Tristan strode into the Fey Court chamber and removed his weapons, placing them on a rack against the wall before taking his seat in the tall-backed chair. A few fairy dragons flew in with clearcool and water in jugs, and several cups which they began pouring.

Other representatives of the Fey Realm filtered in rapidly one after the other. The Matriarch for the fairy dragons, Thallia for the nymphs, Dorni for the gnomes, Dorothy for the residents from the Mortal Realm, and Felicity who shook herself dry before landing on the table and strutting over to Tristan, plopping her rump on the table in front of him.

Once all were seated, the chamber doors were closed by two medium-sized fairy dragon attendants in Elfanoid form, wearing Adamant Wood armor and holding pikes. The Matriarch cleared her throat and spoke, "We have a few items to discuss. First, Felicity," she looked over to the fairy dragon, "I asked you here to provide insight into Lord Tristan's Mortal Realm activities. However, since he is here, he can inform us himself."

Felicity's ears drooped ever-so-slightly, and Tristan scratched her head between the antlers reassuringly. "She can speak for me for now," he said.

She perked up at that and she began speaking rapidly, filling in the Fey Court at blisteringly fast speed of speech. She concluded with, "…we finished off some magic training and came back here!"

Dorni looked over at Tristan with a stern gaze, "This Wild Realm seems quite dangerous. And from what she described, it is a vast place."

"That's what it seems like from what Bertram and Rory said over dinner. If we are hunting down these mutated dragons in the farther reaches, it could be a decent length of time."

The Matriarch nodded, "Thank you for the information." She looked to Thallia, "I had one more item to discuss before your turn." The nymph tapped her fingers on the table, and made a circular gesture with her hand, prompting The Matriarch to continue. "The fairy dragon populace needs to expand to facilitate our needs. To that end, I will need to spend more time imbuing seed pods inside The Queen's Wood. Which means less time managing affairs." She pulled a sheet of parchment from under the table and slid it across. "These are the duties that will need to be attended to while I am doing this."

Dorni snatched the list and began skimming it, muttering under his breath. "We can handle most of this given we don't have much going on." He looked over to Thallia and handed her the document, "The one that we are not as suited to are the Realm exterior patrols."

Thallia snagged the sheet and read it intently for a few seconds before grimacing, "I suppose we can do that." She handed the paper to Dorothy, "But I insist that the new residents have a hand in the duty of managing the top boughs. Gnomes are not the best with heights."

The Sheepkin tailor accepted the paper and nodded, "Seems simple enough." She looked over to The Matriarch, "We'll be given entry permission to do so?"

"Yes," she replied.

Thallia stood up, "Now onto my business. My nymphs are craving the outside world and other Realms."

Tristan interrupted, "Does your ability to travel to any connected body of water persist in other Realms, aside from this one and the Mortal Realm?"

"They do," Thallia replied as she looked over at him. "My proposal was to send a few nymphs through this portal to the inter-Realm market on the upcoming scheduled visit, and have them then be bearers of goodwill and tidings for the Fey Realm."

"A campaign," Tristan stated. "Spreading word of the Fey Realm." Thallia nodded, and Tristan felt a twinge of fear and panic as the greed over his Realm's essence captured his thoughts. "I do not approve," he said with a dour expression. "Assassins still seek me out, and whilst they cannot enter the grounds of The Citadel if they have ill-intent toward me, they may have some means around that by going through other Realms."

"Then allow my sisters to travel for leisure and the experience," Thallia countered.

"An idea," Tristan said as he scratched Felicity's head. "Dorni, can we make water proof maps and something to write with that is also water proof?"

"Aye, we can," Dorni replied.

"Then your Nymphs will be responsible for cartography," Tristan stated. "They get to travel and sate their wanderlust, exploring; but also mapping out these different Realms." He looked back to Dorni, "Please also work on crafting some simple items artificed with Disguise Form for them to take – their natural capability with enchantment will make them excellent information gatherers, as well."

Thallia had a soft smile on her lips, and spoke in a sweet, appreciative tone. "I think they would be more than fine with that idea."

