To Farek’s appreciation, the Advisory reacted quickly upon learning of the delegates. Farek and his party contacted the City Watch a few days after their arrival, if only to advise of their presence and desire to meet with the Commanders. A few days after that, a steward visited them at Ralin’s Stay to assess their needs and interests in Ith. The steward’s report earned them an invitation to meet with the Advisory at the Capital Barracks on the edge of Pranan’s Hill.
There were seven Commanders of the City Watch, men and women with decades of experience as protectors of Ith. They met with Farek, Lord Sha, and Ambassador Tolia in a large council room in the castle-like Barracks. Servants offered them aged wines and delicate pastries seasoned with fine sugar and chopped nuts. Guards wearing bronze armaments protected the three entrances to the sizeable room, mingling with the warriors that the delegates from Var Nordos had brought. Farek took this all in and waited for the experts to begin the discussion.
Commander Alsten, one of the more influential members of the Advisory, began by greeting them. “Welcome to the great city of Ith. The stewards have informed us that you are lords and ladies of the Old Empire of Noress. Formal visits from your land have been uncommon, but perhaps the future will hold greater unity between our peoples.”
Farek was not used to hearing military men speak of unity. He decided he liked it.
“Thank you, gracious Commanders of Ith,” Ambassador Tolia intoned. “It is also our desire to see meaningful exchange between our two societies.”
“A shame that threat of war is the catalyst of such ‘meaningful exchange’,” muttered Oniri, another of the Commanders. The old man’s grumbling remark was met by a scolding glance from Commander Ramas, one of the younger members of the Advisory.
Lord Sha countered in kind. “I have heard that the revolutions of Ith—these last few years—may motivate this fine city’s leadership in similar ways. A future of unity will benefit us both.”
At that, Ramas smiled slyly and agreed, “After such civil unrest, a show of military presence in our city will do little to calm the dissatisfied fringe elements. We must show our people that the Advisory is concerned for Ith’s place on Gethra, not just some manner of power or wealth from its rule.”
Farek gave a nod to Ramas. These Commanders had some degree of wisdom, it seemed. Still, Farek had little to contribute.
“We have heard a tome’s-worth of ill tidings from the Grey Sea and the Great Isle,” Alsten murmured. “Can you shed some light on the actual state of affairs?”
“Of course,” Farek said. This, at least, was something he could contribute. He explained to them that most of the Great Isle had fallen into the clutches of a nameless bandit horde—an enemy whose motivations as of yet remained unclear. Last they had heard, only Bellasa, Starath, and Aloor stood. The rapid growth of their opposing forces seemed to be a result of lawless gangs and pirate crews that continued to see the war as their chance at a golden age of crime. Lastly, Farek recounted to the Advisory the state of his own alliance: the Councillors of Eastpoint—in as much measure as they would work together; the Archpriests of Saanazar, along with their sprawling web of influence; the civilian fleet of the Joyous King of High Raena; and the Empire of Noress, now ruled solely by Matriarch Valakono.
Commander Ramas again offered some insight. “I think we have already decided that we are willing to support the war effort in some way,” he confirmed, “but the degree of aid we may provide remains undetermined. If you could make a proposal, what would you perceive as our best means of contribution?”
Farek furrowed his brow. It was a hefty question and one that Lord Sha and Ambassador Tolia had already been debating at length. Farek set down his wine glass and glanced at his peers for a moment, then glanced back at the Commanders that sat around the other end of the oval table. “Might we step aside for a moment to consider such a proposal?” he asked.
“Of course,” Commander Alsten said, nodding to him.
They withdrew to the curved hallway outside the large council room. Before Farek could ask Sha what he was thinking, Tolia explained her thoughts again. “I think resources—metal, timber for ships, or coin itself—would be invaluable. It seems there are already numerous military groups at play in our alliance…”
“You’re not wrong, but a varied military may serve us well,” Lord Sha said. He explained: “With assassinations and apparent internal corruption on multiple facets of our alliance, the more military groups we have, the harder it becomes for such sinister elements to engineer actual disruptions to our fight against the enemy.”
Tolia pursed her lips, wary of military solutions as always. “Lest our enemy manages to splinter our alliance completely,” she warned. “Then we simply would have far more enemies.”
Farek sighed. He found the constant danger of assassination and sabotage equally frustrating, but allowing that to cloud his judgement would be letting those “sinister elements” win. He added his thoughts to their discussion. “I think we have to give this alliance more credit. We all stand to lose badly either way—best to work with any we can, in order to have a more favourable outcome when this is all over. I don’t think we’d break down so easily even with damage from within.”
“I agree,” Lord Sha murmured, rubbing his well-groomed beard. “Our alliance with the Atmos Septi was secured even after deaths in both of our leaderships.”
Tolia bluntly asked, “So then, we should ask for any aid—resource or ranks?”
“I think so,” Farek said. He would like to see resources more than soldiers, at this point. They had sizeable armies and plenty of wealth, but little actual incomes for things like food, metal, and timber. Despite his preference, he would not turn away more forces to keep their enemy at bay. “Where can we best put that aid to use though?”
“If they agree to send resources, we could redistribute food supplies to our other allies, and focus timber on building more ships and storing up in need of repairs. In general, siege preparations could mean the difference between destruction and survival,” Sha explained. “Donated wealth itself could go toward either the procurement of resources from another venue or toward the hiring of more soldiers. That would be the most malleable, so to speak.”
Farek nodded eagerly. “I couldn’t agree more.” He certainly did not want to die behind city walls, wasting away from malnutrition and starvation.
They explained their thoughts to the Commanders of the Advisory, illustrating how resources would be easier to allocate from Ith than the addition of yet another fighting force, and even suggesting Saanazar, Sheld, and Noress-That-Was as locations those resources might be sent.
Commander Ramas whispered with the woman next to him, Visha, then glanced at Alsten as further murmurings were exchanged. Alsten gave him a nod and Ramas turned back to the delegates. “I see. We do not have abundant stores after our recent unrest, and we were more interested in showing our military force being used for good—in their idling, they tend to impose a harsh quality of life on our citizens. We must discuss it further, even if you only wanted soldiers. Would it be acceptable if we invite you for another meeting once we have determined what we can offer?”
“Certainly,” Farek said, nodding. “We will await your response at our inn before pursuing our next ambassadorial mission. Your stance is certainly understandable—we will not decline any aid.”
Alsten bowed his head gratefully. “And we will do our best to provide the most we responsibly can.”
They shared a toast of wine to future participation, and then the meeting was dismissed. While Lord Sha and Ambassador Tolia continued to bicker about the application of future aid, Farek walked with his friends among their guards and chatted about how enormous Ith was, how extreme its class divisions were, and how good of a time Diaren had had the night before.