King Focuses on Ter Mur While Britannia Bleeds!

[Vivian Fellows]

The 9th meeting of the King's Royal Council wasn't expected to be controversial... and who can blame them? Most of the Royal Council meetings are the equivalent of watching wet paint dry. The governors are encouraged to compress as much of the news as they can into short little sentences that don't try the King's patience, the King sits silently most of the meeting not betraying a whiff of emotion, and the audience uses the vaunted head-nod maneuver to keep their eyes open.
However, fireworks erupted half way into the 9th meeting over the contentious topic of Skara Brae and Jhelom where the King was ambivalent to exercise his authority over the kingdom. The King did nothing to try and pull back the Skara Brae fishing fleet from an inspection embargo of all ships entering and leaving the Valorian seas around Jhelom. He also did not offer to help the ease the suffering of Jhelom commerce that has been decimated since the embargo. 
The council of governors were left mostly staring in shock as the King moved on from his bleeding kingdom to focus on the events happening in Ter Mur. A couple of the audience members walked out in disbelief that two major cities being on the brink of hostilities did not unnerve the King, but rather he only passed the advice that "they should let words work this out." 

Many would assume that would be the most controversial of actions, but it was the offer to join the Council as they toured Skara Brae and met with the wounded citizens injured during the blackrock attack that left the sour taste in the mouth of the Kingdom. Governor Neptune of Skara Brae formally invited the King to join the Council on the tour, noting that seeing their King would undoubtedly boost the spirits of those injured, but that was not to be. The King did not feel it wise for him to see his subjects after such a dreadful attack on the Kingdom. He wished them well hoping they make a full recovery, wrapped the meeting, and exited.
The governors were not deterred. They continued their tour, accidentally stepping into the blackrock contaminated zone around the governor's office before a guard frantically chased them off. Evidently large orange signs were setup around the area to warn off those who might inadvertently wander into the zone, but juveniles in the local area keep stealing them to do who knows what with (put in their room of their parents' castle? who knows). The governors came upon the southern healers where the wounded had been moved to be taken care of.


It was a horrible scene. The bomb, a magical crate filled with blackrock and nox crystal, had been a deadly blast, incinerating most of the innocent bystanders nearby. However, the worst of the explosion wasn't fealt until moments after when the green poison cloud caused by the nox crystal enveloped a large part of northern Skara Brae. Those who breathed in the cloud now found themselves struggling for a breath of air at the healers. The wounded were coughing over and over, each cough threatening to cause the nox cystals still trapped in their lungs to poison them. The governors were overwhelmed by the scene, each offering to help Skara Brae with whatever it needs to fight this atrocity.
One of the wounded did not make it through the visitation. A small woman, once a tailor who had produced great tunics in Skara, had took her last breaths wile being comforted by governor Willa of the Yew-Wood. The light faded from her eyes as she muttered her last words...
"I wish... I could have seen my King... before... the end."