Dorni grumbled, "Sure. We can make the watery tarts some items like that. But we will need some fairy dragons to cast the illusion spells."

Thallia shot him a withering glare but ultimately sat down without another word. "I'm done," she stated bluntly, all softness gone.

Dorothy raised her hand, and Tristan gestured to her to speak. "My Lord, and other Courtiers. There have been some requests that more residents be scouted. There are young people among us, and they are craving romantic connection – a few even want to start families."

Thallia groaned, "Infants? Those crying, mewling babes?" She made a disgusted noise and turned her nose up at the concept.

The Matriarch nodded, "I do not see a problem with it. The hard part will be vetting possible new individuals."

Felicity spoke, "Why not use enchantment on them? Make them be totally honest and then grill them in an interview?"

"A good idea," Thallia stated. "But enchantment is looked down upon by many as unsavory."

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Felicity looked back at Tristan, "It's your call."

Tristan looked at the table and tried to read their expressions. Thallia looked disinterested, Dorni also seemed fairly neutral. Dorothy had a slightly concerned look, whilst The Matriarch seemed enthusiastic. "Dorothy," he said softly as he put his elbows on the table and tented his hands. "What would you propose otherwise to vet new entrants?"

"I…I'm not sure, Lord Tristan," she replied. "But many people will not subject themselves to enchantment willingly."

Tristan looked at Felicity, "You remember that potion manual? Go fly up and grab it."

Felicity saluted and flew off. About thirty seconds later, she returned with the book in her paws. "Here you go!"

Tristan flipped through it and searched for anything that might be some type of truth serum. The Courtiers glanced at each other with slight confusion, but Thallia voiced what they were thinking. "What are you looking for?"

"Something like a truth serum," Tristan replied. "I found a potion here that makes people looser with their speech. We can try imbuement and see if perhaps it produces an elixir." He pushed the potion book to Felicity, "Go make that potion, then bring it back and I'll try infusing it. We'll see what it does."

She saluted once more, grabbed the book and flew off. Thallia shook her head slightly, but Dorothy is the one who spoke. "A truth elixir. Lord Tristan, I still think many people would be opposed to having their inhibitions removed in such a manner."

Tristan began to feel a bit angry. Like a barely simmering pot of water. "Dorothy…my safety is paramount. I die; the Fey Realm suffers. We must properly examine every possible new resident to ensure they do not work with these assassins, and their intentions are pure. It's either this, or enchantment – take your pick."

Dorothy shrank back into her self a little bit, but ultimately nodded. "I would prefer the elixir if it works."

"What else?" Tristan asked as he looked around the table.

Dorni stood up and spoke, "My lads are itching to get to mining again. I was going to pull those that wanted to – about eighty of them – to go and begin delving into the depths of the Realm."

That piqued Tristan's interest, "What all can you find down there?"

"All types of stuff!" Dorni said with enthusiasm. "Gemstones, ores, and even random stuff. One time we found a whole roasted chicken. The Fey Realm works in whimsy."

"Very well. As long as we have enough to run the markets along with our new residents for when we have that inter-Realm trade period."

"I'll call them back before that time." Dorni sat down and looked quite pleased with himself.

Tristan looked to The Matriarch, "You mentioned forming more of your children. Is there anything I can do to help accelerate the process? Channeling the Realm's essence?"

"You cannot accelerate the process," she replied with a fond smile. "But thank you for offering."

"What about diversifying available spell types?" Tristan asked with genuine curiosity. "I know Felicity is an outlier with transmutation, and there's some other outliers with other spell types – can we improve the odds of that manifesting?"

"We…hmm…" The Matriarch tapped her temple for a few moments. "Maybe…it is up to chance, normally, but you can use luck spells. We just need to find one, or make one, that causes a desired outcome to be more probable. Then, put that into an item that I can use on-"

Tristan cut her off, "Even better idea. I can make changes to the Fey Realm by altering the very ambient essence around us. And since fairy dragons are formed from the Realm's ambient essence…I should be able to just instill my will, through the lens of luck as a spell type."

