The Small Council Chamber of Khadira

[Muakhah]

"So good of you to wait for me." the newcomer to the room whined in affected aristocratic tones. "I see that Khadira believes it does not need oversight from those trusted by the Desert King."

"Be seated Tothmet. As you can clearly see we have yet to begin as I am yet to sit as well. We have waited for you while you delayed. It seems that you deem refreshment more important than good governance."

"Refreshment is necessary when hard labours are expected, and the wines provided me so far have been barely satisfactory." sniffed the Desert King's Emissary as he sat down. Other members of the council rolled their eyes disdainfully as this important fool made himself comfortable.

"We are not here to discuss wines but to allocate responsibilites for the city. As such allow me to introduce you to your fellows." Hassan M'badwe gazed sternly at Tothmet until he waved a hand in assent.

"But of course."

"Gentlemen, Lady, some of you have the pleasure of knowing Tothmet Smenkhare. Emissary from the Desert King's court. He will keep us appraised of the great King's wishes and report on our progress to his Majesty." The men and woman seated nodded respectfully. "To Tothmet's right may I introduce Matthew Narciss. He is an ambassador from the stronghold of the Dragon Queen across the Nocturnus border. As you know it was Muakhah's wish that we continue to build strong cross border trade and cooperation to help counter Ravaage's influence in the area. Matthew will identify ways to develop our alliance." The handsome man smiled in the face of the council's attention.

"Seated to my left is Zahrman Akkad, High Astromancer of Khadira. To him falls the reponsibility of developing and training mage users whose talents lie in warlike magics. This will be important for the coming struggles. To Zahrman's left is Falila Mehrmani. I believe that you refer to yourself as a Transmutationalist. Your responsibility lies with the creation of magical items and solutions to the many problems facing Khadira." The pale lady nodded. "Finally I come to Ibrahim Badishah. It was Muakhah's wish that you be elevated to the small council in order to manage the finances of Khadira while we cope with the influx of refugees, regional development and the costs of prosecuting the war against Ravaage."

The man in the Black Turban looked shocked and pale.

"But I am not a wealthy merchant. I don't think I have the experience to manage the city..."

"On the contrary! Muakhah specifically requested you. He wrote many good things about you. Apparently you have never cheated either customer or worker. You treat those in your emply well and conduct your dealing with principles. You seek not to enrich solely yourself but also your partners and workers. All praise you as a man of integrity, hard work and modesty. Is this untrue?"

"No but ..."

"There are no buts! You have been chosen because your decency and fairness in business practices are what the city needs now in order to help the many in need that must eat and work in fact..." Hassan M'badwe broke off suddenly.

"I hope I am not intruding assembled members...but I was invited to this gathering."  Heads turned as Rothgar Magnusson Lord Commander of the Khadira chapter of the Knights of Aslan entered the room. His stern face and grey hair did not hide the posture of a warrior and still, despite the heat and his age he wore a breastplate with an image of the Golden Lion wrought upon it.

"What is this ...traitor of Ulandus doing here Hassan?" Asked Tothmet. "Surely he and his kind are not allowed to work their evil in Khadira?"

"Lord Commander Rothgar and his men are pledged to peace. We were able to avoid hostilities during the civil war and the Aslanic chapter here took up no arms against his majesty. Since the civil war has died down the Aslanic Order has been in chaos and variour Chapters have chosen peace over continued hostilities. Lord Rothgar and his men have helped protect the refugees and help the victims of this war." Hassan said as he stood.

"Hmpf...that may be so but you can never be sure where a Ulandan sympathizer's loyalties truly lie."

"My loyalties lie with the people of Khadira, and theirs with the Desert King, so my loyalty is with him also." Broke in Rothgar. As Tothmet sulkily pondered his glass. "But I am here because your beloved Muakhah offered me a place upon the council to help build this new Khadira he spoke of so much."

"You presume too much Lord Commander. I was there when you struck the pact. You have no seat nor authority in the council but have been granted observer status. You may sit and watch and we might ask for your wisdom. But do not expect us to listen."  Hassan faced Rothgar but noticed a thin smile appear on Tothmet's face.

"Then I will sit now, and listen as the lords of Khadira do as they will." retorted Rothgar angrily.

"That you may, but not today! Today is not an official council meeting but merely a setting of the table, an appointing of roles so that we know who is responsible and for what. I will send for you in three days when we will have a council meeting of substance and things of import that might require your wisdom. We would not want to waste your time on trivialities."

"You cannot do this! I have a right to be here!" Retorted Rothgar.

"Right? You speak to me of right? I who have been appointed Steward and High Judge in Muakhah's absence? I who interpret and lay down justice for those in need of it. If you truly think that you are just and right in this matter then I remind you who is bearer of the Mace of Watombe. Who survived its trials to become the conduit of its power? If you think you have better claim to the power of Justice then reach out and take the Mace from the wall." He gestured to the end of the room where the mace hung behind Igrahim's head. "Let it judge whether you can act in accordance with right, but if you fail. If there is injustice within you then it will surely destroy you. Hear my word, hear my bond and be content. You will be at the council meeting in three days. And I will be sure to ask your opinions. But now I ask you to leave and be contented. See to your men. See to the Pilgrim Roads."

Lord Commander Rothgar glanced at the Mace of Watombe and stiffened. Raising his head proudly he addressed the room.

"My Lords, Milady. Good Grace in the sight of Aslan to you. Till we meet in three days."

