"Three, boy. A week of constant combat as we defended the castle against his contenders. Your friend's already on the warpath and if it wasn't for his strange mercenary band, I'm sure the next letter you received from the Duchies would be notifying you of his 'unfortunate loss against a worthy foe.'" Etenani grimaced at the standard phrase dotting half the Illyri diplomatic missives received by the Empire. While the patchwork of alliances and contenders for the various provinces and Duchies was mystifying to most people, the Ellaran Duchies maintained a department of Genealogy funded almost religiously by every contender and noble House to keep track of their achievements and opponents. Being the only constant within the ever-shifting Duchies, they'd become the de facto body for interacting with foreign powers through their reports, updating the world at large of the state of the Illyri 'Unification War'.
