Meeting the Council...

[Drasanil]

Allarya drew many stares from both humans and dwarves, and not because of her exquisite black dress with an embroiled golden leaf partern, as she followed the beardling to the hall of elders. The young dwarf was slow but not painfully so, infact she was surpised the pudgy little thing could walk as fast as most humans. She only wished he hadn't kept her waiting for more than an hour at the embassy. But then again it did give her time change out of those tired adventuring clothes and armour and into something which suited her fancy, she wondered if the elders would appreciate her impecable sense of style... probably not, since most dwarves seemed to have the same fashion sense a blind human on a budget. Finaly as the group arrived at the council hall they wer waved through, with a notisable hint of grumbling from the guards, and the new ambassador was well on her way to meet the elders.

[Grumbaki]

The doors to the council chamber were opened, revealing a large room with a great oval table. At the head of it was Thorin Bjarson, the high priest of Grungni. The white bearded elder was wearing a dark blue robe with golden trim around the edges. A heavy golden necklace hung from his neck in the shape of a pickaxe, which glittered in the torch light.

Around the table were the rest of the elders. Borak Svarson was sitting next to Thorin, the heavily muscled dwarf looked impatient. He was wearing simply gray clothes, the only thing showing him to be an elder was his long white beard and a signet ring that had his clan's symbol on it. Across from him was Azdull Thrandinson, the only dwarf on the council not to be an elder. His beard was only now starting to gray, but he still had the look of youth around him. He was dressed in fine clothes and had a benign look about him. On the council, he was definately the voice of reason. Further down was Alarac Steelgaze, who was covered in precious stones of all kinds. Each piece of jewerly was a work of art, and each one, if sold, would have been too expensive for most minor nobles. And finally there was Thrund Skalfson, reputed to be one of the greatest smiths in the entire hold. Like Borak his clothes where simple, but that was in design only. They were made out of the finest materials, imported directly from the Empire. Behind each elder was a scribe, ready to write down everything that was said so that it could be kept in their clan records, while the scribe behind Thorin was to be kept in the official records of the hold.

The guards who led Allarya in closed the doors and then stood guard there, their weapons at hand. There was one seat left open, which was obviously for Allarya. Nobody said anything, as they all waited for the new ambassador to make the first move.

[Drasanil]

As Allarya looked around at the assembled dwarves, one thing kept popping up in her mind, she was definitely the best dressed person in the room and she now knew for sure that dwarves had very little sense of style. Perhaps one of these days she would find the patience to instruct them on how to dress properly, but for now her father had given her far more pressing not to mention quite dull matters with which she had to deal.

"Uhm, they have much nicer beards than Magnund..." Allarya remarked to herself in with a mixture of amazement and surprise as she walked over to the center of the room where her chair was. The princess was quite surprised to see that these dwarves took so much care of their beards, Magnund the Ambassador who was also dour old warrior only ever bothered cleaning his beard when he had to attend formal events, the rest of the time it was just tangled mess of hair and worse. If only the stunted folk took as much pride in their personal hygene as they do with their beards, she thought to herself before finaly snapping out of it. "Your highness..." the princess stated pleasantly as she looked at the high priest, whom she had just mistaken for a king, "...my father sends his greetings to you and your advisors and hopes that...erm... your beard grows long and that your mighty hold grows strong..." she continued in the same pleasant fashion her silvery almost beguiling voice seemed to echo in the deathly silent hall. Though the princess had indeed studied the books in her father's library before coming to Kazad Dawr. They proved misleading at best, for one Kazad Dawr had no king when the books clearly stated all holds had their own king, further more having been writen by humans the books seemed to have conflicting views of proper dwarven etiquette as well as many other things such as what was considered dishonorable or not...

[OOC: I took a fel test for reference and rolled '23' and she has a fel of 65(75 if Good) with dwarves, so don't be too harsh on her ]

[Grumbaki]

There was a general murmer about this. Azdull chuckled, but the rest found it most disturbing. It was Thorin who spoke.

"I am surprised that ye are here, seeing as how you know nothing about this hold. I thought that ye father would at least have made you do some research. Ever since the king was murdered this hold has been ruled by the council of Elders, and I simply watch over it. I am the high priest of Grungni, not the king. Now, ambassador, would you care to start over?"

[Drasanil]

"No king? But the books father made me read... and you had the colours an' all..." she replied in a disappointed tone as she realised the manuals she had spent more than a week studying were utterly worthless, "...worhtless human scholars..." she mumbled to herself as she sulked in her chair for a few moments before regaining her composure. "Well, my name is Allarya Keraithyen and I'm Caldath's daughter as you well know... uhm I was sent here because father thinks I could learn from some responsibility from you..." she continued in a slightly cheerier tone as she looked around the hall before fishing out a letter from her purse, "Yes... father wrote a letter for you... mind if I read it? Apperently he forgot you probably don't understand elvish... "

[Grumbaki]

"Yes, a common mistake. Please read it to us."

