Aresan Clan pt 84

Jule looked around him at the crowd of sages that hovered over him in the storeroom: a nearly complete spectrum of ages, from a young boy to the aged Noone were represented, and they all looked down at him with a look of contempt.

"This is our improvised jail cell,” Noone said, spreading out her arms and looking around the storeroom, “We don't normally have to deal with criminals or criminal behavior. It's not a part of our way of life. We don't have the means to mete out punishment, but we'll improvise if you force us. You almost killed Eloh, here. Something that should be severely punished. But all we ask is that you help us get Amida back and we’ll let you go."

"If something has happened that has nothing to do with my people then it's out of my hands,” Jule said, trying to maintain a confident and arrogant demeanor, but still showing some of his considerable apprehension, “You know the wilderness out there is a dangerous place. Some mean people out there. Mean animals too. Mean plants even. Plants that'll kill you if you try to eat them. Then there's the cold at night. It’s the meanest. And bad things can happen to you if you don't find food or water. If she's been lost due to things out of my control, then what'll happen to me?"

Noone looked around at her companion standing around her. She then told him, "Just help us get back Amida and you have to worry about the answer to that question."


The chair at the head of the Closed Table that Anders occupied was larger than all the rest, with a back that extended high above Anders’, smooth, coiffed hair. The chair was cushioned with wolf and bear furs laying in the seat and draped over the back. As he sat and even when he would speak he would lean back in this chair while the rest at the group tended to lean inwards over the table while they listened and spoke.

He was the last to arrive at the current meeting, and crossed the room as all the other heads of the clans of the Omnia rose from their chairs out of respect. When he sat and relaxed into his chair, the rest of the room, sat, including Alles, who was not a member of the Closed Table, but had been given the opportunity for a private audience after he had said that his presentation would concern military matters.

As everyone came to their seats, there was silence as the room waited for Anders to begin the proceedings. There were fewer formalized rules of conduct for the private meetings of the Closed Table, but Anders was given the power to open and close the meetings, and this time he did so with a simple hand gesture and the word, “Alles?”

Alles stood and directed himself to the assembled company by looking around and making brief eye contact with all of them. “Distinguished gentlemen,” he began, “I have come here, as mentioned on an errand concerning important military matters. As you may or may not have heard the Sages’ Cloisters were recently the victims of an act of sabotage, an attack, which managed to inflict severe damage upon their home. Their watermill was burned and one of the sages was almost killed. Only by fortune was the community able to stave off even more severe damages to the watermill and save their companion from the brink of death. But what is most troubling about these events is the ease with which the Cloisters were penetrated and attacked. It is for this reason that we would like to request the assistance of the Omnia in fortifying this region.”

“We have already heard this many times, I’m afraid,” Anders abruptly interrupted, “I have on multiple occasions offered to station Omnian troops in the cloisters, which I’m sure would prevent any such attack.”

“We want to maintain our independence,” Alles interrupted back, cutting off Alles, who fell silent as soon as Alles began to speak, “I’m afraid that the presence of troops that are not our own in such a sensitive place could not be tolerated. What we are asking for is assistance from the Omnia in helping us build our own fortifications, which we could man without Omnia interference.” Alles had to raise his voice, to prevent Anders from interrupting again, “This would benefit the Omnia as well, since it would add to the winterward fortifications, as it is well known that this is the most important front and the area from which we are most likely to face a threat.”

<-- Go to Part 83         Go to Part 85 -->

You can see what's been written so far collected here.

Jule looked around him at the crowd of sages that hovered over him in the storeroom: a nearly complete spectrum of ages, from a young boy to the aged Noone were represented, and they all looked down at him with a look of contempt.

"This is our improvised jail cell,” Noone said, spreading out her arms and looking around the storeroom, “We don't normally have to deal with criminals or criminal behavior. It's not a part of our way of life. We don't have the means to mete out punishment, but we'll improvise if you force us. You almost killed Eloh, here. Something that should be severely punished. But all we ask is that you help us get Amida back and we’ll let you go."

"If something has happened that has nothing to do with my people then it's out of my hands,” Jule said, trying to maintain a confident and arrogant demeanor, but still showing some of his considerable apprehension, “You know the wilderness out there is a dangerous place. Some mean people out there. Mean animals too. Mean plants even. Plants that'll kill you if you try to eat them. Then there's the cold at night. It’s the meanest. And bad things can happen to you if you don't find food or water. If she's been lost due to things out of my control, then what'll happen to me?"

Noone looked around at her companion standing around her. She then told him, "Just help us get back Amida and you have to worry about the answer to that question."


The chair at the head of the Closed Table that Anders occupied was larger than all the rest, with a back that extended high above Anders’, smooth, coiffed hair. The chair was cushioned with wolf and bear furs laying in the seat and draped over the back. As he sat and even when he would speak he would lean back in this chair while the rest at the group tended to lean inwards over the table while they listened and spoke.

He was the last to arrive at the current meeting, and crossed the room as all the other heads of the clans of the Omnia rose from their chairs out of respect. When he sat and relaxed into his chair, the rest of the room, sat, including Alles, who was not a member of the Closed Table, but had been given the opportunity for a private audience after he had said that his presentation would concern military matters.

As everyone came to their seats, there was silence as the room waited for Anders to begin the proceedings. There were fewer formalized rules of conduct for the private meetings of the Closed Table, but Anders was given the power to open and close the meetings, and this time he did so with a simple hand gesture and the word, “Alles?”

Alles stood and directed himself to the assembled company by looking around and making brief eye contact with all of them. “Distinguished gentlemen,” he began, “I have come here, as mentioned on an errand concerning important military matters. As you may or may not have heard the Sages’ Cloisters were recently the victims of an act of sabotage, an attack, which managed to inflict severe damage upon their home. Their watermill was burned and one of the sages was almost killed. Only by fortune was the community able to stave off even more severe damages to the watermill and save their companion from the brink of death. But what is most troubling about these events is the ease with which the Cloisters were penetrated and attacked. It is for this reason that we would like to request the assistance of the Omnia in fortifying this region.”

“We have already heard this many times, I’m afraid,” Anders abruptly interrupted, “I have on multiple occasions offered to station Omnian troops in the cloisters, which I’m sure would prevent any such attack.”

“We want to maintain our independence,” Alles interrupted back, cutting off Alles, who fell silent as soon as Alles began to speak, “I’m afraid that the presence of troops that are not our own in such a sensitive place could not be tolerated. What we are asking for is assistance from the Omnia in helping us build our own fortifications, which we could man without Omnia interference.” Alles had to raise his voice, to prevent Anders from interrupting again, “This would benefit the Omnia as well, since it would add to the winterward fortifications, as it is well known that this is the most important front and the area from which we are most likely to face a threat.”

<-- Go to Part 83         Go to Part 85 -->

You can see what's been written so far collected here.

Aresan Clan pt 84