Boss,
With a combination of courage, daring, outrageous flair, a disguise kit and a Royal Guardsman sash I conned the late Jordan Jurrell out of some years ago, I managed to infiltrate the Peace Talks. Donning my sash, make-up, a wig and beard, and assuming the persona of Sir Emmett, a Royal Guard assigned to the Royal Moonglow Zoological Association. Duke Irvyn grudgingly granted me a seat at the table.
We were joined by the Lady Dawn, some paladin-type called Nathan Hawke, Commander Raiden Morana of Cove, Sir Gendin of the Templars, Bladius Dart of Yew, Chancellor Escaflowne of Vesper and a handful of others. The Minoc Militia Captain Hayden somethingorother appeared later on however he has since resigned and, I believe, joined the Covian Militia. He likely has a grudge against Vesper and this may prove useful to us.
At the start of the meeting Nathan Hawke threatened violence against me if I went near the Lady Dawn. In fact, most of his sentences seemed to involve threats against people's lives. The others seemed to hold him in some respect so I refrained from introducing my boot to his groin area. The Lady Dawn made some sort of speech no doubt designed to rouse the rabble into patriotic fervour, forgetting their petty differences. My eyes unclouded by such sentimentality, I feigned my approval of her words. She added some drama to her speech by climbing onto the table. Cove's commander earned himself Hawke's wrath with a muttered comment.
Hawke told us all of some great threat from Casca but seems to know little of it. No doubt at the next meeting he can announce that the sun rises at the dawn of each day. I've included some sketches and notes. Dawn and Hawke left us to our dignified peace talks, doubtless hoping we would all embrace each other in the cause of unity. I won't bore you with the entirety of what was discussed. Suffice to say, each side seemed to want to end that war, however it sooned disintegrated into an argument of who started the thing in the first place. Yew and Vesper reeled off a litany of past outrages, each seeking to justify their involvement in the war. I was tempted to stir things up by bringing up the Mill massacre but they seemed to find no shortage of other outrages to complain about. The murder of a Yewian cleric atthe hands of a Vesperian was naturally brought up, though it seems she was poisoned and had her mind influenced by the Collegium. That the Collegium succeeded in finding a mind in a Vesperian is in itself something of a miracle.
Trinsic and the Templars seemed keen to be involved in enforcing Minoc's independance, the Minoc Captain seemed dubious of their ability to do so and wished Cove and Yew to be involved. Vesper was unhappy at this and protested the Minocian Captain inclusion, pointing out he was a militia of one man. Hayden eventually announced his resignation and left. There was another man present, from Skara Brae I believe by his accent and apparel, but he said little. It seems that the Yewish believe that the Vesperians killed Bladius Dart's wife, then stole and desecrated her corpse. The Vesperians denied this but after they had left the matter was raised again, Dart's escort pointing out that she was Trinsician. The Duke retorted that he knew this as she had once been married to his aide. This business over the wife may give us an opportunity. If we were to discover something, Bladius Dart may be grateful.
The matter of reparations to Minoc was brought up. Vesper seemed reluctant to be any part of this. After they had left, Dart offered for Yew to pay this. On a couple of occasions I offered the services of the Royal Moonglow Zoological Assocation to administer the reparation fund, for obvious reasons. Alas, my offer was not accepted.
Eventually peace was agreed, sort of, though nothing was signed. Escaflowne and his escort then left. The conversation continued for a while after though little was said.
All in all, despite the common threat, there is enough animosity still lingering for us to take advantage of in our dealings.
-Mask