The Royal Palace's eastern conference chamber was considerably more crowded than it had been during the previous Charter negotiations.
Representatives of several dungeon-owning noble families had been invited to attend, and their presence had transformed what might otherwise have been a straightforward legal review into a discussion involving substantial commercial interests.
Sage occupied his usual seat alongside Boren, Lucan, and Master Theobald Wycliffe. Across the table sat Minister Aldous Pembroke, Lord Thomas Ellery, and several officials from the Royal Treasury and Territorial Administration.
Crown Prince Richard presided over the consultation, while Count Leopold von Rabenfeld, Baron Matthias Greifen, Viscount Alaric Fenholt, and Countess Helena von Drachenfels represented the coalition of dungeon-owning nobles.
The central issue was the proposed Charter's recognition of the Adventurer Guild's dungeon operations.
