"I suppose I'll pay it a visit soon, then." Ugh. He is not looking forward to poking around an overgrown wizards' tower that's also a volcano. 

Other topics for discussion: Relative numbers of soldiers and mages available to each side. Anything that Sentinel Stand currently needs procured, or could offer prospective allies in the Tiers. Whether they have a preexisting notion of war crimes or international laws about the treatment of prisoners and civilians. (He's guessing no.) Anything else the First Regent considers important to establish early on.

If you got all the Sages together last he knew, you'd probably have a quarter as many mages as with Kyros's armies, by head; the handful of remaining Tidecasters and Wild Wrath would barely raise the count, but they'd still be more common than unaffiliated mages. As of the day Cairn breached the Gates of Judgment and attacked the Bastard Tier, with the Scarlet Chorus at a fairly low ebb, the total armies of the Tiers probably outnumbered theirs seven or eight to one. Most of the Overlord's were Chorus, too; ignore the untrained conscripts and it would have been twenty to one. When the Edict of Storms hit? It was just Stalwart and Azure outright holding out, and Last Harbor, Baris-in-Chains, and the Sages with combatants still willing to resist, and the Chorus was large; probably it was down to even odds, three to one if you ignore the conscripts. Over half of those were Unbroken Blades; three-way wars were rough on any army, and the rest of the holdouts were small. The Edict would have been nasty on the Disfavored and nastier on the Unbroken; they were fighting off a legiion attack minutes before the Fatebinder started reading.

They're good on supplies, over a year for the remaining garrison, but not so much they're willing to spare them until there's peace with the other Unbroken and the storm's broken. Many families have been extinguished leaving their heirlooms in the First Regent's hands, but loaning those out to those who don't know the history behind them would be... fraught. The Tiersmen will understand, and some will probably be willing to learn enough to honor their adopted ancestors. Also, if the Dauntless, Steadfast Insignia, or Helm of the First Regent is recovered, he'd trade many of the relics for them - weaker ones, almost nothing even matches up to the Helm, but strong enough, and in numbers. They would probably be in or near the Oldwalls near the Ocean Spire unless the storm blew them across the landscape. And if the Unbroken outside haven't already found them.

There aren't international laws but the Tiers does have strong cultural conventions about several things, including truces; a blue flag means at minimum you have to clearly refuse parley and give them the chance to retreat, you're allowed to retaliate against a truce-breaker but even that's shameful. And for treatment of prisoners; the kind of rules that assume anyone worth keeping prisoner rather than executing is noble enough to be worth ransoming, but don't bother to say so. Kyros's armies didn't respect them, on either count, and from what he heard, general feeling in the Tiers was that they forfeited the protections. There are no rules about who has to be taken prisoner, and other than respecting some semi-religious festival days civilians are permissible targets. Azure had some stronger customs about that, but didn't apply them to Stalwart because Stalwart didn't keep civilians out of the militia.

If they provide a description of the artifacts he mentioned, he can keep an eye out for them. 

It's concerning that Kyros's armies didn't respect a truce, although the existence of the Chorus makes him wonder if it was all them. Regardless, he'll keep that in mind when he goes to treat with Graven Ashe. 

He's aware that keeping prisoners rather than executing them can get expensive, and given the seemingly total nature of this conflict he can't even be sure it would do more good than harm. An agreement against torture might be reached with the Disfavored, though, if Stalwart is amenable? 

As he heard, Queen Vendrien Alanta of Apex was killed during a truce to negotiate surrender, in a duel, by a Fatebinder. Both the armies would have been there. The Vendrien queens had a well-earned reputation as insecure hotheads, but it's hard to imagine how that could happen while respecting the custom. There were other reports before that, both armies, but that was when the Tiers gave up on it.

He's not terribly opposed to banning torture, though it's the customary prescribed punishment for deliberate perfidy. (And serious treason, but that's not covered and he doesn't need to mention that. Nor that torture barely works to get a reaction from most important Choristers or any Disfavored anyway.)

Noted. (Exactly what happened with Alanta could be good to investigate later.)

Some societies use corporal punishment of some form or another for criminals; an interstate treaty on prisoners of war would apply more narrowly. It's mainly aimed at ensuring honorable and humane treatment of one's enemies. He'll see if the Disfavored will agree. 

"Speaking of prisoners, the Disfavored requested I inquire about a particular prisoner while I am here. They said the prisoner predates the Edict, and the name they gave was Iron Guard Amelia." 

"None of my people have done Amelia harm in at least the last year. That was... not entirely true when we first took her captive, but my son prevailed on us to order it stopped, and he was right. I do not believe any have ever violated that. I visit her regularly and she was in good health and considered herself comfortable as of the last visit. Iron Guard, hah. I'm sure she would be, if she wasn't going out of her way to avoid favoritism from her father, but her arms are an Iron Walker's. Perhaps he's promoted her in her absence. She'd be annoyed to hear it, I suspect."

