End of an Era [MAIN PLOT]

[Nayeli]

( LADY NAYELI )
Featuring
Warrior Turin

( Nayeli listening to Anck and then Sean, along with Malandra. Turin dancing with Awiti to find out any information. Leilani joining. )
I did not notice the man flirting with the woman, in fact, I really did not care much at all. I was the lady of this castle, it was mine and someone was before me who had been listening in on our conversation, possible trying to get information, though I would not even think about talking about anything important in such a crowd. My conversations of such things were hidden behind large doors and that was all I would ever do. Maybe she was listening in to that woman… Malandra, who had clearly upset my sister, Nayeli, who was now checking on her sister, Awiti. But if that was the case, then she was also listening to my brainless father, if you wanted to call him a father, he was more of an annoyance then anything.

My eyes did not change one bit in her favor, in fact, they were still as hard as ice could get, cold and stone like. I had been accused of being harsh in my young age, being cold and full of nothing more then death, but I had some form of a heart, when I wanted to show it and that came rarely during this time or another. She glanced at all of us, my eyes did not change for anything and I would never allow such a thing. She was relaxed, which was normal for many who were well trained and I did not care much. ”Your Graces. The name’s Anck Seh Namun,” Now, she spoke and at least we were getting somewhere. ”Anck to my friends. At least…” I did not care about what her friends called her, I was more interest in her reason for being here. I noticed her gaze going to someone and I looked there as well, just as Sean brought over someone to him. I looked at him for a moment and then back at Anck. ”It would be if I had any friends. I’m just under orders, same as your musclehead over here.” He glanced down at her for a moment and I smiled.

”Hey, lass, I take offense to “musclehead”, aye? I happen to be an educated man. My grand-father would not like the fact that I’m being accused of nothing more than thuggery. He would expect something high-class, like extortion, murder, treason, cattle theft, dishonoring of various ladies, insult, and horse theft. Thuggery is simply….too common. However, should you own any cattle or horses, I would be more than willing to oblige to all of the above, should you request, madam.” I rolled my eyes at the man and then the lights began to dim and he went back to speaking with the other man, in a very barbaric like language. I did not pay much attention to that, but I turned to see Malandra, my eyes narrowed slightly because of the fact she was welcome Guest in our Home. Not her home, my home. I turned to see Sean leaving with the other guy, nudged Turin to pay attention to the woman and then focused my attention on Malandra.

As normal, she wore the worst outfits that showed off more then my sister would even think of showing off and I was sickened by it. I took a glance to my father, who was once again, salivating over the whore. ”Dearest guest.” I narrowed my eyes a bit further, not much liking the way she took to making this her home. ”most of your stories are tragique ones. None have been unaffected by ze horrors of ze Blue Divide.” I glanced around at many of the elves who seemed to not like what she spoke. I knew they called it something else, but I tried not to think much about it. We did not need another war now and in my home. ”Terrible deeds were performed and many lives were lost. But tonight, is not a night for ze war.” I lifted my head slightly, turning my head slightly towards Turin. ”What do you think brother?”

He leaned down closer to me. ”I don’t like her.”[/color] I smiled. No one liked this woman. ”Under ze grace of Nyx, tonight is for casting aside our differences. Ze tremor you all experienced was nozing more zan a structural collapse within ze dungeons. Let it not bother you tonight. And with zat…” I looked at Turin. I knew that there was nothing wrong with the Dungeons and it would take something fierce to make it collapse. Turin had the same feeling, I could see it in his eyes. ”Let ze dancing begin!” I rolled my eyes slightly and turned back to the woman, seeing Sean with a man.

”Who’s orders on you on?”[/color] I asked, looking at her with narrowed eyes and glancing to my left to see Leilani and her slave sister coming towards me. I saw her own concern and gave her a signal to not worry about it. Awiti’s dress was torn and it showed further up her leg. I looked back at the woman and then at Turin, who bowed to Awiti. ”Dear Awiti, may I have your hand for a dance.”[/color] She was slightly surprised and I allowed them to go. Turin needed to get away and into the crowd to listen and he was using Awiti for that tool. [/size][/blockquote]

( LADY LEILANI )
Featuring
Awiti Ekere

( Leilani, checking on Awiti and glancing over at Samar and her master. )
I had looked at Awiti, not wanting her to be hurt at all. She was my sister and I did not want anyone to be harmed, even if this was a large party and people always seemed to get hurt each other in parties. I had noticed another man was there and I was mostly ignoring it slightly, just focusing on my sister and then glancing over to see the other dark skinned woman holding the man and speaking to him in whispers I could not understand. I stood straight, keeping calm, which seemed to help some of the other guest who knew my family calm. Sean might not be happy that I was away from everyone, but I did not care at all. I wanted to make sure Awiti was okay and I then I would return to the others, with her with me.

If I was not mistaken, I had seen the man before… Clarus, but I was not completely sure. At least he was not like other nobles who pushed their slaves away, he was kind. I could tell the woman was his slave by the way she acted around him and others. He held her, whispered to her in order to help her calm down. I looked at Awiti, so happy she was okay. Then, he spoke a bit louder for a moment.”Don't worry about that though. I'll keep us both safe no matter what happens.”

[/i] I smiled slightly at him and then turned my head to a very familiar voice, my eyes narrowed… The lights… They had all dimmed to give affect to the stupid woman and I looked at her for a moment, seeing how she dressed. I hated the way she dressed and rolled my eyes slightly. “Dearest guests,” I rolled my eyes. I hated that my uncle had given her the right to welcome people in our home. But, he had his reasons I was sure. ”most of your stories are tragique ones. None have been unaffected by ze horrors of ze Blue Divide.” I heard many people begin to whisper and I looked at Awiti, my hands on her shoulders. I knew there were many names, but I tried not to think about it.

”Terrible deeds were performed and many lives were lost. But tonight is not a night for ze war.” She made a slight point, but her part about the terrible deeds… It did not sit right in my stomach, I was not sure why, but it just caused me problems that set within my own stomach. I glanced past the guest at my sister who was whisper to Turin something I could not figure out. ”Under ze grace of Nyx, tonight is for casting aside our differences. Ze tremor you all experienced was nozing more zan a structural collapse within ze dungeons. Let it not bother you tonight. And with zat…” I looked towards her confused and glanced to see the same look on Nayeli’s face.

Those dungeons were more then fine, nothing was wrong or should have been wrong with them. She did not like this and neither did I. “Let ze dancing begin!” I looked at her for a moment, the music coming, the classical of our music mixed with some elven tunes. It was very beautiful, but I had matters to discuss with my family. “See? Just as I thought, and nothing to worry about yet. Shall we dance, my dear?” I looked at her for a moment and then back at Awiti. Awiti was not sure what the meaning about Structural collapse, but I would explain later on. I glanced at Samar and smiled at her for a moment. She was slightly surprised by his offer to dance and I looked at her with a smile. ”It was a pleasure to meet you both.” I nodded. She left, but then Awiti started moving fast and running over to her with the scarf in her hands. ”Here is your scarf.”[/color] I smiled at her as she returned to me and we headed over to my sister.

Once I was with my sister, brother and the other woman, Turin asked Awiti for a dance and I smiled slightly at that, standing with my sister now, glancing off to find Sean bring another towards us.
[/size][/blockquote]
( WORD COUNT ) – one. six. zero. seven
[/blockquote]
[/color]

[Emma]

“I don’t scare at all.”

This man, I’d decided upon first seeing him standing near me, was simple as all humans were. If his age and the lines on his face were anything to go by, he was clearly trained in perhaps several forms of combat, where I myself had never deigned to learn anything martial other than the elegant art of slipping a knife into an unsuspecting spine. But few men ever learned anything beyond swinging an oversized weapon, and I had yet to see anything in this one beyond tipsy pleasure and the desire to impress and please a lovely woman. I was rather surprised at his lack of qualms regarding interacting with an elf, but I supposed he was willing to look past my race in favour of my beauty. Lovely.

“And I’m Dane Gunnarsson,” he continued chattily, proffering a hand. “Your name is...?”
I paused for a long moment, gazing at the hand. Then I decided to ignore it, smiling wickedly. “Laioni. No last name.”

There were few things I despised more than physical contact, and even after a year serving the Riders, I still avoided it whenever possible. I could not understand the shaking of hands, the hugging, and other such means of greeting others as casual. It was simply disgusting. Besides, this human seemed intrigued enough by me to ignore such a thing, surely. Men were painfully easy to manipulate. I also refrained from revealing my last name, and was glad that of the five members of my family within Alagaësia, Castox had been the only one to appear at the Gala. I had doubted my mother would care for such tomfoolery, preferring her books and the Cathedral. It was somewhat odd that neither of my aunts had appeared, but now was not the occasion for a reunion.

Like every other guest, I gazed up at Ramakrishna when she gave her short announcement, and ordered the music to begin and for the lights to flicker back on. And now was the time for awkward socialization and careful touching. My gaze flickered from one man to the next. I did not hide how I despised the thought of dancing with any of them- and not just because of my inherent hatred of males. I had hoped to follow Ramakrishna, perhaps see what this ‘structural collapse’ was all about, but Gunnarsson was obviously still looking to get lucky with me. He picked up a glass of the swill they were serving and took a long draught, before turning to me and unceremoniously voicing what I’d been suspecting ever since that first glance he’d given me.

“Would you care to dance?”

I had never been taught how to dance. Pele had insisted on my learning black magic and of the viciousness of men, not the finer arts. From watching others, however, it was clearly the man that led, and the woman that followed- a perfect display of the servitude all females uncannily displayed. Before I could reply, however, I saw Ramakrishna saunter in, floating amid the dancers with a pleased smile. She tossed a second glance at Gunnarsson when she passed us, and gave me a vicious glare, but said nothing. I supposed after the earthquake, she didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks. However, the glance at Gunnarsson had been quite serious. Perhaps spending time with the human wouldn’t be so terrible. It took an enormous swallow of my pride, but I nodded.

“So be it.” I took one of his hands in mine and rested the other on his shoulder, shoving away the disapproval shrieking within me. “You are a rather intriguing human, Dane. Dare I ask your reasons for attending the Gala? And…” Eyelashes fluttering, I decided it was only fair to do a bit of fishing. “You seem rather intrigued yourself. Perhaps you might deign to pay a lady a compliment. Is that too much to ask, hmm?”

---

It seemed that things were actually looking up for tonight. I rarely got to spend time with any proper women- Anck was simply not normal, and even if she was, she’d never let me touch her. The way this Artemis looked, walked, and even said my name was worthy of drooling over. She reached up to twirl and play with my hair, which I responded to by firmly rubbing her back and leaning my face in just a little bit closer. My inhibitions melted away at the scent of her hair and the touch of her hand against my neck. The promise of intimacy was my current focus, not the Gala- it had been so long since I’d been with a woman, and I craved her. My mouth on a lock of Artemis’s violet hair, I wondered what other brilliant one-liners I could say to her to get ourselves out of the public eye. Suddenly, however, she broke away, her face a picture of contempt.

“Does she really expect all of us to be so naïve? We have been to war and when we all get together she expects us to not suspect anything when there is a force like that.”

She had spoken very loudly, enough for all the guests closest to us to turn and stare. Still latched on to Artemis, I blinked, glancing left and right. Obviously, when I’d been fantasizing about pleasures of the flesh, I’d missed something entirely. Confused, I stared around the ballroom as it was brightly lit- it had been dim before- and then gawked in unpleasant surprise when Artemis left my embrace and strode off, only increasing my disappointment with the wonderful show of her swaying hips. She stopped in front of Malandra Ramakrishna, now decked out in green, who was approaching from the other side of the room. Seeing Artemis’s obvious interest in her, she halted, her now lurid jade eyes gazing into the elf’s deep violet ones. They were about the same height, although Malandra had a small advantage thanks to her pumps.

“O great host,” began Artemis sagely, “it is only custom that the host takes a bite of all the food in front of ALL her guests to prove there has been no tampering with it. I may not speak for all of us elves in this dining hall, but I know that I would feel safer knowing that if any ill intentions are to be conceived tonight that we are not the ones to die for it.” Then she bowed, and turned back to me with a beautiful smile. “Do not defend me if I am attacked, just make sure the rest of our kind make it out alive, and my teacher Clarus.”

