SaDiablo Hall, Dhemlan, Kaeleer

[glacial_queen]

The meeting took place after dark. For all that the Hall was filled with dark power that had seeped into its very stones, it was still easier for the demon-dead to arrive after the sun had set. Several bottles of yarbarah were already warming--this might be a war council, but Mrs. Beale would never allow Mephis, Prothvar, and Andulvar to go without refreshment.

Nor were they alone. Karla had told her friends at Fandom that the coven and boyos could not help her and that was true. All of them were too highly-placed in their respective Territories; all of them could claim kinship with their homes' sitting rulers. To have any one of them show up inside Glacia's borders to help rescue Black Widows could lead to a war between their Territory and Glacia. But being banned from actively helping did not prohibit them from offering Karla counsel and so they had come to the meeting as well: Morghanne and Khary from Scelt; Gabrielle and Chaosti of the Dea al Mon, their clan sigil a twin to the one worn by a witch in Fandom; Aaron and Sabrina from Dharo, though Aaron stood close to Kalush, from Narkhava; Sceron and Astar from Centauran; the satyrs, Jonah and Zylona, from Pandar; Grezande and Elan of Tigrelan; even tiny winged Katrine, from the Paw Islands. In a way, it felt much like the first party again, when they'd all tumbled into the Hall and Uncle Saetan's life--save that party had been a joyful reuniting of friends and the making of new ones.

There were no smiles here. Even Khary looked unexpectedly grim, and Ladvarian stayed quiet and still at Kaelas's side. Mrs. Beale's repast remained largely untouched.

When everyone had found a spot to sit--or, in Lucivar's case, lean imposingly--Karla squeezed Warren's hand and stepped forward to speak. She'd given this issue a lot of thought over the past few days and had come to what she was starting to think was the only conclusion.

"I will not fight," she said. There were restive murmurs at that, Sceron's forehoof hitting the floor in an impatient gesture, but she looking only into Morton's tired eyes. "More specifically, Glacia will not fight. The time is not far off when I will call my people to turn and battle one another, but that time is not now. I am not yet ready to be Queen, not yet ready to make the Offering. I cannot yet even fill my Court. Fighting now will do nothing but waste innocent lives."

"You cannot mean to let this stand!" Chaosti argued.

Karla shot him a withering glare and had the pleasure of seeing him take a half-step behind Gabrielle--who jabbed him with her elbow. "Of course not," she retorted. "But war is not the way to handle this. Hobart has had almost ten full years to convince the people that Black Widows are to be feared and mistrusted. Leading them into a war against their own people will do nothing but send people flocking to Hobart's banners. Right now, they are victims. Let them loose and they will become the enemy--and, by association, so will I."

"The Territory bleeds when Black Widow march to war," Saetan murmured in his chair by the fireplace. Jaenelle and Gabrielle nodded in unison to that and, for a moment, a hint of unease flickered across the faces of the others.

Even here, the knowledge of what Black Widows were capable of was enough to disquiet Karla's staunchest allies.

"Then what will you do, Sister?" Katrine asked, voice high and piping. "You said you had a plan."

"We run," Karla said quietly. "We hide. We leave. Glacia is trapped in a long, dark winter; we do what we must to stay strong until spring returns. By evacuating the Black Widows, their families, their males and their retinues, not only to we keep them safe from Hobart's forces, but we deny Glacia their strength. We spirit them away, to return when I am ready to march upon Sidra and become Queen."

"To where?" Andulvar asked, his wings opening and closing restlessly behind his back. "There is no place in Glacia safe enough for so many to hide." He would know; he and Morton had spent days going over the maps of the Territory. "And no other Territory can offer them shelter, not without going up against Glacia and the Dark Council. And that will lead to that war you are so desperate to prevent, witchling."

"Hell?" Prothvar asked, but Saetan was already shaking his head.

"No," Jaenelle agreed. "It isn't safe for the living to remain long in Hell. They would need the High Lord's own protection for that. Either to live in the Hall or on one of the unclaimed islands."

"By which she means, it's no different than inviting them to Dhemlan," Grezande said, her tail lashing furiously behind her.

"Who would know?" Aaron pointed out. "It's not like we would advertise that they were staying in Hell."

"There are some who claim that Hell has a High Priestess, as well," Mephis said stiffly. "And those who give her loyalty have no great love for the High Lord."

"And how would they get there?" Sabrina asked. "The dead may find their way with ease, but the living require a Gate. I am sure Glacia's Gate is well-guarded by Hobart's males. No, Hell will not do."

