Famine and feast

Jorgen's skin started to prickle, and the hair at the nape of his neck began to tingle. The room had gone quiet, the usual rumble and grumble of conversations temporarily stilled. "Who are you here to speak for?" he asked instinctively as he looked up.

When he set eyes on the visitor he did a double-take and gave thanks for the heavy desk between himself and them. Someone unfamiliar with Wintermark would probably have mistaken them for Kallavesi from a distance, given the snarling wolf mask they wore, but close up Jorgen could tell they weren't even a person. Their teeth and eyes were wrong for a start and while someone who lacked the civil servant's experience might have mistaken them for a draughir, he could tell they were anything but. The skins and furs they were wrapped in had not, by the stink of them, been properly cured. They had both hands resting lazily on the varnished wood desk, and beneath one was a horrible curved dagger of what looked to be flint with a bone handle. Their eyes, their pupils lumpy and misshapen, glowed a baleful golden-green.

Now they had his attention, with deliberate insolent slowness the "guest" reached out and grabbed a handful of the meat strips from the bowl Jorgen kept on his desk at all times in case a certain bird of his acquaintance came by. Without breaking eye contact, they shoved the raw meat into their mouth, chewing noisily and enthusiastically, hardly bothering to close their mouth. Their tongue was unnaturally long as it slipped out to lick the last of their snack from their lips and chin.

"Nice," they grunted. "An old goat. Could be fresher, though."

The figure grinned, flecks of meat adhering to their sharpened and discoloured teeth. Jorgen looked them up and down, and his stomach dropped precipitously.

"It's Blood-on-the-Snow isn't it?" he asked, despite already knowing the answer.

The snaggle-toothed grin, impossibly, widened even further beneath the twisted snout of the wolf mask.

"Oh yes," it growled as it leaned across the desk that all of a sudden did not make Jorgen feel anywhere near as secure as it had a moment ago. "Yes it is Blood-on-the-Snow, at last. And I can already tell that we are going to have so much fun."

It has been quite some time since Blood-on-the-Snow was invited to parley by a Winter archmage.

Overview

• Six eternals responded to plenipotentiary messages from the Imperial archmages.
• Four have offered a meeting of some kind; two have responded with a series of offers to Imperial citizens

The six Imperial archmages are each empowered to send a plenipotentiary message to a single eternal of their realm each season. The eternals are bound to respond to their communication, although very rarely another entity from that realm will speak on their behalf. Their response might involve a formal parley or a private meeting with the Archmage; they might respond directly to the message; or they might decline to meet for some reason.

During the Winter Solstice, each archmage dispatched a plenipotentiary and as the Spring Equinox approaches, six eternals send messengers to deliver their replies.

The Lictors

• The Lictors will send emissaries to the Hall of Worlds at 14:00 on Saturday
• The meeting will be a very formal parley
• The current Archmage of Autumn is Edmundo of Damakan's Forge

At noon, a week after the end of the Spring Equinox, an emissary emerges from the Imperial regio. It is quite short, spindly, and entirely unhuman. Wrapped in a cowled dark-green cloak, it wears a mask of metal that conceals its features save for its surprisingly large, round, and expressive eyes. When it walks, it jingles slightly - crossed over its narrow chest are two heavy-looking bronze chains, although they don't impede its nimble gait at all. It heads purposefully to the Hub, ignoring the attention it draws and deftly avoiding attempts to intercept it.

It's unable to reach the desks in the Hub, but gratefully stands on a footstool when such is provided. It announces that it is a first-class Messenger from the City of Bond and Bar and it bears a reply to the invitation of Archmage Edmundo, whose name is well known in the halls of the Cities of the Iron Labyrinth. The Sovereign Lords of the Green Iron Prison accept the invitation to parley and look forward to renewing their relationship with the Empire.

The Lictors have begun to refer to themselves as the Sovereign-Lords of the City of Bond and Bar.

