Chapter 5.13 - The Calm

Serin had asked to meet with the various representatives one on one to go over their plans prior to their final planning meeting three weeks before the event.

The first person he had met with was Edel. The changeling leader of the protectorate had already divided up security to the various teams that had established themselves over the years. The most experienced and highest level team would act as the elite guard and quick reaction force present at all of the events.

Edel then had setup 3 person teams to guard the capital. The teams' makeup was an expert melee fighter, a stealth class, and a marksman, who would coordinate their actions and guard their areas. All areas of special interest such as the armory, government building, the dungeon, and the routes to the other two regions under construction were set with roaming guards.

The remainder of the protectorate were either assigned patrol detail, guarding foreign guests, or stationed throughout the city to react to any issues.

Dana on the other hand had a different plan. She planned to have her trained courtesans working the guests as well as visiting the various entourages that came with. It was her goal to have every single face present at the event memorized by one of her agents.

Serin sat down with Shurik and Ahna. As a lancer Gole she had begun to develop and harness her psionics. There was an ability that she thought might be helpful.

"You see Serin, certain crystals and gemstones grow together, and we Lancers can hear them, if we listen close."

Serin was confused. "I am not sure how this is relevant. But please, continue." Ahna smiled. And presented two amethysts. "No magic has been cast on these stones. However they will still sing, and they sing the same, because they grew up as a pair." Ahna then looked, "When I hold one, I can hear the other, no matter how far away I am. And I can tell you the distance and direction it is."

Ahna continued, "If we present this stone as a gift, maybe adorned on an enchanted bracelet that endures the harsh weather, we can be sure that such a treasured gift will not be thrown out. And the crystal's singing is untraceable to any but Lancer Gole."

Serin smiled. He understood. "We will make it more powerful, and make the enchantment a permanent buff to physical stats. Large enough to wear, but not large enough to be of detriment should we need to take it back by force."

Serin then looked at Shurik, "Any other ideas?"

Shurik smiled, "We are setting up an approved route for travel to the Government Building's banquet hall where the festivities will be held. Outside of that, there will be sentinel homunculi on every corner of every building. Also Edel has assigned the rowdy bunch to Hassan. While your quick reaction team will be on standby anywhere you are, far above the clouds we will have a windcutter cargo ship moving in a circle, waiting to deploy troops anywhere in the city that lets off one of these."

And with that, Shurik produced a glass globe with swirling purple smoke. "This is magical smoke will activate an indicator on the ship above and let them know to deploy."

Serin thought about it. "Even at its fastest safe descent speed, the ship will take almost 20 minutes to make it down."

Shurik smiled, "Thats why it won't move. The Rowdy bunch have been given these." Shurik held a bracelet. "We call it the freefall bracelet. When in freefall, it triples the pull of gravity, forcing a person to fall at an extremely fast speed. And in the moments before landing, it tapers off quickly and then activates slow fall, which ensures the user lands gracefully."

Serin was stunned. "That's insane Shurik. How fast will they fall?"

Shurik smiled, "At roughly 2 km up they are covered by clouds and they have made it down to earth in roughly 15 seconds."

Serin realized it was truely a force to be reckoned with. "How often are ships up there?"

Shurik laughed, "I can barely get Hassan and his boys to come down. That is where they are meant to be."

Serin laughed with him, "well keep out of sight of our guests. No need to show our hand."

Finally Serin met with Ephraim.

Ephraim had asked Jasmin and Jericho, as two of the more experienced travellers, what delicacies were like in the Grand wood alliance and Northern Kingdoms respectively. Then he had worked with Lord Koni to develop a meal plan for their expected guests and additional meals for the entourages.

"The entourages do not have diplomatic requirements, so they will not be permitted in the city. Therefore we will be entertaining them separately. Although their group will most likely be soldiers and spies, we will treat them like honored guests all the same, and have all their meals prepared."

Serin looked at the list. According to the Formal Rites, each nation was permitted to bring two dignitaries, as well as 24 in an entourage. The dignitaries were bound by diplomatic protocol, but the entourage was not. Therefore it was deemed prudent that the entourage was segregated to the merchants quarter near the entrance of the capital.

Serin looked at Ephraim, "According to the event plan we will perform the announcement rites, hold a banquet, and then have a gala. Any ideas?"

Ephraim smiled, "For the gala, I have prepared a set of stories from each of our races. It will hopefully help to make them seem less like monsters in the eyes of our neighbors. Also a few of those in our town have musical talent with a variety of instruments never heard here."

Serin was impressed. "We would like the musicians to stay while we sit and dine. Would that be possible? We can use the music as a backdrop for conversation between the various dignitaries."

Ephraim nodded.

***

The final meeting took place three days prior to the expected arrival of dignitaries. Preparations set, Serin smiled as there were plans, backup plans, and emergency scenarios were discussed.

Finally, Uriel stood. "It has come to my attention that almost every member of Edel's original team, the Rowdy bunch, was moved to another team, so much so that the majority of the members of those on Captain Hassan's Ship are led by my own people. Therefore I formally recommend that the name 'rowdy bunch' be reutilized and the team, based on their specific nature, be named after our winged forbears, and be known as 'Archangels'."

The formal way in which the nickname change topic was brought up brought levity to the entire situation, drawing smirks and laughter.

Edel then stood up, "Understood and as leader of the Protectorate, the group under Captain Hassan will be henceforth identified as the Archangels." Then Edel smirked and winked, "On a completely unrelated topic, the Quick Reaction force stationed at the events has been titled, The Party Crashers, having no identifiable correlation to the unrelated fact that most members of which were previously part of the Rowdy Bunch."

This was led with a chorus of laughter.

Serin knew it was important to lead a country and it seems that their town, their nation, moved from one serious problem to the next. Serin was happy in moments like these a bit of lighthearted fun could be added.

That and Party Crashers was a pretty cool name for a military strike team, he mused.