"Warren had an idea, before we left Fandom," Karla said and pitied her boyfriend as every eye in the room zeroed in on him. "Creating safe places, havens, in Arceria. It shares a border with Glacia, just over the mountains, which means that its accessible to people, even with the Winds being locked from us. We can put them in the blank spaces between the winds, layered with Craft and illusions. Arceria is a kindred Territory as well, so threat of war is lessened. The Dark Council would have to believe in kindred first. I would need to reach some kind of accord with the Arcerian Queen, of course, but if she grants us land, we can create villages and towns over the border in Arceria for the Black Widows to relocate to."

Which would also solve the problem of her people settling down in an already-populated area and choosing to stay. An unworthy thought, perhaps, but Karla couldn't pretend it wasn't a valid one. Saving their lives came first, of course, but that didn't mean she would be happy to lose a quarter of their number anyway simply because they had formed ties to another Territory.

"Our plan is, as yet, still simple and unrefined," she admitted. "I know that for it to work at all, we'll need to do a lot of planning and smoothing and hammering it into shape. But of all the options I have heard and thought of thus far, I feel this one has the highest chance of working. It is also the one I feel most comfortable with--it involves us building and protecting, not fighting and killing. I know this is by no means a truly safe plan, but then, nothing is. I feel this one has the best chance of not only saving the lives of Black Widows, but also providing them a chance of something more than mere survival over the next few years."

Some of the boyos were frowning in either skepticism or disapproval, but most of the coven were nodding thoughtfully, ideas of their own running through their head.

"If anyone else has a brilliant idea, I'm all ears," Karla continued, a touch of wry humor in her tone. "Hell's fire, any ideas at all are appreciated. Same with reasons why this absolutely won't work. But I do need to remind you--our time is short and growing shorter. And for some, it's only measured in heartbeats."

[Establishy, unless them that are there wish to talk to people! NFB.]

Comments

[darkcourtcoven.livejournal.com]

"Well-said, boyo," Morghanne agreed in her Scelt brogue. "Knowin' there's a place for them to get to will give heart to them what need it most. And belike there will be those that choose to stay, for one reason or another, but knowing they can get their families to safety will keep them strong no matter what they face. "

[wwiii]

Warren gave a little nod, smiling faintly. Morghanne's support meant more to him than he'd readily admit. Karla's was the world to him, of course, but this was the support of a stranger in a strange land, which measured highly while he was standing and hoping to make some sort of difference.

"It's an alternative to being backed into that corner, where they'll give up their own freedom so that the people they love don't suffer," he agreed. "Desperation can drive a person to do some pretty terrible things."

[glacial_queen]

And he had hers, of course. Karla reached for his hand again, lacing her fingers through his and squeezing. "Stay?" she asked Morghanne. "Why would anyone stay if we can get them a way out?"

[theboyos.livejournal.com]

It was Aaron who answered her. "They'll stay for you," he said quietly. "War is coming to Glacia. Everyone knows that. The harder your uncle struggles against it, the more certain they become. You'll need more eyes than just the ones Morton and Prince Hagen can provide. Some will stay, to serve you better behind the lines as it were. You announced your intentions this past summer with your Queen's Gift. Doing this, you'll be raising your banner. People will flock to it, you'll see. And not just for protection."

[darkcourtcoven.livejournal.com]

Kalush nudged him in the ribs, though more gently than Gabrielle had done to Chaosti. "Hobart," she corrected with a small smile. "Karla's uncle sits close by."

[theboyos.livejournal.com]

"As you say, Lady," Aaron said, offering her a fond smile in return and a minute bow. "Hobart, then. But that doesn't change what I said. Karla is drawing lines in the sand with this. Afterwards, war is inevitable, even if delayed."

[wwiii]

"I think war was pretty much inevitable before," Warren said, his tone carefully level. This wasn't his world. Maybe it wasn't even his place to say things like this. But Karla had brought him with her, had wanted him with her, and so he was going to speak when he had something to say.

Someday, he'd probably even learn to speak loudly.

"A delay is about the best that we can ask for, considering all that's going on in Glacia at the moment. At least a delay means there's time to prepare. As it stands, we need that time."

[theboyos.livejournal.com]

"Oh, agreed," Khary said, idly tossing grapes from one hand to the next. "We all knew that. And likely everyone standing in Hobart's council--though nowhere near as wise or charming as we--knew it, too. But the villagers and the landens and the smallfolk in the mountains? Karla's been gone for four years already. At best, she's a myth, said to have appeared a few times this summer before vanishing again. She steps in and does this, then suddenly she becomes real."