The parley will take place in the Hall of Worlds, and will of course be formal in nature. The archmage, as the representative of the Empire, will determine who among their fellow citizens can speak. If there are more than two incidents of individuals talking out of turn, the representatives of the Lictors will be forced to depart. They also request that representatives of Anvil's magistrates be present, ready to arrest and prosecute any citizen who violates the rules of parley (since it is a case of subverting the agencies of the state under Imperial law).

Topics to be discussed will include the situation in the City of Locks as well as some more general digressions into the politics of the Autumn Realm's cities; how the Empire can resume friendly relations with the City of Bond and Bar; and the enforcement of oaths and contracts between eternals of the Iron Labyrinth and the Empire (among others).

On that latter note, the Lictors extend a boon to Imperial magicians - and they are extending similar boons to magicians in other nations. It is a boon they have offered in the past, to individuals and via enchanted seals, but they choose to recognise the Empire's commitment to ensuring its citizens follow their own clear laws by extending it unilaterally to any Imperial master of Autumn lore. The ritual Scrivener's Bloodmark is intended to ensure that a contract remain binding on all parties involved. The ritual is designed to allow the magic to be extended, but this can prove unsatisfying when it is not clear how long an agreement should last for. As such, if the magicians performing the ritual invoke the Lictors directly, and provide one ring of ilium for each signatory, the Sovereign Lords of the City of Bond and Bar will sustain that magic until the contract is completed to the satisfaction of both participants, or one party calls in the associated curse. Furthermore, in the case that the curse is invoked by one of the parties the Lictors may choose to involve themselves directly in visiting appropriate consequences for forfeiture on those involved. However the emissary is at pains to clarify that should the Lictors choose to become involved they will evaluate the situation and then act in keeping with the wording of the contract... meaning that if the curse has been invoked frivolously or erroneously, their judgment will likely fall on the one doing so rather than their target.

The little emissary then excuses itself and returns to the Imperial Regio, again deftly avoiding any attempts to engage it in further conversation.

Ossegrahn

• Ossegrahn agrees to parley with the Archmage of Spring
• He will speak to the Archmage in the Hall of Worlds at 8pm on Friday, or after Conclave, whichever comes first
• He has requested the presence of several others; the Knight-protector of Spring, the Keeper of the Golden Fields, Sir Elienne of Dawn
• He also wants to talk with the Hand of the Healers and the Granger of the Golden Orchard about the relationship between the Navarr and Arhallogen
• The current Archmage of Spring is Ibiss Briarheart

Midway between Spring and Summer, as the fields ripen and newborn beasts take their first steps, an emissary of the Spring realm visits Anvil. She is not a herald, but a Freeborn hakima wrapped in green and blue silks with a stern demeanour and nested circular tattoos on her face and hands reminiscent of ripples in a pond. She bears a message from Lord Rain, in response to Ibiss Briarheart's plenipotentiary.

Ossegrahn is the bringer of healing and gentle rain.

The first order of business is to offer thanks to those who helped protect the Tarnfather's charges. She asks that the Keeper of the Golden Fields, Nicolas Reaper, and whichever Knight-protector of Spring took charge of the expedition to Dawn, come to the Hall of Worlds. Coomarta of the Rains has some small tokens of appreciation for them and for the folk that saved the innocent creatures driven into the Empire by the violence of the Merciless One. They are also looking forward to meeting Ser Elienne of Dawn, and hearing about their act of profound healing.

The eternal also wishes to speak to Raewyn Farkas, the newly appointed Hand of the Healers and Siân Eternal the Granger of the Golden Orchard, about why their fellow Navarr seem to have chosen to ally with the children of the Spider King rather than help the vulnerable creatures return to the Spring realm as Bogfearthan asked. The eternal had turned a blind eye to the claim that the Navarr favoured the Centipede General and now wonders if he has made a mistake. The hakima is clear that Brother Harvest is reconsidering his patronage of the Houses of Healing if this is who the Navarr truly are.

Other topics of conversation will involve discussing what Beckburn can do to help restore places damaged by Oblivion and the Harbingers of Thirst. Specifically, he is prepared to offer his aid to the magic the Archmage mentions which would send cleansing waters into the blight that was once the Great Grasses. Willowbraid is interested to hear what the Archmage means by suggesting they travel together to the lands of the Thule to feed their people. He is certainly interested in what the Empire is planning here.

