Ceremonious Dormont

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A week after Astor sent out a mass voice mail and letters thanking all of the people who had given away their wealth to help with the rebuilding of Dormont, another mass message was sent out. This time, it was from someone named Cessia.

Mail

Greetings, lord and ladies of Astorea,

If you aren’t familiar with the culture of this land, there are specific procedures for what a monarch is supposed to do when they ascend to a position of power and receive help from those around them. While you may see it as archaic and unnecessary in your land, I would argue its importance in this land. By engaging in ceremonies, Astorea demonstrate its regard for tradition, which would very well serve it in the realm of international relation at a later time.

As such, with the blessing of his grace, I would like to invite everyone to a gathering at Castle Dormont this Friday. The invitation is open to all people, not just those who had donated in the rebuilding project.

Allow me to extend my apologies that his grace could not write the letter himself as he is presently ravaged by an insidious cold. There will be food and entertainment for all those who shows up. The King himself will make a pact with anyone who is willing to become his vassal.

From: Cessia

If you chose to show up to the event, you are greeted by the sight of a budding festival lining up the side of the road leading up to the massive castle residing on the hill. The atmosphere of the Yladians seemed uplifted as they celebrated the ongoing reconstruction and expansion of Castle Dormont to a full-sized city. You were certainly witnessing history in the making, as the once downtrodden and dirty refugee camps are starting to be replaced with the frameworks of actual buildings. As the letter had suggested, everyone was invited. Not only do you see Yladian merchants selling their exotic wares and food, traders from Falderen and members from the Guild showed up as well.

Once you arrive at the lone keep, you are immediately hit with the sight of scaffolding all over its ruined body. In the few weeks that you might have been away, over half of the castle has been reconstructed already. From what you could make out, the architecture and purposeful “spacing” seemed to be made very particularly, most likely per the Astor’s preferences. Although the interior was rough, the entire first and second floor had a roof now, shielding the inside from the natural elementals.

It took a long walk up a massive set to stairs and some weaving through a corridor before you arrive at your destination, the throne room. There, you see a petite young woman with dark hair and spectacles. At a glance she was adorned in a regal blue outfit, which was accented with gold rim. She was standing next to the massive doors barring entry into the inner sanctum, there was a stark contrast in size between the woman and the doors. When she noticed your presence, she greeted you with a very soft voice that would likely catch you off-guard. She said,

Cessia

Welcome, I am Cessia, Astorea’s all-in-one advisor appointed by the King himself. Please make your way into the throne room and enjoy the provided food and refreshment. Feel free to socialize with the other lords and ladies until we’re ready with the vassalship ceremony.

Also, I’d advise against interacting with his grace until the appointed time, he is sick and very cranky, it seems…

And so the doors opened for you as you take your fist step into what will become the center of Astorea, the first of its kind, a nation for players…

Locations

Outside - There are many activities outside of the castle. The Yladian are celebrating and there are many items being sold in the open, street-side vendors, as well as services and entertainment being provided. The Guild representatives are also here, recruiting potential traders who want to make it big in the commerce world.

Castle - The inside of the castle is sparse while the reconstruction is going on, you can wander anywhere you’d like, though watch out for all the hazard that could fall down at any given moment. It seemed most of the builders and artisans have been dismissed for the day.

Throne Room - This is where the King currently resides while the important people are showing up for a ceremony. The chamber seems to be very properly put together unlike anywhere else. There were also chairs and tables in one corner, where food and refreshments can be had.

Underground - This was where a World Quest to exterminate all of the Vampire Wurms nesting beneath the castle happened (link). You can go here if you wish, though no one but a few guards and engineers could be seen exploring the eerie tunnels.

Instructions

• This is the continuation of (Event) Rebuilding Dormont
• The thread is open to all players regardless of donation in the thread above.
• There is no posting order. Also, you may exit the thread at any time.
• Tag those you want to address using @Username.

Hidden: Patronage

Patronage

11000 / 7000g

@Astor Balthas 2720g
@Seto Kurama 2600g Gold + Materials
@Amane Hirota 1000g
@Alonso Thorlion 700g Materials
@Alice 500g Gold + Materials
@Ilusa Nakhalee 500g Materials
@Kyupin Felnya 500g Materials
@Roland Rutledge 500g Materials
@Alphabet Chocolate 500g
@Gwyn ap Herne 450g
@Solaria 380g
@Harveste 250g
@Ashiore Evretto 200g Materials
@Ruh Murad 100g
@Ursa 100g​

Hidden: Template

Code:

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Zone Outside

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She didn't want to head in just yet. After the successful (but disastrous) move of the Yladians to Astoeran lands, she'd had little chance to really see them smile. But here they were. Laughing and grinning, shouting about their brilliant wares and sharing their, occasionally raunchy, jokes. It warmed her heart, to see them and their homes finally being realized.

