NationStates Jolt Archive

Fëanor Palace, Vinyatírion, Menelmacar.

Mephet’ran smiles, "Right, time to go out..."
"Lead on, my love."
He takes the Elentári’s hand and, and after a very brief trip from Vinyatírion, he leads her out onto a wide open beach, with very clean white sand. He really can't fault the Menelmacari on their coastline. He smiles, and leans toward Sirithil to kiss her gently, wrapping his arms around her and tipping her back a little. Sirithil kisses back, quite happily... the shore along here is calm in the predawn light, with little waves lapping on the shore... forests of various tropical trees interspersed with towering mallorn begin just beyond the beach, with spectacular mountains starting only a few miles inland. She smiles at him. "There's not much here, you know."

The C’tan smiles, "That's part of my reasoning for taking you here..." he smiles, "I want to remember this place for only one event."
She smiles at him radiantly. "What event is that?" she asks. "I don't think anything's ever happened here.” His smile widens, "Ah, not yet my love," he says with an impish grin, grabbing her by the hand and walking slowly. Sirithil giggles, walking along happily.

Mephet’ran stops eventually, when he thinks he's got them to exactly the right point, a rocky prominence emerging from the sand a little stops. He turns and picks her up by the waist, holding her up, long dress swishing a little in the wind as he turns and puts her on it, a little like a pedestal. Sirithil giggles a little, standing there smiling down at him.

Mephet’ran grins, "Good," he says. Were he human, the custom would be for him to kneel now, but the Noldor don't especially have that, and his own race's customs don't cover such things. Besides, it is most unlikely that he would kneel before her for such an occasion. He reaches into the pockets of the long white robes, in the local style, he wears, and takes a small box, black as night, but for silver edges and an ornate but meaningless pattern of silver lines on its surfaces.

Sirithil smiles when she sees the box.
"Now," he says, "I have a little question for you..."
"Yes?" she asks, practically giddy with excitement. She thinks she knows what's coming.
Mephet’ran flips the box open and turns it to let her examine the object inside, a plain mithril ring, made to fit her index finger. Happy he's timed it right, and that the sun hasn't quite come up yet, he quietly whispers the command word, and Itilien script on both the inner and outer faces of the band illuminates, in two languages the inscription on the outer face showing her native script, if not her native language. inscription link (http://www.necrontyr.plus.com/images/inscriptionvalarin.jpg) On the inner face delicate circles and lines making up the high necrontyr script form the second part of the inscription, which when read aloud would be Kirianah Sirithil’rin, eana el Mephet’ran.

"Will you do me the honour of marrying me?" he asks, despite all his age and power, quite, quite nervous. Sirithil practically leaps into his arms. "Yes! Yes, oh, yes, I will! I will marry you." She kisses him, very passionately.

Mephet’ran steps back a little, off balance, and kisses her back just as passionately, wrapping his arms around her and holding her to him. Mephet’ran kisses Siri again, and slips the ring on her finger, as soon as he's able to. Sirithil beams, and gives him another passionate kiss. Mephet’ran kisses back, holding her to him some more. "I love you," she whispers softly. "More than anything."

Mephet’ran smiles, "And I love you more than anything as well... my dear fiancée..." he adds with a playful grin.
Sirithil giggles, and kisses him again.

"This reminds me..." he says with a grin.
"What does it remind you of?"
He stops, and steps back for a moment, "I'm going to make a little change..."
"Change?" He nods and she asks "What change?"
Mephet’ran turns around for a moment, and seems to grow in stature a little, until he's nearly her height, his hair becoming a shade darker, and his figure more slender. He turns back, quite clearly an elf now, complete with pointy ears, though he is just a touch more masculine than most elves, who are usually rather androgynous.
Sirithil smiles. "I like it. I like it a lot."
Mephet’ran does a twirl, "New me..."
Sirithil giggles happily.
Mephet’ran leans forward to kiss her, "I thought you'd like it..."
Sirithil kisses back happily.

OOC: First reply!
Congrats. We all saw this coming.

OOC: Me and Ctan RPed this on IRC.

NB: This hasn't been announced IC yet.

(OOC: :eek: What!?! This is most definitely earth/galaxy/universe shattering... The universe will just never be the same... :( )

OOC: It is? ;)

(OOC: Well not 100% shattering. That I was exaggerating... Anyways, both you and Menelmacar are respected nations on NationStates, so a political marriage between your rulers will be extremely beneficial.)

OOC: Yes indeed...

(OOC: Well not 100% shattering. That I was exaggerating... Anyways, both you and Menelmacar are respected nations on NationStates, so a political marriage between your rulers will be extremely beneficial.)
OOC: There's the added benefit that they actually *gasp!* love each other. :D

OOC: There's the added benefit that they actually *gasp!* love each other. :D

OOC: God do I want to know the end to the Devras story now...

(OOC: Ah... But the lover's tiffs will have much greater consequences... ;) )

OOC: They're actually more likely OOC than IC though. :eek:

(OOC: I know. But they're bound to be quite amusing...)

* Asami-chan sharpened a knife...

* Asami-chan sharpened a knife...
OOC: Jealous secretary?

OOC:

Congratulations. I suppose that will start to create a really big family once Maglor finally realize he's an independant man and do the same to Aliria.

OOC:

Congratulations. I suppose that will start to create a really big family once Maglor finally realize he's an independant man and do the same to Aliria.

OOC: And ask mummy Siri for teh munnies for teh wedding?
:D

OOC:

Congratulations. I suppose that will start to create a really big family once Maglor finally realize he's an independant man and do the same to Aliria.

Theallas: *grumble* *mutter* *grumble*
Ithenril after having too much coffee: YAY! *bounce* *bounce*
Nosirin: Great, just what I need... a depressed Dagniross, a hyper-active former-Empress, and Siri and Mephet married... just great...

OOC: Congratulations on your nuptials. Make sure my surveillance-cam drones are not about the honeymoon suite, or some dastardly enterpenuer would be sure to offer up 'Honeymoons Gone Wild' on the data-feeds.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/Sirithil/goldbar.gif

A Joint Announcement from
Emperor Mephet’ran and Elentári Sirithil nos Fëanor

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/Sirithil/daggerstar2.bmp http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/Sirithil/necronicon.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/Sirithil/goldbar.gif

“In recent years, while working more closely together, we have both grown close to one
another. This has become a loving and romantic relationship, and therefore, we are pleased to
announce that we have decided to marry one another in the near future.”

“The current expected date is Yestarë, of the Thirty-one Thousand Eight Hundred Fifty-sixth Year of Menelmacar.”

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/Sirithil/goldbar.gif

OOC: Yestarë is March 28th, the Elvish new year. This probably won’t be the actual date.

OOC: And yes, you can post now.

=<Transmission Type: Diplomatic Communique>=
=<Destination: Elentári Sirithil nos Fëanor, Eternal Noldorin Empire of Menelmacar ; Emperor Mephet’ran, Eternal Necrontyr Empire of The Ctan>=
=<Subject: Announcement of Marriage Engagement>=

On behalf of the Imperial Commonwealth of Khenala, and its citizens, please allow me to be among the first to extend my congratulations to you both on your recent engagement, and my best wishes for a happy life as Husband and Wife.

May the Suns shine brightly upon your new path together!

Regards,

Prime Minister Andrew Seal
Imperial Commonwealth of Khenala

=<End Transmission>=

--<Transmission Type: Personal Diplomatic Communique>--
-<Sender: Supreme Emperor Speaker-Rrit, FSS>-
-<Destination: Elentári Sirithil nos Fëanor, ENEM; Emperor Mephet’ran, ENEC>-
--<Subject: Congratulations>--

Congratulations from the Federated Segments of Scolopendra. We are glad to see this development and hope that all goes well with you in the future.

May your consortship be a pleasant and enlightening one,

http://www.weirdozone.0catch.com/projects/nationstates/scolopendra/speaker-to-animals.gifSupreme Emperor Speaker-Rrit
Chief of State
Federated Segments of Scolopendra

--<End Transmission>--

The Emperor and Emperess of The Imperial Navy are pleased to hear of this wedding. We wish you all the luck in the future, and that your marriage takes your nations to a new era of peace...

OOC: Heh I married the ruler of The Valuan Empire after I annexed her country. I made a proposition to spare her people... :)

OOC: Heh I married the ruler of The Valuan Empire after I annexed her country. I made a proposition to spare her people... :)

OOC: Thankfully Mephet'ran doesn't seem to need such measures. ;)

OOC: Thankfully Mephet'ran doesn't seem to need such measures. ;)

OOC: Well they did attack me unprovoked... And now they are happily married. She actually loves the Emperor now...

Official Statement of High Queen Agwene

"The happiness of our friends is our happiness. That sentence truly sums up our feelings towards this joyous announcement, an announcement no less joyous for being rather expected. All Danaans remember the inestimable aid rendered to the cause of justice by Menelmacar, among others, during the all to recent disruption in public order caused by High Lady Aoibhell and Duke Emeril, aid any Danaan is free to see immortalized in the Friendship Park on the Island of Uinen. Likewise, our relations with the Necrontyr are both friendly and warm, especially in the wake of the recent visit of Emperor Mephet'ran to Tarana."

((OOC: Recent but yet to be posted. Go NS time.))

As a congratulatory present, Agwene had two fine suites of sidhe plate, made of shining gold with perfectly cut emeralds on the chest and neck, with the form fitting, non-incumbering qualities of that magic armor, delivered with all the pomp and circumstance of state to the happy couple. Each suit of armor was accompanied by a single white acacia.

To: Elentári Sirithil nos Fëanor, Eternal Noldorin Empire of Menelmacar ; Emperor Mephet’ran, Eternal Necrontyr Empire of The Ctan
From: Office of the Regent, Paradigm, Weyr
Re: A Joint Announcement...

The Kingdom of Weyr and the United Weyrik Prefectures would like to congratulate both parties of this announced consortship. We wish you luck, and may the Lady smile upon you.

Based on the results of a national poll regarding a suitable national gift, the Kingdom has included three kegs of kvas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kvas), three kegs of Weyrean Booze (tm), and the craft upon which they will be delivered, along with this message.

Best wishes,
Victoria li'Paradigm
Regent

Official statement from El Sentiel

"I wish to congratulate you and your mate, may you produce may offspring that will bring you and your empires honour in the eyes of The One Fanged God, we are afraid we do not have gift that would be deemed approriate for such a event we hope that some isolated land here on Wunderland would be enough."

http://img7.exs.cx/img7/3200/Kziniti1.jpg
Rrowl C'mef
Patrairch of Wunderland, Epsilon Eridania

Your Majesty,

Allow me to present you with my most sincere congratulations
on your engagement with the Emperor Mephet’ran
and to wish you the very best there is in your upcoming union.
May your bonds be strong and your children in good health.

Humbly yours,
Archduchess Vethara Shakhovskaya of Tarasovka

Vethara put her quill down on the table, dried the ink and then slid the little note into an envelope (that wasn’t big either). She smiled, stood up from behind her desk and went into the antechambers of her apartments, to be met by the ever watchful Lietirnon.

“Alex? Could you please deliver this to Her Majesty?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The Mornahossë took the envelope and exited the apartments. And just as he was closing the door, he fell on a girl from the Fëanor Palace staff. Immediately, he handed her the envelope ordering her to bring it to Lady Sirithil, to which the girl nodded and dashed off. Lietrnon went back into the antechambers. Vethara blinked as she looked bewildered at her guard.

“So fast?”

“Well… Your Highness… my unit does the job quickly and efficiently…”

Vethara simply blinked. Lietirnon shrugged and asked, pensively.

“But could you not have requested an audience with the Elentári to express in person and in voice what you transposed on paper?”

“No! Official statements must be done in written format and only then expressed vocally should the need arise!”

This time it was the soldier’s turn to blink.

"So, my savior decided to go for it with the Noldorin queen, eh?. Well, that's an improvement for her, after finally getting rid of that thrice damned Feänor, to marry with such powerful and marvelous person as the Istari of the stars is...", said Everqueen Aelosia smiling a bit as she read the letter.

"Queen Sirithil is a marvelous person too, mother. As I was saying, she helped us a lot in your absence, and she is one of the few outsiders that I could call a frined of mine. I hope you haven't forgotten that there is something in between between his son and myself", answered Princess Aliria, staring at her ruler.

"Something in between...In my times, that shouldn't be just something in between, it would be at least . I would advise you to hurry up and rush things a little. After all, he isn't exactly young, and I wouldn't like to find out that he's just playing with you. That would add another line to the things I would need to forgive him, and the list isn't exactly short these days. Start to behave like a real Princess or I'll need to start looking for someone else that suits better the title. Did I make myself clear?", were the words of the Everqueen, accompanied by a severe and cold looking stare.

"Erhmmm...Yes, mother, I'm sorry", said Aliria with a nod, although her ineer thoughts were really different to just a simple agreement. We are elves, we have all the time in the world. We have an eternity of years in front of us. Although you're right mother. Why he hasn't spoken a word about it in all this time. Maybe he thinks I'm not enough for him?. Maybe I have been weighted and measured and found lacking?. Oh, valar, please enlight me to see beyond the darkness and to hear the sounds of silence, was her hidden and secret plea to her own gods.

"And well, about the Noldorin queen, I guess you're right. After all I think no wretch could seize the affection of the Istari of the stars. Isn't he cute?. But, yes, Where was I?. Oh, Sirithil Nerdanel nos Fëanor, aye. Yes, I felt her power and witnessed her undying beauty back in that VERITAS treaty gathering. And yes, she's quite impressive, after all our kin improves with age, and Sirithil isn't exactly young, although she maintains her fabled appearance. If the odds favor us, someday we could start to be called friends", continued the Everqueen, now distracted looking at her own hounds of Valinor, the powerful wolf-dogs descended from Huan of Valinor that were lying near the artificial fire in the center of her chambers.

"It's then an occassion of joy. I'll write them both a congratulating letter from my part. You should write yours, too, along with a message for Maglor. I think this is the appropiate time for you two to pronounce your bows. I don't like to leave this Craftworld, you know?, and I'm sure the VoidDragon will like me to join him in that wedding, so I would like to...ahem, kill two birds with one arrow, as we used to say?. I hope you understand what I mean", Aelosia Elúrin nos Dior nos Lúthien sank her glare in the eyes of her heir with astonishing intensity, marking her wods with a perfect sindarin spelling.

"I do, mother, I'll do everything in my hands to convince Maglor to agree with you, I promise", was the only answer of the Princess, lowering her head and looking to the floor, before bowing to leave to her own chambers.

To: Sirithil nos Fëanor nos Finwë, Elentári of the Noldor, and Mephet'ran the Blessed, Emperor of the C'tan.
From: Elúrin nos Dior nos Lúthien, Everqueen of the Sindar

Congratulations on your upcoming union, I'm really glad to see that our friends have decided to take such a wondrous and important step in their eternities of life. My prayers and the prayers of my people to the Valar will include from now on the wishes of a true and complete happiness for you both, together. I hope to attend to such a fabulous occassion, if I am, of course, invited. I'll see what can spare as the wedding gifts, but I still have plenty of time to think of that, right?. With nothing but a strong desire to see you both together and happy, I end this congratulating message.

To: Sirithil nos Fëanor, Eléntari of the Noldor
From: Aliria nos Hyru nos Elúrin, Jewel of the Sindarin

I'm glad to see that you finally decided to end your years of solitude and share your time and your so looked favor with someone that entirely deserves it. Congratulations on your upcoming union, and that the best wishes of all the royal house and the people of the Sindar will accompany you during the rest of your eternity together. Please tell your future husband that my thoughts engulfs him as well.

My mother told me today that the happy news of your engagement made her recall the promise of engagement and marriage that your son, Prince Maglor, and myself once talked about. I believe she was refering to the possibilities of seeing that promise coming true. All I can add to the issue is that nothing could make me happier that to finally being able to share my life and my time with your son, letting me to do everything in my hands to make him happy. What can you tell me about it, old friend and beloved protector?, Do you think I should write him about the matter?, Do you think I should contact him?, please give me your always apprecciated advise in this time of strife for my feelings, and I'll know how to thank you for your help.

Your Imperial Majesties,
My people and I still remember with immense gratitude the aid rendered to us by Menelmacar in our darkest hour. Likewise do we cherish our growing friendship with the Necrontyr. The news of Your Imperial Magesties' betrothal brings me nothing but gladness of heart and solicits from me nothing but the fondest wishes for your eternal happiness.

Sincerely Yours,
Lady Palinde nos Thingol
Tar-Emerwen of Menegroth Reborn

Commander Orlens gazed out of the Bio plastic window of his office, over new zygote buildings, just budding, the start of the Dargonese compound on Phobos.

He looked down at the organic data pad he held in one hand, both of his forehead tendrils idly touching items across the display, bringing up points of importance that had been collected by his people, and through their access to the Earth data node, and the news channels.

Briefly the wedding announcement flashed up, and moved on, halting for a second he flicked it back, one eyebrow going up over a golden eye

"Interesting, diplomatic mate ties between two of the more powerful earth factions.."

His eyes narrowed in thought, one tendril idly stroked a finger, he'd been looking for ways of expanding the Dargonese diplomatic influence, and this seems the ideal opportunity to do so.

One of his tendrils idly flicked his communicator, the small living scarab shaped beetle chirped in response as his aid answered

"Greall, I need you to draft a communication of commendation to be sent to earth,.."

'but who to send as a diplomat' he thought.. a smile spread, he knew just the man..

"And send up Kale, will you ?"


To the combined families of Mephet’ran and Fëanor

We bless the great seedlings on this day that your two families join in union.
May your bond bring you growth, happiness and strength to your families.

Commander Orlens, of the family Giir, sub family to the Imperial family Karinth.
Giir Re-Faden base, Phobos.

The Great Ineffable Bob merely frowned as he read the report, and moved on to other, more important matters.

OOC: Tag, and a note that I had dared to hope "engagement" meant military :(

<b>To:</b> Sirithil nos Fëanor nos Finwë, Elentári of the Noldor, and Mephet'ran, Emperor of the C'tan.

Congratulations to both of you on your recent engagement. May you spend many years together in eternally wedded bliss.

God bless,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v123/Syskeyia/sukosig.gif

http://members.iinet.net.au/~a_marrington/ns/achievement.gif


TO: Her Imperial Majesty Sirithil nos Fëanor nos Finwë, Elentári of the Noldor
and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Mephet'ran of the C'tan

Your Imperial Majesties,

We extend our congratulations on the occassion of your engagement and wish you happiness in your lives together. May the blessings of fortune be upon you both, and may your marriage see the dawn of a glorious new era in the history of both your nations.

Given by our own hand at the Imperial Court of Christ Pantocrator in the thirty first year of our reign on the day of Saint Theodora,

ANDREUS

By the Grace of God, Emperor of Pantocratoria, Autocrator of the Romans, Caesar Augustus, King of France and Navarre, Equal of the Apostles, et al.

