Post by andycd on Aug 23, 2020 20:21:24 GMT
Her bottle of wine was running as low as the candles, but the stacks of books and paper around Saria had only grown. Poring through all the major treaties and legal treatises of the last hundred years was a task - just gathering them had been enough of a challenge, and now she had had to read the lot.
The treaty that founded the Lord’s Alliance in the Sword Coast was of course the cornerstone of her work, and Saria had copied a good deal of the base clauses of her document from that. From there she’d drawn from the structure of Ten Towns in Icewind Dale, the slightly untrusting balance that makes up the Masked Lords of Waterdeep and the leadership of Calimport, and bits of legalese from across many nations of Faerun. She’d spent several evenings over the last month debating points of law with the few legally literate members of the Academy, and a few more speculative conversations with minotaur and genasi scholars in Zot Goran. Finally though, she put down her quill. The document was, at least for now, complete.
Leaning back in her chair, Lady Saria Underwood stretched and stared up at the plasterwork on the ceiling, wondering if this audacious plan could possibly work, and if it was wise to draw so much attention to herself. In moments however, she was asleep, the candles burning out in their holders.
--
The Council sat and read through her work, sitting around the meeting table on the ground floor. Some were clearly struggling more than others of course - Coll was not one for contract law and neither was Cordelia, though Samed had clearly signed enough business deals to follow along. Saria watched their faces as they read, trying to discern their reactions to the copies the scribes had dutifully made for her. Aurelia was impassive as ever, though Lord Auber’s face was a treat - flickering between disbelief and thoughtful planning.
One by one, they each sat back, thinking quietly and throwing the occasional glance at their peers. When Rholor finally sat back as well, Saria spoke up.
“I proposed this document a few weeks ago, and the majority at least was in favour. I have scoured treaties from across Faerun and I believe this presents a strong framework to proceed from, though Yondalla knows it will need a little editing.”
“Editing?” Jean was of course first to speak out. “These ‘Accords’ turn Daring Heights into little more than a glorified mercenary company. This talks about committing forces to other nations - and what forces would those be exactly?”
Commander Jadefist coughed, pointedly. Jean rolled his eyes. “No offence, Commander but you’re our primary defence - while you were off charging into Hell, a member of this very council was murdered, or had you forgotten? We need you here.”
She stiffened, and went to stand, but Aurelia raised a hand to calm her. “There is no cause for blame on that one, Jean, we had enough power here that we should have prevented the tragic death of Lord Kensington, but that is in the past. This document is about Daring’s future.”
“As the Archmage says,” Saria continued. “What is undeniable is that Daring Heights has weathered an incursion from the Shadowfell, been sacked and conquered by orcs, been an unknowing chess piece in Feywild politics, suffered a devastating plague, and was instrumental in foiling a plot by an Archduke of Hell that would have destroyed the Material Plane, all in the few short years it has existed. The need for defence is undeniable, and unless we are about to invest into Commander Jadefist’s remit and become a major military power disproportionate to our population, then we must look to our surroundings.
In less than a week’s travel, you can encounter the vast metropolis of Kundar, the now-beleaguered but resurgent nation of K’ul Goran, the military powerhouse of Vorsthold and also in the Underdark somewhere there is apparently some large Drow nation we are barely aware of. And that’s not to mention the variety of other lesser powers scattered across the continent.
Daring Heights survived in its early days through alliance and building bridges - we fostered peace between the Bullywug and the Grung specifically for our own benefit - war on our doorstep would have been disastrous for Port Ffirst. The Erina have been a small but welcome partner in understanding this land. The Tritons have helped immensely in navigating the seas. It’s time we solidified this work, and what we have built with K’ul Goran through Ambassador Veluss’ efforts, and start reaching further and more concretely.”
There was a moment of silence, and then Samed leaned forward. The blacksmith spoke only rarely in Council meetings, but his words always carried the full weight of considered thought behind them, like he was hammering his argument into shape with a series of blows.
“If these Accords succeed as you hope, we would be tying ourselves to each of these groups,” he began, and Saria tensed. “Each nation would also be tying themselves to the others. If there are significant disagreements between any of them, this won’t work.” Hammer blow. “Vorsthold has barely agreed to basic trade agreements with us, their closest partner, and if I understand correctly, they are at war with the Drow. Kundar’s authority from previous dispatches seems disconnected and divided amongst its council and its two faiths. K’ul Goran would likely agree to these terms now, largely because we have worked together so closely and have been instrumental in saving their society, but we’ve also been learning recently that they have significant conflicts with this group known as the Shunned, who even have Drow amongst them. Would they be happy for us to be trying to bring the main Underdark nation of them into the fold?”
He paused, a master examining the work of his blows. “Just how do you expect this to possibly succeed?”
