NationStates Jolt Archive

Einheldorin was a Paradise, a vision of perfection, usually if such words where used to describe a world it would be hiding a hidden darkness. A secret cost lying buried beneath the surface ready to trap the unwary. Or it would be an exaggeration, this was not however the case here. Einheldorin was Paradise by design. The wild-life was abundant, the air crisper and with a fragrance that made each breath a simple joy, to breath in the light subtle scent that permeated the air, was a welcome feeling. The Seas where a shiny blue, the Mountains stunning, the water always fresh and safe to drink, and indeed refreshing as if just bubbling up from spring itself.

On an entire world of wonders through a few places stood out, small places where the designers of the world where inspired by the natural geography that they had to work with, and with the tools of both their technology and simple time, had set out to make sights that would take the breath away from even the most jaded of viewers.

At many of these sights Kegh now stood preparing them, nothing permanent of course for such places, or even that compelling a sight to look at, what was the point when the sights around them where so much more than could be built with even the tools of the Eldar. What was being put in place here was more a means to preserve the beauty for the almost dreaded visit of humans, the footfall of those not meant to be here. It was thought if a few simple amenities where put into place, a few simple comforts, they might take care while here.

At last all was ready, and so next would come the moment the council almost hated arriving at, months of work had gone into this, yet now came the moment when nothing could be taken back.

The Craftworld of Tor-Yvresse was going to have to send out invitations.

The invites



In Ishas name I greet you.

Friends both old and yet to become, the people of Yvresse invite you to a moment of history. In recent times we fought a war to return to us something long lost, with victory comes the time we have awaited.

The Eldar of Tor Yvresse invite you to witness this moment of the true victory when the prison of death can finally be, slowly, cast of and life renew itself for our people. We ask you for this favour, to witness with us, a moment none felt would come.

I remain

Iyanna Arienal Asuridain. Farseer, Prince.



OOC ooc thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=560081)

Building a working relationship with their Yvressi counterparts had been something to the order of a 'to do' item for the government of the Unione of Capitalizt States for some time--a party on their part was not only well timed all things considering, but amazingly convenient for a Department of State unindated with opportunities as of late.

Selecting an appropriate representative was a more difficult component; on one hand the Austarians didn't want to somehow offend the Yvressi by sending someone less than they expected in both rank and influence, and on other the Unione's most senior ambassador to the outside world (the Secretary of State) was fully booked for months to come. An only alternative remained in the Secretary-General, but this would have been impractical given the nature and scope of his role.

The next most obvious choice was brought to the government's attention, and soon the UCS' most senior diplomat to Mars (including such organizations as the MPA) was informed that he would be required to attend in the Secretary of State and Secretary-General's place. As Marzio Scevola's replacement after his promotion to head of the Department, he had big shoes to fill yet hadn't had a formal opportunity to familarize himself with the various dignitaries and powers across the politicalscape of Mars as of yet.

Neville Casanova then became not only the next best choice to attend as the Unione's representative, he became the only one. With a means to 'kill two birds with one stone', so to speak, the Ambassador left his office and residence within the Martian Duma for 'Einheldorin's Gate'. Within hours he would become the first Austarian to meet with the Yvressi in a diplomatic capacity in history. Whether or not he would succeed in building a positive relationship depended entirely on him and his resolve, together with the Yvressi's willingness and openness toward recieving him.

Although the Corporation’s presence upon the Martian surface was now reaching beyond the two decade mark, they still had sparse interaction with several fellow inhabitants of that planet, most notably those from Tor-Yvresse. What little dialogue had occurred in these past few years mostly consisted of idle comments to pass away the time in the Martian Port Authority chambers. In light of this, the coming party seemed to be a better way to interact with these neighbors, outside the formalities which always dragged down diplomatic events.

So it was decided that the Governor of the Colony of Valacirca, Alakantar Aleanrahel O’Neill, would be the best choice to send for this event – partially because of his home’s proximity to the gate on Mars and also because of his own personal interest in seeing and meeting new people. He was not one who particularly minded these sorts of events as it got him away from the office and into a more comfortable environment. Perhaps this could be considered a little vacation away from his daily duties.

With that mindset, he did not intend to go alone and thought it an excellent idea that he should bring his father along with him, as a way to relax for once. The day to day duties of running the massive corporate state along with the ever present problems were becoming a burden on the older man. He had certainly looked like he needed a vacation for once, or even just a breather for a few hours. It didn’t seem like that terrible of an idea, really. There was a party to be held with presumably plenty of alcohol, and Alakantar had the full intention of handing all of the diplomatic affairs that may or may not arise, giving the Chairman a chance to wander around and relax…hopefully. All in all, it seemed to be the perfect event - one that they both readily departed for upon finding the time and place of.

Farseer Tereah ran the hand-crafted brush through her flowing red hair for the one thousandth time as she combed her mane into perfect condition. She had all ready bathed and ran the shampoos made from her Craftworld's flora, giving her hair a slightly woody, but fresh and radiant smell to it. Looking at her self in the mirror in her private quarters of the Aconite class ship, she smiled pleased with the state she saw her self in.

She still wore her armor, of course. But over it she wore flowing silk red and silver robes that were all together similar to a dress. Her sword was sitting near her in it's sheath. She placed the brush down on the table in front of her and hoisted the blade, buckling it into place on her hip. She suspected that her Yvresse kin would make an issue of having to hand over her weapon, but she would of course make the point of it being ceremonial more than anything.

Tereah had mixed feelings about meeting with Yvresse again. On one hand she was of course delighted to associate with fellow Keigh and to exchange information. But on the other she still found the fact they freely associated with Mon-Keigh disturbing. To say the very least. Still, she was on a mission for her Craftworld and she couldn't let her personal feelings get in the way of that.

The standard greeting for guests. (Only the names of the people who meet you need be changed)

As each guest arrived they where met at the port itself by a Eldar Courtesan for the sake of ease, in this case it was a woman. Long robes hinted at the person beneath, and at times almost seemed to be indecent only for that second to pass and the person left with no firm reason to say why it was so. Each was dressed expensively and a fragrance hung around them, they smelt of times of oils, it seemed almost ingrained into their flesh.

They bowed low to the arriving guest and stepped forwards each having seemingly a person in mind ‘We welcome you to Einheldorin’s Gate. We apologise that the Council could not greet you in person but they are I am afraid unfortunately detained with last minute preparations, things that can only take place now.’ Taking the arm of the guests they led them towards awaiting transports. Grav cars hovering in the air to whisk the visitor through the tubes to the awaiting ‘Palace’
.

Once there they would offer the guests time to simply wander the newly planted gardens and take in the sight of the place, there was after all no rush to those guests who arrived early. Only those who came later might be rushed into inside. The hosts and hostesses, chatted amicably with the guests, with some a light flirting took place, a slight caresses of cheeks and kiss on hands. On others it was more formal, in this they where guided on the, dating situation of the guests, with those that where single flirting took place those where not, or at least those known not to be single, they stayed formal.

The only exception to this was the guests from the Craftworld Rai-Ithen. Although these where also not met by Farseers, and Courtesans also came out to flirt and take the hands of the visitors one element was different. One other stepped forwards to bow low and smile, a look that seemed oddly out of place on the mans face. He wore clothing reminiscent of a Warlock except where a Witchblade usually would be he was without weapons.

Bowing low he gave the usual explanation for the missing Farseers, and then went on ‘In their place the Farseer Badb Trill-Gorath asked me to meet our Kin, how could I refuse such a simple request from her? They also felt it wise for me to warn you that there will be a some quite large workings wit the Immaterium later on, nothing dangerous and I suspect when it starts you will recognise the intention, but it was felt best to inform you in advance.’

Tereah nodded as the Keigh informed her of some workings within the Warp. "I thank you, in that case. We are honored to be able to attend this event hosted by our Kin." She said, a small smile drawing across her face. At her side, a silent Keigh dressed in ceremonial armor stood unblinking, hoisting the small pennant of Ra-ithen on a poleax. A Warlock stood at her other side, also silent.

Behind the Farseer however came another Keigh, wearing elaborate red and silver armor, the proud colors of Ra-Ithen. The only hair he still wore was knitted in a tight braid which fell down his back. On his back, he wore a massive silver witchblade and his belt was slung a intriciate bejeweled shuriken pistol. Tereah opened her mouth. "The Craftworld has also sent this man, Sorel the Black Prince to represent us here. He has expressed much interest in looking upon the works of our Kin here."

The man nodded a moment to the Prince ‘I greet you then sir, here at Einheldorin’s Gate the view of our workings on Mars is perhaps a skewered one, this was built with a pure Kionashi aesthetic in mind, while elsewhere on this world, we have other concerns. Yet I hope you find pleasure in this place.’ It might seem strange that the man gave no name for himself; it wasn’t that he was being deliberately vague; rather his name might cause confusion. For a long time he had simply considered himself Gorath, Blade in the language of the Eldar, his wife, mistress, centre of his universe depending on what day you spoke to him, was Badb-Trill Gorath. The Lady of the Lamenting Blade, for a long time he had been that blade.

Or at least that was the illusion Badb had projected, it was not as simple as that of course, Badb was a Farseer and not reliant on others for her power, but it suited her purposes that outsiders think otherwise. He had been so consumed by that purpose that he had played his part in it willingly, and through things had changed somewhat, it still suited Badb’s purpose for him to play the role in public, and he was used to it.

In private he had a name, a name known to most Yvressians, but not one they felt willing to share even with Kin, secrets where best kept by not telling those who did not need to know.

Special Administrative Zone
Characoi, Xiopothos Occupied Territory
Kandarin Federation

"Mr. Reid, urgent communique from a Colonel Greenwich."

"Susan, Colonel Greenwich is dead." There was a pause. "Forward it to my office anyway. Directly."

Philip Reid took a moment to ponder the exchange as the message ground its way through, not from the brand new holopool in the center of the room, but the old-fashioned fax machine half-buried in the corner. He and his secretary had this exchange every few weeks. The Kandarinese records showed Colonel Greenwich as dead, but the old Xiopothan records didn't, so his address was still active and still had access.

Such were the complications of a bureaucracy in limbo. When the elves had descended from the skies with fire and steel and "intervened" in Xiopothos, they insisted that the old government be swept out. But the old records just couldn't go. Census forms, demographics, personnel records, land use - even with their technology, the elves couldn't replace all of that. So the old codes and records stayed, and with them stayed loopholes. Loopholes and relics. Reid was one of those relics, and he knew it. When the rest of the government - President Freehold, Little, Price, Goldberg - had been retired or exiled or simply 'disappeared', he was the last remaining member of the old human cabinet left in place in the elven occupation government.

The exact reasons why were an enigma. Perhaps it was because, as Minister of Land Management, he couldn't be implicated in any of the "crimes" the elves had accused Freehold's government of. Perhaps it was the lack of visible hostility he'd demonstrated toward the invasion. Perhaps it was even his age, for at thirty-five he was the youngest of the Cabinet and the member with the briefest tenure after the unfortunate death of his predecessor. In any case, he was still in office, carrying out the bizarre zoning ordinances enacted by his new elven masters, herding the human population into their geographic pens. And he was still getting messages from the late, lamented Colonel Greenwich.

This message, such as it was, was straight to the point:

Meet at 0700 morning of the 23rd. Important upcoming op to discuss. Your cooperation necessary. Contact info will be relayed previous night. Eyes only. Greenwich.

Reid read the fax, committed it to memory, and stuffed it immediately into his waiting personal incinerator. He had long since learned that such measures were necessary for any material remotely related to the resistance. He had known people who were less careful. He missed them dearly. Susan, bless her repetitive soul, had long since been drilled in the art of deleting all file records of these "accidental" communiques. It was only after the last scrap of ash tumbled into the bin that he noticed the second letter.

It was an ornate envelope, marked with the black and red dagger symbol of House Damis, flanking a small seal bearing the elven rune for the Kandarinese ruling caste; a caste that, for all their apparent anger with Xiopothos, took little interest in it as a possession. They regarded it as a backwater, a cesspit at worst and a repository of ugly memories at best. None of them had ever appeared in public there since before the occupation, and with one lone exception, none of the nation's new overlords had taken any personal interest in it. The letter, such as it was, was almost as brief as Greenwich's, though stretched out with jagged elven handwriting:

To: Office of Philip Reid, Ministry of Land Management

I require your presence for a matter of my personal interest. Be in attendance at Border Station No. 731, Zofia zone (Black zone designation) at 2100 on the 7th. Punctuality is critical.

Lady Anna Alexander, Secondary of House Damis, etcetera

Lady Alexander was the one exception, and Philip Reid wished she wasn't. It was her father who had started putting pressure on Xiopothos, and she had apparently inherited his zeal and spite. It was she who had, so the rumors said, ordered the initial bombardments. It was she who had, so more credible sources said, masterminded the invasion itself. It was she who had dissolved the government, declared the occupation, and carved up Xiopothos into 'security zones' that were looking more and more like giant cages. There was hardly a woman in the world he distrusted more. And yet, he had little choice.

When Neville arrived, one of the first things his Yvressi counterpart would have noticed was that Austarians didn't have anything to the order of a 'national dress'. Their culture was one of the military, but even more so daring entrepreneurship and resolve. None the less, much of the formalities had resulted in a Department of State who sent their diplomats wearing suits, not shirts--carefully shined shoes, not joggers. Sure citizens of the Unione of Capitalizt States had a casual component to each of their wardrobe; it was just that when any amount of business was guarenteed, they dressed to impress professionally.

Met by a courtesan on his arrival, he bowed his head out of respect for the woman and smiled, " Oh, no problems at all. "

" It appears that I might enjoy the company of a woman so elegant and fine, " he took her arm. " Your robes and ointment are just beautiful. "

Accompanied by the woman, he introduced himself personally over the course of the trip and in turn, enquired according to her background, her hopes, dreams, and thoughts of the future--remaining interested throughout. He shared of his own family; a mother, father, and five siblings... many of them involved to one degree or another in the Austarian business and government communities--particularly in the making of Wine. A single man, he lived by himself at facilities in the Martian Duma; his life was his job so to speak, although he had a few hopes for the future himself. His primary concern, was to do his job as the most Senior Ambassador to Mars well and to serve his government effectively. Yet all the same, one day he hoped to find someone and settle down as perhaps the Ambassador to one country or another.

As per his non-governmental options, he held a valuable portfolio of stocks in other companies, mostly family and friends' personal business enterprises.

Once at the gate, his courtesan gave him the option of going inside or having a look around the gardens outside.

" Actually, " he replied delicately. " I'd love a glass of Red if it's available. "

Sorel nodded. "It will be an honor to behold your workings here...assuming you haven't let your association with Mon-Keigh corrupt them." He said blankly. Tereah turned to glare at him. Even though she had the same concern as the Prince, she wouldn't have said anything to offend her Kin. Tereah quickly stepped forward. "You must excuse him. He isn't exactly...used to these diplomatic occasions. My apologies." She said diplomatically, but the Prince simply shook his head and took a step back.

Craftworld Ra-Ithen

For a second a murderous rage seemed to burn behind the mans eyes and the Courtesans looked at each other nervously, One of them seemed on the verge of stepping forwards, perhaps to usher the man away. Before such could occur the man seemed to stop, and staring off into the distance he smiled after a moment ‘Of course Farseer.’

Despite Tereah’s presence it was clear he was not speaking to her. ‘I have been, advised, by one wiser than I to simply say, what is so unusual about interacting with Mon-Keigh, was that not the ancient purpose of the Craftworlds, to trade with Mon-Keigh? To gain for our people what they had that we needed, that is all Yvresse does now, but on a larger scale.’

Beside him and around him the Courtesans breathed a sigh of relief, the moment had passed they hoped, still it might be wise to speak to the Farseer Tereah later.

Austar Union

Quenethal listened attentively to Neville smiling coyly at his tales of Portfolio stocks. While not the stuff intelligence reports where made of it did paint a clearer picture of the man, and might provide an insight that others could use. After all while her job was mainly to keep the man comfortable a side benefit like this was not ignored.

Men where often particularly susceptible to this, still she doubted she would get much more out of the man. Not that she minded, or changed her actions one bit in reaction to this. She was above all what she was currently, a Courtesan the path system made sure of this. This also led her to express simple goals and dreams, she was she assured the man very happy with her life. No citizen of Yvresse itself was ever, what might be considered in other societies poor, she enjoyed her life at the moment as she would enjoy the next stage of it.

‘Ah yes we have many wines, in your room perhaps I could show you them, I am sure after your trip you would enjoy a chance to freshen up, or I could take you to the foyer, at the moment the main hall is closed off, those last minute preparations I spoke of the Farseers undertaking, but other than that we have the run of the building.’

Leading Neville inside as she spoke the pair passed two massive doors beside the doors two pennants where hung each bearing the flag of Tor Yvresse. Before the door stood two figures unmoving wearing bright red clothing, and bearing two massive Halberds that crackled with Eldritch Energy. Their faces where obscured by helmets.

As they passed the two in either direction she leaned in to whisper in the ear of Neville a brief explanation. ‘The Everguard, only five of them are ever off Yvresse itself and only when the Asuridain is herself absent. They will not be at the party itself of course, but the council is quite serious in it’s desire not to be interrupted at the moment.’

St. Zofia Zone
Xiopothos Occupied Territory

Border Station No. 731 was an imposing, mostly featureless amalgamation of spires jutting from the thickly forested hills of Xiopothos' central highlands. No windows were immediately visible, but several dozen red beacons blinked from strategic positions across the building's surface. It was these lights that made the building so easy to spot from the town of St. Zofia, several miles distant. The station was functionally identical to the other 906 stations that bordered the Infested and Corrupted Zones, combining an auxiliary command center with a military base with a focus for the arcane technologies that were all that kept what was bottled up in the Infested Zones from getting out.

When Philip Reid entered the large, sparsely furnished entry chamber of the station, a low-ranking Adjutant behind a desk directed him to a conference room upstairs. She was, he noticed, an attractive young elf with a human name that he promptly forgot. Reid had long since given up on trying to find a significant number of Kandarinese elves with elven-sounding names. Some inexplicable cultural quirk, no doubt.

Upon arrival in the upper-story conference room, he found it to be the exact opposite of the entryway. The conference room was neat and polished, with comfortable chairs around a fine wooden table. The view was spectacular, a sweeping vista of forested bluffs, most of which were in the bordering Infested Zone. Discolored lights glittered on the distant horizon for a moment, but vanished as soon as they appeared. At 1645 hours, Reid took a seat, set his briefcase on the table, and waited.

And waited. He thought surely that if Lady Alexander was so insistent about punctuality, that she might make an effort to acknowledge his early arrival, or, for that matter, his presence. He had heard nothing from her since he had gotten the letter. Perhaps she had canceled and not bothered to tell one she regarded as inferior. Perhaps she did not extend the same standards of punctuality to herself. Or perhaps, Reid thought with a glimmer of hope, she was one of those people who insists on showing up exactly on time with no early or late arrivals.

The last theory was dashed, as 1700 rolled by with not a peep. Finally, at ten minutes after, the door creaked open.

"Sir, can I get you anything while you wait? Coffee? Tea?"

The question came from a small human girl who stood at the door, holding it half-open as if afraid to actually enter the room. Philip eyed her curiously. He guessed her age at perhaps twelve at most, mentally adding disregard for child labor laws to Alexander's list of sins. She was lightly-built, even frail-looking, with a freckled face, mousy little brown eyes, and dirty-blond hair that fell to her waist. She wore the uniform of a low-ranking member of one of Kandarin's servile classes, a plain brown dress that was notably frayed around the edges.

"Just coffee. Black."

He felt bad, for a minute, about sending the girl away with no other words. But, he told himself, there was hardly anything he could do if things were really as bad as they seemed. Regret turned to anxiety as the clock ticked, reminding the Minister that he would be in all kinds of trouble any time now. Distracted, he opened his briefcase and pored over some work. It was mostly a particularly nasty case that he'd been quietly avoiding, counting on the quarreling interests involved to take their problems out on each other. No sooner had he laid the papers out than the door creaked open again.

"Your coffee. Sir." The girl set an all-too-ornate dish on the table before exiting again, this time with undue haste.

An hour rolled by, most of it devoted to the case at hand. It turned out that neither party had any legal leg to stand on, and despite the vehement nature of both sides Reid could reasonably count on their languishing in purgatorial Kandarinese courts for eternity. Such effectively exhausted the material he had brought with him. Seeing personal calls as in poor taste and likely to be monitored, he finally began pacing the room in desperation. Finally, the door opened once more, but it was once again but the usual company, bearing a small tray.

"I, uh..." She looked decidedly embarrassed. "I made you a sandwich, sir. You must be hungry."

Indeed he was hungry, and so Reid was grateful for the sandwich. Yet something seemed to be not right. He'd had a poor opinion of Alexander from the beginning, but this tardiness was a sign that something was seriously wrong. Perhaps he had missed some critical flaw in her character. If that were the case, he thought, best to gather information from the only available source.

"Wait." The girl was already halfway out the door when he stopped her. "Stay."

"Why?"

"I want to ask you a few questions." This at least was sincere. "Here, sit down."

"O-okay." Finally goaded into sitting, she set down the tray and curled up with apparent discomfort in one of the luxurious chairs.

"So, um..." Reid struggled to find the best way to express his fears. "How long have you been working for Lady Alexander?"

"Since I was nine - no, eight. They got me started right at school age. I've never left her since." She seemed to sense the anxiety in his eyes, and continued, "It's not as bad as you think. You get used to it. I stay out of the way. Out of trouble."

"Do you at least get paid?"

"Paid?" The girl looked confused by the question.

"Yes. Do you or your your family get paid?" The girl shook her head.

Reid did his best to contain his anger. Practically everything he'd feared had been proven true, and now this - proof that Lady Alexander had sunk to the level of keeping slaves, even while denying him an audience. He sighed audibly, a concession to the outburst he would have preferred but knew to be futile. "I don't suppose she ever said anything about why I was called here, then."

"Oh yes!" The girl smiled for the first time since their meeting. "There was something about a party. She was going to leave and go to a party, and she wanted to bring you."

"Well." The Minister suspected that his next comment would get him in trouble if the room was bugged, as it almost certainly was. "While I don't think I have any choice, I would rather not go anywhere with her, if this is how she treats me and treats you."

"I understand." The girl nodded sympathetically. "You probably wouldn't like to spend time with someone like her. Would...would you want to go with someone like me?"

The question was absurd, but it had been posed, and Reid could not but answer. "Yes." he said with a smile. "Yes, I wouldn't mind going somewhere with someone like you."

"Granted." She climbed out of the chair and walked over to the windows, leaning over the sill to look off into the distance. "I'm sorry, Mr. Reid."

"Sorry for what?"

"Being ten minutes late. I told you that punctuality was important, and so I ought to have been on time. I hope you liked the coffee, I did make it myself." A dead silence settled over the room, as each looked at the other. "I understand, of course, how my behavior must have upset you, and I hope you can forgive me, at least long enough to accompany me."

Understanding flowed forth suddenly, carefully crafted illusion abandoned in favor of plain truth. "I’m sure I can, er, Milady?"

"No need. Titles are for people who cannot earn respect. If you must be formal, Miss Alexander will do. Otherwise, Philip, first names are quite all right."

Reid couldn't quite bring himself to that, but that was mostly because he had six close relatives named Anna. It really was a distressingly common name. "Of course, Miss Alexander. Do you have more information on the event itself?"

"The when begins the day after tomorrow. As for the where..."

Easily outpacing the slow meandering step of his son, who nearly always seemed to be more curious about his surroundings than anything else, the first of the Grummian party to arrive was the Chairman himself – an ordinary human male that appeared to be around his early sixties in age, with the graying hair and slight wrinkling upon his face to match. Age had not affected very much of his body detrimentally and still had managed to stand in at approximately six feet, two inches.

