It was the Year 432 of the Fifth Er, the sun was starting to rise again over the conflictive Nirn, conflicts that seemed to be far away for those who lived on the top of Karraze Mountains, a holy place for many.

A camp of 10 people could be seen on one of the many paths that led to the top, the so called "Paths to Heavens". The group was not moving as 9 of them were on their knees praying to the rising sun, touching the cold ground with their foreheads.
A female covered in a fur coat just like the other 9 was sitting on a rock just watching the others in silence, it seemed she did not share the same religious believes. Once the men, obviously soldiers, stood up the female used her spear to help herself stand up. They continued their march without saying a word as no one was really in the mood, they had lost 3 days hiding in a cave due to a storm, they were hungry and just wanted a warm bed to sleep in.

Once they arrived to the huge crimson gates of the Monastery the soldiers started pushing each other playfuly.

"Empress! Empress! We have arrived!"
The newie cried in joy, Amaranta just nodded to him and the approached the gates which were open by the monks inside.

"You have not changed at all since I was here 3 years ago
The Empress said jokingly to the monks, all dressing in yellow robes with their long gray beards and shaved heads.
The soldiers were guided to a room the escorts, Amaranta was left alone on a huge dinning room with food and wine.

The mighty Karraze mountains were a spectacular sight. They stretched high into the sky, over the seas and over the clouds. And climbing these great giants was an old, brittle man.

This man was Giberto Mingione Lo Priore. But he was more know as the doge of Tolebrada. The climb had been very taxing on him. He had to be carried by his bodyguards most of the way but his destination was finally in sight. Atop one of the many mountains stood a magnificent monastery. The entourage stopped outside the gates and Gioberto stepped forwards and knocked on them. The gates were soon opened by the monks. They stepped inside and Gioberto was escorted into a great dining hall.

The table was overflowing with all manner of food and drink. But these did not interest him in the slightest. His eyes were on a young girl who sat at the table. Gioberto turned to her and bowed slightly. He then took a seat beside her.

Hills and cliffs were an unusual visual for the young Ata'Halian. Hailing from a place relatively flat, Kasa was amazed at the sight, her guards often finding her climbing up the various rock sides to get a better look at her surroundings. "Miss, you must get down," would be a common saying from the men covered in various animal furs. She would simply shrug and step down before they carried back on the trail towards the monastery.

Despite the long journey to the monastery, Kasa was ecstatic. Travelling through on the open road was one her favorites, and her emotion surely showed during the entire travel. Her guards would often smile to the young leader, answering her with softly spoken words as they rode. However, by the time the party had reached the monastery, Kasa frowned upon noticing the vast richness of the monks' home, through she quickly shook away any negative thought as not to imply a disappointed mood.

Upon entering the monastery, the monks led Kasa and her entourage towards the grand dining room. Her eyes would widen with glee when she saw the various food and drink laid out on the table, but her attention was mostly focused on the various meats cooked and prepared for the meeting. Her trance would only be broken by a creak of a floorboard, causing Kasa to look up at the other two leaders that had arrived. "Hello," she said, perhaps a bit too energetic as she tried her hardest to accomplish a curtsy that she practiced so much earlier. With that, Kasa would take her seat among the other leaders.

Lance stood in wonder at the magnificent mountains, taller than any he had seen in Eberron, but not for long. Quickly skipping up the seemingly endless steps he came to a great gate, which was soon opened by monks. He was lead through the Monastery, making sure to take mental notes of the layout. Eventually he was taken to a massive dining hall with all manner of food, wine, candles, and most importantly, potential friends and allies.

Scanning the room Lance noticed two small women at the table, dressed in fur coats, next to an old man, out of place from the rest of the monks. "These must be who I'm supposed to meeting with," he thought to himself. Lance decided It would be best to sit beside the old man and young ladies and with any luck, make some new allies.

Amaranta was eating quietly, not causing the slightliest sound when cutting the mean nor drinking the strong wine the Monks produced themselvs with unknown techniques, she felt a a person entering the room, by the cadence of the footsteps she could tell it was an old person and by the fragance she could tell it was Gioberto, Amaranta's old friend and her mentor, as she considered him a wise man used to look for his advice often, only ignoring them during the terrible "Endless Week".

"it is so nice to see you here old man, I was wondering if you would come. I insisted in meeting in Tolebrada so you would not have to make such effort but well...neutrality..."

She would have continued talking but a sudden "Hello" interrupted her, she turned her head over her riight shoulder and looked at the Ata'Halian, she was obviusly younger than her...so energetic.

"Hello my dear, by such wonderful furs I would tell you are from Ata'Halne, am I wrong?"

