Nerion Orlbereth's page

"I came to say goodbye. I'm leaving for Pearl. I...I'm not sure I want to go back to the Temple. For a lot of reasons. But...please just tell mother that I don't hate her and I really, really want to stop fighting with her. I just need a little...room to organize my own life just now. Does that make sense?"

"From you? Yes, it makes sense. You always were an independent child."

He stood up and swam over to his daughter and kissed her forehead. "I will pass on your message. Safe travel. And I do expect regular visits," he added with a smirk.

Nerion is alone in the room, looking exhausted. He smiles tiredly at Nimora as she enters.

"Good morning. Your mother and Joren aren't here right now. They're still at the Temple. He's having 'adjustment difficulties' with the shield. It was a brilliant idea, giving it to him. I've got an array of meetings to get to myself. I'm glad that you got here before I left for the day.[/i]

The sudden show of civic harmony in the wake of Sandreef's first war was a pleasant change that allowed for all the myriad other things that needed to be done. It couldn't last, but hopefully by the time it faded things would truly be back to normal. The majority of the citizens who had been evacuated had returned now. And now it was time to lay to rest those who weren't going to be coming back.

Murmurs of excitement ripple through the Sandreef soldiers as they watch the enemy withdraw. As the confusion of battle ebbed, people began to look for friends and loved ones, many of whom had been killed in the battle.

The troops watch with bated breath, wondering if this meant that the war was over, or if the nomads would continue to press their attack regardless.

Melusine sighs

While Nimora may be stubborn, our other child is very foolhardy. Hopefully he will come out of this a bit more cautious. Still, I worry about him...

"Sometimes it's hard to believe that he is the older sibling," Nerion agreed. "You may want to consider assigning a senior cleric to him as an advisor. Having a voice of reason on hand may help curb that tendency to act first and think things through later."

Melusine looks up at Nerion

Has anyone discovered who assasinated Blurghoot and his brothers yet?

"No firm information yet, but there are rumors flying that it was done by a criminal organization within Pearl. They call themselves the Black Pearl. No word yet on who may have hired them or if they were acting on their own."

"Nimora will be placed in command of whatever forces we can put together, but I had them put in a clause that she is still answerable to me. That will allow us to continue to guide her. Also, I had Joren named as commander of the city's guards and liason to the nobility. He will still be answerable to Nimora, which he won't like, but I couldn't justify doing otherwise. Surprisingly, it turns out she knows what she's doing once you start talking about military strategy. If we play this right and actually manage to fend off the nomad attack, they will be the heroes of Sandreef. And if Joren does a good enough job of winning over the hearts of the nobles then it will not be very difficult at all to get him named as heir to King Orca."

Melusine sighs

Aventurnus willing they will arrive in time.

She swims over to a wall mosaic of their family when Joren and Nimora were much smaller. She stares at it wistfully

Nerion, when did Nimora grow apart from us? I swear, I cannot even talk with her these days without an argument erupting.

Nerion sighed. "I do not think that she has grown as far apart from us as you think. You are a very forward thinking person, dearest, and you often have a habit of jumping about five steps ahead and expecting others to keep up with you. Nimora is cautious and doesn't like to be rushed. Be patient with her. Let your plans slow down a little. We are elves, there is time. And I think if you do that you will find her much more biddable."

Melusine smiles tiredly

Well, I think I have things patched up as well as can be expected. Has there been any news from the nomad lands?

"Only rumors thus far, but they are not positive. We will have to prepare for war, I'm afraid. I worked out many of the arrangements with Mother. Hopefully we will at least be able to hold them off until the promised troops from Sargassia and Seahaven arrive."

Nerion swims into Melusine's favorite sitting room looking for her. When he finds her, he kisses her cheek and sits down next to her.
"I trust that everything went well with the landwalker diplomats, my dear?"

Nerion calls at his mother's villa as promised and has a long conversation with Nymphaea and Nimora. The negotiations are quite heated at times, but eventually they do come to an agreement. The wording of the writ that Nymphaea is going to get the king to sign in the morning is debated most closely. The gist of it is that Nimora is to be given temporary command of the combined military forces of the city and whatever allies are able to send help for the duration of this crisis. However, she was still answerable to Nerion. Also, Joren would be placed in command of the city's guards such as they were. Joren would be tasked with acquiring the support of the nobles and as an acting cleric of Aventurnus would of course act as political liason for the religious leadership. Nerion had been hesitant about giving Nimora so much authority, but after listening incomprehendingly to her discussions of tactics he realized that his mother might have a point about the girl after all. Now all he had to do was convince Melusine that this was the right decision. The last thing they needed was Melusine and Nimora having another public spat.