His clothing choice for this event was his military dress uniform, which consisted primarily of a rather drab dark blue trousers and a jacket fastened together with four silver buttons along the front, in addition to a light blue collared shirt and tie of the same color as the jacket. Along his shoulderboards, five silver stars, perfectly arranged in the shape of a pentagon, shone brightly, displaying his rank as General of the Air Force. Along the left side of his chest, multi-colored decorations, denoting his seven decades of service, provided a contrast to the dull coloring of the rest of his uniform.

In apparel almost exactly like that of the Chairman’s, except for a skirt in place of the trousers, was his security detachment for this event, Amanda Harris. While having the four stars of a general in the Grummian air force, she had wanted to go off for a small vacation of sorts, but not in any official capacity, so she managed to prod her childhood friend over these past couple of days, Alakantar, into bringing her along, which he grudgingly accepted. But to provide some reasoning for lugging this entourage along, she was placed as a bodyguard for the Chairman, but managed to not really look the part with her ranking.

However, their decision towards these particular outfits had managed to raise at least one comment.

“Maybe you should’ve gone for something a bit less…uptight?” his son mentioned offhandedly, now that he had finally caught up with the man and his body guard.

“Look who’s talking…” was the reply shot right back

Alakantar let forth a slightly laugh as he took note of what he wore. While certainly not having an outfit quite as restricted as the Chairman’s, his usual human-ish three piece business suit did manage to have an air of formality about it, but that was to be expected, particularly when such things were worn to formal events and meetings after all. The almost entirely black suit was remarkably unspectacular, not even possessing so much as metallic cufflinks, instead opting for plastic in most areas. It was not disarranged in any way and Alakantar managed to wear it rather well, even when considering his racial appearance – a male drow, shorter than his father by about ten inches. His flowing snow-white hair was kept neatly combed and tied back away from his face, for the sake of keeping it from annoying his eyes than for appearance’s sake.

“Well then, I hope we’re not the only ones who managed to do it…” Alakantar idly commented, at around the time they had met up with the Eldar courtesans and set out for their destination.

Despite the usual Grummian misgivings about being near these sorts of people, the two managed to shed that rather close-minded view – as was their nature – and greeted them cordially as they would any other individual. But aside from this similarity, the two Grummians managed to interact with them in almost entirely different ways. Alakantar tried to maintain a friendly conversation with the woman, generally opting for questions about her day, family life if any, and whatever general topics he could think of off the top of his head, while he related the same from his own life. It was not anything entirely too deep, but conversation one would engage in while meeting just about any person for the first time.

On the other hand, after the Chairman greeted the woman, he said not much more as he surveyed the various scenes around him, seemingly rather pensive as his eyes gradually moved about. He still had a lot on his mind, which was understandable given his position. The stresses of daily work, along with the continuing conflicts between the religious factions of Northrop-Grumman still weighed heavily on his mind, hindering any chance for him to relax. He had hoped that this party would give him a bit of a respite from his ever constant worrying, but so far, it did not seem to be the case…

"But to interact on the scale your Kionash has with the filthy Mon-Keigh it is..." The Prince began but Tereah silenced him by stepping in front of him. "That's quite enough. Leave this matter for now." She warned Sorel, before turning back to her greeter with a smile and a curt nod. "Now, onto the party..." She said, stepping forward with her group.

Craftworld Ra-Ithen

Before the man could answer the Courtesans stepped forward and nodded to Tereah, ‘That would seem wisest, such things are best discussed between Farseers not by their agents.’ With a pointed look towards the man they waited a moment and bowed once more to Tereah. ‘We must apologise for Gorath, he is, very loyal to his wife, who has charge over our workings here on Mars.’

We would be pleased to show you to the function, all is not quite ready yet, but rooms have been prepared for your stay. Including of course for yourself a place to centre yourself following your journey Farseer. The Prince we are sure might take the moment to prepare himself for mixing with Mon-Keigh, we admit it is not always an easy thing to face.’

Leading the fellow Kionash towards the party had the Courtesans momentary nervous, they knew Mon-Keigh had already arrived and hoped to avoid meeting them just yet.

Northrop-Grumman

The Courtesans noticed the unease of their charges and changed tack where as before they had given off an aura of sexuality they let it drop and settled into the role of simple guides. Hostesses at a function, and gave no hint of their earlier role. Even the moments of subtle indecency seemed to vanish.

Details as to their lives where interesting contrast perhaps to their role the Courtesan attached to Alakantar admitted to being a mother, of a child now walking the path of the Wraithbone singer, he had she admitted a small part in the creation of their venue. Although it was a very minor one, being new to the role. She spoke of her pride in his part in this through and her hopes for his future.

The woman attached to the Chairman simply allowed him to survey the scene occasionally explaining a few moments. ‘This is actually very interesting’ she said at one scene. ‘From a larger tale of course, this is the moment when Death, true Death first entered our race, it would lead to something far worse than death later.’ The scene in question showed two figures towering over a battlefield strewn with Eldar Corpses, one figure was dressed almost as the image of death.

Still the pair guided their charges slowly towards the party. ‘Would either of you care to freshen up or would you perhaps prefer to mix with the other guests who have already arrived, either is possible, we have rooms already prepared for your arrival.’

The UIS Indra was a large ship, a touch under two kilometres in length, it was the headquarters ship of a small strike force, commanded by Vice Admiral Karan Rajesh. A warlock class battleship, it had benefited from being refitted many times, incorporating elements of technology from many alien races, including the C’tan, and others. At the moment, it sat, with ten escorts of cruiser, destroyer and frigate classifications, over an inimical planet designated N-74-221. From a small observation deck, deep inside the ship, a man watched as the ship’s guns and missiles slowly caused a precisely calculated pattern of subsidence from vaporisation that made a desert on the surface slide under the waves of its methane ocean. It was a live fire exercise, or so it seemed, in actuality, the man had arranged for the attack to be made. It had been discovered some weeks ago by an automated probe that there was a slight danger of things that were best left buried being discovered if the planet was targeted for resource extraction. Therefore the man had briefly commandeered the Indra and arranged for large-scale subsidence to claim the area after a brief firing drill.

Satisfied that the problem area was dealt with, the man turned, stepping from the room, and making his exit into a lift that conveyed him to the third of nine large hangar bays in the ship, in which it could hold large numbers of spacecraft, lesser vehicles, even prefabricated mobile buildings for establishing military outposts. This bay contained only one vehicle, though, the dagger-like black form of a modified Grave-class assault shuttle, over a hundred meters lengthways. He stepped up into its side boarding hatch, a modification on the standard design, and climbed a ladder, flicking a switch in the cockpit forwards, to clear the vessel for departure from the Indra.

The ‘shuttle’ was, despite only having a token armament, the smallest mass produced ship featuring an inertialess drive, which allowed it to cross almost any distance in minutes, in this case, it took only a second to travel to Garm, and land the Tormentum Malorum in a courtyard, where gardens slid aside to reveal a hangar bay. The house was the home of ‘Marchioness’ Asaid Virenus and many of her ‘friends.’ The man stepped out of the ship, and frowned, considering the next, rather more obvious, assignment he had to do today.


Half an hour later, a heavily escorted sub-orbital flight from the region of Sentinel Two carried the delegation in total, it consisted of four ceremonial guards in gold-shining armour and red and violet vestments, carrying lofty warscythes, their faces hidden behind helms that resembled owls, with lettering in high necrontyr covering every surface of the shining armour.

With them, though substantially lower profile, were some twenty other guards, Mornahossë in black armour and chameleonic shrouding. They were of course, experts at making themselves scarce, and were mostly outside the structure itself.

The most important element of the group was of course, the Elenaran and his wife the Elentári of Menelmacar. She was dressed in a flowing dress of scarlet, patterned so that it seemed composed of thousands of rose-petals, above this, however, she wore what seemed almost to be armour, of a dark red metal, only in certain light could it be seen that this reddened copper material was ornamented, made of ribbons of metal so that the many pieces of what seemed to be an almost medieval protection over the body and arms were actually one piece of astonishingly flexible material, so cohesive that it formed a train behind her, and would surely have had to been teleported on. Even her fingers were girded in the woven metal, and each of the narrow strips, only millimetres wide, and carefully bevelled at the edges to ensure that one could touch the material without lacerations was inscribed in hieratic high Eldar runes, a verse from the Song of Cegorach.

Ranisath, meanwhile, was dressed in a more subdued red, a burgundy colour of his accustomed style of robes that showed off Sirithil’s more inventive costume. With them, were two generally unknown persons, dressed in a yet darker colour, both human, one male, the other female, both were somewhat unremarkable, though the woman had unusual, amber coloured eyes. They wore cloaks with hoods down, buckled on the appropriate shoulder by golden necrontyr sigils.

Other than these guests, there were a number of attendants, each dressed in darker red clothing.

Following Quenethal inside, Neville acknowledged each of the guards with a respectful nod and continued his course. Contemplating his options, he had longed for such an opportunity to meet with his fellow Martians. Even still, the time that he had was many and although his visit came with a purpose attached, he declined to deny himself some enjoyment.

" Actually, " he replied respectfully. " I would like it very much to have the opportunity to refresh myself. Then we can try some of the wine you were talking about--are you a drinker? "

" l like to consider myself a bit of a connoisseur, if you will... the subject entirely fastinating, and tasting almost always a joy. "

Despite the Austarian's interest in the subject at hand, Neville had other things at the forefront of his conciousness. If the diplomat appreciated his wines as much as his women, he would have pursued a career as a critic.

"Quite. Thank you." Tereah said, in reference to the bit where she needed to center her self and the Prince should prepare him self for meeting with Mon-Keigh. Expanding her awareness, Tereah sensed many minds arriving at the party. All of them were Mon-Keigh. The Farseer briefly contemplated delving into their thoughts out of idle curiosity, but she did not think there would be anything worth reading.

Tereah cleared her throat as she returned her focus to her immediate surroundings. "We have also brought gifts with us from Ra-Ithen for you, our Kin. Perhaps later on you can receive them more privately. Some of these gifts are of course items we would rather not present to you in front of others. Especially Mon-Keigh."

OOC: The Background catches up with some things, fluid time style, and should be read if you want to more or less know where things are. If you can’t be bothered, just skip to The Arrival below.


The Background

The timing of the event at Einheldorin coincided with a planned tour of the Kingdom of Nyi-Gardarika by His Most August Majesty Mikhail, the Vasilevs and Autocrat of all Taraskovya. After all, it would be unfitting for the ruler of a gigantic interstellar Empire to always sit in his beautiful palace in Vigvar without offering all of his subjects the joy and honour of admiring him as he visited their city, town, talked to mayors, council members and simple people. When the Eldar invitation was received, His Most August Majesty’s schedule was slightly rearranged; the trip to Krasgorod was moved a few days ahead so that loyal Nyi-Gardarikan subjects of the Vasilevs would not suffer from their liege attending the party thrown by some pesky foreigners.

Before the party, however, was the visit itself. His Most August Majesty toured the major cities, namely the provincial capitals of Vanaar, Zvargorod, Vladsk and Severovolost. He made a brief detour by the Os Sanglants protectorate before returning to Nyi-Gardarika. In Krasgorod, capital both of the Kingdom and of the Province of Dajdbog, Mikhail addressed the Royal Parliament of Nyi-Gardarika with a speech praising the Kingdom’s continued thriving and prosperity and its contribution to the Empire as a whole, commended Minister-Chancellor Gennadiy Juravlev on a job well done in integrating the new provinces of Lower and Upper Cimmeria and the Crown Territory of Argyre and hailed the Southern Crown Territory Rehabilitation Plan as a complete success. Mikhail glorified the Taraskovyan Empire and the Taraskovyan People as the strongest and hardest in this universe and beyond to a standing ovation of the regional legislators.

In his visits, the Vasilevs was accompanied by two women, one of which caught the continued interest of the Taraskovyan media. And whilst on the more formal occasions, like meeting regional and provincial authorities, the Vasilevs was alone in the spotlight, on more informal visits the smiling face of Princess Helen, Countess of Adrienople was always caught on camera. The beautiful young woman first came to the attention of the Taraskovyan press when she participated in the “Mystery of Goddess” album, spearheaded by the Vasilevs’es own sister, Grand Duchess Vethara of Taraskovya.

It was not clear back then whether Helen and Mikhail had met. But whether did or not played surely only minor importance as the two met for sure at the party celebrating the birthday of Helen’s cousin, Despot Andreus of New Constantinople and heir apparent to the Imperial Crown of Pantocratoria. What happened at the party would forever remain a mystery, yet mere weeks later Helen traveled to Vigvar for a visit of Taraskovya. And since then, the Vasilevs and his little Princess were seen more and more often together on many occasions, Mikhail skillfully keeping her out of the spotlight when appropriate, yet letting the cameras catch her smile when needed.

Travelling Nyi-Gardarika with Helen was Countess Marian of Mortville who, despite the rather dark title was a gentle, kind and charming soul. It was no secret to anyone that Marian was Helen’s best friend and some speculated that as the Nyi-Gardarikan tour was Helen’s first major dose of intense Imperial media interest, she took Marian along to feel less lonely under the spotlight.

After the visits were done, came a day of relaxation for the royalty as they geared up for the event organized by the Eldar. Everyone was staying at the Emperor’s residence in Severovolost, the northernmost city of Nyi-Gardarika. The residence itself was the lavish Sunset Palace, built specifically for the occasions where the Vasilevs would deign to visit his Martian lands. There was another palace in Krasgorod, the Red Palace, but Mikhail decided that the Realm’s capital had received sufficient attention already.

During the day, two other special guests arrived at the Sunset Palace, namely Mikhail’s own sister, Vethara, with her latest boyfriend, Alexander. Overall, the greetings were cheerful. Vethara hugged and kissed her brother, then went on to happily greet Helen and Marian, with whom she came to be friends. In between Mikhail and Alexander, however, some sort of coolness persisted, neither man liking the other much, often to the extreme annoyance of the one they both loved in their own ways, namely beautiful Vethara. All things said frankly, the Vasilevs would have preferred Vethara to come unaccompanied, but as he himself brought his love interest over, he could not deny his sister the same right. Well, technically he could, but that would have been quite immature to pull his rank in such a way.



The Arrival

The sleek shuttle carrying the Vasilevs and his suite landed where appropriate, circled over by a joint escort consisting of fighter craft from the Leib Guard’s Vigvar Aerial Regiment and the assorted aerial units of the 3rd (Sortvalian) Strike Corps currently dislocated in Nyi-Gardarika.

As the doors opened, at first two soldiers in the ceremonial armours of the Alexander Leib-Guards, namely black armour which looked both ancient and yet intricately modern over a blue tunic, a black cloak with a furred collar on their backs and their full face-concealing helms shaped in the form of wolf heads. Each of them carried flagpoles with triangular banners, one with a black background on which featured the silver Imperial eagle, surrounded by seven snow-flake stars, the other with a silver banner on which a rampant black wolf was featured. The banners of the Empire and of the Vasilevs himself. The two soldiers stood on each side of the ramp. Then came a further detail of six guards, which lined on both sides of the ramp and unsheathed their swords, forming a sort of an arch above the whatever carpet it was that got rolled out.

And then they came in their full splendor and glory. Mikhail, the Vasilevs and Autocrat of all Taraskovya, wore the black military uniform of a combat parachutist, which was his function during his regular army service. However, as this was the personal uniform of the Emperor, it was quite different from that of other captains. The trimmings were in silver thread, and the snow white scarf wrapped around Mikhail’s neck and half-concealed beneath the jacket, quite clearly had motives in golden thread woven into it. All in all, the outfit was a fine balance between outright luxury and full practicality, being neither too raw, nor too flashy for the occasion.

He descended the ramp accompanied by two beautiful and charming women, each holding one of Mikhail’s arms. To his right was Princess Helen, Countess of Adrienople, and to his left was Countess Marian of Mortville. It would seem that the Eldar courtesan charged with meeting the Taraskovyan Emperor would have some hardships taking him by the arm. However, she was still going to be able to flirt to her heart’s leisure as Mikhail was renowned in many circles for his rather pronounced interest for beautiful women. Even if as of some time now the only women people saw him with were Vethara and Helen. The former was his sister. The latter, it appeared, also held a special place in his heart.

And as the Vasilevs and his company came down, they were followed by Gennadiy Juravlev, the Minister-Chancellor of Nyi-Gardarika, who was a grey haired Ros in a formal evening suit, and General-en-Chef Jorma Talvela, commanding officer of the 3rd Sotrvalian Strike Corps. The man, in his sixties, was thus the commander of the tip of the spear of any potential Imperial offensive anywhere on Mars. Not that the Empire was gearing up for invasion, but Mars only recently became a quiet and calm place and the Vasilevs deemed that having some of his best assault troops on the planet was a good idea.

As the first party descended, the Alexander Leib-Guards reformed at a small distance, leaving the floor for their colleagues from the Lorelei Regiment of the Leib-Guard, the bodyguards of Grand Duchess Vethara. The black and white armour clad soldiers, in full face-conealing helms adorned with snow white wings, put up a display similar to their Alexander Leib-Guard colleagues. It is just that there were fewer soldiers and the two banners represented Vethara’s main titles: a banner for the Star Queen of Taurenor, and a banner for the Grand Duchess of Taraskovya.

And after the soldiers of the Lorelei regiment came the one who quite often unwillingly stole the spotlight even from her very own brother. And those who saw her coming down the ramp could very well understand why. She was in an emerald dress that that had neither sleeves nor shoulder straps, leaving her shoulders naked beneath her raven black hair. The corset which held the fabric on her tummy split in two as it went up for the breasts, concealing the generous mounds of flesh, and yet revealing enough of her cleavage to get the wildest of imaginations even more berserk. She did not wear any jewelry around her neck, apart from a simple silver chain with a silver cross of St. Olga, as well as a small silver whistle (of which only Vethara knew the meaning). Her skirt was flowing freely and was made up of several layers, not tied to each other, so that when she walked the fabric would reveal glimpses of her legs and of her high heeled sandals. Her arms were enclosed in long gloves of emerald colour fitting the dress. Both on the dress and on the gloves ran silver ornations. Her dress was also a fine balance, being both quite daring and yet still conservative.

With her was a man many came to see with the Grand Duchess on numerous occasions. Vethara’s love interest came down the ramp, the woman holding the man by the arm.

Universal happenings

As the guests slowly made their way towards the main building or actually settled into rooms, those sensitive to such things felt a surge of energy. For the briefest of moments it seemed to hang in the air, as if things neared disaster and then, it seemed to become calmer, gentler before the feeling seemed to almost completely vanish. Moments later the double doors to the main function room opened and the joining the two Everguard on duty where three more similarly dressed and equipped figures.

Following this group the Council itself emerged seemingly out of breath and tired as if having just ran some great distance, well all except Galdern, his form was encased in some strange contraption after all and hard to make out. Still they seemed proud and quietly slipped off in separate directions to freshen up.

Ctany

Prince Jelthier was actually quite nervous as he awaited the arrival of the guests from the Necrontyr Empire and Menelmacar. As Kin the Noldor of Menelmacar could not be met by just Courtesans but with the Council busy some other arrangements had to be made, so he had been drafted for the job. At least the fact he had formally walked the Courtesan path himself prepared him to some extent for the meeting, not greatly. Although no one had briefed him on what to do if the guests came with a small army. Sure it was only some twenty odd but he had heard stories.

In the end through they where kin and trusted to act with restraint where needed so he had his small entourage made their way forwards with a bow. ‘To the most blessed friends of Tor Yvresse and our kin, the council extends their greetings and their regrets that they could not meet you in person.’ He spoke with all the grace his former path imparted on him.

As with the other guests they would be slowly led away to the main building, as they felt fit, and shown to either the Foyer or private rooms.

Taraskova

More guards and this time not those of Kin, some would of course have to be allowed that much they had little choice in, but not so many. The Courtesans where not quite cleared for this sort of detail still a simple solution presented itself to them. One that fell closer to their own realm, they would not addresses the security issue, but rather that of Protocol, since the Asuridain had herself but five personal guards present within he structure, no guest or group of guests should bring more.

Of course they did not come right out and announce this to Mikhail, but as the Courtesans bowed to their guests the lady who was to attach herself to General Jorma leaned forward to whisper into the mans ear. ‘Sir it seems to me likely one such as yourself is best addressed in such matters. We would not wish to offend the Vasilev with such matters but we would request a limit on the number of Soldiers within the function itself. Since the Asuridain herself has only five, might we humbly suggest your party bring no more than five themselves? The rest I am sure can liase with the forces stationed here and still remain true to their duty.’

The other Courtesans took note of the relationships on display and played it far more formally than with others. It would not do, after all, to upset the loved ones of the guests with an overt display of flirtation. The guide attached to Mikhail played a very careful game, flirting with the man, who information showed would likely appreciate such, but making it clear that nothing more than innocent flirtation was going to occur for the benefit of the Princess Helen.

Auster Union

Quenethal smiled at that dipping her head low in ascent and leading the man towards his rooms. Where she was sure she could keep him… entertained till the main event started.

(Sorry so short but… do we need to go into details on what occurs behind those doors;) )

Craftworld Ra-Ithen.

Leading the small party of fellow Craftworlders to their rooms was a relatively simple matter, although Gorath seemed to do so with reluctance at times, any lingering annoyance was brushed over by the Courtesans. ‘The Asuridain would, I am sure, be only too happy to meet with you in private once things have gotten a little less hectic. She has expressed her wish for such.’

The Suite set aside for the Kionash was rather simple Tereah’s meditation chamber was as shielded as any Farseer could wish, fitted to exacting standards. A small amount of exposed Wraithbone was evident and, what could be best described as an unused Infinity matrix, while no souls filled it, the rest of the properties where same. Including the presence of a small number of Warp Spiders that crawled across the Farseer and began the process of aiding in setting ones mind at ease.

OOC assuming no one minds my next post shall use flexitime to get the actual party started.

"Did you notice that?" Reid asked anxiously, experiencing a sudden twinge of something unfamiliar.

"Notice what?" Anna turned around and peered at him curiously, walking several steps behind her.

"A sort of...excitement. Hard to describe."

"No. No, I can't say that I did. It was probably warpcraft, psi...what you would call magic. If you don't like it, I would recommend staying close to me." With that, she continued walking through the vast entryway gallery, quietly reflecting on the circumstances that had brought them so far. It was a coincidence, really, that had let the invitation fall into her hands. Normally, she made a point of avoiding deliberate ceremony, but the circumstances demanded it. It would not do to have associates whose loyalties were uncertain. Anna had resolved that, by the end of the event, she would be either adored or despised in the eyes of her companion. If she had to endure the pomp of a galaxy to do it, so be it. Sometimes intractable problems simply demanded an unusual approach.

There were still things about the approach that upset her. The letter was definitely overkill. Of personal interest to me...the words were cringeworthy, even for hyperbole. Still, perhaps it would do to present a caricature to demolish, if the legendary arrogance of the Eldar proved not enough. There remained the risk that the caricature would remain at the forefront, but that would at least provide certain results.

Stopping at the base of a vast statue, Anna peered at the presentation of the small Kandarinese party through a shimmering reflective piece of plinth. She had opted for a plain, conservative black dress, long-sleeved and ankle-length, with a pair of black leather boots in the military style. The dress was adorned with intricate embroidery in red and gold, tiny symbols and runes in hundreds of different languages. She had done up her hair in a single elaborate French braid seemingly held together by evenly spaced steel bands, the whole arrangement disturbed only by a single large white flower tucked behind one ear.

Reid was more plain. He had worn only a plain dark grey formal suit, as occasions of great ceremony were rare in the Xiopothos district. Anna privately thought he was more sensible, but did not say so out loud. There would be plenty of time for such things later.