She kissed me on the cheek again. The spot where her soft lips met my skin blazed, but my passion had been dampened by a mixed bag of confusion and apprehension. The one thing that rivalled Malandra’s famed beauty was her infamous temper- except where her beauty was proclaimed by posters and criers in every city, her temper was whispered about behind closed doors. Killing servants where they stood, banshee screams, fatal displays of magic- and for a moment, her expression was highly contemptuous, but otherwise unreadable. She had turned her head in an almost curious manner. Then she smiled, terrifyingly so, and turned to a long table where pre-banquet appetizers had been laid out. She chose a tiny strawberry, placed her mouth around it, sucked pensively, and then ate it. And then a honey-soaked walnut. She dabbed at her lips with a napkin.

“Don’t want to ruin my appetite,” she announced to no one in particular. Then she beamed at Artemis. “Been indulging in the wine, have we, ma cherie? Or did you skip it and head straight for the shots?” There was laughter from the other guests. I reached to touch the probably incensed Artemis, but was interrupted by a voice.
“You’re coming with me. Not a sound, man. Madame, I apologize most deeply for taking your partner from you now. Please, forgive me.”
“Pfft. Look, guy, I could kill you with one hand…”

I hadn’t been planning on responding to the exchange between Artemis and Malandra. Women played odd little games between each other that I didn’t even try to understand, let alone come between. Nothing, however, was going to interrupt the night I’d planned out with this woman, not even an angry guard. Snarling and flexing my feeding hand, currently gloved in accordance with my disguise as an elf, I rounded on the man. Immediately, I was faced with the fact that I was entirely incompetent in this situation as the point of a sword aggressively poked me in the throat. I was faced with two men, both about my height, both built like brick houses. The one about to gut me jerked his head in the direction of the thrones at the far end of the hall. Anck was there, surrounded by similar men. The sword poked me again.

“… or, y’know, I could do exactly as you say. That works too.”

The march was short and unceremonious, with me in the front and the sword almost casually resting on my left shoulder, just beside my neck. I was concerned about Anck, but as I drew near, I could see that she was smirking, clearly not upset about my being captured. I bared my fangs and growled at the cold-blooded bitch. She must have been caught for spying, and dragged me down into it too. The sword’s pressure against my neck increased, forcing me to stop just beside Anck. I glared down at her, my burning golden gaze meeting her amused grey one. Then she jerked her chin in the direction of a woman who stood just in front of us. I looked. She was tall, dark-haired, and might have been pretty if her face wasn’t contorted into a snarl, and her eyes not so icy.

“Whose orders are you on?” she demanded.
“Why should I tell you? You’ll just-” Anck started, but I draped my arm around her shoulders and dragged her over to me in one sharp movement.
“Leave the talking to the grown-ups, darling,” I said kindly, inwardly gloating at the rage expressed on her face. Then I turned back to the woman addressing us. “Look, babe, you’re… in charge, huh? Royalty, that’s nice. Well, lemme tell you that it is a wonderful little place you got here, your Majesty, I clap at the décor, but listen- me and Dollface here got Things To Do. So if you don’t mind, we’ll just be-”

I spun Anck around, intending to march off and leave the nobles to their fancy shmancy mind games, but just then the meat who’d brought me here and his minions all drew their weapons as one and jabbed them at my throat in a deadly circle of blades. I felt Anck tense at my side. One of the soldiers snarled down into her face. She responded by blowing a few locks of copper hair out of his eyes. I glared at the one who’d brought me here, flexing and twisting my feeding hand and baring my fangs. A long, slow, serpent hiss escaped my mouth, but then I chuckled and turned around, looking at the white-faced woman again. My expression was still friendly and amicable, but I doubted I could keep the hardness out of my cat-slit eyes. I was not going to tell this frumpy aristocrat a thing.

“I’m so glad you all think you’re so clever,” I said, eyeing the woman, the soldiers, and a younger girl that had just approached us. “It’s cute, babes. Real cute. But here’s the thing…” I towered over the first woman, meeting her gaze evenly. “Foreigners spying on the king’s family… that’s treason, innit? You’ll just kill us anyway, maybe sell us into slavery. Why should we tell you anything?”

---

My sunny night at the Gala was not going particularly well.

After being badgered by tipsy waistcoated bankers and not finding Mencho Echsa, a trip to the blender had been exactly what I needed. Having had a few drinks myself, I’d promptly lost balance and crashed to the floor, and then simply decided it was a better idea to stay there rather than go dancing with the pixies like everyone else was. Once the ground stopped bouncing around and the pixies went away, Ramandra Malakrishna told us that we had to wait until the storm was at its height before shaving the cats. Not having a razor on me, however, I stayed still for a few more moments. It occurred to me that I’d probably had more wine than I remembered drinking, and so I decided that it would be best to be very careful now.

“Need any help?”

I glowered up at the face that matched the voice, seeing that it was a beautiful, large-breasted man with matching pillow case and sheets. His refined voice and expressionless face was oddly elf-like, but I was so pleased to meet Nyx in person that these inconsistencies didn’t bother me. I opened my mouth to speak. Nothing came out. As I fumbled in my brain for words, I was interrupted by a vicious jab in my brain, an all-too-familiar dark force. I snarled and tried to get my barriers up, but they’d already been breached. The person flooded in, perfectly capable of skipping rope with my intestines, but they didn’t. The force was just there, even avoiding contacting me. After I rearranged my thoughts, I realized that I recognized the fairy, and who it was.

‘Myaja?’
‘Hello, Kieran.’
‘She’s speaking to me of her own free will? Check the sky for flying pigs!’
She gave a disgusted groan. ‘You’ve been drinking.’
‘And you’re sparkly.’
‘I need to tell you something.’
‘Uh-huh?’
‘My soldiers report that tonight’s dinner will be poisoned. I don’t know what kind, but it’s potent enough to cause a chemical explosion. Mind what you eat tonight.’
‘Wouldn’t you want me to be poisoned?’
‘There is no lower method of murder than poison, Kieran. You deserve better.’
‘Oh. Well, I’m… glad the penguins are safe.’

And then she was gone. I saw her a little ways across the room, in deep conversation with some particularly pompous-looking pixies. Nyx was still in front of me. After a few moments of blinking confusedly at the thought of my brain pie being poisoned, I awkwardly stuck up my hand and let myself be pulled up in one smooth movement on Nyx’s part. For a moment, I didn’t say anything, and just gawked. Then, pointing a finger accusingly, I began to slur at him.

“Thought that was pretty goddam funny, didn’tcha? Didn’tcha? Mommy… err.. don’t lose their magical balance. Anyway…” I coughed. “Can I have a pony?”

Character(s) Used;; Laioni spoke to and began to dance with Dane. Tox got hot and bothered over Artemis and watched her quasi-catfight with Malandra, and then got arrested by Sean and dragged over to the Richards, where both he and Anck are being interrogated by them. Kieran got crunk and possibly poisoned and babbled at Niko, while Myaja is flitting around warning big elven cheeses about the poison.
Words;; 2465
Muse;; Not bad for Laioni, amusing for Tox, and I couldn’t stop laughing while writing Kieran so I’m not sure. No, I was not on any drugs when writing that bit.
Thoughts;; Uh… this is fun. XD

[Kite]

*Edan hears the woman call for a taste test as he finishes his dance with his wife, and he apologizes to her sincerely as he breaks off and approaches her from the other side as the Savage soldiers arrest what appears to be her plaything. He then speaks to the woman with a cool, slightly pointed tone of voice.*

Madame, as you can see, Lady Ramakrishna is not falling over dead from a supposed poison. Maybe you should trust a little more, instead of assuming treachery. We certainly are trusting you enough to be here, putting faith in you, maybe you could stretch your mind past old times and develop it in the new. We certainly are.

*He then smiles at the elf and gestures to the food table.*

Would you like some now that our gracious hostess has proven its worth, maybe to counteract the affects of any wine you have had?

*He tilts his head momentarily*

Who are you, exactly? How did you come to be here?

(Edan, speaking to Artemis)

----

*Clarus hears the statements by both Artemis and the hostess, Malandra, and he bristles with anger as the first dance ends, his face flashing with contempt as she speaks, and then he calms himself and smiles at Samar and speaks softly as the two of them spin and swirl around the dancefloor.*

I apologize, Samar, I do not mean to be distracted. That stupid bitch just doesn't learn or listen...

*He looks into her eyes and tilts his head before asking her softly.*

She hasn't done anything to mess with you recently, has she? If she does, shes going to regret it.

*He winks at Samar before continuing.*

Just tell me if she does, alright?

*As the dance calms and rotates us towards the confrontation, he stops the dance and laughs softly.*

Would you like to accompany me? I would like to have some words with her before we continue. You do not have to by any means.


*Samar nods slightly, her facial features totally unreadable at the moment, and speaks with her normal certainty.*

If Master wishes me to, then certainly.

*Clarus nods and leads her carefully through the crowd towards where Artemis is standing and moves directly infront of her, looking down at the woman and speaking to her firmly.*

Artemis, a word please.

*He turns to the general behind her and bows slightly to him before speaking.*

My apologies, General, I need to speak to my pupil.

*The general, a human who was in the late 40s as far as Clarus could tell, bows his head in return to Clarus' movement.*

Of course.


*Clarus then turns and moves over to a slightly less populated with Samar, and then surveys the crowd as he waits for her to move over here so he can speak to her.*


(Clarus with Samar and Artemis, and brief interaction with Edan)

[Elloria]

Josk/Niko - with Addison/sort of Jeralt/Kieran (Colored italics = Ancient Language)
“Out there dancing with someone?” Josk murmured. He wasn't much for dancing. Firstly, that usually required physical contact with women. He tended to avoid that at all costs because women were abhorrent things that should just cease to exist. Secondly, he'd never seen the point of dancing. He had gotten dragged into it at the last Agaetí Blödhren, but outside that celebration he didn't dance. And he wasn't stuffing his face because of Jeralt! He'd been on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion from that stupid spell. But he doubted Addison would believe him. The man was oddly stubborn about his conclusions and usually refused to change them when he was absolutely positive he was right. Josk looked up to see Jeralt glaring at him, sans that stupid whore. And a delightful idea entered his head at the sight. It wasn't totally fair to Addison, the man liked him and he couldn't deny some sort of fondness in return. As the first song ended, he turned to Addison. “Would you care to dance with me, then?[/b][/color][/i]”

Niko looked down at the elf with great concern, for now that he was closer he was quite certain the man-looking individual was an elf. He seemed to be trying to speak. But Niko suspected the elf had consumed entirely too much alcohol for his or anyone else's good. Then he looked past Niko at someone - Niko didn't bother following his gaze - before sticking his hand up. He knocked Niko's hand away, but seemed to be waiting to be pulled up. So Niko obliged him, took his hand and pulled him to his feet in one smooth motion. He was gawked at by the man for his troubles before the inebriated elf slurred, “Thought that was pretty goddam funny, didn’tcha? Didn’tcha? Mommy… err.. don’t lose their magical balance. Anyway…” Niko blinked in complete confusion as the elf coughed. “Can I have a pony?” He had no clue how to react to this. He generally didn't keep company with drunkards and didn’t himself go out and get drunk. He sighed heavily before deciding to entertain himself with the drunken elf. What else did he have to do here? “Of course you can have a pony,” he assured his companion in Broddring common. He grinned, doubting that the drunken elf would notice the change. “You simply have to tell me what your name is and you can have anything you want at all.”

======

Samar - with Clarus/sort of Artemis
Samar took the scarf that Awiti was kind enough to return, smiling her thanks before stepping gracefully into the dance with Master Clarus. They dance calmly for a while and Master seems quite pleased at first. Then she feels him tense beneath her light grip and anger flashes through his eyes. She can only suspect that the light-dark-pale-one Artemis has done something foolish. She is unsurprised by this. Her suspicions were merely confirmed when Master spoke of a ‘stupid bitch.’ He only seemed to speak of the light-dark-pale-one like that.

