Councilmbers, thank you for coming. Aodean exclaims.
He looks at each person seated around the circular table. All the major movers, shakers, functionaries, and luminaries of Calot are seated and present. They nod to him silently. Well, most do.
Ahem! the dwarf, Bristoff, clears his throat expectantly.
Aodean guffaws. He opens his binder and retrieves a flask. Then he throws it at the Dwarf, who catches it, uncorks, and takes a drink in one fluid motion. Bristoff raises an eyebrow as he removes the flask from his lips. Sweet, but not bad. I taste honey and apple?.
The [Pri Minister] grins, Yup. Honeyed ale with apple juice. It's a new product Im trying since the price of apples dropped.
Mmm, it's not a drink that my kin would go out of their way for, but I can see the appeal to ye of weak liver.
Aodean, Thallom Yesmys, the [Grand Archmagus Headmaster] interrupts, I believe we should start the eting. It would not do to waste the council's valuable ti.
Oi, this is important stuff, mate, Aodean replies, Not all of us are right with drinking horse piss.
Lads right, Bristoff agrees.
It's a waste of my ti, Cornelius Stallard, the [Grand rchant Guildmaster] exclaims loudly.
A few of the minor mbers nod, but nobody else speaks up. Aodean scrunches his brow in annoyance. The bigger the wig, the bigger their mouth it seems. When only the rich and powerful have their say, only the rich and powerful get their way, and greedy algorithms seldom produce optimal results. Aodeans worked hard to correct this, and things are improving, as evidenced by the nearly full council table, now he just needs them to speak up.
Really Corny? Out of everyone present, you of all blokes should understand the importance of alcohol. Your [rchants] have made a killing selling my goods.
Cornelius rolls his eyes, Just get on with the eting.
Aodean grins victoriously, then, with a skill, produces a spectral copy of the minutes in front of each mber.
eting ti. Well start with the juicy bits that most of you are here for. he taps a stack of papers and clears his throat. The war between the East and West is still ongoing. The West's advance has halted since the amazons deployed. Now, the fighting is more aggressive and violent as numbers diminish and levels rise.
Do we have any information on how theyre able to constantly summon nad angels? [Warfare General] Donovan interrupts. As the man responsible for Calots defenses, the thought of fighting an unending wave of nad angels is a terrifying prospect, especially so when you consider the fact that nad angels are capable of killing nad beings.
No fucking idea, but the Amazons are sohow dealing with them.
At a cost, Donovan interjects.
Aodean nods, Yea, I'm not sure how long they can hold out. [Valkyries], Nad Angels, [Heroes], [Champions], the West has a fuck-ton of quality whereas the East has diminishing numbers and Amazons.
Are you expecting the Aesir to win? Bristoff takes another sip, And if so, how long will that take? My [Smiths] are barely keeping up with demand but I don't want to expand production if this war will end soon.
Honestly, I'm not sure anymore- Aodean removes the top paper of the docunt and then taps the next one, -and that's because the world is getting chaotic. Weve got reports of a [Necromancer Emperor] raising an undead army led by a demon [General] in the south. Over fifty cities have surrendered already and dozens more are begging for assistance. Not that Calot will do anything, what with our neutrality.
He shifts to the next paper, Next, the bloody eternal crimson desert, or whatever that sandy twat calls her empire- Anyway, so kind of crystal worm city mothership thing, na ends with -heim, I think, just climbed out of the sand.
Muspelheim, Corny taps the copied docunt, unamused, it's written on the paper.
Aodean looks at the docunt that he may have written while shit drunk. Honestly, it's very well written, too bad he can't rember the specific details. Maybe he should have reread it before the eting?
The [Pri Minister] shrugs, Right. Anyway, it shat out a tropolis worth of over leveled cunts and now shes got three [Generals] in their third tier and an army of second tiers. The sandy [Empress] went from your granddads old centerfold to continental superpower overnight.
He moves to the third paper, And speaking of the ladies, [Pirate Archqueen] Teuta just got her child rescued and returned to her. The Easts ports are no longer blockaded and now the crazy woman just ordered every single [Pirate] in the damn ocean to sink any and all Aesir ships and ships trading with them.
Fuck , the [Harbormistress] curses. She jumps out of her seat and rushes out.
As the woman leaves and the double doors close, Aodean shifts to the fourth paper, Our last major event cos from the North. You know that demon army? Well, it just defeated two armies. Well, more like slaughtered, -er, mutilated? Whatever, not important. Just know that the millionish strong demon army split up and is marching southwest and southeast, directly towards New Aesir and the Amphitheater.