Even considering that Taraskovyans were not of “Kin”, whatever “Kin” was, the greeting was a mild insult. There was not even a guard of honour to meet the ruler of an overtly militarist country. But regardless of his thoughts, the Vasilevs did not let anything reflect his brief moment of dislike, the soft smile on his face not vanishing throughout the introductions. Vethara, herself, did not even pay any attention to the lack of a formal greeting party, as she never considered such things important. However, the Minister-Chancellor and the General-en-Chef clearly frowned at the way their beloved ruler and commander-in-chief came to be treated.

It was, thus, not surprising that General-en-Chef Talvela looked coldly upon the courtesan as she whispered to him.

"The leib-guards are not going to follow us,” he whispered back. “Those people will.”

The Sortvalian gestured behind him as from another shuttle descended a small party of men and women in the liveries of Winter Palace staff.

“Some are just attendants for the most mundane of tasks. Some are unarmed operatives from an organization you need not know about,” he allowed himself a polite smile. “As chief of Taraskovyan security for the event, I am simply not mandated to compromise on that.”

So okay the last ooc was a small lie.

Tarasovka

The woman nodded and shrugged once the group had made it off the immediate the landing area, they where met by a group led by a man wearing, a strange mix of armour types and styles. Upon his back, folded now where a pair of wings, and, his armour was thick and almost heavy looking, as much as anything made by the Kionash could be called heavy looking.

Behind him was a small group of figures, their armour was a thick and sturdy looking as their leaders, and in their arms they carried large weapons, which carried a hint of almost malevolence. The man bowed to the Party as they approached. ‘I apologise that I could not meet you as you landed, but the Asuridain wished all arrivals to be greeted equally. May I have the honour to introduce myself, I am Autarch Jearl, Duke for my actions in the cleansing of Mars.’

OOC: Sorry for forcing a brief detour :( Feel free to move things on from this point.

____________________

“It is an honour, Autarch, and there is no need for any apologies,” the Vasilevs said as he inclined his head in sign of greeting before gazing over the soldiers accompanying Jearl. “Besides, Danifae here has been a most charming welcoming committee.”

Behind the Vasilevs, the faces of the Minister-Chancellor and of the General-en-Chef lit up at the sight of Jearl, the famous cleanser of Mars, or Remover of Stupidity as he was dubbed in Nyi-Gardarika. All initial bad impressions were gone once and for all.

The members of the party were presented to the Autarch and the Autarch presented to them and then Danifae and her colleagues led the guests further into the complex.

The Background:

Everqueen Aliria received the invitation to the party with enough time ahead to plan ahead how and when pay a visit to the old steadfast allies of the Kionash. Having a rather large and close colony to the place of the gathering, she traveled a week ahead to the Martian colony of Craulnober, administered by her life-long friend Princess Vicereine, former Marquise, Aleinna Cúthalion.

Surveys and supervising had to be made. Several of the most important projects of the empire took place in Mars, in spite of the strong opposition that several of the important noble houses of the Sindar Empire had manifested regarding improving, colonizing, or establishing important assets over the Red Planet, due to its already disappearing instability and the presence of unwanted neighbors. The Sindar were building some public projects, as the huge entertainment facility that was planned to host every power present in Mars, or the expansion of colonization alongside the Hellas Sea within the international Red Waters project, and other secret projects that remained confidential.

Meetings between the highest command of both Craulnober and the Aelosian Craftworld, both secret and public, were held. Dozens of new towns and small outposts were blessed with the presence of the ruler of the Empire, who came to encourage the colonists and pioneers that migrated from the Craftworld metropolis to establish themselves in a new, and in some cases, extremely hostile environment. Finally, after a week has passed, and the Princess had finished her business over Craulnober and assembled her high profile entourage, she took a specially assembled grav vehicle caravan, and traveled to the heart of the neighboring lands of the Yvressi by land.

The Arrival:

The grav vehicles that were speeding through the deserts of Mars came to a halt in front of the Tor Yvresse huge complex, the pair of military Falcon Gravtanks that protected the vanguard and the rearguard of the assembly, painted deep purple and violet, stopping first.

The Grav Bikes protecting the convoy's flanks came around and stopped, with the fierce female soldiers of the Berethauth Royal Guard riding atop them alert of their surroundings. For most that knew the Princess Aliria during her years as diplomat, special agent and heir to the throne such exaggerated display of tight security was extremely uncommon, as she usually traveled accompanied by just an skeleton escort, if any. Perhaps becoming the Head of State of the large Sindar Empire had changed some things after all.

From the grav cars in the middle of the convoy, of exquisite design, the aelosian delegation came out, joining the ruler that descended from an armoured and heavy Gravtransport the size of a train wagon, painted in the grey colors of the Royal House of the Sindar.

Aliria was dressed with a marvelous silvery dress, of an elaborate cut that extended itself to her feet, made of an impressive silk woven from thousands of different threads collected across the universe. The resultant fabric was so bright that sometimes was hard to look upon the garment given the strong reflection of light the fabric created. Even more, the dress looked as if made by a flexible and polished kind of metal that reflected light as a mirror.

That hard impression was lessened by the simple and rather dull cloak that was placed over her shoulders, and fell to the ground after sliding over her back. It was a linen, extremely common cloak, almost utilitary in its design. The rest of the outfit was completed by the magnificent royal mithril circlet that rested upon her forehead, decorated with dwarven-bought gems, a short collar of black and white pearls that decorated Aliria's throat, and a delicate pair of ballerina shoes encrusted with diamonds, specially chosen to give the Everqueen the freedom to move and dance as she pleased without harming her delicate feet.

Flanking her, as usual were two of the Noble's Houses Heads. To her left, in a extremely significant place, stood the Lord Protector of the Empire and ArchDuke of the Hyral House, Kithail Hyral, an old friend of the Tor Yvresse former regime, an elder sympathizer, and the Supreme Admiral of the vast aelosian fleet that usually was deployed near the Sol System to supervise the activities around Mars. He was clad in his usual exquisite masterwork full body suit of golden wraithbone armor, a unique piece once crafted by eldar armorsmiths that had been on his family for generations, accompanied by a bright red and long mantle that marked him as the Great Master of the Phoenix Order of Knights. Carrying the ancestral sword of the Sindar on his hip, Aranruth, with the permission of the Everqueen itself, more as a badge of office than a true threatening weapon, he was a common sight at Aliria’s side, being the absolute commander of her military forces, and her personal champion.

At her right, also with a large significant place with a unique meaning, stood the Princess of Craulnober and Vicereine of Mars, Aleinna Cúthalion, dressed in a simple pair of tight black pants made of artificial fabrics that covered her lower body, with a pair of knee high purple velvet boots, and a also purple blouse held in place by a belt of silver dragon skin. The bright blue cape marking her as the ruler of the aelosian assets of Mars was little more than an oddity when compared with the rest of her outfit. Even rarer was the human-style black pair of glasses resting upon her nose, as not even one elf dared to cover their sight with the human accessories, considered usually just prosthesis for night fearers with eyesight problems. Yet, the former Marquise always classified them as “classy”.

Behind her, a single figure clothed completely in black, wearing an outfit similar to the medieval muslim abayas, almost hid under the light that reflected the Everqueen's garments, and almost looked as its shadow, something more pronunciated by the fact that the figure only moved following Aliria's step, and had its face almost entirely covered, leaving only the eyes to open view.

Aliria walked forward to meet the Yvressi courtesan just accompanied by her three closest companions, leaving entire patrols of guards and attendants behind, who remained under orders of watching the convoy after reaching more secure positions. For sure the security measures were more intended for the trip, than for the party the Everqueen was attending.

The Happening:

The young eldar has a great amount of elegance shown in his gaunt figure, for sure.., Aliria thought, when someone a great rush of something in the air invaded her mind, ravaging the inner and gentle bases of the most hidden places of her mind. First she felt the urge to rip apart the eldar courtesan's throat with her bare teeth, then she felt like disposing of the clothes of both and making love to him on the floor, and finally she felt a strong headache invading her brain.

Closing her eyes, and pinching the base of her nose between her thumb and her index finger, she asked softly, not at all recovering from the weird sensation. "What was that?".

Before the startled Kithail or Aleinna could answer, the black figure in the back answered in a deep, almost humming female whisper. "A psychic wave of some sorts, I guess. Just keep walking, and salute our hosts, your Majesty, it already passed".

The Everqueen regained her composure, alongside her charming smile, now not just full with innocence as the previous years before she attained the throne of the sindar, but with a slight touch of wisdom and experience in court dealings. Raising her hand in the traditional eldar salute, she waited until Aleinna started to speak, pronouncing the officcial presentation, directing it towards the courtesan. "Let's begin with the formalities. As you already know because you are standing here, in front of you stands the Everqueen of the Aelosian Craftworld, the Empress of the Sindar Empire, Aliria nos Elúrin nos Dior nos Thingol, who bears the blood of the Sinda, of the Maia and of humankind, who came under invitation from your rulers, the most respected and venerated council of Tor Yvresse, to attend to a formal gathering", said the Princess of Craulnober, in a relaxed tone, almost with a slight touch of boredom.

“Smile!”

Farahind just held her face in her palm, shaking her neatly styled blond hair as she shook her head at her companion. She peeked through one eye and sighed outwards in the style of a tired parent.

“Okay, one last time, you will not make any references to pointy stereotypes back home, no calling them hippies, twinkle toes, perky tits, Santa’s little helpers, limp wrists or anything else likely to get you stabbed, make no mention of shampoo, waxing gel or blow driers, make no metaphors implying that you and you alone are the only person not wearing women’s clothing there, you will not make any come on which include asking people if they like dragon riding, damsels in distress or god forbid using the hung like a dinosaur line. You will not challenge anyone who isn’t familiar with what you are to an arm wrestle and you will not show them how strong your handshake is. Clothing is not optional. Your pecs are not especially manly and please, please for the Guardian’s sake as well as mine please do not refer to yourself as the only acceptable form of bestiality. Now, have you finally put some pants on.?”

“Yep!” Semp said gleefully. Despite knowing the correct answer Sarah opened her eyes anyway.

“Great. Seriously, its not smart and its not clever.” She said, walking past him in the hold of the Wyvern drop ship, the functional military transport kitted internally for VIP travel but, being Freestian, this still meant a spartan and uncomfortable journey from the escorting warship to the surface. “Just…argh…I mean, would it kill you just once to take this stuff seriously? I mean, if it weren’t for that goddamn Blood Pact thing I would just leave you locked up in a dungeon back home considering what a goddamn walking incident you are, but you’d probably enjoy that too. So, you know what, be good tonight, and…I promise” She leaned into whisper in his ear. “I won’t kill you with my bare hands.”

“Fair enough.”

“Now go get dressed, Sempero. You look like you’re cold.” Sarah smiled, taking a pair of hairpins and idly working them into a smart bun.

“But I’m cold blo…oh.”

***************

And thus the Freestian delegation arrived. Dame Sarah Farahind, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth stepped down onto the pad, at first seemingly unaccompanied. She wore traditional robes again, transparent but multilayered, ensuring modesty even as background showed off a little of her figure. The dress swayed lightly in the draught of the exhaust, and she moved forward to the courtesan assigned to the Freestian delegation and bowed politely.

Sempero followed, timing his descent for maximum impact, and his arrival was heralded far before he appeared in the form of trembling footfalls. A massive bulk, quadruped and streamlined, a massive jawed and horned head emerging first, followed by powerful shoulders matched with a set of membrane wings. Legs the physical size of oak trunks followed, capped by a tail stretching a good few yards behind that swayed rhythmically as he walked.

What emerged by Farahind’s side was, to most people, the form of a dragon. Standing over twice the Ghoul’s height even leaning forward on his front arms, (Farahind was in turn not exactly short), the gargantuan reptilian hulk slowly rose onto his hind legs, putting one naturally armoured knee (roughly eye level with the Eldar greeting him) forward and bowing with his magnificent head, close enough for the courtesan to see him wink playfully from an eye the size of a fist.

“Death…” the Chairman mumbled under his breath in response to the courtesan’s explanation of the scene before him.

He had not fully understood the significance behind it as his knowledge and experience of Eldar history was sketchy at best – after all, there happened to have been little interaction between the primarily human nation and this race. However, he did take note of what the woman had said, his mind applying its own meaning towards it and unfortunately bringing some of his own issues to mind. He was no longer a young man, nor did he have the lifespan of the woman beside him or was even anything other than a plain human being. The only thing truly managing to keep him alive at this point was through the intervention of his Chief Advisor, and who truly knew how long that was going to last. All in all, he knew he was near that point in his life and knew that he was seriously becoming quite old. And that in itself, did not exactly help cheer him up here…

“Yeah…” he replied after a few seconds of silence. “I can think of a few offhand.”

Meanwhile, maintaining a greatly more cheerful conversation, Alakantar appeared to be overly delighted to hear about the success of the woman’s son and commented as much, congratulating her on all that he had done so far. The drow related to her that he had no children of his own at the moment, but hoped for quite a few – yes, he did seem to want more than three or four – years down the line once he had hopefully settled down with his girlfriend. But those things were not exactly the foremost on his mind and ought not to be, mostly because he was still quite young, twenty-five years of age to be exact. There was still so much more in his life to do and taking care of children would be a tremendous responsibility, one that he was determined to make the time for, and would not have any until he could really be a good father for them - a prudent choice, he truly believed.

As the group gradually walked toward their destination and talked, the question from the one courtesan did not come as a complete surprise – they were here for a party, not exactly to wander about the halls. “Hrm…well, we probably ought to go see what everyone’s up to. It’s not like we had to travel very far to get here, by the way,” Alakantar grinned widely and waved his hand out ahead of him. “Lead the way.”

Tereah gave her thanks to her Yvresse escorts as the party from Ra-Ithen entered the suites prepared for the,. The Farseer immediately went to her meditation chamber and folded her legs in the middle and began to let the warp spiders purge her of all the filth and taint that had made it's way onto her person during the journey. She had all ready prepared her body for this mission, and now she was able to prepare her mind.

Prince Sorel, on the other hand could not seem to settle him self. He was growing increasingly restless as the hour neared for the party. The other two Eldar that had accompanied the Prince and the Farseer watched on, slightly nervous about what the Prince might do if he would not be able to calm him self.

After some time together, Neville Casanova and his courtesan emerged from his personal quarters fully refreshed. With a higher level of tolerance to alcohol consumed (albeit with some help from a number of pills he was carrying), he was not drunk nor tipsy. Rather, the Austarian appeared confident and collective, a sure responsibility of his as the most senior diplomat to Martian Affairs.

Taking a look around at his surroundings, Neville took in the magnificance and effort that the Yvressi had gone to building such a structure. Not only had they taken care of the structures most important engineering qualities, but its more visually pleasing components. By comparison, the Unione of Capitalizt States of Austar Union was not a place for castles and landscapes, but economically-centric towers that tended to blend in with one another across a nation of almost pure cityscape. If the cities of Neville's homeland could be described in just one or two words, they would be very cosmopolitan, the entire country in one way or another an amalgomation of very interconnected Megatopolises save for a very numbered amount of reserves and city parks.

The architecture reminded him very much of some of the older structures from home actually, such as the Richardson Avenue Theatre and the Chapel Street Opera House. The cathedral on the corner of 43rd and High Terrace from the country's more religious days also came to mind, still under the protection of the Historical Buildings Act of almost four hundred years or so years prior (relative to whichever calender you were using).

Turning more towards the entrance, it became apparent to Neville that some of the other guests were arriving as he witnessed the arrival of one after the other, in quick succession. Deciding that it was time to finally take the opportunity to socialize (and re-realizing that he had a job to do), he took his courtesan by the arm and worked his way more toward a main hall/lobby sort of area where most of the other guests seemed to be gathering.

Aelosia

As with the other Kin they had coming the Aelosians got more than a simple Courtesan to meet them at the Port, instead a Corsair met the Aelosians at the head of the delegation. Smiling and bowing low taking the Everqueen's hand and laying a small kiss upon it. ‘Ah your beauty is as they said it was your highness. The council has been blessed by your presence here today. Oh but forgive me where are my manners, may I introduce myself, I am Captain Cerelan, for my sins I am a Corsair working for the honoured Princess Ellyion.’

He had to remind himself not to flirt too much with the Queen of Aelosia, she was, they said, engaged to Maglor the son of the lady Sirithil and a dangerous person in his own right. Knowing this he had planned to be little more than mildly flirtatious and then, well then that idea was thrown out the window. The Everqueen first appeared angered but then, oh but then, the look on her face was one of pure lust, if he didn’t press his luck now. Well what sort of a Corsair would he be, besides what was life without a little danger?

‘May I escort you for the evening your highness?’

The Freethinkers

For a moment as Sempero emerged the Courtesans where not sure what to think, apart from the man’s size, or should that be creatures size, and obvious strength, was the concern that well… where they meant to flirt with such as he. To take the question further where they meant to, if he asked for it, sleep with the man? It wasn’t something usually covered in the Path, in the end they had to decide for themselves. Thinking for a moment the woman who was to attend him smiled slyly to herself. Well how often do you actually get a chance like this?

Bowing low to Dame Sarah the man attached to her was, thankful she was more normally shaped, leaving him without such concerns. ‘My Lady we welcome you to Einheldorin’s Gate on behalf of the council, and in the name of Isha. I am afraid the council is detained with last minute preparations, and so was unable to meet any of their guests upon arrival. Still if you would come with me, we should be starting within the hour.’

Kandarin

Two problems faced the Courtesans sent to greet Anna and Reid, both centred on Anna. For a start there was the unmistakable appearance of Anna, for all intents and purposes she was a young child. SO no Flirting or hint of sexuality would be exactly a good idea, and that was basically what Courtesans did, it was a part of who they where, the second was… she made them very uneasy. She was not natural; she was blankness in the flow of all souls.

She was, as the Eldar viewed such things, Soulless, in Kionash Society a ‘thing’ such as Anna would in the highly unlikely event it was even born, be killed at birth. Taken from the Parents and slain. It was an aberration an affront, and here was one attending as a guest to their function.

They steeled themselves and did their duty, although even ones as trained as this group could not keep the flicker of distaste from their eyes as they looked at her. ‘We greet you in the Councils name, they are sorry they could not be here.’ The rote had never sounded so forced, in truth they knew the Council would be very pleased not to be here. ‘If you would follow us I am sure we could show you to the others’


The main event

After a brief time had passed the various Courtesans accompanying the guests smiled and mentioned that it was time. Leading the guests through the doors into the main hall. Inside was a massive room, gilded pillars held aloft a roof that was barely visible to most eyes. In one corner a small collection of tables sat waiting the guests, for now empty other than for candles that where already lit. From them emanated a strange scent into the air around them.

Elsewhere on a slightly raised platform a ‘band’ played for the guests as they entered, for now mostly background noise although as each party entered they played a brief portion of the national anthem of that group, before going back almost seamlessly to other tunes. A small curious element of Kionash art came into play for most of the guests at this point, as it carried over into the psychic the music able to affect the listener perhaps more than was truly deserved, or they could have just been very good. What was definitely the effect of the Psychic was how the listener at some points could almost picture scenes in their mind, and then it was gone.

More curious than any of these things however was the fact that the westernmost wall, was seemingly guarded, four red-robed figures armed with Halberds stood at rest, flanked by other less imposing figures. Eldar clad in the light armour of the Dire Avenger, huge head-plumes decorating their helmets, although all where armed, they did not seem to be too concerned. Instead they politely if firmly advised guests that it would be in their best interest not to get to close to the wall.

Oddly enough those that did approach the wall felt a small, slight breeze from what appeared to be solid structure.

Once all the guests had entered the doors opened once more to admit Iyanna proceeded by the last of the red robed figures. As was almost custom for Iyanna her clothing was, simple. Unlike most Farseers it was not the Runic Armour, rather it was a bright Gold Corset that seemed pulled to impossible tightness around her waist. For all it’s seemingly… oddities, it was the Armour of Vaul and a part of her raiment’s of office. In her hands she carried a spear, as if it where a staff. Around her feet almost ruining the mood a strange cat stalked.

Behind her came the rest of the Council, well all but one of them, Galdern had called off based on not exactly being great company at such events. First after Iyanna was Badb beside her was Darvins. Of the two Badb came closest to the normal image of a Farseer, although she was unarmed, Darvins managed to somehow married the look of a biker with that of a Farseer. Behind them finishing off the procession was Nais. Her placement was not, however, a reflection on her status.

Making her way to stand just on a slightly raised platform before the band the music stopped and Iyanna nodded turning to face her guests. ‘We thank you all for making this journey, I shall for now, follow the wisdom of a friend at a similar function and keep my words short. We welcome you to Einheldorin’s gate. We also welcome you to Einheldorin.’ With that said the Guards along one wall turned and filed out, and Iyanna made her way down to face it.

Once facing the wall she tapped her staff once on the Floor with a resounding bang a slight flash of light followed and the wall vanished. In its place was the open sky, and a beautiful landscape that stretched into the distant horizon. At some point the edges of a city could be made out, actually fairly close but just out angle, for those viewing inside the room. As if to dispel any thoughts that this was an illusion of some sort, Eldar stepped from inside the wall bearing platters of both food and refreshment and began to circulate amongst the guests.

‘And that shall end the speeches for now I feel.’ With that said Iyanna handed her spear over to the last remaining member of the Everguard who gave a bow and left to join his companions.

"Of course." Anna replied, offering a hand to be led in. "And I greet you on behalf of my house and all Kandarin. We are eager to see the restoration of your people." This was the general gist of it, for the greeting was conveyed in the Eldar language, or at least what of it could be managed without the psionic aspects thereof. At this, the Courtesans appeared to merely become more offended, though they hid it well.

With the attention paid to Anna, the Courtesan who would no doubt have been intended to accompany Reid in never reached him, hovering nervously near the other. This he did not fail to notice. To him it appeared as if they felt awkwardly about both of them, especially as, in the corner of his eye, he could see a Kionash envoy warmly greeting a party of other Eldar.

Later

"What was that about?" Reid took a moment from gazing at the landscape to whisper in Lady Alexander's ear. The ceremony had been awe-inspiring, but not enough to distract from the awkwardness of the greeting.

"Oh, it's mainly to impress." She whispered back, setting down her mostly-empty wineglass on the waiting tray of an attendant. "There's some symbolism - expansion into new territory, growth and rebirth - but mostly it's to make an impression on..."

"Not that. Before."

"Oh!" Anna looked at Reid, then at the Courtesans, who were keeping a comfortable distance but were still within earshot. "We can talk about it later. Suffice it to say that they do not believe that all races have any value. Enjoy the party."

Farahind’s courtesan found himself the receptacle of literally hundreds of questions as they walked and talked, both in the elaborate corridors and the rooms beyond, questions ranging from basic etiquette and history to more elaborate queries in regard to the paths and power of the Eldar race. She was curious, she had a right and a duty to be, after all, a national leader still inexperienced in the way the universe was run. The Commonwealth even under her short span was changing almost beyond recognition even as it faced down horrendous threats internally. How her country emerged from its current emergencies would have to be weighed against the powers that be, and every detail, every hint would be required for that.

So she smiled, and nodded, and relaxed with whatever drink she had let her host pick, and listened intrigued to his answers, almost melodic and riddle-filled as they were. She was a ghoul, and normally such procrastination, even in such an artistic manner, would have severely grated her. Yet somehow her own desire to relax seemed accompanied by something emanating into her vibrant, scanning mind, and the calming tone and gentle, massaging caresses that followed did much to soothe her. The time passed, flowed, and she learnt much despite not seeming to hear anything direct at all.

Sempero meanwhile spent his time showing his assigned partner the joys of being with a being who wasn’t built like a stick insect. He had been forced to swap between forms more times than he had anticipated though, and he was just glad at the end that clothing wasn’t a necessity at this point. Still, cultural exchange was an important part of his work, and if anything, he was supremely dedicated to whatever task he was given by his superior.