She had meetings to handle with the King later on. Figuring out the use of her donations, if land could be spared for her future plans, and so on so forth. The small Felis was nervous about it, truth be told. While she'd seen Astor at the fight against Azog, he'd seemed... untouchable. He was just another player, but at the same time, so much more than that. He'd made something out of himself in TerraSphere. He had an aura of power and the strength of his magic to back it up. She doubted she would ever even begin to compare to somebody like that. She didn't want to compare herself to that.

There would be time to worry about that later. Shoving aside the thoughts, she twirled around with an elven child, laughing along to their giggles. Right now, she just wanted to be happy for them.

 

Zone Throne Room

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It had been a week since he had received a letter from Astor's advisor, Cessia whom he had seen at the castle due to the task he had been given recently. His letter was comprised of her words thanking him in the reconstruction efforts of Dormont and invited him as well as the others who helped in the reconstruction efforts to a ceremony in honour of those who aideded and rejoice of Dormon'ts bright new future. The last part he had knew, It was probably obivous to anyone that knew him that he was going to become a vassal of the King and the kingdom so he could rebuild his house, this is what he had been working hard on for all these months,maneuvering around the courts of the nobles in hopes of getting what he needed.

Unlike the majority of the Patrons who donated in the effort, he had already found himself in Dormont for the last week due to a task given to him by the King himself involving slaying some powerful monsters, therfor he had already been the castle by the time the invitations were sent out. By the time of his return to the Castle, he had decided to stay in castle town and help the best he could as well as train himself for the future duties his title would require of him. On the day of the ceremony, Seto hadn't even stepped one step outside to see the festival in all his glory, having no interest in such things, his studies and preparation were far more important than having fun like the masses would flock to the ceremony. Donning his ebony armor and cape, he closed the door to the room he was in before walking down a series of reconstructed corridors and down a flight of stairs until he eventually found himself in the throne room with a familiar face wearomg a blue outfit. "Good day Lady Cessia, I Imagine everything is on schedule, yes?"

They would probably exchange conversation before going their own way's since he knew Cessia was a busy person. "I bid you farewell Lady Cessia, undoubtly we will speak again at a later date." Waving goodbye, he stepped away from Cessia after there conversation if they even had one so she could return to her duties, his eyes scanned the room, picking up many powerful Yladian and Falderen merchants and some officals from the Guild as well, there were also a few nobles he had recongized from his travels. Seeing a noble had worked for as a Chief Retainer for a time, he walked upto the lady and made his presence known to know and to give her a friendly welcome, or at least the friendlist one he could give to a noble. "Lady Ruvelia, it has been some time I have seen you last, Welcome to Dormont, today you be witnessing the rebirth of a kingdom, am glad you could make it today."​

 

Zone Outside

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It seemed like lots of merchants and traders had come to represent their various businesses and magnates at the festival outside of Castle Dormont, which was allegedly run by those mysterious adventurers that had gone and slain the Fire Prince, Azog. Temperance had helped with that, yay! Of course she hadn't known who they were or what was going on at the time, but since being filled in, had come to have a sort of loose respect for them all. Except for that necromancer BITCH who needed a nice Chelsea Smile with the sharp side of a holy symbol.

But one bad egg in the bunch didn't mean they were all life-hating monsters bound to the pits of hell and madly binding the souls of the dead to decaying flesh so that neither could be at peace. She had to remember to be patience and forgiving of them, their ways being so different than her own, which was why she had come here... to the festival!

What better way to learn of what sorts of customs and cultures they had, or what kind of depraved nonsense they got up to, than to join their festivals, fairs, and possible courtyard orgies! That would be exciting if it weren't for how many kids had been in that volcano and subsequently might be here! But who was she to judge? The priestess of her god. That was who she was to judge. A priestess. So she scrunched up her face every now and then, looking for any signs of evil and wickedness in the people going about the festival, knowing that it would color her judgement of their kingdom and whether or not she'd offer her help in the future. There was too much to simply wander around and try to experience it all, however... too much to be able to try and see everyone. So she had a cunning plan, and convinced a few traders to build her a nice little booth.

It was shaded on her side with a velvet awning, and had a three stools on the public side so that people could sit and rest for a moment while speaking with her or making use of her stall's services. The sign they had quickly painted was simple but not ugly, a large white board with red lettering which read: "Temple of Holy Light Conversion Conversations and Kissing Booth." Lots of people were coming to it, stopping in to get a peck on the cheeks or lips, at her discretion, before they wandered off and she waved a cheerful goodbye. A small box with a slit in its top was slowly filling with gold. Tips, or tithes? Who could say... She just sat in the shade of her own little attractive attraction, waving to people she recognized, like @Kyupin Felnya.