The couple had debated for some time precisely where they should be married, and repeatedly come up without an appropriate solution. It wasn’t that they lacked places they liked, it was that they lacked places they felt had the unique feel they wanted. Finally, after much deliberation they settled on building a location – they had after all, decided that no level of expenditure was too great, or at least, no level of extravagance too great.

The decision of what it should be was considerably easier. Sirithil’s preference was of course, something of classical Noldorin design, and Mephet’ran had agreed to that. In considerable secrecy, they had had a building designed, more of a mountain perhaps, along the same engineering principles of the city ship Isasrach. Though considerably smaller, it was far more extravagant and wild in its design, which was intended to hark back to ancient Quendi fortifications in its form.

However, the most remarkable aspect of the building was the fact that it was not intended to land, but instead, hover above an ocean. Numerous devices were installed on the underside to repel sea life, as well as vertical shafts that pulled water up from several hundred meters below, and let it flow out of several dozen high waterfalls. At the bottom of the structure the water was evaporated by a narrow band of flashing white energy, to form a cloud of slowly condensing steam that fell down to the sea in a torrential rainstorm.

At the highest towers of the ‘castle’ were numerous landing pads and sensor stations, an unglamorous necessity, below which were the extensive guest’s quarters, ranging from extensive suites of luxuriantly appointed rooms for visiting foreign heads of allied states to humbler quarters for domestic guests. In the central building, surrounded by numerous banners and pennants, were two great halls, the first intended for the ceremony itself, and the second, somewhat smaller, intended for the inevitably long reception. They were connected by a pair of broad wooden doors, and between them boasted seating for almost a thousand people, as well as numerous entrances and exits for staff.

Thanks to the large stained glass windows (abstract and free of false grandeur) there was little need for artificial light. The building was also well defended with several copies of the energy shields carried aboard Menelmacari ships, though these were unlikely to be needed thanks to the other security precautions taken, far too numerous for any one person to recall all of.

Eventually, when all the invitations had been sent¹, the couple in question arrived. It was of course, not to happen immediately, as preparation would take days.

The eventual day itself would consist of a morning of general socialising for the guests who arrived early, followed by a comparatively brief ceremony beginning at local mid-day. When this concluded, the guests would all be presented with individual and unique gifts² by either Sirithil, Mephet’ran, or Maglor and Senator Frost, who was effectively the head of the C’tani government, if time or attendance required the gift giving to be sped up. After that, there was to be a significant lunch, followed by something of a ball.

One could pity the couple, given the likely length of the proceedings, but both had long ago accepted such things as their duty, the price of their privileges. Leaning on a railing overlooking the larger of the two halls, Mephet’ran watched the various artists and minions going about their work. He leaned forward, “You! Yes you by the fifth window don’t scuff the floor with that! Have you any idea how much that costs?”

“You know, you really should relax,” Sirithil, standing next to him, said.

“Oh yes,” he sighed, “I suppose I should. I’m not used to anxiety. Should I apologise do you think?”

She looked down and grinned. “No, not really. We really don’t want him dropping that. What’s in it?”

“Gold and Mithril plated toaster. For Kira li’Starhavven.”

“You’re kidding.”

Mephet’ran shook his head, and frowned playfully, “Nope.”

The elf laughed, “Gods. That one’s going to go home confused.”

“We can but hope!” he said, breaking into a grin that mirrored his fiancée’s.

OOC: Right. Anyone who wishes to come is welcome to make an arrival post now, or you could turn up later. The first part of the thread shall hopefully be rather informal, and thus there’s no real hurry to arrive. No one will be blowing the place up nor injuring the guests.

¹ Anyone with vaguely positive relations gets an invitation. Anyone such as Iesus Christi, Melkor Unchained, Anyone vaguely associated with Metus – Excepting Weyr – are not invited. In general heads of state and so forth are invited. Ambassadors and so forth are also invited, but to a largely separate event.
² As our creativity is not limited, you’re welcome to make suggestions about your gift.
³It must be said, a lot of people will probably only get one response a day at best. I for one, am in England, which limits the speed with which I’m able to react to many American posts. Further, I have exams next week, which, all told, will consume a lot of time. Siri’s posts may or may not be more frequent. In any case, we shall try and give everyone that comes roughly equal attention.

The Danaan ship settled down on the landing pad and High Queen Agwene descended, arm in arm, as protocol required, with the much maligned Diuc Connor ap Daireann. Agwene had a number of attendants, as might be expected for an event such as this. What might be less expected is that they were the Grand Duchesses of Shieldcrest and Garmar, the Princes of Bilbtoria, Holista, Pele, and Selinia, the Princesses of Wintermore, Farinor, and Fireforge, the Grand Duke Timon, and the Grand Duchesses Vicotira and Corrina. It was the first time in Danaan history such a high ranking delegation had been sent to, well, anything.

Agwene smiled brightly as she approached the happy couple. Everyone in her train bowed as they arrived. Connor managed to take advantage of the fact that he was holding the arm of the High Queen, who obviously remained standing, to remain standing as well. That act earned him a "look" from his fiance.

Agwene pulled briefly away from Connor and briefly clasped the hands of both Sirithil and Mephet'ran. "It is a pleasure to be here for this joyous event."
...
The Akatoni ship landed shortly thereafter and Empress Aiwyn ni Gwydion disembarked, hopefully with her husband. ((*Pokes Akaton to post*))

OOC: Wow, a bit of fluid time is in order here. Set just after Agwene's arrival.

It wasnt too long in the scheme of things before Indigo's private craft settled down upon the landing deck. Stepping down from the stairs extended before him, he smiled when he saw both Mephet'ran and Lady Sirithil standing before him. He hadnt really met either in person, however national politics did show that Sirithil had at one time developed a kind of fondness for the Austar Union. Nothing more than the typical political, but it showed on both faces as Indigo approached to greet them. For the most part, Indigo had little previous interaction with the C'tani if anything; he had some relations with Sirithil at the occasional regatta, but nothing too personal. It was more of a formality than anything, and Indigo recognised this. Still, he liked to treat everyone like old friends, with a bit of adjustment so he didnt come across as overfriendly.

"Hello friends," greeted Indigo with a smile on his face. "Thankyou very much for the invitation. When I heard about your wedding, I was only happy to come along. I am glad to have the opportinuty to join in on this special occasion."

"You do know," Alshai says as he guides Magician through Menelmacari airspace, silently acknowledging commands from air traffic control, "that there's no way for us to compete, right?"

Speaker-Rrit chuckles, hunched over in the co-pilot seat next to Kommetrez. "But of course. The People's Money Committee would never allow anything on the budget for gifts for foreign leaders, especially not autocratic ones. This is why we are not 'competing.'"

"What," Kommetrez interjects with a smirk, "did you cop out and go for macaroni art? I don't think that would fly too well."

"I can smell what you are bringing. I would prefer mine to be more of a surprise..."

"Eh, family recipe. Besides, I'm not here on any sort of official function; I just hope to visit and otherwise stay out of the way."

The Magician's Nephew, perhaps a bit dingier than most of the other, more 'official' diplomatic ships around due to wear, settles down at its designated landing pad, spindly landing legs only enhancing its birdlike appearance. A little dingy, perhaps, but still obviously solid, more care taken on the inside than external appearance. Yes, the Scolopendrans have arrived, and both the Angelan and the kzintosh are most pleasant to whoever greets them.

((Done over IRC))

Sirithil smiled brightly at Agwene (after giving Connor a 'look' herself, and really, really wishing Agwene had found some excuse to leave him at home), as she took her hand in her own. "The pleasure, Agwene, is all mine, I am sure, and my happiness is made even greater by your presence."

Agwene smiled warmly, though she was slightly surprised at how quickly Sirithil dropped the formalities. Unlike Indigo, Agwene was used to pretending to be formal with people who were already actually close friends, rather than the other way around. "Siri, you know how dear you and Mephet'ran both are to my heart. How could I not have come?"

Sirithil personally just doesn't much enjoy the formalities... this is why she's more often simply referred to as 'Lady Siri' than something along the lines of, say, 'Her Most Glorious and Eternal Majesty'. "Well, it means a great deal to me nonetheless that you are here, for you are no less dear to my own heart."

In tune with the informality of the conversation, Agwene just outright
hugged the woman. "I hope I didn't bring too large an entourage for the ceremony."

Sirithil laughed happily, and hugged back. "That's the spirit," she said, and added, "No, of course not. All of you are most welcome."

Agwene laughed lightly. "Where's your son?" She looked around for Maglor.

"I think he's getting ready, still," answered the Elentári. "He wants to look his best. Though I suspect more so for Aliria than for me."

"Ah, yes, Princess Aliria..." She gave Connor another look, remembering the last wedding they were at.

Sirithil nodded. "Yes, Princess Aliria. Maglor has long been... quite taken with her. And rightfully so! She's a fine woman."

Connor nodded. "A very fine woman."

In her mind's eye, Sirithil imagined herself grabbing Connor, and thrusting him head-first through one of the vast stained-glass windows, to fall several hundred meters to the waters of Airemma, far below. Yet no sign of this crossed her face in reality, and she simply gave him an icily civil, "Indeed."

Agwene gave her fiance another 'look' before turning back to Sirithil. "The gifts are still on the ship. We'll have them ready for when the time comes."

"Well, take your time with that... and do, make yourselves at home."

"Of course. I won't monopolize any more of your time. You do have quite a few more people to greet, I'm sure." Agwene gave Sirithil and Mephet'ran each a hug and a chaste kiss on each cheek. "We'll see you at the ceremony."

Sirithil smiled, returning both. "See you then."

Turning to regard Indigo Mephet'ran smiled, letting Siri and Agwene talk. "Hello," he replied.

At the same time he was busy talking to his 'brother' telepathically. Connor's here. You'll have to sit next him later.

Oh joy. Can't I just eat him when no one's looking? I've never had Sidhe before. They're probably tasty.

Come on, they're made out of dreams. You know that sort of thing tastes horrible.

Oh, very well. I shall endevour to make his stay as unpleasnt as possible without upsetting your pet Sidhe.

Thank you. And she is not a pet.

At the same time, Mephet continued talking to Indigo, "Not at all, you are most welcome as an honoured guest. Just about everyone is of course," he said with a smile, "But still, welcome."

Meanwhile, the Scolopendrans were greeted and shown upstairs by Senator Laudrina Frost and her husband, given her democratically elected status, it was deemed that she was more appropriate than most of the other C'tani representatives present.

The Menelmacari vessel carrying the Pantocratorian delegation set down on one of the landing pads. The hatch opened, and there was a brief flurry of activities as pages wearing ornately embroidered jackets dashed out and took positions on either side of the door. When the Emperor of Pantocratoria stepped out of the vessel with his youngest child, Princess Zoë on his arm, all but one of the pages bowed in perfect unison - the other page held a purple umbrella with silver thread lining and the letters "A I" stiched in gold over the heads of the two imperial visitors. As they waited to be greeted, their entourage of splendidly attired servants, maids, pages, musicians, heralds and other staff waited on-board for a chance to disembark.

"Ugh," muttered Elash Mîraglariel, Adjutant of the Emperor, "Pantocratorians."

"A nation with a terminal taste shortfall," replied Serendis nos Fithurin, the Menelmacari Prefect of Imperial Defense and Homeland Security, "Oh well," she said, adjusting the collar of her robes as the doors to the lift slid open, "time to go and look friendly."

They smiled and walked over to the Pantocratorian Emperor, bowing deeply. "On behalf of the Emperor of the C'tan,"

"And the Elentári of Menelmacar, welcome Your Majesty. We hope you will enjoy the ceremony, if you would care to meet the couple, they're presently free."

"Incidentally, if there is anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable, or if you have any requests regarding food, please do not hesitate to let them be known."

----

Elsewhere, a similar but less imprtant delegation said much the same thing to Aiwyn, and invited her to join Agwene upstairs.

The Emperor's expression betrayed no emotion. The man had an odd presence about him. He was handsome enough, although years of wearing a severe expression had now taken their toll in his late middle age. He wore a neatly trimmed beard, and if someone asked his daughter, Princess Zoë, why she thought he had one, she'd have told them that it was to make kissing him a not altogether pleasant experience. Nor did the Emperor believe that such untoward and inappropriate displays of familial affection towards the imperial person should be entirely pleasant affairs. His hair was grey, and his gaze was like steel.

"I thank you for your courteous hospitality." the Emperor replied in flawless English. "Would you be so kind as to guide me to your lord and lady, so that I may thank them personally for their invitation, and extend my congratulations?"

OOC: I should write here something right?, as I am invited?

"Certainly Your Majesty," Elash said, nodding, "This way if you please," she gestured with a flourish toward the rather large lift, and smiled, as Serendis walked off toward the lift.

Several floors above, Mephet'ran was busy talking to the Akatoni Empress, and Sirithil had just finished speaking with Agwene.

((Absoloutely Aelosia's invited!))

(Thanks to the wonderful thing that is fluid time, I can pretend I know these people so I can have a reason to post something real here some time. Yes... sometime. Maybe soon, even. Cheers.)

The Emperor followed Serendis to the lift, accompanied by Zoë and the page carrying the purple umbrella, who only withdrew once the imperial pair had embarked the elevator. They soon arrived, to see Mephet'ran speaking with Aiwyn, and Agwene and consort parting with Sirithil. The Emperor only briefly waited to be announced, before approaching Sirithil, acknowledging Agwene on the way - but the time to talk to her would come later, for now he had to congratulate the bride. He inclined his head towards her and bowed courteously - something which he rarely had to do, usually being the highest ranking person in the room. Nevertheless he did it with the natural grace of a lifetime spent on such gestures. Princess Zoë curtsied deeply, sinking down into the skirts of her formal gown.

"Your Majesty," the Emperor said, addressing the Elentári. "My most sincere congratulations are in order. Please allow me to present my youngest daughter, Zoë."

"It is an honour to meet Your Majesty!" she said, a little awestruck by Sirithil's natural presence, not to mention Mephet'ran's.

"Your preparations have been most impressive." the Emperor said, indicating the building in which they were standing.

...recording message...
...initiating transmission window...
...writer: Myruollion vas-J'kathyrnosadran lor-Poppy Myn-Onarr...
...rank: Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Foreign Art and Culture. Warden of the Foréan L'tydanis Dyantióc Greater Ward. Patriarch of the House of Poppy. Citizen-General...
...intended message receiver: Sirithil nos Fëanor | Mephet'ran I...
...ranks (respective): Elentári of the Eternal Noldorin Empire of Menelmacar. High Queen and Lady-Protector of Elvenkind | Imperator, Arch-Princeps and Executive of the Empire, Sovereign Lord of all C’tan Territories and Dominions, By the Grace of Fate, Emperor and Autocrat of All Duat...
...message urgency: Feiothr'in M'tarril...

Your Imperial Graces,

This communique is written to offer the sincere congratulations of the Parliament of Blooms, the High Conclave of Greater Wards, the Conclave of Wards and the most august wishes of the Divine Collective, and our and Their wishes for your future happiness.

In token of this, His Grace Adaryn vas-Raithuro'kyr'Andelluidion t'Kul-Aithaindewellin'Lanethaid lor-Rose vo'Myn-Onarr, First Minister of the Directed Democratic Empire, Patriarch of the House of Rose and High Lord of the Greater Conclave, will be attending your most fortuitous ceremony as a representative of the esteem of the Divine Collective, the Onarrán Empire and her subject peoples.

Once again I wish you both a most happy union,

Humble regards,
Myruollion lor-Poppy,
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Parliament of Blooms,
Minister for Foreign Art and Culture, Parliament of Blooms
Warden of Interspacial Cultural Control, High Conclave,
Patriarch of the House of Poppy,
Citizen-General of the Directed Democracy of Onarr.

...message complete...
...uploading to Directivenet...
...transferring to Galaxynet...
...Allnet analysing...analysis complete...
...transmitting...

[OOC: Possible placeholder for a post involving Vethveth.

But since I:
a) have many things to do IRL
b) have other threads to cater for
c) have a headache placing a whole lot of threads into a space of a month IC time

I may not be able to participate. Not that anybody will care anyway =P ]

As the Iuthian craft approached the floating bridal palace, a light humming could be heard in the distance not entirely unlike that of a grav-vehicle. Looking out from the palace it is easy to see what can only be described as a high tech black military helicopter (with no visible rotor blades).

Slowly the craft landed on a near by empty helipad after verifying that it had permission to land. Some of the workers looking up as the militaristic craft slowly hovered down towards the platform and with a light tap on the pad. The craft was clearly of Iuthian make, though there was little need to actually confirm it was Iuthian thanks to the numerous transmissions sent along the way according to security protocol. The craft itself was clearly large enough to house a large squad of soldiers, obviously designed as a transport helicopter for certain types of military operations, though it had a slight history as being a diplomatic craft in some circumstances, a light reminder that Iuthia was a militant society deep down.

A couple moments later, a small group of Iuthians came out of the craft, a large heavy slide door opening to reveal several lightly armoured Black Vipers, each wearing black uniforms and a rifle-like weapon all dressed in evening wear.

Following the small security detail was a smartly dressed Iuthian Elf wearing a simple white long dress with her blue hair worn up. She was easily recognised as Iuthia’s Ambassador to Menelmacar (and VERITAS), Helena (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v258/Iuthia/Characters/Helena.jpg) Fie’lorn. Behind her another Black Viper, a Iuthian Clanger by the name of Lizo, helped Liessa (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v258/Iuthia/Characters/ElfWoman2.jpg) Valleron out of the craft on to the pad. Liessa wore her own purple gown with her long hazel hair worn down as the Lord General preferred. Meanwhile James deGritz himself stepped down behind her and joined her by her side, standing about a foot taller then both Liessa and Helena who as Iuthian elves were at the most 5’3” tall. James went with is own military uniform… though like the girls dresses it was tailored specifically for him and was exceptionally well made from the best materials, it didn’t change the fact it was still somewhat simple in design.

The Iuthian Black Vipers, a highly trained force consisting of specialist in their own field (these two have majors in defence tactics and escorting) were wearing highly formal black uniforms which have been designed for such occasions. Some of them quite alarmingly, carried high tech rifle-like weapons which were handed to the nearest security officials who would disarm them accordingly.

Following proper procedures, the Iuthian made their way into the Palace.

A small, yet unusual helicopter landed on a pad at the wedding site.

It was an AugustaWestland Grand helicopter (http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/agustawestland/), dressed up in Syskeyian livery. But that was not all. In place of its tail lay a giant fan; and just behind the passenger doors were two protruding wings.

It was obvious that this was a compound helicopter, as Syskeyia was known to use (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Paladinhawk).