As to the question of a College of Magic, the Streamfather did say he'd be prepared to encourage his friends to put together some proposals for a college of healing. All it would require would be for the Imperial Conclave to formally ask him with a declaration of Concord. Obviously such a declaration would need to make it clear that the focus would be on the healing and beneficial magics of Spring, and it would not be used to codify magic that encourages corruption, ruin, or savagery. Given that only one of the healthful magics he gifted to the Empire last Spring have been codified, and then only with the intervention of a meddlesome eternal, his reticence to get involved should be understandable.

However, there are some matters he cannot aid with. While the Urizen may place great value on crystal mana, Ossegrahn does not consider it essential to sustaining health and life. Their mana sites may have been cursed, but as far as he knows their farms, forests, and herb gardens are all untouched - which is more than can be said for some of those touched by magic raised by the magicians of that nation. Ossegrahn can not - or will not - raise forests where they do not live. Doing so would cause massive disruption. The coasts of the Empire, the grasslands and meadows and orchards of Sarvos and Necropolis, are as rich with natural life as any forest. Ossegrahn will not kill and displace these plants and animals merely so Imperial magicians can create magical wards more easily. He's also unclear what the Archmage means about physicks treat "more exotic wounds". Is the Archmage asking for ways to make Fountain's Bounty or Woven Strands of Life easier to perform?

Finally, the hakima provides a reminder and a caution to the Archmage. Lord Rain feels he has been very, very clear what he stands for and believes. Suffering begets suffering, and he appreciates that the Imperial Conclave has taken steps to prevent Imperial citizens unleashing more of it - such as the decision of the Celestial Arch to ban rituals that promote savagery. But while fighting is sometimes necessary to fight to defend oneself and others, it is always better to seek ways to preserve life. The eternal is wise enough to know that the Empire is a complicated place, but he will never abandon his commitment to seeking ways that life can be preserved, violence discouraged, and actions like those recently committed in the Barrens never happen again. If all they want is chaotic fecundity that fuels the belief that violence, slaughter, if they actually believe cruel competition is the only way that life to prosper, if there is no space for cooperation or tranquillity inside them, the Conclave would be best to declare enmity against Lord Rain now. If they are incapable of understanding how the needless spilling of blood holds them back, they should go back to seeking the cursed boons of the Merciless Killer, the cataclysmic gifts of the Devouring Green, and the devastating blessings of the Howling Churn.

Rhianos

• The Regent of the Eternal Sea declines parley
• They offer a boons to anyone performing the ritual Golden Voyage, and any fleet enchanted with the ritual will be able to take part in a unique adventure after the Summer Solstice
• The current Archmage of Summer is Mirella of the Twisted Rose

The brightly dressed herald that erupts from the Imperial regio a fortnight before the Summer Solstice has visited Anvil before and makes their way swiftly to the Hub to speak with the civil service. They bring a message from the Regent of the Eternal Sea, in response to the Summer archmage's request for a parley. The herald talks fast, impatient with civil servants attempting to make notes, and is clearly frustrated when asked to repeat itself.

The banners of the Regent of the Eternal Sea invariably depict sea creatures, both mundane and fanciful.

Rhianos is not interested in raids across the Bay of Catazar. They have seen such things twice now and whatever adventure there may be in it is no longer novel. The Empire has the capacity to launch its own raids by raising an Imperial navy or two - perhaps by taking advantage of the extended docks at the Great Harbour of Elos? If the Empire does raise a navy or two, on the Bay of Catazar, that would be the moment to seek Rhianos' boons.

The Grendel are of some interest to the Regent of the Eternal Sea, but the Archmage is correct when they suggest Rhianos is a sworn enemy of Siakha - or more rightly, of those who use her boons to despoil and destroy. It's no simple matter for the eternal to "put their thumb on the scales" and direct the flows of fate to bring about specific outcomes, but the herald says the Monarch of the Foam has "sung to the dolphins" and done what they can. There are three conjunctions of the Sentinel Gate during the coming Solstice, and Rhianos will offer their boons to anyone who takes part. (Further details on this can be found in the Guide the spirit and the Children of wrecks winds of fortune).

