Nowhere and everywhere

In a land of both shadow and substance, a herald brings a letter. She walks through winding avenues of metal and stone and always moving water. She walks to the palace of the one who rules here, nestled resplendent at the heart of the ever-changing streets.

When she finds the Sovereign they are tending to what in other places might have been described as a garden, or a conservatory. Where their delicate fingers touch, the branches of twisted metal bend and break at their will. Where they pass, flowers of living silver and gold open their faux-blossoms and turn to follow there movements.

The herald stands quietly, waiting to be recognised. After several minutes, the masked sovereign inclines their head almost imperceptibly in acknowledgement. The herald unfurls the letter, scanning it to refresh her memory.

"We have a missive." she says. "It is from the Cassinean Empire. A parley."

The Keeper of the Iron Weir does not look at the herald, does not smile.

"I wondered when Marcus of Endsmeet would get round to us." They say, distantly.

They start to walk, the hem of their long robe whispering across the stone flags of the courtyard. The herald follows. The two talk as they walk.

"It's actually from someone called Lina daughter of Feliciana, on behalf of the Archmage." says the Herald. "Lina is Adelina, I think, from a later line."

"Is it indeed." The Patron of Spies and Traitors is interested, now. "Has there been a challenge? Is Adelina archmage now?"

The herald pauses, cocks her head, pausing for a moment as if listening intently to someone else, then hurries to catch up with the Sovereign.

"Not as far as we know." says the herald quickly. "Indications are that Marcus' position appears strong following the Reed resolution - or so our agents report."

"Fascinating. So what do they want, then?" The Guardian of the Black Vaults does not break stride.

"There's a list." says the herald, reading verbatim. "They want to discuss acquiring information about the relationships between the Druj and the eternals, maps of Druj territory, ways to catch and set more spies, and details of barbarian armies."

"Well well well. Marcus and presumably Adelina. Together."

The Sovereign pauses, and looks directly at the herald for the first time, their eyes flickering between silver and bronze.

"Tell them yes on all counts. Then summon the Vizier, and find me something that will make a nice gift. Let us see what the Empire has learned."

Plenipotentiaries

• Rhianos, Wise Rangara, Phaleron, Irra Harrah, Lashonar, and Basileus Flint have publicly responded to plenipotentiary messages from archmages.

Each archmage has the ability to send a plenipotentiary message to an eternal once during each summit. Following the Autumn Equinox, six eternals have responded to these messages. Some have confirmed that they accept a formal parley, others have agreed to a less formal meeting and Rhianos has declined a meeting but offered other aid.

In each case, the eternals have specified the topics about which they or their representatives will discuss. Within the bounds of the parley, they are likely to refuse to discuss matters that fall outside the potentially rigid list of things they have agreed. It is still possible to try and bring up topics outside of the matters agreed on in advance, but there is absolutely no guarantee the representative of the realms will want to discuss them - and some of the more formal entities might well be annoyed enough to end the parley early if they are badgered by (for example) a crowd of magicians all wanting their opportunity to explain why the eternal should pay attention to them.

Irra Harah

• Irra Harah offers parley with the Spring Archmage at 10pm on Friday
• At the start of the Winter Solstice, the Archmage of Spring is Ser Fabienne De Miel

The message from Irra Harah is terse to the point of rudeness. Delivered by a youthful Varushkan briar in the form of a square of dirty paper containing only a few badly scrawled words. The translation indicates that the Spring Archmage can come to a meeting if they desire - but only the Spring Archmage. It will take place on Friday night at ten, and a herald will be sent to bring the archmage from the Hall of Worlds to a place of parley.

Basileus Flint

• A parley is offered between the Autumn Archmage and a small party, and the Vizier of the Cassinean Empire at 11pm on Friday
• At the start of the Winter Solstice, the Autumn Archmage is Marcus of Endsmeet

A metal-skinned herald with curling horns, face marked with piercings, brings a message from Basileus Flint, the Sovereign Lord of the City of Locks. The eternal is interested in a formal parley between the Autumn Archmage and a high-ranking member of his staff who he refers to as the Vizier of the Cassinean Empire. Flint requests that the Archmage bring Adelina of Felix's Watch, and no more than one other individual. A guide will be dispatched to the Hall of the Worlds at midday on Saturday.

In addition, the herald requests that the Archmage bring with them a dose of one of the lethal poisons known to Imperial apothecaries from either Winter Moon or Assassin's Gate; it is up to them which of the four deadly substances they bring along. The herald who will escort the party will have a suitable container to hold the poison so that it does not lose its potency.

As per the Archmage's letter, the Keeper of the Weir will provide opportunities for the Archmage to acquire information about the Druj relationship with the eternals; information about the armies of the Druj. There will also be opportunity to discuss the matter of gaining maps of the territories of the Druj, and potential assistance in regards to finding and setting spies. The Archmage should be aware that any agreement will be bound by contract, and witnessed by the Lictors, and that as a representative of the Empire any such agreements will be considered legally binding on the Empire.

Phaleron

• The eternal Phaleron will grant a parley to Gralka at midday on Saturday in the Hall of Worlds
• At the start of the Winter Solstice, the Archmage of Day is Gancius della Notte di Sarvos

In response to a request from Gralka, the eternal Phaleron will grant a parley to the Empire at midday on Saturday. It will discuss the new archive, the proposed Emissary of Phaleron, the preservation of the Anvil library, and potentially the aid it continues to offer in Morrow. This will be a formal parley, and will take place in the Hall of Worlds. Any who wish to attend are welcome, but the rules of the parley - that the Archmage or their proxy shall speak and all others speak only with their permission - will be in operation.

