Norman entered the building along with his remaining advisors. This included Eugene, Grobert, and Freya as their expertise might be needed for the talks.
As they stepped inside, he could see there wasn’t much in the way of mingling between the groups. The few exceptions seemed to be the Admiral’s group and Custodian Valadin. Valadin’s two guards were the only two that had entered the building. And they were remaining at a respectful distance. Although they looked ready to explode into action at a moment's notice, their hands resting lightly on the hilts of swords.
The former was introducing Cho Klu’klik to the Matron and some of the gron ministers. Norman almost laughed when he saw the Matron reach out to mime strangling the bird after they turned away from her. He had only spoken with the creature briefly and he could understand her frustration with the avian.
The latter seemed enraptured, not by his Finance Administrator, but by her great grandfather. It was slightly comical to see the younger jorik act this way. They were usually so controlled when outsiders were present. It did make Norman wonder just who Nolia’s great-grandfather was.
Before he could head over to inquire, Stewart entered the hall and banged a small gong. The sound carried through the room clearly, yet wasn’t deafening thanks to its enchantment.
“All attendees are present. If you would please follow me.”
The din of conversations died down as people followed his assistant into the meeting room. It was the same room that Eugene and Nolia had made their last stand in during the previous attack. Although you could never tell. Everything had been cleaned up and the table and chairs had been replaced.
The previous teardrop design had been replaced by a mostly round table with a flat end for him and his people to reside at. It sent a subtle but unmistakable message.
With no great surprise, Donovan took up the first seat on one side of the flat, while Admiral Barnes took up the opposite side. In a slightly surprising move, the Matron took the seat directly opposite Norman. Although her eyes rested on Eugene, who hadn’t been present during the initial greetings.
Eugene just stared back at the large woman, a slight smirk on his face.
Norman wanted to poke fun at his commander but decided to hold that thought until later.
Cho Klu’klik sat next to the Admiral, but Norman could tell he was annoyed by not having the place of honor.
Both Custodians sat next to each other, the younger one's enthusiasm seeming to have been suppressed. His guards were forced to wait outside the room.
This left the table looking a bit lopsided as there were more Council members than there were other attendees combined. This quickly resolved itself as the gron representatives entered the room, taking up the remaining empty spots without so much as a complaint.
It was interesting to see the Council member closest to the gron slightly shift her chair away from the man.
At seeing that slight interaction, something clicked in his mind, giving him new insight into the Wizard Council. It was something he should have realized sooner considering their actions in and around their territory, but he somehow missed it. The Council didn’t want anything to do with the other species. Were they xenophobic? Or just isolationists?
They certainly couldn’t all be like that or someone like Gail, who had turned to the Gorfan for assistance, would never have been allowed to be a Councilor. Was this Donovan’s agenda? Or simply fear?
Before his mind could go down a rabbit hole of questions, there was another chiming bong.
“The meeting will now come to order.”
Once the ringing stopped, Norman cleared his throat and spoke. “I know you all know who I am, but I will introduce myself anyway. I am Lord Norman, the leader of Normenia.”
Next to speak was Grobert, then Eugene, followed by Nolia and Freya.
After that, everyone introduced themselves starting counterclockwise.
Most were civil in their responses, except Cho Klu’klik as she expected people to know who she was already, and some of the Council. But even their terse responses weren’t overly aggressive. Certainly nothing like what happened with J-son. So Norman hadn’t needed to zap anyone this time around.
After the introductions were complete, he introduced the agenda.
“Today we are going to start with complaints and possible compromises for an end to the war in California. The reason for this is to get everything out in the open. This should help both parties figure out a way to end the dispute. After that, we will move on to matters involving our other attendees present. There will be no agreements made today, only discussions and discourse. I ask that everyone present remain civil or I will be forced to act in my role as Chairman for these talks. I will be opening up the floor to Admiral Barnes and his party, as this meeting was suggested by them.”
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“Thank you, Lord Norman,” Barnes responded.
He then began a speech on what he expected to accomplish and what he was willing to compromise to get that. They were all items Norman had heard before.
Of course, the Council members immediately started grumbling about his conditions. Norman wasn’t surprised. The Admiral’s main concern was the welfare of the people under the Council’s purview. And while the Council didn’t call them slaves, they weren’t much better off. It still amazed Norman that a society could devolve so rapidly over ten years to form the class-based society that was now common across the Council’s land.
The Council was up next and their terms were outrageous, even to Norman who wouldn’t be affected by them. They demanded that the Commonwealth give up all of their enhanced, reliance on old military technology, and to cut ties with all non-human zones. It was about what he expected but it was still a shock to hear it spoken.
Cho Klu’klik squawked in outrage at this and it took time for the Admiral to get the avian settled again.