“She hasn't done anything to mess with you recently, has she? If she does, shes going to regret it.” Samar looked up in surprise as Master asked his question. How did he know? No, it was a logical thing to think. The light-dark-pale-one was always doing something to her. As he winked at her, she dropped her gaze shyly. A small glimmer of shame entered her eyes, hidden now from his gaze. “Just tell me if she does, alright?” She gave a small sigh. She disliked telling Master about these things. She should have been able to deal with it herself. What else was she do besides this? The light-dark-pale-one was much more powerful than she.

Master stopped dancing and asked if she would accompany him to speak with the light-dark-pale-one. She didn't particularly want to and Master didn't expect her to. But how could she refuse him? He was her master. So she schools her features into an unreadable mask and nods slightly. “If Master wishes me to, then certainly.” She allows herself to be pulled towards the light-dark-pale-one and another human. Master speaks with the man, then leads her through the crowd once more to a less crowded area. There they await light-dark-pale Artemis, Samar feeling slight trepidation at the coming encounter. As they waited, she spoke up. “You asked if she had done anything, Master,” she murmured. “She...she spilled wine upon my dress earlier. She claimed she tripped or some such, but I feel that this was not the case.”

[dantieduurden]

Artemis laughed at Malandra as she tried two of the foods of the table. " No actually that only shows a person who has not had a sip of wine that them are the only two foods so far safe to eat, unless someone in the world has found poisons that only effect the elf population." Artemis remarked slyly as then yet another human came up to her.

As he ranted and raved Artemis could not help but become bored with the man. " Trust is earned not given. Only a fool walks into a snakes den and suspects nothing. And saying " The Purge" was not so long ago, I shall rather be the one that lives through this ordeal." Artemis said as she pointed at the two food dishes. " And two things can hardly define the whole dinner menu General. And Why would I convict someone of using poison if I had already taken a sip of such toxins like wine." Just then she saw Clarus's eyes fix on her and she knew she was in for it as he made his way over. " I came here by both family and by acquaintance. " I am the only daughter of Jessica and Jaguar Von Cleft."

Just then Clarus came up and as expected asked for a word with her. " Yes my master." Artemis said as she watched him go. " And you are right General I should pay my respects to the " hosts" of this grand party so if you excuse me I will." And with that Artemis made her way over to Clarus to get his business out of the way so she could go back to Tox who happened to be with the hosts of the night.

Levithan

Levithan was in a grand mood tonight, Elves and humans in the same room could only lead to violence and fear. And he could not wait for the big bang to happen. Especially after seeing what the bang really was in the basement. It was good to be a demon, Levithan thought as he stood on the chandelier and looked down upon the prey of the night. Invisible to the mortal eye Levithan watched from his perch the events taking out at the thrown, he foresaw very terrible things coming to be if events did not play out correctly over there.


Artemis with Clarus, sort of Samar, Malandra, and Edan
Levithan with himself

[pterodactyl]

i should blame you for the falling rain
i should blame you for my constant pain
i should be there to remind you every day
i should walk you through the halls of my own fate
i should let you taste the tears that fell in hate
i should be there to remind you every day
i should...

“You are a rather intriguing human, Dane. Dare I ask your reasons for attending the Gala? And…you seem rather intrigued yourself. Perhaps you might deign to pay a lady a compliment. Is that too much to ask, hmm?”

Dane was comfortable in this close contact, even though his partner was so alien in race and manner. She was taller than he by perhaps two inches, but his superior size and strength (though elves were naturally stronger than humans, he reminded himself) made him feel in control. Besides, he was leading and could tell that Laoni hadn't been instructed in the finer points of dancing. She moved gracefully, but with a hesitant catch.

"Oh, me? I'm just here to have a good time. Celebrate the glory of Nyx and all that, you know." His words weren't slurring yet, but if he drank much more, he might not be able to hold his liquor as well as he normally could.

Stepping in time to the music, they spun in large circles on the dancefloor. With every revolution, Dane could keep watch on Malandra, who was currently at the table with some guests. He'd noticed the look she'd given Laioni and him as she passed, but had dismissed it. He couldn't speak with Malandra without revealing his true identity, and he couldn't stand around watching her for the same reason.

The music reached a crescendo and then flattened out into a slower, softer rhythm after a short pause. He gave her a charming smile as he slowed their dancing to match. "I'm sure an exceptionally beautiful lady such as yourself gets tired of hearing of her own virtues, as many as they are. I must admit, your eyes drew me in when I first noticed you standing all by yourself. I thought to myself, How can I let such a woman be alone at a party?"

Their revolutions around the dancefloor had stopped with the beginning of the slow song in favor of spinning gently in place. One of Dane's hands was holding one of Laioni's, while the other was splayed open on her back, holding their bodies together. The hand on her back had steadily but unobtrusively slipped lower over the course of the song, until it was resting on the small of the elf's back and heading for more dangerous territory.

Dane Gunnarsson wondered why the room was spinning, when he and his partner had clearly stopped. A fog stole over his brain, wrapping it in soothing white cotton and taking away any sense of alarm he might have felt at swaying on his feet, unable to stand up properly. His eyes unfocused and his stomach churned. Cold sweat broke out on the Paladin's forehead, but not from dancing. The world tilted, he slumped heavily against his partner, and suddenly his hand was in VERY dangerous territory.

{ muse okay }
{ notes [ eilia bursts into the gala. she does this noise CLICK and disappears... as promised! }
{ tags dances with, talks to, falls on top of laioni, mentions malandra }
{ listening to dream theater }
{ words 438 }

[ladymoth]

» Addison was surprised that he actually got Josk to agree to something. Progress? With Josk? A miracle! “yes!” Addsion said jumping to attention excitedly. He stood on his tip toes and peered over the crowd at the ladies gathered up at the far end of the dance hall, reject ladies. “Okay, you take the fat one, and I’ll take the one that’s taller than you” Addison proposed “The fat one will make you look skinnier, that’s a good asset for you, and most women are taller than me, so a few more inches won’t make a big difference to me.”

~~~

Josk frowned slightly. What ladies? He didn't recall mentioning women at all when asking Addison to dance with him. He turned to look in the direction Addison was looking and almost gagged. The man honestly expected him to dance with those females? Hell, with females in general? No. No, no, no, no, no. Not even if this ridiculous Nyx goddess were to suddenly appear and command him to do it. His eye twitched as Addison punched him in the arm. He grabbed the man's arm as Addison went to walk around the table. "That's not what I meant, Addison. I was wondering if you would dance with me. Us. Together." Did he really need to spell it out for him?

~~~

» Addison blinked rapidly then swung his head around just as fast to see if anyone had heard Josk say it, as if it was sacrilegious. “In public? In front of everyone? Everyone…” Addison repeated slowly then turned his head and looked at Jeralt who was standing in the middle of the room, glaring at Josk and Addison, ignoring the fact that couples were bumping into him. “You’re using me to get back at him!” Addison said wrenching his hands out of Josks and slapping them down for good measure. He folded his arms and stewed in disappointment.

▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼

▲▼▲▼► From across the room Jeralt had a good and proper laugh at Josk getting rejected by Addison. So the elf thought he was so much better than him? Now they were in the same boat. Jeralt started to walk off of the dance hall at last and toward the tables were Josk and Addison were, getting ready to gloat and he would enjoy it too.

» Addison heard Jeralt laugh and looked up to see that smarmy look over the vampire’s face. Addison turned red with anger getting a taste of Josk own anger. How dare that man spit on Josk’s heart and laugh, and now he was coming over to rub it in Josk’s face, in front of him no less? Cad! No one put Josk in the corner. “Come on” Addison said, suddenly sounding like an actual macho man.

He grabbed Josk’s arm and dragged him off before Jeralt could reach them. “One hand here, one hand here” He ordered, looking very serious as he put Josk’s hand on his back and the other in his other hand (the left hand was already planted on Josk’s shoulder) “Look like you don’t give a flying dwarf about him, big smile like I just said something hilarious” Addison plotted, unleashing his inner vindictive side; it was a character he had not played since he was alive the first time and; a young pissed off terminal teenager who wanted to make his parents suffer. "why arn't you moving? I'm not going to lead, I'm like three feet shorter than you" Addison laughed at Josk.

[Nayeli]

( LADY NAYELI )
Featuring
Warrior Turin

( Nayeli talking to Anck, Tox, and Sean )
I watched Sean for a moment, waiting for him to bring the other over to me. He was a good guard, but at least he was not following me around, mostly helping me and watching my sister, who I could tell, wanted to dance. I chuckled slightly at her, looking around and swearing I saw Darek, the man who had come last week to my own home and had met everyone. I looked again at the woman before me and then at Leilani who was watching Sean. I looked back towards Darek and he was gone, but I had no idea he was coming towards me. I tried not to focus on that, wanted to focus on the woman who had been watching me and my family. I turned in time to see Darek approaching my sister, who smiled at him and then looked at me. ”Good Evening Darek.”

He bowed to me and then my sister.

”Evening Milady.” I nodded towards him and then saw Sean come towards me with the man, my mind completely on the woman and the man who was coming with Sean. He placed the man before me and I looked at him for a moment, my eyes focused on him. I did not like him, not one single bit. My sister, I could hear talking, but I was not paying any attention to her at all, in fact, her words to me were completely nothing. I then looked down at Anck once again. ”Why should I tell you? You’ll just-” I growled slightly, barely able to be heard by anyone else. ”Because I can have you tortured to a inch of your life.”[/color] I growled. This woman had the nerve to listen in on a conversation that had nothing to do with her. “Leave the talking to the grown-ups, darling,” I looked at him for a moment, showing nothing by a ice cold glare that came from my own face. ”Look, babe, you’re… in charge, huh? Royalty, that’s nice. Well, lemme tell you that it is a wonderful little place you got here, your Majesty, I clap at the décor, but listen- me and Dollface here got Things To Do. So if you don’t mind, we’ll just be-” As they turned around, I smiled slightly at Sean and his men. ”I don’t believe you will be going anywhere except for where I say you are going.”[/color] I said to him and the woman.

I heard his hiss and turned my head slightly at the stupidity that he was showing. ”I’m so glad you all think you’re so clever,” I rolled my eyes at his true stupidity. ”It’s cute, babes. Real cute. But here’s the thing…” I narrowed my eyes in slight interest at this man who was before me. ”Foreigners spying on the king’s family… that’s treason, innit? You’ll just kill us anyway, maybe sell us into slavery. Why should we tell you anything?” I smiled, my own white teeth showing, a laugh spilling from my lips. ”Kill? You are not even going to receive that. More like… Spying only gets you tortured until you are mere inches from death, however… We don’t kill spys… We like the idea of laughing at their screams of Agony.”[/color] I said to them, looking at Sean for a moment, smiling at the man. ”And I am sure he would enjoy leading the torture.”[/color] I smiled at them and then glanced back slightly at my sister and back at them.


[/size][/blockquote]

( LADY LEILANI )
Featuring
Awiti Ekere

( Leilani, dancing with Darek )
Well, it seemed my sister was having her own fun, but I was not having any! I wanted to dance. Awiti was dancing with my brother, though I knew he was using her for nothing more then getting information from others, he had chosen her to dance with. I glanced to see Darek there were us and smiled slightly, looking at Sean once again, hoping someone… Anyone… Would ask me to dance. ”Lady Leilani?” I turned to look at Darek, a smile on my face as he looked at me and then bowed to me. I nodded at him for a moment and he stood. ”May I have this dance?” I was slightly surprised, but I took his hand, which was laid before her and looked at Nayeli, who was too concerned with the idea of torture to care what was going on. She did glance back at me once before going back to the two before her.

I saw Turin who was dancing slowly with Awiti, carrying on a conversation. Darek started dancing and I allowed him to lead me as we dance. ”This was a true surprise, sir.”

