Waterday 26th of Flocktime, ~2:00 PM, in the fest hall of the Lord High Admiral's Palace on Asperdi Isle in the Dominion of the Sea Barons:
Lord High Admiral of Asperdi, Basmajian Arras, Commander of the Sea Barons, is finishing a late lunch with three of his favorite concubines (all lovely young women less than half his age). His belly full of fresh seafood and fine wine from his own vineyard, he has worked up a different kind of appetite over the course of the meal, flirting with the three young women, who each try to surpass the other two in seductiveness. "Well, my sweet darlings," begins Basmajian, flashing a lascivious grin, "Shall we make ourselves more comfortable in my private--" The wicked grin is quickly replaced by a scowl of irritation as his liveried herald, Drufus, storms into the fest hall, an apologetic look on his face, and announces in a strident tenor cry: "Ambassadors from the Horned Kingdom, My Lord!" Basmajian's grey eyes narrow at this unexpected news ....
Into the fest hall strides a pair of tall, darkly beautiful erinyes devils, their black-feathered wings folded behind them, coiled ropes hanging at their hips from black leather girdles, and carrying between them a coffer of ornately carved coral .... Basmajian recognizes the coral coffer with a start--it is the very same one he'd sent along with Captain Arryn Aelberoth to the Horned King's royal court in Nulbish, laden with pearls as a "reparation gift" .... Basmajian suddenly feels a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach .... "What's this?? .... I don't like the looks of this already ....", thinks the Commander of the Sea Barons as the two erinyes approach him bearing the coral coffer, smiling at him in a way that he does not like, no matter how beautiful they are.
Setting the coffer on the table before Basmajian, the two erinyes announce in unsettling unison: "His Fearsome Majesty, the Horned King of Medegia, Malvolio I, sends this gift to Your Prominence, Lord High Admiral of Asperdi and Commander of the Sea Barons, Basmajian Arras!" Basmajian stares at the coffer for a moment, as if he is looking at Pandora's Box itself, then at the two erinyes, whose knowing smiles broaden, exposing pearly teeth with canines like those of wolves' .... They both curtsey mockingly, and then vanish into thin air, leaving only a faint lingering scent of exotic perfume mingled with sulfur ....
Basmajian peers down at the coral coffer with obvious trepidation. The three young concubines exchange anxious glances. Basmajian seems to become aware of the young women again, and without saying a word, gestures for them to leave; they do not hesitate, as they are all too eager to comply, and they hurry out of the fest hall. Basmajian is not accustomed to feeling intimidated anywhere, much less in his own palace. He grits his teeth and glares angrily at the coral coffer. "Very well," he growls quietly to himself, "Let us see what the Horned King has sent us ...." He carefully lifts open the lid and peers into the coffer ....