The surprising thing is none of these demands had come from Donovan personally. This nonsense spouted from all of the other Council mouthpieces. The Council Leader seemed content to sit there and let it happen. Norman figured it was another method for the man to distance himself from any backlash, or to look reasonable when less insane demands were proposed.
From there the meeting devolved into angry accusations being thrown back and forth while the other parties not invested in the exchange just watched on with disinterest or disgust.
Seeing that it wasn’t going to get better, Norman clapped his hands. It sounded like a shotgun had gone off in the room but it had the desired effect as everyone went quiet.
“I think both sides now have a firmer understanding of the other. We will table the rest of the discussion for tomorrow to let them think about the issues brought forth today. For now, we will move on to the other parties. Custodian Valadin, I open up the floor to you.”
The jorik stood and gave a slight nod toward Norman. “Thank you, Lord Norman. While I appreciate your people’s help in freeing us from the Empire… I cannot place my people's trust in a null.”
Norman was confused by the term, but upon hearing the slight intake from his Finance Administrator, he thought he understood the gist of what this man was saying. He shouldn’t be overly surprised that the jorik saw him as a lesser species. He knew they held magical ability in high regard among their kind. But only of the natural variety. His magic was… unnatural to them.
“That being said, we would appreciate a way to keep in touch with our fellow jorik near California. And there might be items we are willing to trade for this allowance.”
“Fucking pointy ears,” one of the councilors whispered.
Only he was a little too loud in the following silence of Valadin’s statement. All eyes swiveled to the offending man and he crossed his arms and glared back.
“What, you all know it's true! If you had lived in Colorado, you would know what those fuckers are responsible for. They can’t possibly be trusted.”
While he was surprised at the revelation that this man was originally from Colorado, he didn’t recognize him. And when he thought back to the man’s name, it didn’t ring any bells.
He couldn’t even fault the man for his hate, it was true. Whatever enclave of jorik Colorado had been stuck next to was very aggressive and violent. That didn’t mean all the enclaves were that way. Other than the gron, Norman hadn’t come across a single race with a unified societal structure.
The Gorfan was a prime example of this. They certainly didn’t share the same principles as Nolix’s people did, even if they were the same race. So to vilify an entire species over the actions of some seemed silly. This would have been easier if he had removed anyone not involved in this discussion for this second bit. But he wanted them to know Normenia wasn’t alone and would continue to expand its ties with outside forces.
“Your comment has been noted, councilor,” Norman said frostily, “But I suggest you hold any further comments until you are called upon. Especially since this matter doesn’t concern you.”
The man looked like he wanted to argue, but something in Norman’s gaze must have spooked him. He uncrossed his arms and tried to disappear behind his fellow councilors.
Once the man was cowed back into place, Norman turned back toward Custodian Valadin. “Thank you for being clear with your wishes, Custodian. Before I can agree to further talks about this issue, I wish to hear from your fellow Custodian. If his people have a similar wish, I am sure we can come to some sort of agreement. Custodian Marlinik, you have the floor.”
The older jorik stood, and he even gave an almost imperceptible nod toward Norman before speaking. “My people would welcome a reconnection with their lost from Custodian Valadin’s enclave. We understand this will not come freely, but we shall be amenable to discussing terms.”
The meeting moved onto Matron Astyria, and Cho Klu’klik clucked his annoyance. Norman just knew he was going to have to end the meeting by allowing that birdbrain to speak.
“I ain’t one for no fancy talk,” the Matron began. “My people need food, shelter, weapons… and breeding stock.” She said that last bit as she pointedly looked at Eugene. “Then we will fight with you to defend our territory.”
Norman blinked at that. The woman hadn’t really offered anything other than helping to defend their own zone. Hardly a worthwhile trade. Despite that, he wasn’t going to just shoot her offer down.
“I see… Well, thank you for being so transparent. We will discuss the particulars in a private meeting later.”
The gron had nothing to add to this meeting. They were only here at Norman’s request, another show of force to Donovan. Thanks to his spies, he knew the Council was aware of the gron and were afraid of them.
It wasn’t like the gron would agree to any sort of deal in a setting such as this anyway. Even if one of the parties wanted to make a deal with the gron, he wasn’t sure any of them would have the patience to wait a decade or two for the gron to decide on the specifics of such a deal.
Norman wasn’t sure he would have had the patience either, except he time-skipped over most of that nonsense.
Before he adjourned the meeting, he addressed Cho Klu’klik. As he had suspected, the feathered bastard had nothing to add or contribute, she just wanted to speak.
With the last speaker done, the meeting was adjourned for the day. Tomorrow would be a day meant to hammer out further details. And have private meetings with each group. He was looking forward to some of them more than others.