[@Kratesis][@BCTheEntity][@jbeil][@Andreyich][@Irredeemable]


Inwardly Diokletian was just as, if not more, nervous than those that stood before him; these were representatives of the God-Emperor himself, including a priest and a Crusader, a group that drew no small amount of looks and one that gave him no small amount of respect amongst the nobility and upper echelons of Cekrov.

How he dealt with them now could possibly have ramifications for his future, possibly...best to err on the side of caution then.

"Thank you all for coming, it means much to me," he paused for a moment and frankly looked like a nervous child, "honestly, [i]it means everything[/i]."

Watching a servitor as it made its way past, he casually grabbed a crystal glass from the tray it bore and took a small sip of the sparkling liquid within.

"Delicious, Elathian champagne," a smile spread across his face for a moment, his youthful eyes moving across the group to the arguably [i]most[/i] religious representative of the group, both corners twitching, "but enough of that...eeer, my dear Confessor, it has come to my attention that you may be carrying a concealed weapon on your person." His smile did not drop as he took another sip from his glass, one finger moving to his ear here it tapped an almost perfectly concealed earpiece, "this could be construed as you believing yourself to be in danger here, I do so hope that is not the case? I assure you that you are all as safe here as you would be on Terra itself."

A bit of an overstatement perhaps, but the soldiers of the Palace Guard here were not the usual stuffy and ornate fixtures of many others. No, those of the Cekrov Guard were a dynamic and well-trained collective, led by Diokletian himself as it happened.

The rather different behaviour of Lisbeth made him smile even wider, and he eyed her sparingly as she made her way back to the group; it seemed that at least one of the Sisters had a curious mind, that was good.

"Ah...will you all please excuse me for a moment," came the imploring question, his finger once more tapping the bead in his ear, "it seems that business never stops for a Planetary Governor!" With the same cool smile and a slight whiff of mild perfume he disappeared past them and out into the corridor beyond.

Victorine had only been faintly listening, spending more time looking over the crowd than to the speech of their host, only now seeing the look on the face of the poor Hospitaller.

"I believe we have a choice here, to split up and..." a look of nausea seemed to pass over her otherwise beautiful face "...'mingle' while finding out what we can about the reason we came here, or to go our own way and find out what we can by ourselves; it could be seen as a lack of respect or ungraciousness on our part though."

It was true that such shared decisions were becoming more than a little annoying to the Celestian (who woul rather be giving orders than running a democracy), but being well aware that most of the group were more than a little uncomfortable in these social situations, she had to give them the choice to return to their quarters and then find their own way to the truth or not.