Lady Cilen looked over the new arrivals nodding in greeting as they arrived.  Once it seemed most of them had arrived, she stood and cleared her throat.  "Thank you all for coming on such short notice," she said, nodding her head slightly.  "Unfortunately, we have little time for pleasantries.  As some of you may have heard, there are rumors that the humankind kingdoms to the east have begun to form another alliance against us.  We still have a long way to go before we are fully recovered from the last massive war, and a second so soon would likely mean the end of our people.  Thus, we need to investigate the source of these rumors, and if another alliance is forming, do everything we can to end it."<br/><br/>"There is more that the rumors don't say, however.  Before I go on, I need to impress on you that what I am about to say does not leave this room," she said sternly, fixing each of the attendees with a steely glare before continuing.  "We are fairly certain that the rumors are true.  The one responsible for everything is likely King Reginald IX, the grandson of the king who made the previous alliance.  He has claimed that the end of his grandfather's alliance and his subsequent assassination were due to monstergirl spies spreading lies and rumors about his plans after the war, telling his allies that he intended to betray them next."<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Perception DC 15</div><div class="spoiler_body">Lady Cilen's lips curled into a bit of a smile as she mentioned the spies, and you notice that she didn't exactly deny it...</div></div><br/>Before she could continue, the doors leading into the chamber burst open, and a naga also wearing the finery of the Council slithered into the room.  "Cilen, Cilen!" she called out, clutching a scroll in her hand.<br/><br/>"Oh, Lorelei, did you get the report?" Lady Cilen said as she took the scroll, opening it and reading it for a moment before nodding.  "Good, good.  Lady Lorelei has been in contact with several of our spies in the eastern kingdoms, and it's helped us get the information about the alliance.  The King has had a tough time thanks to the way the lands were settled after the alliance broke apart, as his own kingdom claimed most of it.  However, it seems he's close to closing a few agreements, with one of the dwarven clans to the south, and some of the elves to the north."<br/><br/>"The elves may dislike their dark elven brethren that have taken up residence in our lands, but we've been able to stay on good relations with their leaders.  If we can convince them to at least stay neutral, we can keep the rest of the alliance from forming long enough to break apart the rest of it.  We'll have to move quickly however, as it looks like they're ready to agree to the King's offer any day now," Cilen explained.<br/><br/>"There's another way to stop things, however," Lorelei continued.  "The dwarves have also been reluctant to join, but it looks like the King has won them over with his latest offer: a large group of monstergirl slaves being sent to work in the new mines they've dug.  They've been on very uneasy terms however, and it sounds like they don't even trust that the slaves are coming.  If we can stop the slave caravan and free them, and clear up any trace of it, we can hopefully ignite more infighting between the two."<br/><br/>Lady Cilen nodded and turned back to the adventurers as she took her seat again.  "Unfortunately, I doubt you'll have time to do both, and I can't guarantee I'll be able to contact any of our other groups to take care of things.  But, the choice of which tactic to pursue is something I leave to you."