Universe of Plearth
Chapter 1 –
Tinia Linguista had never been the murderous type, until now that is. The ever so exciting elf Galdor Ar-Feiniel was waffling endlessly about the council's procedures and schedule. It was his job however, as the head clerk. But would it kill him to be a bit more enthusiastic?...Probably. The blonde haired women sat poking at her fine fringe, clipping it back to the side again. It had become a ritual during Galdor's particularly extensive speeches and she didn't want the spotlight to suddenly be thrust upon her when she was looking a bit scruffy. What sort of impression would that give?
The balding elf carried on, about voting and majorities. Tinia in the meanwhile turned to the man sat next to her, Godfried Silvertongue. Tinia adored him like he was a celebrity or world famous knight, but in fact he was a politician, but a important one at that. As ambassador for the State of Luneburg for a good thirty years, he was very experienced and well respected. Something Tinia wished she was. She had thought she had been dreaming when he selected her to replace her father as his assistant and fellow diplomat. He looked down at her and smiled, his freakishly large collar making his already small head look very out of place. He was wearing a warlock's cloak, which was entirely black apart from the baggy cuffs, edges and collars which were scarlet. They matched Tinia's own outfit however, clothing that was past it's time. Almost cybernetic in how it looked it was a rather odd piece, but worked. It too was scarlet and black. It consisted of a lone shoulder pad and cloak, signs of Luneburgian nobility; White under-shirt with flarey collars; scarlet gloves, strapped waistcoat and boots with White tights. She certainly prided herself on her style, believing she was easily the best dressed person in the room.
“Ambassadors Silvertongue and Linguista, please come to the stage and deliver your presentation” Galdor boomed from the stage at the duo, he must of known he bored them because he was emphasising the dullness of his voice as he addressed them. Tinia shot Godfried another look and gulped. This would be her first presentation to the council, not that she nervous, just afraid of failing to win the hearts and minds of the other ambassadors and, in turn, the faith of Luneburg's population. In fact, there was very little to worry about at all. Godfried simply smiled at the obviously panicky girl and grabbed her slightly trembling hand as they both stood up to a small round of applause. As they stood Tinia slowly began to smile herself and gave the other diplomats a beaming grin, full of what seemed to be confidence, transferred through Godfried's touch. It was probably more the fact he was a world renowned diplomat who managed to to persuade the council to pass many laws including the controversial Elemental Passage Act, which made it illegal for fire elementals to enter elven lands without the supervision of a being that can create a fire suppressing substance, such as water.
Before she knew it, she was stood on the stage, in front of ten other councillors all of varying races, two already displeased diplomats scoffed as the others clapped politely. They were the Syraxian ambassadors, who were openly against the proposed law. Someone had leaked documents to them, obviously.
“Good day, fellow diplomats' Godfried began in an upbeat tone, he knew many of the other representatives would agree with him anyway.
“I have come before you today, with my colleague, to discuss the creation of an anti-necromancy law” Several murmurs circulated throughout the councillors, discussing the repercussions of such a law and various advantages it may offer. Godfried and Tinia exchanged looks of triumph, they loved controversy. The warlock inspired man turned to the council once more.
“My friends, I won't be making the presentation this time round, my accomplice shall....Tinia” Godfried turned and walked towards her smiling in a strangely menacing way. Tinia's eyes widened as she allowed herself to be ushered forward by the man. Having reached the podium she slowly placed her documents onto the rest and surveyed the room, smiling at each councillor. From the stage she had a great view of the room, it was a perfectly circular space which matched the equally as circle shaped table which encompassed a lot of the area. The table was equally divided between the six nations. Each diplomatic couple (A traditional requirement) had ample space to make notes and banter. The stage came onto the table, almost like a catwalk, Tinia was literally the centre of attention. A daunting thought. The other 5 emissary couples sat staring at Tinia, her black skirt was bristling in the draft created by the large open windows dotted around the room, it wasn't enough to cause her embarrassment however, it was actually quite refreshing. In attendance were the Dwarves, Elves, Dragonkin, Elementals and Syraxians. Tinia and Godfried represented human interests.
The noble women went to speak, but no words could escape. Like starting a broken engine there was a initial grumble but nothing else. She couldn't speak, her mind wanted to but her throat wouldn't let her. It wasn't fear, she just didn't know what to say, this was her first time and she didn't want to mess it up.....but it was too late for that. It had been around ten seconds before someone piped up, a Syraxian. The bird like creature waved his clawed wings in the air, trying to get attention.
“Plearthian Venom Kat got your tongue?” he asked in a sarcastic, squawky voice, something most Syraxians couldn't help. His beak seemingly curled like he told a particularly witty joke, only his partner was impressed. The remaining diplomats shot him a look of distaste . It was an unspoken rule that they do not mock one another, as colleagues. However, the dig prompted the speech maker to start, much to the antagonizers annoyance.
“Ha ha, good one” Tinia shot at the Syraxian, who looked appalled.