"Oh, who is her father? The Disfavored didn't say." 

"Graven Ashe. What, did they think we didn't know?"

"I'm not sure what they thought. Perhaps they avoided saying anything on general principles. Might I speak with her? I don't consider myself obligated to insist, but it could prove beneficial to be able to honestly say I've seen her and she's well."

"I'm sorry, I can't allow that. I can ask her if there's anything she wants sent in her own hand? I'm reasonably sure we don't have anyone who knows the Northern writing even enough to know what she's putting on the parchment." (This seems to be true.)

"Yes, please. And please ask whether she'd prefer I avoid reading it myself, she should be made aware I have translation magic.

"That covers all I'd hoped to urgently discuss; if there's nothing else you are eager to address, I would ask to spend some time among your scholars and cartographers." 

"Certainly, you're welcome to what scholars we have remaining. I'll show you to them, and then speak to Amelia. If my conversations with her have taught me anything about her character, she'll prefer a short message, but may take some time composing it."

"Thank you."

There really are not many scholars to talk to, but they can show Ipaxalon some maps, and the legal archives - like some other things, this is mixed with story, and a number of things that mention precedents call back to sagas that read more like Homer than Herodotus as their justification. Very little comes in the form of new law, almost everything is 'properly interpreting' old law or saga, or, reading between the lines, occasionally a manufactured addition to a saga, 'discovered' at an appropriate time.

The maps are pretty good, though! Here, look.  Stalwart's the bottom of the map, the Tier and Oldwall along the northwest are the border. (The peninsula center south was Sunder. The strait cutting it off gave it its name, and the cluster of three islands was its site.) The large circular area is Azure, the smaller one with a Spire dead center is Vendrien's Well, that's all that Apex held for the last century, west of that is Haven, and up a Tier was the Bastard City and their mercenaries and merchants. They don't really have maps of the land further northeast, in what used to be the Northern Kingdom; some of the coast along the eastern to southern stretch, but any land trade went through the Bastard Tier.

This is extremely useful! Between the books and the scholars, he attempts to piece together a basic understanding of the history and law of the Tiers. (Their legal code does seem to be a bit of an unprincipled mess, but he has seen much, much worse.) 

Can they locate the place the Disfavored call Iron Hearth? 

Oh, yeah, that's easy, it's been right along the Tier's edge, where the Oldwalls dig into the earth and are part-ruined, since they started. There's a few plateaus off the main trade road, their reports said that the Earthshakers had made them larger and defensible from above as well as below. It's probably clear of the storm, not that they can tell.

Good to know. He'll continue soaking up context for a couple hours, unless he's interrupted before then. (He can also set a spell to copy one book into a blank one, if there are any they'd like duplicated and they've the material for it.)

They're mostly on scrolls rather than bound volumes, and they're not overflowing with parchment, but this one's the most common reference and the older copy's been weakening since they lost their last Sage to preserve it with sigilry. A new one would be nice.

Straydus will be back in under an hour, though not much under. He has a rolled parchment, unsealed.

"Sir Ipaxalon, I have the message. She is... in good spirits, and understanding of my disapproval of meeting in person at the moment. She did not object to you reading her missive, and asked me to thank you for calming the winds somewhat today; she had strained herself and found the partial break in the noise relaxing." (This is all true.)

He can tell there's something strange at work here—strained herself?—but declines to pry or comment for now. "Thank you. I am glad to have lifted her spirits, however indirectly. I will see the message safely delivered when I meet with General Graven Ashe. 

"Speaking of which, may I borrow a sizeable blue flag or cloth?" He can create one with magic, but he's conserving spells. "And is there aught else we should discuss before I go? Messages for possible allies in the Tiers, perhaps?" 

"By all means. One of the four we had in the courtyard can be yours. For others in the Tiers... That the remaining Regent is eager to negotiate at all, is as much concrete as I can say, six months isolated."

"Understandable, and thank you. Before I depart, is there anything else you can tell me of the powers and capabilities of Graven Ashe? Are there any in the Tiers you know or expect to have fought him personally, or seen him in battle?"

"I understand him to rarely fight personally, though he will lead from the front at times. He can break through almost any armor, blast lightning around him from that hammer of his, and heals extremely swiftly, when he's hurt at all. I think if he exerts himself, his legion around him gain a portion of that might, beyond what they have already. ...If Captain Janos lives, he'll likely have seen him, or have a scout who did. Ask at Duskwatch, I can't imagine the Unbroken outside our walls would still be organized if they've lost Duskwatch. Beyond Stalwart, no one I'd know to look for who survived the experience."

"Then I will be on my way, and return with news. Heavens lift your soul, First Regent, and the souls of your people." 

"Yours as well, Ipaxalon. Thank you."