Interpretation of said orders, mind, was something he still needed to work on, but right now no one was complaining.

The time passed, to various perceptions, either too quick or slow, and the two Freestian met up again with their escorts and descended upon the ceremony. Sempero couldn’t help smiling, relaxing upon the floor so his head didn’t rise above the view of others, spreading his hand so his escorting courtesan could find a comfortable seat with his spread fingers and palm. Farahind merely stood beside her own companion for the moment, a useful guide within earshot for any questions that arouse.

“Smile, this won’t take long.” The vampire whispered in a tone too low for humans to pick up to Sarah, who smiled and leaned against his inclined head, before turning serious and slapping away his tail as it curled itself around her hips.

“Don’t even.” She growled through gritted teeth for the briefest of seconds before regaining her smile. Sempero chortled, or the vampiric equivelant anyway, lungs the size of bathtubs and a voicebox to match gave his speech a rather low but powerful flavour. Both of them turned to see the opening of the portal as the curtains slide away.

“Son.” Was all Farahind could say. Sempero merely blinked, Warlord of the Navarrok Guard being a position that meant it took a lot to shock him, but there was a reaction here that was quite dramatic should anyone who knew the species well enough be watching.

Still didn’t stop his tail moving around the waist of Reid’s courtesan mind, or the tip travelling up her skirt a wee bit…

Before she had left to join the main event, Farseer Tereah had sprayed her self with a light perfume which was contained in a small, beautiful oval bottle that she had brought along with her. It, like her shampoo was produced by the flora of her Craftworld. However, it was made from the sap of a rare species of flower which gave of highly potent and pleasing pheromones. Most sentient species, especially humanoid ones found them irresistible. A warm, heady feeling came over most within five feet of her. The smell was hard to describe. It had a certain sweetness to it, but also a bold, warm and inviting element.

Tereah had decided to apply it to her self for the simple reason that Mon-Keigh would be more open to discussing things with her. After all, even dressed as formally as she was to many she would most likely still be the strange alien witch. However, now she was the mysterious, alluring alien witch that they could not look away from. As Tereah entered the room she was pleased to find that many did look her way. "All for diplomacy" She thought to her self.

Prince Sorel, on the other hand was far more reserved. He crossed his arms behind his back and observed the event with a blank, slightly menacing expression while the Warlock and the Banner-barer stood silently by him.

Craftworld Ra-Ithen.

With the Gate opened Iyanna stepped down and towards Tereah, a slightly mischievous glint in her eyes, as she did so. ‘Farseer Tereah I presume, may I introduce myself, Iyanna Arienal, Asuridain of Tor Yvresse. Will you walk with me for a bit, take in the sights of Einheldorin, feel its spirit beneath your feet?’

Without waiting for a reply she turned to face the Prince, ‘Perhaps your companion here could see a different sight?’ Switching suddenly to Eldarin she continued on. ‘See perhaps why Yvresse interacts with lesser? See if you can find the one who taught us that not all that or not Eldar are lesser. She is here, at this event.’

Turning back to Tereah she smiled, ‘Besides some things are best discussed by Farseers would you not agree?’

If Iyanna appeared to be separating the Prince from the Farseer in a way she was, she had heard from Badb much of the Princes reaction to the Yvresse’s interaction with the Mon-Keigh, actually much overstated in her mind, but it amused her to force him to remain there a little longer. While she set, she hoped Tereah’s mind at ease.

Generalish.

Slowly almost imperceptibly the two Courtesans attached to the Kanderin party circled outwards, increasing the distance between themselves and the Pariah Anna. Almost subconsciously the two of them began to circle towards other groups, eventually the exotic appearance of Sempero it was at the very least an improvement. Even better he was, it seemed, willing to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the Courtesans, judging by the look on their associates face.

"Look, there's no point in standing around." Reid tapped his companion on the shoulder. She was watching as their Courtesans finally slipped away, with not so much as a look back. With a reflection on the silliness of the Eldar, he took her hand and led her off through the crowd of guests. He realized for a moment that the hand was cold and pulseless as if dead, but put the thought from his mind.

The replacements were no better. The guests were all jewels and glamour and perfume, sleek bodies and wry minds. Every one was a dramatic show trying to outshine all the others. Their hosts were more so - ornate armor and carefully choreographed moves to impress. Reid thought back to the invasion, when the Kandarinese had claimed his nation for their own, and all that had happened since. He'd seen dark elven women who were entrancingly beautiful, but never in slinky ball gowns or jewelry or scents. They'd never built impressive buildings without a clear function, nor thrown galas. And the only representative he knew of their much-vaunted overlord caste was the most certainly unglamorous little girl clinging to his hand, who was not even an elf at all.

Reid's thoughts were interrupted when he practically bumped into a man who was just as out of place as he was - an aging human man in a blue military dress uniform. Intrigued, he offered a hand. "Good evening."

“Ya know…I don’t really need to be babysat,” the Chairman stated bluntly, twisting his head to the side to peer at his son and ‘bodyguard’ behind him then waved to them. “Go on, now…have fun, enjoy yourselves…”

“Well…” Alakantar had spoke before he found himself stumbling backwards as Amanda had begun to tug on his arm. He caught himself just soon enough to prevent an embarrassing crash to the floor. “Wait!”

“He’s right, Alak. You need to enjoy yourself for once and not act like he’s the only one in need of a break from work.” She grinned widely and decided to poke at him a bit further. “Plus you’re too stiff for a party. C’mon, let’s get a few drinks.”

Shaking his head, the Chairman watched the two walk away – or in Alakantar’s case, almost being dragged off – and was actually amused at the conversation between the two for once. But now that he was alone, or almost was, suddenly realizing that his courtesan was still here with him, he decided that it would be for the best that she was to be relieved of wandering around him as he walked. He wasn’t that terribly exciting of a person at the moment and felt that she could probably attend to some of the more attention deprived guests and have a more pleasant time for herself doing as such. So he kindly thanked her for her hospitality and bid her farewell for now.

Now that he was truly alone and left to his thoughts, he started to stroll quietly through the hall, just seemingly caught up into his own little world until…

“Hrm? Oh! Hi there,” he started off with a mumble, bringing his mind back to reality with a jolt. “Nice to meet ya.”

"I'm Chairman O'Neill from Northrop-Grumman...you can call me Jack here." He was firmly shaking the man’s hand when he caught sight of Anna there beside Reid. “Oh, I remember you….from the Menelmacari Christmas party, or whatever fancy ass name they came up for it…you’re…wait…I think…you’re Miss Alexander?”

Tereah nodded, wholly interested in what the other Farseer had to discuss. "Of course, Farseer. It would be a pleasure." She replied with a pleasant smile. She looked back and saw Prince Sorel grimace at the prospect of being left alone with the Mon-Keigh, but she trusted the Warlock to restrain him if things got ugly.

Taraskova, Tor Yvresse

Marian, Countess Mortville, perhaps the last Sidhe in the Waking World although she looked human, did not know anything about Mars, much less what cleansing might entail. Nonetheless, she smiled politely when she was introduced to the Autarch, making a small curtsey. No longer possessing the supernatural beauty of the Sidhe, Marian was nonetheless a pretty woman, with a shapely, round face and brown hair, silky and full of body, which was worn in a rather natural style which reached down to just above her shoulders. Her eyes were a deep brown which always managed to give the impression that she was deeply interested in whoever or whatever she looked at, whatever the truth of the matter.

She was dressed tonight in a flowing gown of light blue silk with the crest of House Eiluned woven in silver and black over her left breast. Her attention was divided between the Autarch, Helen, Mikhail and Vethara and, no, she had not brought any personal attendants. At a party already served and served well, she had no need of such.

"Yes, that's correct." Anna also shook O'Neill's hand, noting the troubled look on the man's face. "Anna Alexander, Lady Secondary Damis." She rued the title, as almost all her caste did, but now was the time for formalities. "...of the Kandarin Federation. This is Philip Reid, Minister of Land Management of the Xiopothos Province, newly of the Federation. I have to say that I'm a little surprised that you remember me, Chairman O'Neill. I don't believe we were ever introduced, and it has been so many years."

"But then," Anna added after a brief pause, "I suppose in your job you must always recognize and remember new people, no matter how obscure they are."

Allowing himself to be led into another room, the Austarian watched with an amount of significant awe. Not having come into much contact with what seemed like 'magic' in his entire life, he put the entire event down to some sort of pseudo-science--a subject he had studied very briefly out of interest during his studies at the University of Anatoba. A politician even by qualification, his interest in the subject had been overshadowed by more important topics at the time, and although he promised himself to pick up the class at some point in the future, he never did.

" An amazing display, " he turned to his courtesan. " You'll have to remind me to commend the Asuridain at some point. "

In the act of his turning, a face caught his attention.

" The Freestians, " his face turned to interest. " Haven't had contact with them for some time, I wonder what they've been up to. "

Taking the arm of his courtesan he walked on over and without interrupting them in some inappropriateness, introduced himself. Thankfully, he had managed to take a quick peek at the guest list and in his time, memorise some of the names and titles present. Even still, Sempero was a little bigger than he'd expected--almost daunting even.

" Prime Minister, Warlord, " he bowed just slightly, offering his hand to either of them. " Ambassador Neville Casanova of the Unione of Capitalizt States. It's warming to see the both of you here--I don't think we've had the pleasure to meet with our Freestian counterparts for some time. "

OOC More posts to come such as for TRD, but I’ve got a few questions being sent by Jester. I won’t be able to post over the weekend however so I’m posting whats done now. To keep things flowing while I am able to post.


IC Craftworld Ra-Ithen

Iyanna stepped through the gate with Tereah and onto the Maiden world of Einheldorin. Taking the briefest of moments to simply bask in the feel of the world, and to feel it’s vast sentience reach out to her, as she did to it, she smiled at ease. Across the way, almost a stain on the perfection a few grav cars sat idle, in many ways they where reminiscent of the Falcon Grav Tank, although they where bare of weapons. Iyanna did not head towards them through, instead she walked a short ways in silence until the passed through a small grouping of trees and out onto the banks of a glittering lake.

Upon the lake itself the sight a few craft floating at ease could be, Sailboats and other such leisure craft mixed with the odd fishing vessel. While Tor Yvresse did not need Einheldorin for food in and of itself, on the world many exotic plants, animals and the like could be found. So such vessels where not uncommon but where carefully controlled. Taking only what was needed to add variety to the menus on Tor Yvresse.

‘We may speak here, I think, truthfully and without too much chance of being overheard. Perhaps in sending Nais I erred, she is a true Farseer, but far too polite to say the truth on this matter before us. I shall not make that mistake rather I shall speak plainly. We deal with the Mon-Keigh because we must, the Kionash are fading, they have become content to rest upon the laurels of past glories that none now living remember, they have become content to spit disdainfully at those who come after, and hold themselves to dreams of a return to those days, without ever taking the steps necessary to bring that change about.’ Iyanna said as she looked towards Tereah.

‘Tor Yvresse is not so content, we shall bring about a return to the old days of greatness, and if that means suffering the indignity of dealing with our lesser we shall do so. If that means talking to them and smiling at them, and allowing them to think they are our friends, we shall do so.’ Shaking her head she continued. ‘As for those we class as Kin, we do this because on the whole they are as we are. The same spirit drives them, the same grace propels them, and the same intellect guides them. It is a relationship built on time, and in seeing the truth within them. I hope you will come to see this truth yourself.’

Turning now to face out onto the lake ‘In truth then we come to it, we shall not demand of you to follow our road, perhaps your own methods will bring about a return to lost days, perhaps not. If you decide to walk besides us, you will have the active support of Tor Yvresse, if not, then you will have what support is due to all Kin. We are not so different as to forget the bonds of race.'

“A pleasure,” Jack nodded towards Reid upon hearing the man’s introduction, then focused back on Anna, who seemed to be doing the bulk of the talking here.

“Oh, it depends, really. I know that some folks want to shove all that over on their diplomatic staff, and just kinda run about with this fake sense of familiarity. Seems pretty damned fake if I do say so myself. I’d rather get to know that person and keep tabs of these things…it’s more personal and genuine.”

He gave a pause for a second. “And please, there’s not a need for all the formalities and stuff. I’m not really here on an official basis. Alak’s handling all that for me for once. This is sorta my night to take it easy. So…you can just keep it Jack.”

Among the group there was one fully Eldar face, that of the Eldar ambassador, a cousin of farseer Mel’nais, who was now slinking over to join her, clad in white armour, over green robes and body-suit, worked with ornate charms, shining orange gems, and enchantments to become rune armour. The farseer bowed a little in greeting to the Elentári, and then slipped behind, with the four-person entourage, greeting her cousin with subdued, remote affection, studiously ignoring the two offensive humans among them. She had a fair notion of why they were here, but the idea didn’t amuse her much, at all.

There was something in-stride about the way the group made the transition through the gateway, though Ranisath paused briefly, as though in distrust of the mechanisms involved. Prince Jelthier, presumably, along with the farseer, had seen this before, and the warlock-ambassador in the delegation was, if not familiar with this latest edifice, determined to look at home. Only a much shorter, blonde haired elf, in crimson and cream, seemed to show much wonder. The two humans’ faces were twin masks of slight bemusement. The Elentári Sirithil’s reaction, was one of appreciation, certainly, but not marvel. And Ranisath’s was distracted, distant, detachment, almost as unreadable as the blank-faced helms of the ceremonial guards.

Of course, perhaps he was simply focussing on some mischief making, as his first destination was Prince Sorel. He smiled cheerfully, giving a little wave, “Hello,” he said, “a pleasure to meet you. This is Sirithil, Elentári of Menelmacar, and I am Ranisath, representing the C’tan…” After a yngir, any other ‘mon-keigh’ would surely be tame and tolerable by comparison…

OOC: I tried to resist the urge to freak him out, really I did!

"In that case, you can leave it at Anna." This was followed by a barely spoken "Please".

"By all means, take it easy. After all, this is the best place to do it right now. The scenery is beautiful, the people are more so and there isn't an ongoing crisis. At least, unless the Tyranids come raining from the sky again." Anna turned her head to watch intently out the nearest window, as if expecting her words to come true. "Peace on Mars. Don't blink, you might miss it."

"Anyway, if you don't mind my asking...officially, where are you right now?"

Princess Helen Jacqueline Isabelle Rosaline Theodora Capet de Bourbon-Comnena-Palaeologa was the eldest daughter of Monsieur the Prince Basil, the brother of the Pantocratorian Emperor. At twenty-five, excepting her spinster aunt, she was the eldest unwed princess of the Imperial House, a situation which, in the popular imagination of her home country, was about to be rectified by a wedding to the Taraskovyan Vasilevs. Unbeknownst to the Pantocratorian press, however, Princess Helen was courting the Taraskovyan Vasilevs without any prior agreement that a marriage would necessarily follow. This was quite atypical from a Pantocratorian perspective - unwed princesses had visited the courts of foreign monarchs before to be courted, but always with an understanding at least between the Emperor and the foreign monarch that a wedding would certainly ensue. Helen had gone to Vigvar with all the usual attendants and maidens in waiting, but with no marriage contract. The Emperor understood that Vigvar did not practice the tradition of arranging royal marriages, and respected his Taraskovyan counter-part's preference for pursuing a partner on a romantic basis. The potential match between Mikhail and Helen was a prestigious one for both houses, a point the Emperor had impressed upon his niece in a moderately excruciating conversation prior to her leaving New Rome, during which the Emperor came as close to commanding Helen to secure Mikhail's affections as he felt he could without crossing the point at which he felt he would be intruding upon the natural development of the budding romance. For her part, Princess Helen regarded that their was no ambiguity about the point that the Emperor's continued affection for her (she wondered if what she had experienced thus far in her relationship with her uncle could be described as affection at all, in order to be continued) depended upon her marrying Vasilevs Mikhail.

Helen held Mikhail's right arm with a light grip not really worthy of the term, a very seemly and proper degree of physical contact. She was taken with the dashing Taraskovyan, and although she doubted yet that she was in love with him, she fancied she could grow to be in love with him. She knew in any case that the pair made an attractive couple - unlike her cousins she was always very interested in how she was portrayed in the media (a habit she learned from her father's time in politics), and thus far the depictions of Mikhail and her in the press had been flattering. She had her dressmakers prepare her gown for this event with her media image in mind - a combination of delicate and restricted traditional Pantocratorian courtly wear and sex appeal. Her blue silk gown with silver thread embroidered patterns puffed out from her waist on account of the traditional layers of petticoats, and her slender waist was exaggerated by a stiff corset, traditional in New Rome court fashion. Here, however, the traditional abruptly stopped. The dress stopped not far above her corset, leaving her shoulders and neck, as well as the tops of her breasts pushed up by the corset, quite bare in the style of many modern evening gowns. The white gold medallion of the Order of the Pantocratorian Empire on her left and the gold star of the Order of Marx on her right pinned a frill of white silk which folded back over the top of the dress into her concealed bosom. Her otherwise bare neck was decorated with small sapphires mounted in a graceful configuration of silver chain. Complementary earrings dangled from her delicate ears, surrounded by still more delicate semi-suspended coiffure-curled locks of mahogany hair, arranged in a style somewhere between New Rome courtly and fashions far more modern, designed to fall about in a feminine fashion whilst keeping her delicate neck unobstructed. The look would have been just the right combination of tradition and sizzle, Helen reflected, had Vethara not entirely extinguished the sizzle by outdoing the combination. Oh well, I still think my album photo shoot was better...

The medallion which marked her as a Commander of the Pantocratorian Empire she never earned - the somewhat less expected Order of Marx on the other hand had been presented to her by Uncle Noel, the former dictator of the Fiefdom of Otiacicoh. Princess Helen had been the first foreign ambassador to Otiacicoh for decades, and although she didn't personally feel responsible for any of the reforms which quickly followed, her arrival was hailed as a turning point which ended with Uncle Noel standing down and allowing free(ish) elections. The Department of Foreign Affairs had provided advice to the Imperial Court of Christ Pantocrator that the award lent Helen an air of diplomatic credibility (probably beyond that which her intellect and experience deserved). Certainly, Helen appeared to move comfortably about the party of very important foreign dignitaries, although whether that was because she felt the Order of Marx lent her any diplomatic credibility or because she had grown up around people of similar stature in perhaps the most rigid and formal social environment outside of a prison or the military in the Western Atlantic was for anyone to guess. She even moved comfortably around the Eldar courtesans, herself being intimately acquainted with at least one non-human (or was that formerly non-human) courtesan in the shape of the woman on Mikhail's other arm.

“Yeah, it seems like the place where I could, but eh, I don’t know. Some of these events get a little too showy for my tastes,” he shrugged, glancing around at some of the more extravagantly dressed guests and their gigantic entourages and frowning some.

“Officially?” Jack then raised his hands to make mock quotation marks. “’Out of the office’ would probably be what my secretary tells people. Keeps things simple and…still truthful. Those who need to know where I am, do. Those that don’t, don’t.”

At this point in the conversation, the man’s knees had begun to bother him, probably because of the amount of standing that he was doing during this trip, and certainly his age did not help matters either. He grunted, taking a step to relieve some of the stiffness in them, then pointed over towards the tables set up near the group. “How ‘bout we have a seat over there for a bit, and maybe order something to drink?”

Tereah listened, and contemplated what Iyanna had just told her for a long moment before she nodded and began her reply. "In that case Farseer, I am afraid destiny guides us along two different paths. High Farseer Artanis, in his wisdom has foreseen for us a path where we will not be bound by the Mon-Keigh. We can never see them as our equals, because they are not. They have a place in the High Farseers vision but it is one subservient to that of all Keigh."

She paused for a moment and then addressed the next part of Iyanna's statement. "As for other races being kin...we simply cannot accept that. The spirit that resides within the Keigh is unique. We find nothing but the barest, most primitive traces of it in others." Tereah then bowed respectfully to Iyanna. "I mean no disrespect to you or Kionash Yresse. I understand this is the path you feel is best for your people, and I also have full confidence that you will restore the glory of the old days. I can only hope, however that if we also succeed, our descendants can reside in the peace our two Craftworlds share today as well, without letting our differences boil over."

Meanwhile

Upon seeing the Mon-Keigh's attention directed to him, Prince Sorel's face took on the expression of someone who had just smelled something particularly foul. He was about to simply walk away when the creature introduced it self. He seemed to tense up as if preparing him self for something, "Ranisath...of the C'tan? You'll forgive me if I am not particularly impressed...." Still, Sorel wished he still had his weapons right about now.

Ranisath smiled down at the Eldar whom, in his current (usual) form he somewhat resembled, at least in build, (and pointy ears) though not closely enough to be taken for one, switching for his next sentence to perfectly accented and inflected Ard-LamEldannar, of a slightly antiquated dialect dating from several million years ago, a time even Ranisath had no memory of, having learnt this dialect later, a time before, as Eldar linguists might say, the language began to become ‘corrupted’ by later decadence, now only existing a sub-language of polite society, philosophers, poets and proclamations, he'd chosen it because, while being somewhat obscure, he was certain it would nonetheless be understood, “Really?” he said, of course, this being an Eldar language, there were a hundred codified and distinct ways to pronounce the word, with subtle inflections that changed the meaning, in this case, slightly feigned, yet nonetheless genuine surprise, “I really think I’m quite impressive,” this time, unambiguously humourous, “But pray tell,” an Eldar phrase of the right period corresponding to the human expression, “me, how does one impress you? Especially with something so simple as a name, upon which topic: may I ask for yours?” the last sentance was a grammar form typically particularly difficult for non-Eldar to use, though of course, the yngir (a word that didn't have many variations) said it perfectly.

The Everqueen Aliria answered to the Corsair as best as she could, grabbing his arm and letting him join her and guide her through the place. She directed towards Cerelan the highest praises about the stories she had heard regarding the eldar corsairs of the past and the present, mostly in part to make him forget the snippy remark from the Hyral Prince, who said something alongside the lines of "I hope this guide does not have anything to do with diplomatic semiology", in his native sindarin. Of course, noone ever expected the Supreme Admiral to be more than a nuisance at diplomatic parties.

Aliria was rather comfortable flirting with the eldar corsair, something that for sure drew a smile in the face of Princess Aleinna, and almost bare teeth from Prince Kithail, who looked, as always, rather bored, uninterested, and, by lack of any other proper word, "caged".

Soon Aliria got a sight of the Northrop-Grumman chairman, and without doubt she turned towards the serious companion with a wry smirk. "You could enjoy this party a little bit more", she said, not exactly in her most pleasant tone.

"Duty is not about rejoicing. You told me to come, I came. You said nothing about me enjoying this masque", the Hyral Prince answered, his features only moving the necessary bit to pronounce the words.

"I thought you were an admirer of the eldar culture. You are here, having a view at its' finest, so why the long face?", Aliria retorted, putting herself in an authoritarian stance.

"Nothing special. If you order me to enjoy, then I'll make my best", he said, taking a look around.

"You need to share more, then. As you like to receive orders, well, see that drow over there? Alakantar is his name, and I want to have a word with him, so, dear, fetch, please", the Everqueen said, in the most cynical tone she could gather, pointing at Alakantar with an idle index finger.

Raising an eyebrow, and looking positively wronged, the Hyral Prince approached with long, agile strides to the Northrop-Grumman chairman, making a half bow as he looked into Alakantar's eyes. Mimicking the voice of an eldar courtesan, and looking at the drow directly at the eyes, the Hyral Prince said, "I was told you are called Alakantar, would you care to follow me?, there is someone truly important who needs to meet you", in the most neutral, emotion-deprived voice he could manage.

