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Rangertale, Chapter 7: The Samnic Council

The council meeting arrived quickly. Soon Rumelis, Mels, and the Councilor Lenon were traveling once again to the mighty capital of Zanus. As guests of the Councilor, the two Rangers were finally admitted into the city hall, where they saw many robed Vulpines talking in groups, with ambassadors (and, no doubt, spies) listening in from various countries. The Councilors seated themselves at a massive table of stone, decorated with delicate silver inlay. The others in the hall, including Rumelis and Mels, moved to the edges of the chamber, where guards reminded them that they were forbidden to speak unless referred to directly.

Now, at last, the Councilors rose in order of the size of their holdings- first Zanus, next Caern, all the way to the smallest, Nern. With that they were seated, and the Councilor of Zanus rose again to bring up the first topic at hand.

"Through our various diplomatic channels it has come to this Council's attention that the mountain town, Uricht, has been attacked by a mercenary group. Damage was severe." Some councilors seemed visibly unnerved by this. It was true that some broken peace had reigned for a year, but it seemed odd that a faraway attack would affect them so. The councilor continued.

"The attack seemed to focus on the retrieval of some shards of the Blades of Eulas. It was preceded by two Arlan Rangers, moving outside their country's borders, who informed the local authority of an impending attack, and requested that they receive the shards." At this Mels looked upwards almost unintentionally, while Rumelis held his disconnected look. Suddenly years of diplomatic training were useful to Rumelis- when to hold a gaze, when to show emotion, when to interject.

"A week following the Ranger's arrival a force of mercenaries arrived. Agents report that all security measures were in place, and the Rangers aided in the defense, so blame shifts from them. These Rangers reportedly took the shards after fighting the leader of the mercenaries." The council and the two Rangers were relieved at the report's end, happy that their actions were not skewed in hopes of war. A councilor from another small state stood.

"Why bring this report to the Council's attention? We have no embassy with Uricht to begin with! Why would an attack on a military town concern us?"

The councilor of Zanus seemed to take offense to such a small state talking back to him. "Because, dear Council, those two Rangers are in this Hall today. Obviously they would make the same request to us as they did to Uricht. Rangers, step forward. Make your statements, and perhaps give us some more information on the attack."

Mels was better trained to make a full report, she had years more experience with the parlance of the military report- what they needed to know, what was extraneous. She spoke first. "About two months before this day, I, Mels Arradan, and my partner, Rumelis Morende, were assigned on a mission to retrieve shards of the Blades of Eulas under reports of a mercenary who attacked our nation gathering men to do the same. We left for the Fell Wood, were attacked by said forces, and later retrieved one shard of the Blades. Two weeks following we arrived at the military town of Uricht, where the attack you described occurred. There we obtained two more shards. Now we are here to indeed request more shards."

The councilor of Zanus sat and began to write. "Who leads this group of mercenaries?"

"The leader is Tull Ormos, once a citizen of Arlas, and eventually a leader in the Arlan Rangers. During the last Great War he attempted to betray the nation, and was almost killed for it. He went into hiding soon after, and is now likely following us with a significant force, trying to obtain the Blades of Eulas. We know not why."

Councilor Lenon shifted in his seat, unhappy that his proposal was brought up by another but intrigued to learn what would come of it. He spoke up as well. "Councilors, I brought these two here with the hopes that we might aid them. I suggest a vote."

The vote came to pass slowly, with worried looks around the table. Even in a matter unimportant to the Samnic States, all the councilors seemed to be jockeying for position, a fox race to the highest power in the council. With powers large and small supporting the motion in Zanus and Nern, many other councilors jumped on to support the vote, while some voted against it as a matter of principle.

Time passed, and eventually the vote ended. It seemed that Rumelis and Mels were to be granted the shards that the Samnic States held.

All of the councilors rose after the result was read. In unison they kneeled at the stone table, and pressed their hands onto the floor. The tiles they touched began to sink into the earth, as the large table rose to reveal a compartment that held three large, edged pieces of black steel. These were silently given to Rumelis and Mels, who in turn took out their pieces of the Blades.

The group looked down at the pieces. The pieces themselves seemed attracted some shards, and repulsed by others, a clearly magical quality. Rumelis and Mels were shocked by the result they got from combining their collections of shards.

There on the table lay two fractured blades, each pitch-dark. They had no guard, but they did appear to be set up in a way that would allow for one, and for a handle.

Two blades of Eulas. It was rumored that only three even existed! Surely with these they could find and slay Tull. But a more pressing question hung in the air, which Rumelis raised:

"Where does one forge a legendary blade?"

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AUTHOR NOTES

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Opinions? Suggestions? Typos? Tell me, please. I am by no means a professional writer, and even they make mistakes every now and again.

Only so many chapters left in this story, I think. I want to end at Chapter 10, and maybe have an epilogue like the Interlude afterwards. After that I will wait and see if an idea strikes me for these two Rangers again, or if I'll move on to this sci-fi idea I've got.

Councilor Lenon will come back, I decided. He deserves more personality than I gave him.

TL;DR EDITION

The Samnic Council heard of the attack on Uricht. They agree to give their shards to Mels and Rumelis, getting them two full Blades. But who can forge them?

Wondering why I call Tull a Lupine, Rumelis an Ursan, etc.? Read the note at the end of the 1st chapter, it explains my reasoning.