Nerion glances at his mother with a raised eyebrow. "I do not appreciate you baiting my wife, Mother. And as for you," he added turning to Nimora, "you should address your mother with more respect." He raised a hand cutting off any protest she was about to make. "I will call at my mother's villa later and I will hear your side of the story then. And we can speak about what resources will be necessary for the defense of our city."

Melusine gets her handmaid to dress her in a fromal outfit and she awaits Nerion impatiently

Nerion dresses in formal wear rich enough to be suited to a wealthy Guildmaster and then they leave in their carriage, heading for the Sapphire Gate.

I already posted Nymphaea reacting to seeing them coming, so you can do their arrival on the scene whenever you like. Nymphaea and Nimora are already there. And this should be interesting. :)

Melusine hurries about preparing a formal outfit and panoply.

"I think we need to be at the forefront before anyone else thinks to gain control of the new soldiers dear. Why don't you wear something formal military dress? I think we need to introduce ourselves to their commanding officer immediately."

"I agree that we should be at the forefront, but I think I'll pass on the military dress. It sends the wrong message given that I am the Guildmaster."

Melusine sighs

"Thank Aventurnus for that! If he was deluding her, we would be crushed by the nomads in short order. "

"We still might be. But this certainly helps. Should we greet them personally or send a representative? And if the soldiers were looking for Nimora, I presume that means she is no longer in Pearl. However, she is also not here."

Maera lets in a messenger and leads him into the main house where Nerion and Melusine are discussing damage control.

"This one here says he has a message for Nimora."

The child looks a little overawed, but nods. "The guard at the gate sent me to look for a Lady Nimora Orlbereth. There's a whole bunch of soldiers from some king named Mirathan waiting by the Sapphire Gate asking for her. Is she here?"

Nerion looked over at Melusine and raised an eyebrow. "Well, it would seem that the young man is serious in his intentions after all."

Nerion frowns. "This is indeed grave news. I will have to find some way to explain this to the nobles and the Guild leadership without the blame resting on us. And we will need to muster as many of our allies as possible. You will need to convince the king to grant a writ giving us the authority to assemble a military force."

He is careful not to mention their daughter as he speaks. He had been cautious about the success of any plan that required Nimora's cooperation. Melusine had never been much good at communicating with the girl, and she was known for being headstrong. But this was much worse than anything that he had feared, a political disaster of epic proportions.

"My dear," Nerion said, greeting her with a warm smile. "You are back much sooner than I expected. And without the nomads? Is there something I should know about?"

Nerion massaged the bridge of his nose as he swam back to the villa. His assistant was going on and on about something or other, but after spending a couple of hours reassuring the king that he was not going to be murdered by baked goods in his sleep Nerion had a pounding headache.
"Whatever it is, it can wait, Seyeri," he snapped.

Arrgh. It's doing the disappearing thing again. :(

Yes, it's shown up, and a king who expects to be attacked by muffins at any moment, sounds my sort of guy!

I have the awful feeling that they'd get on famously. :)

Nerion Orlbereth stood politely and waited as the nominal monarch rambled on.

"The muffin prowls at midnight," the king said, looking around as if he expected to be assaulted by pastry at any moment.

"Yes, your majesty," Nerion said dryly, "but I am quite sure that your guards are capable of handling the matter appropriately. It is nothing to worry yourself about."

This was worse than listening to three solid hours of complaints about the price of silk, as he had already done at the Merchants Guild meeting this morning. He was practically counting the minutes until his wife returned and could once more take care of this. He had a visiting landwalker dignitary to entertain, and a delegation of merchants with complaints about the nomads disrupting their caravans to deal with.

Attempt to get the thread to actually show up this time.

Nerion Orlbereth stood politely and waited as the nominal monarch rambled on.

"The muffin prowls at midnight," the king said, looking around as if he expected to be assaulted by pastry at any moment.

"Yes, your majesty," Nerion said dryly, "but I am quite sure that your guards are capable of handling the matter appropriately. It is nothing to worry yourself about."

This was worse than listening to three solid hours of complaints about the price of silk, as he had already done at the Merchants Guild meeting this morning. He was practically counting the minutes until his wife returned and could once more take care of this. He had a visiting landwalker dignitary to entertain, and a delegation of merchants with complaints about the nomads disrupting their caravans to deal with.