 

Zone Outside

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The castle's vastness was amazing to ingest with her eyes, but Harveste wasn't there that day for just a normal research trip for her writing. No, like most days in the game, she was hoping to find friendship with flowers.

Considering the scenario of late, the girl had her own interests in mind for her day at the ceremony. Besides wanting to see what a king was like up close, she also merely wanted to show her gratitude for his hard work, in the form of flowers she began to grow with song in the courtyard. She grew enough to make a small bouquet, hoping it might, if nothing else, be a good gift to give later through help from an NPC.

Simply putting the bouquet into her inventory, she began to wander the grounds a bit more, a curious smile as she looked at what plants were growing around her. At some points, she stopped to meet guilds and tradesmen, some of whom asked her for some flowers to help their work. To her surprise, the small girl was becoming caught in a crowd without even being in a crowded spot...

"Er, I-I'm going inside now!" She'd said that, but she was stuck at the gate, staring quite awkwardly instead with her lips agape. "It's kind of scary going inside for the first time...Maybe I should've looked for an escort, or at least asked a friend to join me...Agh! I'm too nervous!" Her lips let out a sigh as she found her pointless anxiety becoming stronger. "Maybe this was a bad idea...But meeting a king is a once in a life time opportunity, and...The grounds are so nice, I really want a better picture for my next piece..."

Looking around the outdoors, she sighed little bit more. "With so many people around, you'd think I'd be able to calm down since no one's looking at me anymore."

 

Zone Outside

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There were many reasons one could decide upon why it’d be interesting to take part in the ceremony taking place. These were winds of change caused by people of unknown origin, the newcomers that had many feats under their belts already; They were the ones that managed to vanquish the bloodied queen, Arachna, despite her terrifying might being enough to reap away so many lives. Regardless of the negative views and their extraterrestrial behavior, they were the light at the end of tunnel for an entire race and their efforts even led to the dawn of a new kingdom. Truly an admirable bunch that deserved the festivities in progress!

Even amidst so many reasons why one would participate in this ceremony, however, Ursula had only one in mind; to explore the underground of the castle. Once a nest for wurms capable of wielding the despicable hemomancy magic, there were hopefully none left to get in the way of her cave raiding. Ursula’s reasoning was that mana more often than not messed up with the chemical composition of valuable materials, leading to some fairly unique stuff once in awhile. If something as rare and corrupted as hemomancy was the catalyst magic used to consume mana underground… Just what kind of ore could she find in those caves!? That’s not even taking in consideration any possible ruins! Every gold penny donated to their cause was worth it in the end!

With that said, the blacksmith with messy golden hair munched on a tasty and juicy apple from one of the many booths on the festive outside, impatient and excited to just go on her way underground and find all of her wonderful things… But she needed to be at least a little bit social. She was part of the Guild at the end of the day after all. Ursula poked the guild merchant behind the stall with her right elbow,

“The hell’s with that fruit price tho’, Mike? We ain’t here to steal away customers from the knife-ears!” Ursula whispered under her breath, sliding three gold coins to him. The merchant quickly picked the gold coins and apologized. “Be careful, ya get it? We still don’t know how stuff will end on the Astorea and Falderen thing. I’ll check on the caves now, so take care of yer butt.” She waved, quickly distancing herself from the fruit booth.

On her way to her destination, however, Ursula noticed a blonde Felis that caught her attention. She didn’t manage to get her name last time, and due to personal circumstances in reality Ursa couldn’t answer her inbox message, which she didn’t even know or remembered that existed to begin with. She approached @Kyupin Felnya with a wide grin on her face. Seeing the short Felis smile warmed her otherwise brute heart.

“Howdy, Kitty Missy! How are ya doin’?” Despite the smile on Kyupin’s face, she still wanted to make sure things were fine to a degree. “Been awhile since the whole thing we had to deal with! I never got the chance to get yer name. I’m Ursula. Ursula Goldsmith!” The blacksmith extended her hand to the felis for a handshake in hopes that Kyupin would remember of her.

 

Zone Outside

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Kyupin waved back at @Temperance, squinting at the booth the other was tucked behind. From the distance, it was hard to tell what was written on the bright white sign. The booth looked cozy enough - three seats, velvet covers... maybe she should go over?

