The court room was separated into multiple areas. One either side of the room were layered stands facing each other, this was where the nobility would sit so that they could bear witness to the proceedings. In between the two stands was the speakers’ podium, where the elected speaker of the session would present the consolidated views of the nobility to the king. The throne, elevated and opposite the podium, had several smaller thrones on lower levels, where officials and advisors apart from the nobility and in service on the kingdom sat. Prince Ragnar, the war-master, is one such advisor, Lady Jessica, the guild-master, was another. There was also Treasurer Albert, the master of coin, Sir John, the spy-master and Grand Magus Archibald, the master of wizardry.
Floating in the air, around the chandeliers, were the scribes. Summoned astral beings made by the enchantments in the room that wrote down all proceeding in their own language, able to be understood by any sentient being. If a being broke an agreement recorded by these beings, any wronged parties that were noted to be in the agreement could invoke the Scribes to punish the violating party.
In this hasty session the noble’s stands were empty. In the speakers’ podium stood apprentice James jittering nervously, standing in the presence of the masters representing a mysterious entity that could either bring fabulous wealth or relentless destruction.
“Let the records state that this negotiation concerns the interests of the Reinga kingdom and it’s peoples, may the speaker declare the other parties” announced King Maximilian, defining the parties of the deal from his side.
“Let the records state that this negotiation concerns the interest of the Custodian, the Bulwark, and the Heart. The kingdoms and peoples that live upon the Bulwark are exempt from the terms of the deal.” Apprentice James replied, laying out the terms that Custodian had asked him to relay.
“Very well, then let the first round of negotiations begin. Custodian, you represent a danger to the Reinga Kingdom, but not an incalculable or unbeatable one so long as we don’t invade through the link. A stance that we won’t change is that no forces of yours will be allowed though the link, and anything that enters our Waypoint station though the link unexpectedly shall be destroyed.”
“The Custodian acknowledges the Reinga Kingdoms ability to bottleneck it’s movement into this realm but wishes for knowledge to be gathered and relayed to it. It’s willing to compromise and to send a limited number of individuals to gather the knowledge for it, a number that shall be agreed upon in the following proceedings, under armed escort by forces of your choosing. The acquisition of knowledge is an inviolable goal of the Custodian, if it cannot be met in some capacity, then no deal will follow”
“This condition can be provisionally accepted, so long as these Seekers of knowledge are of a limited strength, a limit that will be agreed upon later in the discussion. So long as there is no conflict in these terms it would be appropriate to move onto more productive term.”
“The Custodian believes that an agreeable decision can be made on the previous terms and seconds the movement onto additional terms.”
“I am of the understanding that the Bulwark is of unprecedented size, the acquisition of exploration and exploitation rights would be a prudent decision. Master of Coin, Guild master, these rights are your area of expertise, you shall take priority in this discussion. Guild master, present your case for the right of exploitation first”
“Yes, your majesty” Replied Guild master Jessica. “It would be beneficial to the guild, both in wealth and strength, to have access to a sub-plane. Allowing the adventurers into the Bulwark without a concerted effort to destroy them would bring heavy advantages, the bodies of powerful individuals can bring great wealth to the Bulwark if they are strong enough the best them. The Bulwark will have to provide an incentive to these adventures, however. This, I believe, is a mutually beneficial deal
“The Custodian finds sufficient benefit in using the corpses and equipment of those that die as research materials. An area, taking the form of a cone with the pinnace at the surface and getting wider as you descend, shall be sectioned from the sentient beings on the Bulwarks such that adventurers can fight. Adventurers shall be spectated at all times by the Custodian, and upon reaching the surface the Custodian will reward them proportional to the danger they faced. The adventurers shall choose either unwanted loot from previous adventurers, non-magical materials or the Custodian shall create a non-magical item of varying quality, from [C] to [S].” Replied apprentice James, in awe that the Custodian was able to make items of [S] class quality.
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“If the Custodian is truly able to make [S] class items, I doubt many adventurers would care if it’s mundane or not. I might even go” Muttered Mistress Jessica.
“That concludes the rights of exploration, now, lets move onto rights of exploitation”
“Yes, your majesty” Replied Treasurer Albert. “It is my belief that the Bulwark has a huge amount of metal available to it, but very little plant life, is this true?”
“The Custodian says that yes, on the surface there is more metal than the all ore ever mined combined, but there’s very little arable land, and hence little else. The Rainga kingdom can’t provide any worthwhile materials other than what the Seekers would gather, and thus mining shall only be permit within the area for adventurers, with the proportion of valuable materials rising as you get deeper. The Custodian shall permit trade with the kingdoms on the surface of the Bulwark, which call themselves the Kingdom of Light. A permit of trade can be gained by paying in magical materials, the more the Custodian values the materials, the larger the Custodian will allow the trade caravans to be. The Custodian believes that these terms are satisfactory for all parties and won’t engage any further discussion.” Apprentice James announced, growing more proficient in his role as Ambassador the more he addressed the most powerful people in the land at the behest of an even more powerful entity.
This proclamation was surprising to the Master of Coin, but the terms were indeed beneficial, and Albert didn’t want to push too hard with this unknown entity. Trade permits were an unexpected boon, but a useful one.
“Those terms are satisfactory to the Rainga kingdom” Replied Treasurer Albert.
“That concludes the rights of exploitation and trade, are there any other matters needed to be settles before the speaker and the masters deliberate on the specifics of agreed upon deals.” Asked King Maximilian.
“Yes, your majesty” Replied the Grand Magus “I believe it important to know more about the Custodians reality because of the dreams shared by everyone.”
“I second the importance of the dream” Were the first words the Spy Master said, “I’ve reports coming in that even mindless beasts shared this dream, including skeletons and zombies that aren’t even sentient.”
“The Custodian proposes that knowledge shall be allowed as a reward for the adventurers. As of now, this knowledge won’t be too valuable outside of the Custodians own personal experience, but the Custodian is ageless, and as time passes and the Seekers gather more information this may become the most valuable clause” relayed assistant James, furthering the Custodians aims of maximising demand for travel into his shard of reality.
“These terms are acceptable” Answered Grand Magus Archibald
“Very well, all that remains is the War Master to negotiate the specifics of the quantity and quality of the Seekers and then the deal can be finalised before the Scribes.”
“Agreed”
With little left to discuss, the terms were finalised. It was decided that the Seekers would have varying strengths and levels. Since they were constructs rather than organic beings, and the Regina kingdom had no concept of a Golem or Automaton that levelled up, it was decided that they would permit 20 [C] rank, 10 [B] rank and 5 [A] rank Seekers.
Every seeker would be followed by two adventurer parties of the same rank. The Reinga Kingdom would pay the adventurers and would give them priority access to the Waypoint station for an equal amount of time that they served, so long as they served for a minimum of 5 years.
The negotiations were completed by all parties announcing to the scribes that they had agreed upon a deal and reciting the terms they agreed upon. The Scribes had recorded the entire negotiation, but the last recital they exhausted their mana to write in order to make the agreement binding, on punishment an Astral Bounty being placed upon the violator.
Upon the terms being completed, the system shows up to acknowledge the deal. It was an uncommon event, but not an unprecedented one. If an individual reached certain criteria, such as power or notoriety, the system was known to acknowledge them and their pledges.
Deal with an ascendant entity made!
You have earned the trait "Custodians Deal"
Participants of the deal have been noted.
This ended up being beneficial to anyone who intended to keep to the deal, since it would mean a System Bounty instead of an Astral one. Such rewards could make kings out of paupers, and gods of kings. Countless greedy individuals would come to collect on such a reward.