Wise Rangara

• Wise Rangara will send representatives to the Hall of Worlds at 2pm on Saturday afternoon
• The Winter archmage is to bring six students of the Academy with them to the Hall of Worlds.
• She does not agree to parley but guarantees safe passage and return
• At the start of the Winter Solstice, the Winter Archmage is Syn Truth-Walker Returned

Shortly before the Winter Solstice, a peculiar ramshackle creature of sticks, straw, bones, and cloth emerges from the Imperial regio and stumbles down to the Hub. The creature attracts some attention, obviously, but ignores everyone until it identifies a civil servant. Then, in a disturbing sing-song voice, it delivers a message from the Winter eternal Wise Rangara to be passed along to the Winter archmage.

Wise Rangara will offer a meeting to the Empire, but not a parley. She guarantees safe passage and return, and will discuss - among other things - questions related to poison. She requests that the Winter archmage attend the Hall of Worlds in the company of six students of the Academy at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon, where they will be met by an emissary who will provide an escort to those who will speak to Grandmother's brewer.

Having delivered its message, the peculiar scarecrow returns back whence it came.

Lashonar

• Lashonar offers parley with the Empire at 3pm on Saturday
• At the start of the Winter Solstice , the Archmage of Night is Elyssiathain of Urizen

A week after the Autumn equinox, an argent-and-sable herald with the aspect of a painfully thin bird visits the civil service hub and delivers over the course of an hour and a half a message from their master, the eternal Lashonar.

The one known as Conscience-of-Kings, and Keeper of the Gates of Wisdom, is reportedly a little disappointed because it thought it had communicated more clearly that plenipotentiary and parley are always at their most effective when the expectations of the Empire - as represented by the Archmage - are laid out clearly so that everyone involved has a clear idea of what may - or indeed may not - be discussed during any subsequent meeting so that everyone involved deals from an equal position of readiness.

In the absence of such specifics from an Archmage, the eternal - in this case the Eater-of-Silence known as Lashonar - would always be tempted to decline the parley but in this case has decided that instead it will meet with the Archmage of Night but set the topics to be discussed itself - which is what it has done - and chooses to do so through the auspices of one of its favoured heralds who is well versed in the matters under review.

The topics for discussion are thus to be the creation and use of the Caucus Forum - which Lashonar has been considering carefully in light of recent successes by the Empire to reach out to their neighbours both close and distant and resolve disputes between them with words rather than swords; the Empire's admirable ambassadorial efforts with other nations not least in regard to their International Trade Summit - although Lashonar has little interest in trade it has significant interest in summits; and the matter of the desecration of the Meeting Place - a dreadful crime which the Archmage of Night will be called upon to explain to the eternal. In the event that these three matters are resolved to Lashonar's satisfaction then there may be a chance to hear what the Archmage of Night wanted to talk about but there is no guarantee and it may turn out that there is no time left to do so.

The eternal invites the Archmage of Night to bring one guest themselves, but further asks for two additional guests of a specific nature to be included in their party - namely Eliza di Sarvos who has impressed the herald Rossignol with their desire to seek diplomatic solutions to problems and increase communication and peace between nations; and a representative of the Celestial Arch order of the Imperial Conclave whose remit is most in line with Lashonar's philosophies of speech and diplomacy.

One word of caution - Lashonar does not hold with the constraints placed on a formal parley by the idea that the Archmage alone may determine who speaks and who does not and as such while the meeting will be formal in all other regards the eternal expects that everyone there will speak as they wish without any traditions of order and permission intruding on the free discourse they will enjoy with Lashonar's diplomat.

After the herald leaves, the civil service prepare a more succinct summary of the message for the Archmage and their fellow Imperial magicians.

Summary

• The party will meet Lashonar's representative in a chamber at 3pm on Saturday.
• In addition to the archmage and one other of their choice, Eliza di Sarvos is also invited as is a representative of the Celestial Arch conclave order.
• Lashonar will discuss the Caucus Forum and matters related to ambassadors.
• It also expects the Empire to explain the destruction of the meeting place.
• If there is time the Archmage may bring up other concerns but Lashonar makes no promises.
• While this will be a formal parley, Lashonar expects everyone to speak freely rather than waiting on recognition from the Archmage.

Rhianos

• Rhianos has declined the invitation to a parley, but offers aid in a different form
• At the start of the Winter Solstice, the Archmage of Summer is Luke of the Shattered Tower

Shortly before the Winter Solstice, the Regent of the Eternal Sea, the eternal Rhianos sent three emissaries to the Castle of Thorns to politely decline an invitation to parley presented by the Summer Archmage. The heralds stress that the message itself was excellent, but their master simply believes deeds are more useful that words. With that in mind they bring congratulations to the Empire for their success in their raid against Dubhtraig, and enthusiastically encourage Imperial captains to make even more use of Andreas i Sol-Devorador i Erigo's excellent little enchantment the Golden Voyage. These emissaries claim that Rhianos has already "nudged" things a little so that there will be further opportunities for adventure in the coming months - and Rhianos offers their support for any similar endeavours. Further details of Rhianos' potential aid can be found here.

Timetable

Day	Time	Eternal	Realm	Formal Parley
Friday	10pm	Ira Harrah	Spring	Yes
Friday	11pm	Basileus Flint	Autumn	Yes
Saturday	12pm	Phaleron	Day	Yes
Saturday	2pm	Wise Rangara	Winter	No
Saturday	3pm	Lashonar	Night	Yes