[/color] I said to Darek as we dance a little.
[/size][/blockquote]
( WORD COUNT ) – seven. eight. one.
[/blockquote]
[/color]

[Emma]

The following exchange between Edan and the marked elf woman was one that only mildly amused, and mostly irritated me. Edan made some very valid points, but this woman seemed very determined to raise anarchy in my Gala- which, so far, had gone splendidly. Though everyone now moved with a degree of caution, and whispered rumours of the poison were easily heard among the masses, nothing had happened to upset the tension and ruin the upcoming banquet. I licked some wine off the side of my lip, and paid brief attention when the woman named herself- Artemis Von Cleft, daughter of Jaguar and Jessica. The names were distinctly non-elven, so I made a mental note to have one of my Oracles look the names up when I returned home to the Cathedral.

“And you are right General, I should pay my respects to the ‘hosts’ of this grand party, so if you excuse me I will.”
Edan’s anger was clearly seen on his face as the elf left, but I lay one finely manicured hand on his shoulder. “Leave her. I will deal with it.”

My words stopped him short, but he still looked unsure. After a moment, he sighed in assent and did not chase after little Artemis. I gave him one of my most winning smiles and set off, looking for a guardsman or two. I would not use my Sentinels, as their purpose was far greater than merely tossing a dissident little girl out of my party. As I strode along, I took note of the gossip around me, working out a summary of how the guests felt from the snippets of conversation I heard. Guards stood closer to their wards, and most tones were either frightened or angry. My concern for the relative safety of the banquet increased, especially when I saw a group of soldiers surrounding the Richards’ throne like flies at honey. Perhaps it was time to speed things along, then.

My worst fears were brought to the surface when I heard an enraged shriek just ahead of me. I saw Laioni, who I’d caught earlier seducing one of my Paladins, Dane Gunnarsson, being knocked against the table while an obviously drunk Gunnarsson groped her. She swore quite viciously in the ancient language before landing a powerful slap on his cheek, knocking him clear off of her. Then she stood, furiously eyeing a rip that had appeared in her dress, and glanced around with her lip curled into a snarl and her black hair in a tangled mess. Then she stalked off, leaving Gunnarsson struggling to catch his balance. I rounded on him, furious that he had resorted to drinking on this extremely important night, and bent down over his face, my lips pressed into a thin line.

“What are you doing?” I said in a quiet, but enraged voice. “’Ave you forgotten what you ‘ave sworn to me? Get up! And make yourself useful.” I looked around, and saw a very tall man with a dark complexion standing near the Richards. “And you! Come ‘ere.” Turning back on Gunnarsson, I snarled into his face. “Do not forget zat both of your sons rely on tonight being successful. Now….” Seeing the man approach, one of those Gaels that Azuan was so fond of, I pointed at Artemis, standing across the room. “Escort ze dumb broad out. Both of you. Now.”

And then I was gone again, shoving my unfinished wine glass into a slave’s face. Obviously, I needed to hurry things along as quickly as possible.

---

The woman’s eyes got glassier and glassier at every word that left Tox’s mouth, which was only made creepier by the fact that she was grinning sadistically from ear to ear. I was more than used to nobles taking it far too personally when I was caught plotting against them, but the fact that this woman seemed to be enjoying the fact that I’d been spying was reason to worry. However, twenty years of training kept my expression smooth and seemingly dourly unimpressed at the countess before me. I had been in this situation before, and would be in it again- either due to lack of skill on my part, like what had just happened, or one of Tox’s schemes gone horribly wrong- which, now that I thought about it, was also a factor in us being prisoners of the state right now.

“Kill?” sneered Richards after a mirthless cackle. “You are not even going to receive that. More like… spying only gets you tortured until you are mere inches from death, however…” She paused for dramatic effect, clearly enjoying this far too much. “We don’t kill spies… We like the idea of laughing at their screams of agony. And I am sure he would enjoy leading the torture,” she added, gesturing to her guard.

They surrounded us, snarling with grim cheer. Tox and I both glanced at each other. We both knew what we’d been getting into when we’d first agreed to this mission. Palancar Angrenost had been reputed for the horrors of his crimes against prisoners, so why not his grandchildren either? There was the small grain of hope that his aunt Pele could pull strings to save our hides, but treason was the worst possible crime. Her influence probably wouldn’t be enough. I had never undergone physical torture, but it was something I would rather not try. I sucked in a breath as the soldiers crowded around us, leering and sniggering. There was clearly no way out of this right now. I focussed on keeping my mind calm and my breathing steady.

“The lady asked you a question, elf!” barked one soldier, viciously prodding Tox in the shoulder with his pike. Black blood trickled out of the small wound. “Who are you working for?”
Tox grit his fangs and looked full on at Richards, his face a mirror image of hers. “I’m sure I’d do the same thing if I were in your position,” he hissed. “But it doesn’t matter what you do to me, you hateful bitch. I won’t tell you anything.”

I blinked. Tox had always been the squeamish, ‘those who run, live to run another day’ type of person, not one of those noble warriors that bravely marched into the most suicidal of battles- and he was never cold. When he got angry, he waged destruction, not words. But his skin was now ice-white, and his eyes completely black, making him look more like a statue than a person. Something had pushed him past his default state, and after a moment of pondering, I realized it was his mother. If he revealed that we were working for Pele, Veela could easily be brought in as an accomplice to treason, and Tox probably wouldn’t be able to psychologically survive that. I supposed with the torment his father had put him through, torture didn’t scare him anymore.

“I apologize for the interruption, gentlemen.”

I turned to see none other than Laioni stalking through the midst of guards. The elf woman, who was normally very svelte and well-put together, now had her hair in somewhat of a mess, her dress torn, and her grey eyes blazed with a distant anger. She’d obviously gotten into some kind of scrape. She waded through the guards surrounding Tox and I, coming to a halt in front of Nayeli. She was much shorter than the countess, but held herself with an imperiousness and confidence that rivalled Tox’s- as well as a degree of contempt for the other woman. Happiness made my confidence come surging back. Apparently, she did care for Tox- at least to some extent.

“There was a Broddring king once who drooled on himself in such volume that he required a constant attendant to wipe his chin in court. The kings of old would be pleased to see their bloodline has not strayed very far from its roots.” She took Tox’s arm, smiling cheerily up at Nayeli. “I suppose, like the rest of your kind, you consider us elves as unnatural abominations to be put to the torch? My, my, but your country must be proud of you.” She reached into a pocket of her dress, removing a slip of paper. “Though I admire your bloodlust, Nayeli, you may not lay a hand on my cousin without bringing the matter to the Riders beforehand.” She presented the parchment to all. She showed me too quickly for me to read the entire thing, but I did see the seal of Ilirea. “And I doubt they would be particularly impressed. At best, you are the barely functioning ruler of a decrepit city with a poor memory and a poor attitude. Now leave us be.”

---

After many minutes of intense discussion with the elven delegation, I had successfully warned them all of the very real possibility of the banquet being poisoned. I relaxed, but only a little. We had no idea who Ramakrishna was targeting, or what exactly the poison would do to those who ingested it. She was back among the guests now, milling and chatting as if nothing was going to happen. It was very rare that I was put up against an enemy that I couldn’t simply run through with my katana, and the urge to strike down Ramakrishna was almost too much to bear. Deciding I could use a brief rest to clear my head, I leaned against one wall, letting out my breath in a shaky exhale. I even closed my eyes, trusting my soldiers would not let any harm come to me.

“It’s Kieran. Kieran… Kieran… um… I can’t remember now, but you must know her!” Before I could even move, arms were wrapped around my waist and I was dragged into the arms of my hideously drunk younger brother. “This is the general of… of that place. She’s like a sister to me!”
“Kieran,” I hissed, “let me go, or I will systematically remove all your limbs.”
“And she has a humanlike nature to her sadism. Can I get that pony now?”

Whatever in the name of Nyx he wanted a pony for got him so interested that he released his grip on me. I rammed my fist into Kieran’s chest, slamming him into the wall, but he only murmured something about desperately wanting that pony. Unable to tolerate him any further, I turned and stormed off in a random direction. As I put a good deal of space between myself and my brother, however, I noticed the oddest thing- a person on the chandelier. I froze in place, staring. It was a man, but I couldn’t tell from this distance whether he was a human or an elf. He was looking down on the guests, at the Broddring royal family in particular, and grinning from ear to ear. I narrowed my eyes and tapped Relas’s shoulder, who, despite his fears of being poisoned, was stuffing his face.

“What?”
“There’s a man on the chandelier.”
“A…” he paused in shovelling some salad in his mouth, and gawked. “Really? Really?”
“Think he’s just a nut, or he’s up there for another reason?”
“On the chandelier. On the chandelier. What is that? Who does that help?”
“Relas.”
“Oh! I’ll get the others and meet you on the closest balcony. Right-o.”

He paused to inhale some more food and disappeared, hunting down my three other lieutenants. Hand on the hilt of my katana, I pulled aside one of the curtains on the walls and found a stairway leading to one of many romantically lit balconies circling the ballroom, and made my way up. Considering the entire issue with the poison, I doubted Ramakrishna was about to drop a suicide bomber into our midst, but even if he was just a maniac, I needed to get him down before he caused any trouble. Taking the steps three at a time, I got up with no issue, heading onto the landing of the stairs and then the balcony itself. Before I could call out to the man or do anything else, however, I stopped- and groaned inwardly at the three humans already up there.

They were the very stupid girls who’d been harassing me for a good portion of the ball, whom I’d only just escaped from. I froze where I was, unsure of how to handle the situation. Like Ramakrishna, this was not something I could chop at with a sword, and I was very lacking in the socialization department. Anger and another, unfamiliar emotion I couldn’t yet figure out washed over me, and I merely stared as the overdressed women turned and saw me. They rushed over to where I was, cooing in mock sweetness.

“Hello again, General!”
“Funny to see you again!”
“I suppose climbing those stairs wouldn’t be difficult in trousers…”
“You need to leave,” I managed to say. “My soldiers and I have a situation to address.”
“You mean that handsome man up on the chandelier? We were just looking at him!” One of the two blondes twirled around and waved at him. “Hi there, darling!”
“I said you need to leave,” I said, more harshly.
“We don’t take orders from knife-eared cross-dressers,” said the brunette, prodding me. “You need to leave.”

Character(s) Used;; Malandra comforted Edan Valaician and got enraged at Dane Gunnarsson, who just got seriously shot down by Laioni. Malandra then sent Dane and Brian Da Werewolf to kick Artemis Von Cleft out of the ballroom. Anck and Tox interacted with Nayeli Richards and prepared themselves for torture, before getting their butts saved by a now very anti-human Laioni. Myaja put up with Kieran's drunken rambling at Niko Danta before going to accost Leviathan Nikael with her NPCs, but is being held up by a bunch of other NPCs.
Words;; 2211
Muse;; AWFUL. Simply AWFUL.
Thoughts;; Blerrrgrgh.

[Kite]

*Clarus maintains his cool as Samar murmurs what happened between her and Artemis earlier, but his eyes close and he looks up for a moment before nodding and smiling down at Samar, speaking just as quietly.*

Thank you for telling me, Samar. I suspect that you are right.

*As he finishes speaking to her, he hears his student approach and he turns to her, looking down at her and sighs softly.*

Do you know why I wanted to speak with you, Artemis?

*He pauses for a moment to give her a chance to speak, and then goes on with his speech to her regardless of what she says.*

You were told not to make a scene and you were told to be discreet. You are here, despite your supposed standing in Elven society, because I as your teacher decided to bring you along and allow you to come, and then you spit in my face by disobeying me. I keep giving you chances to redeem yourself in my eyes, and every time I do you prove your unworthiness. I can see you being a worthy apprentice in time, but I see that I was wrong to bring you this night. You are unable to handle simple orders, and that shows that you have a fundamental lack of discipline. This lack of discipline is the complete opposite of the requirements for what I am to teach you, which is why I haven’t begun teaching you.

*He looks at her to make sure she is still listening, and continues quieter.*

You need discipline in mind and body to perform the rite. I will not be present to coach you through the final ceremony as every pore in my body screams to kill others that are like me, and as such you will need complete focus and discipline if you have any chance to keep control of your body. If you perform the rite incorrectly or do not have the control required, your soul will be shoved into a corner and eventually devoured by those you call in, and you will become a monster. I will not abide a monster, and neither will the Riders. They will hunt you if this is the end, and it will end badly for your new host if that happens.

