wish to look over the details.”

“Duman?”

Polchov nodded and spoke up “Aye. Duman is experienced despite his age. There is trouble brewing in the north still.”

“Explain.”

Polchov did explain, and it was a sad and sorry tale. The Hydovs were being supported by Geuder clansmen who were putting the boot down on many rogue clans, but the retaliatory nature of the Kerks has made it near impossible to achieve any form of ceasefire. Gasner aligned clans, angry at what was done to them, were now making their way north. The difference however, was that these clans were not being told to not raid by the Gasner patriarch, but were being encouraged by the Gasners. Polchov was well aware of how brutal the raids against Fesdan had been, and ruined a great deal of things. The Gasners had been trying to build up their tomb city for decades, and the Hydov aligned clansmen had in their anger began desecrating and destroying much needed (and expensive) supplies which was ruinous to the Gasners. Now those clans were raiding Nasklan, primarily for supplies they had lost and to take vengeance on any Hydov aligned clan they could see.

Polchov went silent for a moment, as if he was uncomfortable speaking, and looked only temporarily at Lila. He continued, as he described many of the atrocities he had seen in the past few months. Several Okan clans, who had not participated in the attacks in Fesdan, were ultimately attacked. Polchov described in morbid detail the fate of these small beastfolk clans, with many dead or disappeared. Dylon was no phased, thinking that perhaps the ‘less idiotic’ Gasner clans were kidnapping the beastfolk to hold for ransom, but Pulchov was not so convinced. He believed that the Gansers knew of the relationship between the Okan and the Hydovs, and were attacking them specifically to get back at them.

Now the situation got complicated, as Polchov explained that he now had to make deals and alliances with many of the same clans who had gone rogue in the first place just to put down interlopers who attacked Nasklan. These bandit clans sickened both the Geuders especially, as one particular bandit chief and his clan had used the whole ordeal to attack Beastfolk clans and villages to sell as slaves and to hold as ransom. Polchov had no clue how to deal with him, as the bandit chief was helpful in defeating the raiders from Fesdan, and kept them at bay.

The description mortified Lavar, but Dylon reassured him “Duman is a lot more experienced in raids more so then my son, something Polchov and I agree on. We will be speaking to him to get his help in this whole ordeal.”

“You act as if you blame yourself, Dylon.” Lavar noted.

“I do not blame myself, but to the average clansmen, it may as well be. Shov will certainly use it, but these recent turn of events will at least keep this whole thing out of the Kycer. The quicker we deal with this trouble, the better.”

At that moment, Daygov grunted to get the attention of Dylon “I can see them both.”

“Lavar, if you don’t mind, I’d prefer that I talk to my charges amongst fellow Geuderians.” Dylon nodded to Lavar. Lavar nodded back, as he and Lila went through the open gates. Dylon looked out over the hills of Hilgas and down at the coming members of the Kycer, getting ready for a very long week.
_____

The first day of the Kycer was as Dylon predicted, as the entire Kycer got inside were immediately bombarded with speech after speech which spoke against the violence in Fesdan and Nasklan, but a lot of these speeches were hollowed out by the games of blame inflicted onto each other by the Hydovs and Gasners. However, the most powerful and damaging speech was reserved for Shov Coladdic who made the entire room uncomfortable with his vicious rebuke of the Geuderians.

“Is this the much needed reform that our fellow priests speak of, is the blood spilled and heads caved in the much needed leadership the Kycer needs?” was repeated by Shov, snidely looking at Dylon and giving a cruel grin. Maryl Hydov and Tomov Gasner were in attendance, but did not speak to each other. In fact, they spoke to no one, and stared hatefully at one another for much of the session. Lavar rose to speak against the violence as well, but the Geuderian aligned priests however had a much different take, and led a rather controversial attack.

Dylon rose to speak, condemning the violence at first, but then began to speak on how the conflict had even started. He pointed out that a sacred tomb city had been pilfered, an ancient ancestor of the Hydovs was raised, and then puppeted for amusement. Dylon then made accusations against the priesthood itself, much to the gasps and angry callouts of the ceremonial priests in attendance, who were not fully political. Lavar found this political tactic intriguing, but also despicable, as Dylon began to call out the hypocrisies of the priesthood who would condemn violence of the living, but not call out the blasphemy committed by the Gasners. Dylon did not want a debate on this matter, he wanted to muddy the waters enough for the Kycer to avoid talking of it.

Then, as if on cue, Shov ‘agreed’ with Dylon. Dylon was surprised and then immediately suspicious as Shov did call out that the Gasner necromancers had defiled a sacred tomb, but announced that the perpetrators had been caught, tried. . .and killed. The announcement was a shock to Tomov who looked up in despair at Shov, and then to the entrance of the Kycer where a skeletal barrow guard came in the heads of the two blasphemous necromancers. It was a morbid show as Shov came down off his stand, and ritualistic fashion spat upon the two presented heads. He ordered all members of the Kycer, starting with Tomov, to spit upon the heads as well for the crime of blasphemy, much to his physical dismay. Dylon and his faction relented and remained silent, but Lavar could see Tomov was shaking with grief, and after spitting on the heads of his relatives, attempted to excuse himself. Shov denied this request, no one knowing either out of ritual or cruelty.

