At the Precipice

Iseabail McCloughhaven's efforts to build a place for mediation have continued to be used and have grown. We walk a tenuous line of being one of the houses, but also mediating for them. Some of them see us as being ‘lesser’, as in a sense we serve them in this manner, but the more wiser houses whisper about the power this brings. We flex little overt power, but have little need with the network of information gatherers and spy masters we have carefully built up. While the war in Ostamber was over a hundred years ago we did not forget the effect a few well trained individuals can cause. Our spy masters travel as merchants, as agricultural specialists, stewards, and shipwrights. We understand that the servant is just as important as the master, and often knows more. With this we make small calculating pebble tosses whose waves we calculate for our desired intents. We’ve mostly kept our own people in check through gentle reminders and black mail, but a pot can only be kept from boiling for so long. 
We have yet, until now, to end up requiring our own table, but with the border disputes, we must now look towards King Eadvard III for resolution. Those in our house are divided on how to approach such a petition, do we leave it up to the fates and maintain our comfortable neutrality, do we bring the full force of our knowledge to bare and silence the whisperings, and others who say we should ply our perceived favouritism.
All have their merits, but first we must decide with Eadvard’s ever thinning thread of we want to be kingmakers, or if our house truly has aspirations to wear a crown, publicly or otherwise.

Written by Patrick S.