[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Ojb63Bu.png[/img][/center]
[center][h1][color=86608E]D[/color]orothea [color=86608E]H[/color]ohnstein[/h1] [h3]von Albesatz-Danzau[/h3][/center]

As the shot rang through the group, the woman stood on the table and grabbed one of the half emptied cups on it. [color=86608E]“Listen up, Kameraden!”[/color] Quickly taking the time to chug it down before continuing. [color=86608E]“I understand this anger you are all feeling, as I feel the same way you have. However! If we just continue to get angry without doing what needs to be done, we’ll get nowhere!”[/color] 

Dorothea clamped her cloak tightly as she wasn’t too used to speaking to such a massive crowd, let alone this passionately. [color=86608E]“Your ancestors must have told you about how our dear Feska used to be before those schweine of the Rednitz took over, right? Why don’t we return to those times? Where men aren’t treated as slaves! Where there aren’t any who die in the fields of exhaustion!”[/color] 

She looked around to see the faces on the people. Scared to even talk any further. Scared she would put her family in danger, however she doesn’t have much of a choice any longer. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to conclude her side of the bargain. [color=86608E]“My name is Dorothea Hohnstein, heir of the family. I will do everything in my power to make sure to make Feska a place where the people aren’t treated like dogs any longer! But if we want to achieve such a dream…. My friends, my brothers and sisters… WE NEED THE REDNITZ TO GO!”[/color]

At the mention of her name, murmurs rippled through the crowd. The Hohnsteins were well–remembered in Feska. Their honesty and generosity had made them immensely popular, but also not popular enough to avoid the sta in the back from their fellow nobles. Yet, it was clear that, while her message had been broadly positively received, the people were looking for something a little bit more: some clear indication that she was on their side and would support their actions as opposed to simply co-opting them for noble ends. Dory could sense it.

Then, the Traveler’s agent stepped in. [b]“A rousing speech, rich girl,”[/b] he sneered, [b]“and some ideas I wish that more of your people expressed, but I would ask you why we should trust you? Why do we need nobles to lead us like cattle? To tell us what to do?”[/b] 

It was then that a sly smirk appeared on the woman’s face. [color=86608E]“Cattle, good sir? You have a rather rude way to address the people here. No, I do not intend to trample over you like the Rednitz do. I just wish for my people to stop suffering this much! An absolute monarchy does not fit us, now does it?”[/color] 

The agent’s eyes went cold. [b]“The words I use are apt for your people’s actions, and your change of heart very sudden and convenient, given your family’s history with the Rednitz who, I will agree, are monsters. So I would question you this: how would you have us proceed, oh noble overlord?”[/b] The crowd was clearly watching. There were scattered shouts and exhortations.

Dorothea’s face would be covered by grief. [color=86608E]“Indeed, even our family wasn’t safe from the Rednitz’s brutality…. However, these beliefs have been shared by our family for decades.”[/color] A while later the woman reached her hands outwards into a gifting manner. [color=86608E]“I will use all of my family’s resources, for what’s left of it at least, to make sure Feska won’t ever have people like the Rednitz rule it any longer… I wish to share power with someone chosen by the people.”[/color]

As the debate continued, the people’s rabid energy seemed to dissipate. Some were no longer on the precipice of violence, while others had grown impatient. They were drunk and angry and wanted blood. The Traveler’s agent clapped as Dorothea finished her speech, but there seemed something almost mocking about it. [b]“And what power can you offer us that we cannot already take for ourselves,”[/b] he countered, gesturing at the huge aberration. [b]“Would you scold us for drinking of its power and taking for ourselves what should be ours? Or would you join us!?”[/b] The last few words were spoken with a firebrand’s fervour. 

[color=86608E]“What would I offer?.... survival.”[/color] Dorothea’s stare would stab into the agent. [color=86608E]“We should all know how small we really are, if there is no noble house that can continue to coerce our neighbors… Then Feska would be a couple specks of dust in history. I would join my people if that is what they wished, of course.”[/color] The woman paused for a second. [color=86608E]“The only thing you forget is that I would die for Feska and its people, whether it be as a noble or a commoner!”[/color] 

The crowd cheered at Dory’s words and it seemed she had won them over. The agent seemed… slightly less convinced, but more impressed than he had been. [b]“Then we shall drink of its power together,[/b]” he proclaimed, [b]“and seize this symbol of opulence from our oppressors.”[/b] He stretched out his hand to absorb some of the aberration. [b]“We must all act together,”[/b] he warned, [b]“not too much for one or the power will overwhelm.”[/b] People began filing in, nervous but trusting. Dorothea walked among them, rubbing shoulders with the commonfolk, encouraging them, leading by example. They seemed genuinely impressed with her and her unconditional nonjudgmental support. Then, the Traveler’s agent stretched out a hand towards the spot of blackness and the others followed. 

Dory followed the crowd and stretched her hand out just as the others were doing. It didn’t make sense anymore, it felt both short and excruciatingly long, however when it took effect… it really took effect. She felt strong, really strong suddenly. As if she could actually kill a Rednitz with her bare hands… a Rednitz.. perhaps killing one would make this anger fade. 

With a collective howl, the crowd began to surge forward, the seeds of a nascent revolution planted, Dorothea empowered, and… no real plan in sight at all.