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Landsbyen -Into the North- An Epic Poem 25

 
Erlenkönig also pushed forward the idea of the Council of Six.
Which was a wonderful idea in theory.  The council eventually became the
most powerful force in the Elfin Clans, one representative from each of the Clans to make decisions for all of the elves.  It was decided that moving the
council between the different Clan Kingdoms would be the fairest way
to govern the elves.  When the Council reached Erin about two hundred years after the Village was moved north from the green isle, the elves had already begun changing and the island was in chaos.  The humans destroying everything they could find of elfin origin and the changeling elves harassing the humans wherever possible with their twisted magic, always encouraging them to war among themselves.
Like an omen, on the thirteenth day of the Council's convening Reginn appeared, demanding access to the counsel.  He stated that he was once the
head of the Council of Six and he demanded a seat at the council table.  There was great debate over this with the Ibero Clan siding with Reginn/Rian as well as the Erin clan.
Both the Northern and Southern Clans, who had always kept excellent relations with the Village, backed Erlenkönig and the Village Clan, voting no, 
the Village Councilman even threatening to have Reginn stripped of his magic for his attempted coup.
With a wave of his hand, 
     “That is ancient history,”
Reginn said dismissively in his squeaky grating voice.
If you had never met him you could easily pick him from a crowd.  His body looked just as his voice sounded, tall for an elf and as slim as a stalk of wheat.
With a fading wisp of golden hair crowning his head.  As with most elves
his eyes were blue, but with a dull gray tinge, but unlike his cultural cousins,
his body seemed all angles, where as, most elves had a subtle roundness
about them, when young almost always slim with rounded cheeks
and with a noticeably heavier girth as they aged.
The final vote was that of the sixth Clan.
A mysterious group of elves whose kingdom was spread across every
corner of the earth.  Very intelligent and thoughtful in all of their decisions,
known as the Forest Elves, they seemed more interested in understanding
and caring for the energy of the earth and the living things that inhabited
it, than they were about the humans, or even other elves, perhaps,
even themselves.  They were precise and believed in following the letter of the laws set forth by the council.  They were indifferent to the authority of kings and their own political hierarchy seemed to mostly follow general consensus.
Upon the unexpected arrival of Reginn, they requested a recess to more
completely review the facts of the issue.  
When they resumed, the Forest Elves councilman began, 
“The presence of Reginn on the Council of six is of no concern to the Forest Elves.
What is of importance is his claim.  As he has stated, he was a Councilman
one hundred and ninety-eight turns of the Earth around the sun, ago.  
A member of the first council, he was the only surviving
member of what has been referred to as the Councilman's Plague.  Some elves, such as the Councilman from the Village Clan have suggested that Reginn himself was the author of the plague; however, we respectfully remind
the Councilman that no evidence has ever been produced to validate this accusation.
Upon the creation of the Council of Six by the Elf King, Erlenkönig, then and still, King to all elves, chose to relinquish much of his royal power to form a
counsel to rule the elfin kingdoms for which we, the Forest Elves, applaud and
deeply respect him.  Having said this, no mention has ever been stated, whether, do to turmoil of the time, or other reason, what the terminal time for each Councilman's length of service to the Council should be.  Some have been allowed to discontinue their service in short order but at least one has sat on this council since its second incarnation, namely me.  If we agree to the claim of Reginn this would pose a second issue.  
King Erlenkönig stated in the creation of the Council of Six that one representative from each clan would sit on the Council.  Although the name of the Council includes the number six, there is nothing written or spoken that specifically limits the number of Councilman to six, in fact the name of the council given by Erlenkönig himself is 'The Elfin King's Council', 
and, in addition, we would argue that since the destruction
of the Ibero Kingdom and the dividing of the Ibero Clan that they have in fact
developed two separate governmental hierarchies, hence the infighting between the Erin/Ibero Clan and Northern/Ibero Clan, and have socially become, in essence, two separate Clans.  If this is, in fact, the case, we would need seven Council Members which would effectively eliminate this conflict.
We believe that Reginn does have the right to sit upon the council and we also believe that the Ibero Clan be included as two separate Clans, there names to be chosen by each at a future time.”
There were immediate protests from the Village Councilman and his North and South counterparts, but the Forest Elf calmed them before pointing out,
“Yes, I am aware that at this moment there are only six sitting Councilman,
and that the final vote would ordinarily lie with the King; however, as per his
instruction, if he is not present, the final vote will be that of the Elder Councilman, which would be me.  The vote is for the reinstatement of Reginn as Councilman.”

Copyright © James Inman | Year Posted 2021

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