[@Eviledd1984]

"Mating rituals are something best left up to our children themselves. How they breed isn't too much of a concern for me. It's really a matter of money and alliances. You are a queen of at least a small number of fey, yes? My daughter is marrying your son, the heir to your throne. This will give her a position of royalty, at least technically? And then there's the matter of Kara's dowry. I have saved up a fair sum of money and other assets to go with her into marriage. Smith will receive these assets as part of his marriage to her" Adykon explained.

[@TheForgottenArc]

Kos nodded, having dealt with similar spells in the past. He smiled as the armor crackled and hardened around him, although he knew that it would only last as long as Daniel's spell would let it, which was probably on the order of hours or even minutes. Seeing that Daniel's magic was starting to fail him, Kos leapt over to the mage and cleaved an attacking skeleton in half, severing it at the waistline. Several more skeletons advanced, but their numbers were starting to run low.

"Mana almost out? Don't worry, I got this!" the dracon warrior swung his greatsword with wild abandon, hacking and chopping at the remnants of the skeletal horde. Before long, only two remained. "Can you finish them off, or should I have the honors?" 

[@bloonewb]

Hekaga's Grand Prince had been contacted on short notice, but Ternoc was more than happy to approve of Ardasa's visit. From all accounts, she was calm, polite, and vastly more diplomatic than her husband, the self-styled "Emperor" Rughoi. Preparations were made at the last minute, but Ternoc was nothing if not good at improvising. His city guards had contacted Ardasa's convoy, sending a rider out to instruct them as to the route they would take through the city. 

The Royal Path was a long, wide street which ran through Hekaga, proceeding straight from the southernmost gate through several of the city's infamous walled neighborhoods. Each district of the city was surrounded by a rectangular internal wall, and all such walls connected with the city walls which surrounded the metropolis. A guard could walk across the ramparts from the north of the city all the way to its south and never cross the outer perimeter of Hekaga's defenses, a fact the city's Grand Prince was strangely proud of. 
Separating each district was a large gate; each district could have up to four of them, one for each cardinal direction. Whether said gates were open or not usually depended on the time of day and if someone important was to pass through it. Some parts of the city had their gates open at all times, while some districts had them partially opened and partially closed. The city's few wealthy neighborhoods kept their entrances closed to all but those specifically permitted, and this was especially true of the palace district.

Ternoc had the Royal path scrubbed and cleansed on just under a three day's notice. Finding labor for such a task was no problem, given Hekaga's vast ranks of the unemployed and destitute. Most vagabonds were more than happy to clean the road for a few coppers an hour for twelve hours straight. On each side of the road, Ternoc had stationed a contingent of his best troops, lining the path with many thousands of soldiers. While they kept Ardasa's path safe, it was clearly more for show than anything else. Hekaga's military was stretched thin ever since it had chosen the wrong side in the war with Dememoras some decades ago, opting to side with the tyrant while the other major realms had fought against him. The resultant loss of status and the demotion of Hekaga's ruler from king to grand prince had left the kingdom lacking a proper monarch, leading to a loss of face among the other major realms. Worse still, many of the vassals under Hekaga's rule had only pledged their loyalty to the city's king, not to the kingdom itself. As a result, many vassals declared their independence outright, and most of the remainder stopped just short of doing so. While Hekaga directly controlled a fair deal of territory, it was barely sufficient to maintain the armies needed to keep the realm as a leading power in the dracon lands.

Despite its weakened state, there was no denying that Hekaga was still a city of grandeur, even as it was tinged by its dark past. Even the most jaded traveler could easily make out large palaces, vast temples, and tall spires poking out from between the fetid slums. Hekaga also had a reputation for publicly allowing necromancy and demonology, practices which attracted certain cults which had no legitimate place in any other major city in the dracon lands. It didn't make for a safe or sane city, but there was no denying that the skull-adorned temples and demonic motifs gave the city a unique architectural flair. Indeed, many demonological temples were ostentatiously adorned in statues and carvings whose figures gave a sense of exaggerated, exuberant, even flamboyant expression as well as a highly developed sense of movement. As questionable as the scenes of murder and sacrifice may have been on many of them, there was no denying the skill it took to create them. Of course, there were plenty of temples to the more benign deities, but few people went to Hekaga to experience houses of worship.

Rebat and Ardasa's entourage made their way down the Royal path, passing through half a dozen gates before approaching the seventh and final gate to the Palace District. To the surprise and even shock of many, Grand Prince Ternoc himself had ventured out to meet them, accompanied by The Prince's Horns; his personal bodyguard. All of the Horns were heavily clad in fine steel armor, covered head to toe, even covering the tops of their feet and their tails. 

Ternoc greeted Ardasa, extending his clawed hand to take her's in greeting. "My lady, it is good that we finally meet. Your visit is most welcomed. I greet you as a formal representative of Xigyll, and uniquely, as a female who is second in command of a state."