early diplomacy

[cellio]

June 2 (Monday)

Therion, Elys', and Seamus came to Cardior today. After hearing so much about Agondre the Younger, they hoped for an introduction. We were happy to oblige.

Therion sang for Agondre (and, secondarily, us). Wow, he is good! He sang songs of his time and new songs that he has written since waking -- songs of Agondre, songs of Elys', and songs of us. I was spellbound, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't using magic. Seamus, too, sat quietly and attentively.

Elys' knows the teleport spell, so she and Therion can move freely around the kingdom. They are off to spread the new songs in the capitals of all the duchies, and anywhere else they can find an audience. I don't think they'll have trouble with that part.

Elys' made a careful inspection of Agondre, saying that she was looking for the impact of Beliaberith's presence in the land. So far this does not seem to be hindering Agondre, and she said the elves will not leave before the coronation in any event.

June 3 (Tuesday)

I spoke with Lord Marius yesterday and suggested a meeting, so today Turok and I met him in Covanion. We thanked him for his counsel and aid, pointing out that we could not have defeated Garrett and thus healed the land without his considerable resources. I presented him with a souvenir from Gorrush-Kar, a large, valuable gem-studded gold pendant that used to belong to Kepta-Mor. He seemed pleased by the gift.

When we arrived he greeted me as "empress" and I did not contest that. I said that it is time for the land to have a ruler again, and this obviously means forming an inner council and also working with the dukes. A government is never just one person, after all. Since he has been such a valuable advisor thus far, I asked if he would like to come to Cardior and be part of the royal court. He said that while he fully supports me, his first obligation is to Duke Leopold. So he is happy to continue to work with us in the background, but he does not desire a prominent role in the court.

I thanked him again for his support and said that I would welcome further input from him. I told him that soon I would begin meeting with the dukes and that I would like to start with Duke Leopold and his son. He said he could arrange a meeting tomorrow.

Even though we teleported directly to Marius' office complex and thus avoided many people, those we did encounter reacted strongly to us. Yes, it is certainly true that a half-dragon is an unusual sight, especially one so strong and sure as Turok now is, but that's not all of it. People were reacting to me, too. The enhancements I have received from Agondre have clearly had a strong physical effect. People who have never met me seem ready to bow to me, or at least stand silently with their mouths open. I guess I'll get used to it in time.

When we returned to Cardior Turok went back to the clean-up operation in the city. He and Kyle told us this evening that the city is now nearly free of monsters. Turok wants to send half the army out along the roads from Cardior, fanning out and dealing with any remaining problems in the field and making sure that the smaller towns are secure. The others will guard Cardior and begin to make repairs and clean up. Some will work on the palace, which needs to be ready to receive dukes soon. This sounds like a good plan to me.

Seamus told me that he has been spreading songs particularly in Covanion, anticipating that this would be an early diplomatic target. He is also working on Kozel'sk and Dranekin; the latter is small but we have met Duke Lareth and he will surely want to capitalize on that. At this point, he said, he has paved the way for us in all the capitals, but these are the ones where we will start.

June 4 (Wednesday)

Today Turok, Hrolf, and I, all dressed in our finest, met Lord Marius at the appointed hour so that we could meet Duke Leopold and his son Bernardo. Leopold is quite ill and could not walk unassisted; Bernardo seems to be getting over some unwellness but is overall fairly healthy.

Leopold said that he had heard much of us from the bards in the royal court. He said that were it not for confirmation from the good Lord Marius, he would have assumed that the bards exaggerated recent events. But, he said, he is confident in Lord Marius and pleased to hear that a subject of the Gastreyr played a significant role in healing the land.

I stressed to him that now that the land is healed and the war in Cardior is ended, the Gastreyr will be able to return to bountiful, glorious food without having to feed much of the rest of the empire unprofitably. The Gastreyr will stop being a mere supplier and shine again as the food capital of the empire, an honor long due and now recognized far and wide. With the conflict over, of course, there can be more travel to the Gastreyr as well, which should please innkeepers and merchants alike.

He said he would like the opportunity to demonstrate this clearly to the rest of the empire, and we ended up agreeing that the Gastreyr will cater the coronation banquet. All will know of the value of the Gastreyr soon.

Leopold said that the war among the other dukes had been hard on the Gastreyr and we could not afford to have more of that. I assured him that I do not intend to tolerate petty inter-duchy wars; we are one empire on the brink of a new beginning, and we must all work together so we can flourish together. He seemed satisfied with this answer.

I told him that details of the coronation would be forthcoming and that I would like Bernardo to stay on afterward for a while. This was agreeable to both of them.

Ok, that went more smoothly than I had feared. Of course, the Gastreyr is the easy one, as it is my homeland. Turok and Seamus have given me a lot of good advice on diplomacy; I hope the others go as smoothly.

Tonight Kyle told me that if there's anyone, duke or otherwise, I need to have "taken care of", just let him know. I hope to not need that particular service. Kyle is a good man; I hope he stays in Cardior a while, though I suspect his heart is elsewhere.