*He then speaks normally again, continuing after taking a breath.*

So, until you learn to hold your tongue and keep your mind on the prize instead of the side notes, you will not learn a thing at my hands except discipline. Right now, you are nothing. You are lesser than a slave in my eyes, you are a student. Until you learn discipline, that is how you will be treated. You will be given simple orders and expected to carry them out to a T. The first order that you will be given is that you will not screw with Samar. Yes, I know about your petty little stunt, and we all know that you are more graceful than that. You shall treat her as your superior, you will treat her as if she was me. This is the most important order that you will be given. You will learn to take orders from those you hate, and once you can do that without a bad thought in your mind, I will make you my apprentice and you will learn the arts.

*He then looks into her eyes relentlessly to make sure that she knows that he is serious before continuing.*

If you continue to act out, or disobey Samar or I, you will be out of my home and mind, and you will have to find another tutor. They will be lesser, but that’s all you got.

*He then smirks at her.*

Do you understand me?

*He closes his mouth for a moment and waits for the little woman’s response and gives her sufficient time to respond before noticing the men approaching the little threesome that we form from behind, the most prominent member being the general, and he is followed by a foreigner in what is basically a Broddring foreign legion and another man, presumably a noble.*

I think these fine gentlemen wish a word with us.

*He looks over at Samar, looking for her reactions but not sure he would see or hear of them.*

(Clarus speaks to Artemis, then notices the Brian, and Dane approaching the little group, then looks over at Samar)

---

*Edan hears the Prophet and takes a deep breath before shrugging off her hand and nodding in assent. The dumb broad was no worry of his, not anymore, even with her disrespectful attitude. He follows Malandra with his gaze until she reaches a soldier and what seems to be a noble and points at the woman, seemingly speaking angrily at the noble, and they start to move off towards her. Edan smiles and starts to move away, fairly content that the situation was handled, and starts to look over the ball, looking to see if there was any trouble anywhere. Curiously enough, things were pretty cool right now, mostly consisting of dancing and tomfoolery. He looks up a level as well, moving his eyes over the balconies and sees what he finds to be a curious sight. One of the girls standing around General Kolbjorn does a sudden twirl and he sees her wave up towards the… chandelier? He can’t see well from the position he is in, so he ascends the stairs to the balcony where Myaja and the three girls are and hears the girl with brown hair throwing a slur towards Myaja and Edan slowly slips the metal glove from his right hand as he approaches them. He puts a hand on the woman’s shoulder and she looks around and he speaks quietly.*

Face me.

*She looks confused slightly and turns around from prodding Myaja, and his hand moves from her shoulder, then flies and slaps her across the face. She squeals and falls over in her overly ornate shoes and dress, the material getting in the way of her efforts to stand once more, and her friends “race” over to her to help her up. Edan waits until she is once more on her feet and looks at her with an eyebrow raised.*

Maybe if you had learned more statecraft and history instead of bedcraft and fashion, you would not be throwing imbecilic slurs at your betters. Leave.

*He turns back to Myaja and bows slightly to her before speaking once more.*

My apologies for bursting in, General, I came to look at what they are waving at and thought that she was out of line. I’m sure you could have handled it, but I felt the need to educate.

*He then turns to the chandelier and sees the… thing up there. Elf? He wasn’t too sure, but that was the only logical explanation in his mind at this point. He then looks at Myaja with an amused but slightly confused look on his face.*

I… think that this is more of your department than mine. I’ll stay out of your way, but just ask if you need some assistance.

*He then bows his head to her and moves away towards the back of the balcony, reattaching his glove and staying out of her way but keeping an eye towards her to see how she handles it. He’d be dumbstruck if she didn’t have people with her, but he wouldn’t blame her. There were a lot of nerves flaring on both sides leading up to the event, he was sure. He was more interested in what was up on the chandelier and why, and how she got the being down off of it.*

(Edan interacts with Malandra before moving up to the balcony and beating down an NPC. He then speaks to Myaja and notices Levithan before moving a slight distance off.)

[tiilyr]

mine.

[Elloria]

Josk/Niko - with Addison/Kieran and sort of Myaja (All dialogue here is Ancient Language)
Niko tilted his head in amusement as the elf - Kieran - introduced himself. His eagerness for that pony was ridiculous. He followed after Kieran as the elf moved to latch onto another elf. As Kieran clung to her, Niko's jaw almost dropped. His eyes certainly widened in shock. Kieran was hugging the general of Ellesmera. Myaja Kolbjorn. He shivered. Was this the Kieran Kolbjorn, then? The disgraced younger brother? “Please forgive his impudence, General,” Niko murmured. “I-” But she didn't appear to be listening, for she chose that moment to slam her fist into Kieran's chest. He went flying into the wall, much to Niko's alarm. The elf seemed unharmed, however, so Niko let out a small sigh of relief and moved over to him. Myaja had stormed off the moment she'd punched her brother. He gently prodded Kieran's chest to see if there was anything broken. Niko doubted Kieran would be able to tell in his current state. Nothing seemed amiss, but Niko suspected his companion would feel it in the morning. “Well, Kieran, you’ve certainly upheld your end of the bargain.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew a large handkerchief. The Danta crest was embroidered in one corner. He was certain Josk wouldn't mind if he indulged in a little origami. With surprising deftness, he twisted and folded the handkerchief until it roughly resembled a horse. Satisfied, he presented it to Kieran. “Here you are, sir. One pony, ready for anything.” He grinned. Would Kieran even notice?

Josk snorted quietly at Addison's initial reaction. Of course everyone would see them. That was rather the point. He almost grinned when the man finally realized his main intentions. “Well partly, yes,” he easily admitted. There was no reason to lie. “But if I’m going to dance with someone, I’d rather it be you than some woman.” He kept his eyes on Addison instead of looking around for Jeralt. Perhaps it was high time to drop the vampire for good and find someone else to occupy his attention. He ignored the vampire's laugh. If Addison was as attracted to him as he suspected, he wouldn't have to do anything else. And he was right. The man grabbed his arm and practically dragged him onto the dance floor. His eyes danced with delight as Addison placed their hands in all the appropriate places. The man's hidden vindictiveness was cute. A genuine smile slowly lit up his face as Addison demanded he start moving. There was no need to feign anything. It was surprisingly pleasant having the man in his arms. “Whatever you say, Addison.” With all the inherent grace of an elf, he took the lead and began to waltz in time with the other dancers.
=========

Samar - with Clarus/sort of Artemis
Samar stood silently as Master berated the light-dark-pale one. She could not comprehend its constant disobedience. It was one thing to disobey when you did not wish to learn what was being taught. It was another entirely to do so when you desperately wished to learn. The first indicated an independent mind that would follow its own course unless that independence was beaten out of it. The latter was a sign of one who lacked any self-control and respect. Perhaps that was why light-dark-pale Artemis treated her so terribly. She respected only herself and her opinions - believed herself to be superior to all. Perhaps even superior to the gods. Samar's free hand strayed once more to her amulet. That sort of attitude could only lead to disaster.

On the other hand, she also could not fathom why Master would demand that it consider itself to be less than even her. She was a slave. Even in her own tribe, no tribesman was lower than what few slaves they had. That was simply insulting. “Master...I do not believe that is necessary...” she whispered in Master’s ear when he looked at her. “I am a slave. She is your pupil. None are lower than a slave.” She glanced at Master's student warily. A sense of foreboding slowly filled her.

[phrostphyre]

Sean grimaced at the various threats of torture coming from Nayeli’s mouth. He winced when she deemed him acceptable to lead the torture. The only forms of torture he knew were water boarding, using magic to induce a heart attack and keep the victim alive, and the threat of losing various limbs or appendages, surrounded by angry clansmen and grieving women. The third wouldn’t be acceptable, and Sean viewed water boarding as necessary only when someone was held hostage. Bound to a flat, wooden surface, water was poured onto the victim’s face, simulating drowning. In an extreme case Sean had been party to, the victim had pissed themselves whenever he heard water dripping. Interrogator, victim, or witness, there was no doubt water boarding was torture. The human mind had a deep fear of drowning. Water boarding used the feelings of helplessness and fear from being bound to the wooden surface to heighten the sensations of drowning; Sean had used it to get information from a man deeply embittered against Sean’s grandfather. Not only did the man break, but he broke hard and fast.
The second, inducing a heart attack, not only left men broken, but often gibbering wrecks, good for nothing other than wall decorations. Sean opposed to this on moral and religious grounds, both personal and public. Religiously, because the Goddess forbade using magic to kill a man in torture. Battle was acceptable to the Goddess and her Champion, but cold blooded torture? Only for revenge. Sean decided to speak up now, and suggest the water boarding. However, he was halted by a woman claiming that she came from the Riders. Inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief. Sean had no desire to quarrel with overgrown fire breathing lizards. Instead, he settled for glowering like a volcano about to explode.




Brian had been contemplating the smell of food wafting from somewhere, until he was startled by a disruption about said food from an elf-something, the Hostess that didn’t own the Castle, and the General. He swore and was about to edge away, hoping to get food from somewhere else, when the Hostess swirled past and barked in an accent that sounded like a goose to go do what the Gaels did best. Fight. Brian glanced at his target. Lovely. The elf-woman-thing in the purple dress. The tenets of Sun-worship forbade drawing steel against women unless due insult was offered, for women gave birth to all. Brian nodded. Even against an elf, the man could hold his own for about four minutes. He was joined by a minor nobleman reeking of drunken stupor, and Brian shook his head. They moved forward, until the man was slightly behind Brian and also slightly reeling, and Brian spoke. ”Sirs, miladies. I hope you’re enjoying the evening. Master Maleficarum, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask your guest to leave, sir. Now, for formalities sake: I am fully willing and ready to use violence to remove you. The degree of violence is your choosing, however.”



Brian acknowledged Dane, and moved to remove Artemis. Sean just glared.

[dantieduurden]

A small smile came to Leviathan's face as the human women were acting so stupid, he sure did love parties, hopefully Ishiyo would not need him tonight for he was extremely busy hoping to get a new client. As the human general came up and smacked the women though he was not happy and staied in place instead of rushing off the chandelier to Myaja side. But once he was gone he did. " Why good day madam." Leviathan said as he glided over to her and bowed in front of her. " My I ask what your name is fair beauty perhaps?" Leviathan asked as he held out his hand to her. " My names Frankus Von Licktenstien, and I would be happy to escort you to the dance floor if you would only allow me." Levithan said kindly to her with a genuine smile. Ishiyo would be furious that he had not brought her, but he could not mix business with pleasure after all, and with that he waited for her reply.

_________________________________

Artemis only grew more and more furious as Clarus spoke and when he fell silent her tongue struck. " You expect me to listen to a slave, I could kill her now if I wanted to. And you would not teach me anything, I have shown nothing but patience, but no more I am leav..." Just then two foolish guards came up and told her she had to leave. " O and who said this? " Artemis asked as she looked at the two guards, no doubt it had been the evil twisted form of what used to be the religion of Nyx's prophet. " If you all could just escort me real quickly to the " Man" I am with so I may tell him that I must be off, I would more then happily ablige." Artemis said as she made sure to stress the word man.

Happily Artemis walked over to as close as she could get to the man she had been with earlier and said to him , " Darling why do these people wish to speak with you, we must be off, it seems our so gracious hostess dose not wish us here. " Just then she looked up at the Richards family and asked them kindly " Why is it not you who are called the hosts? Is this not your home that we are so blessed to be in." Artemis said before seeing all the swords then pointed at Toxs neck, and then her brother walking away with one of the Richards women, figured he would be here. " What is going on, why is my husband having swords drawn to at him, he has been with me the whole time and has been trying to keep me happy, I thought you were calling him over for a business deal." Artemis spoke as she began to cry and tried getting to Tox. Sure it may have all been a lie, but they did not know this.