She asked with a soft smile before watched someone else entering the room and sitting beside her mentor, she just waited for the man to introduce himself witht the same smile she saluted Kasa.

Gioberto did not touch the food. Instead he took a closer look at the girl besides him. As he turned his head he noticed something that put a smile on his tired face. The girl beside him wasn’t just any girl. It was Amaranta. His old friend. He had known her ever since the beginning.

“It is good to see you too friend, I am sorry that I did not notice you when I entered, my eyesight is not what it used to be. And yes, the trip here was less than comfortable. But it is very important that the meeting is held on neutral ground, which the monastery offers us.”

Before he could say anything else another young girl entered the room. It looked like she was from Ata’Halne but he wasn’t sure. He was about to greet her but Amaranta got first. Soon after a man, noticeably older than the girls, entered the room. He was tall and muscular.

“Greetings, friend. You are Lance D’phiarllin of Ebberon, right?”

Kasa glanced at both of the duo at the table. The man appeared ancient to the youth, as if he was wise and knowledgeable of various studies and subjects. The girl was similar to Kasa, both with the grace of youthful beauty yet the Empress seemed to radiate a different atmosphere than the Ata'Halian. Where as Kasa was free-spirited and adventurous, the noble woman gave off a peaceful and quaint mood to the room, but there was something Kasa couldn't quite pin about the woman.

"That I am!" Kasa replied to the Empress, nearly jumping out of her seat as the woman spoke to her. Her furs would ruffle as slender arms left the warm safety of the coat, reaching for a haunch of venison. "I am Kasa Yazhi of the Kohana, but I am most known as the High Chieftain of Ata'Halne." Slicing a piece off the venison, Kasa shivered in joy as she tasted the deer meat. For religious men, these monks sure knew how to cook. "You must be the Rondorian Empress, right?" She asked, pointing a fork at the girl as she spoke. A guard motioned towards her to alert Kasa of the fork, and she quickly placed it back down on the plate. "Apologies." Kasa replied, giving a short bow of her head to Amaranta.

Lance turned to the old man, a bright smile appearing on his face.

"Yes indeed, I am. You must be Gioberto then?"

Lance had heard of this man, but never thought he'd see him in person. A barrage of questions entered his mind. However Lance decided this was not the time nor the place to bombard this man with mundane questions.

The man that had entered the room was indeed Lance D’phiarllin. Despite his rough looks he seemed to be a happy and kind person. “Yes I am. It is good to meet you.” Gioberto replied. “It would seem that everyone has arrived. Are we ready to begin?”

He was anxious to get on with meeting. It was very important to him that the alliance remained strong as the north was growing more troublesome by the day and there were many important issues to discuss.

I'm ready to begin as well, but perhaps we should let our younger companions finish their conversation first eh? In the mean time, I'm starved!

Lance looked around at the various meats, fruits, and vegetables. Finding a piece of Venison cooked to his liking, Lance had soon devoured the whole thing. Reaching out for the wine, Lance decided that now probably wasn't the best time to get tipsy. Lance continued to quickly devour more food, as if he hadn't eaten in days. Actually, only now does Lance realize how little he's eaten on the way here. Perhaps it was all the exitement, or perhaps it was something else entirely? But for right now, there's food to be eaten!

Amaranta could not hold her laugh, the girl was so funny the Empress had to let go of her glass of wine before droped it.

"No worries, no worries~ There is no need to keep formalities when talking to me"

She had to admit she was a bit jealous of the Ata`Halian`s energetic personality, maybe she was getting old? She shook her head taking that thought off of her mind and continued smiling.

"Well, some members of theny alliance have not arrived yet..."

Kasa would tap her lip with the fork, almost as if she was deep in thought. She tried to place her mind to the missing member, to remember who exactly the Alliance meeting was missing. "Who are we missing?" Kasa said out loud to the rest of the table. A light bulb would eventually go off in her head, and she gave the rest a smug smile as if her memory was something to be proud of. "We're missing that Tyrannus person, right? The king of Praelium? I wonder when he'll arrive." Kasa replied, finishing with a big bite from the venison on her plate.

"Tyrannus, eh? From what I've heard, he used to be quite a force to be reckoned with. Maybe he's still got it?" Anywho, with any luck he'll be here shortly."

Lance began to wonder what kind of fighter this "Tyrannus" was. Perhaps a friendly sparring match was in order? Lance quickly dimissed the thought, realizing a Monastery was not a place to fight. But perhaps one day...

The Tyrrannus of Praelium. A great man that had done much to keep the northern peoples out of the alliance. Gioberto wasn’t even sure if they’d be able to sit here today if it weren’t for him. Although he wasn’t very fond of their militaristic society he knew that they had done a great deal for the alliance

“I do believe so. He has done much for the alliance. He was and still is a great warrior, but punctuality does not seem to be his strong side.”