[wwiii]

"She becomes more than a hope," Warren replied, with a small, thoughtful nod. "She becomes a promise."

Okay. Okay, he was trying to not look about as silly as he felt, standing there stating the obvious to... to a large number of people with more worldly experience than he could ever dream of having. The best he could do while he stood there talking about what needed to happen was show that he wasn't too proud to admit that he was still learning, too.

"The people who might choose to stay behind were mentioned as one possibility. What else do you suppose we should expect from those that we're trying to make sanctuary for?"

[glacial_queen]

"She is right here," Karla grumbled, but winked so Warren knew she was only teasing.

It was that or acknowledge how very small she felt, with words like 'hope' and 'promise' being tossed about and all meaning her. Was this what Jaenelle felt like, she wondered, knowing that she was dreams made flesh for all of the Blood?

[offers-choices.livejournal.com]

"Depends on what you mean by that," Lucivar said. Unlike the rest of the room, Lucivar was actually eating some of the food that had been laid out for them, munching on a bit of bread and cheese. "They're going to need homes, fields, stores, schools. We can't think of this as some kind of temporary camp for these people. It will be another few years before Karla comes back and is ready to be the Queen. They'll need Healers and teachers and farmers and blacksmiths and whatever the Hell else is needed to make for a functioning village."

[changeable-eyes.livejournal.com]

"More than that, too," Jaenelle said. "Think about it. They're leaving their homes, their very lives, being uprooted and driven across mountains to settle in a new Territory. They'll be lost and frightened, some will be injured or traumatized. There may even be those who have been broken. We'll need people there to help ease their way in."

"We'll also need to make sure everyone who arrives really is what they're pretending to be," Mephis added. "Just one turncoat in the bunch could threaten the lives of everyone involved."

[wwiii]

"Food, shelter, clothing, education, healthcare, both physical and mental, sanitation... and some sort of screening," Warren rattled off, pausing for a moment near the end in order to chew on the inside of his cheek. He didn't much like the thought that somebody would sneak in and put the lives of so many at risk, but at the same time, Jaenelle raised a very valid point. "Law enforcement, I guess. They're all basic human needs. And it is a lot of work to pull together. We still don't even know if Arceria is going to have any part of it. But a lot of work doesn't mean that it's impossible, either."

Warren pursed his lips thoughtfully, already contemplating possible investments to make and stocks to sell in order to raise money for such a venture. Glacia couldn't damn well declare war on Worthington Labs for getting involved, after all.

[glacial_queen]

People were looking at him again, Karla with pride and a touch of smugness, the others with various degrees of surprise and interest. Saetan in particular was eying him closely.

"We're also going to have to figure out who will rule the village or villages when we're done," Karla pointed out. "Black Widows and Warlord Princes can hold land in the absence of a Queen, but with all the different witches and their retinues there, the last thing we need is infighting and politicking. In the beginning, it probably won't be that big a deal, but once everything is established and people feel safe? That's when our pettier natures come out."

[hells-highlord.livejournal.com]

"Are you not going to rule, Karla?" Saetan asked softly, his eyes still on Warren. "You are a Queen, after all. Their Queen."

[glacial_queen]

Karla paused--and then slowly shook her head. "I will be the Queen while we get everything set up and through to the end of the current crisis," she said. "But only unofficially. I will still be a female before her Offering with no true Court. If I were to be challenged for my position, then by the laws of Protocol I would lose. I'm not going to abuse Protocol for my own gain. More importantly, I can't be seen to lose. If someone challenges me now, then it might clear the way for others to challenge me later, and we can't afford that."

There were nods all around as she said that. Andulvar gave a rough chuckle. "Sounds like you've given some thought to this."

Karla shrugged. "Funny how it's been on my mind a lot, lately. But a Court would, at least, serve as law enforcement." That was a Terran term, not a Kaeleeran one, but they could figure out the gist of it easily enough.

[glacial-warlord.livejournal.com]

"We need to make certain that the villages are able to support themselves, too," Morton said, the naked gratitude on his face almost painful to look at. Unlike everyone else in the room, even Karla, Morton alone had been there when the law had been passed. He had come too late to stop the stoning, but he had seen the aftermath of that, as well. "I don't know if anyone we rescue will know how to grow or hunt enough food to support themselves."

"Surely we can help--" Elan began to offer.