During the Summer Solstice, Rhianos offers his boon to any coven that performs the ritual Golden Voyage. The magic was partly inspired by the Cry of Adventure and he has a soft-spot for it. During the performance of the ritual, any magician with at least one rank of Summer lore may consume a dose of Tonic of Sunlit Glass as part of the casting. Instead of the normal effect, the roleplaying effect - "you feel a sudden burst of optimism and a rush of positive emotions; you are reminded of past triumphs, hopes and dreams - will be greatly intensified and the potion will grant the magician two additional ranks of Summer Lore for purposes of casting the ritual (subject to the normal rules for effective skill, and counting as a tonic that lasts for the duration of the casting meaning it cannot be combined with other tonics that boost ritual magic). Furthermore, any magician who has mastered the ritual is able to substitute ingots of weltsilver or orichalcum for crystal mana. Every three ingots spent will count as two crystal mana towards the performance provided the magicians include an invocation of Rhianos in the casting and make it clear that the ingots are an offering to the eternal in return for their aid.

Those who do will find one additional benefit - an opportunity to take part in a daring race!

After delivering their message the herald departs, but on their way out they provide two final pieces of advice. The first is that if Cormac Farkes is planning to hunt kraken they should be prepared for disaster; a ship might be able to best a young kraken or an inexperienced adolescent but an adult or worse an elder kraken is beyond the reach of mortal weapons. And if Anira Cadwolen is seeking the bear-cloak they covet, they may have more luck speaking to the Sumaah, as Rhianos imagines that the exemplar in question would have been wearing it when he set off to sail into the sunset.

The Start of the Race

• Rhianos announces the creation of a great race - to visit the four corners of the known world
• To take part in the race, captains must enchant their fleets with Golden Voyage
• The ritual will let a fleet take part in the first leg of the race - Into the Unknown

Rhianos was uninspired by talk of a race around the Bay of Catazar. The Bay seems large to the Empire, the Grendel, and the Iron Confederacy because it is important to them, but it is barely a sea. Adventure is rarely found in one's own back yard, says the Herald. But the concept - a challenging race for ship captains to prove their skill, daring and tenacity - that is exciting! Rather than a race around the Bay, the eternal challenges the captains of the Empire to a race to visit the four corners of the world!

Now a race in which people just see who can make their boat go the fastest couldn't possibly be of interest to anyone, but if the course were filled with peril and calamity that would be a contest worth having! To make it even more exciting, Rhianos thinks it best if nobody know where they are going. Otherwise captains will simply set sail straight for the finish line and what would be the point of that? This will be a challenge to see who can be first to reach the end, but where nobody knows where they are going, how they are going to get there, or even if they will survive. That sounds like a proper race!

Into the Unknown
This special adventure will take place in downtime and will follow the same pattern as those mentioned in the description of Golden Voyage. The fleet's production will be unpredictable but will still tend to provide the same kinds of things as normal - ingots and measures, money (in the form of valuable luxuries), and herbs but may sometimes include potions or ribboned items.

So the King Under the Waves announces that their race will take place over the next year. Four great journeys - one to be completed each season - each to a different part of the world. The winner will be the captain whose crew have the best time over the four legs of the race. To take part in the race, vessels will need a touch of summer in their sails - those who are ready to embrace the adventure will find a route opens up for them.

Following the Summer Solstice any fleet enchanted with Golden Voyage will have the opportunity to throw caution to the wind and invite Rhianos to guide their ship with the winds of synchronicity. This will be a special adventure found on the independent action dropdown called "Into the unknown." Instead of their normal production, the fleet will be caught up in an adventure of some kind - like those the ritual normally provides but significantly more unpredictable. What rewards that adventure will bring the ship captain are impossible to predict and will replace all the normal production of their fleet for the season. All the herald can promise is that the captains will almost certainly survive, provided they are daring enough.

Rhianos will announce details of the second leg of the race next season - for those who survive the journey into the unknown!