“Erm....Yes, necromancy. A scourge to our morality and possible threat to the well-being of the citizens of Plearth” Many of the councillors gasped, obviously wondering what Tinia was getting at. She smiled and looked at Godfried over he shoulder, he could see her brimming with confidence and flicked his hand. Turning back around, Tinia saw her documents light up, as if their information was being absorbed by a mystical force. The contents of the paper was then displayed within three visions that manifested in front of Tinia, Godfried's doing..
Of the three visions, Tinia pointed to one on her right first, which showed crime statistics in correlation with necromancy use. It showed that over thirty percent of human criminals had at some point engaged in necromancy during the course of their lives. The elven ambassadors gasped rather loudly, absolutely appalled at the affects of magic on peoples minds and souls.
“Of course this data is solely applicable to humans but it can be safe to presume that necromancy may influence deviancy in other cultures and races.” Tinia concluded her first point and allowed the councillors to talk amongst themselves, the Syrax did not say anything, instead they chose to sit and stare, looking very unimpressed. Tinia saw and grimaced, she knew they were going to be hard to convince, being a race of necromancers and all......
“Well, we Syraxians have never encountered problems with necromancers or dark magicsss” The tallest and more heavily feathered bird creature stood up and declared, smacking his end-of-wing claws on the table. He immediately picked them up and nursed them softly, obviously hurt, he seethed in pain. The Syraxians has always been a physically impaired race, since being discovered by elves thousands of years ago they served underneath them and prospered very little. Syraxian lands aren't known for their fertility and the elves improved this, slightly. During the Summons war their homelands switched hands several times, but they ultimately rebelled and gained independence . Since then they have relied solely on necromancy to harvest from the few fertile patches of land around the country. As important as necromancy was to them, Tinia and Godfried saw it as a harmful practice, with harmful consequences.
“Well I don't think you'll find any problems with demonology, will you then?” An elemental diplomat said, causing a few laughs. The Syraxian slid back into his chair, embarrassed . Tinia was now able to move onto her second point.
“This is a list of all major confrontation with necromancers and hordes of the undead” Tinia began, her voice had become more stern and direct “Look at how much of our resources has gone into stopping attacks by necromancers in the past five years” She was certainly right to pick up on this. One million Plearthian ducats had been spent and over one hundred soldiers had been killed during the attacks. One of the dwarven diplomats was tucked inside the others arms, having obviously lost a family member to a necromancer.
“Obviously necromancy isn't something to be done casually” Tinia said, directing it at the Syraxians. There was a few nods from the other councillors.
“If those resources could be diverted else where, such as welfare, our death and unemployment rate wouldn't be what it is today.” A dragonkin spoke, his point was valid. Many other areas of society were failing because of unavailable funding. Tinia decided she would make haste and go on to the final point.
She drew attention to the final document, that was being enlarged by Godfried. It displayed findings by elven druids.
“My final argument is that, according to elven druids, necromancy may upset the balance of nature. Their hypothesis was thought up many years ago, when they first came across the dark art.” She stopped to breathe, the elves were intrigued by the hypothesis. Nature was an important part of their culture and for it to be out of balance would seriously demoralize them.
“As you can see, druids believe that necromancy may upset the balance of nature” Tinia said matter of factly as the elves nodded in agreement.
“When was the last time you saw a honeydew summer bird?” This caused another chorus of murmurs. It was common knowledge they'd be extinct, but how?
“Look, according to this Druidic report their population dropped soon after necromancy became a common practice” The Syraxians scoffed and whispered to themselves, it was obvious by now that the law was going to be approved. Tinia was now finished and said her 'thankyous' before exiting the stage with Godfried. The duo moved back to their seats, next to the stage but also next to the Syraxians. Godfried patted Tinia's back as they sat, whilst hisses came from beside them but they shrugged it off. Necromancy was the blight of Plearth. Galdor had made his way onto the stage once more and began to address the council again.
“Councillors, It is now time to reach a decision. If a unanimous decision cannot be reached a majority vote of ten to two will do.” His voice was, surprisingly, more enthusiastic than before. He must have been made to feel uplifted by Tinia's presentation, that or he was glad necromancy was being abolished.
“Now, those for the ban lift your hand”
Tinia laughed slightly as a Mexican wave took over the table, skipping the scowling Syraxians.
“A ten to two majority, the anti-necromancy law will be discussed further in the next meeting” whispers of victory began amongst those in favour as they packed away. The brooding Syraxians stood up too, angered.
“Plearthian Council? I don't bloody think ssso, when you can't even take other cultures into account. We're leaving! I don't think you realize how much you have offended our peopless! Good day!” The mad bird man screeched before chanting a teleportation spell “Gul'thulora” with that they were gone, a flash of lime green had eaten them. The remaining councillors exchanged looks of bewilderment and simply went back to their business. No-one thought they'd been serious, except Tinia who was feeling rather guilty, she quietly asked Godfried.
“They won't really leave, will they?”
(I'd to make it bigger
.....Please rip it to shreds
I need criticism!)
