The Gathering of the Councils, while sometimes spoken of as such, was not actually a single event. Instead, it was a series of them spread out over some time. It was not a single gathering, but several, sometimes with a varying roster, some of which were open to diplomatic guests while others were not. It also needed quite a bit of preparation time leading up to it, so when it finally arrived, Armin was relieved.

Of course, he could have done without participating in the formal ritual that marked the Gathering's start. Of course, being invited was an honor, and he certainly wouldn't reject it — that could be seen as an insult to his hosts or even to the gods, which he certainly wouldn't want. But he didn't want to get it wrong and offend them even worse.

At least the ritual was relatively simple, and he'd made sure to be prepared. It was also a good opportunity to see the gathered dark elf notables who would be participating in the following events. Most of them were in wide, dark robes which were apparently their ceremonial clothes, with symbols and sigils painted on their faces and bare skin, so they looked quite different than normal. He had done the same, of course, carefully trying to choose inoffensive symbols. Interestingly, dark elves of all ages and both genders participated, though there were more women, and he even saw some dwarves and the odd gnome or surface elf. It only reinforced the diversity of the Eternal Dark.

They said some ritualized prayers, which he followed along with, and conducted some sacrifices, which he watched, but didn't seem very different from what he was used to. Of course, everything had to be done properly, so he didn't mind waiting and watching silently.

It was only common sense to want to propitiate the gods. They'd done this for centuries and their gatherings were still observed and useful, so the ritual was clearly not inappropriate. Even if it wasn't what he was used to; but different places, different customs.

Eventually, they cooked the meat of the sacrificed animals over an open fire — something he was sure they wouldn't normally do, considering they were underground, but it was a special day — and passed it out to the worshipers. Drinks and other food were brought out, and the statues of the gods they had used were covered with cloth while the gathering moved to an adjacent room to indulge in celebration. Now the Gathering has officially started, he mused.

"If you have questions about any of the food, we can explain," Peras said. "Some of it may not be suitable for your people's digestion."

Armin grimaced slightly, but nodded. "So far, I have not encountered any problems, so I doubt it will be an issue. But thank you for the offer."

Peras seemed to have been appointed to stay with him for now, which he didn't mind. Armin watched the crowd, trying to decide how to act and who to approach. It was rather big, there were secondary leaders, guests and aides — like them, he supposed — also present. Finding the truly important people, the leaders of the major houses and high government officials, was fairly easy, though; the other people tended to cluster around and orient toward them.

Luckily, many of them seemed to be interested in talking to him, if only out of curiosity. Armin took advantage of this, speaking as an informal advocate of the Empire and also as someone close to Madris. However, he deflected most questions about her, especially the personal ones.

Madris held no government office, but in theory, she should have a voice in the council of the leaders of the most important houses that discussed issues of administration, law and war. It was the most regular and perhaps most important of the council gatherings during the Gathering of the Councils. In theory, since she held the title of 'Eminent Mistress', Madris was also eligible to be elected as their leader. The current leader (a position he'd seen translated as 'sovereign', 'hegemon' or just 'matriarch' in the texts he'd read), Eminent Mistress Anevien, seemed unworried about that possibility, although of course she wouldn't show it if she was and perhaps others might be.

Instead, Armin told some tales of the founding of the Empire and the events that had happened during and after it, and narrated the reaction and actions of the Delvers. The latter issue was clearly important to the gathered dark elves, and he understood why. The return of a Progenitor was already sending ripples through the order, even to lands much farther away. It was easy to see it might change the Delvers' relations with others, like their partners in the Eternal Dark, too. Unfortunately, he had been gone for a while and really wasn't the best authority on how the local Delvers actually took all this. While he'd exchanged some letters and stopped in a few towns on the way here, it was hardly a comprehensive overview.

"I assume that means we will not have to face increased hostility," Eminent Mistress Iriesen, an ally of his hosts, noted.