The side door opened, and out stepped the passengers: Benedict Michael Sukothai, dressed in his dress blacks (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v123/Syskeyia/sukothai_dressuniformconsul.gif), as this was a formal situation, and Syskeyia was at war, and Anthony Kim Chai, the Syskeyian ambassador to Menelmacar, clad in a tuxedo.

The duo stepped out of the helicopter and made their way to greet the bride and groom.

The personal transport of the Royal House of the Sacred Sindarin Empire of Aelosia, the Symbelmynë, flew gracefully over the orbit, until finally it came down on the large prepared landing pad for that purpose.

The wonderful butterfly-like design of the ship finally posed itself on the ground, and extended the long black disembark platform covered with a red carpet. As usual, five female guards, clad in the modified wraithbone armor suits based in the eldar design of the Howling Banshees came out, in their breastplates the glowing runes that identified them as Berethauth, the War Maidens of Aelosia and the personal guard of the Everqueen herself.

After them, the main personality of the transport came out, the Everqueen and absolute ruler of thousands of billion elven souls, flanked by her heir Princess Aliria. The Everqueen was radiant for the occassion, sporting a purple dress open at the shoulders but reaching the ground after her feet. The dress was tight enough to show her still provocative and slender figure, yet serious enough to look as a regal outfit for the important occasssion. Around her forehead a circlet made of the purest mithril, with a huge sapphire attached to the front to make a frame proper for her flawless features.

Aliria dress was more conventional for this time, a deluxe version of the uniform of the aelosian courtiers, a pure pearl white with abundant golden inlaids all over the fabric, resembling wings and feathers of various and diferent wings. A smaller version of her mother's circlet also adorned her features, but this one wasn't silver but of pure gold, with a ruby embedded at the front.

The two most important personalities of the Aelosian Empire stayed at the front of their vessel, waiting and expecting a warm welcome...

The graceful little black shuttle flickered through the rainstorms with nary a quiver, its drive field gleaming blue and white as the water struck it. Wheeling about in a manner that would have disturbed a physicist from a nation that had not heard of inertia canceling drive fields, it approached the grand edifice.

Jessica Smith, still holding the title of Special Representative of the Federation, stuck out her tongue as the image appeared on the holographic screen in front of her. It was, well, ostentatious. Overdone. Overblown.

But then, she thought the same of most Imperial Residences, including the one that was still technically her home. Since she had graduated, there had been no time to find herself somewhere to live, and her brother had certainly not pressed her to move out.

Admittedly, the young woman felt no desire to. Yet. There would be plenty of time for living on her own during her extended lifespan. Or perhaps not on her own. There was time for that too, after all, in the two hundred and fifty or so years remaining to her.

As she felt the slight change in the drive field power and the pull of false gravity forces return, she gripped the armrests a little tighter before the soft clunk of vertical landing.

As she stood following the landing, she nodded to the crew member who stuck her head back through the cabin hatch to check on her. “I’m fine, petty officer.” She grinned. “I’m sure someplace this big has plenty of rooms, so I’m sure you can drift down the reception after the wedding and we can all sleep off whatever happens.”

She turned to the only other person in the compartment and sighed. “I know my brother ordered you to come, but you could stay here, you know.”

The young presidential guardsman grinned. “I think not. You have to have an escort, and, by your brother’s orders, a bodyguard. I’m both.”

Jessica plastered the diplomatic smile back on her face and nodded. “Very well.” As the young man rose, she offered him her arm, and grinned at him. “You know I don’t actually mind you being here, Simon.”

“I know that, ma’am.” At the military-to-civilian formality, Jessica raised her eyebrows dauntingly, and the older of the two relented. “Jessica.”

With one hand, she smoothed her dark blue dress down, and ran a practiced eye over the Guardsman’s Court Dress Uniform, the cape swishing as he moved, the sword a lethal reminder of his purpose. He carried no other weapons, though, as this was an ally’s party.

Stepping down from the shuttle, they proceeded from the landing tower as guided to the main greeting areas, and as they walked, they watched other shuttles coming in, realizing why a centralized area was so important.

Considering their relatively low rank to many of the people who would no doubt be attending, they barely expected to be noticed, but that was okay. As long as Sirithil noticed them, and identified them as being from her ally, they would have played their part. Of course, giving the gifts would help in that as well, the small gifts secreted in Jessica’s handbag.

Since Simon insisted on playing Jessica’s escort to the party, she made sure that they walked arm in arm, which, of course, was part of the game they played, annoying each other slightly. Once they arrived, Jessica’s trained eye began immediately identifying people, placing a rank on them, and cataloguing their interactions, as well as the relations of their nations.

Simon’s eye did the same thing. Sort of. His trained eye immediately identified people to classify them as threats of varying degrees, both to himself and his charge, but to all the people about them as well. Also, spotting the security arrangements was a fairly simple task, even with the elven penchant for hiding them, when one knew what to look for. His professional opinion pronounced them good, though of course, nothing was perfect.

They moved forward, waiting in turn to be greeted and greet, Jessica searching for the inevitable pile of gifts brought to the ceremony by the guests so she could lose her burden.

Waiting for the Aelosian delegation were two dignataires, one from each state. In this case they were rather more important than the usual. Asirnoth, the 'brother' of Mephet'ran waited for Aelosia, and at his side, the Menelmacari Crown Prince, Maglor nos Fëanor, who was intent on finally getting around to accompanying Aliria at such an event. Both bowed slightly as the Aelosians arrived, and Asirnoth stepped up to Aelosia, "Welcome," he said, bowing once more and kissing her hand, "I am glad that you came," he said.

Maglor stepped up likewise to Aliria, taking her hand likewise and giving it a gentle kiss. "And you are welcome as well, Princess Aliria," he said, letting his eyes gaze into hers. "I'm overjoyed to see you again, shining jewel of the Sindar."

The Syskeyians were kept waiting, and eventually greeted by Elash and Serendis.

Aliria gasped as she placed her eyes upon Maglor again, and in that moment all the fatigues and pains in the entire world seemed to be worthy again for just looking again at those eyes and see her own reflection in the perfect mirrors of his pupils. she felt her skin trembling and shaking itself over her flesh, as a wave of first harassing cold and then pleasant warm runned all over her body through every nerve centre. So this is truly attraction, she thought, This is the feeling of having my own fate fulfilled. This is what Beren felt after finding Lúthien, and what Túrin felt after slaying Glaurung?. This was the feeling of Fingolfin as he knocked at the doors of Angband?. Is this the message of Mandos, telling me how I reached the end of my searching path and that I am finally allowed to rest?.

Aelosia's reaction was colder, yet, given the natural attitude of the Everqueen, she was actually being gentle. She extended her hand towards Asirnoth for the C'tan god to kiss it, and then placed the same hand over his shoulder, rubbing the flesh beneath with a lustful and provocative smile on her lips. "Two gentleman came to greet two ladies. Two of the finest ladies in the world I should add, but then two gentlemen more than capable of surpassing the ladies!. I'm glad to be in such company, I should add", she said, her cold eyes stabbing through Maglor as ice knives. Her smile turned into a grin, as she gestured Aliria to take Maglor's arm, although visibly perturbed and disturbed. "This is a good and happy day, let's enjoy it"

Aliria took Maglor's arm and let him lead her towards the right place to be in this exact moment, blushing a bit at his words and playing nervously with a lock of her beautiful hair just right over her elongated and curved ear. "I'm glad to meet you again, Ever Prince of the Elves, Inmortal Storyteller of the FirstBorn", were her only words, as she followed him keeping silence, her feet almost sliding over the floor.

The eagle shaped shuttle Fëaráto from Taurenor circled around the island a few times in order to give it's occupants a good look of their destination before it gracefully flew down and landed on the prepared landing pad. One of the doors in the shuttle opened and out stepped six male elves, each clad in old traditional armour. They stood besides the door, forming a small aile. Four of them held up their spears, and the last two held up long spears with the banners of Ereinion, better known as Gil-Galad to the Sindar.

As the banners fluttered in the wind, Taurevanimë finally let herself be seen as she stepped from the shuttle. She was wearing a long blue dress with mithril trimmings, the banner of Ereinion displayed on the chest with the same mithril trim.Her head was adorned with an intricate little mithril crown that helped accentuate her features perfectly.

Taurevanimë had her arm wrapped around that of her new husband Elendan. The former necrontyr ambassador appeared to be a tall male elf with long black hair, dressed in robes of an earthy brown colour, surmounted by a cloak of green the colour of oak leaves in early autumn, lined with cloth of gold and silver and clasped at his neck by a silver pin in the style of the C’tan national symbol. Inside the cloak he wore a long sword of the scemitarish style favoured at the time of the costumes the Taurerórë guards wore, but for him this wasn’t a significant problem - Being of Mephet’ran’s species meant that he was implictly trusted with such things, simply becuase he didn’t need them.

OOC: Geez Sysk, give Ctan a break.

"You know, it's quite a marvel to look at..."

Kes stood near the sleek prow of the Wintersbite, her yacht that had brought them to Menelmacar. She had all of the correct permits to be here, but she wondered if anyone on this end actually read the request they'd filed.

"Yes Kestrel, it is quite the marvel of Highborn engineering..."

Serrah, the night elf, was seated on a fold out chair behind Kes, taking in the sights though a pair of darkly tinted sunglasses. She'd been sitting up on deck for most of the trip, marvelling at the sea she'd never seen before. Now they'd arrived, finally, and a rather large hurdle lay before them.

"... but it dosn't look like they've built us a wharf, dear."

This was a slight issue, and frankly a rather embarassing one. "Captain Tellos," Kes called to their mutual escort, the Legios Praetorius captain that the King had sent as a honour guard. "Perhaps you'd care to shed some light on our dilemma?"

Tellos appeared to be anything but a pleasent man; broad-chested and muscular, with skin that almost seemed to look like it was made out of old leather, he looked like he'd be more at home in a gang-marked flakjacket then the crimson and gold dress uniform he wore. But after several days together, both Kes and Serrah had begun to understand the man underneith, and respected him all the more.

"I'm at a loss, milady," he said genuinely. "Apparently nobody uses good solid seagoing ships anymore these days."

"Maybe they'll have a shuttle or something?" Serrah chimed in.

"Well... let them know we're here Tellos. And then I guess we wait."

From the hand of Karen-Sjet,

Your graces,
I wish to offer my most heart felt congratualtions at your joyous union on behalf of the Diamid of Tsuran. In aknowledgement of this momentous occasion I shall be presenting myself at the ceremony as a representative of the people of Tsurannuani. I shall be arriving shortly as the Mothership is preparing to leave as I speak. Again my congratulations on the announcement of your wedding.

Karen-Sjet,
Ruling Member of the Diamid of Tsuran,
Guardian of the Hyperspace Core.
57 ATL (After Tsurani Landfall)

Aelosia

Maglor managed to refrain from looking at Aelosia. He could guess her reasons for disliking him, but was far from keen to dwell on them. He knew that she was being extremely well behaved for the sake of Aliria, and was thankful that she was.

Asirnoth meanwhile seemed to respond as favourably as ever to the seductive caress of Aelosia. “You are most kind to say so,” he said, gesturing toward the lift with a flourish, and letting her set the pace of the walk, “If you have any requests, do not hesitate to make them known to the staff.”

Six of the Menelmacari guards snapped to attention as they approached the lift, and Maglor

Altairnia

Eventually someone in the castle took note of the boat nearby. A vehicle like a shuttle launched from one of the docking bays, and hovered over the boat. A large door on the bottom swung open and a claw descended. It grabbed hold of the boat and tugged it into the air, before heading off toward the island. Complex gravitational fields were actually there to prevent anyone or anything falling off, or the claws doing any damage, but they didn’t need to be told that…

The carry vehicle proceeded to drop the yacht inside one of the larger lakes of the castle’s complex water system. Where there was a harbour, and a net to prevent the ship being carried out by the river. Standing on the jetty waiting for them after this hair raising experiencince was a tall red haired elf with the distinctive lapel pin of the C’tani office of the Emperor showing on her green ballgown.

Sentient Peoples

The crowd seemed quite interested in Jessica, and a uniformed aide carefully and expertly guided her to the position most likely to attract Sirithil’s attention once the elven queen was done speaking to the Pantocratorians.

Syskeyia

The two Syskeyians were shown into the Great Hall too.

Taurenor

The Taurerórë had little difficulty getting to the main hall, thanks to the helpful directions of the young man who met them in the landing bay. There was now a respectable number of people around, mostly Menelmacari and C’tani governmental types. A few nodded politiely in the direction of the Taurerórë delegation, but it seemed up to them who they would talk to.

Tsurannuani

We would thank you to keep significant fleet assets away from the area while the wedding is in progress. We are certain that you will be able to arrive on a small vessel and leave this mothership at a significant range from the site itself. Thank you, we look forward to your arrival Karen Sjet - Imperial Necrontyr Ship Riissac’a, Preimiter Defence Co-ordinator, Second Solar Patrol Fleet.

((*Nudges C'tan to post the conversation we did on mIRC already*))

The Resurgent Dream

Aiwyn eventually made her way to Mephet'ran, inclining her head politely. "Congratulations, Your Imperial Majesty." Mephet’ran nodded, "Thank you. I am glad that you chose to attend," he said, nodding in return.
"My husband sends his apologies."
"Accepted, of course," he said, "I can hardly expect everyone to come."

"I do not believe we've met before. My sister speaks hightly of you."
"She has nothing but good things to say of you either," he said, offering her his arm.
Aiwyn takes it with simply grace. Mephet’ran walked off toward a nearby side door, leading to a balcony, "So, I take it you are enjoying married life?" he asked.
Aiwyn she nodded, leaning over the railing and looking out at the ocean. "Very much. I am quite deeply in love."

"Excellent. I hope that my own marriage will be as harmonious as yours then," he smiled back.
"Oh...perfect harmony is... Marriage involves a lot of arguing, usually. I know mine does."
Mephet’ran laughs, "Well. Siri and I have yet to argue."
"Ever?"
Mephet’ran nods, "Amazing isn't it?"
"...very..."

"The worst disagreements tend to result from minor matters of foreign policy. And we've generally managed to keep them minor."
"I have trouble getting my husband to pay enough attention to the continent."
Mephet’ran laughs, "Well. it helps that we're less internationally active than we used to be I suppose. Though that will change soon."
"Oh?"
"Indeed. We have some plans in that regard."
Aiwyn smiled lightly. "Indeed."

He nodded, "Do you like the view?"
"I love the ocean."
He smiled, "Excellent. I'm glad that the view pleases you. I like the coastline myself."
"Are there many oceans where you're from?"
"None," he said.
Aiwyn shook her head a little, smiling softly.

Aliia gently followed Maglor to wherever he lead her, smiling all the time, blushing each time he spoke, clearly overwhelmed by the fact that she was in the company of one of the First, one born in the light of Aman. she admired him for his age, and for his fabled talent as an artist, suposedly being the most gifted of all the elves regarding the arts.

Aelosia, instead, took for a more casual approach, dropping most of the formalities with Asirnoth, clearly being a bit more just than provocative towards him. Of course she was still delicate enough to keep her etiquette intact, but barely drawing the line there. "Oh, requests!, yes. I want to see Sirithil again, and my savior, your brother. And a glass of red wine, I might add, and...", the Everuqeen paused, leaning her body over Asirnoth to add in a hissed whisper to his ear, in the most lustful tone her magical voice could muster. And to this ceremony to end soon, I haven't see you in a long, long time, and as the things are, I am already planning to recover all that time lost. I hope you agree...

Thankfully they'd already been told what was going ot happen, otherwise the three sitting on the yacht would probably have paniced something fierce. As it was they were rather nervous, Tellos the most, for ships that flew were something he'd never seen in all of his long years of service.

Once they'd docked, they debarked immedietly, leaving their suitcases on the deck to be picked up later. Holding on to her shawl, Kes looked resplendant in her simple black dress, which was short enough that she didn't need to hitch it up as she walked across the gangway. Serrah followed along behind her, dressed in a snug luminescent blue gown that seemed to just hang below her slender shoulders, and was just translucent enough to tease the eye without actually revealing much. Captain Tellos was last, and probably had the most outlandish dress; he wore the full ceremonial attire of his rank, which included burnished silver grieves and bracers, a full ornamental breastplate, and a long fur-trimmed cape, clasped at his sternum with a short gold braid. If he was going for imposing, he'd hit it spot on.

Kes smiled warmly as she recognized who it was waiting to meet them. 'It's been a long, long time since we've last met...' she thought, even as she waved and called the elf over. "Lady Airaheri!" she smiled, and bowed respectfully to her so that her companions would do the same. "It's been too long..."

Original post by The Ctan:
We would thank you to keep significant fleet assets away from the area while the wedding is in progress. We are certain that you will be able to arrive on a small vessel and leave this mothership at a significant range from the site itself. Thank you, we look forward to your arrival Karen Sjet - Imperial Necrontyr Ship Riissac’a, Preimiter Defence Co-ordinator, Second Solar Patrol Fleet.
I shall of course respect your wishes and shall leave the Mothership at its docking hanger in orbit around Tsuran. The ambassador's shuttle is currently prepared and i shall be departing shortly, no defender fighters will be present, i have every intention that this time is well remembered by all who attend and have no desire to cause any disturbances.

Karen-Sjet,
Ruling Member of the Diamid of Tsuran,
Guardian of the Hyperspace Core.
57 ATL

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The ambassador's shuttle streaked away from the planet Tsuran, climbing to sufficient altitude to escape the planet's gravity and allow the hyperspace drive to function. "Co-ordinates locked in Kith'sa," reported the pilot at the controls. Karen-Sjet nodded slightly, a line of blue light appeared in front of the shuttle, gaining in height so that it could accomodate the ship, the pilot guided the shuttle forward slowly until all that could be seen was the formless blue of hyperspace.

At the other end of the tunnel that had been created by the hyperspace drive another thin blue line appeared in space, moments later the ambassador's shuttle emerged out of the 'door' in space, it closed moments after the ship had exited. "Computer shows 100% accuracy Kith'sa, we are on target." Karen smiled slightly as memories came back to her of when she had first uttered those words, almost 60 years ago. She gazed out of the window at the floating bridal palace, ahead of her she could see other ships landing and the dignitaries being shown in.

After confirming that they had permission to land the pilot brought the shuttle down gently onto the landing platform. The door at the rear of the shuttle opened and lowered itself to form a ramp down to the floor. Picking up a small silver engraved box and straightening her emerald green dress and her coppery hair one more time Karen thanked the pilot for a safe trip, turned, and walked gracefully down the ramp.

OOC: Just a very brief message; I don't intend to enter an actual RP anytime soon.


To: Elentarí Sirithil nos Feanor of Menelmacar, and Emperor Mephet'ran C'tan of the Necrontyr

On behalf of the Neutral Republic of Aeruillin, and especially the Noldorin province of Nyrmal, I wish to extend my congratulations and well-wishes for your wedding. May your marriage be blessed for all the rest of your immortal years.

