The Queen listened to Tehr seriously as he gave his own report on things, nodding approvingly at certain points, with a smile brightening a bit more at certain moments, nodding again quietly while listening with the people listening and watching the Queen's own reactions, some of them seeming to start considering things while this was all being listed out. He could notice a dwarven nobleman at the other side of the room rubbing his chin and tugging lightly on his beard, seemingly grinning brightly at what all Tehr was telling. When Tehr then stepped aside to give room for the Duke.<br/><br/>At his introduction, the elven duke stepped forth and bowed his head, before rising up again and speaking up.<br/><br/><strong>"Your Majesty, I am glad to be back before you today. I have travelled on the continent for several months, and was carrying out business amidst the other elven clans as well as overseeing the war efforts fought between the Loyalists and Revolutionists over the Spaniard territories. I will seek to write a more full report later, but I wanted to provide a bit of information to the court in person as soon as possible, and thus joined Master Tehr for this day's journey."</strong>He nodded towards Tehr before clearing his throat briefly, standing up and gesturing for one of the Hospitalers, the blonde elf, who approached quick to provide the Duke a rolled up scrolls, which he swiftly unrolled and displayed to the court, showing what appeared to be a letter or list of some sort recorded on the parchment.<br/><br/><strong>"The Clans of Verdant Valley and of the Normandy Forests have both offered their greetings, and well wishes, sending gifts along with them. From the Verdant Valley, ten bottles of their finest vintage, from the Normandy Forest, a shipment of several 'bearkiller' longbows. They sent those to Londinium where they've been waiting for a while in a rented warehouse in my absence, but have been brought here today." </strong>He bowed his head slightly. The bearkiller bows were amptly named, for the composite longbows took a very strong man to draw the string, but that also made each of those bows capable of punching through the bear's hide or the armored plate of a knight in most cases. They were fearsome weapons, in right hands, and the creations were always masterwork, even if they were not necessarily already enchanted. Yet in the hands of strong enough archers they would definitely make those archers into truly dangerous foes.<br/><br/><strong>"Unfortunately, the elves of the Eastern Fort on Spaniard territory had been not only defeated, but enslaved by the revolutionists for a while. They rebelled, but their small clan was decimated, and supposedly wiped out. The action brought the revolutionists to a near war with the remaining elves in the Spaniard territories, but they preferred to still keep their peace. The fact remained that some were suspicious why a group of rebels would act that was, when others had approached elves with offers of alliance before to try and replace the 'corrupt monarch' of the Spaniards. Yet their internal matters would bear little importance if not for something else that came up soon enough."</strong>He grit his teeth together, before exposing his arm, the wounds showing on it, the darkened bits on the veins, the cuts looking still somewhat fresh as the bandages were removed, inflamed, yet at the same time kept in check.<br/><br/><strong>"Amidst the battles there were mercenaries attacking opportunistically, and entire villages that went dark. There was some suspicion on what was going on, so I and my guards investigated. Only to be attacked, most of my companions killed on the road, others told to flee, to take the news back with them. Given that I am here and I learned the news have not spread here I fear I am the last of our expedition alive."</strong>He inhaled deeply and looked down a tad sorrowfully.<br/><br/><strong>"My Queen, I regret to inform you that amidst the Spaniard war there was evidence of black magic, true black magic, necromancy most foul being used and bodies being taken away from battlefields and entire villages 'harvested', by forces able to use vile magic resistant to healing magic. The new force contained mercenaries but also cloaked figures, but while some were local, others spoke with foreign tongues, but the one tongue was evident in their leader's commands, the accent present in even other languages spoken. Novgorodian. There was a Novgorodian Necromancer amidst them, whether a Cleric of Death or a Wizard most foul, I know not, but their very presence brought a chill to their surroundings. Given the mask in use, I fear I cannot give any proper description, but I must mention that the foul magic like Vile magic is not commonly seen and was thought lost with the fall of 'Rasputin' long ago,"</strong>he said as the black haired elven man made his way over, and rather obviously cast a powerful healing spell, with full intent and focus, lighting the wounds with purifying light yet when they faded the wounds seemed totally untouched, still as savage as they had been before. The blonde elven man began to bandage the Duke's arm then and there again, while he faced the Queen who had gone quiet.<br/><br/><em><strong>"This is an alarming bit of news. I would prefer to speak more of this in the privacy later, so I would ask you and Master Tehr to await for me after the court session is over. In the meanwhile, you are welcome to stay and listen to the court, or retire to the library or the dining hall in the meanwhile, but please don't leave the palace. I also want to thank you for the generous gifts you have delivered back to us along with the information. It is with heavy heart that we learn of this treachery against the elves in midst of the war."</strong></em>The Queen nodded her head while glancing around, seeing more than a few people looking rather thoughtful but not many other petitioners.<br/><br/><em><strong>"We would prefer to have a talk with at least the House Saari still, are there other petitioners beyond them however?"</strong></em>She asked seriously, and two other figures raised their hands. One of them a merchant by the look of his clothes, the other a bishop of the One God, dressed in his robes and looking occasionally in the Duke's direction.<em><strong>"Very well, we shall continue then. Does House Saari wish to wait or go on ?"</strong></em>At which point the House Saari members stepped forth.<br/><br/>What they had to talk about seemed to be a report of the ship building efforts and the early expeditions carried towards the West, along with the first-hand report from their<em>most experienced</em>Windcaller, who had taken the first ship,<em>Dauntless</em>across the sea and reached the foreign shores. Returning with gifts from the native tribes as well as rough gemstones and gold jewelry. Displaying that the project had already began to show profit could be made, even if the gifts shown would not cover the costs for the journeys alone, but they were an example and the talk spoke about requesting permission to start a settlement in her name rather than a mere trade station, and her support to start recruiting settlers for a long journey.