Whatever plans she had in mind were quickly disrupted by a grinning blonde. "Oh!" she squeaked, turning her head away from the priestess to look at the other, "hello!" Though it had been a while since the encounter with Azog, she could recognize their voice as the one who had saved her. She nodded along, working through the accent to really understand what @Ursa was saying.

She put her hand in Ursula's, giving it a tentative shake. "Nice to see you again, Ursula," she said with a genuine smile. Without the threat of death looming over her or the horrible gut-wrenching sight of a friend leaping to her doom to numb her, it was easier to appreciate the people she had worked with to defeat the giant fire prince. "My name is Kyupin Felnya!" she chirped, taking her hand back and letting it hang at her side.

From behind her, there was a whine. Her trusty wolf companion, now reaching to her belly button, stepped out to her side.

"Oh! Vulcan, there you are!" she said. Though there wasn't any explicit scolding, you could see that there had been one in a silent exchange shared between animal and Felis. Kyupin looked back up to Ursula, gesturing to her furry companion. "This is Vulcan, my companion. He wasn't at the fight - I was scared he'd get hurt, y'know?" She gave the wolf a good scratching behind his ears, giggling at the dog-pout her friend gave her.

She cleared her throat. "But um, I guess you didn't get my message? I wanted to thank you for your help back there. At the temple. You saved me, and I'd been too... bleh to do anything. So now I wanna say thanks."

 

Zone Throne Room

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Dressing for the occasion was not something he was against in general. It was just the whole nature of his avatar, being a thick and muscular cat man. Alonso enjoyed his in game appearance just a little too well. Ugh, whatever. One day was not going to kill him. The worst part of this was waiting getting his tailor made formal wear completed. Finding someone to do it was not the issue, rather, he discovered just how detailed the tailors were piecing together something that fit the man's anatomy.

Regardless, the Felis was ready for this ceremony thing, his hand adjusting the collar area of his jerkin. Showing off the top part of his pectorals was not going to hurt anyone, since he was fully clothed otherwise. Just a taste of who was aligned with Astorea might cause a few people to change their minds regarding other plots and schemes. The residents of this world seemed more privy to being terrified of a hulking man than in reality. Aside from the top two buttons of the jerkin, which he left unhinged, the Felis made sure the rest of it was buttoned up proper. Walking and doing this was much easier when preparations were made beforehand.

Hell, at this point Alonso looked as though he was a proper member of the noble houses. His cuffs for the dress shirt underneath his jerkin were rolled up, allowing free movement of his wrists and hands. Just in case. Dress slacks tucked into a set of fine boots and held up by a polished belt complemented his attire. "They made this a bit tight still," he said, lowering his tone as to not bother any passerby. He gave a nod to a few guards stationed at vital intersections, one of whom hesitated upon seeing the wall of meat wandering the halls. Reasonable, since Alonso never did wander around the castle.

Entering the Throne Room, the view was as droll and overcompensating as predicated. Not to blame the king, of course, since castles tended to have a focus on appearances. So far there was nobody of note or recollection. Just a bunch of NPCs mulling about in typical, noble and high end fashion. Exceptions were there, such as Cessia who took the hefty responsibility of maintaining a smaller kingdom alongside her lord. Alonso gave the woman a brief nod upon eye contact, preferring to wander the room for a moment. His tail dragged a slight inch off the floor, swaying with each thud of the man's boots. If anything scuffed Alonso's outfit he was about two seconds from eradicating the cause outright.

An armored man caught his attention, younger than he by the looks of it, bearish eyes squinting to get a better look. @Seto Kurama or something like that. The Felis recognized the player from the combat with Azog, but that was about it. Not socializing was going to relieve Alonso of any stress caused by it, but on the other hand, not doing so might turn this whole event into an awkward mess. Better to at least try than stand around and twiddle his thumbs. Moving his well dressed self over to Seto, the man's sonorous tone revealed its presence, "I... recognize you from the raid on Azog previously. While we have not met or spoke with each other yet, so far you're the only other combatant from that issue that I've noticed here."

 

Zone Throne Room

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The doors to the throne room opened, guests entered and left at their will to take in the spectacles of the festival and the throne both. None seemed to linger particularly long in the halls of the castle, where the dangerous construction put on hold for the day threatened injury to those foolish enough to go sneaking about. This of course forced a sort of herding of guests through the safe passages of the castle, as they made their way to the throne to see Astor. All were warned by Cessia not to disturb him, however, and so few lingered for longer than a glance before going to find more fun things to distract themselves with.

One figure which did not retreat was clad in golden finery, from the rings and bracelets which adorned his fingers, toes, wrists and ankles, to the heavy mask of polished beauty which looked about the room, taking in the sights. His gaze moved from the throne to the snack tables, then locked on @Seto Kurama and @Alonso Thorlion who spoke together. Inspecting the two men for a moment, he made his way over and introduced himself.