"At first, a bit, in the beginning, yes," Morton interrupted. "But, like Lucivar said, this could take years. The more traffic in and out there is, the higher chance they will be found. Hobart is already watching the Winds in Glacia. He might be smart enough to watch the Winds in surrounding Territories, too. I don't know."

[wwiii]

See Warren. See Warren chewing the inside of his cheek.

"Part of the education, then, would have to be in teaching any refugees how to farm and hunt. And once enough have learned, they can teach the others as they arrive, right? They'd need something to start themselves off with, though."

He tilted his head a little.

"The portals that we take in from Fandom. How easy are they to watch?"

He was the fidgety Landen standing in the room, here. He had no idea. And so he had to ask.

[changeable-eyes.livejournal.com]

The blank stares and confused expressions probably told Warren what he needed to know, but Jaenelle chuckled a bit and answered him. "Impossible," she said. "They're a completely foreign technology; just as Lady Raven's teleporting is a completely foreign Craft."

"What 'portals' are we speaking of?" Chaosti demanded. "You mean the Gates?"

[glacial_queen]

Gabrielle snorted and rolled her eyes. "Gates wouldn't be a completely foreign techno--whatever Jaenelle just said, now would they?" she asked him.

Karla coughed a bit, trying not to laugh aloud. "How in the Darkness do you think we travel from one world to another, Chaosti? The Winds don't go everywhere. But, in a way, you're right. They function much like Gates, except they can go anywhere. They're not limited to just Dark Altars."

[offers-choices.livejournal.com]

"That's ridiculous!" Chaosti objected. "Just think of the implications if you could use a Gate to anywhere--" He stopped. And began to smile. Evilly.

"Way ahead of you, boyo," Lucivar said, a lazy smirk crossing his own face. "I think I'm going to spend some time figuring out how we can use these Gates to our best advantage."

[glacial_queen]

Karla pursed her lips at the two of them. Using Terran tech here in Kaeleer made her a little uneasy. But if it could save more lives, who was she to argue against it?

At least, not until she had a better idea why it made her so uneasy.

"You're thinking of using them for supplies?" she asked Warren. "Surely not forever, though. Portals and supplies for even one village will be expensive for an extended period of time. And Portalocity is not always the most reliable method."

[wwiii]

"Yeah, definitely not the most reliable," Warren agreed, looking sidelong at Lucivar and Chaosti and wondering if maybe he'd just inadvertently created a monster or two. "But good for bringing in some supplies, at least. Medical equipment, farming tools, building supplies, and some food to get people started with. You'd practically need an army of couriers just running back and forth constantly, if we were going to try keeping entire villages completely stocked using the resources of other worlds. The idea is to make these settlements self-sufficient, at least until they're safe to go back home. Anything else would get ridiculous pretty quickly."

[offers-choices.livejournal.com]

The answer to that was most certainly 'yes.' Lucivar and Chaosti had retreated to the corner of the room and were whispering furiously at one another. At one point, they linked arms and began gleefully stomping around in a circle.

Anything that brought them that much joy just couldn't be right.

[theboyos.livejournal.com]

The look Khary was shooting them was decidedly mistrustful.

"Well, now you did it," he announced to Warren. "Darkness only knows what they're up to. They look like it's all thirteen days of Windsol combined. It's just unnatural, is what it is."

With deliberate effort, he turned his attention back to Warren. "Let's see, they'd need livestock, grain, tools and supplies. Assuming most of the people make it out with just the clothes on their back...we'd need everything, pretty much. There should be plenty of wood, from where we need to clear the forest, but even working most of it into usable form is going to take tools and whatnot. How much experience do you have with this kind of thing?"

[wwiii]

"Me, personally?" Warren bit his lip for a moment, and then shook his head. He wasn't going to specify that he had none at all due to being locked away for a decade of his life, but he was going to be honest, at least. "Not a heck of a lot. But I'm willing to learn. And I'm sure there's no shortage of people with plenty of experience back on Fandom Island that I can talk to about the best grains and livestock for certain climates and so on."

And also Google. But with the way those two were carrying on over the portals, he wasn't going to start talking about something like the internet, next. The universe would end if he did.

[glacial_queen]

Karla appreciated his discretion, she really did. "I've already told Wesley he's on call for research," she told him. "Dinah, too. And Gabrielle--my roomate, I mean--she'll probably be very helpful, too. And once we know how, then it's just a matter of hard work, I guess."

[wwiii]

"Hard work and knowing what to do with the resources available to us," Warren agreed. "And I think, at least unless Portalocity goes buns-up, we've got a pretty decent amount of resources available to us."