Borak snorted with annoyance, which earned him an amused look from Azdul and an agreeing one from the others.

[Drasanil]

Allarya made an entirely fake throat clearing noise in an attempt to look more serious for the council, after which the princess smiled innocently before bringing the letter up to eye level and reading it: "Honorable Council Memebers." the princess stated in clear voice which oddly enough bore none of the childish demeanor which was so abundant but moments ago, "I send to you my daughter Allarya as ambassador, despite her youthfull exuberance and occasionaly poor judgement, she is quite agreeable and far more honest than most humans you shall deal with. I regret that I am unnable to present her to you myself but circumstances dictate that I must remain in Yetzinburg and see to certain pressing matters. It is my sincere hope that spending time with your kin will teach her a thing or two of responsibility and duty..." the princess continued in the same pleasant voice, though she was visibly upset at having to read her father's letter a loud, mostly because it pointed out her own failings, "As for the matter of your latest petition to have the suit of gromril armour, which is currently in my possesion, returned. I regret to inform you that Galdruk Baldrukson is not worthy of it. His noble blood may make him worthy of the power which he wields, while is grand beard makes him worthy of the respect which you accord him, his venemous tongue and inadequate fighting skill ...oh my, father is being generous it only took one punch to knock him out... make him unfit to possess such a prize. At present, there is only one dwarf in your hold, to which I would be willing to surrender this armour: Lamin Rafinson of ...oh wait... that can't be right ...uhm... ah yes sorry about that... Nalim Farinson of Clan Blackhammer a true hero who's bravery and skill of arms I had the good fortune of witnessing myself." the princess continued quickly correcting herself after she misread the Nalim's name, which in all fairness was not easy to read in elven, she then looked around the room to view the reactions of the elders.

How ever, before any of the elders could open their mouths, Allarya realised that there was more to the letter, oddly enough this paragraph was written in common tongue. The young princess snapped her fingers and the young man which had accompanied her from the embassy stepped foward and put a plain black case on the table before opening it to reveal what looked like an amulet of dwarven make as well as an old tome, "My daughter also comes bearing gifts for you, in the case you shall find a pair of items which are of dwarven make, I thought you might appreciate these. I would have returned them to you earlier, but my research into their nature was side tracked by more important things. These items were recovered in the same ruins from which I found the suit of gromril armour, during the cleansing of the tainted lands, and seemed to have belonged to an old runesmith or atleast a rather important dwarf, the runes aren't particularly powerfull or all that usefull, but they make a nice gift." Allarya continued with a hint of curiosity in her voice, not having any ideas herself what they were exactly, "The first item which I present to you is a gift for the eldest member of the council, which I believe is Thorin Bjarson at the moment. This gold amulet is struck with the rune of luck and with it the council's eldest shall hopefully be met with nothing but good fortune. The second item appears to be the dwarf's journal. I don't know if you shall find anything of use in it, but it seems to have been written in his own blood and may prove to be an interesting read, as well as a fitting addition to your library." the princess finished in a satisfied voice as she sat back down in her chair and looked around with a slight smile, waiting to see what the council would do. The items which were presented to the council were little more than a shiny trinket and moudly old book in her mind. Having seen her father's collections of both tomes and items of magical power, Allarya was hardly surprised that he would give such petty baubles away, but she was surprised he would try to give these as presents to people of such high standing, no doubt they had far more impressive things in their possession.

[Grumbaki]

Alarac glared at her as the gifts were brought to the table.

"That is me third-cousin whom ye father called "unworthy." But that is besides the point. The fact of the matter is that ye father does not own that suit o' armour, the dwarven people do. While we thank him for his gifts, they too were not his to give. All dwarven heirlooms should be handed over with all haste to the nearest dwarven authorities, just as we would do with any elven artifacts that we find. It is not in his power to decide whom the armour should go to."

At this the entire council nodded their heads at this. Thorin looked thoughtful, but said nothing as he observed the conversation.

[Drasanil]

Allarya's innocent smile soon died as Alarac spoke his words and glared at her, despite the appearance she maintained, mostly for the sake of others, she was no fool, and definitely not a push over when she set her mind to something. "Had he not insulted my father's lineage and spent more than a minute trying to strike him down in vain, he would have most likely recieved the armour..." she replied in a cold dead tone much like the one which her borther usualy boasted, her face was bare and disturbingly enough showed no emotion what so ever, while her usualy vibrant eyes seemed stone cold as they met those of Alarac. After a few moments, the princess finaly turned her attention back to the high priest, as he looked the most reasonnable of the bunch, and resuming her more agreeable smile, "Father agrees with you that this armour belongs to the dwarven people. If he didn't, you, quite simply, would not know of it's existance." she continued this time her voice was once again quite pleasant, apperently she felt she had made her point, "How ever, such a splendid suit of armour, is fit for no less than a true hero of the dwarven people. Father says to hand it over to any one but a true dwarven hero would be a great dishonor to it's memory as well as that of it's previous owners. Besides, you have but send this Nalim person who father seems rather fond of, and the armour will be returned to you..." Allarya added in her usual silvery voice, before looking around the council hall and adding in: "I don't understand the problem, is this Nalim person dead? or did you have some one else in mind?"

