TheSovereignGrave

The New Empires

Whoops, didn't see that new post of yours Peace Keeper. I'll respond to it in my next post.

And Feigling/Goldeagle, it looks like poor 'King Jeff' is about to get double-teamed by both Corvus and Alurar.

The New Empires

Holy Palace of the Gu'Shedal, Capital District, Manram

"So, the stories are true. Marmon must be poor if its King wears a crown of bronze," came a voice from behind Jim. It was Alurar, who had noticed the man while he was mingled and had heard his claim to be King of Marmon. And since Marmon was Hanartha's southern neighbour, he figured it only proper to introduce himself. "Prince Alurar of the royal House Byakha, nephew of Grand Prince Napizzi Alar," he said straight-faced, extending his hand out to the so-called King.

---

"So you know Marmon's King?" Asurar said to William, having been at eating at the table, and had noticed the two exchanging looks and had seen William's thumbs-up to the 'King'. At present Asurar was as busy stuffing his face full of food as William was, though he at least swallowed the food before it managed to puff out his cheeks. After all, he was a Prince and it was hardly appropriate to eat like a starving peasant. "He seems like an interesting person," Asurar continued, then realized he hadn't introduced himself, "Oh, I'm Prince Asurar of Hanartha."

---

Oth, Hanartha

"How is this even possible? Marmon is a weak nation ruled by a weak King!" Napizzi Alar said angrily. Hanartha's Grand Prince was currently pacing back and forth in the quarters that Govern Xisuki had set aside for him in his palace. While not as lavish as his personal rooms in Ulzscath it was still opulent and ornate, much like the rest of the Governor's palace. Xisuki was appointed governor of Hanartha's entire Western coastline, so almost all of the trade from the West went through his cities, and Xisuki had a taste of the extravagant.

"They may be weak, but the free villages they seem to desire to subjugate are small and divided. Easy prey for even a weak predator," Xisuki said, his massive form reclining in one of the room's chairs. The Governor was, to put it simply, a fat man; his body spilled out over the seat of his chair and his bodily jiggled with every step he took. When he bothered to actually walk and not be carried around in a litter, that is. He was currently dressed in the finest fabrics he could afford and bedecked with jewels and precious metals. It was rather unnecessary really, since Xisuki and Napizzi were currently alone and having a private conversation.

"That is true. But one has to wonder how long it is before they grow too bold," Napizzi said.

"So you fear they will attack us?" Xisuki asked.

Napizzi gave a questioning look at his friend, "You do not?"

"Of course I do, I was simply seeing if you shared the sentiment," Xisuki replied with a shrug that made his entire body shake, "After all, bandits from Marmon already try and raid the towns of the Finger. If Marmon grows too bold, they may see the Finger as, at the very least, a tempting target."

"And I would make them pay with their blood if they try and take it from us," Napizzi replied, his voice hard and full of cold anger, "And then, when I smash their weak armies I would march on their capital, and burn it to the ground and smash their weakling King's castle to the ground."

"Just like your ancestor did once he defeated the other Princes and became ruler of a united Hanartha?" Xisuki said, referencing the first Grand Prince's complete destruction of his rivals' capitals.

"Yes, except I have no desire to rule that cesspit of a Kingdom," Napizzi said, "I would simply make them pay for trying to being the hanarth under their yoke."

"True, but you are getting awfully worked up over this," Xisuki said, "We are only talking hypotheticals here. Marmon may just decide to leave us alone; they may be wise."

"They may also be foolhardy, as many Kings drunk on the power of petty victories have been before," Napizzi replied.

"So what do you plan to do about it?"

"Well the letter I received said that the Warden of the East was already drawing more men South into the Finger and along the new border. Which is exactly as I would have had him do," Napizzi said, finally ceasing to pace and sitting down on his bed, "But he had his own opinions to share about what further to do."

"You speak of the proposed alliance with Manas," Xisuki said, "It sounds like a wonderful idea to me. After all, we may both fall under Marmon's eye for conquest."

Napizzi nodded his head, "Well we seem to be in agreement here. You do not mind if I use some of your men to deliver the message, do you?"

Xisuki simply waved his hand, "Of course not. And even if I did you are still my Grand Prince and I would do as you ask."

Napizzi nodded his head, "Good. Now it is getting late; I'll send the message in the morning."

Xisuki nodded his head before standing up from his chair, thought it was with some difficulty, "Of course, I shall see you in the morning. I look forward to seeing you at the festivities."

"As do I, it is a welcome diversion from ruling the realm," Napizzi said, "And all this talk of war is depressing, certainly not what should be consuming our thoughts; we're here to celebrate your sister's daughters."

"And I give only the best for my family and my friends," Xisuki said, a hint of pride in his voice as he said so.

"You always had, for as long as I've known you," Napizzi said with a soft chuckle, then he sighed, "Good night, Xisuki."

"Good night, my friend."

---

In the morning, a group of men were dispatched from Oth to travel South into Manas. Though they were disappointed at missing the festivities, as Governor Xisuki had held a city-wise celebration, they knew their duties and their current mission was on the orders of not the Governor, but the Grand Prince themselves. They were to travel to the Suthron Kingdom of Manas and deliver a message. And not just any message, but one offering an alliance between the two nations in the face of possible Marmon aggression. And the Grand Prince was certain that Manas would see reason and accept the offer. But first, the group of ten armed and armoured men had to ride South and reach Manas.

The New Empires

Blarg, sorry for not being on. I had Thanksgiving, and then I stayed with my Aunt for a bit (where I had no computer). I'll get a post up tomorrow though. :D

The New Empires

Lunamaria said
I'm afraid you misunderstood me. When I said "Internally wallowing in self-pity", I didn't mean that he's in a state where he's not talking to other people. I only meant that.... he's feeling self-pity on the inside whereas on the outside he could still appear to be outgoing and talkative. Does that answer your question? Sorry for the delay...

