Speaking order. (hosts)

(In order of senority)

---

Scion: Wizard Lords and imitators thereof. This are indeed portentous times for the North. There is a threat on the horizon, an attempt to alter our mode of living and take away the creative freedom we currently enjoy. We live in a world in which the truly great can fulfil their whole, glorious potential - as sovereign rulers, as creators of new and wonderful things, as the very gods of this world. Where the reins of power are held by the great - by those who deserve them, who have either taken them by force of arms, or succesfully defended them against all comers. This is the law of nature. There are those here who would deny that. I am surprised, I must say, that some of you seem to be harbouring sympathies to the cynical lie of "democratic" governance. Sharing power with the common pony is impossible. The only ones you will end up sharing power with is a handful of agitators and skilful liars who are able to whip the feeble-minded masses into a frenzy - and that only as long as the agitators have any use left for you. As soon as they have consolidated power, they will trot out whatever aspect of your rulership is the most easily misunderstood by the average cretin and use it to do you in. I've studied precatastrophic history - their plans dovetail neatly with any number of tested scenarios in their dusty old playbooks. Democracy, republics, constitutional monarchies - they had their go. They left us with a civilization so awash in its own decadence that it collapsed. The north is not weak because of conflict. It is strong because of it. The strong rule, and they test their strength against each other. Our struggle of cunning, creativity and power - it is the eternal struggle of nature. If I am weak, let me be defeated! You will not find _me_ joining forces with a craven, spying, plagiarist lich who is too cowardly to even attend this summit in person, and instead sends a _child_ to speak for him.

Think carefully about what collaboration with this meddler will mean giving up. I have every confidence that you will get but one chance. For while he very much wishes for you to forget about the eternal struggle for power, his long centuries speak to the fact that he has not forgotten for a moment.

--

Malign Gaze will announce that an army is massing in Old Turnip, concealed from conventional scrying but detected by her special methods.

"Wizards, you've heard here so far a lot of horseapples about new orders and improvements and change. A lot of talk, and you probably wonder exactly what it means. And maybe you wonder who exactly is going to bring about these changes. I don't know what those of you who are supporting it were told, but I know what I was told, and one thing it didn't include was any mention of THIS." "This huge thing, some kind of precatastrophic machine, has been ploughing a highway through the crystal forest near the Watchmount. It has made incredible progress, and broke through the forest yesterday. It is heavily shielded against conventional scrying, but not against advanced methods I came up with myself. So now there is a road between my territory and the Northwest, specifically, the territory of New Equestria, whose form of government some here are ballyhooing, but, I add, a government which could not protect it from a devastating attack by changelings and rogue dragons that killed its queen and the heir apparent, and now governs a state that is deeply divided." "As if this were not threatening enough, I have also scryed AN ARMY ON THE MARCH from the north, who at this very moment are assembled at two days march from Witch Point. In less than a week they could be at any of our gates. And if you have any doubt as to their allegiance, take a look at their banner." (Shows alicorn banner.) RBO party member (interjecting): That's a religious symbol of the Royal Pantheon, it's a common religion in the Northwes--" "It's an alicorn, just like the one on these coins that Risen Bones delegation is giving out... and just like THIS ONE speaking for him today! Go ahead, prove me wrong. Take off that cape."

"So those of you who are thinking of throwing your lot in with Risen Bones - how much of this were you told? Was I alone in having agents and spies sent to my territory to bribe bandits and criminals and destabilize my government? I think the experience of the Lord Saltwithers indicates to the contrary. There's cause here for unity alright. Unity against a damned lich whose ambitions have grown too large for the Isle of Tears. He's raised an army of outsiders against us, riddled our lands with mercenary agents and silver-tongued propagandists playing on the naive religious faith of the people in Elements and Princesses, and now he is breeding a race of alicorns. I call for a truce between all wizard-lords, to defeat this invading army of Westerners and destroy the lich Risen Bones once and for all. His meddling in the affairs of other magic users, attempting to control retrodivination and other things he judges misuse of magic, have long been worrisome, but this is leaps and bounds beyond that. He is no peer of ours, but our common enemy, and he will destroy us if we do not renounce him and his plans immediately."