Alligans

You gentlemen seem to be refined sorts. Lower class gentry if I had to guess. Not counts or barons... you seem too rugged for that. Nor are you merchant magnates, for you lack the posture of wealth and easy living. If I had to wager, you're both knights serving under King Astor the First. Please, permit me to engage in the time honored act of noblesse oblige, and converse with you both for a time. I am Lord Alligans, Earl of Gild.

Snapping his fingers, the rings of his fingers clinked and shone brilliantly in the light, and a servant approached with a tray of wine goblets. He took two from the tray and held them out for Seto and Alonso to take, then grabbed another for himself, shooing the servant away with a glance.

Tell me, does the King often have one of his courtiers stand at the entrance of his throne room and warn guests that he is both ill and choleric? It hardly seems like good diplomacy to inform others that are you indisposed or would rather mete than meet them. After all, Falderens are present, if I recognize the heraldry properly... and last I heard, you Astoreans were very much ill willed with the Falderens.

Making it public that your king is sick could cause all sorts of rumors, such as his fading health and sure demise, no matter how unfounded they be. And those rumors would scare off the merchants you've invited here, who would take their business elsewhere and cripple the growth of your kingdom. Or, an enterprising outsider could hear that he's sick and assume it's the perfect time for a strike, claiming your lands for themselves. In fact I recall you've been having issues with bandits, pirates, cultists, elves and demons over just those sorts of issues.

Could it be a trap to root out spies and assassins, do you think? A way to get his enemies to make a move? No... No, I wouldn't think so. After all, appearing weak so soon after defeating the Prince of Fire? It's a terrible move, politically. If your king had any brains beneath that crown, he'd have gotten an illumancer to mask his symptoms and appear to be the picture of perfect health. There's going to be some rather severe consequences for this willing display of weakness, don't you think?

Although the mask was incapable of smiling, the tone of voice from the man wearing it made it perfectly clear that he was amused by Astor's situation, and was not at all apologetic for his statements. All of which had been at conversational tone, rather than whispered, so that servants and other guests could hear if they paid close enough attention. He looked from Alonso to Seto, his posture smug and goading, but relaxed and confident.

 

Zone Throne Room

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It was hard for Seto to focus on Lady Ruvelia's words when he was attracted to her by the way she dressed and acted, quite a rare feat for a woman to do in most cases since Seto wasn't usually interested in such things. Still with her long locks of golden hair paired with her blue eyes, flawless skin and her purple yet simple victorian like dress only made it harder on him. As much as he was interested in continuing his conversation with such a woman, her continuous dripple about policies and minor eddicts bored him, he had no interest in such small things from faraway yet he couldn't her company without good reason, something he surely lacked. Thankfully he was rescued from his demise surely when the sudden shock of another voice he wasn't familiar but also alien as well to him forced him to turn around revealing a huge Felis at over six feet tall that was thick and muscled to the extreme from head to toe, If he wasn't dressed nicely, he may have taken him for a brute. Eventually looking at the Felis long eventually, his brain eventually reminded him that this Felis was indeed familiar! He remember seeing this monsterous man from the titanic battle that took place himself and other players agianst that monster or deamon named Azog, unfortunately the two didn't fight alongside each other, shoulder to shoulder like trust warriors do, he believed this Felis was in a different area until the final moments of the battle. He shooked his head slightly, he didn't want to think about those final moments, he was close to death and so were many other players, the thought of @Alia dying before him was too great for him to think of. Eradicating the thoughts from his mind, he raised his hand to the Felis after he spooke of recognizing him.

"Ahh yes, I do actually remember you from the final moments...of that titanic battle between us and Azog. It is an honour to meet another fellow warrior, I am Seto Kurama, a Fiend Knight of sorts I suppose, am often labled as much. What is your name? I'd rather not call you Felis If given the chance. I have met a few people from that battle but considering not even forty players survived that battle, it would prove difficult to find a survivor such as ourselves wouldn't it? As for here, I've had important duties to perform in the last few days so I haven't left the castle itself, There may be fellow survivors outside enjoying the merchant or the festival, I wouldn't know, maybe Lady Cessia does since she has been essentially running the show for this entire event."