This seemed to catch all but Dorothy off guard, who seemed rather lost by the turn in conversation. Tristan stood up, "I'm going to try it." He strode to the doors, which the two guards opened for him, and the other Courtiers followed him into the central hollow of the Queen's Wood. Tristan began spinning and reverse spinning his crucible, channeling the Realm's essence through him as he connected to it on the deepest level possible. He could feel the swirl of power within, and reaching a hand out could almost grasp the phantasmal substance in the air.

"Kutsun sinua, Realm. Vastaa käskyihini. Haluan, että jokaiselle tänne syntyvälle olennolle annetaan optimaalinen mahdollisuus saada ainutlaatuinen loitsutyyppi ilmentymällä tai perimällä verilinja." (I call on you, Realm. Respond to my commands. I want every creature who is born here to be given the optimal chance of having a unique spell type through manifesting or inheriting a bloodline).

The air reverberated with a silver shimmer that sparkled with crimson, black, gold, and light-blue cascading energy. Then, it faded to normal, and Tristan stopped spinning his crucible.

The Matriarch chuckled, "We won't know the results for at least a Season – that is the minimum time for a fairy dragon to be formed and born from one of the pods."

Felicity flew into the room with a vial, "I got it done!" she crowed with delight as she landed on a knot of wood. "Do the thing," she said as she made happy tippy-taps with her rear paws.

Tristan snagged it from her, had Dorni assist in removing his gauntlet and glove, and then dipped his finger into the vial as he swirled. Spinning his essence crucible, he poured the power into his finger. "Lisää tämän liuoksen luontaisia ominaisuuksia. Anna tälle aineelle minun voimani. Tuo esiin näiden ainesosien todellinen luonne." (Increase the inherent qualities of this solution. Imbue this substance with my power. Bring out the true nature of these ingredients). It glowed a vibrant silver before fading. "Who to test it on? We need someone reserved."

"Why not the old man?" Felicity asked with a cackle. "We can really prank him!"

"He's drunk a lot of dragon blood – he might have some innate resistance," Tristan replied.

Dorni coughed, "Give it to one of my lads. We don't talk much, and if he's flapping his lips, then we know it works." Tristan handed it to the gnome, and the group followed him down to the market where he administered it to another gnome, whose eyes glazed over upon imbibing the elixir. "Alright, Boris. Tell me your most embarrassing secret."

Boris spoke in a monotone, expressionless fashion. "I was mining once and accidentally slammed my pickaxe into my own foot. I blamed it on a cave in."

Dorni made an astonished sound. "Oh…oof…that is…" he looked to Tristan, "I think it works. No gnome would ever injure themselves while mining and knowingly admit to it."

Tristan nodded and looked to Felicity, "Brew up more of the potion, and I'll infuse it." He then looked to Dorothy, "You have my permission to set up a recruitment stall in the market; but make sure that all possible applicants go through a rigorous process. I want to know why they want to relocate to the Fey Realm, what they offer to us here, and they have to take that elixir and answer questions about their alliances and affiliations. In addition to that, I do not want any Elves or those with Elf heritage. The fairy dragons can sniff it out."

The Matriarch spoke in a stern manner, "Restricting your kin, Lord Tristan…if you desire to rebuild the Fey Realm to its former glory, bringing those with your heritage is part and parcel of the goal."

Tristan turned on her and felt that rage explode in his gut, "It's my Realm!" he shouted angrily. "I am not having other Elves steal my essence."

The sudden reaction scared Dorothy, caused Thallia to giggle, had Felicity shrug, and Dorni looked on dispassionately. The Matriarch swallowed down a knot in her throat and nodded, "If your concern is losing the Realm's essence capacity to Elves, I assure you, the amount is negligible-"

"It is not to me," Tristan countered. "It is my essence. I'm not having more like that Fallthorn come here and take it or challenge my authority!"

The Matriarch curtly nodded, "Very well," she said with some disappointment. "I will hope that something else will convince you, eventually, to bring your people back to their homeland."

Tristan just turned away in response, "This Court meeting is done," he growled as he stomped toward the meadows behind The Queen's Wood.

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