Laurel Committee Passes Over Donwald an Eighth Time; Truthscroll Mobilizes

The Laurel Committee of Frostfell announced its winner on Friday. It was not High Lord Donwald of the Golden Towers. The siege began within the hour.

The prize went to High Justicar Nauvi Pillaway, a jurist from the southern continent who spent her career in the courts of the Council of Realms and chaired an inquiry into the wars of the eastern deserts. The committee cited her work on human rights and the law of nations. Twelve million silver crowns come with it. So does a ceremony on the tenth of the Frostmonth, in a hall that has seen worse.

Donwald answered the way he always answers: from the Truthscroll, by forwarding someone else's words. The words came from an attorney ally. They said the committee had "shamed itself beyond repair" and that the new laureate was an "unabashed hater" of Waterdeep and its friends. Beneath them, Donwald's own tally: eight wars settled, eight prizes owed. Nobody at the Ivory Keep could name all eight wars. A courtier who asked not to be named said that was "a matter of record, mostly."

I have covered nineteen sieges. This is the first fought over a medal.

The committee holds the field. It has 287 nominations on file, 208 of them individuals and 79 of them guilds, and it has never once confirmed who is on the list. That is a sound defensive position. You cannot be accused of snubbing a man you never admitted to having considered. Donwald has not taken the position. His forces are camped outside it, shouting about the eight wars.

A second front opened in the east, where the Chancellor of an allied realm said the committee had "lost its moral compass." The committee did not reply. It does not reply to anyone. It announces, then goes back inside.

The laureate took the news calmly. Asked about the High Lord's reaction, she joked that if the press kept applauding she might share the prize with him. Handshake rating: offered, not yet accepted. Firm, two seconds, no hidden dagger detected, though I checked twice.

Assessment. Donwald has now been passed over in what he counts as eight campaigns. The committee has been attacked by a High Lord, a Chancellor, and a number of men on the Truthscroll with eagle icons. It has not moved a single banner. Tension between the Golden Tower and Frostfell stands at roughly nine siege-days and will hold until the next announcement.

Nobody won today. Somebody will post about it tomorrow.

Ironjaw, filed from the front.