you'd place your hands upon my weary head; ALL [cont.]

[magnus]

— find what you love and let it kill you —

To say this meeting had not gone the way that he had wanted would be an understatement.

He had started with hope flaring in his chest, a light that had burned back the edges of depression just slightly, and now he felt the dregs of it crawling back. Of course this had happened under his watch. He was thankful for those who had come forward and while he felt those protective flames still fanning in his belly, as the adrenaline receded, they did too—leaving him before the gathered crowd.

His gaze swung to the next few to join them. Aranea, who was still a silent enigma to him, although he recalled how she had been wiling to be there next to him when he had been wild with grief in the meadow. Thorunn, who looks frustrated and impatient with the whole process (he can hardly blame her). Rael Fire, another Tundra soldier, and then Longear, his granddaughter with the wild, flighty eyes.

He had a duty to them, a responsibility, and he straightened his shoulders beneath it. Turning toward Rael Fire, he nodded, holding her gaze steadily. “Good. You should speak against what is not for the best of Tephra.” He glanced around to the group. “All of you should.” His tail flicked against his haunches. “I am not a King here. I am not here to rule over you, I am here to serve and to help and to guide. That is all.”

At her scorn, he just laughed and shrugged. “I agree. I would very much like to discuss our plan.”

He addressed the group again, “I am not sure how much you all heard of my original proposal before the meeting went,” he searched for the word, “sideways.” Oh, how he longed to not have to repeat the entire thing again. “For those of you who did hear, do you have any questions or concerns? I would like to get something established so that we can feel like a stable land and less of a place in constant flux.”

Another brief pause.

“I also need to know which among you are interested in joining our central caste and which are interested in potentially joining the counsel, either as head of the army, the diplomatic head, and other. In addition, I plan to visit the other lands shortly, if any have interest in accompanying me on the journey."

And then, he fell silent. Hopefully, they would be able to sort this out quickly before night fell.

magnus

just thought it'd be easier to have a clean slate here.

TL;DR:

* Offspring, Eight, and Malis have stepped down as leaders of Tephra
* Magnus is proposing one leader with support of a 3-tiered council. One would be the head of the "guardians" or army / defense. One would be the diplomatic head. The third would be nominated by the leader.
* He is also proposing ranks with one caste. You could gain points and promotions by typical diplomatic or army activities so no one would be limited to either [although, of course, you could do one or the other if only one suited you].
* He also wants to organize some trips to visit the other kingdoms / lands to feel them out.