Session 1 - (ICD)

[Johan]

Three? Temmit hadn't expected three nominations, but his quick mind made sense of it. He supposed that by nominating a third, one who hadn't been part of the leadership yet, she was also declaring her nomination for a new Leiutenant, which would be necessary as either Emma or Temmit would now take on a more prominent role.

"I bet it's Leslie." Smokey suggested. "Not likely." Temmit responded. "It wouldn't do to uncover such a valuable secret source as Leslie. My bet would be Hayden. Perhaps Xavier. Temmit scanned the audience for anyone who might exhibit an anticipation of this third nomination, but he saw none in the dim light of the Quiet Room.

Temmit looked at his lovely friend and smiled shallowly. He stepped forward, as Emma had, and nodded his acceptance of her nomination.

OK...here's the speech you should give." Smokey whispered in his mind. "Thank you, Renee. In addition to wanting to take you for my own (and others as well)..." Outwardly, his smile broadened as Smokey went on about Temmit's intentions as leader of Whisper. A harem was included.

"Thank you for your confidence, Renee." He said evenly. His smooth and quiet voice was louder in the hall than it might otherwise have been. "Know that however this vote goes, Emma and I will be at the service of Whisper's leadership. We are still in this together."

[Dray]

"Thank you Temmit." Renee turned and specifically sought out his gaze. She gave him a curtsy, a touch more drama than he expected.

She returned to her audience and announced the third nominee.

"My last offer to you, but by no means least is Hayden Smith, our Whisper Shaman," Renee seemed to say in a rush.

Comments burst out all at once around the room.

'Woah!'

'Is she kidding?'

'Does she talk?'

'Cool, will she stand above us on the crates then?' (a boy snickered)

'Are we to be led by only prophecy now?'

'Well, I like her.' (Leslie)

'As long as she doesn't change outfits.' (another boy)

'Sweet, I have seen her fight in school, she is no pushover.'

'I might vote for her'

'Are you kidding?!'

As the flood of comments came, Renee simply turned to her. Hayden, for her part, had ignored the comments, both good and bad and just looked away for a minute, as if struggling with the decision.

Finally, she turned back to Renee and stood slowly while her hands pulled the short leather skirt down.

"If it is the wish of the guild Renee," she stated in more words than most were used too. The statement felt loaded to all but the most daft of members, as if she were making some kind of unknown deal with the Whisper leader.

"Thank you Shaman," Renee said with a short nod.

She again returned to her audience who were starting to get up off the floor as some now sensed they would be required to take some action.

"Behind the crates we have set up a makeshift voting booth. In it are three sets of coins, one type for each nominee; copper for Temmit, silver for Emma and gold for Hayden. Please take one of these coins and hand it to David who will be in the booth over-seeing the vote with me. We have already cast our vote and two coins wait to be tallied with the others within the cauldron on his lap."

Renee stepped over to the end of the stage and hopped off.

"Please form a line in front of me and we will start."

[Dray]

(OOC: Everyone votes, even nominee's. I will stop the thread here until all five players, Xavier, Lucien, Harrison, Shannon and Temmit vote. Since there are only 27 members here, your votes may actually matter.

Info on the booth. Crates have been stacked so there are three "walls" about 7 feet high, with a curtain (soldier blanket) for a door. A member steps inside to see Renee and David sitting behind a 6" board that has been nailed at waist level on both sidewalls. David has an iron cauldron on his lap. There are three stacks of coins from left to right in groups. 35 copper, 35 silver, and 35 gold.)

[Johan]

My vote is being e-mailed.

[Dray]

So far I have two votes via email, but if the other three (Lucien, Xavier and Shannon want to vote either by email or posting here, that works)

[Dray]

The last member voted and returned to the area where Renee has addressed them. There was at least a dozen conversations going on all at once while the group waited for the tally.

Renee and David came around the corner of the crates. Renee stepped up on the makeshift stage and David stood on the floor at its edge, the cauldron placed by his feet.

The room was quiet before Renee's hand was half-way up in the air.

"I know this person will serve you well for the next few years," she paused and all now knew she wasn't going to delay her announcement as some had feared.

"Your new leader of Whisper on WinterEnd 15th, shall be Emmanuelle Keepsake," she announced with a smile. A happy applause erupted within the room. Calls for a speech came from half the kids.

"Well?" Renee questioned her soon-to-be successor who was still on the stage.

Emma, with a genuine and sincere smile walked up to Renee and stood beside her. She unexpectedly wrapped her arms around Renee and gave her a big hug, sharing a whisper in her ear, the answer to which was a nod from Renee as Emma let go of her. Emmanuelle Keepsake, daughter of the High Priest and future leader of the revolutionary guild known as Whisper, turned and addressed her audience.

