Grand Creature Council

[Exordium]

The Grand Creature Council, made of fae, demons and other folk living in the city, are faced with the decision to accept humans or to deny them their request to join the Council. War erupts.


Isaiah Eatherton stood before the Grand Creature Council, wringing his sweaty hands together as he stared down the council. Or rather, they stared him down. The long, u-shaped table was filled with all sorts of creatures; a representative of every race and brand of creature-folk that walked the city was at the table. Fae with their pastel skin and shimmering membrane wings, demons with horns on places he didn't think could be possible, shapeshifters and witches and warlocks alike all sat, looking down their noses at him, the only human in the room.


"So, Mister..." one of the Grand Council folk said, running a long claw of a finger down a sheet before them.


"Eatherton," Isaiah said, running his hands through his thinning gray hair for the upteenth time.


"Right, Mister Eatherton." The clawed creature said, rolling his red eyes in a 'you humans and your surnames' sort of way. "You came here today to what, exactly?"


"To ask to join the Grand Creature Council on behalf of the human race." Isaiah said.


"You can hardly call it a race," another creature said, an elderly gnome-man. "There's what, twenty of you and what exactly are you even capable of doing?"


"Well," Isaiah cleared his throat. "in this city alone we have a population of twenty-hundred. And we may not be talented in magic or have skills, per say..."


"Get to the point," said the clawed creature.


"We humans are an integral part of this city. We clean the streets, drive your buses, keep the electricity running. We build your buildings and print your books. Don't we deserve the same standard rights as everyone else?" Isaiah said, gesturing his arms around him.


The Grand Creature Council glanced at each other. The elderly council members all burst out in chortles and scoffs, looking down at the human man with something bordering contempt. The younger members, the new blood, looked around uneasily. Strangely, the Head Councilman, a shapeshifter named Rorin, remained silent.

 

[Flamestrife]

Rorin gazed upon the human, clinging to silence all the while the rest of his fellow members and most trusted allies cracked up over the human's request. Based on his age, he would be no more than a petty teenager in need of more school years before they could ever consider joining the ranks of the council, but it was obvious that humans aged at a different speed than demons. His gray hair said much to Rorin. Although they were far between in the years, they both shared gray hair. However, Rorin could see the human's hair was thinning while Rorin's hair remained as thick as it ever had been.


Slowly, he unlaced his long, gnarled fingers and rested them on the table in front of him. His index fingers tapped together.


"What you say is entirely valid to me, but I'm afraid I cannot allow you onto the council simply because I see a reason for you to be here. Everyone within the council must be in agreement before the verdict is made. The process may take time," the elderly grand councilman stated in an even voice, though it cracked with his age.


A hiss came from among the other members of the council as a kharyn leaned forward, her pointed ears raised high. She fixed sharp feline eyes on him as she scowled like an angry predator.


"We don't need a human on the council! They don't live long enough. We'd be replacing their representative so often they'd never see past the errand days! This human should be proof enough! Send him home and let us be onto more important matters already, I grow sick of talking day in and day out about humans. There are problems within the demon community that take more precedent!" she barked.


"That is not true. The humans are as important as any other species living within this city. We will not cast the humans aside simply because they have shortened lifespans or in-superior strength or a lack of magical auras. We must treat the humans as we have treated our kind for many generations. There are rules set in place for a reason," Rorin responded cooly, despite the tightening of the skin around his eyes.


"Kiranira is right, Grand Councilman. Should we even be bothering with these humans? They should be casted out!" another spoke up angrily.


"Now, now-" Rorin began, only to be cut off as the rest of his senior council members and some of the middle level members began to argue, their voices growing louder and louder. Rorin raised his hands up to cover his ears and scowled. He hated arguments, especially loud ones. "SILENCE!" he roared.


The room instantly fell quiet, all heads turned toward him.


"If the council cannot come to a conclusion, then I will make a decision on my own," he said.


"You can't do that! We all have to agree on the decision, not just you!" spat the Kharyn. "And the council has decided on a majority vote that the humans should be on their way and leave behind any thoughts of joining the council!"

 

[Exordium]

Lilah Tanglefly, a wisp of a faerie, bit her lip as the council argued. She herself had just recently been appointed as faerie representative after her predecessor, Flix Honeysand, had retired. She felt uneasy making comments among the elder council members; she was just shy of a hundred years while the others were much older and, sometimes, much wiser. But the other fae had deemed her most likely to be able to withstand the turbulent going-ons of the Grand Creature Council than the others, so she was nominated.


Lilah paled herself, letting her skin shimmer in and out of view as the debate grew more heated about the human's request. She folded her thin, translucent wings against her back and thumbed the daisies she had braided in her hair that morning.


The human bristled at the Kharyn's remarks. He did not look at all pleased to be talked about as if he were not there. She almost felt bad for him.


--


Isaiah gritted his teeth and clenched his fingers into a fist.


"We humans are more durable than you'd like to believe," he said. He looked around at the Council; half of which were in fervent agreement with the Kharyn and the other half looked ready to leave.


"Fine," he finally hissed. "I can see when I'm not welcome. But I'll have you know, you will regret it. You will come to regret your words today."


He glared particularly long at the Kharyn, hoping he looked far more threatening that he felt under the intense gazes of the Council.


With that, he wrapped his coat around his tightly and stormed from the room, slamming the huge doors behind him. He ignored the shocked looks from the Council secretaries and left the Council building. The day was still hot, unbearably so, when he stepped out onto the street. A few of his supporters, other humans that had had enough of the way they'd been treated lately, got to their feet at the base of the marble stairs. They looked to him expectantly.


"How did it go?" one of them said. "Did they accept your proposal?"


"No," he said with a deep sigh. He didn't stop moving and his supporters followed behind him as he stalked down the street. "They did not. But they'll come around eventually. Let's regroup."


--


Lilah sighed. The human had left bad energy behind him when they stormed out.


"I think that could have been handled better, you know." Lilah said, rapping her slender green fingers on the table. She looked directly at the kharyn. "Aren't we supposed to be civil and the epitome of justice?"