Editing The Once and Future Queens (section)

==Heirs to Beran==

The run begins with Scout vanishing and Managaratha reappearing, but the latter is severely injured with all the broken bones from before he vanished. Stella, with ecumenical help from Vidan to avoid the issues with Rush's holy ground, calls on the Mother to heal him. The funeral is still going on inside the church, and it ends without any surprises.

The night passes peacefully, and the next day [Phoenix 24], the group  heads to the temple of Navere, (protected again by Vidan's ecumenical miracles from thwackback).

[[Violet]], the high priest of Navere in Berana, tells Vidan that the first round of accusations of assassination by the contenders has been settled due to the Slith prisoner, but the kingdom still needs an heir within the next 4-5 days to prevent it from falling apart into factions.

There are six factions, two of which support the same candidate. The contenders and their supporters are as follows:
* Prince Varen: The oldest child but illegitimate, supported by both the Rushites and hotheaded. He clashed a lot with Olason, as they were both hotheads.
* Princesse Anne: The oldest legitimate child.
* Prince Quentin: The only surviving descendant of the lord of the northern half of Berana, with a claim on their support.
* Prince Morgan: He was previously named heir by King Olason, but was removed again after a significant military loss. Olason married Morgan's mother before he was born, so there is a tiny argument that he is not legitimate.
* Princess Wendy: Not of age yet, but her mother, Queen Mary, is the current queen and has her own support.

We also learn that there is an engagement party for Princess Bolga (King Olason had about thirty kids) tomorrow, and that People Of Note will be meeting to discuss the slith the following day.

Violet continues the briefing: Franklin, the steward, is the one most likely to be listened to by everyone, although he remains apolitical between the contenders as a matter of policy.  Violet says that Naverre doesn't have a "preferred" candidate, but does think that the candidate should be "proper".  However, as Olason was the first king, there is no succession history, so there isn't a clearly defined "proper".

We briefly discuss the candidates and Vidan proposes that everyone infiltrate a different faction, but this plan does not survive contact with the mechanic.  Diomarche asks about Princess Friga (who is at Middlesea).  Her mother is Nessa - Olason divorced her twenty-five years ago, and she's still on her lands.  Prince Marek, her younger brother, was at the funeral.

The group goes to the castle to talk to Franklin and brief him on what they know about the slith assassin. Franklin seems less fond of Varen and Quentin but maintains his apolitical stance.

Diomarche goes to the Temple of Rush, to get their opinion on the slate of heirs.  Varen and Morgan are known for their military expertise, though it is unclear which ones will be more anti-slith and less focused on conquering their neighbors.

Through the later gatherings, we will get a better idea about the heirs and their factions:
Prince Varen: Crosses (Rush) and Fists (hawks)
Princesse Anne: Top Hats (nobles)
Prince Quentin: Leafs (magic / weird / shamany / Orellian-favored)
Prince Morgan: Lemons (the disaffected)
Wendy / Mary: Roses (alliance-building)