_________________________

Darek was more then happy as he began to Dance with Lady Leilani leading in the dance as they went. " So how have things been since the last time I was here?" Darek asked as he held the lady like a proper gentleman would and not like someone well known with the lady would. " I hope all goes well, it seems my apprentice has gotten sick so I had to come after all in his place." Darek said with a smile as one song ended and another began. As they danced he saw a man standing before the throne and if not for knowing better he would have sworn it was Veela. " O no..." Darek said to himself as he looked at the princess. " My lady, if I may be so bold as to ask for a favor, you see that man in the center there I owe my life to, and well... you see my problem, if you could just ask your sisters to let him go, I swear I shall take full responsibility for all the damage he has caused and so on." Darek said hoping he could save what appeared to be someone related to the elven women he had meet only a week ago and had interested in.

Levithan speaks with Myaja, Artemis with Clarus, Tox, the two guards, and the richards, and Darek speaks with Lady LEILANI

[Nayeli]

( LADY NAYELI )
Featuring
Warrior Turin

( Nayeli talking to Anck, Tox, Sean, Laioni )
Fear was not something that I knew, not even a mere bit of it lingered in my eyes as I looked upon these two worthless fools, who had dare tried to come into my home and spy upon my family. I had welcomed them, even allowed the whore to ask as the leading roll, though my words with my uncle would soon be brought before him in the morning when this stupid festival was put to rest. I was not one who liked being in any crowd, I would rather people be brought to me one at a time, or only to have a few trusted friends at my hand. Lyra ad Bradley would be two I would have liked to stand beside me, but my mind had to stay on much firmer guard and grounds. I knew the elves were strong, it was something that had not escaped my own knowledge, though my uncle insisted on trying to tell us they were weak. My siblings and I all knew how powerful they were, that they held a language far greater then the language I spoke upon them now.

After I had made clear that spies were never killed, I look at the men who worked with Sean, my own chilling smile coming to my face. ”Then again… The pleasure of bring the pain on you myself seems far better.”

I glanced at a few young men who were with Sean, the glare was stone cold and deadly, showing I needed no protection from them if I ever had to lay a hand or cold steel onto his flesh, which seemed to cause me even more amusement. I shot a glance to my brother, who face had yet to change, my sister was gone, which was a good thing. I never wanted her to hear such nasty words, she was my sister and someone I cared deeply for, but at the same time… I knew that… Even family could get in my way of ruling this kingdom with a firm hand. I was not going to allow anything to fog my mind, I was not like some rulers who jumped at the sound of a twig snapping in their courtyard, or thought everyone was out to get me, but I knew that I could not trust everyone.

These elves held their tongue, not answering the question that had come forth from my mouth moments ago. My eyes were locked on both of them, but my ears listened to everything around me. People were dancing, the music playing sweetly, and people were once again laughing, but whispers could be heard with ease from where I stood, watching everything that was around and knowing anything could happen within a second. Own of the guards stepped up, placing his pike into the elf shoulders, causing a bit of dark blood to trickle before commanding the elf once again. ”The lady asked you a question, elf!” I glanced at him, my ice glaze had not changed, not even for those who I knew and who worked for me. ”Who are you working for?” I looked at the two elves, expecting them both to either speak or to be quiet, though my bet was on the male speaking first.

His face was as hard and cold as my own, and I was glad. I knew he would be a challenge and I was beyond find with that. ”I’m sure I’d do the same thing if I were in your position,” I did not allow myself to soften for even his thought of comparing our actions as anything. ”But it doesn’t matter what you do to me, you hateful bitch. I won’t tell you anything.” I clenched my teeth behind my lips, the white teeth hidden by painted lips, keeping anyone from seeing the tension. The man before me looked like a statue and honestly, I did not care. I could hear someone coming towards us, the foot steps coming quickly, though not a run. I turned my head in time to see someone come, someone I had seen before who spoke for the worthless riders. ”I apologize for the interruption, gentlemen.” The woman was not very nice looking… at least, her appearance was not very pretty. It seemed as if she has gone through hell’s gates to bring from for us. I looked at her for a moment and then back at the others.

She then stepped before me, our eyes meeting and I could see she held a fire within her eyes as I held within my own. ”There was a Broddring king once who drooled on himself in such volume that he required a constant attendant to wipe his chin in court.” Yes, we all knew how my grandfather was worthless, jumping and needed constant help from someone who was basically his slave. He could trust no one… Everyone knew this about him. ”The kings of old would be pleased to see their bloodline has not strayed very far from its roots.” My ice gaze seemed to deepen, because even this kingdom knew I was much different then the man that had once ruled this lands… I actually could hold myself, could travel without protection and could see the true danger and not the fake ones that appeared before me. ”I suppose, like the rest of your kind, you consider us elves as unnatural abominations to be put to the torch? My, my, but your country must be proud of you.” I looked at her, my gaze did not faultier nor did I blink at this pathetic excuse for a being. I looked at her, smiling slightly as she had spoken about my kind. I took the piece of paper as if I was a snake plucking a rat from the rafters of the stables. ”Though I admire your bloodlust, Nayeli, you may not lay a hand on my cousin without bringing the matter to the Riders beforehand.” I looked at her, not a touch of fear was within my eyes as I looked at the seal. I honestly held no care in the world for that worthless city.

My glance went to my sister who was dancing with the man… Darek from the night before. I looked then again at the elves. ”And I doubt they would be particularly impressed. At best, you are the barely functioning ruler of a decrepit city with a poor memory and a poor attitude. Now leave us be.” I looked at the paper, glanced to my left seeing a candle… One of many that covered this hall. I took it, placing the paper over it to burn, the black ash coming to my feet. ”Bring those cowering lizards… They did nothing but hide during the last war… And your cousin has done one of the most… Punishable crimes in this kingdom. He will be my prisoner and no dragon rider or elf will sway my Choice. You are within my kingdom and my home.”[/color] I looked at her, snapping my fingers to order the men to take him and this elf who had helped him to the cells below. ”And… if one dares to escape, your heads will be the first to leave the shoulders.”[/color] I looked at the men who were under my rule and then back at the elf.

[/size][/blockquote]

( LADY LEILANI )
Featuring
Awiti Ekere

( Leilani, dancing with Darek )
Ah… Dancing was a beautiful way to get to know someone who was both friendly and attractive. Darek was a kind man, though as he danced, I swore his body was colder then most and his skin as tough as steel, however, my mind was not on such things long. I was trying to see everything going on with my eyes, but that was little use, he had steered my slightly from hearing distance and I could barely see anyone. ”So, how have things been since the last time I was here?" I looked at him and nodded slightly. ”Very nice, thank you for asking.”

[/color] I said to him as we dancing, spotting my brother leaving my sister and joining Nayeli once again as the talks continued. I watched slightly as Awiti returned to where she had been sitting.

”I hope all goes well, it seems my apprentice has gotten sick so I had to come after all in his place." I smiled slightly. ”Well, I hope he gets better, but I am happy you were able to come. I heard you had important matters with family? If I am not mistaken, though a human mind can be very… Small compared to others.”[/color] If I was not mistaken, he was a scholar and also… A elf? But I was not completely sure on that on either. I saw his glance and turned slightly with him as we danced. I did not catch some of his first words, but I did the rest. ”My lady, if I may be so bold as to ask for a favor, you see that man in the center there I owe my life to, and well... you see my problem, if you could just ask your sisters to let him go, I swear I shall take full responsibility for all the damage he has caused and so on." I bit my bottom lip and lowered my head slightly.

”I wish I could persuade my sister, Darek, but she knows all the tricks I use within the rooms that I have been trained in… That man and his partner were brought to her for spying, I fear that it will take a miracle to help him… Nayeli is not one to allow prisoners to leave unless she is ready. Forgive me, but I can’t.”[/color] I was true in my words, my tongue never spoke lies unless I was within a life and death situation… I glanced to the man, seeing Nayeli burning something and barking orders at the soldiers.

It was a shame I could not help Darek with this, but my sister could be ruthless and honestly she did not care. As we danced, we stopped as we were called into the dining hall, a place I knew well as a child. I could remember running around, my mother picking me up and laughing as we went to go and met her brother, my uncle in the dining hall. I smiled slightly, looking to Darek for a moment. ”Sir… Will you come with me into the dining hall?”[/color] I did not mind his company, he was charming and very polite. I looked at my family, who still seem to be in some disputes and then looked to Awiti, giving her a nod to come to me. She stood quickly, moving through the crowd. She was scared, possible from my sister and I smiled, heading into the dining room.
[/size][/blockquote]
( WORD COUNT ) – one. seven. nine. eight.
[/blockquote]
[/color]

[Emma]

As I faced off with the human countess, I realized that I was ready to kill.

I was seething and bloodthirsty from my encounter with the pretentious human that had thought it a grand idea to grope me. To make it worse, I hadn’t learned anything from the brief but painful time I’d spent with him, not about the banquet, the poison, or even who he was- although considering how Ramakrishna had bellowed at him directly after the attack on my personal space, he certainly had ties with her. But I no longer cared. If there was one thing I hated more than humans, it was how I despised male humans. The incredibly annoying, decidedly unintelligent gender was at its worst when it came to mortals. Being inebriated fools that spent their time chasing skirts and killing each other, I truly wondered what on earth their female counterparts could possibly see in them.

And now I had to save my brainless cousin Castox who yet again was getting his rear end handed to him, which made me realize that male elves were not much better off than humans. For all his powers of inciting loyalty and his vampiric ability to kill a man with one hand, he was often shockingly idiotic. Spying on the king’s family in their own castle? A bloodless removal from this situation was probably impossible- and I would have to save his human servant too, or I’d never hear the end of it. I made a mental note to maim him later on as Nayeli snatched the paper from my hand and quite purposefully burned it in one of the lanterns, letting the blackened ashes flutter to the floor. Then she rounded on us, her once icy eyes now bulging and blazing with rage.

“Bring those cowering lizards,” she announced, clearly aiming to insult me as I had her. “They did nothing but hide during the last war… And your cousin has done one of the most punishable crimes in this kingdom. He will be my prisoner and no dragon Rider or elf will sway my choice. You are within my kingdom and my home.” She snapped her fingers, and several Broddring foot soldiers approached. “And… if one dares to escape, your heads will be the first to leave the shoulders.”

I raised an eyebrow. I was sure that if a Rider were here, there would be hell and more to pay for Nayeli’s words. But I was merely a Ward, a child that was to be guarded by the dragons until I properly came of age. I held no real ties to them. And considering my alternative was a small shack in the middle of a cold wilderness that I had once shared with my mother, I was perfectly fine with this arrangement- currently, at least. But now, I had to focus on Nayeli, who was clearly furious from my insults and therefore weak. I always sought to irritate opponents of choleric temper, and never fell for their taunts. As the soldiers surrounded me, my cousin, and the human servant, I could see that talking was no longer an option. I reached for my black pool of magic as Anck chuckled.

“This scene won’t play,” she said, rolling her shoulders back with renewed confidence, and slipping a hand into a pocket. “We’re choosing freedom over subjugation.”
The Gael who’d arrested Anck Seh Namun and Castox stepped forward. “I think not-”
“Nagal, gera spjór.”

I raised my right hand as I spoke those three little words, pointing at the blonde soldier. The glove split and ripped as my nails, fuelled by my magic, rapidly extended until they were several feet long. As soon as they were at full length, they were embedded deeply in the belly of the bodyguard, the flesh of which had very briefly been exposed as he reached for his weapon. There was a squish and a crack as I pierced him with my fingernail spears and ran him through. His face went pale as he gawked down at his newly acquired wound. A single stream of blood trickled down the side of his mouth, followed by a groan of pain as I retracted the spears. After another moment of silence, he bellowed in Gaelic- probably ordering an attack. I bowed to Nayeli.

