Has reared himself a throne
===========================

"I don't envy the archmages," said Lutomysla, swilling the last of her soil-brown Marcher beer around in the bottom of her mug. When she was in the Hub, she drank her beer from a mug. Not from any social pressure, but because she hated tea but liked to feel part of the team."In what way?" Jorgen was busy reviewing his notes, putting them in order in preparation for writing a proper report for the Archmage of Spring. The towering mushroom had had a lot to say, and the civil servant found that parts of it were fading in and out of his memory in an unsettling way. He'd obviously gotten a bigger dose of those barely visible spores than he had thought. He idly wondered if he ought to see a physick to be on the safe side but it had been a plenipotentiary response, and he was confident that even the strangest of the eternals would not test the boundaries of that particular magic by harming those receiving its response."The ambassadors have it easy in comparison." The Varushkan prognosticator leaned her arms on the desk and watched the ebb and flow of human traffic with a detached interest. "They're dealing with people with very different assumptions, but at least they are still people. They want the same things everyone else does. Love, money, power. The usual. They are unpredictable, surely, but in a predictable way."She sipped the last of her beer. The dregs were thick enough to chew and she smacked her lips in appreciation. Jorgen shook his head. He very much did not see the appeal of that kind of Marcher beverage. He glanced a little sadly at his own mug, still three-quarters full of congealing cocoa."I think the eternals are predictable," he said darkly. "They intentionally time their responses to plenipotentiary messages for when I have just made myself a cup of the good stuff. Never fails. Every time."Lutomysla cocked an eyebrow and half a smile as her friend grumbled, but didn't respond."Oh no, no. I mean, yes. They are predictable because they are focused. You're never going to get Toad King to care about anyone who isn't a magician, for example. No matter how much love, money, or power you put on the table. It's more that the ambassadors deal with humans and orcs. That the Ambassador to the Delves could, with a little support, take the same kind of approach they use with the Bedelaar Huisbaas if they had to talk to the House of Princes. Because humans and orcs. But that doesn't work for the archmages."Jorgen shrugged. He didn't really know much about international diplomacy. It was very much not his wheelhouse. Most people, foreign or Imperial, annoyed him slightly. He wondered not for the first time if that was why he staffed this particular desk as often as he did, then put the thought aside and drank some of his cold cocoa. It was just as dreadful as he had expected it to be. Lutomysla, as she so often did, took his silence to mean she should continue on her theme."The problem is that the eternals within the realm are similar enough. The Autumn eternals on the whole like the Empire, and as long as you keep them where you can see them they'll deal with you on the same basis as they do their fellow cities. It's just how they do things. Night eternals will surprise you whenever they can, but they all love your attention and feeling clever. With Day what you see is what you get, and whatever they may say you know they care more about the thought than the physicality. Summer is all about the ego - and dealing with them is always a balancing act. Winter are watching you to see if you've learned anything, or maybe to see if they can eat you. Spring... now there's a tough one.""Tougher than dealing with people who will eat you if you get it wrong?""Much tougher. None of them actually like the Empire, and because they're Spring they don't bother to hide it. They'd all be a lot happier without all these cities, and roads, and armies and what have you - all the things that make the Empire what it is. And because they're eternals, you'll never convince them otherwise. The best you can do is try and make sure that they don't set fire to the entire village when you ask them to help you gather firewood. If you see what I mean?""I don't," said Jorgen. "But then I just take the messages so..."Very much as if they had been waiting outside the tent for their cue, a pair of black-and-green feathered creatures stepped dramatically into the tent, eyes glittering. They swept a bow to the gathering, and confidently approached the desk."Case in point," muttered Jorgen, grabbing a new stack of paper and a fresh quill. Lutomsyla rolled her eyes.