Aodean folds his arms and grins cheekily at the stupefied expressions staring at him.
Thors hairy nutsacks, Bristoff curses. He chugs the continents of the flask, grimacing at the lack of alcohol. He shakes his head, So we have a demon army in the North, an undead army in the South, a war in the East, a new military powerhouse in the West, and a crazy pirate woman who just turned the oceans into a dangerous battlefield.
Before Aodean can comnt, the air beside him shifts, revealing the [Spymaster] in his very bland glory.
There is a situation, Spehon hands Aodean a paper.
The [Pri Minister] quickly skims it over and grins.
Also, apparently, we have several dozen ard and dangerous pirate ships heading directly towards Calot.
_________________________________
On the bow of a ship, a man stands confidently. He feels the wind strike his face, dancing upon his large handlebar mustache. He gazes at the port of Calot, a massive, deep-sea port that can dock a dozen ships and moor a hundred more..
Doesn't your face hurt from all that grinning?
Everlet Windstorm turns away from staring at the distant port and centers his grin on [Hero] Franky.
Are you absolutely sure I can keep this ship? Everlet asks the one-ard man. A horrible thing to lose an arm, but if the story of what happened is true, the kid- nay, the man was lucky to have gotten away with his life.
Franky rolls his eyes, Ive no need for a ship, especially not a Dreadnought, he taps the tal floor of the vessel that hes graciously gifted to the [Storm Captain]. The ship doesnt automatically turn Everlet into a numbered captain; he has no ability to manipulate the tal covering the Ironhide. Hell have to have most of the excess tal removed. The weapons and enchantnts will stay and hell need to hire a larger crew to fully run the ship.
Well, if ever you do need a ship and captain, Ill always be available.
Franky nods, My guild probably will. With the resources weve gained, I imagine the Adventurers guild is going to have a rapid influx of mbers, which will embark on more of these distant escapades.
And more headaches for the [Harbormistress] Everlet adds with a grin.
The [Hero] raises a curious eyebrow, you seem to be enjoying the fact that youre about to arrive with several dozen warships.
Sohow, even the man's mustache seems to grin. Well of course, the [Harbormistress] is my ex-wife.
__________________________________
Im going to strangle that fool with his damn mustache! the [Harbormistress] roars at the approaching armada of pirate ships led by the Ironside. If not for the presence of the Tempestas and Everlets colors flying on the Ironside, shed have scrambled the harbour's defenses.
Instead, shes doing the opposite. Have we got enough space yet? Clear the fucking warf!
Maam, so of the [rchants] are refusing to move. one of her underlings complains.
Well, inform them that if they dont raise sail and get the fuck out of the way, Im going to give that dreadnought permision to run them over. Either they move or they lose, do I make myself clear?
The underling nods. He turns and rushes towards the stupid [rchant Captains]. Of all the tis to be dealing with idiots with sticks up their asses, why does it have to be today?
Growling in annoyance, she moves to the largest and deepest part of the port. A place made specifically for abnormally large ships.
She folds her arms and glares at the Ironside practically racing towards the dock. The massive ship causes many [Stevedores] to run away from the speeding ship. To most, it looks like the ship is going to crash into the pier, but she can already see the smug grin on the idiot's face.
[Rapid Deceleration], [Perfect Dock] She feels the man activate his idiotic skills. The Ironhide decelerates smoothly. The ship turns, slews, and allows the broadside of the ship to almost hit the pier. A re inch away from damaging, well, she doubts it would damage. Her [Hardened Harbor] and [Impact Disbursent] would keep damage to the minimum, but it would still be annoying.
From the forecastle, her forr husband grins down at her, Gertrude, what do you think about my new ship? the idiot asks.
She grins back at him without any of the mirth that his own has.
How about you co down and Ill show you what I think.
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Quasi opens his eyes slowly. Light shines on the bed from a window, stinging his sight for a mont. He blinks to adjust and yawns. He relaxes and stares up at the wood ceiling. He ponders the nice decorations and iron reinforcent. An incongruous tapping sound pulls him from his reverie. Naked, on a chair next to the bed sits Bhumi. Her pen clicks softly as she writes sothing in the journal on her lap.
Next to Bhumi, a naked Fiona cradles a baby. She smiles happily as she distracts the babys attention with a bottle.
Confused, Quasi looks down at the soft weight on his chest. He blinks to see the just as naked [Pirate Archqueen] turn her head and drools a bit.
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