He wasn't going to flat-out state that he was more than willing to fund a village or two out of his own pocket. But he was damn well planning to.

[glacial_queen]

Karla nodded, trying to remember how much she had in her bank account on Fandom. She mostly just dumped her checks from 'Dite's in the account and ignored it. "At least this way, I don't have to try to figure out the exchange rate between dollars and goldmarks," she muttered.

[hells-highlord.livejournal.com]

"That is something we may need to think of, however," Saetan pointed out from his chair. "Your funds will never spend here."

He'd seen Karla pull out a handful of crumpled bills and coins from her pocket to show the others Earth money. No one would ever accept that as tender in Kaeleer.

[wwiii]

"How does 24 karat gold tender?" Warren tilted his head a little. "Or other metals? I can appreciate that a slip of paper with some writing on it wouldn't be worth so much at all, but that doesn't mean that everything from my world is worthless."

[hells-highlord.livejournal.com]

"Not at all," Saetan replied. "I meant only your currency, not other forms of tender. Gold and precious stones and the like, we could hand over to our man of business and let him convert that to currency."

Mephis nodded, thinking aloud. "A little cumbersome, as he'd have to spread that around, so as not to depress the market, but completely feasible. If you'd like, Lord Worthington, I can ask him what commodities are selling well, so if we do have to put that plan into action, you'll get a good price for whatever you bring."

[wwiii]

"Do it," Warren replied, with some measure of conviction. "Please."

Conviction, dammit.

"Of course, I'd still be looking predominantly into bringing in more practical resources, but there are some things you just can't squeeze through a portal."

[hells-highlord.livejournal.com]

Mephis blinked once or twice in surprise, before giving Warren a slight bow. "I'll begin penning the letter as soon as this meeting ends," he agreed. ""

For his part, Saetan regarded Warren steadily, eyes aglow with curiosity and amusement. "You are very practical," he noted. "Do you have an idea of what you would prefer to purchase in your own world versus things to buy here?"

[changeable-eyes.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps we should think of introducing Warren to Lord Fallingdale," Jaenelle said, looking at Mephis. "Perhaps you could include an inquiry in your letter, asking if he is interested in taking on another client?"

Not that Lord Fallingdale would say no to anyone who was friends with the SaDiablo family, but it was simply polite to ask. "If Warren intends to do business within Kaeleer as well, it may be wise for him to have his own accounts as well."

[wwiii]

Oh, go and tempt Warren some more, Jaenelle. Soon he'd be looking around to see if there was some means of investing with the interest tilted in his favor...

"I'd be very interested in that," Warren said, smiling faintly at Jaenelle, "if only because it would make purchases in Kaeleer much simpler, down the road. So far as things that I'd buy here as opposed to back home, I'd have to say... probably raw materials for building, such as lumber and such. Larger livestock, definitely. Not just because it would be a pain to get a herd of cattle through a portal, but also because there's no telling just how they'd take to life in a place like Arceria."

He took a deep breath, turning a wry little smile toward Saetan. He wasn't quite certain if the look he was getting was a good thing or not, he still wasn't as good at reading people as he'd like to be, but so long as he was being asked questions, he was going to keep answering them, damn it.

"Warm clothing, we can bring in from Fandom, easily. There won't be any shortage of it, considering how prone the island is to severe climate change in the blink of an eye." Case in point? This very week. "Tools. Tools can be brought in, too. Little things that families might not have thought to grab when they moved. I have the feeling that a lot of what we look at importing is going to need to be handled as the need for certain things arises, and I'd rather support as many Kaeleeran economies as I can for this than resort to pulling in absolutely everything from off-world, if possible. Grabbing things from off-world would probably do the most good in the case of emergency, when something is needed immediately but the Winds are too much of a risk."

... He was trying not to fidget, now. Hoping desperately that all of the words that he was using were the right ones.

[glacial_queen]

The warm smile Karla was directing his way suggested that he was. She hadn't even thought so far as to buying within the Realm itself to help other Territories' economies; she'd been thinking solely in terms of what would be easiest for them.

"I don't think there's a better way that could be handled," she said. "It cuts down on the possibility of someone figuring out about the portals since we won't be using them as much."

[wwiii]

"Right," Warren agreed. "And the last thing we need are those same people running amok clear across the multiverse, or showing up in our encampments without warning because they asked Portalocity really nicely."

He was paranoid enough knowing that his father had figured out the portals well enough to crash the island over Parents Weekend. There were just some people who shouldn't ever be given the keys to reality.