Vanessa Siliagh
Foreign Minister of Aeruillin

Co-signed,

Arancaytar Ilyaran,
President of the Neutral Republic of Aeruillin
http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/images/Aeruillinflag.png

The invitations managed, somehow, to hit a certain asteroid. Now, this particular asteroid seems to receive a lot of attention and is thoroughly fed up with being woken up again as transmission waves hit a certain very rare ore inside it. This particular ore has the interesting quality of enhancing transmissions and sending them on an all-expenses-paid, first class, five star luxury cruise of the universe, sliding lazily around black holes, stopping off for cocktails on the luxury sun of Grjjj'ipop, and pausing for a swim in the wonderful ammonia lagoons of Splurkrrtiquoki CXXVII before making a wide U-turn around a small spiral galaxy and returning to the Milky Way, and hitting the large form of the Goblin Nebula perfectly on-target at EntryGate, where the transmissions can be sent back to Goblin City. The ore also...tickled. The asteroid was thoroughly fed up with this business, and resolved to go and put a stop to it once again. However, after the transmissions had gone on, it decided that it really was just not worth it, so settled down to sleep for a bit. Asteroids are good at sleeping. They're professionals.

Anyway, back to our transmissions who have, by this point, been sent through EntryGate to GateStation, where they are decoded, sorted, dropped through a laundry chute, picked up, washed, and sent out to Goblin City. From the "Ginormuss Ressepticonatererer" of the Castle Beyond the Goblin City they are brought down, re-coded to get rid of any silly mistakes made in GateStation, re-de-coded and written down by a human, who doesn't share the Goblin opinion that punctuation should be "placement option", that spelling should be phonetic and that it is perfectly accept to, in fact, get the wrong word entirely. From here it is taken to the "Boss Chaymberlian", who handles odd-jobs because one of the King's wives heard that non-Nebula kingdoms had chamberlains, and nagged King Griptite da Supa da until he had one instated. After a few days of boredom, the new "Chayberlian" went and asked the King for [i]something actual to do, and was given a list tasks that the King made up on the spot. One of these tasks was to sort through the Royal Mail.

After a while, the message was delivered to His Majesty, who read it through, ordered a reply sent, and decided to go and visit the wedding himself. After a moments thought he picked a pair of significant Goblins - Boss Hopskotch, the second richest Goblin in the Combine (after His Majesty), and Duke Crip Crunchi, third richest goblin in the Combine. After a bit of thought concerning the bride, he decided that his adopted daughter - an elf, the daughter of a pirate who had been friends with Griptite - should come along to, in the vague hope that she might prevent some elf or another deciding that the universe would be better without three particular Goblins.

[[Will edit/post again to conclude, I really need to get some revision done tonight, so should finish this tomorrow or day after]]

The Imperatrix, the first of the Kajali shuttles of the class of the same name, glid towards the island gracefully upon repulsorlift. Transporting the person who had commissioned the shuttle class, and too shared the same title, the small vessel set down with a minimum of fuss or dramatics upon the designated landing pad. The first occupants to disembark were Kajali operatives, tasked as bodyguards for the Imperatrix, and were clad in a most anomalous white leather, a single shoulder of each uniform a light pastel green.

There were no banners required, of course. The insignia of Kajal loomed over the boarding ramp, appearing nearly impossibly large on the shuttle's underside. Lirella (http://palara.sularan.net/gallery/albums/album11/lirella.jpg) strode confidently down the ramp, clad in a garment that bore a striking resemblance to a dress or gown, compared to her normal attire. It was slightly off white, tinged with the color of murais, and Lirella's hair had been pulled back, and adorned with an overtly large senares hairpiece. At her neck rested a simple pendant, imitating the Kajali insignia with an outer ring of murais, with a perfect sphere of senares set in the center.

As was Kajali tradition on such occasions, Lirella had selected an item that she had adored for Sirithil's wedding gift, but lacking a husband as she did, she had guessed somewhat at what would be appropriate for Mephet'ran. At any rate, she had selected an item with the help of many advisors, and while the gifts were certainly more than expensive, they came in relatively small boxes.

Within the two boxes rested pendants, though one was decidedly more masculine than the other. The pieces were matched in terms of the jewel used, and it had been estimated on Kajal that the likelyhood of finding such a gemstone again was effectively less than zero. The gems were set in murais, which itself possessed a bluish tinge, while the gems themselves closely resembled terran sapphire. Of course, normal terran sapphire did not often glow faintly of it's own accord.

The gift boxes were, of course, labelled with the names of their respective intended recipients, and Mephet`ran's happened to include a most peculiar voucher, entitling him to a star in Pleiades. There were some conditions, of course.

Unlike others, of course, no heir had descended the ramp with Lirella. It was rather well known that Lirella was heirless throughout all of Kajal, and no doubt Mars, especially considering that the Emperor Dajal hadn't exactly had good relations with Mars.

Of course, such things were in the past, and Lirella certainly wasn't averse to flirting.

Maybe with some luck she would even catch the bouquet.

Of course, with the distances involved, the transmission congratulating the two arrived shortly after the Imperatrix had.

The black hoverjet slowly descended onto the landing pad, somewhat straining under the weight of its cargo, Movodors gift to the soon-to-be-wed.
Finally touching down, the craft extends its spindly legs to the pad, and, with a slight 'whoosh', the side door opens. The cargo was of course a ridiculously huge ruby, artificially created for just such an occasion as this. Obviously going to be out of place when compared to the other gifts, Movodor nevertheless felt that it would be appropriate for the couple, as a sign of goodwill, and perhaps as a humorous poke at the weddings expected longevity. Stepping down and out of the craft, Movodor, flanked by his two 'bodyguards', notes to himself the complexity and enourmity of the structure. This floating estate of sorts is certainly different from what I'm used to, even more grandiose than the 'grand' palace. And mingling with the other representatives will be most entertaining, aside from the wedding itself.

Aelosia

Asirnoth smiled, and, as the lift doors slid open in an ante-chamber of the great hall. He plucked two glasses of red wine from a servant’s drinks tray and passed one to Aelosia, “Well my dear, that is one request fulfilled,” he said, “I am certain we can manage all of them by the end of the day.”

Aeruillin

Ms Siliagh, Mr Ilyaran,

We thank you for your wishes, and you may rest assured that your kind sentiments on this happy occasion will be remembered warmly for years to come.

Elash Mîraglariel, Adjutant of Emperor Mephet’ran

Altairnia

Airaheri looked at Kestrel as she walked over with what could well be described as a glare. “Hell-o,” she said. Her honest response to Kes would have been Not long enough, you treacherous bitch. However, she instead only nodded, “Indeed,” she said, examining the night elf accompanying Kestrel with barely concealed curiosity. “Welcome,” she said, warming up a bit to the other two, “I will take you to your f you will follow,” she spun on her heel and walked up the jetty.

Iuthia

The excessive militarism of the Iuthians was expected, if not approved of, and the disarming procedure carried out on all the weapons presented was quite, quite, through. The delegation was shown up to the main hall, though there were consistant and disapproving frowns at the presence of the Black Vipers. It was, after all, almost as if the Iutians didn’t trust the provided security…

Kajal

Lirella was greeted by two people, as seemed to be the custom for the more senior guests. Both were elves, Luinthelë nos Ancalimë of the C’tan, and Anáriel nos Eärendil, Chief Financial Officer of Fëanor Holdings Group for Sirithil. Despite not having official governmental posts, both elves more than qualified as friends of the couple. Luinthelë did the talking, bowing deeply, she smiled almost beatifically. “Welcome, Imperatrix Keral, we are delighted and honoured that you have chosen to join us,” she said. The ‘C’tani’ elf gestured expansively with her arm, “This way please…”

Newbish Delight

It is perhaps sad, but when one thinks of goblins, one rarely thinks of civilisation. Or indeed, anything remotely resembling civilisation. However, the request was granted, though the landing bay reserved for the goblin monarch was perhaps rather more heavily guarded than those most were routed to, two necron lords flanked the only door, still as statues. One would also note that this door was rather thicker than most…

Onarr

The reply was curt, and to the point. But it was also far from impolite, as it was a confirmation that Adaryn vas-Raithuro'kyr'Andelluidion t'Kul-Aithaindewellin'Lanethaid lor-Rose vo'Myn-Onarr was indeed expected.

The Atheists Reality

For Movodor, another two minor dignitaries were waiting. The hosts had this time sent a necrontyr and a human, the first one wearing a form of quasi-military uniform introduced herself as a Arneri, to greet their guest. Arneri gawked at the excessively large ruby, not quite sure what that would be used for, “This way please,” she said, after introducing herself.

The Resurgent Dream

"Akaton's oceans have gotten a little cleaner since I first married my Phaeton. Mer come there more now."
He nodded at her.
"I do hope I am not monopolizing your time."
"Not at all," he said, "I have all morning to talk."
Aiwyn smiled. "What would you like to talk about?"
"Anything you wish," he said, "I am not particularly concerned what I talk about today."
"It is fairly obvious what...or rather who...occupies your thoughts today. Perhaps we could speak of that."
"If you wish," he replied with a smile.
"How did you two meet?"
"We first met when I came to Menelmacar to discuss various matters of common interest," he said...
Aiwyn nodded
"And, well, after that, we saw shall we say, considerably more of one another."
Aiwyn laughed lightly. "And now you have...eternity."

"Or thereabouts."
"Or thereabouts..." She smiled slightly. "I'm sorry I didn't have quite so much royalty to bring as my sister did."
Mephet’ran laughed, "I am not at all bothered," he said, "It's rather refreshing."
"Refreshing?"
"Oh yes. There are plenty of guests with extensive entourages," he glanced back at the Pantocratorians and grinned.
"Of servants. Bringing the entourage she did is a gesture of respect on my sister's part which is literally unprecedented in Danaan foreign relations."
"The gesture is not unappreciated," he said.

Aiwyn smiled a little. "You are not overfond of His Most Catholic and Imperial Majesty, Emperor Andreus I Capet, Equal of the Apostles?"
Mephet’ran laughed slightly, "Equal of the Apostles indeed."
"I'm not actually sure what the Apostles are, I must confess."
"In Christianity they are initial followers of Christ and the effective founders of the religion."
"So the Emperor is to Catholicism what my sister is to Danaanism?”
"Absolutely not."
"Oh?" she asked, confused now.
"He claims to be, but he is not."
"Is Empress Aurora?"
"No. The catholic equivalent would be the Pope. Of course, the other factions of Christianity disagree with the very idea..."
"You mean like Methodists?"
“I was thinking more of the 'One True Church' than them."
"The One True Church? I'm sorry for being so ignorant. Akaton has almost no relations with Christian nations and I left the Resurgent Dream before anyone had really converted to the religion."
“The various incarnations of Christian orthodoxy. One of which, one would expect to be firmly entrenched in Pantocratoria. I'm not sure why they're Catholics, even bad ones."
“Agwene seems to like them."
"Politics makes strange bedfellows..."

Aiwyn smirked knowingly at Mephet'ran. Sisters do get to know personal things.

"From a purely religious point of view, I do believe the technical term for Pantocratorians is..."
"Heretics with delusions of grandeur."
Aiwyn arched a brow. "You have more than a passing dislike."
"That's from a Christian point of view of course. As I am not a Christian, that is not my point of view."

"Does the One True Church think that of all Catholics?"
"That would depend on which of its members you ask. Not officially though. At least, not any more."
Aiwyn nodded. "It's so...interesting."
Mephet’ran "They tend to disagree with a large number of the alterations the Catholics have made to the religion."

"Do the Catholics consider them alterations?"
"The Catholics believe in a form of continuing revelation that allows them to update their religion to make it more appealing."
"Like the Mormons?"
"I don't see if that one needs much revision to be appealing."
"So tell me about C'tannism."

"Oh there's not that much to tell these days. I'm not exactly a religious god," he grins.
Aiwyn laughed a little. "I don't really think a god could be very religious."

"Well. I'm not particularly interested in setting up C'tannism at the moment. With the exception of the Thelasi..."
"The Thelasi?"
"An elf nation, after a fashion, called Thelas has a sixty percent C'tannist population."
"Impressive."
"Thank you, though it's mostly due to their own work."

"There's a Sirithilism too, isn't there?"
Mephet’ran "Yes."
Aiwyn nodded a little
"It's not exactly Siri worship... If you ignore the Iraqstanis."
"Aren't they the principle practitioners though?"
"Not as such."
"Oh?"
"They're largely distributed in small numbers throughout the world. The Iraqstani sect is rather... different... from the mainstream."
"I see."
"In that they're insane."
Aiwyn laughed a little

"However, the mainstream is very peaceful and rather against racism... Though they have a slight bias towards elves."
Aiwyn gave a slight nod
"Which is not really doctrinal, but unavoidable."
"I understand."
"Shall we get back to the rest now?" he asked.
"Certainly."
Mephet’ran offered her his arm and smiled. Aiwyn slid hers into his, walking back inside.

Tsurannuani

Karen Sjet was met by a similar pair - another near-human, with dark hair and brown eyes, dressed in a leaf green, dress, and a tall blonde haired Menelmacari elf in blue. She bowed, “Welcome to Menelmacar, I am Vaniloxë,” the elf said, “I have been assigned as your guide during your stay, and will be happy to answer any questions you have about your hosts or the countries involved.” She gave Karen a little smile, and waited for a reply.

Original post by The Ctan:
Karen Sjet was met by a similar pair - another near-human, with dark hair and brown eyes, dressed in a leaf green, dress, and a tall blonde haired Menelmacari elf in blue. She bowed, “Welcome to Menelmacar, I am Vaniloxë,” the elf said, “I have been assigned as your guide during your stay, and will be happy to answer any questions you have about your hosts or the countries involved.” She gave Karen a little smile, and waited for a reply.

Karen bowed her head to the elf, "I am honoured to meet you Vaniloxë, and you good sir" she bowed again to the Menelmacari elf, "but please, let us not stand here and exchange small-talk, but instead go into the main hall, i am very eager to see more of this woundrous piece of construction." She guestured at the floating palace, "as well, of course, our hosts, i am afraid that, should i not restrain myself, my qestions will consume most of the evening, Tsurannuani has had little contact with other races since landfall, excet for a party hosted by a goblin king, i can't remember the name too well, everyone seemed to think it was different." she stopped herself, suddenly looking slightly guilty, "forgive me, i deviate from why i am here, why we are all here."

Karen then motioned towards the doors leading away from the landing platform, still keeping hold of the silver box (8 incehes on each side), "i do hope that my gift will be sufficient, it is very difficult to think of a gift suitable for such esteemed nations," she began walking towards them with Vaniloxë and her partener falling alonside her, exchanging talk with each other as they went.

Diplomatic ships are supposed to glide, landing gracefully and allowing their important passengers to disembark in style and with regal bearing, not a ahir out of place. Unfortunately, "graceful" is not something Goblin pilots do well, although this particular GateGoblin ship managed a passable imitation, when considered against the standard expected of the Goblins. Throughout the ages people have occassionally wondered if the Goblins are merely acting to a stereotyped preconception of themselves - if they deliberately act foolishly in order to persuade others that they are not worth attacking. However, when one of these doubters actually meets a Goblin not of the Blade- or Great- subspecies, they tend to undergo a very sudden change of opinion.

Anyway, back to the Goblin ship. Rather than gliding like the velvet glove of diplomacy it...swooped. "Swooped" is the kindest word that could be said for it as it swung down from SupaSpeed into the atmosphere. On the plus side, it was a reasonably good looking ship, quite unlike the usual Goblin constructions, and had been designed to be "atmosphere friendly" at the advice of Tiriningil, his adopted daughter, following an examination of the previous ship intended to transport the king and his retinue to the wedding. The Goblin ship looked vaguely like what one would expect if one were to cross a good quality human ship with a scrapyard. However, despite the….interesting…method of flight, the GateGoblin pilots managed to land it without too much trouble – and even in the correct hanger.

The hatchway lowered with an impressive hissss and cloud of steam, part Goblin engineering and part universal laws of drama. First out of the ship were six of the towering Trollguard, eight to nine-foot tall creatures naturally formed of metals and rocks who formed part of the King’s ceremonial bodyguard (ceremonial largely because the Goblin King was quite capable of protecting himself, as a number of assassins had discovered). The Trollguard looked around and positioned themselves at the foot of the ramp, where two would remain throughout the ceremonies – more to prevent anyone being damaged by some of the contents of the ship than the other way around.

After the towering creatures came King Griptite da Supa (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/NewbishDelight/Griptite.jpg) himself, King of the Goblin Lands, Overlord of the Goblin Nebula, Protector of Goblindom, Head Honcho of the Geen Powa Movement, High Mage of the Nebula and Uniter of the Combined Goblin Collective. Griptite stood at exactly six feet tall and was dressed in ceremonial, but very functional, armour etched with magical runes to contain the raw unfocussed energy of Da Powa, the strange magic that all Nebula Goblins possess that personifies their emotions (paranoia, the single most powerful Goblin emotion, is embodied in the Nebula itself) and which finds its centre in their King – making him by far the single most powerful Goblin alive. Glowing red eyes – another feature of Da Powa – looked about him at the hangar from a rich green face framed with reddish-purple hair through which long, pointed ears protrude, and a neatly trimmed VanDyke of the same colours. Unusually for a Goblin he looks vaguely normal, and does not appear to be obsessed with everything shiny. To those with magical sight, the sheer power of magic he contains is astonishing – far more than one would expect such most creatures to be able to hold.

Boss Hopskotch was about five feet tall and rather more round than the athletic Griptite or slender Crip. He was dressed in a three-piece pinstripe suit that had been modified to contain half a hundred clips, each of which held something shiny or valuable – Hopskotch was one of the more intelligent Cunnin’un Goblins, brother to one of the most talented engineers in the Goblin Armada – Commodore Clap – but still retained his sub-species’ obsession with the demonstration of wealth. Among the Nebula Goblins wealth tended to mean that fewer people tried to kill you for no real reason, on the not unreasonable basis that you probably had a number of bodyguards around. The other reason was that he simply liked shiny things – Shinyphilia is an epidemic among Goblins. His hair was a violent, fluorescent blue that clashed horribly with his bright yellow mustache. Apart from the hair, and the shinyness, he appeared to be a rather jovial Goblin, face a mass of laughter lines. Rich Goblins are not hard to keep happy. Worked into the back of his suit is the logo of Hopskotch Breweries, the single most powerful corporation in the Combine.

Duke Crip Crunchi owned Shinywurld, of which nothing more would be said than that it was shiny. He wore a simple set of robes that was soberly decorated and designed to emphasise his slender, seven-foot tall frame. Of all the Goblins present he is the only one overtly armed – something generally expected of a BladeGoblin, and carries a sword that appears ceremonial, although it does contain a powerful quantity of innate magic. Although the Nebula Goblins are fairly inept at technology, they are a very magical species and many possess the skills to work Da Powa into items. Crip possesses a length of bright red hair drawn back into a ponytail that falls almost to his waist, and is clean shaven. Slitted golden eyes regard the hangar dispassionately as the three Goblins exit the craft.

