The Ember Moot

The Ember Moot gathers around travelling hearths, not marble floors. Hall-speakers, herd wardens, outriders, oath-keepers, smiths, and hard-eyed witnesses stand close enough to smell smoke in one another's cloaks while war, grazing, rescue, and feud are argued into temporary command. Its authority is old because the roads are old, and fearful because it can license riders before a crown could finish speaking. No one loves the Moot when it names their burden. Everyone listens when the horns are sounding and the open country needs one voice before the storm arrives.