He chuckled, took a piece of meat and started to cut it slowly and carefully.

After Gioberto made his comment, silence filled the room. There was the occasionally chewing of the food, but it was indeed awkward. This lasted for what seemed like days before muffled voices could be heard outside the monastery. The voices grew closer, and soon enough the people inside could make out the voices talking.

"Claudius! How are we doing on time?" The voice had spoken in between breaths, as if he was running out of them.

"Tyrannus, we are quite late. I think it was the bear encounter we had earlier."

"Yes. You just had to chase after it, didn't you father?"

The first voice scoffed and responded, "It stole the rest of our rations! I had to chase after the beast and slay it!"

"Tyrannus, it was only our emergency rations that it stole."

"Shut it old man. You just wanted a fight, and that was the closest thing you could get other than training with Claudius." He snorted, then added, "And we both know that isn't much."

"I can show you how much Claudius has trained me when we get back home, if it's a sparring match you want." The voiced said sternly. "And also, try act as your etiquette classes taught you when we arrive? I don't want them thinking my son is a brute."

And with that, the door to the monastery burst open. Before the lords of the land stood the Tyrannus Carver. His royal armor faintly glistened in the torch fire, as well as his brow, which was heavy in sweat. However, his posture seemed to remain strong, and his fairly medium build commanded attention. A few gray hairs were in his long mane of hair, but it was hard to tell the man had aged past his mid twenties.

Beside Carver stood two men. One appeared to be in his thirties, holding a spear in hand and was very out of breath. The armor he wore was much heavier as well, and was not just meant for show like Carver's. His face was obscured by his helmet, which seemed slightly more adorned than a standard infantary helm. He was bent over, clearly very tired from trying to keep up with Carver.

The other was a monster of a man. Although he was giant in size, was clearly the youngest of the three. He wore long dreads and had a full, unkempt beard. He towered over the other two, standing well over six feet tall. The armor he wore seemed to be of the same weight as the helmed man, but he was not tired at all. His massive arms both had weaponry in them; the left a buckler and the right a long sword, to which he seemed to hold with ease.

After taking a deep breath, Carver smiled and bowed his head slightly.

"I apologize for the delay. We ran into some unexpected troubles. I hope I haven't missed too much." His eyes went to the table, bountiful with food. "Ah, well I must extend my thanks to the monks here. I did not know there would be a feast."

Carver motioned the two men beside him towards the table, who both had their gaze fixated upon it when they saw the food. "Go on you two, take a plate and follow the monks out of here. I'm sure they have a place for you to stay while we talk about our business here."

The two other men quickly walked towards the table and began grabbing food, stacking their plates to the brim. Carver headed towards an empty chair and sat down, exhaling deeply then drinking from the glass that was set out for him.

"Carver Pentaghast, Lord Tyrannus of Praelium." He said so with charm. "Once again, I am extremely sorry about the delay."

Kasa would eagerly stand up, placing her palms on the table as Carver entered the room. "Welcome!" She said, perhaps a bit too energetically. Diplomacy was never her strong suit. "We were about to discuss the meeting, but we realized you hadn't arrived. We've been waiting for you." She sat back down, scooting in her chair as Carver sat down. "Have some vension while we begin our talks. The monks sure know how to cook."

"Ah, venison!" Carver said happily. He quickly grabbed a portion and put it on his plate. And just as quickly, he began cutting it. "Do you think the monks hunt it themselves? Or are they the sort that hate doing the hunting themselves?"

Carver stabbed a piece of the venison with his fork and began chewing it, speaking between mouthfuls. "I've been to a couple of temples who order hunters to do it. You would think they would prefer to kill the animal, so they could bless it after. But who am I to say?"

Carver looked around the room, and all seemed to be quiet. Tough crowd. Carver shifted his view to the venison, which was the sole focus of his attention. He had been running for quite a while, after all. It's a shame that this is the first time I'm meeting with them, in all my years as Tyrannus.

"Well then, let's get this diplomatic meeting on the road, shall we?" Carver slid his plate away, finished with the venison. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but we're calling this to discuss the validity of this alliance, correct?"

Lance looked over to the new man. So this was the "Tyrannus". He was a little shorter than he thought he would be.

"Well, to be honest, I'm not even sure. I was told by the king to come here for a 'discussion' of sorts. For all I know, we might be breaking up the alliance, or we might be on our way to war against the North."

Lance gave a short shrug and sat back in his chair. Now he thought about it, why did the king send him, and not come himself? Lance decided it was best to just do what he was told. After all, he was much better with his words than the king.