You are cordially invited

It is mid August before King Blackwell returns from his hunting trip in the south, which is promptly followed by a summons to attend him in court. You arrive too the sound of the Kings bellowing laughter and once inside the throne room you witness the king merrily watching on as a juvenile giant spider pounces across the chamber pinning a captive bandit. The King turns as you enter beckoning you closer.

“Haha, isn’t he awesome! I found him while we were hunting and he is my pet now! I call him Fluffy!”

Upon closer inspection the spider does indeed seem to be quite hairy, it is also in the process of incapacitating the bandit with its poison dripping fangs.

“Funny thing is, now that he has caught the fucker, he will start wrapping him up in his web and drag him off to some dark part of the castle which he takes a liking too. Then he will wait a week or two till the body starts to swell and go squishy, then he opens him up and drains all the juices out like he was a fucking wineskin! Hilarious!”

The King watches on for a moment more, grin never leaving his face, before he apparently remembers he summoned you for a grander purpose.

“Anyway, we are going to Rivering. I was invited to attend the summers end tournament by that tantalizing beauty Topaz, as guests of the Guild. You lot will be coming along as part of my… my…fuck, DONK!”

“Retinue..”

“Right as part of that. So make sure you are all dressed for the occasion, I don’t want you lot making a fool of me in front of Topaz! Also at least one of you will be expected to enter the tournament, apparently I am not allowed too enter because it would be unfair to the rest of the bastards signing up. Talk to Donk about the travel crap, we leave in the last week of August.”

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Iron Duke Aizen Steelbloom nods from beneath his striped dark green and white bucket hat acknowledging King Blackwell's command.

For the briefest of moments a look of interest is shown before returning to his usual expressionless face.

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Duke Steelbloom addresses King Blackwell from beneath his green and white striped hat,
"Lord Blackwell, I see you found something that piqued your interest whilst hunting in the southern forest. Any news of your half-brother or his lieutenant Charlotte perhaps?"

Weaving through the conversation Aizen continues,
"While you were conducting your business in the south we Dukes, with the input of Captain Donk, have decided to take a more pro-active approach to the defense of your kingdom. While this may not sound like much to yourself at this time we would like to assure your highness that with this new directive the safety of your people and the stability of your realm will improve significantly and expediently. The other Dukes and I will be working quite diligently to make sure that the Iron Ridge Region, it's sovereign people and yourself are seen to be prospering in good stead with numerous projects already underway to increase productivity, trade and living conditions for all included in this great kingdom."

Pausing for a moment he continues,
"I do wish to praise your King's Guard for their efforts in driving off the traitors and bandits which in turn allowed us to rescue the captive serfs. I think we will find a degree of stability return to the southern lowlands area now and this is in no small part thanks to those brave fighting men."

Duke Aizen waits for a response from King Blackwell before continuing.

(Sorry but this will be in part two conversations. I don't have a lot of time this week to wait for replies in drips and drabs so I will just go. Sorry I know I have been absent from the forum but I am back now.)

The Iron Duke General Melchid Rock Biter waits patiently and rather solemnly for Aizen and the king to finish their conversation.
He steels himself and waits for an appropriate time to speak. When the time is right he drops to one large knee and begins.

"Your Grace... As you wish we will discuss the finer details of our travel arrangements with your captain. Excuse me for not being my jovial self but I have seen loss and blood shed in recent times and am mourning the loss of 4 great warriors. As I am sure has reached your ears, we have taken out the great beast that terrorized the lake region. The beast Shullgothin. This gallant task saved many lives and laid an ancient evil to rest, but it cost us 4 of the brave gnomes that came to fight for you and your kingdom. I feel it would be good for morale and for the spirit of those that follow you if we could erect a small monument in their honour, and possibly a small word from their king if you would be so humble as to address your kingdom from the ramparts.

Also it was said to us that if we took care of the bandits and spiders as well as some of these new problems to arise, we would be able to expand our estates. I just want to know where you stand on this. I wish not to over step my bounds your Majesty, but I serve you with my heart and wish to hear these words from you".

Melchid waits for his grace's retort and at the culmination of this meeting requests a brief word with Donk.

"Donk. we should discuss further the possibility of expanding land rights, but for now I believe we need to address our trip. Can arrangements be made to have the cities tailors fashion something appropriate for me to dress myself in? This is not an area I have a great deal of experience."

Physicist wrote:

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Duke Steelbloom addresses King Blackwell from beneath his green and white striped hat,
"Lord Blackwell, I see you found something that piqued your interest whilst hunting in the southern forest. Any news of your half-brother or his lieutenant Charlotte perhaps?"

"Hmmm no. i will give the bastard one thing, he can be slipery as an eel when he wants to be."

Physicist wrote:

.Weaving through the conversation Aizen continues,
"While you were conducting your business in the south we Dukes, with the input of Captain Donk, have decided to take a more pro-active approach to the defense of your kingdom. While this may not sound like much to yourself at this time we would like to assure your highness that with this new directive the safety of your people and the stability of your realm will improve significantly and expediently. The other Dukes and I will be working quite diligently to make sure that the Iron Ridge Region, it's sovereign people and yourself are seen to be prospering in good stead with numerous projects already underway to increase productivity, trade and living conditions for all included in this great kingdom."

The King nods over the top of his tankard.

Physicist wrote:

Pausing for a moment he continues,
"I do wish to praise your King's Guard for their efforts in driving off the traitors and bandits which in turn allowed us to rescue the captive serfs. I think we will find a degree of stability return to the southern lowlands area now and this is in no small part thanks to those brave fighting men."

Duke Aizen waits for a response from King Blackwell before continuing.

"Donk tell me the men were itching for battle and i'm glad to see they found it!"