Overview
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Five Six eternals have sent emissaries to Anvil, apparently in response to plenipotentiary messages from the Imperial archmages Three have agreed to meetings of one kind of another, either in person or via emissaries The other three have provided messages, opportunities, or gifts of one type or another

It is given to the six Imperial archmages that they might send a single plenipotentiary message to an eternal of their realm each season. In turn, the eternals are bound to respond, albeit in a way that suits them rather than the archmage. For some this will mean personal meetings, or congress with their chosen lieutenants. For others it will mean direct action, boons and banes offered and delivered, or chances to shape the mortal world so that it be more pleasing to their realm. Occasionally, they simply decline, but in so doing make their reasons plain. It is difficult to say with certainty what will arise from any given invitation to parley. It is unwise to assume that any eternal creature is tame, after all.

As the Autumn Equinox approaches, there have been six messengers dispatched and six messages received that seem to have occurred in response to the words of the Archmages.

Sculptured Ivy and Stone Flowers
--------------------------------

Representatives of the City of Fire and Stone have responded positively to a plenipotentiary They have arranged a meeting with the Archmage of Autumn The current Archmage of Autumn is Edmundo of Damakhan's Forge

The soft spoken Architect Noether is not a stranger to the Empire. Shorn of the heavy furs they wear in the north, they are a delicate being with anthracite skin and peculiar garb reminiscent of mage armour but composed of sheets of unnaturally flexible sandstone. They bear a message from the City of Fire and Stone, responding to the plenipotentiary message of their factotum, Vossk of Zenith Ascendant.

According to Architect Noether, the proposal put forward in the missive was "clear, personal, interesting" and the Forgemistress intends to honour the request. The Architects of Iron and Stone - a faction in the fire mountain Shikal that specialise in assessment and appraisal of potential constructions and investments - are already putting together a proposal for a permanent office in Zenith from which Edmundo of Damakan's Forge, and the Empire, may conduct business with the City of Fire and Stone. It will be built at the Crucible of Fate, where the Lady of Hammers already has a not insignificant presence.

The plans themselves are straightforward enough; an edifice of white granite and mithril with a little ilium used to harness certain Autumn energies to make it easier for heralds of the City of Anvils to visit and remain in the mortal world. A title - Architect of Hammers - will be created to oversee the offices. The Bronze Artisan is unconcerned as to whether it is an Urizen title appointed by Tally of the Votes or an Imperial title appointed by declaration of Candidacy.

There are clear similarities to a fane - a type of commission codified by the Empire's architects and civil servants to try and copy techniques used by the Jotun to liaise with eternals. However, unlike a fane, the eternal has given no indication that they wish the structure to be ceded to them. This could be crucial as it means the eternal would not have dominion over the commission; that would be held by the Architect of Hammers. As a result, it would be the architect who could determine whether heralds of Estavus could continue to come and go from the Office if the Conclave declared enmity. The eternal would only gain dominion if they seized it (with soldiers) or if they were given it by the Architect of Hammers, or a suitable authority in the Empire (such as the Conclave or Senate).

What has not been established, however, is the precise purpose of the structure. The Archmage is invited to meet with representatives of the Autumn realm during the Autumn Equinox to discuss precisely which version of the structure shall be built. The meeting will take place in a chamber reached through the Hall of Worlds at TBCXX. Archmage Edmundo is invited, obviously, as this is to form part of their legacy, and may bring up to two advisors to the discussion.

Hours Breathing Faint and Low
-----------------------------

Llofir has declined parley It has put forward a way the Empire might rebuild trust with it The current Archmage of Spring is Ibiss Briarheart

On the last day of Summer, as the world inevitably slips into Autumn, just as night falls, the Imperial regio comes alive. Eerie phosphorescence blooms, painting the stones rust-brown and honey-ochre and bloody violet. A thin, ivory-and-salmon fungus sprouts at the centre of the ring, and over the course of an hour grows and extends until it towers nearly ten feet tall. It has neither eyes nor mouth, but it nonetheless speaks clearly in a piping high-pitched voice. This eerie creature is an emissary of the Lady of Spores, the eternal of the Spring realm concerned with fungus, rot, and decay. It comes in response to the plenipotentiary missive of Ibiss Briarheart, the Archmage of Spring. It has been three years - a blink of an eye indeed - since it was last sent to the Empire to speak with Imperial citizens.

The Rotlord would like to see the vallor