"My friends, now is not the time for my acceptance speech, for this red-head has quite a lot of work to finish in her last four months," she smiled at her friend while some in the audience laughed. "I want to thank you however for the incredible trust you have displayed to me tonight and have always given me in the past, specifically considering my designated station by those above."

Where Renee was a natural on the stage, Emmanuelle was a girl imbued with heavy training over her life, but the difference was subtle. Emmanuelle was a powerful speaker nevertheless, and had the complete attention of the entire room of 27 children.

"Graduation day this year comes to us faster than any before it, for we will lose one of this guild's most powerful and influential leaders, and more importantly a member of our family who will be sorely missed," Emma's eyes actually became wet, her voice slightly faltered and her words missed a beat on that last word. The stage was something Emma shared over the past few years, and this was the first time she showed any emotion on it. The result of this was mirrored tears in a few of the girls about the room. Leslie reached out and held Ashley's hand for strength.

"Know this..." and Emma stopped as she once again attempted to collect herself. "We will continue on, even though four of us will be away to War they will always be with us in our hearts. With that knowledge and with the growing strength of our own resolve we will see to it that someday the destiny of the children, even if it is our own children, will not be decided by those in the government."

A small cheer followed by applause responded.

"For now though, just a big thank-you to each of my friends today. Now let's get back to work," she said, returning the floor to Renee.

Another small round of applause as Emma stepped back but not before Renee could give her another hug.

Leslie and some other girls wiped their eyes, while Jared rolled his.

"Thanks Emma," Renee said with a final nod and returned to her command of the meeting.

[Dray]

...to be continued

Note; we are getting close to the end of the "offical business" of the meeting , after which there will be a free-for-all, hand of time where all can talk to one another. At THAT time (again, when Renee announced meeting is adjourned), any of you can start a conversation with anyone you wish, perhaps in a separate ICD or by email with me if you wish.

[Johan]

Temmit would be lying to himself to say that he wasn't at least a little disapointed in the outcome of the vote. However, the larger part of him was relieved. He himself had voted for Emma as their leader; she was, to his thinking, a better fit.

Temmit sought out Emma's eyes as she returned to her now-short-term station. He smiled and nodded a congratulatory nod to her. He even saluted her, which was something that he rarely did without compulsion, and even then, never in public. He was genuinely happy at this decision made. And he was genuinely sincere in what he had stated earlier: he would support Emma and Whisper to the best of his modest abilities.

[Dray]

Renee's smile was radiant, it was the happiest the guild had ever seen her, she continued her sppech.

"Sword of Truth, a patrol that had wandered the Outlands, three new candidates for the guild and finally, the Daughter of the High Priest soon to be leading the resistance...I would say, this was quite the interesting meeting," Renee said with a proud smile.

'Damn straight.'

'Cold!'

'You got that right!'

'Can't wait to rummage through my father's closet.'

'Be cool if the sword were just sitting in there eh?'

'Emma will rule the city!'

Renee held her hand up, almost reluctantly, to hold the them once again.

"For official announcements, that concludes our meeting, but I will be walking around to each one of your sub-groups to give you further suggestions on what can be done to further our cause by the next meeting in WinterSecond," she said, placing her hands again behind her back.

"Thank you all for coming this night to what has proved to be a very successful meeting. When you go back to their world, remember not only your vow of secrecy, but what I have told you of this night. Let's find these secrets, let's use these in our intellectual arsenal for the case that we will someday bring to the people of Safe-Haven."

And with that, Renee gave the audience a deep curtsy and the room exploded with applause. The meeting was over, and now the fun of re-acquainting with one another could begin.

[Wildfire]

Shannon studied Renee's curtsy with implicit detail. She looked at the pose, the form, the clothes, the smile...everything.

She had not gotten very far in her drawing since her concentration was intterupted with the meetings jubilation but she had the basics of the drawing down...enough to finish her intention.

In the moment of the curtsy, Shannon decided she would add something that wasn't part of the original design...Renee taking her bow. To have her bowing amidst a winter landscape background symbolized the grace she had during the cold season of oppression that the Whisper Gang was trying to thaw. Shannon also thought that a dual meaning was that Renee was 'cold'.

Shannon closed her eyes briefly and locked the swirling images into her mind so she could duplicate them later when it was quieter.

Packing up her pen and ink well, Shannon decided it was time to mingle and discuss the plans of the Whisper Gang. Before talking with her friends she thought, 'I hope Renee will like this picture'.