Henry calls a meeting of the Southern Council, and then addresses the gathering in a sombre tone.

”I have called this meeting to let you know that I am about to break my agreement with the Noble Council of Brevoy, although I will ask you to keep this matter confidential.  It is not something to be spoken of openly, at the moment, although I am sure that the Great Noble Houses will have their informants in Southern, and word will get back to Brevoy sooner, rather than later.

Rana has asked me to extend the border of Midmarch to cover Gurdinford, which I have agreed to do, and I will build a road to connect it with Mound and Ringbridge.  My agreement with The Noble Council, was that I would not extend my borders to the south.  However, I will argue that Gurdinford has been an unofficial protectorate of Midmarch since before the agreement was made, and that it is not a serious breach of the agreement.  I do not expect any serious opposition from The Noble Council, but this is not a good time to upset any of them.
Our strongest supporters in the council have been House Lebeda, House Medveyed and the Lady Jamandi of the Eastern Region.  Some of you might be aware that my sister, as leader of the northern arm of DELEM, is trying to establish a trade route between Eastern Region and the Duchy of Stonewall, and has nearly completed the juncture.  I will ask her to ensure that both Eastern and Lord Gurev, are well compensated for their troubles.”

He turns to Cass, Zelona and Domitius, ”As independent leaders and rulers within Southern, I would appreciate it if you would facilitate developments from any of those three main allies.  I can do no more than ask, of course.  I have no authority to demand that, and your decisions must be your own.”

He includes the rest of the group as he continues.  ”I would also appreciate it, if  those of you with contacts in those regions, would offer your support.  The more friends and allies that we have in those great estates, the better.  However, I would caution you not to be too specific yet …”

With that, he throws the meeting open for discussion.

OOC:  I will run short Fuzzy threads (possibly as Private Messages) if anyone would like to collect some RP experience from this.  Note that this is not something you need to do - a simple post describing a letter home (in the standard Downtime thread)  would gain you some XP as well.  This offer is open to open to Entourage Cousins and Allies as well.

Note that Eastern Association includes the Dwarf Diaspora, which is based in Brundeston, Restov and the Khavatorov.

Domitius had sat in thought for a moment before he spoke "I'm sorry Henry but I won't be endorsing this expansion, I don't believe challenging the Noble council now is... wise.  The King will surely choose to see this as a provocation.

Would it not be simpler for them to simply move rather than risk war with the Surtovans for Midmarch?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:01, Wed 07 June 2023.

Andalon looks a little surprised at Domitius’s objection but after some consideration he offers a suggestion.

”Perhaps it would be less controversial if Gurdinford became part of Tusk, rather than Midmarch. It does border our territory, after all. Brother Florin was there too when Rana made her offer and Florin already extended an invitation for them to visit him in Tusk or Barleyboro. We could extend the Barleyboro road through to Tusk, too. That would actually be shorter than a new road to Mound and Ringbridge.”