As the Iuthian delegation was being escorted to the Main Hall itself, it easy to notice the disaproving looks from those who they passed, their eyes clearly staring at the two smartly dressed Black Vipers with expressions set like stone. It was as though they didn't understand Iuthian custom at all...

"I told you they wouldn't like it..." James started in a calm manner to his Ambassador, he hadn't quite got the words right and had mixed up 'wouldn't like it' with 'would like it not', Iuthian Battle Langauge was only kept alive through the Diplomatic Corps these days, a near dead language used hundreds of years ago by Iuthian officers.

"You know better then I that you need to look strong in such events, if only to keep the military at home from thinking any less about you... there are those who think you are getting soft..."

James sighed. "I'm fully aware of what some of the Generals think... thankfully it's easy enough to put their attentions else where."

Helena nodded, understanding the comment... James often played them against one another, he would never really remove the competition because reguardless of their ambitions, they would never perposefully weaken in such a way it would never be able to repair from. They were good leaders and they were valuable, and they made a point of keeping it that way. "Then you understand that annoying a few of the others here is only a small consquence in return for prolonged stability at home."

"Yes, for the most part we have secured good relations with these nations. There shouldn't be any real effect from having the Vipers with us... hell, they won't even be present at the event itself." James reasoned.

"Lets not forget that Lady Sirithril herself turned up to your wedding in a Gravship, something we expected of them understanding their ways... one would think it's not entirely a surprise that you have come with representations of your military might, being the leader of a society strongly influenced by it's military."

"Yes, yes, no need to drive the comment home, I understood long ago. I would just rather not have given these people the wrong idea..." James replied.

"You said yourself that our men won't be at the wedding, they will be liaising with the security here as would be expected of them, even if they will most likely end up being sent back to the ship..."

"Ok, ok. Anyways, will you look at this place? They built it for this wedding alone... now would piss of some of the older Generals back home."

"Heh, I imagine some of them would question our relations entirely based places like this... though I'm sure they do something useful with it afterall..." and with that, they left it and continued as they were.


Blue = Iuthian Battle Language

Isharnil Henelach had been milling around the reception room for a while, not really talking that much to the assembled guests and visitors. As the High Priestess of C’tanism in Thelas, she had been one of the invited guests to the reception, and had made it a point, to be one of the first to arrive. As she looked around she spotted some familiar faces, and some strangers, ‘Well, more people to meet…’

Seeing Mephet’ran walk back, she took a second to assess the woman on his arm, ‘Wonder who she is…’ She walked over, and bowed slightly in reverence to Mephet’ran, smiling at the two of them, “Milord, it is a pleasure to see you again.” With a look at Aiwyn, also bowing a little, though not as much as to Mephet’ran, she spoke again, her voice pleasant, “And may I ask who this is?”

Before

A yawn, a moment of silence, then some noises.

Ack, slept for too long. That's what happens when your position suddenly turns out to be irrelevant. You get out of your rythm.

A few muttered curses and about an hour of getting prepared later, the Drow leaves her house (What was once, or still is (She wasn't entirely certain of this), the Angstian embassy in Vinyatirion), heading for the wedding. It had taken her surprisingly long to get dressed. For some odd reason, the less squaremetres, the more time was needed to get it to fit correctly...

The Present

Angaste Jhavalar didn't have any particular problems when it came to entering the main hall, being accustomed to the local customs and reasonably known as she was.

Besides, it would have been really hard for her to hide anything, given her garments, or rather, the lack thereof.

She looked around, exchanging a few pleasantries here and there, noticing a few of the guests, quickly checking if they were of any special importance (Which wasn't the case, at least as far as she knew. Of course, the only group she had noticed with something resembling recognition were the Iuthian guests) and generally listened without saying too much, at least for now.

Not that she had to say much, anyway, given that her sheer look was supposed to be enough to start conversations.

His black cloak about him, Lord Skai walked down the ramp of the needleship, the simple silver trim tinted a shimmering light blue by the brilliant azure inner hull showing from between the parted armored plating of the craft behind him. In the dress uniform of the Mormegil Firnon Skai, one of the eight founding lords of the First Distributed Kingdom looked more like a priest than a noble.

Kira didn't really know what was expected at such occasions, since the concept of a marriage wasn't really part of normal life in the FDK, but black seemed to generally work with any occasion, although for some reason it was also associated with evil, which maybe was why her clothing had a certain amount of decorative silvery weave. Or maybe that was just because
someone a few centuries back decided that silver on black looked pretty.

You're trailing off again, she thought darkly. Her gift was definitely inadequate here, she also knew, but there wasn't really that much she or the FDK could give.

Tsurannuani

Vanil smiled, and raised an eyebrow at the mention of the goblin king. "I do believe there is a goblin king coming here," she said, "Perhaps there shall be a reunion of sorts. In any case, I wouldn't worry," she said, in regard to Karen's apparend anxiety.

"Of course," she said, "I am sure it will be quite sufficient," she said, "the gesture is most appreciated."

There were of course, security scans that would pick up anything partiuclarly unsual about the gift, or the delegation, for that matter, but these were nowhere near as intense as those the goblins of...

Newbish Delight

...were subjected to upon arrival. The reaction of the necron lords to the Trollguard was invisible, but were they human, they would have tensed their muscles. As they were not, they simply increased their power output and routed it to capacitors in their weapons. The functionaries there however, seemed more inimidated by this display of muscle, or rock, or indeed, rockmuscle.However, when the delegation arrived, they bowed as expected. The speaker of the pair babbled throug the usual "Welcome... happy... honoured..." speech and asked "... if I may ask, were there not going to be four guests?"

Iuthia

The small numbers of those who gave disapproving looks at the Iuthian guards were not exactly staring at them, more, glancing. The castle structure had indeed been built for the wedding alone, but, though unknown to the Iuthians, and everyone else, it had already been sold off as a residence for senior staff of a large domestic C'tani company.

Thelas

Mephet'ran smiled at Isharnil, always happy to see her, "Good morning my dear," he said, "This is Empress Aiwyn ni Gwydion of Akaton," he smiled, "The older, if I remember rightly, sister of Agwene ni Gwydion of The Danaan High Kingdom of the Resurgent Dream. If you don't mind, I'll take my leave. I should be elsewhere... I suggest you two talk, I think you'll get on."

Der Angst

A few people spoke to Angaste, and she was, on one occasion, mistaken for a representaive of Istoliniath, however, the rest of the time, she was essentially unmolested, if not unnoticed.

Weyr

Kira was greeted only by one person, but it was Mephet'ran. He smiled as she arrived, and bowed his head, then extended a hand, "Hello again," he said, then, nodding to Lord Skai, "Hello," he returned his attention to Kira, "I'm glad you could make it," he said, "We'd best be hurrying back up again," he said, gesturing toward the lift, "This way please," he said, offering Kira his arm.

Aelosia sipped a bit of her wine, licking her lips on a delicate and extremely sensual way as she finished, and turned again to Asirnoth. "One request fulfilled, on a pleasant way. I will expect the same for the rest, although knowing you, I wouldn't expect less", she said, then turning to Maglor and Aliria.

"We should leave, probably to meet Lady Sirithil and your brother Mephet'ran, Asirnoth. Probably this two need some time alone. I'm sure they need it", she said with a chuckle, sliding at the side of Asirnoth and again placing her arm over the Dragon's shoulder, playing with her fingers a bit there.

He smiled, "Well," he said, "They'll be here all day," a mischievious gleam appeared in the eye of his elven form, "and now seems like as good a time as any to make a start on recovering all that lost time," he said, "I have a very appropriate and very private suite where we could enjoy one another...'s company."

His arm snaked around her waist, and gently caressed her flank through the purple fabrics of her tight dress, and his head leaned toward hers, eager to hear her answer.

"Greetings," Fir Skai bowed his head, otherwise not seeming to make any motion to start a conversation. Presumably, none was expected at the time. In truth, he expected nothing more than to generally be ignored by almost everyone, although he didn't really show it, or at least tried not to show that he expected nothing. Unless there was something between the Star God and Kira, in which case this would be a very amusing event. Another person might have read into Mephet'ran's personal appearance, or the way he offered his arm, or Kira's acceptance. Fir did not think it was particularly important.

"Hi," Kira responded quickly, allowing herself to be led and not remembering even deciding on that acceptance or even the past few moments, questions starting to swell up in the back of her head, the voice asking why Mephet'ran was meeting her in person being the more persistent of the group. "Er..."

Introductions already? Fir wondered.

"That's Firnon Skai of, well, Skai," Kira felt some form of an introduction was in order, rememering after the fact that Mephet'ran probably knew more about Fir than she did.

<Fir, meet Mephet'ran, Lord of the C'tan,> there was a happy-sweatdrop analog with the words, with an underlying, probably involuntary nervousness.

<You kept the link?> he inquired back silently, trailing the pair. He had thought Kira had thrown the little communications contraption out after the brief interlude during Empress Aurora's birthday.

<Of course I kept it,> this time the response had a slightly indignant overtone. <Now I can pester you all the time.> Fir might have smiled had not emotional supression been ingrained into his very being. Random questions were the best was of getting the High King to stop thinking too much.

"I'm amazed you still remember me," Kira said.

Aelosia Elurin nos Thingol smiled to the C'tan, on a really mischievous way, and laughed out loud in the middle of the Hallway, enjoying his close contact. "Who would have predicted that I would end as the partner of the VoidDragon of the Stars?. Not my father, not even Sauron, not even my grandmother, not even the Masters of the Fates that dwelled in the Craftworld I conquered through fire and steel. They're all dead, and now I'm here ready to enjoy the company of one of the most powerful beings in the universe. I cannot complain to my fate, I guess", she said after resuming her former attitude.

"Guide me, Asirnoth the Dragon. Nothing could make me happier now. guide me to your...private place", Aelosia chuckled, as her hand moved a bit under Asirnoth's belt...

OOC: This arrival is posted with Jo's permission, and takes place before Aurora and Andreus' wedding. I won't be RPing Aurora's interactions with anybody asides from moving her along as requested by the hosts.

IC:

Prince Andreus tried to look enthusiastic as the ship he was riding landed, carrying the Lavenrunzian delegation to the marriage of the Elentari of Menelmacar to the Emperor of the Ctan, but it was hard for him to do so. Although he had accompanied his bride-to-be, the Empress of Lavenrunz, to more than a few events, he hadn't yet gotten used to being second fiddle to anybody. And the fact that they were attending a wedding was frustrating as well - it reminded him of how close he was to his own wedding, which in turn reminded him of how long he had been accompanying Aurora to events like this, the which period of time corresponded exactly with the last time he had s...

"Andra?" Aurora asked, stirring the Despot from his impatient frustration.

"I beg your pardon." Andreus said, shaking his head as if to snap out of it. He rose to his feet and took in the vision of his lovely fiancée, and couldn't help but smile. His eyes took her all in, starting at the strawberry blonde hair on her head, and making their way down her form, taking in her legs and then... taking in the sight of Thirty Camelias standing right next to her, at her side. Andreus sighed at the sight of the beast, but his smile soon reappeared as he offered Aurora his arm. "Is Your Majesty ready?"

Aurora nodded her consent, and soon the Lavenrunzian delegation disembarked its gravship, waiting to be conveyed into the presence of the happy couple. Andreus took in the architecture and his face curled up disapprovingly for a moment, before resuming its previous artificial grin.

"How tasteless the décor is!" he observed quietly to the Empress in his accented German.

The small party followed Lady Airaheri in perfect step, but couldn't help but slow to a casual stroll and take in the scenery. To imagine that such a place was totally artifical was simply beyond poor Serrah, who's people had lived secluded in the dark forested homes for untold centuries, the splendor of their great city faded and muted by time. To Tellos, the place didn't look defendable in the least, but he suspected that plans had been formulated that, should anything happen, it wouldn't happen anywhere near here. And it did give the Imperial Estate back in Altairnia a run for it's money in terms of simple grandeur. And to Kes, the place didn't seem to matter at all; she'd come to give her fondest wishes to the happy couple and little else.

"So, Lady Airaheri," Serrah asked, quickening her pace to match the woman guiding them. "Tell me, is this sort of thing, all of this... normal for these people?"

Aelosia

Asirnoth smiled as they walked across a thin bridge, without handrails of any sort, and opened a narrow wooden door, leading into a wide room with panes of crystal for windows, that permitted light to pass only inwards. He smiled at her and closed the door behind them.

Elsewhere Maglor continued talking to Aliria. He was gratified by her rather modest but still apparent reaction. Indeed his voice did have a certain quality about it that most would find musical, though in song this rhythmic, melodious quality was far more pronounced. There was also often a slightly depressing effect, but that was absent for now, he was far too content and fixed upon the moment to be depressed about his past. The way that Aelosia had looked at him had, frankly, hurt, but he put that out of his mind for a time.

Altairnia

Airaheri smiled at Serrah, “Well, one could say yes or no, depending on how one interprets the question. In general, flying structures on this scale are rare, though not entirely unknown. There’s a nifty flying city like this but more modern looking. That said, this is constructed in a style of architecture that went out of use several millennia ago, though the materials used as the base structure under the stone are far more modern.” She smiled.

“The Menelmacari capital isn’t far from here, I could take you to see it later if you would like.”

Pantocratoria

Aurora, was of course greeted with appropriate pomp and circumstance. Hearing the prince’s comment, her necrontyr guide, chosen for his understanding of German, resisted the urge to point out that dictionaries had been printed with Pantocratorian: Adjective - See Tasteless in them.

Weyr

Mephet’ran laughed, “Well, I thought I should come down to see someone. Let some others get to know each other. And I rather like you,” he said, “so I thought it may as well be you.”

could someone please explain what the heck is going on?

Originally posted by The Ctan:
Vanil smiled, and raised an eyebrow at the mention of the goblin king. "I do believe there is a goblin king coming here," she said, "Perhaps there shall be a reunion of sorts. In any case, I wouldn't worry," she said, in regard to Karen's apparend anxiety.

"Of course," she said, "I am sure it will be quite sufficient," she said, "the gesture is most appreciated."

There were of course, security scans that would pick up anything partiuclarly unsual about the gift, or the delegation, for that matter, but these were nowhere near as intense as those the goblins of...

Karen quashed the feeling of anticipation at the prospect of seeing a familiar face amongst all the other dignitaries, there were, after all, many goblin races, and the chances of meeting someone that you knew were slim to none. Re-assured about the quality of her gift, Karen thought back to an old cliche 'its the thought that counts,' she had no idea where it came from but it suited for the moment.

As they walked Karen continued to gaze at the structure in which they stood, a building on a scale such as this was impressive, though certainly not impossible, but to have it flying was an altogether different matter. "This place is remarkable," she mentioned to her guides, "i imagine the building process took a great deal of effort and planning, i myself would never think of undertaking such a project back on Tsuran simply because it would not be worth it, we have been established for such a short time that we are still concentrating on maintianing food supplies and defending our own very small piece of space. But please, tell me about your people, i hear that the elven race is extremely long lived, and this mastery of technology suggests that yours is an ancient race indeed."

Tsurannuani

Vanil smiled again, and nodded, "Most certainly long lived, yes, though I myself am very young by elven standards. As for the building itself, it took quite a lot of designing, yes. The main innovative feature is getting the various streams and rivers running right. As you can imagine, the process used in pumping that much water through thin air is somewhat... complex to say the least."

Airaheri's offer was one Serrah found she couldn't really refuse. "So, my lady, I've never had the chance to meet lord Mephet'ran or lady Sirithil like my companion Kestrel has. Perhaps you could tell me about them?" her eyes shone brightly, her voice betraying her eagerness to learn more about her surroundings. "And perhaps something about yourself? And maybe Menelcamar too?"

Trailing along behind them, Kes and Tellos made small talk. He was rather curious to know where she had met Airaheri before, not knowing that she wasn't a native Altairnian. He was rather supprised to learn that she'd worked as a diplomat in a foreign country, briefly, before coming to her new home, and had managed to meet several notable figures at various functions. Impressed with how well-travelled she appeared to be, he didn't ask her any more questions.

Sukothai and the ambassador looked around the Great Hall, admiring the graceful, if extravagant, elven architecture.

Justinian would have a field day with this, the First Consul thought. He grinned as he imagined the former Constantian Basileus working up a storm over the cost of the building, the decadence of the very idea and how the whole thing continues to enslave and oppress the workers of Tareldanorë.

Oh well, Sukothai shrugged, At least the Constantians hate Siri for being a capitalist who happens to be an elf rather than for being an elf who happens to be a capitalist.

Sukothai and [OOC: forgot my ambassador's name :eek: , will insert it in later] wandered around the Great Hall, hoping to speak to the to-be-wed couple.

Altairnia

Airaheri smiled at Serrah, "Well, Sirithil is an elf, of the first generation of her race in fact, whereas Mephet'ran is a harder to define creature, but can generally look like whatever he pleases," she smiled, "Ah, you are eager for knowledge aren't you? Well. I am Mephet'ran's advisor on magical things and so forth, other than that, I'm not too remarkable, barring the hair," she ran her fingers through her red hair, "And the cushy job," she laughed. "Menelmacar. Ah, there's so much to tell on that one, it's hard to know where to start. What would you like to know?"

The Goblin Duke nodded solemnly to the question posed by the delegates, glancing at his King before speaking in a deep voice, a vocal tone that would certainly not have been expected from one with such a slight frame.

"Her Highnezz iz 'doing her hair' and will be coming down shortly, once she is being satizzfied with the rezults of her groomings. She said not be to be waiting upon her."

Boss Hopskotch nodded carefully to these words, adding calmly (and in a much higher-pitched and more Goblin voice):

"She'zan Elf yez kno, Da King's adopterated dorter."

It might take a while for the Goblin accent to be understood by those listening, their bastardisation of any known language something of a trademark in lingual circles.

Crip Crunchi of Shinywurld glanced down at the small Cunnin'un Goblin and nodded.

"Yezz, zo be carefull in what you iz sayink about herz."

The difference in accents is very noticeable between the rumblings of the Trollguard, the thick voice of the Cunnin'un and the measured diplomatic baritone of the BladeGoblin. Thus far the King himself has not spoken, only looked around him with interest at the surroundings. The Duke coughed gently after a small gesture from Griptite, before mentioning the towering rock-creatures.

"Der Trollguard are heer fur tradishunal purpusses, as well az fer carryin' stuff and makin' sure dat peeplez iz nub hurt by da GateGoblins. Day getz a bit enthusiastic sumtimez, Da King iz sure dat you'll unnerstand."