Saria let out a long breath. “We may not bring every intended party on board,” she admitted. “The Aegis Accords do not hinge on the exact makeup of the body. There are three purposes here: first, the reduce the threat of conflict between the nations which surround us, because any such conflict would certainly draw us in; second, to make it less likely for third parties outside the Accords to risk open conflict with any member; and third, to further build foundations of trust between the parties such that other agreements - trade deals, business contracts, land deals - can be made more easily. The front-end of this is military focused, Council, but the point of it is to create exactly the conditions the Dawnlands needs to succeed - a suite of varied, large trading partners who can help contribute to the defence of the realm so we don’t have to be so concerned about these regular extinction-level events.
They don’t have to all join to succeed, but the only way to fail here is not to try.”
Samed gave out a small laugh at that, and nodded, conceding the point.
“It will be good to have some stronger military ties,” Cordelia said. “I’ve had some good conversations with Vorsthold - they’re a tribute to the dwarven race. I’d like to see what we could do together in particular.”
“And I think we can sell the adventurers on this,” Coll joined in. “All we’re really saying is that we’ll continue to do what we have done - provide contracts from the Council to help out these… Accord members? Partners? Accordions? Anyway, I’ve already taken the liberty of pushing a few requests forward we’ve had from the big catches - there’s been some work recently in Kundar and Vorsthold both. Goodwill missions, call it.”
The discussion wandered a bit from there, talking about each nation and how they would work with the others. Saria kept relatively quiet, trying to gauge how the voting would fall. It was a full council this time - the initial plan had only been voted on by six.
Ultimately Aurelia called for a vote on whether they would proceed with this plan. The question: Will Daring Heights (the Dawnlands, subject to confirmation with Port Ffirst authorities) seek to promote the Aegis Accords agenda and seek over the coming months to make diplomatic relations with each of the named nations in the aim of them signing the Accords and becoming essentially allies of the Dawnlands?
Saria, Aurelia, Coll, Cordelia and Rholor’s votes were what she had hoped for, and really all that she needed. Samed’s hand raising was a welcome show of faith in her plan, as was Balto’s - who’d been silent almost the entire time. When Jean’s hand raised into the air though, so did Saria’s eyebrows - and almost as high.
“We can try,” was all he said in a gravelly voice.
The vote was unanimous, as was the subsequent vote to put Saria in charge of directing the diplomatic efforts, which she almost laughed at. She had been so focused on writing the damn thing; now she had to make it happen.
This was going to get busy.
The treaty that founded the Lord’s Alliance in the Sword Coast was of course the cornerstone of her work, and Saria had copied a good deal of the base clauses of her document from that. From there she’d drawn from the structure of Ten Towns in Icewind Dale, the slightly untrusting balance that makes up the Masked Lords of Waterdeep and the leadership of Calimport, and bits of legalese from across many nations of Faerun. She’d spent several evenings over the last month debating points of law with the few legally literate members of the Academy, and a few more speculative conversations with minotaur and genasi scholars in Zot Goran. Finally though, she put down her quill. The document was, at least for now, complete.
Leaning back in her chair, Lady Saria Underwood stretched and stared up at the plasterwork on the ceiling, wondering if this audacious plan could possibly work, and if it was wise to draw so much attention to herself. In moments however, she was asleep, the candles burning out in their holders.
--
The Council sat and read through her work, sitting around the meeting table on the ground floor. Some were clearly struggling more than others of course - Coll was not one for contract law and neither was Cordelia, though Samed had clearly signed enough business deals to follow along. Saria watched their faces as they read, trying to discern their reactions to the copies the scribes had dutifully made for her. Aurelia was impassive as ever, though Lord Auber’s face was a treat - flickering between disbelief and thoughtful planning.
One by one, they each sat back, thinking quietly and throwing the occasional glance at their peers. When Rholor finally sat back as well, Saria spoke up.
“I proposed this document a few weeks ago, and the majority at least was in favour. I have scoured treaties from across Faerun and I believe this presents a strong framework to proceed from, though Yondalla knows it will need a little editing.”
“Editing?” Jean was of course first to speak out. “These ‘Accords’ turn Daring Heights into little more than a glorified mercenary company. This talks about committing forces to other nations - and what forces would those be exactly?”
Commander Jadefist coughed, pointedly. Jean rolled his eyes. “No offence, Commander but you’re our primary defence - while you were off charging into Hell, a member of this very council was murdered, or had you forgotten? We need you here.”
She stiffened, and went to stand, but Aurelia raised a hand to calm her. “There is no cause for blame on that one, Jean, we had enough power here that we should have prevented the tragic death of Lord Kensington, but that is in the past. This document is about Daring’s future.”
