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[SUP][SUB][H3]The Ballroom[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][sup][color=silver] Evening | From the Harbor to the Ballroom [/color][/sup][/INDENT]

Hatzur did her best to retain her composure event thought she felt a strong mix of frustration and fascination. She had planned to come to Thelan much sooner, however, what she did not expect, was how hard it was to find a ship crew which accepted a witch as a passager even if said witch was willing to pay more than five times the average passage. If people were going to be so unreasonable they could at least accept bribes as well. The only willing crew would only go a week later, ruining her wish to arrive early and get to visit more of Thelan, a land she held so much admiration for.

Of course, once in Thelan itself, she was too busy observing everything, how the docks seemed to have far more cranes and other equipment, how the docks were controlled by many officials and there were things such as paperwork and standardized scales to keep things in check. The merchant ports of Alovia seemed to copycat places such as this but it was clear they lacked much of the practical knowledge.

She was advised by her contractor to hire a carriage to the palace to avoid walking in the streets and that is what she did, thankfully it was easier to get one than a ship. As she moved towards her destiny, she couldn't help but notice the local architecture, making many notes in her mind, being curious about each sight, be it a simple house or one of the manors. Of course, once near the palace, she wouldn't have eyes for anything else.

She was wearing her best, most pristine clothing for the situation, only being a bit reserved when it came to using gemstones, which sometimes were used for spellcasting and would only induce more suspicion of her presence there, so she went with simple silver or steel accessories. For a woman who still longed for the high life she had when she was a child, entering the palace felt like being at home, nevermind the guards taking a long while checking her to see if she had no hidden blade, clearly more than other guests, or the stares.

Once in the ballroom, her eyes quickly darted about, taking the sight and trying to recognize who was there. She knew if the organizers of the expedition were inclined to bring even an Alovian Witch she would see many different sights there, perhaps even another witch, but she doubted as it took Hatzur some effort to get contacted by them, she had to track the people involved, hire many drunkards and other sorts to talk highly of her near them and basically do it for nothing but an IOU, which she hoped would be enough to allow her to buy land in Thelan once the situation was over and the risk of war was no longer an issue.

Her assumptions were quickly proven correct when she noticed the Nantegan procession, but the sight that would be truly surprising to her was not an unusual looking one, on the contrary, it fitted the court perfectly. Niavak of house Wymark. The vision felt like an omen, not because of Niavak himself, but because of the context where the two last met. Before the queen, the last time Hatzur had even done a mission like this was when she was hired to save a noble from bandits, that was where she met Niavak, and that night ended with her being stabbed, carried off by him to be treated by a medic. It was not the type of memory she wanted to remember when going on this mission, even if she no longer was that young witch who made herself so vulnerable by chanting spells in the open. Feeling a bit unwell, she sat on the nearest chair she could find, desiring to take a moment to regain her composure.