His conversation with a fellow Azog survivor was cut brutally short when the two were approached by an older gentlemen clad in exquisitely crafted decorated armor, obivously suited for a noble of high ranking. His head pieace alone was rather unusual for it's design, making his mask like a sun with the actual head dress rays of sunlight coming off like it was to portray him as a avatar or a god of some sort but that wasn't the case obivously when he spoke to him and the Felis besides him. with such a noble of high status in his presence, Seto immediately bowed in respect for this noble infront of him before focusing all his attention to listen closely to the man as he begun to speak with them. He wasn't entirely wrong when the man thought of him and his fellow Felis were knights of the lowest tier of the nobility that served King Astor, of course it was a tad more complicated than that since the two technically didn't serve him but due to recent events, that would most likely change soon, very soon as in today. The name Alligans and his title, Earl of Gild rung bells into his mind, he remembered seeing his name in one of his study sessions but obivously he had never meet the man until today, somehow he was expecting a regular man like many of the nobles here, he must have been special in some regard, he assumed he find out shortly by simply listening to the Earl. He could say already that he already liked the Earl for knowing the concept of noblesse oblige, a concept where a person with such responsibility and privilege become generous while clinging to honor, integity and virtue, something many nobles lacked for a better term in this world.

"I am honoured to meet the fabled Earl of Gild, I am Seto Kurama, Fiend Knight at your service."

Bowing again, raising his back again after a moment to show respect again, Seto spoke genuinely in a serious tone just as the Earl snapped his fingers, creating some light which somehow in the end had a servant approached the Earl with a tray of goblets filled with wine and gave him and the Felis a goblet of wine for a drink. Seto wasn't really in the mood to drink at the moment but in the honor of the Earl, he accepted the drink netherless. It didn't take long for the Earl to begin the talk of politics to Seto and the Felis next to him. In the back of his mind he had wanted to escape, having just got out of political talk with a beautiful woman but here he was talking to another noble about politics, at least the Earl talked about the King himself which proved more interesting than the politics of another city state. He understoof the Earl from where he was coming from when he mentioned it wasn't exactly a great idea to host an event when yourself wasn't well enough to make the appearance but there wasn't anything he could about it, Astor was still new at being King of a realm, it would take for him to fully grasp the situation.

"My Earl, you must understand, King Astor the first is still...rather new to his position, I expect it will take some time for him to fully grasp his position and become fully accustomed to it. He wasn't born into royalty after all but you already knew that my lord."​

The Earl of Gild continued to speak ill of the King like many of the nobles had already but there was certainly truth to his words, he couldn't help but agree with the Earl on the many things he mentioned such as publically annoucing the King was ill which obivously would create rumors but he knew only that would happen since Astor was still new at being a noble. Seto sighed slightly when the Earl mentioned the many issues Dormont had with rogue bands of warriors as well as monsters and deamons in it's lands, he knew he would have his hands full when he would become a vassal, he was sure the King would order to eliminate these rebels and monsters in the area, he had just taken down a Troll and that requires a handiful of players to do! At this rate his house would need a small army to neutralize Dormont's many threats. The Earl mentioned that perhaps the King was acting to be sick to draw out his enemies that threatened his throne but somehow he doubted that theory heavily, sure the King was more than capable of doing something like that but he didn't believe he was of that type that would do something like that, now him on the other hand would do that gladily If it meant destroying a powerful enemy or to send a message to such threat. He nodded at the Earl before he spoke.

"I do not personally believe the King would play the act of being a sickly fool to get the attention of his enemies, I believe he is more of confrontal type, now it was me, it would be a very story indeed my Earl. If I could destroy a powerful enemy or send a powerful message using such a tactic, I would. There is more than one way to destroy your enemies than by the sword, am sure you could agree with that my lord. I unfortunately out of respect for his majesty and my honor, I can't agree or deny with you my Earl If he had the intelligence to seek a white magic user although I must say, I believe he has such a magic user in his pockets even though I haven't seen her since the fabled battle agianst Azog. I must stand by my statement that the King is new to the political courts my lord although am sure you can figure out my stance on these matters we have discussed.

Throughout his entire conversation with the Earl of Gild, he didn't hide his opinions on the matters he had spoke of to the Earl but he took no defense or offensive stance over the subject of the King. He was niether for or agianst the Crown at the moment, as far as he was concerned, as much as he had to prove himself in his new position as vassal to the crown, Astor himself would have to prove himself as king to the people of these lands as well as his vassals, If he did tht, Seto would be loyal but he would refuse to serve a weak ruler who didn't know to move along the courts of politics, he surely hope Astor would prove a great king to Dormon and all her people and most importantly, someone he could be honoured to serve unlike that witch he had served before.

@Snide @Alonso Thorlion

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Zone Outside

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Well, it seemed as though she had caught Kyupin's attention, only to have somebody immediately come by and steal the girl away from her. With a sigh and a huff Temperance sat in her booth, looking at all the strange people wandering around. Not a single one of them wearing a sexy bunny costume... what a weird culture they had, here in Astorea. But she was not here to judge their culture, so much as their character, and with squinting narrowed eyes she inspected the people that meandered about the festival.