“Do not judge me too harshly for the murder of your soldier, milady.”
“Let’s see,” Anck mused as soldiers began to surround her. “There’s one- two- three- four- five- six- seven- eight- nine- ten… of you… and one of me. Oh my, I…” Her grey eyes became huge, and she began to cry quite convincingly as she removed a kerchief from her pocket. “What’s a poor girl to do?” Then, raising the kerchief to her face, she blew into it- and promptly disappeared into a purple smokescreen.
“HA!” shouted Castox, who’d up until then simply been gawking in horror and awe at the two of us. “See that? You don’t screw with the Venalis-”

---

I broke off with a cry of surprise as Laioni pushed me with surprising force into Anck’s smokescreen, and out of sight of the sadistic countess and her cronies. It wasn’t much better, though- already being very confused at everything that had just happened, I quickly lost my orientation among the swirling, eye-stinging purple clouds. Laioni was beside me a moment later, however, her freakish fingernail spears dripping with the guard’s blood, and she continued to shove me until we were up against a wall. She quickly tugged a curtain over us just as the swirling clouds broke apart and disappeared into thin air. One of these days, I decided, Anck was going to have to show me those stage tricks of hers. They were almost as good as real magic, and just as handy.

“Pay heed to me now, dear cousin,” hissed Laioni. “I have worthwhile business that must be attended to, so I will not be here to save you and the human again.”
“Ah-ah-ah,” I snapped as she started to leave. “Enough chatting, Laioni. Enough fun. What ‘business’?”
She smiled one of those smiles that always made me think she was a psychopath. “A mission from the Riders. That is all you need to know.”
“Uh-huh.”
“If I told you more, I would have to tear out your vocal chords. What fun!”
“… You are such a freak.”
“And you are a fool who spends too much time on his hair. Now begone.”

She slipped out of the curtain and managed to disappear among the milling crowd as her nails returned to their original, much less disturbing, size. That left me to find Anck. I stepped cautiously out from the curtain, and was nearly run over by a pack of soldiers as they fled in no apparent direction, weapons flailing. One thing I liked about this country was that the foot soldiers were volunteers, not heavily trained military- and therefore very easy to outsmart. As I stepped cautiously around a few guests, I felt a feminine hand grip mine and twist me around. I glanced down at Anck as she placed her hands on her hips, glaring up at me with a severely unimpressed gaze. I snickered and shrugged, coming up to take her arm again. She slapped me across the face instead.

I hissed and rubbed my cheek. “Don’t do that again.”
“Sorry, boss-man.” Her tone suggested that she wasn’t sorry in the least.
“CAPTAIN! I see them!”
I snatched Anck’s arm. “Time to go, minion.”

We raced up one of the many stairwells leading to the myriad of balconies circling the ballroom. Picked at random, and only very dimly lit, the thought of what might be waiting for us at the top was somewhat disconcerting. Anck kept good speed beside me, and her expression was still a death glare. She was angry with me, then. Well, I’d survive it. As we reached the balcony, my worries got worse when I heard several pairs of feet thundering up the stairs after us. I grabbed Anck and tugged her underneath the shadows of one of the lanterns, and waited. I was surprised to see that instead of humans, however, four elves were bolting up the stairs instead. They passed by us without even a glance in our direction. Curious, I decided to peer up over the landing stairs.

Besides the four elves that had just approached, there were six people there- three human girls, all of which were the classic floozies that were usually seen at balls- noble hunters looking for power. One had fallen over, and her friends were scurrying to help her up. A tanned man in his middle years with a wiry build stood above them, chastising with quiet anger. Watching him was an attractive elf woman with ash-blonde hair in a knot. She was garbed in military cloth, and armed with a thin sword. The four elves had surrounded her like guard dogs. Watching her was a very tall man with wings that was standing on the banister. Briefly forgetting about the impending danger of Nayeli Richards and her men, I took a moment to gawk at the utterly ridiculous sight.

“My apologies for bursting in, General; I came to look at what they are waving at and thought that she was out of line. I’m sure you could have handled it, but I felt the need to educate.” The man stood at attention before the elf.
“Not at all, General Valaician,” said the blonde woman. She had a deep voice, probably handy for yelling at soldiers. “You handled the situation well.”
“Why good day, madam,” said the winged man. “May I ask what your name is fair beauty perhaps? My name’s Frankus Von Lichtenstein, and I would be happy to escort you to the dance floor if you would only allow me.”
The woman stared at him for a long moment. I could only see her profile, but it was clear that she was feeling as indignant as Anck. Then one of her guards spoke up.
“She’s Myaja Kolbjorn!” he mewled. “She’s here as military, not for dancing with people like you.”
“Relas.” The word was accompanied by a vicious death glare.
“Sorry, sir.”
“I… think that this is more of your department than mine,” said the man, Valaician. “I’ll stay out of your way, but just ask if you need some assistance.”
Turning back to the man on the railing, Kolbjorn spoke directly to him. “I want to know what you were doing on the chandelier, Frankus Von Lichtenstein. General Valaician and I are concerned for the safety of the guests.”

At that moment, the lights went dim again, exactly as they had after the earthquake. But instead of a public announcement by the scantily clad hostess, a loud gong began to sound from one of the balconies, which I couldn’t see at all from where I was squatting in the dark. All chatter in the ballroom came to a stop. Then it came up again, louder, and I realized that it was dinnertime. I ducked farther in as the three girls that the male general had reprimanded scurried downstairs, crying and whining about what their fathers were going to say. Then I looked up at the elves, the human, and the winged creature. Myaja Kolbjorn peered over the railing for a few moments before turning sharply, looking at each one of her soldiers, and then at Valaician and Von Lichtenstein.

“It appears that we have to leave. Von Lichtenstein, I and my guards will escort you to the banquet hall. General, would you like to accompany us?”
I grinned at Anck. She stared at me.
“You’re insane, ‘Tox.”
“It’s not insanity, baby. Just good ol’ avarice.”

---

After the fairy queen shoved me into the field of flowers, Nyx thought it would be a good idea to take a very long stick and begin poking me with it. Oddly, I didn’t mind the attention. It was soothing, for a pointy, sharp thing. Once Nyx had had His fun, He put away the stick and went back to his meadow. Something told me that Nyx was not supposed to be a man, but again, all these strange inconsistencies didn’t bother me. As He returned to His meadow, I got to my feet and chased after. I still wanted that pony more than anything. I had told Him my name; I had performed the rites exactly as instructed, and now I wanted my flying small horse. Daydreams of pixies and unicorns danced in my head, and mystical wedding bells in the distance made me weep for joy.

“Well, Kieran, you’ve certainly upheld your end of the bargain.” Nyx did something incredible and positively magical as a pony appeared in His hands. “Here you are, sir. One pony, ready for anything.”
I took the small creature in my hands. “It’s a pony… and it’s moving back and forth and back and forth… it’s moving…” I looked up at Nyx, positively thrilled. “It’s a real live pony! I love you, Nyx, I…”
“Kieran.”
“Eh?”

The thing had the voice of the fairy queen, but all I saw was a shining pale yellow thing with a blue outline. It struck me that the thing had to be a talking lamp. I gazed at the lamp as it approached, and felt my head being tipped far, far back. Then hot liquid was poured down my throat. I squawked, choked, and coughed as it forced its way down, and then I was released. Everything began spinning, and I stumbled backwards, desperately wanting to sit down. I clung to my pony as the world finally came to a slow halt, and I saw my sister peering down at me with a familiar look of disgust. Then she raised her head and walked away, leaving me with a burning taste in my mouth. Slowly, the world began to become more focussed, and the pixies and meadows disappeared.

And then I was shoved into the crush of people trying to get into the banquet hall. I gave a half-hearted wave at Nyx before He disappeared among the milling guests, and saw Myaja disappear as well behind the bobbing heads. I dimly realized that we were being moved to another room for some reason, so I allowed myself to be swept along by the crowd. As the insane fantasies of my imagination were replaced with more mundane objects and people, I noticed that I was drunk- and didn’t particularly mind. Instead, I giggled quietly to myself as the guests vacated the ballroom and I found myself in a new room- this one even more beautiful and ornately decorated than the first.

Whereas the ballroom was sculpted with marble and crystal, this one was lapis lazuli and limestone. It was a colossal room, heated by two fireplaces at each end that were so large, entire trees burned in their furnaces. The stark white floor was so polished, I could see a blurry reflection of myself, and everything was lit by magical white flames. But the massive polished oak table that filled the entirety of the room was what drew my attention. Honeyed apples, fragrant stews, all kinds of roasts in various blood sauces, and every variety of fish and fowl I could think of. Crystal and gold flagons of wine were at our seats. As tantalizing as the aromas were, I remembered Myaja’s words- and realized that amid the spices and flavours, poison would be all but undetectable.

But the guests seemed to realize it too; I saw as they all began to take their seats. Both elves and humans hesitated at the grandness of the meal before them, as if they were platters of live insects rather than the expertly prepared meals that sat there. Seeing Myaja moving towards the head of the table, I picked a random seat across and a few seats down from her. She sat at Malandra Ramakrishna’s right side, as one of the three most important guests- Edan Valaician and Nayeli Richards being the other two. Malandra greeted her graciously, but I couldn’t hear the words from where I sat, while Myaja gave her an icy glare. It took several minutes for all of the guests to seat themselves, and once they had, Malandra stood up, proudly flaunting her body.

“Dearest guests, I ‘ope you will all enjoy ze meal our diligent slaves ‘ave prepared. But before eating, we will first give our prayers to Nyx, oui?”

She folded her hands over her chest and closed her eyes. Every guest immediately stumbled to their feet and followed her motions. Once chairs stopped scraping and clothes stopped rustling, Malandra began to sing. Normally chants were recited by followers of Nyx before a meal, but at the time of Her rebirth, prayers were sung in a very old tongue, the tongue that had preceded the ancient language, and was probably spoken by the Grey Folk. It was strange; seemingly wordless, but Malandra, though she did not have the most beautiful voice, sang it well. Several other voices joined in, but not all. The lilting tune lasted for about a minute, rising to a crescendo before dropping into silence. Once it was done, Malandra opened her eyes and smiled.

“Eat as much as you desire, my lords and ladies. Tonight is a holy night.”

Character(s) Used;; Laioni turned her fingernails into spears and stabbed Sean MacLaren before escaping Nayeli Richards with help from Anck Seh Namun, who got away with a smokescreen. Tox got dragged into it too, and they ran and hid while watching the confrontation between Myaja Kolbjorn and Edan Valaician and Leviathan Nikael, and observed the gongs announcing that ALL GUESTS NEED TO GO TO THE BANQUET HALL. Kieran Kolbjorn accepted a pony from Niko Danta before getting partially un-drunk with help from his sister Myaja, and then moved to the banquet hall, where Malandra Ramakrishna sang a prayer and briefly spoke to all the guests assembled.
Words;; 2900
Muse;; Beyond bad up until I started describing the banquet hall. Then it was beautiful!
Thoughts;; Hate everything but the end, which I LOVE.

[Kite]

*Clarus smirks at Artemis as she speaks about how shes been patient and refuses to comprehend what Clarus had just explained to her. He speaks as she tries to throw a little jab, his amusement ringing clearly in his voice.*

You couldn't kill her if you tried with me around, and I'm always around. Which is why you were learning from me, not I you. I gain nothing from you, and you gain everything from me in this arrangement. No skin off my nose, deary. Go screw your life away, I'll sit on the sideline and laugh.

*He turns to Samar as Artemis walks away with the soldiers and smiles at her happily.*

Well, my dear Samar, looks like we'll not have to deal with her again. Cause for celebration I think, don't you?

*He hears, as well as feels, the gong announcing dinner and holds his arm out to her. She takes it and he leads them into the dining room, the jewels and decorations just impressive as all get out, and he leads her to the giant table sitting, and technically stealing, in seats that are a little out of the way, but still within sight of the top of the table with all of the important people. As Ramakrishna stands to pray, Clarus does as well, and lowers his head. Her singing ensues, and he tunes it out mostly, then sits as the woman invites us to eat our fill, starting to fill his plate and cup.*

(Clarus speaks at Artemis, then moves to the dining table and sits with Samar, stealing some poor noobs chairs.)

---

*Edan smiles as the Elven soldier with Myaja freaks out as the idiotic, probably smashed, being asks her to dance, and Myaja has a reaction of a threatening gaze that would match any general's in history. He'd felt a gaze like that a few times, but not many, which is probably why he has this job now. She speaks to the guest calmly but directly, however he never hears the answer as the gong announcing dinner sounds once, and then twice, shaking the entire room and surprising many of its guests. She then announces that she and her soldiers would be escorting the being to the banquet room, and she turns to him then and inquires if he would like to join them. He nods to her and smiles a little wider.*

I would indeed, General. Thank you for asking.

