Every year at the town of Bad Holzbrück a gathering is held known as the Convent of the Elements. At the Convent, there is an arena where gladiatorial games are hosted as well as other festivities and the Pumpfball Championships. Also during the Convent are a verity of trade meetings and the meeting of the Ruler's Council to plan the summer campaign against the Forsaken. This year the Ruler's Council was expanded to include leaders of great nations and peoples beyond the Archons and Nyames and the coming campaign against Ankor Motris was planned.

Accusations of Wrong Doing,  Western and Northern Seals

During the Convent of the Elements at Bad Holzbrück, the ongoing accusations of wrongdoing against Makø Tok of Nova Bretonia and the East Blackwood Company expanded to involve Sir Dagger of Blackwood and the East Blackwood Company. Makø was accused of treason for having signed a contract between the Kettle Family and Nova Bretonia, a Western Fiefdom in which the Northern Seal Protectorate of Lunorth sold Nova Bretonia horses for slaughter in exchange for a large favor on behalf of Nova Bretonia. It was reported that some western elites believed this was considered a corrupted trade deal and claimed that the Kettles were a crime family.

To make matters worse, an article appeared in the Newspaper claiming that Rii Isenden of Nova Bretonia had entered into a corrupt trade deal with the "infamous and unsavory Kettle Crime syndicate," though no mention was made of the East Blackwood Company who has facilitated the relationship.

Lord Victor T. Kettle, having found himself being slandered, with the blessing of the Archon of the North, who was also an honorary Kettle, decided to be present for the next Western led-Makø-investigation meeting; East Blackwood followed. The North and East Blackwood sat down with the West to address the claims. During the proceeding, the Western investigation focused only on the slanderous newspaper article and neglected to mention anything that was reportedly said within Western Circles themselves. During the proceedings both the East Blackwood Company name, and Makø's name was cleared of any wrong doing; however, Rii Isenden still felt it prudent to punish the East Blackwood Company in some way. His decision was to ban trade with the East Blackwood Company for one year and one day.

After the slander scandal was concluded, a representative of the Land Hanse spoke with the East Blackwood Company concerning the road work between Schönweiler in the Realm of Roses and the Western Seal. During these discussions, the representative of the Land Hanse was made aware of the continuing conflict between the Voice of the West, Sir Dagger of Blackwood and the East Blackwood Company. In order to make dealing between both parties more fluid, the representative of the Western Land Hanse facilitated a meeting between Sir Dagger of Blackwood and Jean-Louis the Voice of the West. Jean-Louis arrived with four soldiers and a lady second. Sir Dagger of Blackwood sat at eye level with Jean-Louis and have first Bødwar Beerhunter and then Djako Kaevh take the high seats in representation of the Kingdom of Blackwood.

During this meeting Jean-Louis offered a gift of wine while the Embassy offered a gift of both The Ambassador Newspaper and of the new Merit Based System. The parties involved agreed to let bygones be bygones. Before the two parties parted, Jean-Louis invited the entire Embassy to attend his wedding while Sir Dagger offered to build Jean-Louis's soon to be sister-in-law a home for wayward animals. Dagger also offered all songs in his personal song book, save for those belonging to East Blackwood, to Jean-Louis's second.

Paintings by:  Stefan from Live Adventure

Guests of the Southern Seal

East Blackwood requested to be guests of the Southern Seal for the Convent of the Elements and were accepted. At the start of the Convent, East Blackwood presented themselves before the Court of the Golden Realm announcing who they were and what they had to offer the South during their short stay; this included the presentation of the new Merit Based System. Although attempts were made, headway in matters of diplomacy and or trade were difficult for various reasons. The largest of reasons was that the master of coin was not present and both the Archon and Nyame were busy the majority of the Convent with matters of state.

On the second night of the Convent of the Elements, East Blackwood hosted the East Blackwood Gambling and Games event which dominated the Court and East Blackwood camps for the evening. Even the Archon of the South made an appearance at one of the gambling tables learning the Game of Shield, a high stakes dice game created by Grand Inquisitor Eva of Lunorth, the wife of the Lord Protector of Lunorth who was also present.

