Evenin breathed out the emotions. Am I worried? Am I anxious? Am I sad? Am I frustrated? All. If I had to pick, I’d pick them all. The young dwarf woman – or young by dwarven standards at least, she was over 50 years old after all – stood up. Around her, on all sides, were dwarven politicians: ministers, leaders of free clans, royalty from petty kingdoms. The most important of them, which narrowly included Evenin herself, sat around a large golden circular table, within a grand ornated hall. Hundreds of other dwarves sat tightly packed on tiers of pillowed stone seats at either side, with the hall ending in one direction in a huge window protrusion overseeing the vast forested territory west of the dwarven mountains, an architectural feature intensely fitting of today’s subject. At the other direction meanwhile, the hall ended in a huge open metal door escaping into the mountain, and the capital city of the Republic of Motharan. Truly, the architecture spoke volumes of the conference subject. At the grand door opening a few dwarves chatted away quietly, while other dwarves walked to and from the hall, and also, to and from the perhaps most important meeting of their whole generation.

“May I have your attention.” Evenin spoke up, though softly.

“Quiet!” Spoke Marim, a bulged shortbearded male dwarf, host of the meeting, and Prime Minister of Motharan. “Let our guest – Minister of Education, Evenin, of The Republic of Redratall – speak.”

“Thank you, Prime Minister, and guests” Evenin said, as the few low conversations around the table died down, and the table resumed an orderly meeting. All present participants reconvening after a very necessary break, the dwarven politicans having already been arguing for over 2 hours straight after a series of opening statements by Marim and other prominent members.

As Evenin got ready to speak, she focused her voice into the center of the round table, where was a large magic orb. This orb relayed in a huge deep echo to the rest of the hall what was being said around the table. After the recent break and up until now, only a quiet murmured noise had come from it. But at this moment, it was quiet. The entire hall: hundreds of dwarves, generations of them, they all, more or less, waited for her words.

“Esteemed guests. As my beloved, deceased teacher Tardom, once told me: history does not move in cycles, it does not repeat, even if the stories we write around them may seem similar. Rather, every event in history is unique – but – the fundamental mechanisms that drive history, are the fundamental mechanisms that drive our world, and those we have all reasons to believe will always be the same. And if, my esteemed guests, we shall see this as a historic moment, we have to ask what mechanisms we set free by doing nothing, and what mechanisms we constrain by doing something of considerable effect. Most of the free clans here represented have argued that our interference with the conflict will only lead to pains for the dwarves of our mountains, and that we have a greater duty to isolate our own from the conflict. This line of thinking seems to be on par with that of The Kingdom of Meya, a human kingdom, who have refused to send any other aid, except for a handful of spirited volunteer warriors. I have no military experience, I must admit. Yet, I do believe these volunteers to ultimately be inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. At best” and Evenin’s voice became low and slow, “they may help on faltering morale.” With a sad expression, she took the time to look around and into most of the faces at the table.

“However” she continued, raising her voice again, “next to a poor lawless human kingdom like Meya, you have The Axe Mountains – our kin; 6 free clans of prospering dwarves. There, The Clan of The Thirsty Beards have decided to join war with The Clan of The White Peaks. White Peaks being the first and oldest clan – if you recall – to establish home in The Three Brother Mountains that surround The Three Cities. They – our kin – made the decision to fight, valiently, to defend in the tragic Siege of Valorum, the southern city, and the catastrophy for which reason this conference was created. Of the 2 clans, only 5 dwarves total managed to escape the city, as elementals, undead, goblins, monsters, evil mages; all overran the walls. I have read the full description myself, sent to Motharan’s government by The Thirsty Beards’ leaders. At the end of that scroll, The Thirsty Beards report that their own regional council of dwarven clans have agreed to invite The Clan of The White Peaks to resettle in The Axe Mountains, should they fear the imminent fall of their home at Bright Star Fortress.”

Evenin paused for a few seconds, letting the information sink in to the minds of the dwarves present. “Esteemed guests, fellow dwarves: a dwarven clan is being driven from its home by an enemy whose only goals seem to be the destruction of current societies, and total domination over whatever remains.” Another pause. “Does it not seem like this war, ultimately, concern all dwarves? To end my argument, let me lay out my view: a dwarven army has been wiped out, dwarves are already part of the war in The Three Cities, and neither our resources, nor our armies, are as poor as that of The Kingdom of Meya. If we recognize that this war already concerns us, and if we recognize that we have the means to act effectively, then we should conclude that we must do something.”

Evenin went quiet, and then sat down. Prime Minister Marim clapped respectfully in response, and a few other dwarves around the table and in the crowd did the same. Another dwarf woman at the table raised her hand, and Prime Minister Marim gestured for her to speak. The woman stood up.

“I am curious” she began, “about the official position of The Republic of Redratall on this issue? Your petty republic has no foreign affairs minister, and for some reason chose to send its Minister of Education, when it is usually the Prime Minister of Redratall who handles the foreign affairs. Or that has been my understanding...” The woman let the implied question hang in the air for a second. “It appears your own republic’s diplomatic response is rather lacking, and yet, you seem to have a lot of opinions on the subject. Could you perhaps expand on the official position of The Republic of Redratall, and how it relates to your intervensionist speech?”

Evenin suddenly felt sweaty. It is true, I’m not really suited for foreign affairs, and this is only the second time I’ve been given a foreign affairs issue to deal with. However, she held down the anxiety inside, mustering the boldness to respond. She looked at Prime Minister Marim, who gestured for her to deliver her response. The other woman, a foreign affairs minister from one of the larger free clans, sat down, just as Evenin stood up.