Edit: Hey SovereignGrave, want to start an alliance between elven states (yours and mines and maybe even torin, too? I know Torin is an elf dominated state as well)

Well he's not just wallowing in self-pity, he's also just not an outgoing and sociable type of person. And he feels uncomfortable being there in the first place.

And as for an alliance, I'd planned to get a second part up in my post where Hanartha's Grand Prince finds out about Marmon's decision to start invading east, and he was going to agree with the Warden of the East that an alliance of sorts of Manas against possible aggression from Marmon would be a good idea, and send a messenger. I just had some issues coming up with the exacts of the post. But it'll be in my next post for sure.

The New Empires

Dinh AaronMk said
Create NPCs.

Er, Suthra would still be interacting with people, even if they're NPCs.

The New Empires

Lunamaria said
Well I just don't understand why he goes through all that trouble to act like a big tall wallflower. He could at least make it appear like he's interacting with everyone even if internally he's wallowing in self pity, u know?

How exactly does one appear to be interacting with people without actually talking to them?

The New Empires

He's not really my main character, he just happens to be the one we've seen the most of so far. And it's not like he even wanted to go to the party in the first place. And he will mingle eventually. Well, he'll at least introduce himself to the Gu'Shedal. And it's not like nobody's liable to notice the 8' tall elf and go talk to him.

Plus he's not really a people person. And being raised around a family where most of them resent his presence probably didn't exactly help.

The New Empires

Eh, oh well. Well, I got a post up.

The New Empires

Holy Palace of the Gu'Shedal, Capital District, Manram

Despite the festivities going on, and the primarily joyful air of the gathering Suthra was not enjoying himself. These types of meetings weren't really his style, and the fact that he towered above the crowd made him stand out. He was even taller than the massive royal guards the Gu'Shedal employed, and he hadn't known how to properly react when they'd given him a slightly different greeting than most other guests. He hoped nobody else had noticed, it just drew more attention to Suthra and he didn't do anything to deserve it. He was barely even royalty; Suthra would've much rather stayed back in Ulzschath, even if it meant staying around his father's family.

Currently Suthra was standing off to the side, having no desire to engage in the festivities. He knew he had to properly represent his father here, but that didn't mean he had to initiate conversation with anyone. He was already wearing a far more ornate outfit than he was used to, a robe of fine black silk trimmed with silver and a cloak of soft, silver fur in addition to a necklace and several bangles of jeweled silver, and Suthra worried about standing out even more thanks to it. But he was the son of the Grand Prince, and while that meant far less to the hanarth than to most other cultures, Napizzi didn't wish for his son to appear in just a simple robe before the nobles and royals assembled for the festivities.

Suthra's cousins, however, had no such qualms and were around and socializing with the many people assembled. Both of them were dressed in clothes as ornate as Suthra's, though theirs were more colourful than the simple black and silver of Suthra's outfit. In addition, both of them had disregarded the Gu'Shedal's suggestion that they come unarmed. Instead, Alurar wore a pair of short swords at his hip while Asurar had a greatsword strapped across his back.

Suthra didn't even notice the girl bump into the Gu'Shedal, to busy trying to not be noticed. He only realized it when he heard the response of the people assembled, and followed their gaze to where the young girl sat on the steps. At least the Gu'Shedal didn't appear angry about it, which was good.

"Oh, that's not good," Asurar said with a laugh, appearing behind Suthra and startling his cousin into a coughing fit.

"You okay?" Asurar asked once Suthra's coughing had subsided.

Suthra nodded his head, then looked up to where the Gu'Shedal and the girl were still talking, "It does not look like he's angry, though."

"The Estron may not be angry, but it still looks bad for the girl's family," Asurar said with a shrug, "How would it look if one of the governor's children bumped into your father?"

Suthra thought for a moment, before nodding his head in agreement, "True. But it could be worse."

"That means absolutely nothing, you know. It can always be worse," Asurar said, grinning again, "Anyway, you need to go out and talk to some of these people. What would my Uncle say if he found out you spent the entire visit standing in a corner?"

"He'd forgive me. He always does," Suthra replied simply, "Besides, I don't feel well."

"You never feel well," Asurar pointed out, "You live with it perfectly well, and you're much better than you were on the ship. Thank the Gods."

Suthra grimaced at the memory; it wasn't seasickness that made him ill, but rather the fact that he had caught a chill from a storm their boat had been caught in. He'd spent most of the voyage to Manram bedridden, but he'd recovered in time for the festival. Were it not for how horrible he'd felt, Suthra would've wished he could've stayed sick in bed rather than attend this party. "I know, but still..." he said, trailing off.

"But what?"

"Er..."

"Exactly," Asurar said with a smug grin, though his words were light-hearted, "Just introduce yourself to the Gu'Shedal at least."

"I will," Suthra said, "Eventually."

"And if someone talks to you, talk back to them."

Suthra gave his cousin an unamused look, "I was planning on it. Just hoping nobody bothered to talk to me."

"Suthra, let's face it. You're pretty much the tallest person I've seen so far, and everyone here's important," Asurar said, "Somebody is going to come over and talk to you. Now I'm going to go talk to someone else, so please try and enjoy yourself."

And with that Asurar wandered off in the direction of the serving table; he planned on sampling the local drink as well as mingling with those assembled. However, he didn't hear Suthra mumble under his breath "Not everyone here's important".

The New Empires

Gotcha. But the thought just came to me, Suthra may be tall but he's really thin and it's obvious from his appearance that he's not the healthiest person in the world. Would that effect their view of him?