On the east side of the continent, in Bastion City, Phoenix was finally caught up to all her duties as queen regent. Since Astaroth was not present, all the burden fell on her, which annoyed her a bit, but she also knew it was for the best.
Astaroth was not as much a rational thinker as he liked to believe, and most of his decisions were based on instinct and emotion. Even though he kept saying he had learned to keep his emotions in check, that was a load of BS and everyone around him knew it.
He had learned not to let his emotions spill into his soul melding, at best. So it was better for a more down-to-earth person like her to take long-lasting decisions for a kingdom.
Of course, she was also able to unload a part of the job to Leon, who had already been doing a great job, with the help of a council. She had taken time over the last week to meet every single one of its members, taking the pulse on them and weeding out the ones she couldn't find in herself to trust.
A bit of grumbling and displeasure had ensued, all of which was quelled almost instantly by Leon, who didn't take well the lack of respect for the actual ruler of Stellar Woodlands.
His threatening gazes, combined with low guttural growls, had a calming effect on everyone that was bringing discourse, and it immediately restored order. Of course, Phoenix already had found replacements for the ones she pushed out.
On the council, she currently had in place a member of all the management branches she could think of.
Leon's councilman for economy was a somewhat trustable merchant, from the mercantile association, who had been forced to give up his membership when he was accused of favouring some kingdoms over others in his transactions.
The mercantile association was reputable for the sanctity of neutrality, which gave them a protected status in all kingdoms. But this merchant, a Half-Orc man called Grit Herman, had been caught giving better deals to his homeland country on the dark continent.
This made him a pariah in the association and had him banned. Leon met him when he went on a defence contract in the Orc kingdoms and had offered him the position.
Grit had been the merchant in charge of their supply line while they hunted into the corrupted lands, and his diligence and principles had impressed the Beastman. So he offered him a contracted position in the council, which he eventually voided and gave him full time, welcoming him as a full citizen of Stellar Woodlands.
Grit was a hunk of a man, his Orcish tusks smaller than true-blooded Orcs' tusks, but not any less menacing. But getting to know him, Phoenix found him to be a happy-go-lucky man, with a wildly inappropriate sense of humour, which made him easy to talk to.
Currently, at the table in the throne room, Leon was to her right, with Grit to his right. To Grit's right, Declan had been appointed as replacement to the clown Leon had put in charge of military matters.
The man wasn't bad at his job, or anything of the sort, but Phoenix despised his haughty attitude and arrogance. It was hardly good behaviour to have for someone in charge of a kingdom's military.
When she had offered the position to Declan, who she knew had been in the army in his country, he had refused at first. He seldom wanted to return to this type of position.
But when she explained what his tasks would be, and how he wouldn't have to make any actual war decisions on his own, he finally gave in. And now he sat at the table.
Some of the other council members weren't happy about an Abnormal being at the table with them, but Phoenix had frowned at them before replacing them as well. How would they behave in the future, if they couldn't tolerate having an Abnormal as an equal if they had one as superior?
It augured badly. So she took no chances there.
Sitting to Declan's right, at the end of the table, was the representative of the adventurer's guild appointed to their kingdom. Apparently, Leon had fought back against that decision, but the threat of barring the adventurers' guild from Bastion City had tamed him.
This was supposedly a common practice for all kingdoms to respect. But when Phoenix had gone over the terms of that obligation, she chuckled and glossed over it.
The representative was basically unpowered in the council and was only there to make sure they did not take the rights and regency of the adventurers from them. She was really just that, a representative.
The woman, on the older side of the Fey age scale, which barely showed on her traits, if at all, was called Singing Grove. She was a mature woman, with pinkish translucent wings and hair of a greenish hue.
Her iris-less eyes were a tad unsettling for Phoenix, but her soft-spoken nature agreed with Phoenix's needs here. She barely ever spoke, unless it concerned the adventurers' guild and its members.
To her left, Phoenix had seated another person she trusted, Elwin, whom she had just a day prior promoted to council man of foreign affairs. He had passed his role of ambassador down to his son, who had followed alongside him for the last decade, learning the ways.
Elwin, regardless of his Elven heritage, who were fabled to live for centuries, had visibly aged over the last decade, the pressure of his role taking its toll. But he was still fit as a fiddle, and his mind was still sharp as a sword's edge.
Next to him was a young man of noble birth, the only one at the table, who was in charge of the future nobility in the growing kingdom. Leon had appointed him when they reached the point where he had to find better rewards for loyalty than simply giving money to his followers.
This was a recent development and had only happened in the last year. The young man in question was a human boy, from a kingdom that the ceaseless corruption waves had recently wiped off the map.
His father had been a brother to the king, and his noble descent meant he had learned the ways of royalty and nobility at a young age. Leon had found him running for his life in a monster-infested region, with his last guardsman dying from sustained wounds.
He had taken him under his wing and brought the boy back to his feet within a year. Now he was tasked with selecting appropriate ranks and rewards for future loyal members of the kingdom who deserved it.
Phoenix wasn't against the boy's presence and felt like he was still easily moldable to her needs, so he kept his place.
To the left of this teenager was an old man. This old man was the picturesque copy of an old sage, taken right out of old fantasy books.
His long, white beard, combined with his brightly coloured robes, depicted him as a priority target in combat if Phoenix had ever seen one. But his old sage appearance was a front, to an incredibly dangerous foe.
This old man was the representative of the mage's guild, which had recently taken root in Bastion City, and their mother-guild had insisted they were assigned a place in the council as well. But Leon was no fool.
He had assigned him no power, making him just as superficial as the representative of the adventurers' guild. This had elicited some displeasure with the mages' guild headquarters, but Leon threatened to wipe them out if they didn't take their complaints elsewhere.
And the Mages' guild wasn't equipped to deal with a raging mythical entity. So they grumbled in silence, in their tall ivory towers.
Phoenix had wanted nothing more than to kick him out of the council since he was an unnecessary addition, but Leon advised against it. The mages' guild had its uses, and keeping them on their side could bear fruit, eventually.
And lastly, the last member on her left was a woman who Phoenix had elected herself. She hated herself for giving the woman a place on the council, but she was also the most qualified for the position.
This woman was Morticia. Her role in the council would be as representative of the player community that chose to live within their borders.
She would have her office built in the outer ring of the city, where the players could go to give suggestions for the kingdom, or bring complaints to. In all its glorious sounding name, she had basically been elected as the human resources department for the players.
Morticia had not wanted the role, but Phoenix gave her no choice. As the vice leader of the guild, she had ordered Morticia into office.
But Morticia was already setting herself up and had eventually taken well to her role over the last few days. She realized being close to the new player community inside the kingdom would do her much good to garner notes for her studies into the human mind.
At the other end of the long table, another person was seated, who wasn't part of the council itself, but was currently an honorary guest. Prince Nalafein Uuthli'vlos.
He had been invited, because Phoenix wished to discuss a matter that concerned him, in an extended fashion.
Glancing at each person present, Phoenix nodded in approval, before clasping her hands together on the table.
"Good. Now that we are all here and ready, let us start this first official meeting of the new Stellar Council."
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