“Ehem.” She voiced. Do I sound nervous? Yes, I must. “I have been given the full authority to speak for Redratall on this matter, and as such you can consider my position equivalent to that of the republic. “My – Redratall’s – position on the issue, is not explicitly intervensionist, although we do believe intervention should be discussed here today, and when this meeting resumes tomorrow and the day after. My position is more that we should avoid passivity or isolationism as a response, and look for a scenario under which our combined strength may be of benefit to the situation. Such as to lower the chance that another city is made desolate of inhabitants, or that the conflict spreads beyond The Three Brothers Mountains, at which point it’ll be increasingly difficult for anyone here to argue that this war does not concern us. Because at that point, we may ourselves be the next target for conquest. Now, this does not mean that our response has to be the same as The Kingdom of Olam. They, as most of you know, have decided to mobilize their retinue to help defend Nara, the northern-most city which they border. They claim their aim is to hinder the establishment of dungeons near the kingdom. Well, we are much further east than Nara, and the dungeon lords would have to cross the whole Giant Forest of Melrum to get to us. But it would, for instance, make sense that were dungeons starting to appear near the border to the Melrum forest: we send forces to take them out, as a measure of confinement.”

This last comment by Evenin produced a low murmur among a couple of the dwarves, that soon spread to a few more around the table, and distantly in the crowd. Prime Minister Marim gestured for Evenin to take a seat. She did, glad to get out of the spotlight. Although there’s more I want to say.

As she sat there, alone in her thoughts for a moment, another male dwarf around the table began speaking: “So I take it that Redratall’s position is akin to a limited intervention, to be discussed and elaborated upon by the rest of us.” The dwarf who had spoken was another representative of a free clan. His demeanor was one of clarity, and dead cold logic. “However, my clan does not feel that there is even a need to discuss limited intervention. As Minister Evenin herself has pointed out, The Giant Forest of Melrum sits between us and The Three Brothers Mountains. The forest is like an ocean of its own, we are effectively separated like 2 different continents. Trade between us can take up to a month to reach. Imagine if we sent an army: 2 more sieges could destroy both of the remaining 2 cities before we even heard that the first siege had began. We’d have to send a large expedition beforehand, which would be expensive, and without proper cause, now that the first city is no more and thus no longer requires defense. Imagine if tomorrow hostilities ceased with the other cities, and our debate here ended up being meaningless, just as we decided to send such a huge expedition. No, the whole subject of intervention does not make sense. THAT is the position of The Clan of Mountaineers!” The dwarf sat down, a few other dwarven representatives from the free clans clapped, and in the crowd a low background noise of clapping also occurred. Prime Minister Marim added a polite short clap of his own, right before all clapping died out.

Another dwarf, one with a richly braided beard the colors of blonde and flaming red, and being the Foreign Minister of The Republic of Brownhall, raised his hand. Brownhall was the only immediate neighbour state to Redratall, the later being otherwise squeezed in between a set of inhospitable high-rising peaks at the south-western tip of The Young Mountains. The mountains being the location of what was commonly referred to as The Dwarven States. All too aware who this was, Evenin’s entire attention immediately went to the foreign minister, as Marim gestured at the dwarf, and the dwarf rose from his seat. “Esteemed guests. Prime Minister Marim.” The dwarf bowed slightly. “Members of the crowd.” The dwarf turned first towards the one, and then the other side, upon which sat the 2 crowds of dwarves. He bowed to each. “The Brownhall Republic is not a petty republic. There, we have over 66000 dwarves living within our mountain home, and its surrounding landscapes. And yet: we have no standing army. No retinues, like Olam. No Guild of Free Heroes, like the one from which Meya got their volunteers. No city guard, conscripted citizenry, nor conscripted peasantry, like those who defended Valorum. Our prime minister does not even have his own personal guard. We have an armory, and we have officials capable of defending themselves. And we have a volunteer watch force that technically may carry weapons, but barely ever does. Esteemed guests, I repeat: we have no army, in any sense of the term, in Brownhall. Redratall, a republic of some 16000 dwarves, neither has any army. Let me remind the crowd, that war has not been seen in The Young Mountains for way over 100 years, and at that time we had disagreements with each other that luckily ended with just a single battle.” He took a long pause. “The point I wish to make, my fellow dwarves, is that the dwarves of our mountains are a peaceful folk. We have given up the ways of war, and sought the development of our homes. Redratall, who now speaks for war, used to be an example for us all. Evenin!” The minister looked straight at her, and Evenin definitely felt a little uneasy and overwhelmed at the attention, though she hid that under a blank stare response. “The road that connects the republics of the western side of the mountains, with the free clans of the eastern side of the mountains, that road the people named after your father! His Redratall was the example we have all aspired to since – a model of a better world for our dwarves. Should we surrender The Ederfar Principles of Government, for a war far away?” The foreign minister shrugged in mock exasperation, and when he eventually sat down, many dwarves clapped. Some dwarves in the crowd even roared with approval, first among them dwarves from the free clans, who had first hand experience with the benefits that The Ederfar Road had provided. Not just the profits of trade, but also migration from the overpopulated west to the east, and the expansion of industries that before had been constricted by small markets. These expansions had in turn provided cheaper goods, as new investments had been made into more efficient means of production. And in the west, more variety of food stuffs from the east had been met with great enthusiasm. The benefits of a developmental focus seemed undeniable and evident, and Evenin knew this, and she also knew just how difficult it would be to navigate the provided logic.

I just lost this argument, her thoughts concluded. The power of the counters so strong, she wasn’t even sure she could believe in her own speech anymore. Yet, for the rest of that day, while Evenin sat quiet as a mouse listening to senior diplomats; she thought, and she pondered, and she sketched plans. Tomorrow would be another day.