Farahind nodded in greeting, Sempero seemingly nudging his companion with his snout before bowing himself, an exaggerated gesture given his rather extreme proportions, but it was genuine and respectful, the poor Courtesan in his hand having to hold on to his truncheon sized fingers as she found herself swooping through the air. However, he left the opening words to his charge.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr...Casanova ?" Farahind raised an eyebrow. "No relation I presume." She smiled, almost blushing at her own week joke. "And yes, Sarah Farahind, and my rather large and somewhat crude companion endearing himself to the locals here is indeed Warlord Sempero, as usual undressed but thankfully this time in his draconic form." She flicked a blonde hair back into her neat styling. "I will admit to having only the most cursory of briefings of the Capitalizt States, Neville," she paused, checking there was no breach of etiquette in using his first name. "So forgive me if I seem ignorant. I must say as far as I am aware that relations between our nations are, beyond the standard trade, anything close."

Sempero smirked, a sound like a snort erupting from jaws. "A pleasure as always to meet new people, but please forgive my brevity Mr Casanova," he peered round to find the former ly assigned courtesans converging on his meandering tail and looking up with the refined elegance that somehow only Eldar and their kin possessed. "But cultural exchange is a gift best shared as far as possible. Have a nice time today, and I hope you and Miss Farahind find much to discuss." He nodded again, respectfully, another impressive looking act as the huge draconic returned to doing what he did best.

“Hey now, you can go all out on this. Start off by booking the largest cathedral and reception hall in the entire Corporation…invite all your friends, family, heads of state, and just anyone you know…make the reception a helluva party with a live orchestra, pyrotechnics, tons of awesome food, and maybe have those neat ice sculptures lining the place…and have it all carry on well into the night – dancing, partying, whatever you want to celebrate,” Amanda stated, appearing to thoroughly enjoy this idea of planning a wedding, even though she actually had nothing at all to do with the organizing for this one. “You’ve got a once in a lifetime chance here, Alak. Go for it.”

Alakantar peered down at the beer bottle he held in his hand, spinning its contents around as he grasped the neck of the brown glass. “Nah…there’s really no need to go that wild with it. She and I just want something simple and straightforward, nothing terribly too flashy. Sure we want all our friends and family to share in the occasion, but all those other people? Eh…it seems too impersonal, public, and politicized for my liking…”

“No crowds, no extravagance, nothing over the top? Are you getting hitched in some roadside chapel, then?” Amanda teased. “But seriously…from a woman’s perspective, don’t be too much of a cheap bastard. It’s her big day too.”

The drow took a swig of the beer and nodded, “True true.”

At about that time, Alakantar found himself being confronted by the Hyral Prince, who asked him to follow towards someone who was ‘truly important’. The wording and the tone of voice involved led him to believe that this was most likely bound to be the head of state of some far off country…or perhaps, someone who was either overly interested in the only drow in the room as a matter of curiosity or even worse, hate. He wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t the latter, but had hoped that it wasn’t the case. Surely this party did not need any violence to start it off. Nevertheless, he agreed to go along, mostly to satisfy his own curiosity.

“It seems that duty calls, ‘Manda. Be back in a little later, maybe,” he waved to his old friend and strolled off with Prince Kithail.

"Sure. How about over there, instead?" Anna steered Jack and Reid to a smaller table, located near to the portal. She was very curious about the portal, but decided to wait for it to accept more people, just to be sure that it was safe. Past experiences with warp-based technology had a way of making the Kandarinese nervous.

"Whiskey. Grummian, if you can get it." Jack was saying to a passing Eldar server, clad in the revealing but all-too-sleek attire of that Path.

"Make that three." Anna added, taking a seat that would give her a view of Einheldorin. The server eyed her strangely, then whisked off in a sudden panic. She wondered if it was possible to get used to that. It was necessary, all necessary, of course, but the idea of constantly disconcerting one's hosts was unpleasant.

"You'll have to pardon me for not knowing much about the Corporation. Few people in Kandarin do; There's not a lot of contact outside of Mars. So are you here as a political envoy, or a corporate one? Is there a difference?"

Upon taking his seat next to Anna, Jack softly breathed a sigh of relief, resting his already tired legs underneath the table. He was gradually not being able to stand for long periods of time unfortunately and noted that came much more frequently with age. In addition it seemed as if his knee replacements, already twenty five years old, were beginning overworked and worn out.

After ordering, he briefly considered the question put forth by Anna before answering. “Well…they’re really just one and the same. The Corporation is a political entity and a corporate one, so if ya really want to be technical, I’d be both when going places….except here. I’m just Jack right now, a citizen of Northrop-Grumman, nothing else really. That’s of course not to say that I won’t make an important decision if something suddenly happens, but this is sorta like a day off for myself.”

Anna nodded sympathetically. "I know how you feel. It's good to be able to let go once in a while." This was an outright lie, for she had no idea what that feeling felt like and simply presumed that it was good. Regardless, explaining the details would take far too long and upset their hosts even further, and as it happened, she was correct. "So who do you have handling those non-emergencies? A board of directors, an understudy, or something?"

Noticing Jack's eagerness to sit down, Anna sensed an opportunity and added "Oh, and we could probably do something about those knees."

“Oh, we haven’t had a real board of directors for…fifty some odd years, I think. They were actually all killed off by the previous chairman, their stock taken, and weren’t ever replaced. So that just leaves my wife, the Vice Chairman and I to really handle things,” he replied with a shrug. “Right now, my wife is handling all the important matters at home, and any emergencies that could arise. And for here, well, my son is taking care of all the diplomacy.”

The comment from Anna caused him to raise one of his eyebrows and peer down at his knees, moving one of them around slightly. “Like what?” he asked, curiously. “They’re not really the only thing out of whack. You could say that all my of joints are that way…and the rest of the body.”

"They could be replaced." Anna replied nonchalantly. "We could swap them out and put in new ones for you." As if sensing suspicion, she added, "If you have objections to 'improvements' - and those are perfectly reasonable - it's nothing so complex. It's simply a matter of growing fresh new tissues and organs and switching them out for the ones you've got."

"Of course, there isn't anyone in my jurisdiction who does that. Most of it's done by Honist Biogen, under Lady Penteleimon's management. I believe you met her, at the last party. Normally, I wouldn't be plugging services offered by another House, but after the things they've done to help me, I can hardly do otherwise."

“I don’t know…” Jack mumbled at first, partially under his breath, and eyed his hands as he twisted his fingers and wrists about – or at least, as much as he could. The joints appeared to be slightly swollen from arthritis and had a smaller range of motion than in years past. He was easily showing his age, and that was something that could not be helped. After all, he was already beyond a century of living, far longer than he could have ever imagined to survive.

“I’m probably beyond any simple replacements to be honest,” he finally replied after a moment of silence. “At this point, to be of any help, you folks would have to replace most of me to get it all into a decent enough shape. It would have been pretty nice years ago, but now…eh…it’s a little late.” Shrugging, he then sipped at his whiskey.

Aelosia

‘Ahh you are an admirer of our ways sir! This is wonderful, you will enjoy I think Einheldroin, have you ever walked upon a Maiden world, ahh I imagine not, one could not forget such a thing I think.’ Smiling at both Kithail and Aliria he went on. ‘Einheldorin is a particular Jewel, one of Yvresse’s Colonies out amongst the stars, the fact we kept such has been a little bit of a secret of ours, one we now wish to share with you all. Ahh the mountains are wondrous, they say there is a Lake nestled near the tops of snow-covered Mountains that, in the light of the setting sun appears to be a swirl of colour. The clouds almost turn red in the waning light and the Worlds Spirit seems to bubble to the surface as if wishing to gaze upon the majesty of it’s own wonders.’

Laughing ‘As this is Einheldorin's gate perhaps I can take you all here.’ Pausing to smile knowingly at Aleinna as Aliria sent for Alak he went on. ‘They say it is a very romantic spot my dear.’ Strangely his wink seemed to be aimed more at Aliria despite his addressing the matter to Aleina

Panto

The Courtesan attached to Helen was exceedingly formal and Polite careful to address her by her full Title whenever conversation arose unless directed otherwise. He made no moves that might be construed by the woman’s companions to be offensive or impolite by the human standards, especially one from a nation so formal. Everything was aimed at making sure if she spoke of the affair to her Uncle upon her return he would know she had been treated with respect.

TRD

For a moment the entrance of another human woman to the affair went a little un-remarked, that was until those with more than the basic training given to all Eldar as Children looked at her then a strange feeling crossed their minds. She was defiantly different, not in a bad way that would fill the room with nervous looking guards, just in a fascinating way. She was older than she looked perhaps, or touched by forces no human should be touched by.

Farseer Darvins smiled a moment and stood from his perch in the corner of the room and slowly made his way over. Bowing almost imperceptibly as he reached them. ‘At his approach the Courtesans stood a little straighter and Jereal seemed on the verge of saluting well. As he stood there looking at them the Courtesans looked a bit embarrassed for a second and spoke as one ‘Sir, Madams may I have the pleasure to introduce to you Farseer Darvins of the Council of Tor Yvresse…’ With a slight smile Darvins cut them off.

‘And a few other meaningless titles they will create from thin air I am sure.’

Ra-Ithen

Iyanna looked for a moment disappointed then nodded her head slowly ‘I understand, and I shall say again, we shall not stop you walking your own road, I cannot claim the road we have started was easy.’ Smiling slightly she went on, ‘While it means we cannot offer our active, this does not mean if you need us we shall not come. We are Kin and we know, that unlike the others you will not go quietly into extinction, you will fight and strive for a return to lost days, if one day that strive leads to your Craftworld being in danger, know that Yvresse will come. We are Kin and while we walk different roads, our hearts seek the same end.’

Turning to face Tereah, Iyanna took her hand in her own. ‘I make this oath to you as Asuridain of Tor Yvresse, and it’s colonies, as a daughter of Isha, and as priestess of Khaine. None shall find you standing alone. Should there come a day when your people are at risk, then those that assail you shall face the wrath of two Avatars of Khaine, of two hosts of the Aspects.’ Raising the hand to her lips she placed a chaste kiss upon it. ‘You may carry that word back to your High Farseer.’

Laughing lightly before Tereah could respond she went on ‘Of course I hope you will wait a while before doing so, and enjoy for a time Einheldorin.’

(OOC doh, just a quick note for Ra-Ithen, using the Eldar Language guide, Idain means Farseer and Asur of course is the first half of Asuryan the king of the Gods. I really should have mentioned that before)

"I'm sorry, Mister O'Neill, is it? I could not help but overhear your conversation." An aristocratic figure suddenly loomed up behind them. He must have been nearby, but he hadn't been visible until just this moment. "I am Grand Duke Calavyr Raphaelos Seraph, Governor of the Twin Lamps Presence on Mars. I have heard much about your family from my imperial cousin." His grey eyes twinkled as they lighted upon Amanda Harris, and he bowed low. "This beautiful woman, however, I do not believe I know."

Aleinna wasn't a fool, she caught the idea that the corsair was trying to get extremely lucky with Aliria. She found the thought amusing. "After all, it takes a pirate to look at one Queen and Empress of billions in the eye, and try to use a pick up line on her", she said to herself, frankly, admiring the boldness of the eldar corsair. Of course, having met her own share of bounty hunters and "Salvage Entrepeneurs" over the orbit of her martian colony, she wasn't expecting less. She just exchanged a sutile and disguised wink with Aliria, just to check if the ruler was aware of what was happening.

Aliria, although she was quite marveled with the view, and distracted more than a little bit by the beauty of it, wasn't a fool neither, at least regarding sentient emotions. She realized the intent of the corsair, but rather than to be insulted by that fact, as many other royal characters would be, she found the intentions of the corsair amusing, and decided to play along, at least to have fun until the Chairman arrived. "As soon as we arrive, I will be interested in reach that place, lying in the ground, and take a look at the sky, preferibly with the companion Tor Yvresse could offer. Someone with a taste of adventure, bold, and good looking", said the Everqueen, letting part of her torso, as carefully as she could, make a slight touch over the corsair's frame, and let her hand slip a delicate graze over his forearm.

Kithail just let out a grunt of approval at Alakantar O'Neill, guiding him to where Aliria, Aleinna and the eldar were waiting. When they arrived, he just bowed in the direction of Aliria with his waist bending his torso forward, and took his place behind the Everqueen.

Aleinna, watching Alakantar with a smirking smile, he winked at the Grummian drow, and offered him a bow as well, fulfilling the formalities, and saying. "I have heard back in Mars interesting things about you, Governor of Valacirca. I am Aleinna Cúthalion, Princess of the Martian Colony of Craulnober. It is a pleasure to both meet you in person, Alakantar O'Neill, and to introduce you to my distinguished companion. This is Everqueen Aliria nos Elúrin nos Dior nos Lúthien nos Melian, Empress of the Aelosian, Jewel of the Sindar", she said, bowing her head as well.

Aliria turned from her conversation with the eldar and watched the drow, in her features displaying the most bright smile she could gather, raising an eyebrow as soon as she realized the presence of the dark elf. "I have summoned you, Alakantar, so we can drop the formal titles for now. Sorry for the light spirited presentation and reunion. I have been eager to meet you for quite some time indeed", she said, her eyes showing a rather weird happiness for meeting the Grummian representative, her smile completely flawless.

"That could be done too." Anna said. "It's certainly within our capability, although I understand that some might be squeamish. But you're right, aging is a pain. Although," she added hopefully, "Biogen did also develop a means of forestalling it, that works for a couple of decades. It'd be too late in your case, but it was meant for wide-scale distribution. Cheap, too. It worked quite well-" She almost said something along the lines of the plain truth, which was it worked quite well but was a sales disaster because no human nation really wanted its citizens to live any longer, but that would hardly have gone over well.

"Listen to me." Anna laughed, as one would at some private joke. "I sound like Rachel Penteleimon. I wish she were here, so she could give the whole explanation herself."

I wish she were here. The words rang hollow in the back of Anna's mind. She did very much wish that Rachel was present. Not because the explanation would be delivered in a better way, but because some part of her - the part that looked into the mirror and still saw a girl her own age looking back, most likely - wanted someone else to foist the conversation off on. She wanted someone to cling to, an older someone, to smile and nod and look ornamental as the other conducted the conversation.

All of a sudden Anna felt quite embarrassed at the sudden realization that she'd done just that, and allowed Reid to steer her about by the hand like a small child. Was she not a true overlord? Had she not invited him and promised to show him around, and not the reverse? She should not have allowed the Courtesans' abandonment to cause shock. After all, their scorn was not a curse but a blessing, and indeed the reason for the Kandarinese mission in the first place. Yes, Anna told herself, that was the focus, the goal. Compared to these scornful, racist, egomaniacal glitterati, even one who Reid had every reason to distrust would appear as the purest of saints.

"Of course, she is not here, so I will have to do all of the explaining myself. It is quite an interesting story, if you would like to hear it."

((OOC Very sorry for the late reply guys. I was without intercrack access for a bit))


Ra-Ithen

Iyanna looked for a moment disappointed then nodded her head slowly ‘I understand, and I shall say again, we shall not stop you walking your own road, I cannot claim the road we have started was easy.’ Smiling slightly she went on, ‘While it means we cannot offer our active, this does not mean if you need us we shall not come. We are Kin and we know, that unlike the others you will not go quietly into extinction, you will fight and strive for a return to lost days, if one day that strive leads to your Craftworld being in danger, know that Yvresse will come. We are Kin and while we walk different roads, our hearts seek the same end.’

Turning to face Tereah, Iyanna took her hand in her own. ‘I make this oath to you as Asuridain of Tor Yvresse, and it’s colonies, as a daughter of Isha, and as priestess of Khaine. None shall find you standing alone. Should there come a day when your people are at risk, then those that assail you shall face the wrath of two Avatars of Khaine, of two hosts of the Aspects.’ Raising the hand to her lips she placed a chaste kiss upon it. ‘You may carry that word back to your High Farseer.’

Laughing lightly before Tereah could respond she went on ‘Of course I hope you will wait a while before doing so, and enjoy for a time Einheldorin.’

(OOC doh, just a quick note for Ra-Ithen, using the Eldar Language guide, Idain means Farseer and Asur of course is the first half of Asuryan the king of the Gods. I really should have mentioned that before)

Tereah's heart warmed as she heard Iyanna's reply. Part of her had of course been afraid that she would offend the other Farseer with the fact she and her people could follow Yvresse's path in the quest to restore the glory of the old days. Her cheeks did turn a slight hue of red when Iyanna's lips met the skin of her hand. Tereah wasn't used to such physical contact. Her station was a lonely one, devoid of pleasures some took for granted.

She inclined her head. "But of course I will stay. As I have said before, it is an honor to be your guests."

Ranisath smiled down at the Eldar whom, in his current (usual) form he somewhat resembled, at least in build, (and pointy ears) though not closely enough to be taken for one, switching for his next sentence to perfectly accented and inflected Ard-LamEldannar, of a slightly antiquated dialect dating from several million years ago, a time even Ranisath had no memory of, having learnt this dialect later, a time before, as Eldar linguists might say, the language began to become ‘corrupted’ by later decadence, now only existing a sub-language of polite society, philosophers, poets and proclamations, he'd chosen it because, while being somewhat obscure, he was certain it would nonetheless be understood, “Really?” he said, of course, this being an Eldar language, there were a hundred codified and distinct ways to pronounce the word, with subtle inflections that changed the meaning, in this case, slightly feigned, yet nonetheless genuine surprise, “I really think I’m quite impressive,” this time, unambiguously humourous, “But pray tell,” an Eldar phrase of the right period corresponding to the human expression, “me, how does one impress you? Especially with something so simple as a name, upon which topic: may I ask for yours?” the last sentance was a grammar form typically particularly difficult for non-Eldar to use, though of course, the yngir (a word that didn't have many variations) said it perfectly.

Sorel was of course surprised to hear the words the Ctan spoke in it's new dialect, and the shock registered visibly on his chiseled features for a moment. He was of course knowledgeable and quite fluent in it, being of high standing in Ra-Ithen's society. He returned to form however as he made his reply.

"I simply expected a yngir to be more...well, more." He said. "As for my name? You may ask it. And I would tell you that it is Sorel. Prince Sorel."

Alakantar normally would have given a simple bow of his head in greeting or, even more likely, a handshake as he rather disliked the nature of full bows. They tended to give this aura of submission, he felt, from the standpoint of a king and his servant. He instead preferred to be on an equal basis with people he met, no matter who they were. But, fortunately, since the Aelosians had bowed fully to him, he felt it to be respectful and courteous to reciprocate such an action. After all, these two leaders had been quite friendly and personable thus far, even to the point of ditching the formalities, something that he preferred greatly in these discussions.

“I hope it wasn’t all bad,” responded Alakantar jokingly to Aleinna with a broad smile, then settled down into a full bow in response to that of their own.

“It’s an honor to meet you both, I must say. But…I’m a bit surprised, Aliria,” he added, not at all cautious about using this powerful woman’s name. “A head of state eagerly wanting to meet little ol’ me, just a simple colonial governor? Though, I’ve got to say that this begs the question…why?”

---------------------------

Jack downed the remainder of his whiskey, sighing deeply afterwards, noting the truth in the words which Anna had spoken. It really was too late to fix all of this, nothing could be done by now, except make the remainder of his life as comfortable as possible. And even that was uncertain for his body was enough of a wreck already.

“Such is life…” he remarked with a shrug. “I’m a hundred eight, ya know, and I’ve managed to live a helluva lot longer than I normally would have and can still get around unlike most others at my age. But, like anything else, all good things must come to an end. I just can’t imagine seeing the point of going through all that extensive surgery when other, more vital parts might not even last much longer…”

Calling over the waiter once more, he ordered yet another glass of whiskey for himself, then as the man left, settled down into the conversation once again, listening to what Anna spoke of concerning Ms. Penteleimon. “Eh…go ahead, if you like.”

Aleinna was swift to answer, even taking precedence over the Royal who was with her. "Not bad at all. We even have a picture of you clad in royal blue and coal colored sets of power armor, with a plasma rifle strapped on your back", said the martian princess. "I hope the picture is not just another pic-edition miracle".

Aliria took her time to answer, her unfazed smile unwilling to dissappear from her features. "A simple colonial governor who happens to be a drow and that managed to obtain a quite respectable position in a non-elven country. As far as I know, people ethnically similar to you aren't common where you live, don't you think? That speaks highly of both your nation and yourself. And I have heard rumours saying that your personality is...remarkable. I just wanted to see if you were truly remarkable, Alakantar O'Neill, Governor of Valacirca. You have quite an adventurous history, and to be quite frank, I respect anybody who dares to rule a colony in that hell hole of disorganization, risk and danger that is Mars".

“Again, I’m surprised, I’ve gotta say. How you managed to get that picture is beyond me.” Alakantar answered Aleinna, chuckling lightly and shaking his head in amusement. “I really don’t go running about with the power armor on all the time and just stay to wearing this plain suit. I mostly save the armor for when there’s some sort of danger lurking around Mars, like...for example…the Pilonese zombie virus. That’s the only time I’d need it, to be honest. There’s no reason for me to show it all off like I’m a warlord or some such.”

The immense degree of praise from the Aelosian caught Alakantar completely off-guard, causing him to pause for several seconds in his speaking. He could not help but smile and actually blushed as much as a drow could in this case, as he never really heard someone come out and actively praise him to this extent. Usually it was the little comments here and there that he got from his people but nothing like this.

“Uh, thank you, Aliria,” came his response with a grateful bow of his head as he paused yet again. “Well, you’re right about the drow as sorry as I am to say that. There are only two of us that are citizens: the Chairman’s Chief Advisor and I, and even despite our incredibly small numbers, most of the public eye is right upon us because of our positions. If that doesn’t give you quite a bit of pressure to represent your race well enough, I don’t know what will.

“Though, on a related note, my position was something I was sort of tossed towards because there really wasn’t anyone else who could fill in at the time and…well…it was thought that I needed more real world experience, in the event that I take on my father’s position later on in life. It was quite nerve-wracking at first and hated a great deal of what it involved. Having a ‘trial by fire’ as they say can certainly put quite a lot of perspective on one’s life and you can surely get that from ruling on Mars,” he chuckled, half-thinking into the past over all the events on Mars – all the various diplomatic conferences, the MPA meetings, the Pilonese virus, and all the other stressful events from those times.

“…but, I can say now that after being over in Valacirca for a little over a year, I’ve grown to love it. The population has been more than willing to accept me as their governor and have come a long way in joining the Martian community. The fellow nations of the planet are generally the best they’ve ever have been in a while. The colony itself keeps on expanding, growing beyond its boundaries, which is why I managed to get a hold of half of the land from Qaaol-Krista. And it’s certainly helped me to meet quite a few new people personally on Mars.”

Aelosia

Cerelan watched the interplay between Aliria and Alakantar with interest, it seemed he had the situation wrong in part. He had thought it was the companion of the Everqueen that had the interest in the Drow, and that Aliria was merely helping her sub-ordinate out. Instead it seemed she was at the very least an admirer of the man, it caught him somewhat by surprise, and for a moment had him re-considering his earlier decision. Still it was rather late now, he had clearly acted with an eye towards the woman and it would be rude of him to back down.

On the other hand it would be rude of him to interrupt so instead he took a few polite steps back, turning his attention for now to Kithail. ‘I am sure sir, while we all admire your dedication to duty, you can find a moment to admire the sights of Maiden world, and I would interested in hearing how the modest reproduction of Yvresse compares in your eyes to Aelosia, it has been a long while since I gazed on another Craftworld, or even my own.’

Ra-Ithen

Iyanna noticed Tereah's blush and seemed to almost become lost in thought barely hearing her reply as she walked over to stare at the lake for a minute or so then she turned, and perhaps for the first time in their talk looked almost unsure of herself. ‘I don’t know how it was, and is for you becoming a Farseer, in Yvresse it consumed us whole, all we where, was Farseer. Oh there where minor differences but at the core we remained the same, then, something changed. The change is a long story, but it freed us a little. In different ways, Darvins for example seemed to find his soul, his spirit after so long trapped. Badb rediscovered her ability to love another. As for myself.’ She said this while seemingly staring at a point above Tereah.