[[Sorry about the brevity of the post, but I'm in Washington on holiday for a week and the terminal in the hotel is rather expensive. I'll try to write up some more later, and see if I can transfer it across, either way there is something there for interaction, although I don't have time to do a great deal, or to attend to other posts.]]

The details that happened between Aelosia and Asirnoth would better left in secret, but with no doubt the ancient elven queen and the inmortal and eternal C'tan Lord both satisfied their urges and desires, and enjoyed a quite delightful evening together, hidden under the privacy of the Asirnoth's chambers, adding another secret to those never told about the mysterious Istari of the Stars...

"My mother didn't mean to hurt you, Maglor", said Aliria, sadness depicted all over her features. Her psychic abilities let her not only to read emotional changes of others with quite accuracy, but also to display her own on a quite effective way. "I am aware of the story about you both, even as she was a little girl, and I wasn't even in the plans of creation of Ilúvatar, but she also knows that what happened was so many millenia ago that it doesn't matter anymore. After all, she gave me permission to write you, and to see you, Prince of the Vast Menelmacari Empire", she said, illuminating her face with a smile as her hand dared to squeeze Maglor's one a bit.

"I am more worried about what future could bring us than what the past holds under the curtain of time, perhaps because I'm just a young elf, probably a insignificant nuisance in comparison to those who have seen ages, empires and even gods born and die", she continued, looking at the Menelmacari Prince, witness of so many ages. "And also I am worried about what feelings can born, or die, between us, Prince Maglor nos Fëanor, last heir of the Noldor", she finally said, the phrase indeed so frank and blatant that many an aelosian courtier would had fade after hearing his Princess direct herself to a man in such terms.

The last few weeks seemed to have dragged on forever and ever and ever and ever again. With the return of the man who claimed to be her brother, everything changed. She could still remember her heart beating, her throat sore as she tried to push through a cry, be it of joy or fear, no matter, but none came out. It was impossible for him to be alive. She saw his burial. She touched his ice cold forehead. And yet, there he was, on a display screen, talking to the journalists and crowds, wielding the Sword.

Her first thought was that a usurper sent by the Order tried to claim leadership. And yet, the usurper did everything a usurper would not do – he allied himself to those who were, by all means of logic, his enemies, he let the people decide on his fate and on that of the nation. And even as doubts clouded her mind, her heart and soul cried with joy as she saw her brother alive, as she wanted to touch his skin and hug him like she did so many years ago. And he would tell her a tale, or a joke, and she would laugh and everything would be fine.

The referendum in Tarasovka on the proposed Grand Ducal Constitution had passed a day before, its results restoring the Grand Duchy. Which meant that there were now two Grand Ducal governments. Yet an other problem to solve, for something cold and pragmatic within her mind told her to be really certain that the one who passed himself for Mikhail was indeed her brother. And yet, her true self buggered her into dropping the foolish governments in exile and jumping on the first flight to Vigvar.

Plunged into her thoughts, Vethara (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Vethara_Shakhovskaya) did not even hear as the herald announced her arrival to the other guests, only returning to the real world as she bumped into one of the dignitaries present at the event. “Pardon.” She said as she looked around with an absent gaze, wondering whether coming was that great of an idea. But having spent seven years living under Lady Sirithil’s protection, it would have been rude not to be present by her side during maybe the most important day of her life.

Without major incident, the Lord General and his wife, Liessa, were led to the large hall the reception would be taking place in, for the moment it was being used to more or less allow the guests to mingle amongst themselves whilst everyone arrived for the ceremony. So far a fair selection of nation representatives had arrived for the wedding and it was looking to be quite some event.

Leading up to the hall, the corridors themselves didn’t were not in the least bit modest, like the exterior, much of the interior of the floating castle had been designed to impress, the halls were decorated appropriately towards this end so that it was almost impossible to escape the grandeur of the place, large tapestries, banners and flags adorned the walls as they approached their destination, shown in by the smartly dressed ushers, Ambassador Helena Fie’lorn following them as expected… at the moment it was reasoned that the Lord General’s presence gave her a little a little permission to be in this area at the moment, though it would remain to be scene if she would be required to go to the separate event designed for the national representatives and not the various world leaders and VIPs.

“Here we are, Lord General.” one of the ushers said, gesturing towards the open set of large double doors.

The hall itself was quite a sight, easily dwarfing the rooms used for the Iuthian wedding a month ago with its tall stained glass windows, expensive décor and many, many tables covered with luxurious fine cloth and various items, seemingly presents for the couples, or perhaps the guests, the custom here confused James a little, which was why Ambassador Fie’lorn carried with her a small gift for the couple, which had been properly checked by the security as they were quite thorough with the Iuthians… In the background, classical music was playing, James couldn't really place the music to anything though Liessa incisted it was elven in design.

James and Liessa looked around at the other guests present; the hall was slowly getting more and more populated, but for the time being it wasn’t nearly full and the Lord General didn’t seem to recognise anyone at the moment. Standing with his wife in his formal military uniform for the occasion, he considered what to do before finally making the choice to find a spot near a window and perhaps talk to some other couples while they were enjoying the scenery. Liessa in her own purple gown simply followed her husband, taking a chance to fully take in the room’s grandeur… she and the Ambassador weren’t particularly tall, averaging around five foot two inches between them, the space had caught their attention especially…

Helena had already made a point of relieving the Iuthian Black Vipers some time ago, who would now undoubtedly conduct their business else where and liaise with the Menelmacari/Ctan security. So she now considered doing a little mingling with some of the other representatives present, keeping an eye on her Lord General encase she needed to bail the man out as he simply wasn’t too into a lot of this etiquette business these days, through he did try.

“So, my love, what do you think of this floating palace so far?” James asked his wife as they approached one of the windows looking out into the ocean, the effect of the waterfalls made for a very beautiful scene…

Liessa sighed happily, resting her head on James arm for a moment. “It’s so… romantic. It’s like a fairy tale, everyone is beautiful, the castle is perfect and magic seems to be in the air. Oh James… can’t we have a second honeymoon?”

James smirked for a moment, almost considering it as a realistic option. “Heh, I don’t think General Turgidson could take another honeymoon dear… he’s already recovering from the last one. Anyways, don’t you have a new series of Iuthian Holidays coming up this month?”

Liessa nodded, “Ah, yes… work. It’s not quite the same any more, everyone in the studio looks at me differently now.” she sighed, only this time in disappointment.

“They’ll get used to it, you were seeing me before the wedding, I don’t see how it’s all that much different. Just give them time.”

“You’re probably right…” she stared out of the window before them for a moment before turning back to James. “Come on, lets go and talk to some other couples.”

Mephet’ran laughed, “Well, I thought I should come down to see someone. Let some others get to know each other. And I rather like you,” he said, “so I thought it may as well be you.”

"Really," she responded, arching her eyebrows. "I'm flattered," and broke into a smile. "I'm sure at least some of your guests aren't pleased you passed them by," Kira drew a few strands of brilliant crimson hair back behind her long-pointed ears, slightly scratching the soft skin for a brief moment to satisfy a little nervous pang, remembering that she still needed to figure out what to do about Falme and its ongoing, single-handed conquest of the three provinces that had split from Weyr four years ago.

Both the Falme distribution and the provinces had spent the four years of war and strife chucking shells and gas at one another for reasons no one seemed to remember. Falme now had both the experience and the resources to extract what it saw as retribution. Kira pushed the thought trail out of her mind before it could develop. This day was for Mephet’ran, not brooding over things the High King (Queen) couldn’t fix anyway.

<Wow, this place is huge, and he's really nervous,> Skai noted in the meanwhile, keeping pace and staying silent for all practical purposes, for the moment lost in the sheer extravagance of the structure. <Or is he always like this?>

<Huh?> Kira sent a confused inquisitive sound back over the subEtha link. <Dunno...> She was definitely missing something, or Fir was just being random, except Fir was almost never random as far as Kira could tell. She ignored the comment -- it was simpler this way.

OOC: It seems either the forums ate my last post a while ago, or I hit Preview and closed the window... Ah well. Red text will denote riikan conversation, which apparently reads like gaelic, thus rendering the english of these three decidedly... irish-esque? And yes, all my public figures are indian fashion models. BWAHAHAH!

Lirella took in the architecture and decor of the halls as she followed the two elves. Her small entourage had trailed behind somewhat, looking somewhat less amazed at the construction of the palace. When one took into account their normal working environment, of course, such environs were the norm, and not the exception.

Among her entourage were, of course, Prime Minister Kavar (http://palara.sularan.net/gallery/albums/album11/DerinKavar.jpg) (who had been elected just over a year prior), as well as Chief Executive Officer Vierun Muraan (http://palara.sularan.net/gallery/albums/album11/vierunmuraan.jpg), of the Atla/Ljosa group of corporations. Being the elected leader of the official opposition, as well as a close friend of the Imperatrix (there were always rumors that the two shared a bed, though in reality, Mr. Muraan's preferences were skewed towards the male side of the equation). Kavar's clothing was decidedly ornamental, as the uncreatively named Mantle of Leadership not only included a rather expensive replica of the Kajali national emblem, but overly decorated shoulders. The mantle notwithstanding, he wore a simple, yet elegant suit, as did Muraan.

"If they consider this opulent, I'd hate to show them my private yacht..."

"You use your yacht regularly, though. They built this place just for the wedding."

"It isn't as if they've not the resources..."

Lirella, of course, ignored the two, and decided to speak with the hosts as they made their way to the hall, her accent best defined in terran terms as 'heavily irish,' though different enough to be identified as something else entirely. Her comment, however, was totally, and utterly mundane.

"You know, this may actually be the first time I meet both halves of the happy couple in person."

Originally posted by The Ctan
Vanil smiled again, and nodded, "Most certainly long lived, yes, though I myself am very young by elven standards. As for the building itself, it took quite a lot of designing, yes. The main innovative feature is getting the various streams and rivers running right. As you can imagine, the process used in pumping that much water through thin air is somewhat... complex to say the least."

Karen nodded in agreement, "I can imagine so, should Sjet's engineers attempt this i wager a great deal of piping would be visible to transport the water, never mind the fact the technology to suspend such a large mass barely even exists, though the rate of scientific discoveries is increasing now we are established on Tsuran. Karen gazed around at the ornate furniture, the guilding, the other dignitaries as though trying to absorb every detail, "The grandeur of this place is incredible, the setting, the design, i greatly envy the achievements of your race."

She looked at Vanil, mentally assesing her age, "i myself am 78 years old, which is most definitley elderly by human standards, however," she smiled broadly, showing off her coppery hair and still near unflawed features, "you would not know it to look at me, a unique event happened to me which seems to have slowed the clock for me considerably. But your beautiful self Vanil, i apologise if i cause offense, i would say you were no more than 24 or 25. And what of the happy couple, i have yet to hear much on them, prominent though they are.

Aelosia

Maglor smiled, “I’m certain that she does not intend any undeserved malice. What malice I deserve for the things I have done in the past is something I can only accept with grace,” he squeezed her hand in reciprocation of her amourous gesture.

“The future is of course, always better to consider than simply dwelling upon the past. And though I do not claim to hold the secrets of the curse of foresight, I can predict with certainty that many possible futures contain the strong growth and flowering of the feelings you speak of,” he turned and gave her a surprisingly roguish smile for one in his position, the visage of a past Maglor nos Fëanor, perhaps, before grief and woe.

“That is of course, a flower under our stewardship. I have it in mind to henceforth do my part in its nurturing to the best of my abilities, is it simply a vain hope for me to imagine that you will do likewise with me?”

Kajal

Sirithil glanced over after talking to the Pantocratorian Emperor, and gave Lirella an expressive nod, and subtly gestured to someone else, who resolved himself into her fiancé. Mephet’ran smiled at the Imperatrix, “Ah, your majesty, welcome,” he said, “May I introduce High King Kira li'Starhavven of the First Distributed Kingdom of Weyr…”

Newbish Delight

“Ah, very well,” the speaking representative said, “In that case, I invite you to follow me,” he quickly ushered them all through a short corridor of elaborately dressed stone, and into another lift that lead to the short corridor outside the receiving hall. His compatriot waited for the remaining guest to finish her preparations.

Pantocratoria

Sirithil bowed graciously if not deeply, from the hip, the movement of her hands seeming almost preternaturally graceful. She went out of her way to use one of her more flattering tones, “We are most pleased to receive you,” she said. Turning to Zoë she smiled, “And We are also most pleased to receive you Mademoiselle” she added.

She turned her attention back to the Father, “Why thank you, the place is no doubt ennobled by your approval,” she said, it couldn’t be as direly tasteless as the kind of tat that is your usual fare she glanced down at his chest, covered in sparkling medals he hadn’t earned, I should put you out in the gardens with all the other peacocks.

She said none of that of course, and smiled, certain that this man was no more responsible for his outrageous culture than those idiots whom he claimed as his distant predecessors, the Roman Emperors, were responsible for their little inbreeding problem. All in all, he was probably an improvement on that bunch. She said as much too, “You are doubtless gifted with taste at least as fine as that of your ancestors in Rome.”

Tsurannuani

Vaniloxë smiled and seemed to be unphased by Karen’s enthusiasm, “Well, I am actually fifty seven, though it is in elf terms, much the same age as you guessed. What to say about Lady Sirithil, well, she is one of the oldest elves alive today, though she looks maybe only slightly older than myself. It sounds very much as if age is a major concern,” she said, sounding rather embarrassed, “But really, it’s not that important a topic, let’s see, something else, do excuse my rambling, well, she is the founder of Menelmacar, which has been around for dozens of millennia, in one form or another, which is why if you visit the mainland later, you’ll see so many statues and monuments featuring her. It’s not vanity, it’s simply that Menelmacar has never had another Head of State, so there’s not much competition…”

Weyr

Mephet’ran laughed, “Oh I don’t imagine so, I intend to meet them all in time, don’t worry,” he glanced over at his wife-to-be and shot her a smile, looking where she pointed, “Speaking of which, I don’t suppose I could introduce you to some of the other guests?” expecting her to comply, he lead her over to Sirithil’s shrewd choice, the Kajali. Introduce the current Ardans to the former Ardans, and hope something gels.

“Ah, your majesty, welcome,” he said to the Kajali Imperatrix, “May I introduce High King Kira li'Starhavven of the First Distributed Kingdom of Weyr. Kira, this is Imperatrix Lirella Keral of the Four Worlds of Kajal…”

Tarasovka

Vicotira moved towards Vethara with a bright grin on her shining face. Her gossamer gown flowed elegantly around her as she inclined her head to the woman. "I have to spend most of today attending my sister but I could hardly resist coming over for a moment."

The C'tan, Menelmacar, Aelosia

Agwene, separated from her entourage for the moment, simply paused and allowed herself to rest against a wall, looking at Sirithil and Mephet'ran for a long moment. She sighed lightly to herself and looked over to Connor. Connor, for his part, was looking at Aliria.

Any and All

Corrina, for reasons very different than her daughter, took a long look at the happy couple, smiling weakly. Distracted, she rubbed a golden bracelet on her right wrist, staring off into space.

Meanwhile, the other Danaan Princes, Princesses, Grand Dukes, and Grand Duchesses were mingling, speaking to whoever seemed available.

Resurgent Dream

Vethara inclined her head in return to Vicotira’s greeting, a smile appearing on her face. “It honours me that you would greet me. It would seem that around here, guests greet other guests while the hosts are most surely busy somewhere else.” She laughed melodically and shook her head. At least the herald did not forget her, so at least something was fine.

Regardless of all that, Vethara looked quite joyful, impossible to tell whether she was fainting or not. She smiled at the sidhe. “So, how has Your Highness been as of late?”

Vicotira shrugged faintly and glanced off a moment. "I have no cause for complaint. And yourself, Your Highness?"

Resurgent Dream

Vethara smiled back at the sidhe, grabbing a drink from a passing waiter. “Oh, I have been perfectly well. Dead brothers return, Grand Duchies get restored and I become prisoner of a grand dilemma involving two Grand Ducal Governments.” She laughed lightly again and shook her head. “But well, politics are for later.”

She glanced around for a second before returning her gaze to Vicotira, a smile on her lips. “But judging by the concentration of high ranked foreign dignitaries at the event, I cannot shake off the feeling that politics shall triumph over other matters.”

Vicotira shrugged lightly. "Politics..." Then she winked slightly. "We left the politicians at home for a reason."

The beautiful young girl smiled her radiant, shining smile. "At any event, it wasn't politics that brought me over here. Is there any chance that I could borrow you until our hosts or free to catch up and....I actually wanted to ask you about something, if you don't mind sharing?"

The Elentári glanced in the direction of Agwene and smiled, the appearance of that particular Sidhe usually brought a smile to her lips after all. See, see me being nice, and kind to your friends. she thought, and returned her gaze to Andreus Senior, and favoured his young daughter with another smile, They’re not that bad, pleasant enough company I suppose. A shame he’s not her husband I suppose, she reflected briefly on the matter of Aurora, Forget that. It’s a shame he’s not the one marrying Aurora, that's a far more plausible fantasy, and it wouldn't result in Agwene being stuck with their social constraints… Her heel ground almost imperceptibly on the smooth flagstones, as if stamping down her annoyance and frustration over the little matter of Andreus Jr. Diplomatic as ever, that was the only external trace one could discern of her thoughts.

(Post subject to OOC approval, as usual)

"An honor," Kira bowed at the waist, not particularly deeply by some standards, but enough to show more respect that was usually necessary. It generally worked for most cases when she wasn't sure if handshakes were more appropriate, or if you could use the Weyrean norm of just saying hello and getting on with whatever you wanted to talk about. Kira bowed, and prepared for the inevitable question of why she was called a 'king', or, if the Imperatrix was more informed, why a nearly anarchic state had a 'king' in the first place, or what that state was even doing in Arda.

Alas, the Imperatrix was not particularly informed as to why Kira was referred to as King. She had a few theories in mind, though she was quite likely to ask the question. She returned the bow, in traditional Kajali fashion, meaning that the bow itself was quite occupied with depth and small, carefully practiced hand movements.

"I apologize, but may I ask of your title? It is somewhat... odd, in Kajal to refer to one as 'King' when gender would dictate the use of 'Queen'."

Of course, the other guests that had arrived with Lirella had begun to mingle with the crowd. Muraan seemed to be looking for 'enjoyable' company, while Kavar was somewhat more diplomatic. He held a glass of wine, while chatting with the other guests.

Princess Sarah ni Beaumayn, a twenty something human woman in a flowing gown of black and purple, smiled lightly at Muraan as she watched him in the crowd. Her raven locks were done up in a complicated up-do and the cut of her gown left her alabaster shoulders bare. She didn't move towards him or speak. She just smiled...and waited.

Resurgent Dream

“I will happily share with you whatever it is to share.” Vethara smiled at the young Sidhe. “Within the limits of reason, of course.” The Taraskovyan Grand Duchess by Right, or, technically, Archduchess – she couldn’t really figure out her true title herself due to the entire confusion – winked slightly before continuing.

