#fenixtj

"How so?"

"Fate's fire or the like, the high powered stuff might enssure that if they took up weapons of war again they'd regret it"

"Do we have anyone who can do that?"

"I'll have to ask Tito Woden, it maybe beyond his capabiloity. The city has surprisingly few sorcerers, or if it does have them, they lay low"

"Foamfang didn't seem.... completely set against the idea of an oath, and Otem, you said an oath -would- bind them?"

"It can " A nod

"Ok...." Jess takes a deep breath. "Ok. Then that's the route we'll go. Foamfang first, if she's willing. Maybe others will see and take the option too. I need to come up with the wording, though."

"Possibly in more than one language" Otem warns "Many of my people will NOT swear in the tongue of the invaders"

"I'm perfectly fine with that; in fact, all the more likely it would be binding that way."

"But it also means you'll want me to listen in and make sure it is not riddled with sly egress" Otem asserts "You learning fast Jessica, but I will not have your good nature taken advantage of"

"I was thinking the Oath should be taken in a Nunnehi sacred place."

"And of course, your people invited to attend and witness."

"Jessica," Otem says "This is most kind of you"

"And canny, too, I hope." dryly. "I'm not a super-political person but if your people witness these oaths, maybe they'll believe me about wanting peace?"

Diego nods "Nice idea. An element of ceremony with a dash of public scrutiny"

"Should I write the first draft, or do we have a better writer for this kind of thing?"

"I would suggest you state what you want from the Oath from Constance and Fawn, let them work on the details, then have Otem look over the final draft" Diego advises

Jess nods. "I'll go see them now." and she does.

Fawn takes a bit to track down unless called. Turns out she was tending to some of the people in need of a bit of basic medical care who couldn't afford much

Constance is dutifully writing notes down, latest happenings. She is no warrior, but even among other trolls she's dedicated

Once they're gathered. "Ladies, I hope I haven't disrupted anything but this is of county-wide importance. Do you need anything? Food, drink?"

"You may want me to shower" Fawn admits with a smile "But other than that?" More somberly "How can I help?"

"Let me hit you with this tasking and then you can get cleaned up while you think." she offers "Ok...." she explains the situation and need.

"So I want an oath for the hostile Nunnehi to take that will ensure they don't attack us or our local allies, but that -will- allow them to defend themselves. And not just 'don't attack us' but 'don't attack any Fae, invaders, whatever. No Kith."

Constance nods "Oath arrangements I've done before. I'll see what I can write up"

"I'm not expecting a finished copy; just a first draft. I want to have some input, and Otem too. And it'll need to be in native languages, Fawn."

Fawn nods "Happy to help"

Constance nods "First draft, joint effort"

"Excellent, and thank you. I'd give it a shot but.... I'm not exactly a wordsmith."

"If you could do everything, the rest of us would be bored " Fawn smirks

A rueful chuff of laughter. "I suppose it's a good thing, then. You need anything from me?"

"I don't think so, but if we do" Constance assures "We'll let you know"

"Thanks." she wanders away and takes stock; she knows she ate recently... and she's relatively clean. Nothing seems to be on fire that shouldn't be. People are handling business. No one's died (much).

She... might actually have free time!

Perhaps a nap, then. A nap could be good.

The fire greets her. Relief that Duff and others are all well tangible. They could BOTH use a nap

Jess chuckles. "Want me to stay here a bit?" she murmurs to the flames.

The flames writhe about her but also let go. Go Rest where you want, it seems to say

"I won't leave the Freehold." she promises, and goes to lay down in her chambers.

And she rests... quite peacefully actually

(End Scene)

"She's what?" Siv asks

"Well, she is supposed to be resting by the balefire, but Jessica went to nap, so Gerd decided to help around here instead" Coy explains

A sigh "Work aholics we are. WHere's Gerd?"

"Cleaning the hall with a mop"

"Of course she is" Siv says.

Outside her room, jessica wakes to the sounds of chatter

(Perception plus Alertness)

/roll 5