Sighing she paused still looking unsure then she shrugged, ‘I rule Tor Yvresse, unless the entire Council disagrees my word is law, when the change happened I found myself alone. No one around me could truly speak their mind to me, or be free with their thoughts with me, because I rule over them. So I looked elsewhere for such connections, I found a few, friends and a little more, people with whom for a brief while I could stop being Asuridain Iyanna Arienal, and be simply Iyanna Arienal, Kionashi.’

Pausing again the look of uncertainty passed ‘Tereah of Ra-Ithen I ask you simply if you can place aside the title of Farseer sometimes and be such to me. Friend and, indeed in many ways, more than friend. I do not offer my singular love, I cannot offer such, but I can offer a closeness that yes at times will have a physical expression. I would enjoy I think the connection I share with others to share with a Kionashi as well. I assure you this offer comes from Iyanna Arienal not from Yvresse, your answer will carry no cost to your people.’

OOC weirdness. I've had chars attend many parties and barring one Footsie incident of power politics, never had my chars do anything remotely sexual. Now I throw my own and half my chars act that horny teenagers ;)

Tereah remained silent for a moment as she took in Iyanna's offer. Finally she composed her self to peak. "The Path of the Seer is lonely for all. Especially for those who become lost on it. Farseers, in Ra-Ithen at least, are expected to live a rigid and selfless lifestyle because it is our sight that guides our people. We are taught that attachments are dangerous, because they may cloud our sight and thus are judgment."

Tereah stepped forward to within a foot or so of Iyanna. "But living the long lives our people alone is perhaps just as dangerous. I have not known the friendship of others for a century. And the touch of a loved one for even longer." Farseer Tereah brushed some of her red hair away from her eyes and moved her hands to Iyanna's and took them in her own. "I accept your offer gladly. My only concern being that I may...hamper you. You are older, wiser and no doubt far more powerful than I. I do not wish to...weigh you down."

Ranisath smiled, “You were doubtless expecting a twenty foot high golden idol that hurts to look upon, which speaks with a voice of perfect temptation and to gaze upon is to know mortality? Well, I can do that, but really, most of the time, it’s hardly suitable, we’ve never really; well, some of us have, but the majority have not, favoured such forms for mundane use; it’s simply that when we do appear in them, it is much more memorable. As some of the ancient Eldar texts upon us say, it is only by the ways we exercise power that we are to be known. But in any case, how are you enjoying the surroundings? I hope the ‘mon-keigh’” of course by a particularly strict Eldar definition, he probably counted as such, but ‘yngir’ was a far more specific and loathsome term, “aren’t too intolerable. I assure you, most of them here are really quite nice when you get to know them. Have you had much experience with ‘mon-keigh’ before? As a ranger perhaps? I assume your craftworld has such, it’s a very valuable path, I’m certainly of the opinion that the Eldar species, well, the kionash parts, would benefit greatly were every Eldar to embark upon it at some point. There’s some things to be said for an environment sheltered from outside influences, but too much of that is dangerous, don’t you think?”

Somehow, despite the almost frivolous nature of this ‘small talk’ the tone always retained a barely present undercurrent of earnestness, and seriousness. Of course, such a creature could sound however it pleased.

Henry Hykar rarely travelled outside of the Greater Kingdom, why should he need to? More often than not he was pre-occupied with the many workings of government.

Still young at 27, King Harry Hykar the Second of the Greater Kingdom of Midlonia had trimmed his red beard neatly before the trip. He wore a rather fine black suit and shirt for the event, lacking a tie but rather than the customary crown which typically accompanied him, he instead wore the iron jewelled bracelets with doves embossed on them his powerful blue eyes shone with amusement and wonder at the event around him.

For once, he had traveled to Mars, primarily to see his Kingdom upon the Red Planet, and second of all, to visit this party. His entourage was remarkably modest, most of it remaining back in the Greater Kingdom’s territories on Mars, he was largely here by himself and the obligatory pair of security personnel which had to travel with him at all times as per protocol. However, in the hall they were effectively dismissed with a courtesan for each of them, taking more advantage of their flirting ways.

Henry himself also had a courtesan, who had flirted with him also. He found her attractive and enjoyed the flirting and had subsequently slipped his hand under her top at the waist, keeping her near to his side, while also rubbing and massaging the flesh ever so slightly at times.

As he took another sip of a drink and smiled at the courtesan, he then spotted a familiar haircut and tall figure in the crowd, followed by an equally obvious Freestian Vampire. He grinned and drifted his way over to Farahind and touched her on the shoulder.

“Enjoying yourself, Sarah?” he said quietly to her, nodding to the Austarian as he did so. “I am surprised to see you out here on the Red Planet.”

"Henry!" Farahind turned, smiling, a friendly expression accomponied by a rapid softening in her stance as she moved forward and warmly embraced the Midlonian king, pressing him closer than perhaps appropriate given her heigh advantage meant his head came dangerously near her chest. "So glad you came!" She suddenly recomposed herself, taking a quick step back.

"My apologies." She turned to stand equidistant between Hykar and Neville. "Your majesty, meet Neville Casanova, of the Capitalizt States." She sounded almost slightly out of breath. "And this is His Majesty King Hykar of Midlonia, Neville" Her inflection somehow managed to make the capital letters sound audible.

Sempero looked over his shoulder and grinned, slightly distracted with the now triplicate of Courtesans surrounding him, his binlid sized hands resting on hips and shoulders and his tail wagging slightly in a long wave-like manner over the heads of the other guests. He walked through the portal, Eldar admirers in tow, enjoying the open space as only a predator truely could.

Henry hugged Sarah as she came over to him in greeting, he too also got very close to her, his body subtly pressing against hers in a dozen different places in the warm and friendly embrace. He looked up into her eyes with a certain, slight look that betrayed both of their more supposedly formal situation. He smiled again at her, not really recomposing himself, instead looking her up and down at her attire and allowing a him to subtly lick his lips as though preparing himself to speak, as she introduced themselves.

With a chuckle and another knowing look at Farahind he shook his head. “No need to apologise, Sarah.” he then turned to Casanova and bowed slightly, from the head, rather than the waist.

“But you can call me King Henry, rather either than the full formal titles, Mr Casanova.” Henry said with a wide smile and a glance to Sarah again, moving slightly so he stood nearer to Casanova and Farahind. “Though I don’t tend to be very formal around our closest allies, so maybe even Henry. Isn’t that right, Sarah?” his own pronunciation flexed the word closest slightly more than perhaps necessary, but then, he did seem to be enjoying himself again.

Tara/Aelosia/Tor Yvresse

"Ah." Sand said, looking up and across the room. His lip curled and his eyes flared with a passion that had not been there for centuries. "Excuse me, my love." He said with a soft smile and a gentle kiss on Vethara's lips. "I have urgent business to attend to. This shall not take me too long."

He hated to part from his beloved, but nevertheless, this was something that had been a long-time coming. He danced through the crowd skillfully, a strange feeling drawing him along the hall to the group of sindar elves. "May I beg your forbearance, my lords and ladies? This will not take but a moment." He held his hand out to Kithail, palm up, waiting for something to be placed in it. "You have something that belongs to me, Ser Kithail. I would like it back." He nodded, obliquely, to Aliria. "Don't mind me, princess. Just another ghost."


Arrival of the Roanians

Alessa herself had not been willing to attend this party. Not feeling up to travelling, and recalling her last meeting with the Farseers had been most unpleasant for her, she had refused to even read the invitation when it had been delivered. Instead, the duty of representing her had been passed on to her newly appointed Martian Governor, Calavyr Seraph, and his lovely date for the evening, Lady Daria Kara.

"Smile for the foreign scum, my dear." Calavyr murmured, his hand gently tangling with one of Daria's violet locks. "I would hate for them to think that you don't want to be here."

"But I don't want to be here." Daria pulled away from him, biting back a screech as a few strands of hair were torn out by the movement.

"Dear me, what is the world coming to when slaves are so impudent to their masters?" Calavyr slapped the back of her head and stepped down the stairs, leaving her to trail behind him.

The two of them were quite an unusual pair. Calavyr, at 5'11, was tall for a Roanian. His short silver hair glistened in the light as he turned his aristocratic nose upon the crowd, studying it for anyone of interest. He slapped the back of Daria's head again, and nodded. "I'm going to go and circulate, bitch. Try not to mess anything up."

Daria bit back a retort, staring at his back hatefully as he moved off into the hall. The only word for this woman was beautiful. Perfectly soft, beautiful long violet hair that fell down to a beautiful heart-shaped rear and brushed over a beautiful pair of breasts, tracing along a beautiful neck and in direct counterpoise to her beautiful ivory skin. All that was not beautiful about her was her eyes, for in them was the very depths of sadness.

Around her, magic fluttered like a cape, the work of an expert at spellslinging, so tightly bound to Daria's very being that a mere touch upon one of the spells by an inexpert hand would kill her. She looked around herself, sighed, and crossed the floor, her very movements a dance of grace and perfection in feminine form. She was determined to go and spend the evening drinking, and avoid any male attention that might fall upon her.


Northrop-Grumman

"Good evening, madam." Calavyr said as he walked to the space next to Amanda. "Might I buy you a drink?" His voice held echoes upon echoes. She seemed to hear the question asked three times, each one touching a different part of her being. The answer appeared, unbidden, within her mind.

'Yes'.

It pressed itself upon her soul, trying to force her to say the word. All of this happened beneath her conscious mind, though, as the charming Roanian male continued to stare at her coolly, his gray eyes on hers.

For the greater portion of this evening, Amanda had been spending most of her time wandering about the great hall alone, watching those who represented the numerous diverse nations that composed this galaxy and, at times, catching an earful of sentences here and there from the conversations she overheard. She did not mind not having a conversational partner here as others seemed to be engaged with for it was a rather peaceful place overall and for once, she did not have to deal with all the workings of the Grummian space fleets.

Now though, she had taken the time to linger about the wall where the gateway to Einheldorin stood, eyeing it carefully and wondering about its intricacies. It was nothing more than simple curiosity admittedly as she was mostly familiar with the Grummian standard of interstellar travel that involved the massive rings. This however seemed to be something entirely different from what she was used to and caused her to pause before it, pondering.

Having a nature desire to explore these new worlds, she was tempted to step through and to discover just what was beyond this doorway, when she felt a presence beside her, beckoning her to turn. Then a voice, one that seemed to direct itself towards her, one that just seemed to call her name, one that yearned to be answered.

“Good evening,” she replied, turning from the gateway and gazed upon him.

Her eyes fell upon his and instantly seemed to be drawn into them, captivated by this certain, mysterious charm that he had. All time appeared to stop for that moment, and she just stared towards him for what seemed to be an eternity, until a thought, brought on by her years of military training, jolted her eyes from his. Something seemed to be amiss with this and even more by the feelings she had rise upon within her when the question was asked.

“Y-yes…” Amanda replied slowly, finding herself pressed into saying the word, but she had not forced herself to refuse the offer as she did want a drink by now. However she still managed to add a condition to her statement. “But…non-alcoholic please. I’m still technically on duty. You know, regulations and all.”

"The project started back in the seventies, when...oh, no, nothing more for me, thank you." Momentarily interrupted, Anna waved away the server, leaving her own now-empty whiskey glass on his tray. Anyone who had been carefully monitoring her alcohol consumption since arrival would have concluded that she really ought to have been unconscious at this point, but she didn't appear to even notice.

"Anyway, Biogen developed the whole process about fifty years ago, after Lady Penteleimon ended direct rule by the elven lords. She was and is very much dedicated to ending the division between elves and humans. What they came up with was a series of treatments - I don't know all the details - that basically stop any part of the human aging process from beginning until ten to twenty years after it is supposed to. Unfortunately, for it to work, it has to be administered before any part of the process begins. That means it has to be applied by at least the early twenties. I believe the specific cutoff is the peak of human brain cell production."

"They spent thirty years in clinical tests, until the very last of the human test subjects started aging again. Ten years ago, Rachel and Biogen put together a publicity program and released the treatments under the name Enkindle. It was released in Kandarin and offered for release to about thirty human nations in our sphere of influence, as a sort of test bed."

Anna paused, until Jack asked "And?"

"And it was an unmitigated disaster. Not one nation was willing to accept the sale, and every one had a different reason. Several tried to buy the technology, although only the Reich offered decent terms. One sent us a scathing letter condemning genetic engineering, which it wasn't. Another offered to buy it but only on the condition that we could prove there's no such thing as elves or 'future technology', whatever that is. Another insisted that the chemicals involved be tested seperately, when they could only achieve the desired function together. We even had one nation attempt to steal the drugs, paint them on bullets, and shoot them at their enemies in hopes that it would make them age faster."

"I only know about half of this because Rachel kept sending me copies of the messages when she got them. She thought I'd find them funny." The Kandarinese envoy chuckled to herself, recalling the bizarre correspondence. "I shouldn't find it so, but it's almost as if most human nations don't want their citizens to live any longer. Maybe it says something about us, but I don't know what."

Listening intently to what this seemingly small child spoke of, Jack quietly sipped on his newly poured glass of whiskey, taking his time in drinking it as he had no intention of getting soused. But the alcohol and the side effects from its consumption did make him feel a bit better, sadly.

“Well…eh…aside from some of the more asinine reasons they had given, I kinda see why some wouldn’t accept it, but it might not be all that obvious to any of us here, or maybe them…or maybe it’s just an old man rambling,” he replied, swirling the whiskey around in his glass.

“From my own life, the Grummians, and a few other human nations I can think of off the top of my head, life is sorta set in stone. Ya start schooling at five years….end in your early to mid twenties at times…head out into the work-force...probably retire when you’re in your seventies. It all seems pretty much planned out, you know what’s ahead from that point in your life.

“Now…suddenly toss in Enkindle and add two or three decades to a normally eighty to ninety year life. All of a sudden, a majority of folks are living about a hundred thirty years. Suddenly, things change…you can linger around in your schooling, maybe taking some extra courses or even degrees…you’re in no particular rush to get married and start popping out kids…you retire later…or at least, the government will tell you to, because they don’t want you being a drag on the economy…

He peered back up towards her once more and shrugged. “I don’t know…I don’t think the opposition is because the governments don’t want their people to live longer. If I could wager a guess, it would be more along the lines of it being too much, too quickly…and the result from that disrupting society. A gradual lengthening in lifespan over decades, maybe centuries would probably give people a chance to adjust without creating too many problems.”

"Perhaps that would be more sensible. I wish that any of the nations we approached at the time had put it that way, but their reasons were far more ideological. In this case, it wasn't really feasible. We had the technology to make such a change, and it was no secret." Actually, it was a well-kept secret, but the people who ruled Kandarin made a point of keeping a paranoid attitude about the secrecy of their projects. "What social turmoil would have happened if we went through as planned surely would have been insignificant compared to that which would have occurred if we had told people that we had the treatment but refused to give it to them for the next five generations."

Anna peered sideways at Reid, who was sitting silently and absorbing all this. She made a mental note to have his children treated. "Maybe you're right, Jack. But I think some things that are set in stone ought to change, if they can be changed. The human life cycle is one. I realize not everyone will agree with me on that, but in this crowd," she gestured to the rest of the room, "We need all the help we can get."

"But I really oughtn't to turn this into a political debate, especially since we both came here to get away from those. This isn't the time or the place for that. Tell me, if you don't mind my asking...is there anyone else of your party to meet, or did just you and Alakantar come tonight?"

Amanda and Cal

Badb had wandered the party with her husband the two often did this at social gatherings, they where like Jackals circling the herd looking for weakness, and when they saw it they pounced. They had seen it in Calavyr and Amanda, or more exactly in his glamouring of Amanda. Moving closer they passed right next to him, and Badb leaned over to whisper in a voice just loud enough to be overheard by the governor ‘Oh that poor man, do you see, it seems he needs to use magic to get a companion for the night, I guess that means even his courtesan rejected him.’ Her husband chuckled appreciatively at her words and nodded his agreement.

Even as Badb said this her mind sought out Calvyrs We allow this to continue while she is in our sight, attempt to leave such and the results will be… unpleasant for you. Remember you are our guest, but so is she.

With that said Badb and her love continued to circle the function.

Taras

Darvin turned his attention a moment away from the two women accompanying the Vasilev and bowed. ‘Again I should introduce myself more formally it seems, I apologise, Your most August Majesty, I was momentary distracted by your companions, as the Courtesans said I am Idain Darvins of the Council of Tor Yvresse.’

Ra-Ithen

Iyanna smiled at that and leaned over to place a quick kiss on Tereah. ‘Your fears are unfounded in this regard I assure you.’ Sighing a moment she ran her hands gently through Tereahs hair before resting them upon the tips of her ears. ‘I would wish to stay here a while longer now, but not as long as I’d truly wish in truth.’ Laughing slightly at herself as she said this she smiled. She continued to smile as she leaned in to Tereah and breathed in deeply for a second. ‘Soon I will have one more duty to perform, and that is one I cannot go to looking as I would if we stayed as long as I wish

Despite this Iyanna sat on the ground seemingly unconcerned about the grass around her and looked up at Tereah. Before taking her hand and pulling her down if she allowed it onto her lap. ‘Do you know what I am most looking forward to about this, Tereah, it is not the act itself, but afterwards, lying in the arms of a friend and talking, sharing the experience of being as we are, Farseers, with another.’


OOC urgh messy and I may have missed people, but... if I didn't post soon I felt I might never. so if anyone has a post I missed say so in the ooc thread or on IRC

Yvresse

"I understand." Tereah replied, her blush deepening visibly after the kiss. "Perhaps after. Our party will be staying her for awhile, as we still would like you to receive those gifts I mentioned to your courtesan earlier." She remarked hopefully. She thought of the objects stored on Aconite that she had brought with her, especially a certain one and it reinforced her decision to wait until the Mon-Keigh present at the party were more dispersed before handing them over.

Landing gently in Iyanna's lap, Tereah laughed. Well, it was actually more of a giggle. Tereah managed to stifle it mid-way through however, not wanting to sound childish. Tereah nodded in agreement with Iyanna's statement. "Of course. To finally be with someone that understands the difficulty and trials our path...I can hardly wait."

Ctan

"Please forgive my ignorance in that regard." Sorel apologized. But from the flat tone of his voice it would be difficult for Ranisath to discern rather he meant the apology to him sincerely, or he was just apologizing for appearing misinformed in front of a creature he might have considered inferior to him. "Ah yes, The Mon-Keigh..." He said, looking around.

He made a snorting sound before turning back to face Ranisath. "I have had dealings with them before. More than I would like to admit." He admitted. "And it isn't so much I dislike them for being Mon-Keigh. But they're ignorance of past, of the dangers of the Immateriuam disturbs me deeply."

Iyanna smiled at the fact Tereah understood her smile growing wider as she thought on the situation ‘When this is over, you and your Prince should come with me to Yvresse, we can swop gifts there, we keep it free of the Mon-Keigh. That is the purpose of our presence here on Mars in truth. A place to interact with the Mon-Keigh without tainting our home.’ Pausing she sighed and shook her head

‘Well free from what we term Mon-Keigh, but even the presence of those whose status we disagree about is mild, a small embassy only, not as it is here. I doubt their entire staff is greater in number than the guests here.’ Taking Tereah's hand in her own slowly she places it onto the grass beneath them and closes her fist around the Earth.

‘I have one last request to make of you, reach out for the World Spirit of Einheldorin, we have been on this world for so long now, that it is in a way a part of us. I have planned something that I fear will shock you, and shake your confidence in me Tereah, in Tor Yvresse.’ Leaning forwards to kiss at her neck as she said this she smiled. ‘So, listen to Einheldorin for me, and know what is truly in our hearts, so that despite what is to come, you will know we are still Kionashi.’

"I would love to see Yvresse." Tereah replied. And considering the agents of Yvresse had all ready seen Ra-Ithen, it seemed only right that she would be able to see the Craftworld. And despite the presence of those she and the rest of Ra-ithen considered Mon-Keigh, she could endure it, if only for Iyanna's sake.

The second part of Iyanna's statement made Tereah a bit...apprehensive. What could she do to shake Ra-Ithens trust, it's confidence in the only other major Craftworld they had thus far encountered? Tereah could only imagine...but she told her self that what ever it was would only make for another stark, but tolerable difference between their Craftworlds. "You will always be Kionashi in my eyes..." She replied.

Neville took in each of the Freethinker dignitaries as they spoke.

" Quite fine, " he chuckled in reply. " I don't expect anyone and everyone to be up-to-the-minute briefed on the going ons of the U.C.S., just as I hope you aren't expecting me to be on Freestian affairs. "

" Nevertheless, our nations have at times shared common values in the international community, lines of history intersecting one another sometimes even in the most unlikely of times--I trust that your government has been successful in it's endeavours? "

Tor Yvresse

Marian made a curtsey to the Farseer, the layered skirts of her gown seeming to swirl around her at the seemless movement. A soft smile touched her youthful features as eyes too old for her face took him in slowly. “It’s an honor, Farseer. Until now, I must confess that I have known of the Eldar only by reputation. I am a Danaan, perhaps I should say Confederal, by birth and a Pantocratorian now. Neither nation ventures much into the depths of space. This is my first trip from Earth, in fact, unless you count the Dreaming.”

She went silent then, glancing briefly towards Mikhail and Helen. Even if the attention of Darvins seemed focused on her, she was in the company of others and, in fact, of others who outranked her by a great degree. It would have been rude not to allow them to enter into the conversation, if they so chose.

This time, it was Sirithil who spoke, and she spoke the same language, just as well – better, in fact, for she seemed more natural about it – as the C’tan “The important thing to bear in mind about that, is that a great number of the people present are not dominated by fear of the empyrean for a simple reason; it’s not a threat to them. They do not use it for interstellar travel, and most of the peoples represented here do not have psykers in the sense you may expect.”

At the same moment, Ranisath glanced back to the two humans with him, speaking for a moment in the necrontyr language, “Jaq, Meh’lindi, ere yarit sast Roanian heldat cel creena,” the last word being pronounced cree-anna.

The man nodded, “Sa” he said, turning, with his companion, and heading back into the next room.

“Apologies for that. Some other business that will not trouble you,” Ranisath said, back in the Eldar language, turning back to Sorel, “in any case, a fair amount of knowledge of the warp is widespread amongst humans, while we simultaneously make efforts to suppress information regarding precisely how one interacts with its less positive aspects. My agents,” he gave a brief glance back at the man who was leaving the room, “are constantly active in one arena or another to eliminate opportunities for contamination, and of course, we’re not the only ones,” he said, with a gracious nod at the Eldar warlock accompanying him, “who are active in ensuring that the creatures of the empyrean are not a problem for most of these people, or ourselves, and the Eldar… I shouldn’t judge them harshly for lack of interest or fear; it is in no small part through Eldar actions that they have that luxury.”

Tor, TRD

“Quite understandable, Idain,” Mikhail said with a slight inclination of his head in sign of greeting once all the presentations were made. “My present company is indeed quite apt at causing distraction to any man, and not only momentarily.”

He smiled as he glanced to his right on Helen first, then on Marian to his left, and then his eyes returned to the face of the Farseer.


Ro

Vethara smiled and kissed Aleks back, raising an eyebrow as she saw him approach a group of Aelosians. She called over one of the attendants from the Taraskovyan party and whispered something into the man’s ear, the man nodding and withdrawing.

And then she stood around without much to do. The Sortvalian General and the Minister-Chancellor of Nyi-Gardarika were busy discussing something with some Taraskovyan attendants.

