The Aftermath of the Battle with Demons: Deciding Phebis' Fate

With the King of Phebis dead, and all of the princes slain by the succubus, there is alot of uncertainty among the Phebian royal court, as well as among the few noble families that remain. You watch as the tiny kingdom that you swore to protect go into a state of mourning for the next few days. The stench of cremated corpses is quite thick, as Queen Cielina and her fellow Amazon women burn the bodies of their slain sisters-in-arms. West of the keep, hundreds of coffin are filled with the bodies of your soldiers and magicians that fell in battle. In all, the total casaulties are quite high for your kingdom, and terrible for both Phebis, and the Thessian Amazons. At least 500 of your soldiers were killed, and half of your expeditionary **** suffered battle wounds. For the Thessian Amazons, half of their own expeditionary **** died, including Cielina's lifemate, Maricara. Of course, Phebis suffered the worst, with their king & supposed heirs now being buried in the royal catacombs, and over 80% of its militia killed in their attempts to counter the Amazon raids, as well as in the demonic invasion. Had it not been for you bringing Vessa and her fellow mages, Phebis would likely be burned to the ground by the demons.

Now the focus start to shift over who should rule Phebis next. With the Phebian people's dislike for a queen to rule the tiny kingdom, it has become a verbal battle over which noble house should take over. One thing that all of them seem to agree on, is that you should stay and help decide who should rule next. You order heavy guarding of the throne room that is to be closed during the negotiations, and post more guards in the dining area, as it provides the best environment for such negotiations. You also know that the sooner a new ruler is decided for Phebis, the sooner a peace agreement can be made with the Thessian Amazons. You remind them of the trade agreements that remain between Itheria and Phebis, and of the importance of brokering a peace treaty with the Amazon tribe still camped outside the walls, with their queen inside the keep.

You find three noble houses best suited to take over: House Redmond, House Guillame, and House Zaby. The men of House Redmond are best known for providing some of the best trained soldiers and guards for the tiny kingdom. They also dabble in improving blacksmithing techniques, of which some tips have been shared with the blacksmiths of Itheria. The men of House Guillame are specialists in maximizing wealth, while keeping the people content. It is said that it was some of the Guillame men that helped a previous Phebian king finalize the trade agreement that was forged with your grandfather, even though the now dead Phebian king drove a hard bargain with your father. Then there's House Zaby, who seem to be most in touch with the needs of the people of Phebis, even at the cost of a stronger military, and/or a stronger local economy. The head of the house has a manor to the north of the Phebian capital, where he oversees tiny farming and pasture villages. It is said that it was the men of House Zaby that helped promote tolerance and respect for traders and merchants of all kinds, given the amount of travel some of them make, to sell and buy goods. Each house state their own case, and you do your quick research into which member of the corresponding house is most suitable to rule, and who is the best possible match for the current queen's teenage daughter. Of course, the negotiations don't go very far, and they now look to you to decide which house you believe is what Phebis needs the most.