Also important at the Camp of the Southern Seal were the naming of a new Naches'Re, Alexei and the naming of a new sworn settler of the Southern Seal, Mae. Bellow is Mae's story:

Due to Mae's camp having a close proximity to the Southern Seal, being that it was just behind the East Blackwood Camp, Mae quickly made friends with the squire Heinrich Hellendorn and the archon's personal healer, scribe and confidante, Arya. He asked Arya, when she finds the time, to go to dance class with him. Although she was reluctant as a member of Terra, he managed to soften her up and get her to agree. During the dance exercises on the third day of the convention, Arya and Mae had a lot of fun, so she invited him to the Beltane, a celebration of summer and fertility in the evening. At the Beltane, Arya quickly and firmly asked Mae to jump through the fires with her to receive the blessing. Rumor had it that Earraine, ruler of the Fae of the Summer Court, had her fingers in the pie. The Beltane ended with music and dancing and segued seamlessly into the skalds' evening, where Arya and Mae grew closer.

The following days Mae was quizzed by the Archon of the South and Earraine respectively about his intentions with Arya, and who he is, and what he is up to on Mythodea. At the ball in the evening, Mae also danced Arya again, which astonished many from the South. Otherwise she was never so happy and light on her feet. At the Festival of Lights of the Edalphi, Mae realized that he should do more for Mythodea so that all the beings he laughed and drank with could continue to be happy. The good times always build on long periods of hardship and pain, and he realized that if he wanted to fight for better times, he would have to carry that with him. The last day of the convention was marked for Mae by an examination of Terra by Arya, in which he was able to support her.

They continued to spend the day together and strengthened their relationship in the evening, Mae had another conversation with the Archon and confessed that he would like to stay on the continent to help the beings be happier and to stay with Arya. The Archon and Nyame then called the South to the table for Mae to confirm his intentions in front of witnesses and officially ask to be accepted in the South. The Archon and Nyame gave their blessing, and now all that is missing is the oath on the South's decree, on the last night of the summer campaign.

Fighting alongside Viribus Unitas and the Northern Seal for the Summer Campaign

Sir Dagger of Blackwood spoke with the Archon of the North at a tavern in Bad Holzbrück during the Convent of the Elements to discuss whether or not East Blackwood would be with the North for Conquest or not. The conversation was brief and ended with the affirmaton that East Blackwood would indeed camp with Viribus Unitas during the siege of Ankor Mortis.

Justice in the Realm of Roses

During a visit to the Realm of Roses camp, East Blackwood met with Mallo's new Order the Order of the Gray Souls. The order requested East Blackwood's assistance in the fall with an excursion into the sighted new island off the East Coast of Mythodea. Sir Dagger and Gideon agreed to assist provided resources were available for the mission come that time. The Order also asked for Sir Dagger's assistance in a matter of justice concerning children and the criminal and or deserter parents. Dagger suggested having the parents join the Freischäler and to adopt their children. However, Sir Dagger also suggested they speak with Corporal Bodwar BeerHunter for he has an even better head for Justice. The Order agreed to meet with them. Shortly after, Sir Dagger sent Bodwar to speak with the Order on the matter.

Painting by:  Hannah Gritsch

Münzquell

During the Convent of the Elements, the Münzquell tavern was the first stop of the East Blackwood Company party. Later during the Convent, however, it came to the attention of East Blackwood that rumors were making their rounds that the East Blackwood Company and or Sir Dagger himself was speaking ill about the Münzquell among other things. The Münzquell spoke to Sir Dagger about this earlier on and Dagger had members of East Blackwood attempt to look intro the Rumors themselves. Alas nothing was found or learned.

Trade News

Painting by:  Stefan from Live Adventure

Expansion of the East Blackwood Company Guild District Copperdale

At the Convent of the Elements this year, the East Blackwood Company met with the Governess of Copperdale to discuss paying taxes and fees which built up over the past few years.  After the accounts were settled, talks about expanding the East Blackwood Company Guild District began.  A agreement was made which granted a non-conjoining-district extension on the other side of the Academy.  Due to the separation of the new extension, Gideon Klaud was made Secretary Administrator of the the extension.  Currently plans are underway to build a tavern there.  The hope is that the tavern's close proximity to the House of Pleasure will bring in a large clientele.