Farahind closed her eyes and leaned gently against Henry, letting his hand wander, she trusted him to keep decorum in such company.

“Extremely, Mister Casanova, our latest joint project on Gamma was a revolutionary success with our Midlonian allies.” She pulled a little tighter with her own arm. It wasn’t, truth be told, as lustful as it seemed, Freestians after all were very touchy and expressive naturally, something that admittedly put off a few outsiders and left the wrong interpretation with others. Of course, anyone acting on such stereotypes tended very quickly and given the spread of vampiric genes very painfully that appearances could be deceiving.

“We intend,” she carried on, somewhat more seriously, “to start asserting ourselves and, if necessary our beliefs and our ties to others more than we have done. Our technological coming of age is nearing, and what we lack in outright power we feel we can make up for in determination.”

Sempero meanwhile, having transcended the portal, find himself appreciating the open, fresh air and the space more than anything else. He smiled at his now small entourage of Courtesans, letting them lead him around to wherever they had in mind.

“Well, I’m not exactly saying you should withhold it from them entirely,” he replied, leaning in onto the edge of the table with his elbows. “But I’d think that a gradual lengthening of the lives of the human population could work. Five years here, five there…over the course of several generations…it’s enough to allow them time to change. I’ve seen it happen like that myself. Plus…it’s not as if you really need to be all that public about it, but eh, I don’t know. You know more about the process than myself really.”

Jack settled back into his chair, polishing off yet another glass of the Grummian whiskey and setting it back onto the table before him. He did not order another just yet as he noted to himself that he had had enough for the moment, in addition to the slightly off feeling he had. He now listened to Anna’s change of conversation, partially glad that it was switching to something lighter in nature.

“Well…actually, yeah,” he smiled, turning about in his seat, searching for the air force officer he had brought along with him. After a moment had passed, he caught sight of her on the other side of the room, at the bar with a man, whom he did not know, idly chatting away. “…hmm…it seems she’s found someone to talk to finally, probably would be best to leave them be for now….anyway…that’s Amanda Harris, the commander in chief over all of the Corporation’s space forces. I’ve known her for about all her life and was best friends with her grandfather for…oh….sixty years maybe?” he glanced back over to her then turned toward Anna again. “She and Alak are good friends nowadays. They’ve been around each other ever since they were younger, and for a few years, she actually babysat him for a while…”

“Indeed.” Henry said as he caressed Farahind’s arm first, before slipping a hand around her midriff, caressing her remarkably well toned stomach.

Similarly, Henry was well versed in the Freestian etiquette and as such was touching Farahind in only appropriate, if not entirely chaste ways.

This was despite the fact that they had in fact shared a two year relationship during his time in the Mainland Corps as part of his own military training and national service, something that had been rekindled of sorts in the past year or so.

“The reports back from Gamma were quite something to read.” Henry said as Sarah lent against him fully. He gently placed his head against her arm, not quite able to reach her shoulder as he continued speaking, his hand continuing to wander a little up and down her midriff, coming to the extreme ends before it became lewd, stopping himself short. “Shame about the initial casualty reports however. Those damn over-engineered drop ships cost a penny too. I know we‘re still waiting on translating all those glyphs also. Hard to understand such a language with no comparable source.”

He sighed and turned his head to look at Sarah, pulling back for a moment to speak. “Still, now we’re there we can actually start setting things up properly. Letting the Freestians have a proper spot amongst the stars and all that.” his hand gently pressed against Sarah’s midriff. “Of course, overall the whole colonization effort is extremely beneficial to both sides. The Freestians can prove they can colonize other worlds, and we can alleviate our overcrowding problems in Sol.”

TRD and Tarasovka

Darvins smiled indulgently at Mikhail and nodded in agreement, ‘I thank you for your understanding Gosudar, is it? I apologise my pronunciation of your languages is not as I would wish it, and to address the Lady Marian's comment. I assure you we are likely as awful as you have heard and as great, terrible as it is to admit such things’ a twinkle was in his eye as he said this. ‘We are both at times I think overly proud, and right in our pride.’

He left unsaid the answer to his confusion about the woman but a little bit of it had been answered, although that didn’t end his interest. It was a mild one, through, as free spirited as Darvins could be, he wasn’t in the business of creating new problems for Yvresse over women.

Free

As open as Einheldorin was the Courtesans leading Semparo around had several concerns in mind, for a start, simple time constraints. The world had many wonders and the Grav Cars made exploring them a lot simpler, but even so, they where limited to those that could be reasonably reached without taking hours simply to get there. They also wanted a place where the Drake could be free to let himself go. Somewhere wide open, yet, also away from the more likely spots to be visited by the other guests. Eventually they led him over to one of the larger vehicles on offer and bundled him in. More a grav-Limo than a car one of the Courtesans selected a destination from the list and slipped into the back with him.

‘Would you like to fly?’ Said one of the women with a suggestive smile on her face.

Ra-Ithen

For a while Iyanna took the assurance from Tereah gladly, and simply sat in silence running her hands through her hair and stroking slowly the ears. Yvresse had a long tradition of such, and they had different ways of doing so. Somewhere suggestive, a stroke between lovers meant to excite, others where more for familial love, between a parent and their child. In this case Iyanna's hovered between that of a friend and that of a lover, it was meant to be both exciting while reassuring.

Eventually she groaned unhappily. ‘I am afraid it is almost time for us to be going back, and when we do, when we return to the gate, it shall have to be until we are alone again as if this never happened Tereah. The other Seers of Yvresse will understand that it happened but this is the rule I made for myself to allow such moments as this.'

OOC: Horray for fluid-time-physics, where it doesn't really matter if you've accidently missed someone talking to you!

Neville bowed his head to the Midlonian King, for out of respect for the man and his title if anything else, " It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Your Majesty. "

Listening to and making further conversation, he was impressed with the Freestian's resolve to re-involve themselves in the international community from a Freethinker point of view.

" Certainly, " the Austarian replied, making eyes with both of his counterparts. " Actually, I cannot help but look forward to seeing your government assert themselves more into the going ons of Sol and such. "

On his next point he decided to tread lightly, " A Freethinker perspective--a true voice of reasoning, is always a welcome addition to the community. My, I hope you don't mind my being so curious but do you think we'll be observing a return to Mars in the near future? If you don't mind my being so forward, I would certainly encourage it. "

" Heck, " chuckled Neville. " With some of the more recent activity it'd be refreshing to note a more stable influence on the ever revolving world of inter-national politics. "

"Mars....is behind us, the planet seems to attract far too much trouble and to be honest, our ties there are mostly economic and can served far better with simple trade missions and capital investments. We...are aiming further afield, systems whereby we can claim full sovereignty as we arrive and set up, we're looking for civilizational security as much as we are looking for living space. To paraphrase a famous astrologer, nations either go into space or go extinct."

Farahind breathed outward slowly, letting her grip on Henry loosen, the younger man seeming slightly disappointed, but then seemed to perk as she gave a knowing smile. "We believe in sovereignty, and our right to it alongside everyone elses. I believe all I can say is treat us as you wish to be treated and we can go forward from there." She turned back to Casanova.

"My primary intention for the immediate future, if that is what you are interested, is in reputation forging, essentially conveying that we mean and do as we say. A lot of people can jaw jaw very effectively, but we have something, and I am the first to admit it, to prove tot he galaxy as a whole. And that is that we deserve the piece we are carving for ourselves."

***********

Sempero meanwhile found himself reclining and indeed filling the gravcar, such as it lwas, tail and wings hanging over the edge as his accompanying entourage of Courtesans draped across his form.

"Flying? Of course, however did you guess that?" He said, smiling, the sort of act that fleetingly brought to humans mind a lion jumping on a zebra.

Henry slipped his hand from around Farahind’s stomach and instead slipped it behind her back, resting it further down than the small of her back, placing it firmly and gently on her backside, his hand hidden by the folds of the dress itself.

The change had been subtle and from the front at least it looked like Henry had moved his hand to give her a little more room to move and breathe.

“Indeed, every state has the right to their own sovereignty.” he gave her a wink and stuck out his tongue in a teasing manner, apparently patting her back from the front, but giving Sarah a slight smack on her behind. “Even the colonies.”

He then chuckled and smiled. “I am, obviously joking. The Greater Kingdom does not hold any claims to the Freethinker Commonwealth or any of it’s territories etcetera etcetera. Never mind that Sarah would kill me if I ever changed my mind on such matters, as well as then using the Freestian Military to dance a merry jig on my corpse.” he gave her a wink before turning back to Cassanova.

“Though obviously we sort these problems out in the be- boardroom before they become a horrible mess. We both know our rights and places in each other‘s nations hearts and economy and work with our common beliefs, hence why the Gamma project is going to be a wonderful success I am sure.”

“Of course, the Greater Kingdom itself is going for a more pragmatic approach to that of the Freestians, we don’t have the luxury of the Freestian interior for space, and thus try to grab what we can, hence the aggressive construction and expansion of the colonies here on mars, as well as the one out at Neptune, but from what I’ve heard it’s a dreary place, so we also decided to look outside of Sol to new worlds, seeing as our closest allies,” he looked to Sarah again as he grabbed a couple of wine glasses from a passing waiter and offered one to her his other hand giving another squeeze under the fabric, “were also doing the same we felt it better to pool our monetary resources and expertise, setting up colonies can hardly be done on tea, string and a six pence.”

"Ah. I must admit, I have not actually met Alakantar." Not wanting to appear negative, Anna added, "But all that I have heard is good. Is it true that he is to be married soon?"

"And," she interjected, aware that it was another change of subject, "While it would be impossible to describe this place as constricted, would you like to see it from the other side of the portal?"

“Yeah, he is, actually,” answered Jack, a slight smile and a nod of confirmation appearing in response to the question. “But I don’t think he and Arielle have set aside a date for the wedding yet. They’re still planning on what all they want to do for it…ya know the deal…guest lists, locations for all the events, what to eat, the clothing to wear and so on….plus there are a quite a few nagging problems to hammer out with crap outside of the wedding itself….but that’s a long story all in itself….anyway, I’m pretty happy for them both. He looks like he’s finally met someone he wants to spend his life with and she…I met her a little while back…Arielle is a nice, charming, young lady, I think. Probably perfect for him if I could wager a guess.”

His eyes focused in on the portal across from the group, noting the expansive world that lay on the other side of it. Perhaps it was time to get up from the table and wander around, before the cramps could set in on his legs. Ah, it was hell getting old. “Eh, well…I’m game, I guess,” he said, standing up with a grunt as his knees wobbled some.

Upon stepping through the gate to Einheldorin, Philip Reid's first thought was that the paradise world seemed more real than that which was left behind. Every sight, every sound and smell was more focused, and more keenly felt than normal. Every detail called out and yearned to be observed, as if the world spoke to him by mere fact of his presence. The world sang, in a way, and even one without the keen psychic insights of the Kionash could listen, even though they could of course not perceive its actual source.

When Anna Alexander passed through the gate, she noticed none of those things. They were lost on her, as effective as the visual arts on the blind. Still, she could not help but be entranced by Einheldorin's beauty. The sky was a deep lapis blue with hints of violet and lighter colors, stark contrast against clouds that twisted like chromatic serpents from one horizon to the other. Between the portal and the nearby city were hills dotted with stands of tall alien foliage that danced in an ever-gentle breeze. It brought back memories of a place almost as idyllic, of times half-forgotten, of long days with friends and only cares that seemed simple now. Those were gone now, and it irked Anna to realize how much those friends had slipped her fingers. It would not have been right to ask them to follow down the path she walked, but it still hurt to think of their loss.

Before unhappy nostalgia could break her composure, Anna was suddenly aware, too, of the essence of the world, that flowed through it. It was a pleasant feeling, gathering near in the earth and water and sky as if to comfort her, and old troubles were forgotten again.

Yvresse

Tereah stood slowly and began to re-arrange her robes, making her self look more presentable. "I understand." She gave a smile and a nod to Iyanna. After all, how could she not understand such a thing? It made only sense to Tereah. "I wish you luck during your...ritual." She continued.

Ctan

Sorel pondered on what the yngir had said for a moment and nodded. "A valid point. Still, it would be better for the Mon-Keigh to at least be aware of the dangers the immaterium represents. Being a Yngir, I'm sure you can agree that ignorance of Chaos may be effective sometimes, but outright action against it is better."

Ranisath smiled, “Oh most certainly, we make a point of educating, especially the more responsible ones, governments and to a lesser extent, interested mon-keigh regarding the dangers, while doing our best to ensure that it never becomes necessary. In the same way, I understand the Yvressi occasionally arrange for their privateers to intercept tyranids” of course, ancient Eldar languages lacked a term, the contemporary illMureead for tyranids, “while they are dormant, where it is possible, too. It’s much better to deal with these problems while they are manageable. But yes. For these people, the ‘Primordial Annihilator’ is not a problem they must confront often, and it shall not become such while I have any influence over the matter.”

" Quite so, " the Austarian representative replied light-heartedly. " In a world where we'll probably not see such conflict-politics as in the past for quite a while, we've all been able to turn our attention to more efficient ways. "

" One of our more notable companies has been handling all of our security arrangements for the District of Yggdrasil, for example, " Neville explained with somewhat of a sigh. " Alas, the Pilonese are a proud bunch--outsourcing becomes necessary. "

He turned his attention to specifically the Midlonian, " Your majesty, if you will forgive my ignorance on the subject, but what is Project Gamma? "

Adding Roanians into the mix for a laugh also…

Daria sighed and walked by the group, shaking her head as she watched Calavyr put the moves on a woman. "Well, glad I'm not her." She muttered, pondering what she wanted to do to drink herself to death with.

“Yes, poor thing.” Henry said, glancing to the side where Calavyr was, his hand was still around Farahind and he smiled to Daria as she moved past. “Care to join us instead?”

She stopped, and turned to look at Henry. "Oh. You... seem a bit busy." She said, looking at Farahind with a nervous smile. "Thank you, though..." She stood there, though, unable; to walk away.

He simply smiled and waved her over instead, his reddened hair shining in the light “I’m sure Sarah here won’t mind me dividing my attention, besides the more the merrier for the richer conversation.”

She walked over to him, a little blush covering her pale cheeks. "Well, thank you..." She smiled nervously.

“So which delegation are you with?” Henry asked casually as he grabbed a drink of wine from another passing servant and handed it to her. “I wasn’t aware there’d be quite so many stunning people here at this event.”

She looked at him, and raised an eyebrow. "Can't you tell, Your Majesty?" She fluffed her purplish hair and smiled winningly at him, looking down at her spider silk dress.

Henry blushed slightly himself this time. “Ah, Roania, how silly of me to not realise it sooner.” he extended his hand. “Please, call me Henry.”

Daria looks at his hand for a moment, and then frowns. Suddenly, she lights up. "Oh! Right. Yes. Human." She reaches out and warmly places her small hand in his grasp.

He lifted her small hand to his lips and kissed it gently. “My apologies if I did something wrong with Roanian etiquette at all. I am, afraid, not very clued up. Running a kingdom such as it is tends to take me away from studying other things.”

She blushed crimson, then, at the feeling of his lips on her hand, and hated herself for doing so. "It's... it's fine." She smiled at him. "How fares Midlonia, King Henry?"

“Very well thankfully, we were just talking about the latest venture the Kingdom and the Commonwealth is undertaking, a colony on a planet we’re calling Gamma for now.” He smiled at her going crimson. “Otherwise things are very well. How about yourself, miss?”

She paused, and then looked at her feet, a little embarassed. "I... can't complain. Oh... I'm sorry. Please, call me Daria." She gently pulled her hand free from his grip.

He let her hand slip from his, and smiled. “Daria.” he repeated her name. “What a lovely name.” he paused for a moment. “You seem like you want to complain.” he added in a whisper and another smile.

She opened her mouth, struggled for a second, and then shook her head. "No, everything is... fine." She looked him up and down, a little smile coming to her lips as she did so. "But thank you for your concern. So, what is this Gamma?"

“Mmhm.” Henry said with a wink to her. “Maybe later then.” he remarked quietly before raising his voice slightly, addressing the Austarian delegate as well as Daria.

"It's our joint colonization effort a fair distance from the Solar system." Henry said with a smile, looking to Farahind again.

"Gamma is our first virgin world to claim as our own, quite a nice planet itself by all accounts. Midlonia itself is full to bursting and Mars' reputation has scuppered our chances of any more mass immigration waves to the red planet, so instead we're banking a fair bit of our overpopulation problems on the colonization at the planet we're nominally calling Gamma." he took a sip from his wine glass.

"We have a couple of other planets on the cards also, but for now we're keeping our focus on this new world to set up and run as a colony, largely to see if we can actually do it.” He shrugged a little. “So far there’s been very few problems bar a couple of accidental casualties, but that’s the problem of orbital landings, most of them are safe but sometimes they go wrong, especially when you’re relying on an every day shuttle to land, or those pods. In the Commonwealth’s case.”

"Yes, the Pilonese are an interesting lot, but we found their capitalistic outlook useful and they were an interesting culture, just sometimes difficult weaving an umbrella indoors." She smiled awkwardly, Farahind, moving from one foot to another as she found Daria joinging them. She took a step back to allow the Roanian to feel less comfortable, though the simple difference in height was in itself intimidating. She smiled back warmly when the Roanian smiled at her, hand cresting in a little friendly wave, letting Henry have his day.

"Gamma, as Henry said, is the temporary name. One of a number of systems we've flagplanted and looking at potentially exploiting. We're doing the old private enterprise approach, find the easiest market to tap and then use economies of scale and experience from our first effort to further our reach. We have, as my Midlonian counterpart pointed out, different aims, Midlonia for land and for ourselves power projection and security, particularly given our current heavy reliance on imports for many basic raw materials."

She stopped, feeling distinctly unfeminine after Daria's arrival as she found herself talking on. Like most ghouls from the Commonwealth, her skinned was darker tanned and her frame was athletic rather than soft, blessed by Artemis rather than Aphrodite was the stock poetic phrasing for it, and against the softer, smaller and seemingly submissively posed Daria she felt ungainly. Farahind had been cross at Hykar for his wandering hand, but as she cradled her wine glass she suddenly missed it.

Not that she was the jealous type mind, but she did have some feelings resident for the Midlonian king, in spite or indeed perhaps because he was just a plain human being, something seemingly so rare these days. She found her free arm drifting back round to rest on his waist again, firmly enough to remind he she was there.

Henry let a thin smile trace his lips as Farahind placed and arm around his waist, his hand, previously animated in conversation, slid back to the Ghoul’s waist and gave her a reassuring squeeze, leaning in slightly and drawing himself closer to the Ghoul.

“Yes, though I know a few of the Consortiums who export various things to the Commonwealth will be irked by the new resources the commonwealth will find there I am sure, they’ll probably follow us both there. They have the experience at finding and extracting the stuff after all.” he sighed slightly irritated and shook his head slightly in frustration before leaning on Farahind, almost snuggling into her light embrace.

“I’ve already got three requests on the Charter for exploration from the National Coal Consortium, The Greater Kingdom Energy Concern and the bloody Greenslade Tea Company. All asking for first dibs on the charters to go exploring Gamma trying to find energy supplies or suitable lands to farm tea on.”

He closed his eyes for a second as he stood there with Farahind, then flickered his eyes open, looking up at the portal at the far end of the hall.

“Shall we go through that scary looking portal then?” he said with a grin and a knowing glint in his eye that Sarah knew too well, he was in the mood for a bit of fun and mischief, it was the same glint that he’d given her all those years ago, to him at least, when they first started their relationship during his time in military service. This was coupled with another caress of Sarah’s side as he spoke, the two of them standing with barely a ray of light passing between the two of them.

Everyone had seemed to assign their own personal significance to this strange new world upon their arrival through the gate. For Jack, he found himself with a mindset close to that of Anna’s, one of comfort and relaxation. This was a world at peace, no worries or concerns about work, no pointless squabbling over trivial matters, no petitioners ranting and raving about whatever policy was up on the docket next, and certainly no sixteen hour workdays. He appeared more relaxed than he was before at the table, more pleasant in appearance too with a calming expression upon his face.

“You know…I’d much rather be out here than in there…” came an idle remark from Jack as he stepped up beside the two, pausing briefly to take in the beauty of this scenery. He sighed contently and smiled, basking in the warm glow of the sun above, his bits of silver hair shimmering from the light.

“This would actually be pretty nice for a retirement getaway,” he commented, pointing out to a clearing across the fields, near a sizeable pond out in the distance. “Build a cabin right over there…maybe a little dock…and relax with a bit of fishing…nothing to worry about, no one around to be pesky.”

Acknowledging the presence of Daria, the Austarian largely kept his focus on the Freethinker and Midlonian nationals, The Roanians were... an unlikely bunch, not one that Neville specifically liked or was comfortable being around. And although he had never really had much personal experience with Daria or her kind of individual, he wasn't personally interested in having one now. Instead he braved a polite smile, and at King Henry's mention of inspecting the gate decided that it had become time to part ways--due to a number of reasons of course, none of them not even including the addition of Daria to the conversation at large.

" You two go exploring, " Neville bowed to the both of his counterparts. " I hope I do not offend, but I've some official business to attend to. "

He seemed to look around for a particular face, an individual.

" Prime Minister, Your Majesty, it's been a pleasure. Also, if I don't manage to catch either of you before the close of this event... good luck with your ventures on Gamma. And if I can be of any assistance, please don't hesitate to contact my office. "

He turned to the Roanian, " Ms. Daria, I'm sorry that I'm unable to become acquainted with you further. Perhaps another time? "

Tor Yvresse

Marian smiled lightly as she listened to Darvins, seeming pleasantly amused. "Of course, sir, you are a rather biased source. Still, what you say has the ring of truth. This world is certainly a rather impressive feat of engineering. It truly is a paradise."

Daria smiled at Sarah and Harry, confused as to what they were discussing. Still, the human and drake seemed so excited to explore that she could only shrug her beautifully rounded shoulders. "As you wish." She said in her soft voice, giving Sarah a quick scan over and unconsciously adjusting her top to display some more cleavage. "It might be fun to explore."

Daria realised what she was doing and suddenly coloured, pulling her neckline back up as far as she could safely bring it, seeming disgusted with herself. "All right, let's go." She smiled sweetly at the delegate from Austar Union. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us, sir?"

Sarah smiled, offerng her outstretched palm for Henry to take, her fingers shaking slightly, almost with anticipation. She didn't say a word, just turned and looked over her shoulder. "Shall we?" She said, excited almost at the prospect of exploring.

She fast marched to the portal, letting Henry catch up only briefly before stepping through. The air entered her lungs, beautiful, refreshing, the warmth of the system's stars feeling so inviting and fresh. She almost giggled, letting her hair down from its bun and removing her sandles and feeling the grass between her toes. She didnt much care to ask about the local insect life, her breed were tough enough and fast enough to spot and avoid the nastier things of the galaxy.

But in all honesty, she didnt care. She let her almost animalistic sense let loose with all the new stimuli, almost moaning as the aromas and the atmosphere enveloped her. She seemed almost lost for a moment, before she suddenly blinked and appeared to almost deflate as she turned back to Hykar.

"Doesn't it feel...free?"

Henry laughed a little as he was dragged quickly across the hall and through the portal. After taking in the surroundings for a minute or two, as well as the striking beauties of Sarah that she often didn’t realise he smiled widely when she spoke to him. Regarding the surroundings he took a deep breath himself, enjoying the mixture of sweet smells and the slight, sweet and sour smell of decay from the plant beds themselves.

“About as stunning and free as eight years ago, like one is little more than an insignificant speck amongst all of nature’s beauty.”

He slipped behind her, letting his hand go from hers and moved in front of her before his arms came around her waist and he stood slightly on his shoes, raising himself up to her lips, where he placed his lips in a light kiss. “But then there’s always something else reminding me of the freedoms of life.” he said with a grin.