[Grumbaki]

Thrund shook his head sadly. "Nalim is kin to me, so I am sad to say this. He broke an oath, and though he tried to fulfill it, he could not. Until he pays off his debt, he is dead to all of us. Giving him the armour is out of the question, for now."

Alarac spoke up next. "But until that time, the choice upon who gets it and who does not should be within our hands. So we once again stake claim to that which is ours by birthright!"

[Drasanil]

"So no Nalim?" Allarya replied with a hint of worry in her voice as she looked at Thrund before addressing the rest of the council once again, "...this does not bode well." she continued in the same tone before turning back her attention back to Alarac. "It may well be your birth right, but father can very picky about these sort of things. Even if I were to ask him myself I very much doubt he would hand it over to any one, but a dwarf who manages to impress him. Any one else will simply be refused and or quite possibly beaten if they persist, he went quite easy on Galdruk you know..." she continued in a serious fashion before turning her attention back to Thorin the head of the counsel: "If you want the armour returned your hold, you will either need a true hero who can impress him, or some one father has known and trusted for a long time to claim it themsleves. Other wise you will simply be wasting your time, if I do say so myself father can be more stubborn than...well... a dwarf when he wants to, no offence intended."

[Grumbaki]

"And when has it ever been the right of an elf to judge a dwarf? By Grungni, the sheer arrogance!"

Borak cut it at that point.

"This will get us nowhere. Caldath is a walking contradiction. He is an elf with honour, as far as I can see. If he gives his word that the armour will go to a dwarf who is worthy of it, and it will go to no one else, then I am willing to let it stay where it is. For now. And, as we all know, Nalim has done well against the Skaven thus far, he may even fulfill his oath. And if he does so, then the armour will go to him."

Alarac snorted with contempt at this and gave Borak an angry glare. For about a century Borak had been on friendly terms with Caldath, and on more than one occassion his warriors had marched alongside those of the elf. Alarac, who was still hard edged against Caldath in every way, was the opposite of Borak. The rest of the council fell between the two elders and often went either way.

Thrund Skalfson nodded his agreement to Borak, which was natural as if Nalim succeeded then the armour would go to someone within his clan. Only Azdull was left who had not made up his mind and he sat there thinking it over. The entire council was looking at him. If he sided with Borak then the armour would stay with Caldath for the time being, if he did not then the decision would fall onto Thorin's shoulders. At length he replied.

"I say that I would be alright with the current arangement, if the armour would reside within Kazad Dawr, but it will not be worn until an owner can be found who is worthy of it. Once said dwarf proves himself to Caldath, it can be worn."

A quick look around the table confirmed everything. Both Thrund and Borak nodded their agreement, while Azdull looked as irate as ever.

"We are agreed then. Ambassador, ye have heard our offer. The armour shall reside in Kazad Dawr, but cannot be worn until Caldath chooses a dwarf who is worthy of this. What say ye?"

[Drasanil]

"That sounds fine with me... though it might be best if your kinsman came and got the armour. To be honest I wouldn't trust humans with such a valuable artifact..." Allarya replied with a hint of relief and a slight smile on her face before she looked around once again at the council. "Has any of you or your kinsmen had many dealings with father? It might be best if it was some one he knew who picked the armour as part of the deal, might also be a good idea if your representative had a good number of kinsmen with him to make sure it's safe on the trip back to Kazad Dawr..." she continued in the same relieved fashion as he looked around the council and tried to gage the elders' reaction. Before pulling out a piece of parchment and begining to write something down in elvish to make sure that no one but the person it was intended for could read her letter.

After a few more moments though, the princess looked up at the council again, midway through her letter as a thought hit her, "Uhm, about the armour... isn't there a way... that... well you know... to help Mister Nalim get his honor back? That sure would solve a lot of problems when you think about it..." she inquired innocently as she looked around the council, having no idea what Nalim's punishment was, or indeed what he had done to earn it.

[Grumbaki]

Thrund again shook his head.

"I'm afraid not lassie. He's been tasked with driving out the Skaven from their burrows beneath the mountains. We've fought them now for over a century and from the looks of it we'll be fighting them for centuries more, unless something tips the balance in our favor. Until they are gone, he is oath bound to ne'er leaves the depths o' the mountains, and while he is bound by his oath, he is dead to us."

[Drasanil]

"Something like what? Father says skaven are miserable little insects that flee at the sight of any opposition... I can't imagine they'd be that hard to drive off." the princess continued in an innocent fashion, she knew full well of skaven and what they were, and she knew they were incredibly cowardly things, a fact which made it all the more surprising that the dwarves had not gotten rid of them yet.