A few stopped by her booth to flirt with her and try to creep a kiss or cop a feel, but she was more than prepared to deal with those sorts. What her own chipper disposition wasn't able to scare aware, talk of God and her love of God and her commitment to God always worked. Almost always worked... there were of course the sad and desperate who considered converting in order to have a chance at flirting her up in their own pathetic and pity-dependent ways. They were the trickiest to deal with, until she realized she could use their own social anxieties against them. A little spell cast under the table, out of sight, to give them an erection that absolutely WOULDN'T go down for the next six hours? To the sad and pathetic, it was a personal hell as their self-conscious minds panicked, taking them far and away from everyone else least their problem become... visible.

Not that any of them had had much to brag about, of course.

 

Zone Outside

​

Wow. So this was what was going on in Dormont, then. It's been a while since she had seen the place so occupied. All right, so she had only ever been to Dormont when it was under siege, so she didn't really have a fair point for comparison. But the entire place was looking festive and lively in a way she hadn't expected. There were carts and stands set up everywhere around the outside of the castle, and there was plenty of conversation and laughter wherever she looked.

There was probably some more official stuff happening inside, but she couldn't resist the urge to explore a bit. And besides, it wasn't as if she did very much to help. So it would be unlikely for her to be involved in any of the really important stuff, leaving her plenty of time to look around the area outside the castle.

It was good to see the place so lively. It wasn't all that long ago that Dormont looked utterly ruined--there was apparently something about explosive barrels? But it was looking much better now.

Looking about, she saw someone she was mildly familiar with. Not in a personal sense, but she had seen @Temperance briefly during the fight against Azog. Having another confirmation that someone had survived the volcanic battle was always good. Looked like she was manning one of the booths. Might as well stop by for a moment.

 

Ilusa had been very satisfied to hear that Astor got more than enough money and materials to rebuild and spread the capital of his Kingdom. Well, his and all other Players. To be quite honest, Ilusa was not most social creature in the game.. When it came to the Players at least. As such, her inbox was mostly empty. Thus the new message from unknown sender was a surprise.

But it allowed her to mark the Friday as important day and manoeuvre her daily tasks around to get more time to enjoy the grand gathering. It also made her spend the last days looking for something suitable to wear, which would not hurt her pockets.

Zone Outside

​

Thus, at Friday Ilusa was before the Castle, that was partially rebuilt, dressed in grey-slotted items. True, their statistics were all-time low, but it was not why she chose them. No, she chose them for their look. The outfit was one of the few she could afford, as it was a reward in return for helping a dressmaker. For all that it was a grey outfit, it was quite lovely with adjustments for her tail. She had spent five minutes looking at herself, gathering her hair in a bun-like hairstyle, with orange hairpins keeping her hair up. She also attached her red ribbon to the hairpins making it look elegant from the back.

Dressed up like that (it really was nice that one could get good looking outfits for little) she walked through a somewhat lively festival. It almost asked for her to stroll along the stalls and places slowly, to take a look at the wares that the elves sold. Not only elves, but humans, faerin and felis too; some even with Falderen colours. It made her smile, as that meant that the Astorea was not so badly received.

There were also those that fought with the Fire Elemental Prince, not that she talked with them this time.

…So perhaps she took her time at actually getting some of the exotic looking wares and foods; it made her fashionably late.

“My…” It was amazing, only possible in the game; half of the ruined castle was already rebuilt.

Zone Castle

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She looked around, seeing the difference between what she remembered the inside looking like and the current castle. There were marked differences, much more space and the colours were different. Without the people called up to protect it, Ilusa could see and feel that it was very, very spacious. Easy to get lost in too. It was also clear that this place was still being reconstructed; there were materials and tools everywhere, even if pushed away from the main corridors, or where people would walk.

She was not curious about the state of work, so she tried to go to the throne room. It took her a long time to reach it.

Zone Throne Room

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When she did there was a petite woman, in regal outfit in blues, with gold accents, standing before the massive doors. She was also attentive, because she noticed her presence.

A soft voice called out to her and Ilusa’s red eyes widened a little at the soft voice, so in contrast with the rather stern visage the woman portrayed. Yet what the woman said was even more curious.

“I see… Astor appointed you.” Ilusa murmured, looking the woman over again, pondering just how one actually did that. Appoint the advisors that is. Additionally she wondered if that soft voice had a lot to do with Cessia being appointed.

