The Portsmouth Council Gambit

Ava’s failed appeal to the Council becomes a deliberate information leak, while a resulting ambush exposes the costs of unreliable institutions.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

A Council in Name

A Council in Name Distrust from experience Ava knows that the Portsmouth Council is rumored to be compromised and divided. She nonetheless considers whether its authority might help against Venus. An imperfect option The Council represents a possible counterweight, but not a dependable rescue. The group chooses to approach it because every other source of support is limited.

A Yacht Meeting

A Yacht Meeting Formal distance The group travels by boat to meet Council members aboard an extravagant yacht near New Castle. The setting keeps petitioners at a distance from those who claim to serve them. Ava’s offer Ava promises to help remove the Coterie from the Council’s doorstep if they provide assistance. Her proposal is direct, but she brings no documentary proof.

Help Deferred

Help Deferred Proof demanded The Council questions Ava’s accusations and cites other cases waiting through formal channels. Alistair acknowledges that its members have been bribed and that inaction is politically safest. Failure made useful Ava leaves without direct aid. The visit still ensures that every faction hears where she plans to be, creating a route by which Venus can learn the bait’s location.

The Parking-Lot Ambush

The Parking-Lot Ambush A sudden attack Vodyanoy rush the group outside the meeting. Their speed and corrosive saliva turn the return to the van into a fight for survival. An alliance tested Ava, Lock, Ezra, and the were-hares fight together, but the attackers injure Olive and Sid. The violence shows that the Council’s political failure has immediate physical consequences.

A Lesson in Institutions

A Lesson in Institutions No timely protection The Council’s promise to investigate cannot protect the group from an attack that comes moments after the meeting. The allies must rely on one another instead. A tactical success The failure still serves the plan: Venus can be drawn out to a place the allies have chosen. Institutional weakness becomes both danger and leverage.

Before the trip to Portsmouth

The day after the first night at Duncan’s cabin

During the Council audience

Immediately after the yacht meeting

After the wounded reach the dryad woodland