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Other suitors begin to arrive. One after another they roll off ships from the Great Bay. More and more suitors arrive, entertainers are coming, and soldiers and mercenaries are also arriving to add to the security of the upcoming festival and the large gathering of potential leaders.
As the day arrives for the opening of the festival, Alzar steps into the castle and meets with the local Chamberlain, who arranges for those people that are requesting a dominion to enter.
Alzar meets with the Chamberlain for a half hour or so to determine if he is qualified. Since he is a magic-user, they require him to cast at least 8th level magic. “How about Maze?” The Chamberlain agrees, and he casts Maze on one of the guards who disappears, and re-appears about 6 minutes later from the magical labyrinth. He confirms that it was probably a Maze spell, it meets the information that he has of it (but has never been put in one before) and Alzar meets the power-level they are expecting from people to run a dominion here.
Alzar is moved to a small secondary throne room where King Ericall is meeting with other potentials. He is almost 30 years old, and is young and relatively inexperienced in matters political and administrative, after all, he was not groomed for the Kingship nor the Emperor-ship from his mother due to his class as a fighter. He is extremely charismatic and handsome, with a winning style and manner of speech. There is an elite bodyguard of knights in the room and after he finishes speaking with a female cleric, she leaves and the Chamberlain introduces Alzar to him.
The King discusses the need for quickly expanding in Alphatian Norwold, in order to keep the expected Thyatian response off guard. There is a degree of speed. And besides Pandius has never lacked for heroes and people of experience and power that can carve out a fiefdom in the Norwold wilderness. In order to be given a dominion, Alzar must swear to four things:
Norwold Oath of Fealty:
1 – Swear fealty to King Ericall
2 – Must Pledge to abide and protect the law
3 – Must pledge to pay the standard rate of taxation to the crown after two years of building up the land
4 – Must swear that Alzar is not a spy or agent for Thyatis, and will report on any Thyatian spies, ambassadors, or emissaries in Norwold that he encounters.
The Oath of Fealty won’t be administered until the end of the festival. Over the course of the next few days, King Ericall will meet with each applicant for determining who will get what territory. Anyone who has chosen different lands will need to fight it out in the upcoming tournament.
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