Suulin showed up early one morning with a message sealed with the King’s seal. She said she was told to deliver the message as soon as possible. I opened the note and found that it had been written in the kings own hand. I was being summoned to a manner in one of the underground cities of Throal. I was allowed to bring any of the Unchained to the event. I showed the note to Suulin and said that I would like all of The Unchained. Suulin congratulated me and told me that Urgral was staying at the Tippling T’skrang and she could let him know. I decided that we could just meet at the Dashing stag as it was still in the docks of Throal. I sent Mika to give messages to Dagmar, Stilicho, Dremnin, and Vridich.
We met that night at the Stag.

I was the last to arrive. I had bought new clothing and my tailor was finishing as I arrived. I had on a new red shirt embroidered green vines. Red pants with orange stripes. I was feeling very dashing.

As I came on to the deck I was greeted by The Unchained with smiles, handshakes, and pats on the back along with mocking tones of yes my Thane. I smiled and took it in stride. The mocking continued during our walk to the manner.

It was not what I expected. The manner was dark and quiet. There were two men standing outside the gate to the grounds. They did not look like guards. There armor was worn to allow moving quickly but quietly. It was not polished to a bright shine. They wore soft sole boots. Swords were worn to be quickly at hand but not in a standard uniform location. They were alert but stood casually not stiff like a military man. That is when we all realized these weren’t soldiers they were adventures.

We walked up to them and showed them my invitation. They both shook our hands and greeted us like friend. We were directed to a side entrance on the manner and let us in to the grounds. When we went in to the side door we were greeted by a woman in full plate armor. She knew who I was and sent me to a side chamber. The rest of The Unchained went in to a large room. I met with a wizard who told me what was going to happen and what I was to say and when.

Then I was taken out in to the main hall. It was a completely different crowd than when we had the banquet with the king. This room was filled with adventures. There was not one stuffed shirt noble man in the room. There was an ork spell caster that was one of the court wizards. His name was Ajmar, it was obvious he had real world experence.

There was no pomp and circumstance to the ceremony. The king came out of another room and took his spot at the front of the room. I was shown to a spot next to him. The Ajmar pulled out a silver blade and cut our right palms. Our hands were bonded together by a gold cord. I was asked to kneel and told to repeat after the ork.

“As the sun shines upon the earth, so shall light illuminate my deeds. All people shall see that I mean to faithfully serve King Neden of Throal, the First of his Name. I shall take no action to bring harm to him or those of his blood, or knowingly allow harm to befall King Neden I or those of his blood. I further swear that I will faithfully perform the duties my thaneship lays upon me. As the moon shines upon the earth, so shall light illuminate my intent. All people shall see that I honor my promise of fealty.”

The king started as soon as I finished. He did not need any prompting from the wizard. He recited his lines.

“As the sun shines upon the earth, so shall light illuminate my rule. All people shall see that I uphold Ardor Zomay S’kram, granting him title and the right to act as an instrument of my will. I shall take no action to bring harm to him or those of his blood, or knowingly allow harm to befall Ardor Zomay S’kram, or those of his blood. At the farthest reaches of my kingdom, he shall be granted succor in times of need. As the moon shines upon the earth, so shall light illuminate my purpose. All people shall see that I honor this pledge.”

His voice was firm and deep. The young king looked majestic and fully in charge. I was sure that the feelings we had had that the king had a special place in his heart for adventures was assured then and there. It was obvious that this is where he wanted to be, not trapped in a throne.

The king finished and helped pull me to my feet. Our hands were unbound. He administered gifts to show my status as a Thane of Throal.

The first gift was a ring of Silver. A specially made signet ring. On it was an old Throalic rune for “The Dancer”. This was to be the sigil of S’krams office. All the letters/missives sent to the or on business of the king shall be sealed with it as proof of his office.

A bold red cloak was lifted off a table. It was a Warm Cloak. A common magical item, but a well thought out gift. It had the dancer rune stitched over the heart. When the king put it on me he said, ”A cold-blooded creature like yourself needs a Fire to keep you warm at night aboard an airship. This cloak should suffice.”

The last was a fist sized piece of living crystal. It was a message stone. This one has a special enchantment. If the wrong command was given more than three times the message would erase.

Then he turned and presented me to the spectators who cheered. There was still to be formal ceremony but it would not be as fulfilling as this one.