Then the next words entered her mind and Ilusa frowned, tail swaying in annoyance. “Sick…? Did no one heal the King?” It was almost an accusation; after all, a King was an important personage and for no one to heal him yet.. Or give him correct potion was very odd.

Thinking about Astor and his bad health, the felis passed the advisor and entered the throne room.

Once there she noticed many people, few known figures (Players or not that she had seen during the Boss fight) and many who were obviously aristocracy. For moment Ilusa watched them, listening to the music. The aristocracy; right now in this land, she too was a noble. Not great perhaps, but she did possess land.

A few moments later her eyes fell onto the King @Astor Balthas and she saw that he did look under the weather. Focusing on him, she watched his health bar and noticed some icon near it. A status? Illness?

He sat on the throne, his features sharp and noble. The advisor said to not come up to him yet, but Ilusa decided to not listen to the woman. Thus she walked towards the throne, towards the empty space before it.

It was not that hard to get there, people were wary of coming close. Probably because of what the advisor had said.

Thus the dressed up felis found herself close to the King, walking forward. There were whispers happening as she breached the invisible bubble that had been there. Once close enough, that is standing few feet before him, she did a curtsy. Manners when dealing with monarchy rulers or important people were something she knew from her real lide, even if lately they were not used. It was more for others sake and to not show that she did not hold the King in regard. Even so, she was aware that the NPC would probably find it not deep enough and think that she is one of thaws of the upper nobility (or, as some rumours went, the King’s consort). After moment of staying like that Ilusa stood up, her red eyes glinting and looking at Astor.

“Your Majesty.” After another moment she asked. “What ails you?” She was curious, as a healer and wondered if it was him being sick in the real life that translated over in the game or the opposite.

 

Zone Outside

​

To say that Roland was drunk was an understatement. Since the entire ordeal with Vermillion he had spent most of his time bouncing from booze house to booze house as he tried to put the entire thing behind him. Something about the entire adventure gnawed at him angrily, and when he tried to sleep he was plagued with blurry visions of what had happened afterward. Each morning he’d wake up covered in sweat as the dreams from the night before faded from his mind. That was the real issue, as he knew something had happened in his sleep but was unable to really place a finger on what it was. Why couldn’t he remember? Why did it bother him? His first death in the game was pretty straight forward, he met a beautiful blue haired woman who sent him back to the battlefield almost immediately. He didn’t have really that much trouble remembering the event, and he didn’t lose an entire forty eight hours due to it. Why was there such a difference with his second death? Roland didn’t know, but not knowing had driven him to drink, and heavily at that.

He had started the morning at a bar outside the gates of Castle Dormont, eager to shake off the night before with hair of the dog. Whiskey, Gin, Wine, Mead, he made the normal rounds as more and more people began to gather in happy frivolity. He wasn’t sure exactly what they were celebrating, likely some new holiday, or perhaps a late celebration for the victory over Azog. Normally he’d be happy to join in even whilst being oblivious to the reason. Roland would be the first to suggest drinking games, and drunken songs to last throughout the night, but with every shout and cheer Roland sunk further and further into the bar before him.

Eventually growing bored of the bar Roland pushed himself off his seat and heading to the streets, stumbling along as he walked the outskirts of the castle. The building had really come along, in fact as far as Roland could tell everything looked fully repaired. Or at least it did to his untrained eye, as he wobbled back and forth from side street to side street without any real destination in mind. Bleary eyed and near unconscious he continued this throughout the rest of night.

 

Zone Outside

​

Solaria wandered onto the castle grounds, stretching her arms. She'd been late to the party, likely due to having been offline a bit longer than usual to study for her upcoming test. It wasn't a major test by any means, but to the seeming nitwit, every test was important to prepare for. She wasn't perfect, and she knew it- and she knew she wanted to succeed, too.

Among the crowd she saw a man seemingly off kilter, wandering from a side street to another with rather awkward footing in her mind. "He looks like he's..." Paling just from what came to mind, the Yladian rushed to the side of @Roland Rutledge. He was familiar looking, but she couldn't quite place why yet. However, just a minor scent of his breath on the air certainly told her what she feared was true.

"You should really lay off the bottle a bit, mister. You're gonna ruin your liver if you let it get this far too often. I know it's a party and all, but I can only heal you so much..."

Her words rang a bell. He was at the big boss recently, wasn't he? No wonder she vaguely recognized him! That'd been quite at trip, after all. Still, this man was in bad shape right now in her mind- and so, she wrapped an arm around his waist, hoping he'd get the indication to use her to lean on so he wouldn't continue to fumble. "Let's get you somewhere to rest a bit. I'll try to get something prepared so you don't end up with a mind-numbing hangover."