Sadron looked to Arandur, but Arandur had grown so crestfallen that he could not look the older elf in the eye. Sadron would have to address the matter himself. His face darkened as he announced:

"Lady Durvain was slain by the Warlock."

He let that sink in for a moment.

"By the end of the last Council, we agreed that the Warlock had to be stopped. Allowing the orcs to proliferate was a mistake on our-" Arandur shot him a reproachful look. "-my part," Sadron corrected, "a mistake I intend to correct. We miscalculated his strength and paid the price. By now, his abominable breeding initiatives have greatly bolstered his numbers, and worse, he has struck an alliance with the dwarves. He is crushing his way into human and elf territory to enslave them. Already thousands of innocent souls are bound under his iron grip."

Arandur looked miserable.

"Only the humans and elves stand in his way now," Sadron continued, "and we need the heroes of the world to stand together and fight. You cannot do this alone, much as you may think otherwise." He gave Kaite an almost-imperceptible frown. "Rather, you must work together for the common good, working as a cohesive unit against superior numbers and against all the odds."

Sadron rose from his seat to full height, towering over all the others.
"Xen'Desh Idlindra, I want you to lead this party, to bring hope and light to a war-torn world."
"Storyteller, I want you to record everything that transpires to the official history."
"Dionaea Sycamore, you shall be the party's scout, to guide them safely through the perils before them."
"Laina Silverstide, you shall be the party's healer, to bring them home when all is done."
"Tiberius Longshadow, you shall be the party's paladin, to guard them against any that would do them harm."
"Kaitra Elzbrn, you shall be the party's first brawler, a mighty fist to crush their foes."
"Ivan Stormwall, you shall be the party's second brawler, a bolt from the gods to smite evildoers.
"Zenovia Almire, you shall be the party's mage, the hand of the gods."

"I bid you now...stand, as Champions of Hope."

Arandur stared at him.

Sadron reddened. "Okay, that was a stupid line..." he muttered. "So sue me. It sounded nice on paper. You saw that, didn't you? Yet you didn't-"
"We've been over this."
"Yes, yes of course."