Kimus

• Kimus declines a parley with the Archmage of Day
• The eternal offers a specific boon of finding to the Imperial Conclave if they wish to accept it
• The current Archmage of Day is Skywise Gralka

A fortnight before the Winter Solstice, a tall creature with very long hair and far more eyes than any human or orc has ever had, arrives at Anvil. They bear a message from She Who Watches, which they deliver in a quiet, formal tone. The Thousand Eyes of the Sun and Moon thanks the Archmage of Day for their message, but at this time they decline the opportunity to participate in a formal parley. They have however prepared responses to the three questions asked.

On the matter of the runeforge in Skarsind, the Celestial Eye is a little nonplussed. Does the Archmage mean the Gildenheim runeforge which was the subject of both extensive historical research, and then dismantled and moved to Runegrott in Hahnmark? Or do they mean the place Imperial prospectors have dubbed the Sorrowful Tunnels, which the Seer knows Minister Vaclav has just commissioned Snowstorm Henk to explore and codify? If the latter, the Archmage would at this time be better served requesting aid from Walker on the Littoral, who would likely be prepared to send one of her warrior-investigators to accompany and protect the orc researcher while they delve into the past there. Primarily because the Still Watcher deems it likely the servants of secrets and mystery are likely to take offense at any delving there and the Navigator has a soft-spot for seekers and dredgers of the past whereas the Seer Clad in Veils of Light would rather concern herself with the now.

The Celestial Eye seeks to observe all things simultanously.

The other matter the Archmage raised was the disposition of three specific objects or locations: the grave of Gilda Ashwine, the spear of Isaella, and the Pauper's Key of Emperor Frederick. She can help with two of those, if the Imperial Conclave is prepared to ask her and pay her price.

The human being known as Gilda Ashwine was first buried in Dawn, then her remains dug up and transported to Bastion for internment in a basilica there. When the Synod chose to remove her status as an exemplar during the time of Empress Aenea, they asked the Civil Service of the time to disinter her remains and rebury them with appropriate respect. Their aim was to prevent those who continued to act in her name from having a focus for their actions. That location was not recorded, but the Oracle of What Is could discover it. Presumably the Archmage intends to disturb the grave for a third time? Have they considered the potential consequences of doing so?

The magical key of Emperor Frederick is an artefact constructed by the renowned artisan Catherine de Sarvos. It allowed the avowedly mundane Throne to enter the Hall of Worlds and attend sessions of the Imperial Conclave. The key itself was stolen shortly after Frederick's death and its current whereabouts unknown, but it is still in existence. The Unblinking Observer could locate it. Presumably the Archmage intends to try and recover it for use by the Empire? Have they considered the potential cost of doing so?

The third object is not within the ken of the All-Sighted One. The eternal presumes the Archmage means the spear - a magical Winternight Lifestealer - that was used to strike down Emperor Nicovar rather than one of the many other weapons the Navarr thorn wielded during her life? If that is the case, the object cannot be found by the Thousand Eyes. Either it has been destroyed, or it has passed beyond the great sweep of places that the eternal can perceive.

There are often unforeseen circumstances that arise when something lost is found, and the Celestial Eye is cautious about potential repercussions. Especially Given the recent declarations of the Imperial Synod. Where the engines of the Imperial state have expressed concerns about the acceptance of boons, it is simply reasonable to ensure one's boon has been properly delivered and accepted. As a consequence, during the Summer Solstice she offers them her boon of finding as she did last autumn. To invoke it, a Declaration of Concord must be presented and agreed on. The Declaration must be either “We ask the Thousand Eyes of the Sun and Moon to find the mortal remains of the human known as Gilda Ashwine” or “We ask the Thousand Eyes of the Sun and Moon to find the Pauper's Key of Emperor Frederick.” These are the things the Archmage has asked the eternal to find. Kimus will locate the item or place named, provided it exists, and share their findings with the Conclave at the Autumn Equinox.

