Arc 721, 32 Saun
“You two vanished! Vanished! No word, no nothing. Just vanished! We didn’t know where you were! Where were you?” Silk’s voice was laden with just a touch of frustration, which was understandable really. Elisabeth and Balthazar, finishing up a training session between the two of them, had vanished – called away by Raskalarn to Rynmere for a mission. And by 'called away', she meant pulled, vanished from Faldrass and appearing in Rynmere.
"Not only that," Balder began quietly, "there were those awful dreams and the sky changed colors. What was that all about?" They asked all good questions; some she had the answers to and some she didn't. Elisabeth was trying to be patient and understanding, but she had only witnessed a small portion, from what she could gather, of the bigger picture. The information she needed just wasn't out there yet, although she and Balthazar were actively trying to figure it out. Meanwhile, Elisabeth had an issue to deal with.
Left without leadership for the time she had been away, Elisabeth was determined that that void would not happen again. The young leader would not leave Haven without an emergency plan of some sort, and as such, she had called for a public meeting at Haven House. Of course, it was the middle of Saun and hotter than standing in the middle of Faldrass volcano, at least in Elisabeth's mind.
She did not like Saun.
Arching her eyebrow gently, the young mage listened to the various voices in the room. Silk had just been the first, prompting Haven’s leader to straighten her back a bit, leveling a serious gaze back to the avriel. “It wasn’t our idea to leave. We were taken by Raskalarn. She’s an Immortal,” Elisabeth explained, pausing, giving the settlers the chance to take part in the normal whispering that accompanied any story she told that contained an Immortal. “There was a situation that needed to be addressed in Rynmere. Well, apparently there were other situations too, but we were taken to Rynmere. I don't know anything about the dreams nor the sky currently, although I suspect the events are related. Balthazar and I are working on getting some information.”
Obviously, a lot had happened, and the settlers knew that considering the couple had resurfaced in Haven afterwards, covered in debris from the collapsing Labyrinth they had escaped. The young woman was still processing what had happened, trying to field questions best she could. Ronan smirked at her, thinking the first thing that popped into his head. “Is this sort of thing going to happen often? I mean, we have the right to know, Elisabeth. First Balthazar was arrested, then you wander off and lose, and regain your memory through some world-changing event, and now this."
Sighing softly, she resisted the urge to rub her temples, knowing that he was right to push that particular button, regardless of how much it hurt her head to think about it. What he asked, Elisabeth had already asked herself a thousand times already. “I don’t know, Ronan. At this point, I’m just looking at the issue in front of me and knowing that it needs to be addressed in regards to the welfare of Haven.” Darius, Arlo and Doran had been yanked from Hopetoun prior to the Forging, so Elisabeth wasn’t so naïve to think that the possibility of it happening again was nil. They had to be better prepared.
Balder glanced at her, concern lacing his gaze. She saw it and immediately waved him off. “I’m fine, Balder. I’m just sorting through my thoughts. Despite the good outcome of this event, in that nothing catastrophic happened while we were away, I can’t promise the same if this happens again in the future, and because of that, we need a better plan.”
Grabbing her notebook from the nearby table, Elisabeth flipped to her page of notes. The young woman always had notes about something or another, but the past few trials had been partially devoted to considering the issue at hand. “We have to operate on the assumption that this will happen again. I can’t tell you it won’t. What I will promise you, however, is that when we adjourn this meeting totrial, we will have a strategy for it.”
Always happy when his girl called the delightful meetings that brought everyone to him, presumably to adore him, Sir Storm of Haven sauntered in between settlers, meowing softly in greeting, purring as they all gave him attention and pets in turn. They really were lovely servants, and it had only taken a few dead mice on their doorsteps Consequences assigned here and other assorted prizes to remind those that had resisted petting him before that resistance was futile.
Glancing down at her notes, she ran some ideas past the settlers. "These are just thoughts, but I think they make sense. If I vanish unexpectedly, Balthazar needs to be told if he's not in settlement, along with any relevant information anyone knows about what I was doing or where I was." Elisabeth didn't broach the subject of some of the couple's newest abilities, which would make the likelihood of Balthazar being wholly unaware of her situation very remote, but they were working on worst-case scenarios. "I'll arrange for the guards to have an echo scroll that connects to Balthazar."
"I think it's important to let the settlement leader, Darius Baer, in Hopetoun know. Darius is a friend and Baron, so if people are vanishing, he is one that needs to know. Send a runner to Hopetoun." And hope that he hasn't been taken as well, she thought. Nodding, Bran spoke up, considering a though. "What about in Haven though? Shouldn't we discuss who makes decisions if decisions need to be made?" Elisabeth considered the comment, sitting back in her chair a bit.
He was right, of course. Someone needed to make those decisions, but she was uncomfortable leaving one person with all that responsibility, so another idea came forth. “Alright, then a Haven emergency council of sorts. If I’m yanked away and decisions need to be made, we will vote on three members of the settlement to be on the emergency council. And odd number, hopefully to avoid a deadlock.” It was still a possibility, but one she couldn’t worry about. Anyone could be taken at any time. Limiting it to her was really was doing a discredit to the people of Haven, who were brave and resourceful.
Rising, Elisabeth went to one of the side tables, grabbing an ornate wooden box. It was a gift from the Forging, and she had repurposed it to keep all the settlement voting documentation in one place. Small ballots were passed around with instructions to choose three members of the settlement that they would trust to make decisions for the good of all. The settlement list of residents was pulled out and one by one, people turned in their votes, some taking longer than others to make their choices.
Most people chose three, but some came up with less. Everyone waited, spilling out of Haven House to get a bit of air while Elisabeth and the guards tallied the votes. It soon became clear to her who this emergency council would be comprised of, and she wasn’t surprised at who emerged at the top of the list. Elisabeth quickly thought about Balthazar, but even his vote would change nothing in the numbers, so the thought of sending him a quick message was discarded.
Smiling, the settlement leader looked at the result and was pleased. It was a good group and would serve Haven well if something happened to her. Balder called everyone back into the house and she voiced the results. “Bran Peake, , Maris Florent and Balder Craddock If one or more of these people aren't available when needed, the next highest name on this list, which is Gilbert Redwyn, will step in.” Bran was a builder and skilled, well-respected member of Haven's community. Maris, generally quiet, had an excellent head on her shoulders - a sound choice. Balder looked a bit flummoxed at how he had been chosen, but Elisabeth knew why. Out of all three guards, despite liking and trusting each of them, Balder was the one she would call on when she needed a dependable, no-fuss sort.
Next, a necessity. “If anyone who has been voted to the emergency council wishes not to participate, please tell me now. No judgements; I just need to know.”. Her eyes scanned to each chosen, and all three nodded their agreement to being chosen. "Excellent. I believe that's all for now. If anyone comes up with further ideas for emergency planning, please feel free to come to me. We can use all the forward thinking we can get."
As the settlers shuffled away towards Haven proper, Silk glanced at Elisabeth, and then did a double-take. "Why do you have three of those light bandy-thingies now? You only had one before, and now there are three? Are they reproducing?" To be fair, the settlers were having to deal with a lot. They had just gotten used to the idea that Elisabeth was blessed, and was developing abilities beyond her defiance. She couldn't blame anyone for broaching the subject. "I would guess my abilities have expanded, yet I can't quite say how. I'm still processing a lot of what happened. It's not every trial that one escapes a collapsing crazy labyrinth, emerging just in time to see a dragon flying away."
"DRAGON?!?" All three spoke at the same time, gazing wide eyed at the young mage.
Elisabeth sighed. Oops.