Parting ways with his Midlonian, Freethinker, and Roanian counterparts, Neville found himself wandering through the crowd and over to a table where a banquet had been readied. Pulling out a small device as he poured himself a drink, he began to type and pocketed it almost just as quick.

" I suppose we might get the chance to explore properly quite soon, " he turned to his courtesan, " But first, duty calls. "

Taking her by the arm, he began to search.

Freethinkers

Semparo’s entourage grinned a little and giggled a little more before pouring him drinks. ‘Well then we have the perfect spot, it’s used for much the same purpose, a little getaway for thrill seekers.’ Saying this the after only a short time the car came to a stop, before them was a canyon with twists and turns, a strong current raced through it, and passages split from each other, making it appear almost a labyrinth. Before the Grav car was a small building seemingly growing out the rock face and a few of the Concubines slipped inside coming out with wing like devices, civilian versions of the Falcons wings which had a slower speed, and where easier to use, with less options of course but the civilian model didn’t have the same needs. A closer examination would reveal another building set much further back, the Falcons too came here, as did the other flyers of Yvresse, it was a useful training ground after all.

‘As we said flying.’

Ra-Ithen.

Standing slowly Iyanna too brushes herself down, although strangely it seems less needed despite having just served as a seat for Tereah, she smiles slightly and shrugs in explanation. ‘It may not be the most dignified use of such protections, but the armour has its uses to make up for the constriction.’

Iyanna pauses in her laughter as a look of disgust crosses her face. ‘I should have realised this would occur, Einheldorin I apologise that one such as it has come here.’ Sighing she turns to face Tereah. ‘A lesson for the future I think, when inviting others to come join us, I should specify no Pariahs. When we go towards the gate, I fear we may pass near to such.’

Kandarin, TRD, Tara and Panto

If Iyanna's feelings on the matter separated by such distance where bad, Darvins who was talking to a group much nearer felt repulsed. He stopped for a second to stare at Anna with a look enough to kill almost. Disgust and revulsion where plain on his face before he slowly managed to compose himself, it would have been hard for Anna or Reid to miss yet alone the people talking to Darvins.

Taking a deep breath he turned back to those he was talking to and bowed lower than he had before, I apologise, that was uncalled for, but, she defiles this place with her presence, she is a walking oil spill.’ His words where likely confusing, yet, he had no better way to describe his feelings at that moment.

AU

The Courtesan merely giggled and nodded ‘Is there someone in particular you would like to speak to sir, I should be able to find the Courtesan attached to them if there is..’

"Excuse me, Jack." Anna returned Darvins' glare with a look that implied only perfect innocence, then slipped away from the Chairman to approach Mikhail's party. "Finally," she said, smiling like the Cheshire cat, "Somebody who really understands me! But in all seriousness, Farseer, I must thank you for allowing me to see this, the most beautiful of worlds. I had underestimated your peoples' craft, until today."

She made a very polite bow to Mikhail and his entourage. "Lady Secondary Anna Alexander of the Kandarin Federation, at your service. It has been a very long time."

Kandarin, Tor

Anna’s approach did not come unnoticed by the Vasilevs, as suddenly whispers of anguish and anger came to his mind. The whispers were not in words, but more in emotions. It was the Sword of Rulers, always by the side of a Taraskovyan ruler. And despite official propaganda, it was not just a piece of finely crafted and rare antic alloy. It was far, far more. It was a being in itself, sent by Sathala in times immemorial to Lord Uidath, to aid him in unifying the disparate Tarathian kins once and for all. And apparently the Sword agreed with the Yvressi dislike of the newcomer.

“It is an honour, Lady Alexander," Mikhail said calmly, despite being surprised by the twelve year old child having such a title. "I present you Princess Helen of Pantocratoria and Countess Marian of Mortville,” Mikhail said with a polite smile as his usually cold and emotionless eyes fixed upon Anna with a certain dose of curiosity. He gave a glance to the side, where at a distance Vethara was talking with Minister-Chancellor Juravlev.

“The laggers behind are my beloved sister, Vethara of Taraskovya, as well as Minister-Chancellor Juravlev, who has the honour of leading Nyi-Gardarika in my name and that of my People on Mars.”

His eyes then returned upon Anna, trying to remember from where he might have seen her before. After all, she did mention that it has been a long time… a long time since what? He could not remember. Maybe the coma following the apocalyptic battle of Tin-Vilena did leave some traces on his memory.

“But pray, my Lady, have we ever met?”

Darvins

Darvins almost shuddered as Anna came nearer for a second pain flickered across his features and he fought off a wince then he dug deep within himself to summon up a smile, strained as it was turned to face Anna ‘Ahh and why would you do such madam, Einheldorin is I admit a gem within the galaxy but it is not the only gem. Some we of Yvresse hold in guardianship others are held by our brothers and sisters upon other craftworlds. Still I am sure our ancestors would be, touched, by your praise.’

Everyone not on Einheldorin itself.

As Anna approached Darvins and the rest of that group Iyanna emerged from the woods, very glad that she would be able to avoid the Pariah without seeming rude, instead she made straight to the portal, and back to Mars. While allowing the guests access to Einheldorin had lessened the number who would see what she had planned it actually seemed to be a good thing. At the very least the Pariah would be absent, which removed a headache from her, and while she was polluting the world, it was something small and easily fixed, doubtless the moment the woman was off the world, it would remove the taint of her presence.

Once back in the hall it seemed to act as a signal and the doors opened once more, the Five Everguard that served as Iyanna’s escort returning leading between them two Spiritseers, although to most onlookers they would seem normal warlocks. Swords and the rest of the equipment seemingly identical the Spiritseers had several different markings on their clothing, that revealed their speciality.

Once Iyanna had returned to the room and the small entourage had reached her, they banged their halberds once upon the ground, and Iyanna spread her gaze across the room. ‘I apologise for interrupting the conversations of those here. There is one more matter before us, and I must admit, to the grave sin of being about to make a speech.’


OOC I know people where talking but, well to be honest I messed up by opening Einheldoin up before doing this. I want to get this bit done before everyone goes off exploring.;)

" I'm not sure they will be accompanied by a Courtesan, to tell you the truth, " Neville returned her enthusiasm with a smile, and then furrowed his brow.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the same device, seeming to read some text on the display, and then pocketed it once again. " Sorry, where was I? Oh, yes. I was hoping to congratulate the Asuridain at some point, I wonder if you can help me find out if she's available. "

At which point, they were interrupted by the devil herself.

" I apologise for interrupting the conversations of those here. There is one more matter before us, and I must admit, to the grave sin of being about to make a speech. "

Neville chuckled a little, then turned to his courtesan. " Maybe not. "

Sarah nearly burst out laughing at the line.

"Oh god, you can tell you don't get out much." She chuckled, walking slowly with her back to him. "Thats a line..." She turned her head and moved her hands back to let him take them behind her, and she drop a slight look of concern when he seemed knocked back by her playful reprimand. She closed her eyes and cursed herself.

"I'm sorry." She said, the ghoul turned gracefully on one bare foot, letting the loose fabric and hair flair out and free themselves with the aide of the planet's pleasent breeze. She was tall by human standards, of course, but not lithe in her stature as she tensed. Her body instinctly flexed, standing up on the balls of her feet for the few additional inches of height it gave her, blacklids momentarily putting in an appearence. She stood rigid, letting her robe flap around her. Henry looked back at her, shorter and so...human, vulnurable, and, given his past and his position, seeming so alone.

She took a firm step forward towards him, the movement itself determined but her expression slowly moving to concern and consternation. She embraced him anew, though it seemed almost unwelcomed at first, though he soon moved his head against hers. It wasn't a lover's embrace, there was no lust, no romantic passion or gaze, it was instead extending comfort and empathy, almost maternal were it not for their own deep relationship as comrades and friends.

Farahind closed her eyes, letting her concern for his wounded pride express itself. He was young, far too young for the pressures he faced, pressures she had only just begun to understand herself. Eight years and he still seemed the fresh, eager young lieutenent, his face stint abroad, his rotation to the Mainland Corp filling him with exceptional excitement.

She remembered, she remembered hating him, his exuberance, his naivite, his brash upper Midlonian protocol and snobbery, and yet.

He had saved her life, what it had seemed gone, and in the aftermath, she saved his, the two of them repaying that debt over and over after the ambush, and how she warmed to him despite having to drag his wounded hide across the desert for weeks trying to find their unit. Brother and sister in arms, comrades, friends. Lovers...it had seemed so...new...lustful,
hormonal drives and native passion rather than an underlying thing.

But she had never forgotten.

***********

Sempero looked down at the small group of now winged Courtesans, who milled and buzzed with their crafted wings, soaring elegantly with the same grace and lithe movement that characterised them on the ground. His reptilian swagger seemed crude and forced against it, but that was more his arrogance, his mastery of the formidable power his origins had imbued him with, his own innate talent to drive his body, its flesh, bone, every sinew and gland suborned to his whim. He was an apex predator, a sapient one at that, and he knew, and acted the part.

Too many emo vampires in the world, somehow Sempero felt it seemed stupid to be granted near immortality, incredible strength and stamina, and the other gifts his breed and title gave him, and somehow feel sad or depressed about it.

He rose on his feet, standing a full fifteen feet from his armoured horns to the foot long sickle like talons, tail waving like a serpent. He spread his wings, each the size of a yacht sail, forty five feet from tip to tip. Giant grey eye spots penetrated the soft beige membrance, and he curled the tips round to almost surround his hosts.

And he steadied, and beat his wings, soaring up, moving into flight. And it soon became obvious to the world...

That Freestian vampires flew like parapalegic elephants.

His wings, though massive and backed by a set of flight muscles of mind-humbing power, were still a small area ratio for his weight and size. He glided reasonably, but as he closed into the canyon he seemed to be stilted, his vulnurable wings cascading into the cliff faces and nearly drowning his escorts in falling rock. He seemed to prefer, therefore, artful leaps, his power legs muscles, aided by the wings but as guidance rather than driver, and he leapt and bounded from wall and outcrop, scampering and running up the vertical rock like it was level on the flat.

And he could run, claws tearing into the rock, pining one limb whilst another pushed forward, claws retracting allowing him to continue with the momentum.

And Sempero loved it all.

As Tereah followed Iyanna back to the part, she spotted Sorel talked to...a Yngir, of all things! To say that she did not approve of the Prince's choice for company would be an understatement.

Ctan

Sorel smiled. "I have encountered these...Tyranids before, they're very...well, interesting beasts. Worthy of annihilation of course, but still interesting. The Seers of my Craftworld have forseen visions of thousands upon thousands of hive fleets descending upon this Galaxy....our High Farseer considers the matter a grave threat. But perhaps you can enlighten me more on the matter?"

Henry leant against her and let out a long sigh. “It’s not my fault I don’t get out much.” he said quietly after a short while of their embrace. He pulled back a little bit and looked up at her. “Ridiculous, isn’t it? I shouldn’t have been on the throne for another 15 years or so, but instead…” he shook his head again and looked up to her. “Ah well, better if I keep my mouth shut then, hmm?” he said with a smile and looked into Sarah‘s eyes. “Don’t want to say anything too embarrassing for myself again, huh?” he leant back against her and closed his eyes, breathing deeply and in an oddly Freestian way, taking in her scent also.

Eight years ago he had been a very different man. The young Prince of his more popular father. Without a colonial rebellion for Henry to be sent to he was instead thrown to the Mainland Corps. The infamous tithed regiment that his father had worked to have re-founded. In order to show how committed he was, he placed his own son into the regiment as part of the National Citizenship Service rather than the more regular Blues and Royals regiment.

He hadn’t thought much of Farahind either, loud and boorish like the rest of the Ghouls he felt angry at such behaviour, especially around him of all people. However, when ambushed he had done what any soldier was expected to do, protect his comrades and saved her.

During his time across the desert he had changed, matured, got to know her in many ways. Intimately and intellectually. Indeed, he liked to think that their political arguments had also driven her into politics post-military career. They had only kept in touch intermittently, sending a card of congratulations when she had become Freestian Prime Minister. It had only been during the last major incident between their states had they gotten properly back in contact again. With that their relationship had been rekindled anew, and now here he was, travelling outside of his state again for the first time in a good eight years in the embrace of a woman who he felt a lot for.

Call it a lack of experience of naivety if you will, but he always felt better around Farahind. He felt more alive, more free. Just like that time back in the deserts of the Commonwealth with only a single person looking out for him and nobody else.

“It’s conceivable. There have been some incursions recorded already. Fortunately, the importance of often more reliable strategic and governance structures can’t be underestimated in fighting them. The monstrosities are easy to underestimate when one considers their vessels as strictly three-dimensional aberrations, like some more mundane ‘bio-technology’ rather than as a whole incorporating empyrean elements. However, they’re rather straightforward, beyond their propensity for infiltrators, in combat. They simply rely on large heavy infantry, backed by expendable numbers of smaller forces.

“If you’re interested in more about their origins, and previous consumptions, there’s only so much I can tell you. At least part of their forces last travelled through a region of space in a neighbouring galaxy populated by a somewhat humanoid,” the term of course, translated more accurately as Eldar-form “species known as the Nan-Itowas. Their exact origin is currently unknown to me, however. Though there is an investigation underway to discover their origins, its results have yet to be even vaguely conclusive. There are after all, many tyranno-formed worlds to search for evidence.”


Meanwhile, the two humans who had been with Ranisath arrived in the other room, pausing, looking around, with a fluid synchronicity of movement that seemed quite at odds with their relaxed posture, The tall woman mumbled something quietly to the man, and he shrugged, replying in the same tongue.

Helen began to introduce herself to Anna, picking up on Mikhail's curiousity but not really being sure what all the fuss was about, when Iyanna interrupted the conversation with her announcement. After waiting for Iyanna to finish, she tried again.

"A pleasure to meet you, Lady Alexander." Helen said, curtseying politely in the style in which she had been drilled for a lifetime. She decided that it would be more impolite not to complete the introductions than it was to keep talking for a few more moments after Iyanna had called for silence.

Iyanna didn’t spare the two humans that accompanied Ranisath more than a second glance, she had some idea as to who they where, and was less than pleased that they where there but, she could understand why. She waited a moment before talking allowing conversations to flow to a more natural pause, before continuing. ‘First then history,’ behind her the band started to play a dark tune that spoke of despair and loss, the psychic element mixing with Iyanna's words, and bringing them to life in the listeners minds. ‘The ancient Eldar Empire was gone, lost in a few brief moments, before it’s death, many where those rescued by the vessels of the merchant princes, such as was Tor Yvresse in those days. Picture then vessels more comfortable housing Tens of Thousands now crowded with Millions, and even, tens of Millions, families made home in corridors and between massive forges designed to turn the raw materials gained through decades of travel into finished goods for the markets of the Empire.’

As Iyanna spoke she seemed to become lost in her own words, tears forming upon her face, not the faked tears of some politician but almost those of one who had lived it, in a way she had, in seeking something, she and many Seers had delved deep within the Infinity matrix of Tor Yvresse to some of the eldest of souls, seeing what they had experienced through heir own eyes. ‘Our ancestors, where, like any other refugees desperate, the ancient Craftworlds where over taxed, and under resourced, food was scarce, and the web was in uproar, the Craftworlds where cut off. Worse than all this however was the fear of what came after death. Every Eldar knew the horror, had seen it in the eyes of the dying, as they witnessed what was to come.’ Behind her the band struck a new tune and formed a deliberate image.

In the minds of those that could hear came the face of a unspecific member of their own species, dying, and as they died screaming out in fear and terror, absolutely terrified not of death but of the certainty of what was to come afterwards. Speaking of the creature that waited for them all. Then the tune changed back to a more general one, as Iyanna spoke again.

‘There was a hope, of course, the Spirit Stones of our ancestors, an old technology given to us, by Isha’s tears. Yet in those days they where not as numerous as they are now, they served a specific purpose rather than the general one of today, not all where given a stone. The youngest and the oldest therefore where given Yvresse’s small supply of Spirit Stones, which leads us to this soul.’

Pausing Iyanna turned to the two Spiritseers and one held up a Stone to her, taking it gently Iyanna seemed to cradle it lovingly. ‘The first soul to be entrusted to Yvresse after the fall that we could find, and one of those with the shortest of lives, it was entrusted fifteen months, as those from Earth judge it, after the fall. The child itself was a mere Five Months old. He or she, we could not determine which, never knew anything but desperation and fear it’s entire life.’

Turning back to the Seers she returned the stone briefly and took another ‘this is the first High Farseer of Tor Yvresse, Melian he was a Council unto himself. He ruled us in another age of desperation, when we where on the brink of extinction once more, from a different threat. He led us into this age, began the process of a new Tor Yvresse, one he could only dream of.’ As she spoke the Kionash of Yvresse within the room bowed lowly to the Stone. Iyanna returned it to the Seers.

‘Suffice to say there is a reason I bring these stones here today. Once long ago the Keigh did not fear death, once long ago, we where reborn after death. Two issues stood in the way, both of which are now, for us at least resolved.’

Having said this the two Spiritseers offered her the stones once more and Iyanna nodded, taking first Melians stone and then the unknown Childs and turned back to face the guests. ‘I had thought to ask Sirithil in joining me in freeing the souls but such is not possible, I fear. It seems likely to us on further reflection that for Melian to do what we ask of him, he will need to be freed at the same moment.’ As she said this energy crackled across her arms and down into the two gemstones, smashing them apart in a shower of crystal, and then for a second nothing happened.

For a moment time seemed almost to stop for Iyanna as the moment had arrived, then the souls departed, not with a scream of anguish but with, hope, the feeling permeated the room before it was gone, as was the souls. ‘What happens next I do not know, and I cannot say, but it is done’ with that once more the seers and Everguard filed out.

(ooc Was going to be a little more complicated but, I decided having Iyanna chasing after Siri would have just slowed things down unneccersary.)

[OOC: As a clarification, the entire Taraskovyan party is still on Mars. That includes Tara-chars proper, as well as Helen, Marian and Aleks. Sorry for the apparent confusion.]

* * *

Mikhail's curious gaze did not fade away immediately as from Anna it switched to Iyanna. Despite what some might have thought, the Taraskovyan Vasilevs was not all that curious to just cross a portal set up by xenophobic pointy eared folk that thought that humans were none better than the most average of monkeys. To be fair, however, Taraskovyans weren't exactly known to be fond of foreigners, either. Another reason not to cross any portals made by foreigners who also disliked foreigners.

As such, Mikhail and his party were still on Mars, still within the immediate reach of all of the Emperor's cavalry and all of the Emperor's men. However, he did listen to the Eldar Farseer carefully and attentively, his eyebrow arching ever so slightly as she broke the crystals.

"Quite interesting," he whispered to himself.

And as Iyanna filed out of the hall with her suite, Mikhail's eyes travelled to find and locate the members of his party, flicking in rapid succession from Vethara to Marian. His then eyes flicked back at Anna for a second. He was still curious where it was that she knew him from. If she was really twelve years of age, as she looked, then it would place her birth well before the civil war that is known in Taraskovya as the Plague erupted. The wildest of thoughts came to his mind as his face reflected none of them. He even asked himself whether he bedded anyone from Kandarin back then. He'll see whenever the girl replied.

For now, however, his attention turned to Helen as a tender smile came to his lips.

"Pour une princesse pantocratorienne, les coutumes locales doivent paraître bien étranges. En tout cas, je dois admettre que ces dernières me paraissent quelque peu intéressantes."

___________________________________________________________

OOC: "Local customs must appear quite strange to a pantocratorian princess. Even I have to admit that I find them somewhat curious."

The Hyral Prince just raised an eyebrow at the roanian ghost, a ghost indeed, coming from a now distant past, almost a forgotten memory. The movement of the sindar elf features was so slow, that anyone would think he was lost in his thoughts, although the pondering of his mind was reflected in the fixed stare the elven warrior dedicated to the apparition.

"I had something that indeed belonged to you, and that I imagine still belongs to you. As you might imagine, I don't carry it with myself at all times, specially to parties where weapons are not well received", the elf paused for a moment, his eyes relaxing for a bit. "However, that doesn't mean I haven't been pondering to return you that piece of property. Actually, I have been looking to discard it, but I wasn't sure if that for fool proof. So...I'll be happy to indicate you the coordinates of the location of your property. 2005-67354-607003-1045. I hope there will be no further need for us to encounter again, don't you think?", said Kithail with a bored expression upon his features, after checking some data in the screen embedded in his armoured forearm, and then turning to Cerelan.

"Excuse the interrumption, Sire", said the military commander, a measure of respect on his voice. "Your maiden world is beautiful, more beautiful than anything we have created or recreated so far. We have tried before, and are trying right now, but our skill is still nowhere close to the one of your people", he said, bowing both his head and back a little. "I have been an admirer of the eldar ways since I was nothing but an elfling", he added, recovering his straight position. "Even although my initial encounters with your people were tainted, Telgonthrind show me the light. Even today, after he dissapeared to look upon new dimensions and further realities, I still refer to him as my Master".

"It is like Aelosia, you say?", he further said after taking another look at the environment. "No, our creations are, if in a way more sophisticated, frankly more baroque. Our craft lack the simplicity of design through you, the eldar, achieve your aesthetics. I'm no artist, just an admirer, but my opinion still stands". The Prince let out a sigh, a really rare sound that even caught the attention of Aleinna for a moment, and finally concluded "Our world is ten times more artificial. Ten times more...fake"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aliria smiled as Alakantar recounted his adventures, and related his experiences as a head of state. "Indeed. As far as I know, your administration has been thriving, and I know how hard is to manage a colony in Mars. I have been forced to place my best people there, and even then some of them failed considerably, even at great cost", as the Everqueen said those words, a seeming shadow passed through her flawless face, eclipsing for a moment the light of her eternal smile.

"According to Aleinna, you have quite the capability to smirk in the face of danger, challenge nasty foreign diplomats, and even then remain coolheaded, focused in the topic at hand, and polite, gentle and educated. If you ever want to visit my home, or even retire for some years of solace, count with the Craftworld of Aelosia as a possible destination. You would be terribly, terribly apprecciated by my court", added Aliria, taking a huge step forward by placing her gloved hand over Alakantar's cheek, resting only the velvet covered fingertips to rest for less than a second over the drow's skin before retiring them, winking, and finally concluding... "Good luck, and you can count with help from my Empire would ever you need our assistance. Aleinna here can be more specific, as she's my Vicereine in Mars and Princess of Craulnober".

Alakantar’s facial expressions never once revealed the thoughts buried deep within his mind, neither did his body flinch or draw itself away from her, never moving in the slightest, as the Aelosian’s fingers delicately touched his cheek. Perhaps she was right in her assessment in that he had grown coolheaded in his demeanor no matter what went on, or at least, was able to project as much. The same courteous smile he had kept throughout the conversation still persisted even in spite of these actions.

“Well, thank you for the offer, Aliria,” he answered. “I have heard a great many good things about your nation, I’m happy to say. From what I do know, it definitely looks like it could be a very nice place to visit, maybe to go vacation some time. Stress from work and everything can do a number on you if you’ve been at it for a long while. So every now and then I like to get away from it all, sometimes going back to the Grummian mainland with my fiancé, or trying to find some remote part of the cosmos to be alone and quiet for a few days. I could count Aelosia as a future destination…”

To her generosity concerning possible future assistance from the Aelosians, Alakantar gratefully bowed his head to the statement. “I sincerely thank you for that,” came his response in a more professional manner than before. “I believe that this would truly go a long way toward better relations between the Corporation and your Empire. And, in return, I feel that you can count on our help should you ever need our assistance. After all, one can never have too many friends, especially on Mars.”

He chuckled a small bit at that remark and continued. “Besides, open and informal dialogue between two leaders, like this, can help ease some of the tension in hammering out something more formal and lasting.”