Sung

• Sung will send some heralds to the Hall of Worlds at 17:00 on Saturday
• Her heralds will want to speak on matters the Archmage has raised, while also offering small boons in exchange for interpretations of Signs and Portents visions experienced at this Summer Solstice
• The meeting will not be a formal parley
• The current Archmage of Night is Eliina "Realm's Visionary" Lailasdottir

Towards the end of Spring a cloud of multicoloured mist begins to gather over the Imperial Regio, a series of images playing across it: a multicoloured spider, a fluttering veil, a chain shattering, a shimmering star atop a mountain. It is accompanied by a low rumbling noise which initially causes some concern, but is eventually determined to be the sound of a large creature, deep in thought. The strange scene causes quite a large crowd to gather, all speculating over what it could mean. Despite this (or perhaps precisely because of it) quite a bit of time goes by before the force behind it reveals herself.

The Feathered Serpent cloaks herself in mystery and obfuscation.

Eventually, however, the voice of the Rainbow Serpent rings out with a message for the Archmage of Night. She thanks the “Realm’s Visionary” for reaching out to her in such an impressionistic, riddling manner. The message has led her to much ruminating on the nature of visions, and what it means to seek meaning within them. In addition to sending one of her heralds to speak on the subjects the Archmage appears to be interested in, she offers an opportunity to any imperial mages interested in contemplation of the visions offered by Signs and Portents and Goosewhisper Infusions.

Sung’s heralds will arrive through the portal in the Hall of Worlds at 5pm on Saturday, and from there move out to the space next to the Imperial Regio. They will spend some time studying the visions that manifest for this Summer Solstice. They will come with a number of boons to offer in exchange for interpretations of these visions: What events could they be related to? What conclusions can be drawn from them? She is quick to emphasise that the accuracy of these interpretations is not her sole concern. It is just as significant if something feels right. However these visions must be “fresh”, which is to say experienced within the last 24 hours.

In addition, she has sent a herald to dance through what she describes as “the great pool of visions”, to weave an additional mystery for anyone who wishes to seek it. Those who are able to identify this herald, and give its name to one of her folk during their time at Anvil, will receive an additional reward.

Finally, she has thought long and hard about the ritual she caused to be created and the Conclave added to Imperial lore. She has chosen to change how she responds to it, in part thanks to the Archmage of Night's plenipotentiary. She offers a boon to the Empire's seekers of mystery; during the Summer Solstice, any magician who drinks Goosewhisper Infusion as part of the performance will find the ritual easier to perform. Rather than receiving a vision, they will gain an additional rank of Night lore for purposes of performing Clear Counsel of the Everflowing River, and may use up to three personal mana as if it were crystal mana towards the performance of that ritual (as if they had drunk Philosopher's Stone. These benefits would count as a tonic and not be cumulative with other tonics.

Founder of the Feast

• The eternal Blood-on-the-Snow has agreed to a parley in the Hall of Worlds
• It will take place at 10pm on Saturday
• The eternal requires an additional oath from the Winter Archmage before he will agree to the parley
• The current Archmage of Winter is Ematius of the Great Library of Ankarien

A week before the Summer Solstice, a messenger emerges at the Imperial Regio. It is a shaggy figure wearing sealskin and animal furs, long lanky clumps of blood-matted hair, and the mask of a snarling wolf covering its face. Its coat is similar to that of a Suaq hunter, but rather than the images of beasts and birds it is marked with stick-figures that are clearly humans or orcs being slain in a variety of inventive ways. It bears a barbed spear from which hang a pair of mummified hands, one orc and one human, severed at the wrists.

The creature calls itself Yenneck of the Fork, and it does nothing to conceal its allegiance, cheerfully telling any who ask that it is an emissary of Voice of the Pines here at the behest of the Archmage of Winter. It seems to be daring the Imperials it meets to try and strike it down before it delivers its message. It saunters through Anvil, taking its time, apparently enjoying the shocked glances of those who realise what it is - or those who are simply horrified by its appearance.

Agramant encourages atrocious acts in the name of survival.

