The day of the council meeting has come, and Elenya Lindale, V2Z4, and Silvertooth Dreadwind arrive at the council chambers and prepare themselves. Elenya has prepared a speech, and Silvertooth plans to introduce her. At the appointed time, they step out onto a balcony within a round room with dozens of balconies, each with councilmen, and a cloaked man sitting in a floating chair at the center. Beside him is a man standing on a floating disk, covered in rolled up parchments. The cloaked man is the High Chancellor, and the other is the Chancellor.
The Chancellor spend thirty minutes naming each councilor and their titles before the proceedings begin. The first councilor to have the floor is Lord Joron of Garethmir, and he begins to update the council on their military's position, supply information, and brings up that Benlag has yet to send his force to join the army at the western coast.
Joron is interrupted by the Councilor of Lyconia, who declares that mounting their army at the edge of the world was a waste of resources, and proposes the armies be sent home until a way beyond the World's Fall can be determined. The Lord of Lockeface stands, saying that his city was attacked by pirates, and says it would have never happened if the fleet weren't on the west. The Chancellor declares this to be a good time to introduce the party, as representatives of Benlag.
Silvertooth takes the stand and tells of their conquests against Abyssal foes and says that he and his crew were there at the defense of Lockeface, and allows Elenya to give her speech. She speaks of the Icurnas, and their aggression, and asks that the council join in the fight against them.
The High Chancellor, whom rarely speaks in open council, says in a bored but confused tone, "What the blazes is Icurnas?" When Silvertooth begins to speak, he hushes him, "Not you, her."
Elenya tells them of the island and their abyssal arts, and how they laid siege to Lockeface and now lay siege to Benlag. Joron stands, and questions their creditability and says that Benlag is always fighting something, and brigands from the middle isles were of no consequence. The party show the marks of the Fire Demi-god as creditability, and try to explain how the Icurnas use the arts of the Abyss, and even try to say that this is the attack from the Abyss that the council has been preparing for. The Chancellor moves for a recess, and the party returns to the estate and discuss, and receive a message that Lord Joron is coming to meet them.
Meanwhile, Kirin Drakos - tired from not being able to sleep the past two nights due to the demonic chanting of the army that surrounds the capitol city - has been made an Acting Captain in the Benlag militia, and commands over a hundred men under Lord Ironbrow. He is told that supplies have broken through the enemy lines, and that the commanders of the caravan are asking for him. He heads to the eastern gate, and meets his friends Sibyll Demier and Anton Esio. They introduce him to Garif, and the Shadows of Valor.
Their party is met by a runner, who informs Kirin that the enemy has conjured a cloud of tar, and it is currently raining down on the northern side of the city. Kirin asks if there is a method that he could use to communicate with his comrades in Haven. He is given an orb that could contact them on this day, as the stars and such needed to be aligned just so.
The party in Haven receive his communique. Elenya holds the orb on their end. Kirin asks for an update, and they tell him they are tied up in politics. Kirin explains that he his defended "by a wall of sticks," which is what he called the palisade walls, and was in need of support. As they speak, a runner informs Kirin that the bulk of the Icurnas army has arrived and begun to fill the ranks that surround the city. He warns them that the capitol of Benlag was about to be leveled. They tell him a councilman was on his way, a nay-sayer to their proposal. Kirin insists he speak with him, but the others are hesitant, as he is not very diplomatic. They ask him only to show the siege, not say anything.
Lord Joron arrives and shows them a recording of the final moments of the last great war, where the dark lord of the Abyssal armies says that he retreats to a land to the west, and vanishes. V2Z4 asks if he had considered this to be subterfuge, but Joron replies that they have reports from magi that a dark energy is beyond the World's Fall, and they need only find a way to cross it to launch a preemptive strike, or be prepared for the invasion should that fail.
The party understands, but they explain that the Icurnas are an immediate threat. Joron wonders if Icurnas is the diversion. They hand him the communication orb. Kirin begins to crudely explain his situation, while the party yells at him to do as they ask. He shows the siege, just as siege weapons rain fire down on the northern city, now coated with tar. He continues to belittle Joron, until the lord ends the transmission.
At the capitol, Kirin takes his men and the Shadows to the north to try and combat the flames.
The Haven party debate with Joron, and he finally submits a compromise. If they drop their plea, he will divert his fleet to Benlag and help them beat back the Icurnas there. The party doesn't give him and answer, and he leaves.
Back at the capitol, the enemy launches a charge into the southern side of the city, left poorly defended because of the fire in the north. The Shadows and Kirin's men scramble to defend, but are poorly matched. Their lines break, and Garif tries to rally his men, to no success. Lord Ironbrow tries to muster a sizable response force, but fails to pull them away from the flames, unable to probably communicate. The Shadows and Kirin's men begin to take heavy loses, as Icurnas soldiers pour into the city.
The council reconvenes, and another thirty minutes is spent renaming all the councilors. The council debates over this news of these Icurnas. The High Chancellor quietly confers with the Chancellor, and they propose they sent a representative of the Council to Benlag to assess the situation. The party gros suspicious that something is working against them. They open their senses to detect the presence of foul Icurnas magic, and V2Z4 senses that the Councilor of Lyconia is filled with the presence of Icurnas. This bodes poorly, as he has been the strongest voice for their case. V2Z4 is chosen to speak for their party. When it was finally his turn, he calls out Lord Joron, telling them they would now like to accept the offer he made in private.
This causes a bit of stir, as back room deals are rarely spoken of so openly. Lord Joron manages to defend himself, saying that he would like to open what they discussed to the Council, and moves for a vote to decide if his fleet shall redeploy to relieve Benlag. V2Z4 uses the council kobolds to exchange messages with Joron, telling him that the Councilor of Lyconia is in league with Icurnas. Joron accepts the warning, but cannot take what they say as truth, since the Lyconian Councilor is one of the most experienced councilor currently in office. The vote comes and the motion passes.
Joron meets with them in their chambers, and says that his fleet will leave soon, and they should tell him if they want to catch a ride with him back to Benlag. He also tells them that it will take over two weeks for his fleet to arrive.
Once he leaves, the Avatar of the Fire Demi-god appears. They explain their difficulties, and he tells them not neither he nor the demi-god can see or enter Icurnas. They believe something huge is coming, and urge the party to make their move against Icurnas soon. V2Z4 laments at their inability to find allies, and the Avatar tells them that their are friends to be made in the Dragon Plains that could use some assistance. He then disappears.
The High General of Haven shows up at their door, wanting to meet V2Z4, as his body is marked by the Fire Demi-god, whom the general respects. The party is honored by his visit, and pass on a warning about the Councilor of Lyconia. The High General responds much as Joron did, and says he will keep his eyes open. He then leaves the party to themselves.
Alone now, and with several paths before them, Elenya, V2Z4, and Silvertooth think about what action to take next.
Meanwhile, the capitol burns and the enemy makes long strides through the city. At last, Lord Ironbrow brings his force to bear and they hold the line. Using this as a rallying cry, Garif marshals the Shadows of Valor, and they begin to slip through the enemy line. With a combined push, they drive the enemy from the city limits.
The southern defenses are all but destroyed, and the fire still burns in the north. Ten Shadows of Valor were slain, and Anton is disheartened by them loses a third of their force. Nearly half of Kirin's men were lost, and he calls forth three lieutenants, assigning them each a different task. One to rebuild the wall, another to finish the trench along the southern edge, and the last to join Ironbrow in putting out the flames.
They survived this bout of combat, but their position was badly weakened, and their city ablaze.
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