Dylon was naturally annoyed, as his attempt to muddy the waters had been caught and quickly set aside. Dylon held his tongue as he also noticed that Shov did not offer Maryl compensation, nor did he even propose anything to solve the crises. Instead, Shov had the Kycer pray and demanded a set of rituals to be performed the next few days, asking for the gods to forgive them and to ask for retribution.
_____

By the time the Kycer had met up again, many members were exhausted from the partaking rituals. This wasn’t abnormal, and was a common political tactic Shov used to get a handle over the Geuderians. Being a master of the Kycer’s rituals, the rituals took on boring, long, and sometimes even pointless rituals performed at the tomb city’s various shrines. Various gods were approached by the ceremonial priests, and the minor priests such as Lavar and Dylon had to perform the correct rituals. Some of these rituals were complex and convoluted, such as was the case with Dylon’s patron god Tenera. Dylon would spend much of the early morning giving praise to Tenera, having a spear handle engraved in her name, and then broken apart. Each piece was then put into a sack, dropped from a cliff several times, and then melted back down over a low fire till the wind picked up and blew the smoke straight up. Any instance of this ritual going wrong would have been called out by the heads of assembly who could arbitrarily declare the ritual had been done wrong, and Dylon would have to restart over and over again till it was ‘done right’.

Once the rituals were done, the Kycer would meet for a second time a few days later. Normally, rituals were supposed to be done in between the meeting of the Kycer, but Shov had warped these rituals over the years to take up a majority of the time. This was primarily done to keep the religious Kerks from proposing more ‘disastrous legislation’, but it also kept the Geuderians from debating as Shov moved about in the shadows. It wasn’t long till Tomov Gasner confronted the Coladdic patriarch in private, angry and furious at his treachery. Tomov was a lone kerk, and his experience through the years and control over his own nature saved him from railing on the Coladdic head of the assembly, especially when the towering Drasken guarded him. Shov explained to Tomov that while he despised the Geuders, he would not have the stain of blasphemy on him or his faction, and that their deaths ‘released a stain on the souls of your entire clan’. Tomov angrily stormed out of the Kycer, something which Lavar Brav had noticed while conducting his own rituals.

Lavar sighed deeply and confided to Lila as he watched Tomov leave “The stability of Caslan is more important than life, for without it, only death and fury fill the gaps.”

“Caslan is unstable, sir?” Lila asked.

“If we were stable, neither Fesdan nor Nasklan would burn. The Kycer is an entity, like a king or an emperor, and it must act. Without action, we are useless as an insane monarch.”
_____

When the Kycer met for a 2nd time, it was noticeably more silent and grim. Dylon was peeved, and Shov smirked as the meeting did not begin until Shov called the Kycer to order. Shov noticed that of those who meandered late into the assembly was Duman Hazel and Maryl Hydov. Dylon had approached Duman earlier, but the young Zupan was reluctant to agree. In order to get Duman to agree, Dylon had twisted his arm severely, which annoyed Duman but he ultimately obeyed. However, unknown to Shov who was suspicious as to why Maryl and Duman talked quite casually to one another in low whispers, Lavar and Dylon were trying to put forward another piece of legislation, as during the recess during the rituals, both Zupan had come to a secret agreement.

In return for Lavar’s support in the coming years, Dylon agreed to help push and sponsor Lavar new edict which would open up the Kycer electorate to non-Kerks. To Lavar, this was a long time coming, as the priesthood had never barred non-Kerks from joining but had been extremely biased against them when it came to them joining the Kycer. There has not been a non-Kerkian member of the Kycer since its founding, and Lavar wished to laxen the requirements to allow his friend and ally, Tesner Uman, to join. Tesner had been more politically active as of late, the merchant wished to put forward his own legislation rather than rely on Lavar to get things done. As part of Lavar’s deal with Dylon, if Tesner won, he would be effectively a loyalist to the Geuderians in all but name.

The specifics of Lavar’s bill was debated, and it was lengthy to say the least. Effectively, it would reduce the requirements to become a member of the Kycer, and unbar non-Kerks from entry into it. When it was brought to the Kycer to vote on, Shov nearly vetoed it on the spot, railing against the bill as ‘destabilizing’ during a time of crises. However, Lavar was quicker to the draw, arguing that if the bill was destabilizing, he would not have brought it forth. He argued that if the Kycer was not acting on the troubles in the north, then he assumed the gods and the Kycer were satisfied with what was happening in Nasklan and Fesdan. Shov relented, and allowed the vote to continue, and was passed with a very slim majority.

However, before the Kycer dismissed itself to perform the religious rites for the remaining days, Shov called another vote, and on the spot ordered that a member of the Kycer lead an expedition to Nasklan and Fesdan to bring order. Lavar was open to this suggestion and was supportive of it. . .at first. Shov then called on [color=orange]Pelkov Elkwood[/color] to lead a Kycer army into Nasklan and Fesdan to bring back order, something the Zupan confusingly agreed to. Dylon and Lavar looked at one another, unsure of what Shov was playing at, as Dylon was already open to sending Duman Hazel to privately end the conflict.

As the Kycer ended for the day, Lavar met up with Shov, who was instructing Pelkov on the rituals of leading the Kycer’s armies, handing him (and introducing) various Coladdic lieutenants and officers. Lavar asked the head of the assembly why he did not choose himself or his co-head of council [color=orange]Taspov Beusdov[/color]. Shov only smiled, not answering his question and simply reiterating his faith in Pelkov as an experienced commander, which Pelkov was not. Lavar wondered what Shov was playing at, but relented, concluding the 2nd meeting the Kycer.