*He steps up to the group and then speaks politely to the being on the chandelier.*

Von Lichtenstein, is it? Shall we begin to head towards the banquet hall then?

*A slight amount of time later, once they enter the banquet hall, Edan nods slightly to Myaja and leaves the group, heading towards the head of the table, sitting next to Malandra as he had been instructed and smiles at his lovely wife. As Malandra raises to begin prayers, Edan and his wife stand and bow their heads, joining in softly as she sings her prayer. At the end, Malandra invites all to eat and drink their fill, and Edan begins to fill his plate and cup along with his wife, and waits to be adressed by any of those around him.*

(Edan interacts with Myaja and Levi, and then time jumps to the banquet hall and prays with all of them, beginning to eat with his wife and await interaction.)

((Sorry about the "A small time later", as I know not if Levi is actually going to follow them or if he is going to be doing something weird, so I time skipped after he interacts with him to the banquet hall and resume the post as he peels off from the group.))

[pterodactyl]

i should blame you for the falling rain
i should blame you for my constant pain
i should be there to remind you every day
i should walk you through the halls of my own fate
i should let you taste the tears that fell in hate
i should be there to remind you every day
i should...

Dane blanched as he realized that he had, quite accidentally, highly offended his dance partner. The ebony-haired woman uttered a few words Dane recognized as being of the ancient tongue, but he didn't know what they meant. He could guess, however, that they pertained to him and weren't very nice. Laioni's slap stung, reminding the Paladin yet again how much more formidable elves were as compared to humans. Tha's why we can't ever coexist peacefully, he grouched to himself.

She stalked off in a huff, and she was barely all the way gone when Malandra pounced on her wayward Paladin. “What are you doing? ’Ave you forgotten what you ‘ave sworn to me? Get up! And make yourself useful." Of course she had to see that, Dane thought, clamping his mouth shut with a Herculean effort. She had him, as much as he hated to admit it. “Do not forget zat both of your sons rely on tonight being successful." The thought of his sons cleared some of the fog, allowing the blue-clad man to focus on Malandra's orders and get back to his task.

His cover was now partially blown. A drunken noble wouldn't arouse suspicion, since there were perhaps a hundred of them here. A drunken noble getting yelled at by Malandra Ramakrishna herself and then escorting a guest out with some Gael would stick out in a crowd. Thanks, Malandra, Gunnarsson mused sardonically, moving in on his and the Gael's target. He conveniently omitted the fact that he'd been lacking in his execution of his duties with that little incident there; if he was fully obedient to the Hand, what was left of himself?

The small elf-woman, their target, was throwing a fit. Swooning around trying to avoid capture and ejection from a party was definitely not Dane's style. However, he was loathe to draw his sword and use its point to get rid of her. The Paladin felt more clear-headed by the second, as having a purpose took over. He was still slightly shaky, but the reeling around had stopped and his vision was clearing up. Glancing at the Gael guard next to him, Dane wondered what to do with her. He was not getting farther on Malandra's bad side, so she would have to go somehow.

Hopefully the woman would go away quietly and quickly, for there was the dinner gong, sounding throughout the hall with a ringing voice like an ancient dragon. Dane's stomach rumbled, partially with a sick feeling from the alcohol and partially from hunger. With every passing second, he felt his head clear more and more, although he was still a bit shaky.

{ muse crap. }
{ notes }
{ tags dane: gets yelled at by malandra and slapped by laioni. then goes with brian to go get rid of artemis, who is doing some quite undignified things to try to avoid them. }
{ listening to dream theater! }
{ words 431 }

[phrostphyre]

((OOC: NOTE: From now on, since I don’t trust Google Translator, all Gaelic conversations will be spoken like normal conversations, save bolded and in italics. IN ALL THREADS I AM IN! Also note, Sean speaking is Yellow, Brian is black. Where a surname is actually Gaelic, I have rendered it into the original meaning, which is of “John, son of John, son of John, son of John.))

Sean felt the fingernails enter his stomach quite clearly. An intense moment of pain, then only fire in his belly as they stayed stuck, and then withdrew. He looked down at them as they were still lodged. Yep, his original impression was correct: Fingernails. This wasn’t good, he told himself. Sean had been injured in the line of duty, yes, but he had had no chance to move against his now clearly defined enemy. This however, was about to change. Looking back up, Sean noticed a look of enjoyment upon the woman’s face. Oh. A sadistic one. Just my luck. Blood dribbled out of his mouth like drool. Sean felt a moment of embarrassment as it ran down the side of his mouth, but then he spoke in Gaelic and loudly after the woman withdrew her nail-spears and the former prisoners escaped.
”Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. Let them get away for now. They need to stay for whatever reason, so pretend not to notice them. Act normal. Outraged, yes, and carefully scrutinizing everyone. But count them out about thirty seconds after you see them.”[/i][/color]
”As you command, Sean, son of Sviod, son of Lawrence! I’ll have a man stay here with you, in case he is needed to take over your duties of guard for the Most Royal Family, and the Rightful Queen Nayeli.”[/i] Sean nodded his acceptance, then placed a hand over the wounds, covering them with it. Blood seeped from around his fingers, staining his armor and his hand. The blood was startlingly red against the steel mail and pale white of Sean’s hand. He coughed, and more blood trickled from his mouth. Sean staggered back a step, then stood straight up and replaced the seax he had unconsciously drawn. He stepped forward onto the dance floor, where his height, slowly bleeding torso, and pale face cleared him a path. Sean tapped Leilani’s shoulder after a dance ended. ”Milady…this area is not secure. Please come…..with me… I cannot accomplish my duty to the Royal Family if you are on the dance floor, with a man unknown to me. You have my ….word of honor that I… shall dance several dances with you at a later date, to make up for this.” Sean’s face grew even paler as he spoke, and he paused several times to cough blood onto his already bloody hand. The man Leilani had been dancing with made to speak and stop Sean, but Sean, having had enough of these damned civilians running roughshod over him, lashed out with his bloody fist, hitting him in the face and sending the man reeling. As the man came back up to fight, Sean tried to punch with his other hand, trying to land a blow to the body, but pain, rage, and concern with his imminent death threw his aim off enough to make Sean miss completely. Sean felt the broken rib in his side enter a lung. Gasping for breath, he settled into the classic boxer’s stance, directly in front of Leilani, blood trickling from his stab wounds and dripping from his mouth. The pain in his torso intensifying, Sean knew he had to get Leilani to the safety of a wall of steel and muscle, made of Savage Faithful, or this would be for naught. Taking a chance, he shouted in Gaelic, loud enough to be heard by the Gaels, but not loud enough to cause worry in any but the nearest guests. ”Quickly, come take The Rightful Heir to the Throne away from here! I will distract the civilian![/i][/b] A mass of tartan clad, bearded men descended upon them, leaving two with Sean and at least thirty-eight with Leilani, hustling her towards the dais upon which the thrones sat. The two settled back, and watched.

~~**~~**~~
Brian grew angry at the stupid elf that didn’t smell right in the purple dress. He followed her through the crowd to where the Richards’ were sitting. Brian waited for about ten seconds after she began her cry-baby routine. ”That’s enough of that, woman. You didn’t arrive with the man, you only danced three dances, and besides, your purple dress doesn’t go with his suit. Now, you have two minutes to explain exactly why I shouldn’t eject you. And it better be damned good, woman.” Brian smiled slightly, then moved his left hand to the sheath of his sword and push the hilt up, just slightly, loosening it in its sheath and preparing for anything. As they left, Brian kept glancing at the food. He wanted some very badly, however, thirty more feet and this woman would be gone! The thirty feet passed by slowly, but finally they were over. He grinned and went to the dining hall, shifting from foot to foot behind a random civilian while the Hostess sung a prayer. Once it was all over, Brian eyed the food. Time to eat after the guests left, and there would a bloody lot of food left over.





BRIAN interacted with ARTEMIS by CHALLENGING her to explain why he should let her stay. SEAN interacted with LAIONI by being STABBED. SEAN interacted with LEILANI by being WORRIED. SEAN interacted with DAREK by being PISSED and punching him in the jaw, then MISSING THE SECOND PUNCH and settling into THE BOXER’S STANCE.

They (SEAN AND BRIAN) also automatically follow LEILANI and NAYELI when they go to the Banquet Hall to FEAST!

[dantieduurden]

Leviathan looked first at Myaja who was smart enough to notice he had moved compared to the stupid human who was still talking to a chandelier. " I never said she was here for dance and play soldier. Don't worry I do not bite...much." Leviathan grinned as Myaja asked him to join them at the dinner table. " I would love to, but I fear that I may not be as welcome as the rest off you. " Leviathan said as the gong bean to play. " So goodbye." Leviathan said and in a poof of smoke he shimmered out of the ball, not wanting to be under the eye of everyone.

Artemis watched the scene unfold around her. The blood being split and the soldiers around Tox asking her now. " I do not need any reason to stay now." Artemis said with a grin as she turned around to the guards waiting to escort her out. " I am ready when you are." She said bowing to both in turn before waiting for them to escort her out.

Darek was happily dancing with the lady of the house when he felt the weight of what seemed to be a hammer hit him square in the face. With the smell of blood in the air Darek looked at his attacker and his teeth grew to ther5e full length as the man named Sean took her away from him. Darek could feel the man's pulse and with it his animal side awoke. " You know human, its never a smart idea to attack someone who is on your side. You would have been better of not hitting and just leaving with her, that I could have left your bloody form alone for. But now I think you just became my snack." Darek said as his wings unfurled and his eyes turned into them of a panther. It was very clear the scholar was gone and that the dangerous warrior who trained those in Ilirea was now among those in the dining hall. But as the coward called for the rest of the savage faithful Darek smiled and said " They shall not be able to help you." And with that he tore off a chunk of Seans chest piece and sunk his teeth into the wound that was gushing blood. Enjoying the taste and the sensation it brought to him. It had been to long since he had fed on human blood he decided as he kept his eyes on the guards around him and Sean, only half of his mind was there.





The blood had Darek in a daze, he could vaguely see people crowding around him and Sean on the floor. It was not till his acute sense heard Lady Leiani calling to him. It was her voice that broke thought the blood frenzy going through his mind, and slowly his mind returned to normal. " I'm sorry." Darek said as he grabbed a handkerchief he kept just for this occasion out of his poket and cleaned his mouth. But as he did so Sean lunged his dirk at him and to make sure Leiani did not get hurt from him moving he moved so his body made a solid shield in front of her body, while his wings made a soft layer of protection from behind her, wrapping around her body in a cocoon around her. The dirk pierced his stomach just as he had made sure it would so it would not be able to hurt her.

With a small smile Darek looked down at the dirk and pulled it the rest of the way through his body with a grimace. His form shifted for a few seconds to his more monstrous form but he quickly grabbed back his control as the wound slowly closed. " I believe I owe you a thank you." Darek said with a bow of his head as he let his wings unfurl from around her. One of his hands was one a bloody patch on his shirt, while the other held the dirk that had stabbed him. It was clear that the animal inside wanted to strike back at the man who had injured him, and the elf wished to put him out of his misery, but it would hurt Leilani, the one person stopping the whole castle from attacking him. Slowly he regained his composer and holding his hand out to her asked, " Shall we go eat together. It seems that if I stay here much longer you will either have to have me turn your guard or he will be dead Dare said as he rose with her hand in his. When she rose up to her feet Darek began to walk her to the dinning room. Once there he pulled out her seat for her to sit down and then pushed it in for her. He then repeated the action for her adopted daughter, greeting her with a friendly smile and greeting. " Why don't you look gorgeous tonight." Darek said as he slide her chair in that was right on the side of Leilani. " And where would the lady I owe my life to like me to sit?" Darek then asked Leilani waiting patiently for her answer.

All charris left besides darek who is feeding on Sean, and trying to not be killed by anyone