“Feel free to ask your question, Your Highness.”

Aliria just smiled and blushed again, her cheeks returning to the usual pink shade that remarked her fair skin, as she looked at her feet, playing with her fingers for a second before answering to the Menelmacari Prince. "Yes, Prince Maglor. You can hope that I'll do likewise", she said, using the softest tone of voice she was capable of, and for a female sindarin of Lúthien blood, to say so was something.

"I think I can be the water, nurturing and feeding the flower, and you can be the sun that keeps it alive and gives her the energy she needs?", asked Aliria, suddenly raising her chin to redirect her stare directly at Maglor's eyes. "I know it maybe can sound silly, and that maybe you can imagine thousands of better images and metaphors, but I think it translates my desires and hopes in a precise way, Sire", she said, blushing again and feeling suddenly embarrased.

"Your Majesty is most kind." the Emperor nodded in response to Sirithil's complement. He addressed Zoë, although clearly intending for Sirithil to hear the many complements which followed. "Although she is eternally young, and especially radiant and beautiful today, if I may say so, Mademoiselle l'Elentari knew the very first emperor of the Romans, Augustus."

"Really?" Zoë asked. Sirithil, although impossibly serene and graceful, didn't seem impossibly ancient to Zoë. Really she knew it was a silly question, she knew that elves lived a very long time indeed, she had read it in books. Meeting someone who lived at the same time as Augustus had lived, however, still seemed unreal. Realising that the question was a silly one, she blushed slightly and looked away. "I'm sorry, Your Majesties. I knew that, of course."

"It is an absolute delight to be here to witness Your Majesy's wedding. I only regret that there is nothing I could give you which could possibly add to the splendour of the occasion, so wonderful are your preparations. Instead, all I can offer is a token of my esteem." the Emperor started.

Zoë could see where he was going as soon as he opened his mouth, and quickly produced a purple velvet-covered box from her elongated sleeve. She opened the box. Inside was a surprisingly plain, tasteful gold necklace, at the end of which was mounted a rough piece of glass, but it was mounted as if it was the most precious gem in the world. The Emperor took the box and offered it to Sirithil.

"Our ancestors were at one point compelled to sell the Imperial regalia to raise funds to defend Constantinople. They replaced the original jewels with glass ones. This is a piece of St Constantine XI's regalia, which he discarded during the final stand against the Turks before charging into their midst. The broken pieces of the regalia were collected by a Knight of the Order of the Pantocrator, and became treasured relics. That is one of the pieces." the Emperor said.

Meanwhile, Empress Aurora and her fiancé Prince Andreus arrived in the room shortly after the Emperor present Sirithil with the gift.

Ctan

Karen was stunned for 2 reasons, firstly, that the Lady Sithiril was several tens of thousands years old, and secondly, that she had managed to remain in power for so long, she masked it as best she could, "incredible, it must make it a very simple affair to govern with only one person in power, there have been times when heads of the Greater Houses on Tsuran have changed weekly, it is a fine line to rule there, still, each to her own. It is not that age is of a major concern, it is simply that it is unique in the history of our race that a person should reach my age and not show any sign of it.
The Lady Sithiril must be deeply loved and respected indeed and i look forward to meeting her; should the opportunity present itself of course. And what of the groom, i hear he is of another ancient race, though, once again i have no knowledge of it, not even the name."

Karen was beginning to feel the first pangs of foolishness at her endless questions and her almost complete lack of knowledge of other races and made a mental note for the Tsurani ambassadors, herself included to attend more events hosted by other nations.

Kira sighed inwardly. "Translation error. When a woman first got the job, no one bothered to come up with a different name for the position, so the cirrent title still has masculine connotations. The closest alternative would be...." she thought for a moment. "Great Potent Master of Ceremony and Warfare. I think I like 'King' better, even if it doesn't really work," she scratched slightly behind one long, pointed ear.

Shaking her head slightly, Agwene lifted a hand to Aurora before moving towards the balcony.

Princesses Elayne and Catherine started to walk, arm in arm, towards Vaniloxë and Karen, waiting to be invited into the conversation before approaching closer.

Vicotira nodded and asked very quietly "Are you of the Orthodox Faith, Your Highness?"

"King certainly does have a ring to it that Great Potent Master of Ceremony and Warfare does not... The ruler of Kajal was for the longest time referred to simply as 'Imperator,' of course... 'Imperatrix' did not come into use until I suggested it myself... I do think it carries more authority than 'Arch-Duchess of Kajal'."

Lirella sipped her wine, and attempted to subtlely direct Kira's attention towards the young Princess.

"It would seem that Vierun has caught the eye of another guest... I wonder how she will react when she finds out that he has a habit of sharing his bed with other men," Lirella said softly.

Muraan, being well over 900 terran years of age, possessed a good deal more experience in the field of dating and flirting than the average human, if only because of his age.

Of course, he also had a good deal more experience with same sex relationships than most. He had appeared in Kajali tabloids in stories claiming that he had found a new 200 year old male lover on a trip to the Soranni Islands, though the stories that amused him most were those that claimed that his behavior was an elaborate distraction to draw attention away from his mid-50s female love.

Muraan had often entertained such tabloid trivia in his mind as a pleasant diversion, though when it came down to it, the facts were clear.

Both sides wanted a piece of the pie.

Muraan returned the smile, and strode across the hall, though not particularly quickly.

"Hello," Muraan said, with the same accent that Lirella spoke with. "My name is Vierun Zhera Muraan, though I prefer simply Vierun."

Sarah might well find Muraan's preferences personally disappointing. In fact, with the way she was smiling at him, that seemed likely. However, if she had any real problem with such things, then it must be a very well hidden one. Her behavior around the obviously and happily married Elayne and Catherine was one of perfect ease.

Sarah look slightly surprised for a moment before she inclined her head to the corporate leader. "I'm Princess Sarah ni Beaumayn. I'm with the Danaan party, one of Prince Aaron's daughters." She looked briefly towards her father and then towards Agwene. She frowned slightly at the High Queen's movement before turning her attention back to Muraan. "Vierun, I always feel so dreadfully heavy whenever I find myself on the surface of Terra." She gave a slight smile of amusement, looking at the Kajali intently.

Vethara looked at Vicotira, slightly surprised that the Sidhe would ask such a question. But her features relaxed within a moment as she reached for her chest, towards a silver chain that ran down her body, its tip hidden by the high décolleté of her dress. She fetched a side of the chain with a finger and pulled it out, revealing a small silver cross of Saint Olga (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/Namellar/GDT/VethaCross.jpg), with the Orthodox Cross proper made of blue enamel.

“Yes, I am of Orthodox Faith, Taraskovyan Orthodox to be more precise.” She smiled most charmingly at Vicotira. “May I ask, Your Highness, why you would wish to know such a precise detail on me?" She paused for a second before leaning in slightly and whispering quietly. "And why all the conspiracy?” There was neither enmity nor hostility in her words, just a certain amount of joy that a foreigner would ask and also curiousity as to why a foreigner would ask.

Aelosia

Maglor smiled radiantly at Aliria, “I entirely understand,” he says, “and your speech is most beautiful. I pray thee for failings you do not possess apologise no further.” He reached out and caressed Aliria’s cheek with the back of his hand, slightly displacing her dark hair as he gazed into her eyes. “So, when shall we begin?” he said with a warm and somewhat knowing smile.

Pantocratoria

The Elentári smiled and took the necklace from Zoë, graceful hands with immaculately manicured nails, ornamented by several rings of exquisite and exacting make, including a mithril engagement ring, slid under the gold necklace, and lifted it carefully from its padded resting place. She smiled again and decided to put it on for them.

She turned and brushed her hair away from her neck, smiling at the Pantocratorian Princess, “Would you care to put it on me my dear?” she said, tilting her head to glance behind her, and crouching a little to make it easier for Zoë to reach her neck. Turning her head back away from the Pantocratorian Emperor she could now see Andreus the Younger, and frowned, but smiled as she was Aurora with him, and waved cheerily.

The Resurgent Dream & Tsurannuani

Vaniloxë glanced over at the Danaan princesses, as she was being watched, and tried to recall who they were, and continued talking to Karen as she carefully and politely steered the visitor over to the Danaans. “Well, Mephet’ran is of a species called C’tan, but there’s not that much to talk about there, or at least, not much that I know. The race that tends to be second most represented here, excluding humans of course, are necrontyr. They’re rather like elves,” she nodded towards the nearest Necrontyr, a tall elflike humanoid in a white and green suit, sitting on a chair at a table with two similarly dressed women. He had a skin colour that suggested blue blood, quite literally, running in his bloodstream, and pointy ears. His hair was at the silver end of the white-to-silver spectrum of necrontyr hair, and he was remarkable for having red eyes, though they could perhaps have been contact lenses, as, much like elves, the crimson gaze he apparently shared with the bride.

“Anyway, these are some other guests from one of our allies, the Danaan High Kingdom of The Resurgent Dream. Princesses Elaine and Katherine, if I remember the names correctly,” she said with a dubious smile, “Though, perhaps not…”

Tarasovka

"Because I consider you a friend and the spiritual element is the most important part of any life, so I was curious." Vicotira said, smiling a little.

The girl then blushed and shook her head. "That's true but it isn't the only reason. If it were, I probably wouldn't have rushed over and asked out of the blue the next time I saw you. It's just...I've been thinking about it a lot recently and I wanted to learn about the Christian experience from someone who lived it."

She shrugged slightly. "It's not really a conspiracy, just a somewhat private conversation."

The C'tan

Catherine and Elayne smiled politely as they came up, waiting for Vaniloxë to also introduce Karen to them.

Zoë reached up to put on the necklace, more than a little in awe of Sirithil. She did it carefully and as gracefully as she was able. As she finished, she caught sight of her elder brother, Prince Andreus, and Aurora. She had rarely seen her elder brother since he moved to New Constantinople when she was still a little girl, so she smiled by reflex. She did think it was a little odd how he was marrying a woman only a couple of years older than her, though.

"There." she said, when she was finished. The Emperor smiled and nodded at the necklace.

"Well, I won't keep Your Majesty from your other guests." he said, bowing slightly and stepping aside gracefully so that she could go speak to someone else.

Vethara shook her head slightly and smiled again, giving a glance about her surroundings, as if looking for something or someone. “I shall happily answer any questions Your Highness may have.” She rested her eyes upon Vicotira once again. “Maybe we should go to some balcony or a less crowded place than this hall, if you wish to have a private conversation on the matter?”

OOC: Has anyone noted that Sukothai and Anthony want to meet Siri & Mephet'ran?

Pantocratoria

Sirithil smiled and nodded to Andreus and smiled almost maternally to Zoë, “I imagine my fiancée would enjoy speaking to you and your father,” she said, gesturing over towards Mephet’ran, who had finally extricated himself from the Weyrans and Kajali.

Sirithil walked over to Sukothai, glancing at Mephet’ran.

Have a peacock, she thought, indulging in a little telepathy. He looked back and frowned and then smiled, looking at the Pantocratorian Emperor. He had to admit it was apt. He seemed slightly friendlier than his wife as he greeted ‘Monsieur le Empereur’ though this was perhaps due to the joke more than anything else.

Syskeyia

Sirithil meanwhile, gave Benedict Sukothai one of her more charming smiles and bowed her head slightly, though given her height, it wasn’t exactly that much of a gesture, “Welcome to Menelmacar, Mister President,” she didn’t seem too fond of that title, “I trust your trip was as pleasant as could be expected?” she asked.

The Resurgent Dream

Vaniloxë smiled and, after giving a deep bow, waved a hand gracefully at the pair of princesses, “May I present,” one couldn’t exactly say ‘introduce’ after all, “Princesses Katherine and Elaine, from the court of the Danaan High Kingdom of the Resurgent Dream. Your Majesties, this is Karen Sjet, Ruling Member of the Diamid of Tsuran.”


“High King Connor ap Daireann,” a voice asked, it was female, with a refined tone and timbre, and a somewhat un-placeable accent. Luinthelë had somehow managed to slip away from Lirella, and had found her way to stand behind him. She was wearing a long white and dress with turquoise trim that tightly embraced and exhibited her hips with hanging folds of white silk, “please come with me,” she said, and turned, walking off to a wide staircase, trailing her hand lightly along the banister as she ascended, seeming to be more intent on inspecting for dust than using the banister for balance.

"Huh?" Kira blinked, her bright green eyes following Lirella's nudge. "What's wrong with two hot men in the sack? I say double the fun if you get in with them," she didn't see what someone could find wrong with the concept. The Kajali certainly wasn't unattractive; a bit scruffy, maybe, but he was someone she wouldn't have minded to get to know more intimately, assuming he wasn't an utter fuckwit.

Lord Fir Skai surveyed the other guests, wondering at the sheer number of Danaan nobles and the size of the Pantocreatonian Emperor's escort. Don't thy have anything better to do? he wondered, going slowly, talking to this person or that. He understood that in most states permanent government officials were sometimes merely figureheads that rubber stamped whatever got cooked up by the legislature, but to have so many of them here seemed to him impractical. But then, the Resurgent Dream no doubt had royals to spare, unlike the non-hereditary system employed by the Distributed Kingdom, he mused.

"Oh, I didn't say there was anything _wrong_ with it," Lirella responded. "Vierun likes to go out and, how to say this... 'play' with the women. He claims that he's not interested in women in that way, but he wouldn't be looked down upon if he was..."

Lirella winked.

"There certainly is... provocative imagery of those two floating about the public datanet on Kajal, though. The Prime Minister himself used to be quite successful as a model, and Vierun certainly would appear to have dabbled in similar areas..."

OOC: Pic of Sukothai! (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v123/Syskeyia/sukothai_pic.gif) And could you please quit it with the IC/OOC condescenion? It's getting to be annoying.
IC:
Sirithil meanwhile, gave Benedict Sukothai one of her more charming smiles and bowed her head slightly, though given her height, it wasn’t exactly that much of a gesture, “Welcome to Menelmacar, Mister President,” she didn’t seem too fond of that title, “I trust your trip was as pleasant as could be expected?” she asked.

"Indeed it was," replied the First Consul (hopefully the Elentarí would be more fond of that title). "I've always wanted to visit Menelmacar, and now, even we're not exactly in Vinyatírion, I'm delighted to be here."

Though a certain ally of mine would not share my delight, he didn't say.

Sukothai briefly searched his mind for a topic of conversation. "So, have you heard about the rebellion in St. Dominic (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=423799)? This could be a chance for you to reclaim Liberty Bay," he said, winking a little.

"And what of the Necrontyr Empire, the land of your future spouse? Anthony here has told me everything I didn't know about your Oira Noldorinwa Arnanorë," he said, hoping to pronounce the Quenya correctly, "but I know much less about the C'tan than I should, given that we share a land border on Mars. Could you please enlighten me?"

As Maglor touched her cheek, she felt her flesh tremble and her skin shuddering at the slightest touch of his fingertips. A wave of pleasure tickles traveled all over her body expanding from the place where the tips of his fingers touched her. Aliria knew this was a psychological effect, something related to the fact she has been expecting for this to happen for years, rather than a true physical experience. And yet she closed her eyes and submerged entirely in the sensation, taking more than just a moment to give Maglor her answer.

"Of course we should start, as soon as possible. I just hope we never end. Like the star Istari and your mother", she dared to say, knowing the hidden meanings and intentions her words implied, in reference to what was exactly happening with Sirithil and Mephet'ran. Why do you have to behave like a stupid teenager and try to rush things, Aliria?. You have an eternity for that. Grow up and mature, for the Valar's sake, she told to herself, managing to keep a quite fake smile over her features as her cheks for the 12th time this evening blushed, turning a deep brick red.

She quickly spoke again, trying to repair any damage she could have caused. "Of course, that's not important. People have so many ways of see companionship and love. Maybe we could even invent a new one, who knows?", she said, again producing a false chuckle trying to hide her embarrasement, failing miserably in hiding her true emotions to Maglor, even after her careful courtier training. Aliria was quite aware of the fact that she was dealing with somone not just several times older than herself, but several time more cunning, smart, powerful and thus dangerous, but she wasn't in a emotional position to be able to tell him the entire truth, nor to hide him anything neither.

Vierun laughs lightly. "I've found Terra uncomfortable, to say the least. Kajal's gravity is slightly lower enough to make one feel sluggish."

Sarah nodded a little. "I've never been to Kajal myself."

Vierun smiled. "It is a world of warm waters and archipelagos... The capital nearly sits upon the equator, though the nightlife is quite vibrant. Much different than this function, of course... I believe that the Ardan Orcs actually found it somewhat offensive."

Sarah laughed a little. "Orcs are not known for taste."

Vierun 's smile widened slightly. "That they are not... Dajar is likely better suited to diplomacy than the capital. A calmer city, that one."

"Dajar?"

"She sits opposite the capital on Mejar... Similar to a place I believe you would call 'Ibiza', I think."

"Ibiza?" Sarah asked, clearly not knowing of any place she would call that.

"Ah, my apologies... It did appear to be an island in the sea called the Mediterannean. I've not yet had the chance to visit it, myself."

"Dajar was a large port city originally, though she has become somewhat famous for her stretching beaches."

Sarah inclined her head. "Selinia is, appropriately enough, on Seline. In truth, it comprises all of Danaan Seline."

"An interesting name... I would surmise that Selinia does not sprawl haphazardly across the entire planet, like the Ljosan city."

"Though admittedly, Ljosal Dan is quite the frozen wasteland, affording only small areas of habitable land..."

"Seline is rather crowded as is. Selinia fills all Danaan territory there."

"Ah, but to live in the city, as they say... It is a different culture, a different lifestyle than the rural areas would offer."

Sarah looked up at the moon in the sky, smiling slightly at the sight of her home. Peering carefully, she pointed. "There's Selinia. It looks like a little speck of light from up here,
even though it is legally a Danaan Principality like any other."

Vierun smiled. "We would need to ascend to orbit to be able to see Kajal proper, and even then, a powerful telescope would be in order..." He attempted to locate Pleiades in the sky, though it likely was not possible. "Kajal herself resides within what Terrans would call Pleiades, and they have done well to capture some rather... beautiful images of it."

"Do you know the bride and groom well?" She changed the subject.

"I have admittedly met neither prior to this event. I was invited to attend by Imperatrix Keral. I do hope that she has actually _met_ them herself.."

"High Queen Agwene knows them rather well, I believe. I've never met them before, however."

"The Imperatrix does appear to know the two well enough to have been directed towards the current Ardans, however." Vierun said, glancing towards Lirella. Sarah followed his gaze, quiet for a moment, thoughtful.