Having spoken he turned and left. Hassan let out a sigh and sat heavily. Tothmet smiled at him and with a gleam in his eye, spoke.

"Well done High Judge, I am pleased you put that ruffian in his place."

"Be not so pleased emissary. He speaks truly. As part of the agreement that war would not break out between Khadirans he was given a role in the aftermath. He has been true to his word and has kept his men in check and now we must give him what he is owed."

Tothmet's expression changed to having swallowed a rotten olive.

"To other matters." Said Hassan firmly. "We need homes, so we must build. We need food, so we must harvest. We need money, so we must trade. We need peace, so we must prepare for war."

Extra Overall Build

 

 

More pics at https://www.flickr.com/photos/151417006@N07/albums/72157682653689114

Thanks for reading a bit of story for Khadira. I hope it makes you interested for more. I wanted to try and introduce a few factions that might end up in opposition to each other that would lead to future drama. The build itself was completed a while ago and it is ok but a bit simple. The room is crowded, bare and with an ugly floor as I ran out of tan tiles. People may love or hate the mixing of minifigs but I like it as is. Yep it is the floor that bugs me the most... I hope this will also count as a government building, cant remember the categories at the moment but something else to get Khadira up from a hamlet.

Anyways hope people enjoyed the read and I will see about continuing some story stuff soon.

[TitusV]

The build is more then "OK"! Though I'm not completely sure about the pattern on the floor, I really like your book-cases Looking forward to what these factions are up to

[gedren_y]

Ooh! Doctor Strange reference!

[en_zoo]

as you said, it's simple, yet I find that it works very well to set up your story, which in turn starts with being pretty intriguing. I second Titus about the bookshelves

[Henjin_Quilones]

Great story, and the small room is very effective for illustrating it. I actually kind of like the floor, so I would not be too harsh on that if I were you. I like the side-board with the snacks and drinks, and the tiled wall-top makes the whole thing look sharp and clean. It would look a bit better, I think, with taller walls, at least taller than the stuff on the top of the bookshelves, but you might have a shortage of tan pieces that prevented that. It still looks good, though, as is. 

[Blufiji]

Good work on the interior, the stone patterning on the floor is really nice as are the seats. You have succeeded in giving the build a "busy meeting" feel to it.

[soccerkid6]

Plenty of nice details incorporated into the walls of this interior. The shelves, shields, and table with food add some nice touches of color

[mccoyed]

I like the Kadiran flavour. Especially your character names. Others have said all the things I would have said about the build, so let me compliment you on the story!

[Muakhah]

On 2017/7/5 at 1:06 AM, TitusV said:

The build is more then "OK"! Though I'm not completely sure about the pattern on the floor, I really like your book-cases Looking forward to what these factions are up to

Thanks for the support. It seems the floor seems to be a bit like marmite. I find it ugly, especially around the doors. I can't take credit for the book cases I just modified the ones in the doctor strange set. As for the factions I hope to develop them a bit more in my next story build!

On 2017/7/5 at 1:48 AM, gedren_y said:

Ooh! Doctor Strange reference!

Are you referring to the mace of Watombe? I created the Hassan character and gave him a cool mace. Then I thought this needs a cool African sounding name and Watombe popped into my head. It was only after I made a build and posted it that I realised I had just straight up stolen from Dr Strange...facepalm... Anyways The mace is a very powerful magical item but needs total commitment to justice and the law. Those who are unjust or lawbreakers will suffer pain or death if they try to use the mace. Especially difficult if the laws are unjust.

On 2017/7/6 at 5:11 AM, en_zoo said:

as you said, it's simple, yet I find that it works very well to set up your story, which in turn starts with being pretty intriguing. I second Titus about the bookshelves

Glad you like the story, I was struggly to find a way to justify the absence of my main character from my builds. Hopefully the story will keep your interest!

On 2017/7/14 at 9:55 PM, Henjin_Quilones said:

Great story, and the small room is very effective for illustrating it. I actually kind of like the floor, so I would not be too harsh on that if I were you. I like the side-board with the snacks and drinks, and the tiled wall-top makes the whole thing look sharp and clean. It would look a bit better, I think, with taller walls, at least taller than the stuff on the top of the bookshelves, but you might have a shortage of tan pieces that prevented that. It still looks good, though, as is. 

I completely agree the walls are too short, surprised but happy you like the floor. Can't have a woork meeting without snacks and drinks! Looking back I could probably have made the walls a little higher. Currently pushing my tan bricks to the limit with my next build.

On 2017/7/14 at 11:23 PM, Blufiji said:

Good work on the interior, the stone patterning on the floor is really nice as are the seats. You have succeeded in giving the build a "busy meeting" feel to it.

Got to get work done at a meeting. There may not be as many characters at the next one and I just realised I completely forgot to work the charts and books on the table into the story! Dammit!

 

On 2017/7/16 at 7:30 AM, soccerkid6 said:

Plenty of nice details incorporated into the walls of this interior. The shelves, shields, and table with food add some nice touches of color

Cheers! I was worried that it was bare and that the shields were a bit odd. Good to know it wasn't too plain.

On 2017/7/16 at 8:35 AM, mccoyed said:

I like the Kadiran flavour. Especially your character names. Others have said all the things I would have said about the build, so let me compliment you on the story!

Thanks! I hope I can remember the names for the next part of the story!

Thanks for all the support guys, and the helpful advice is being incorporated into the next build>