"That would depend on the details of what diplomacy you conduct going forward, I assume," he replied. "But generally, I would hope not. Empress Regina does not support the idea of a 'humanity-first' ideology, and in the Empire, the local Delvers have moved away from more xenophobic positions toward tolerance. I would hope this push for more inclusion is going to spread. Of course, there might be reactions against it and some may make a point of distancing themselves from all nonhumans, including old allies."

She cocked her head and gave him a more penetrating look. "A fascinating analysis, Sir Armin. You are able to speak about your own people with remarkably little bias."

He grinned wrily and shrugged. "Obviously, it is something I have spent a great deal of thought on and talked to many others about."

"It makes sense," Peras muttered, "you are one of the Rnioni people, aren't you?"

He raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised that she knew that. "Yes. Though I have not been back home for years now."

They talked a little further about the Delvers' opinions and impact on foreign policy, while he acted a bit more confident than he truly was. But it wasn't like he was lying or misrepresenting anything, he just couldn't afford to seem to be vacillating. A few other people joined the discussion before long, and then a few of them moved on to other knots of conversations.

Unsurprisingly, the conversation eventually turned to matters of trade. He had expected that; it was probably the most important way of interacting with the outside for the inhabitants of the Eternal Dark. Especially those outsiders as far away as the Central European Empire.

Armin also wasn't particularly surprised at their interest in food production, when he mentioned that Empress Regina and her Hive had introduced new types of fertilizers and they were seeing initial, positive results. He immediately got a lot of questions and tried to answer as best he could. Perhaps surprisingly, people seemed less interested in understanding the details and trying to appropriate it for themselves than the further-reaching results.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

He had to wait until the conversation died down and he had a bit of a breather to ask Peras about it. "Why aren't they more concerned about getting their hands on it, if they are so interested?"

His guide shrugged. "Our ways of farming are quite different than those on the surface. Not just in the way it is organized socially, but also regarding the actual mechanisms. Many things that might work for you wouldn't work for us. We usually farm entirely different crops, for once. Among other things."

Armin nodded. He'd seen some of that during his time here. It made sense that they wouldn't be trying to cultivate wheat underground, for example. "I understand that. Although it still strikes me as amazing that you manage to have agriculture underground at all."

Peras smiled faintly. "We do have intricate systems that make sure nutrients are properly shared and cycled. And farming is done communally by larger groups like houses, which means there are no single farmers trying to cultivate several different crops, as I've heard humans tend to do. Perhaps to minimize risk? If a harvest fails — less likely since we don't need to worry about storms or changing weather — well, the house has other economic ventures and our laborers aren't left to starve. From what I have read, and Icnes has written quite a bit on the topic, our system is simply more efficient. But we do import quite a bit of food from the surface. Particularly grain."

Armin paused, then nodded. "I will need to consider this further, but your explanation makes sense," he admitted. He had never been a farmer himself, but there were some things everyone knew, and her characterization seemed correct as far as he knew. "So, importing grain — then they are concerned about prices, I assume?"

Between the edges of the Empire's territory — or Esemen — and their current position or its equivalent on the surface were several smaller countries, located largely on flat plains of arable land that were good for farming. It made sense they could export some grain to the dark elves.

"We are," Lermen said, appearing beside them and bringing a few other dark elves trailing after him. "Do you think the price is likely to fall, with increased agricultural output from the Empire?"

"I am unsure how much will be exported, but I would say so," he guessed. He was really glad he had discussed subjects of commerce and trade with Madris and others before leaving. "It is a bit far for direct export to the Eternal Dark, but if the Empire sells more grain to its neighbors, the price there will fall and it will probably do the same here in turn. In the long term, their productivity will also be increase as they learn technologies from the Empire. I have been told they intend to spread their knowledge instead of hoarding it."

"Presumably not to the Esemen, though," Iriesen joked with a little smile.

There were a few polite chuckles in the group, and he inclined his head with a smile, conceding the point.

"And what have the Esemen ever done to you?" Someone else asked.

"To me? Nothing," Armin answered easily, smiling at the woman who was clearly trying to make some sort of point. "They did involve themselves in the war in Cernlia, which might lead to some hard feelings. I do not feel I can speak for them or the Imperial citizenry, though."