"The bride and groom do appear to have a sort of plot in motion concerning Imperatrix Keral, but she is... strong willed." Vierun returned his full attention to Sarah. "Of course, when one governs a country, it is somewhat helpful." Vierun was, of course, wearing a small pendant, identical in shape and design to that the Imperatrix wore, though different in color.

"Of course. My father often speaks of such things in preparing me to be the next Princess of Selinia."

"I have no doubt that you will excel in your role at such a time... Selinia will be fortunate to have you."

Sarah blushed slightly, even if it was a rather cliche compliment. "Thank you, Vierun."

Vierun smiled again, though he could have hit himself for using such a cliche. "If I've ever the chance to escape from Kajali politics, I will have to visit Selinia before travelling down to Terra."

"I'm sure my father would be glad to receive you." She smiled brightly. "Did you come here unescorted?"

"The Imperatrix did bring along her own escorts, though she has since dismissed them..."

"But of course, though I asked of you personally.:"

"I am unescorted, yes, though I will of course be boarding her transport when we leave."

"As a matter of course, yes." She smiled lightly.

"I doubt that there are many in Sol who would have reason to strike at me at all. Kajali politics are far removed from this place." Vierun smiled.

"To strike at you?" She blinked, not quite sure where that came from.

Vierun appeared to blush slightly himself. "Security has been... a concern, in the past for Kajali politicians. Having lived through the Imperial era, I have retained a small portion of that concern." Vierun looked slightly embarrassed for bringing that particular subject up.

"That is...sensible. But it isn't...exactly what I meant." She said, blushing shyly.

"I apologize... Those who would strike at me in this era do so through the media..." Vierun was beginning to think it apparent that he hadn't exactly conversed in this manner with women for a very long time.

"Nothing too dreadful I hope?"

"For the most part, no. I'm criticized by the leaders of the Environmental Party, though they promised to ban private vehicles in their election platform."

Sarah snorted slightly. "You're serious?"

"Considering that Kajal's vehicles have quickly converted to more modern technologies than internal combustion, it didn't work out too well for them." Vierun smirked a little. "They've since switched to a campaign of 'Technologically Preserving Kajal', though I'm not sure if that means they'd actually do anything if they were elected."
"Would you escort a lady to the bar?"

Vierun smiled. "Of course," he said.

"Mhm," Kira lapsed into silence, considering the couple from the corner of her vision, looking past them at the bar. "That's mean," she said finally. "But so are a lot of things. May I ask why a nation of elves joined Melkor's alliance?"

Vicotira profferred an arm to Vethara. "To the balcony then, Your Highness?"
...
Connor shrugged, moving to follow the woman in silence, wondering what was going on.

Aelosia

Maglor couldn’t really help himself, he laughed softly for an instant, before stopping himself, trying not to sound at all malicious, and to be fair, there was no malice in his laugh. The outburst had been because of her indecision, true, but he had been most touched by her indiscrete revelation of her desires, and her endearing embarrassment at them.

“My dear, sweet, adorable, enchanting girl,” he said, leaning a little closer to the princess, “I assure you that in my company you will never need to be worried or embarrassed by your will and desires.”

Perhaps her concerns about being unable to conceal things from the Noldorin prince were justified, for he certainly considered himself to have a firm understanding of her desires, and her efforts to hide them once more. “I am quite happy, overjoyed even, to enjoy, return and share your companionship in the way Mephet’ran does my mother’s,” he said, sliding his fingers down her chin to tilt her head up a little to look into his eyes.

Syskeyia

OOC: Not really. She’s an elf. Arrogance is what elves do. Her dislike of the title president is because she’s an ancient monarch, and doesn’t entirely trust democracy. It’s nothing to do with you.

Sirithil smiled, “Heard yes,” she said, “but I’d have to defer discussion of such adventures to a more private venue,” she added with a frown. “As for the C’tan, I suppose I could tell you all about the country. What would you like to know? For the most part they’re very like Menelmacari in governance and culture, though there are less elves there, and slightly more necrontyr. I suppose religion best described as ‘not really an issue’ there, they don’t comment on it much. Most of their holdings, the blasted wasteland of Sentinel Two aside, are very nice places to visit – Sentinel Two is however, home of every disreputable con merchant they can find…”

The Resurgent Dream

Luinthelë smiled at Connor, and led him onto a wide balcony looking down over the guests. She beckoned him over to her side, and looked down at Aliria, “Can I depend upon you to be truthful?” she asked, knowing that no matter what he said, the real answer was likely no.

Vethara smiled as she took Vicotira’s arm and led her to the balcony through the crowd of guests. “To the balcony, then!” She said, gleaming, as they reached their target, Vethara closing her eyes for a second to enjoy to coolness of the air outside before she opened them to admire the scenery. Content with her surroundings, she faced Vicotira. “Quite a charming little place this is... now, pray, ask any questions you may have and I shall answer them my best."

Lirella sighed, slightly. "First and foremost, the leadership at the time was quite... insane. The last Emperor surrounded himself with people in public not only as sentient shields, but so that should he be killed, he would not die alone.

Of course, he also held wild rave parties in various embassies... The second reason, the more reasonable of the two, really... was security. After the Emperor's assassination at one of his raves, however, many Kajali believed it was the Ardans themselves that had committed the act. Besides, with our appearance, we were not exactly... welcome.

When I came to power, I thusly pulled Kajal out of METUS and Arda. The bombardment of the diplomatic quarter of Ali'staan was supposed to be a pre-emptive strike... Not that our star navy would be given any particular trouble against the fleets of METUS."

Sarah smiled graciously, slipping her arm into Vierun's. She began to move elegantly towards the refreshments, smiling up at him. "Do tell me more of your homeland."
...
Vicotira walked arm in arm with Vethara, also taking a moment to look out over the breathtaking ocean. She looked up at the other woman with a small, shy smile. "I want to know everything. Start at the beginning. Tell me about Jesus."
...
"Yes, of course." Connor answered the Elf. He looked out over all the guests, following her gaze to Aliria with a small smile. "Although I am not quite sure why I have been pulled aside."
...
Corrina put a hand on her daughter's arm, giving Agwene a loving squeeze. Agwene nodded back at her mother with a small smile, returning to the main body of the party. Corrina remained on the balcony.

"We're not exactly welcome, either," Kira chuckled, teeth flashing briefly. I guess it'd be easier to separate if you're a real power and don't have half your people on Terra, she thought.

"Although I suppose I could score points by trying to extract some vengence on part of my unwanted 'allies'," the last word was clearly put into quotations. "Ach, I shouldn't talk politics here," she looked at Mephet'ran for a moment. "Vierun's having fun," if the crimson-haired 'King' disapproved of the pairing, she didn't particularly show it. She didn't have a problem with Vierun, really, although it seemed mean to delude people into hoping for something.

“Oh, Jesus?” Vethara smiled, glancing about her surroundings, as if trying to find how to begin. “Well, there is quite a lot to tell. But since you wish to hear it all, I shall tell you all that I remember.” She smiled again as she began her tale, that of the little boy born to virgin Mary in Betlehem, the son of God by the name of Jesus. He was the Messiah, hailing from the Greek part of his ‘name’, which is actually ‘Christos’, which pretty much meant Messiah. Vethara paused for a second, trying to find the best way to continue the tale, and proceeded to tell about the three Wisemen of the East that came to Jesus, who were alerted of his birth by angels and guided by a star to where Jesus was.

She then proceeded to tell about his baptism by Ioann the Baptiser, the forerunner of Jesus. She told about the life of Jesus, his teachings, his miracles, how he healed and resurrected and turned water to wine. She mentioned the twelve apostles, the closest disciples of Jesus. “As you understand, Jesus was becoming famous and popular with the people, and as his teachings contradicted the Jewish law and the Jewish bible, the local authorities did not take kindly to it.”

Vethara continued on to the coming of Jesus to Jerusalem for the Passover celebrations and described the cheering crowds. And then the Last Supper of Jesus and his apostles, during which the Christ already foresees his end. During the night, whilst Jesus was praying in a garden, one of his apostles, Judas Iscariot, led the soldiers of the Sanhedrin to him. Judas gave his teacher a kiss, thus indicating to the soldiers who Jesus was. “He betrayed his teacher for thirty coins of silver.” Vethara said with a sad smile.

“And then there was the trial by the roman procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, who found Jesus not guilty and offered to release him in accordance with the customs of the Passover. But the angry crowd demanded instead that Varrava, a renowned murderer, be released and that the Christ was to be crucified. At which, Pilate washed his hands in a bowl of water: ‘I am innocent of this man's blood. It is your concern’ He said as he ordered the crucifixion.”

Vethara paused for a moment, looking around, sighing sadly before smiling. “But on the third day after his death, Jesus resurrected. And for around forty days he visited places and people he knew before ascending to heaven.” The girl smiled at Vicotira. “I know that this is a very brief account, but I hope I managed to convey everything important.”

“As for the C’tan, I suppose I could tell you all about the country. What would you like to know? For the most part they’re very like Menelmacari in governance and culture, though there are less elves there, and slightly more necrontyr. I suppose religion best described as ‘not really an issue’ there, they don’t comment on it much."

"I wonder why you bring that up," Sukothai asked. "I don't really mind if people are non-religious, just as long as they're not anti-Christian or anti-religious, like the Knootians are."

Most of their holdings, the blasted wasteland of Sentinel Two aside, are very nice places to visit – Sentinel Two is however, home of every disreputable con merchant they can find…”

"Sentinel Two, you say?" the First Consul said with a slight shiver, making a mental note to send more troops to the C'tan/Syskeyian border on the Red Planet.

The Emperor was just as formal and polite to Mephet'ran as he had been to Sirithil. Zoë was more formal and less awestruck than she had been with the Elentari.

"Your Majesty," the Emperor nodded. "Congratulations. May I introduce my daughter, Princess Zoë?"

Zoë curtsied gracefully.

"It's an honour to meet Your Majesty." she ventured as she rose.

Vicotira paused, smiling a little as she considered Vethara's words. "Thank you for sharing with me Your Highness." Impulsively, she gave the other woman a quick hug.
...
Corrina came in from the balcony, walking towards the Emperor of Pantocratoria as he finished speaking to the bride and groom.
...
Sarah and Connor were still occuppied in conversation. The other Danaans were looking for it.

"Your Royal Highness," the Emperor nodded to Corrina as she approached. He recognised her face as belonging to Agwene's mother, the Grand Duchess Corrina. "It is a profound pleasure to meet you. May I introduce my daughter, Princess Zoë?"

Zoë on the other hand hadn't seen Corrina's photograph or portrait before, and didn't know who the sidhe was. Nevertheless, she assumed that her father had used the correct form of address, and curtsied elegantly.

"Your Royal Highness." she said as she rose.

“It makes me happy to have shed some light on the matter for you.” Vethara said as she hugged Vicotira back, rather surprised that the Sidhe who she remembered as very obedient of the Court etiquette would have such a moment of openness. “And please, just call me Vethara when we are not in public.” She smiled at the Sidhe. “Is there anything else you wish to know about my faith?”

Corrina smiled graciously to the Emperor. "Likewise, Your Imperial Majesty. It is a shame we were not able to meet before now." It's a shame your insane sister made relations impossible while I was on the Throne. Remembering herself, Corrina courtseyed politely. She turned to Zoe, returning her gesture. "Your Royal Highness." She turned back to the Emperor. "I understand your son, His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince of Pantocratoria and Despot of New Constantinople, is here as well?"
...
"No, Vethara. You've given me a lot to think about." Vicotira smiled. "You may call me Vicotira, if you wish. We are, after all, friends. Women in our positions rarely have such a luxury so it is all the more to be treasured."

Vethara smiled happily at the Sidhe. “You speak the truth, Vicotira.” She sighed a little, her eyes looking around her surroundings as she enjoyed the scenery outside. “And, I think I would have a question for you. You most surely know what happened in my country, with the… man who claims to be my brother returning and the passing of the new Constitution… well…” She looked up at the Sidhe, with eyes reflecting her state of confusion. “I simply don’t know what to do now! I do not know if that is my brother for sure, even if my heart tells me he is. I cannot risk going to the Grand Duchy to see for myself, for if his intentions are hostile…” She smiled sadly. “Yet, the people seem to have supported him. I am just… confused and lost…”

Vicotira looked down. "I don't know what to tell you. My sisters are good at this sort of thing. I've never dealt with it before. If you want to talk...I am here for you and...I would share your danger if you asked me."

"His Imperial Highness, is..." the Emperor said, subtly correcting the title Corrina had used as he glanced about the room to see Andreus and Aurora waiting to speak to the bride and groom. "...over there. Yes, he's here with his fiancée, the Empress of Lavenrunz. Her Majesty is a delightful and charming young lady, I hope that they'll be very happy together. I'm quite sure he'd love to meet Your Royal Highness once he gets a chance."

"His Highness is very fond of your people, madame." Zoë said, thinking of Anna's story about the sidhe mistress and the scandalous behaviour. The Emperor shot her a sharp look, and she practically turned white, petrified that she had angered him and gotten Andreus into trouble.

"We are all very fond of the Danaan people." the Emperor added calmly.

Corrina smiled charmingly to Zoe. "Yes, I was aware that a Danaan-born lady had achieved prominence in His Imperial Highness's Court." If she had any knowledge of the rather irregular way she had come to be there or of any other improprieties, she gave no sign of it. She then grinned to the Emperor. "And Duchess Manjula as well. I hope they are representing their homeland honorably."

The Grand Duchess then glanced towards Andreus and Aurora and from them to Agwene and then to Connor who she could only assume was flirting with the Elf woman he seemed to have gone aside with. "It is amazing, isn't it? It seems like just yesterday my...Her High Majesty...was just learning to read and now...happily...married."

Mephet’ran, having recited the usual platitudes and pleasantries to the Pantocratorian Emperor and been mildly charmed by his daughter, stepped aside for a moment to talk to Luinthelë. “What was that about?” he asked.

“Oh,” she smiled, “nothing, nothing at all.”

“Fine,” he said, “keep your secrets. Imp.”

“What’s up with you anyway?” she asked.

“Icia nelata ssarin lenanah itar Rana,” he stole a glance back at the senior Andreus, “Ician pre craeo.”

“Ah,” she replied, “How about Elenaran? It’s unique, and matches your soon-to-be wife’s title. And your nature.”

He smiled, “That is rather better actually!” he said, “Could you find Elash and have her add it to the to-do list?”

“As you desire Ranah,” she said jokingly, and walked off.

Now, Mephet’ran thought, I suppose I should go and meet Aurora and this ‘dire’ fiancée of hers. He walked over towards the couple, and restored his amiable smile.

---

Sirithil smiled at Sukothai again, “Well, it is an interesting contrast with your own devout nation, is it not?” she said. “If it makes you feel any better,” she added, “Sentinel two’s governor,” she nodded over towards the woman, who was sitting nearby with a glass in her hand talking to a low-ranking Menelmacari noble, “operates a zero-tolerance policy on Knootian traders. I believe she calls a C’tan penal colony ‘the home of the C’tani Knootian expatriate community’ given the number of them she has had arrested for smuggling…”

“Share the danger with me?” Vethara smiled as she shook her head. “As it stands, there might not even be a danger. Yet, if there is, the consequences would be most… deplorable and not at all enjoyable. Besides, I doubt your sisters would really like the idea of you going to a country with a potential impostor for popularly approved leader.”

She sighed and shook her head again. “I shall have to think of it, I guess. The Alexander Guards follow him… so he cannot really be an impostor. On the other hand, I assisted personally at his funeral and he was… dead…” She paused, smiling sadly. “It is all so confusing… and quite scary, too…”

Vicotira nodded. "Still...you are my friend." she said simply. The sidhe looked quietly around. Mephet'ran was walking over to Aurora and Andreus. Sirithil was talking to Sukothai. Her mother was talking to the older Andreus and his daughter. Her sisters were reuniting with Connor after the man's conversation with Mephet'ran's "mother". "When do you think the actual wedding will start?" she asked Vethara.

“And you are my friend.” Vethara said with a happy smile as she hugged Vicotira, sighing joyfully before giving a glance about the hall with the hosts and guests. “I have not the slightest idea. I am quite curious as to how it will happen. In Tarasovka, the Church of the Seven does not have such a notion as ‘marriage’ whilst the Orthodox and other Christians throw in a party after the wedding ceremony.” She smiled at the Sidhe. "So you can understand my curiousity."

Prince Andreus bowed with a flourish as Mephet'ran approached.

"Emperor Mephet'ran, I presume. May I present Your Majesty to my fiancée, Her Majesty the Empress of Lavenrunz? Your Majesty, His Majesty the Emperor of the C'tan." Andreus said, introducing the two monarchs. "And may I extend my congratulations to Your Majesty on the occasion of your wedding?"

Mepeht’ran smiled thinking to himself, at least he has manners. “Thank you,” he said, bowing just a little to Aurora and smiling, letting it be known how he was pleased to at last meet her. After a few moments, Sirithil, in a particularly graceful move, glided over to the trio.

So, Sirithil said, or rather, sent, using the same telepathy they had used earlier, This is the despot?

Mephet’ran smiled, speaking briefly in french, “Monsieur le Despot, may I present my soon to be wife, Her Majesty the Elentári of Menelmacar,” at the same time replying to Sirithil, Indeed, he doesn’t seem to be a bad person…just… a little spoiled.

“Sirithil, His Highness the Despot of New Constantinople,” he didn’t introduce Aurora and Siri to each other of course, as they’d known each other at least as long as he had known Sirithil, “I think, my dear, that we had best begin the ceremony shortly, it seems that everyone’s here,” he smiled.

“Of course,” Sirithil nodded shortly, “Your Highness, would you care to speak with me alone for a moment? I think I may have some counsel you will find interesting…”

"Certainly, Your Majesty." said Andreus, bowing gracefully. A small, sardonic smile stretched across his lips as he did so. If she's looking for one last brief fling before the ceremony, she's certainly leaving it to the last minute! He looked to Aurora. "With your leave, Majesty."

When Aurora nodded her consent, Andreus allowed Sirithil to lead him a little way off to speak with him alone.

Over the other side of the room, the Emperor nodded at Corrina's comments.

"Indeed, I met Mademoiselle la Duchesse recently, she's a most impressive young lady." the Emperor remarked. He looked to Zoë and offered her his arm, which she accepted. "And yes, they do seem to grow up very quickly. Princess Zoë is my youngest child, and if you were to believe here, she's practically an adult already."

Zoë blushed and glanced at the Emperor briefly before looking back to Corrina and smiling a little sheepishly.

Corrina smiled softly. "Her Highness is growing into a most lovely young lady. I'm certain all the noblest and handsomest young men in your country are already 'lining up,' so to speak, to court her."

She shook her head slightly. "I only have one singly daughter left, Grand Duchess Vicotira. I am not quite sure when she will finally find a husband, although I have heard of at least a one nobleman she met at Empress Aurora's birthday celebration to whom I have no objection."