“As the Archmage says,” Saria continued. “What is undeniable is that Daring Heights has weathered an incursion from the Shadowfell, been sacked and conquered by orcs, been an unknowing chess piece in Feywild politics, suffered a devastating plague, and was instrumental in foiling a plot by an Archduke of Hell that would have destroyed the Material Plane, all in the few short years it has existed. The need for defence is undeniable, and unless we are about to invest into Commander Jadefist’s remit and become a major military power disproportionate to our population, then we must look to our surroundings.
In less than a week’s travel, you can encounter the vast metropolis of Kundar, the now-beleaguered but resurgent nation of K’ul Goran, the military powerhouse of Vorsthold and also in the Underdark somewhere there is apparently some large Drow nation we are barely aware of. And that’s not to mention the variety of other lesser powers scattered across the continent.
Daring Heights survived in its early days through alliance and building bridges - we fostered peace between the Bullywug and the Grung specifically for our own benefit - war on our doorstep would have been disastrous for Port Ffirst. The Erina have been a small but welcome partner in understanding this land. The Tritons have helped immensely in navigating the seas. It’s time we solidified this work, and what we have built with K’ul Goran through Ambassador Veluss’ efforts, and start reaching further and more concretely.”
There was a moment of silence, and then Samed leaned forward. The blacksmith spoke only rarely in Council meetings, but his words always carried the full weight of considered thought behind them, like he was hammering his argument into shape with a series of blows.
“If these Accords succeed as you hope, we would be tying ourselves to each of these groups,” he began, and Saria tensed. “Each nation would also be tying themselves to the others. If there are significant disagreements between any of them, this won’t work.” Hammer blow. “Vorsthold has barely agreed to basic trade agreements with us, their closest partner, and if I understand correctly, they are at war with the Drow. Kundar’s authority from previous dispatches seems disconnected and divided amongst its council and its two faiths. K’ul Goran would likely agree to these terms now, largely because we have worked together so closely and have been instrumental in saving their society, but we’ve also been learning recently that they have significant conflicts with this group known as the Shunned, who even have Drow amongst them. Would they be happy for us to be trying to bring the main Underdark nation of them into the fold?”
He paused, a master examining the work of his blows. “Just how do you expect this to possibly succeed?”
Saria let out a long breath. “We may not bring every intended party on board,” she admitted. “The Aegis Accords do not hinge on the exact makeup of the body. There are three purposes here: first, the reduce the threat of conflict between the nations which surround us, because any such conflict would certainly draw us in; second, to make it less likely for third parties outside the Accords to risk open conflict with any member; and third, to further build foundations of trust between the parties such that other agreements - trade deals, business contracts, land deals - can be made more easily. The front-end of this is military focused, Council, but the point of it is to create exactly the conditions the Dawnlands needs to succeed - a suite of varied, large trading partners who can help contribute to the defence of the realm so we don’t have to be so concerned about these regular extinction-level events.
They don’t have to all join to succeed, but the only way to fail here is not to try.”
Samed gave out a small laugh at that, and nodded, conceding the point.
“It will be good to have some stronger military ties,” Cordelia said. “I’ve had some good conversations with Vorsthold - they’re a tribute to the dwarven race. I’d like to see what we could do together in particular.”
“And I think we can sell the adventurers on this,” Coll joined in. “All we’re really saying is that we’ll continue to do what we have done - provide contracts from the Council to help out these… Accord members? Partners? Accordions? Anyway, I’ve already taken the liberty of pushing a few requests forward we’ve had from the big catches - there’s been some work recently in Kundar and Vorsthold both. Goodwill missions, call it.”
The discussion wandered a bit from there, talking about each nation and how they would work with the others. Saria kept relatively quiet, trying to gauge how the voting would fall. It was a full council this time - the initial plan had only been voted on by six.
Ultimately Aurelia called for a vote on whether they would proceed with this plan. The question: Will Daring Heights (the Dawnlands, subject to confirmation with Port Ffirst authorities) seek to promote the Aegis Accords agenda and seek over the coming months to make diplomatic relations with each of the named nations in the aim of them signing the Accords and becoming essentially allies of the Dawnlands?
Saria, Aurelia, Coll, Cordelia and Rholor’s votes were what she had hoped for, and really all that she needed. Samed’s hand raising was a welcome show of faith in her plan, as was Balto’s - who’d been silent almost the entire time. When Jean’s hand raised into the air though, so did Saria’s eyebrows - and almost as high.
“We can try,” was all he said in a gravelly voice.
The vote was unanimous, as was the subsequent vote to put Saria in charge of directing the diplomatic efforts, which she almost laughed at. She had been so focused on writing the damn thing; now she had to make it happen.
This was going to get busy.