"Perhaps you should ask Clasen, I'm sure he knows something," Iriesen suggested with another smile, discretely pointing to someone a bit further away.

Armin followed her gaze, then started and barely kept himself from giving a more visible sign of surprise. Somehow, while he'd been distracted talking, another man had entered the room — or maybe he'd simply overlooked him before — and made his way closer to them. It was definitely a human, which he had not expected. Armin was not familiar enough with forms of dress in the nearby kingdoms to be certain, but he did not look like he came from a local nation. He was wearing a sort of amulet with a religious symbol, in this case a feather which was associated with Deirianon, which Armin knew originated in Esemen even if it had spread to adjacent countries from there.

Of course, even more interesting was what the System told him about the man.

Lucas Clasen — Level 67 Psychic Counter

A psychic? Those weren't exactly common. And a human psychic here, suddenly? He glanced at Peras and Lermen Oliren. Peras seemed unbothered, although he knew she was just composed. Lermen was staring at the man with narrowed eyes. Then he glanced at Armin, who raised an eyebrow slightly.

In response, the dark elf just shrugged slightly and tilted his head. He wasn't entirely sure, but the gesture seemed like a vague apology. Maybe for not being prepared.

Then, before he could ask, the psychic in question reached them. Armin straightened up a bit, trying not to look like he'd been surprised.

"Greetings to you. I admit, I was not expecting to find a human psychic here. I am Armin niz'as Ulaven, pleased to meet you."

The man inclined his head the slightest fraction. "I am Lucas Clasen, fourth son of the lord mayor of Leberg."

This time, Armin was pretty sure he couldn't keep his surprise of his face. "You are from Liongen?" And a noble from its capital, who's also a psychic? He had not heard of him before. Was his father newly appointed, maybe?

"Indeed. I am glad to see you have some basic knowledge of geography. Did your introduction omit anything, or do you not have titles to add? I am not trying to be offensive, simply curious."

Armin gave him a tight smile, still trying to figure out why a psychic from the Western Confederation was here. He did not come up with any answers that reassured him. "I am a Delver, little more. I do not have any great titles to offer."

Clasen smiled genially. "Now I am sure you are putting yourself down, Master Armin. They would hardly have invited someone of no renown to these festivities."

"Well, he is the adopted, primary male house-member of one of the Eternal Dark's most powerful scions, Eminent Mistress Ulaven," Lermen said, keeping his tone so light and airy that the irony was obvious.

"Of course. Madris," Clasen nodded. "I have met her before."

Armin suspected the smile he was trying to firm up on his face was edging closer to a grimace. Now he remembered the name. It was one of several psychics his party leader had mentioned before, some time ago. He had not paid particular attention at the time. He hadn't had the impression that this man was important.

"How nice," Tedis Oliren chimed in, stepping up beside Lermen and smiling slightly. "My stepdaughter has not mentioned you."

Her words were polite, but the tone and implication did raise a few small smirks in the people listening in. Clasen didn't seem to mind. He only bowed courteously to her and exchanged a few polite pleasantries.

"Well, Master Armin, it was charming to meet you," he then said. "Unfortunately, I have important people to speak to. I am sure we will see each other around. Until then." He nodded and turned to go.

Armin looked after him, finally allowing himself to frown. He had to admit he was a little thrown by this encounter.

"What is he doing here? What does he want?" he asked quietly, glancing at the Oliren couple.

Tedis sighed. "I wish I knew any specifics, but we can only speculate. I was not aware of his presence until today; apparently, he only arrived yesterday."

"I think we can assume he will be set against us, trying to prevent any cooperation with the Empire," Lermen muttered.

Armin nodded, watching as Clasen joined another group with high-ranking dark elf women. He was rather sure that was true. But the question was what else he might be aiming for, and how he aimed to accomplish it.

"I will find out who invited him, and what they want to accomplish," Tedis promised.

"And I will need to send a letter to Madris," Armin muttered. "It's a shame we'll have to wait for her reply."

By the time it came, the Gathering might already be over.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.