"We do things differently in my corner of the Underdark," Irzen chimed in his two cents, "In my homeland of Naermon Nithren, we have no king nor a royal family. We do have a ruling council of nobles called the Landsraad. Because the wealth of our nobility does not come from land ownership but through business and commerce, the nobles of our land are merchants who have bought their titles. Thus, the Landsraad represents all of the merchants and guilds in our land. All of the noble houses have seats at the council and we vote upon our issues and determine our policies."

"You have no royal family?! You have no king?!" Prince Birch scratched his head in confusion, "But who leads your people in time of war?"

"The Landsraad selects among its members a "General" Who leads us during times of conflict," Irzen concluded, "That person leads the war effort from the moment the conflict starts to the moment it ends. Once the war is over and we are victorious, the General surrenders their title and power to the Landsraad and we resume our lives accordingly."

"You must understand something, not all kingdoms or lands are acquired from lineage, Prince Birch. There are those who'd rather not have a single figure head leading a country, region or realm but rather lead by a group of like minded individuals such as Lord Irzen and his people. Now, I was born a king, I was asked to be the king of the kingdom beyond the Great Veil. Originally, I declined the offer but after witnessing the tyranny of Venger's hold upon that region. I stepped up and lead the dragon kin to freedom and it is because of that they decreed that I should be the one to lead them. It was also when I understood what it means to be a true follower of Bahamut, and thus was known as the Platinum Knight." Madeous raised his stein to the Prince and took another drink.

"But the difference, King Madeous, was that you were born a king who later came to accept your role and responsibility as a king later in your life. Lord Drow is no king and his people purchased their titles rather than have them bestowed by noble birth." The Prince raised his stein and drank in response but still was trying to come to grips with the idea that Irzen's people had no king. "A land ruled solely by its nobility is hard for me to grasp, Lord Drow. How do you carry on with your daily lives?"

"I meant to say that I was born to become a king." Madeous corrected. "I was not born into royalty, Prince Birch. Nor am I from this world. I come from Earth but I do have a great deal of knowledge when it comes to business politics. I can say up until recently I built up a sizable business empire in my world. Now that I am retired and have passed the reins onto someone whom I've known for many, many years."

"Oh!" Prince Birch smiled, "NOW I understand. Thank you for that point of clarification, King Madeous."

"Each of our noble houses have a role to play in our society," Irzen smiled at Prince Birch's confusion, "When we play our roles, and play them well, then our society prospers. We may have our differences but we all have one thing in common: The common defense and general welfare of Naermon Nithren and all its citizens. At the end of the day, is this not all you need for a successful society?"

"True. So long as everyone comes to an agreement when that time comes to defend his or her own home." Madeous sat back in his chair.

"You mean OUR home!" Irzen corrected Madeous, "What happens to one, happens to us all. Naermon Nithren is a Drow city which is situated in such a manner that any outside attack on one house can and will be responded to by ALL houses. When it is absolutely necessary, we mutually defend OUR home and each other. Can your people say the same?"

********

"Thank you, Captain Lion, I really appreciate that!" The Shield Maiden smiled, "But you say there is another enemy out there aside from the vampires? And you say they are attacking ships on the high seas? Who are they?"

"Pirates, and outlaws. Nothing you need to worry about, young lady. What the airships under my command do are to provide passage for those crossing the entire length of the Fire Sea from west to east and vice versa. There are normal sailing vessels, such as Admiral Hessen's small fleet that patrol the shipping lanes from Port Thelmys to Asylum and to Gravelwold, to the southeast." He informed the girl.

"Airships?" Serna blinked, "I only thought you had just the one under your command. How many airships do you have in your fleet, Captain Lion?"

"Seven at the moment. Airships are complex machines that require certain type of skill set to even fly them. Currently, there are two here. The rest are in Asylum being built." Sir Gonagle was suddenly next to Captain Lion.

"Seven at the moment and more being built?" Serna exclaimed in pure disbelief, "WOW!"

Caliaphy decided to shrink into a fairy and go invisible. Sir Gonagle was making her very nervous. She flew up and landed on Serna's shoulder, "I'm right here next to your head, Serna...*yawn*..gonna take a nap."

"Okay, rest easy," Serna whispered back to her invisible friend.

Captain Lion shook his head and sighed, "Well then, would you like to join the others in the dining hall? Sir Gonagle and myself were about to head in for dinner when all this vampire mess happened and you arrived."

"Absolutely, I am famished." Serna smiled as she offered her arm to Captain Lion.

He laughed, "My dear, that is my job for you to take my arm not the other way around. Come along."

Serna laughed as well, "Pardon me, Captain Lion, for being so forward. After you!"

Sir Gonagle went on ahead into the dining room. With an astute bow to Prince Birch and Princess Cauladra, he went around and found himself a seat, "Ah. You have excellent taste once again for providing such exquisite food, Princess Cauladra."

"Thank you, Sir Gonagle," Princess Cauladra smiled, "Please join us. This conversation is getting more interesting by the minute."

Captain Lion pulled out a chair for Serna to sit in before he sat down next to her. A plate of fine food and drink was already waiting for him and Serna. He closed his eyes briefly and began to eat his meal.

Serna accepted the chair next to Captain Lion but asked him once he started eating, "Captain Lion, if you don't mind my asking, which of the gods do you pray to before you eat your meal?"

Sir Gonagle looked up towards the prince, "Ah, the second airship is almost fitted to your specifications, Prince Birch. There is the matter of training your kin to learning the mechanisms that rely on alchemy rather than magic."

"Excellent, Sir Gonagle, you and your people are a credit to your race!" Prince Birch smiled at the Gnome, "And as far as training my kin goes, there is no rush to do so. Those among my people who are eager to learn shall also learn slowly and thoroughly before they start soaring like eagles. We can't be too careful in learning and operating new things, can we?"

"Yes. Yes, of course." The tinker gnome mused and went back to eating for a few minutes. He spied the swordsman across the table and coughed, "Pardon the interruption, which one of you ordered a modified repeating heavy crossbow?"

Irzen looked over to Sir Gonagle and replied proudly, "That would be me! And incidentally, it is a MAGICAL modified repeating heavy crossbow claimed from a dragon's hoard no less."

"REALLY?!" Prince Birch stared in wide-eyed disbelief, "You stole a magical item from a dragon's nest?! I smell a tale to be told. However did you do it, Lord Drow?"

"Rather easily!" Irzen beamed from ear to ear, "I drunk the illustrious Guardian of Asylum under the table for it."

Madeous coughed.

Sir Gonagle dropped his fork onto the table in utter silence.

Captain Lion just blinked and shook his head.

"Another drinking contest?!" Prince Birch broke out into a laugh, "YE GODS! WHAT SPORT! You have a cast iron constitution, Lord Drow!"

"Or a built up tolerance to your own liquor!" Princess Cauladra quickly surmised, "Will your drinking antics ever end, Lord Irzen?"

"Only while I am in Eastport, Princess Cauladra, only while I am here." The Swordsman smiled as he continued eating his meal.

"That is good to know, I guess." The princess resigned herself to this conclusion.

"Hmm," The platinum knight rubbed his chin with a grin, "Well, now I have more dirt on Lazheros when he wakes up tomorrow. Hahaha!"

Irzen gave Madeous a devilish wink of the eye, "He is going to be thorougly 'amused' by the fact that someone else now knows that he got drunk under the table by a member of the 'lesser' races. HA!"