It bears greetings from its master, who is a little hurt it has taken the Archmage so long - given they say they are not afraid to deal with the Wastewalker - to invite them to parley. Ematius of the Great Library of Ankarien has after all held the Staff of Winter for two-and-a-half years at this point and there are only so many eternals of the Winter realm prepared to speak to the Empire. No matter, the King of the Feast is eager to accept the offer of parley.

The Dream of Famine is minded to come in person, and bring some members of his court as well. He intends to arrive at 10pm Saturday night. But they want an additional assurance from the Archmage, especially given how attempts to meet with Imperial magicians have gone previously.

Specifically they require an oath, from the Archmage at the beginning of the parley. A formal oath delivered in front of Imperial magicians, asserting that none who accompany the Howler in the Wastes, and none who speak to him or his servants in the Hall of Worlds, will be harmed as a consequence. He knows how keen on treachery the Empire is, and wants to be very clear that should the parley be breached by Imperial Citizens in addition to the unpredictable effects of breaching that particular binding law, the Archmage will suffer personally. Likewise, if the timorous fools that enforce the Empire's laws choose to harass any of those who attend for speaking to the eternal - which is not a crime even under Imperial lore - the eternal will be freed to act as they see fit on their behalf. Which means of course that the parley must be open to any who wish to attend - the archmage cannot forbid entry to the Hall of Worlds during a parley after all.

An archmage who parleys with an eternal under enmity must be scrupulous in their conduct if they wish to avoid investigation for potential treason, but the Creak of the Ice doesn't care about that. The Voice of the Pines is more than happy to hear the Archmage's plans to start a war with the Iron Confederacy if that's what Ematius wants. The Suranni have their own tedious wards but they're no less riddled with secret cults dedicated to the Wicked Liar than the Empire is. There's certainly potential for mayhem there. There's a few other matters the eternal will likely be prepared to speak about, a few things he himself is interested in, but he plans to see how the parley goes. He's no stranger to pointless meetings that are just about insulting him, or telling him he's wicked and wrong, after all.

The Giver of Gifts does not request anyone particular attend the parley - Imperial citizens are free to come or not as they wish - but mentions that their master is prepared to speak with Severin de Rondell and those currently poking around the Necklace of the Swan if they want to discuss that particular relic of a bargain unfulfilled.

Beyond the parley, however, he plans to offer boons to Imperial magicians as a sign of good faith. He is aware that one of his rituals - Crimson Letters - has been made part of Urizen lore. During the Summer Solstice any magician capable of using that ritual is encouraged to use it to request a boon of the Horned Manticore on their own behalf or on behalf of others, and the eternal will consider each one carefully and likely respond. There's no point using this boon to ask for something stupid; no wishing for the Druj to all die in a fire or the like. But something straightforward, and the Giver of Gifts will see what they can do about fulfilling that request with one of his trinkets. For example, he will be prepared to swap seven crystal mana apiece for arcane projections of Crimson Letters, Unleash the Beasts Within, The Crimson Feast, Thirst of the Devourer, or Loosen the Shackles. He's prepared to negotiate providing ritual texts of the same to covens prepared to pay his price. He's also prepared to provide magicians who ask for it with trinkets that empower their ability to perform curses, or rituals of Winter magic that grant strength of body or will. Finally he's more than happy to provide those who ask with magical weapons or talismans that will help them butcher their foes, feast on their blood, endure their blows, or tear their stupid rules and constraints to pieces.

Obviously, accepting any of these boons will not only be a major issue for the Imperial Conclave and risk the attentions of the magistrates, but will likely convince the Imperial Synod that they are right to denounce deals with eternals. But, as the herald says, fuck 'em. Who cares what they think?

Timetable

These meetings are taking place in a number of places; in chambers reached via the Hall of Worlds. The times, and the eternals involved, are summarised here.

Day	Time	Eternal	Realm	Note
Friday	20:00	Ossegrahn	Spring	A parley in the Hall of Worlds
Saturday	14:00	Lictors	Autumn	A very formal parley in the Hall of Worlds
Saturday	17:00	Sung	Night	Heralds in the Hall of Worlds to speak to visionaries; not a parley
Saturday	22:00	Blood-on-the-Snow	Winter	A parley in the Hall of Worlds