Clash of Kingdoms: Creeping Frost (IC)

[Western Fardelshufflestein]

Councillor Ehen Tenar
Santa-Eluira, Agcron
275 Orange Era
Co-written by Ovesa

Ehen approached the yellow rosebush timidly, her footsteps almost silent due to her leafwrap sandals. She was careful to keep her breath slow, quiet, as she swept her eyes across her surroundings. She could make out a figure on the other side of the bush; naively, she assumed it was Amarynth, for who else would have slipped her that note?

When she rounded the corner, she braced herself. What if it wasn’t Amarynth but an impostor? Was she in grave danger?

The relief that came with the sight of her elusive cousin made her feel like crying. This was actually happening. It wasn’t some trick of her imagination or an enemy trap.

"Sorry for such short notice. I hope it wasn't too much trouble getting out of there.” Amarynth was speaking in a slightly hushed tone. Certainly, she was aware of the risks Ehen was taking by sneaking away. "So, how are things back home?"

“Uuuh…” Ehen trailed off. Her eyes flitted toward the ground. “The same, I guess.” She shrugged. “Rischar and Mabadan ignore me because I’m just a child...and I say whatever I’m told to say. But whenever it’s just the three of us, people think that I should have all the answers.”

“Is that all?” Amarynth pressed. “Tell me what’s really on your mind.”

“What’s on my...what do you want me to say?” She knitted her eyebrows together. “That I’m just...a tool they can use because they don’t want the responsibilities? They don’t...want to take the blame for things. And they think I will be in power for awhile, which means they...can control me. For a long time. Possibly forever.” Inhaling shakily, she continued, “I have no friends, Amarynth. I’m behind in my studies. I can’t...I can’t--”

Ehen buried the heels of her hands into her eyes. Shaky breaths passed in and out of her lungs as she resisted the urge to sob.

"Hey, these are difficult times. Don't be so hard on yourself.” Amarynth put an arm around Ehen’s shoulders; Ehen leaned into her cousin, quivering. “ I know there's a bunch of pressure, and it feels like everyone's always looking to you for answers, but you're not alone. You're basically the leader of Aumen: you have dozens of people willing to help you in any way they can, people who won't leave you hanging during a crisis. I know you feel trapped, and isolated, and that you don't have any voice of your own, but you're not alone."

“Yes I am,” Ehen wailed. “I’m all alone, and they--they control m-me. They control everything I say and do because I’m just a...I’m not an Elf to them. I’m their puppe….” The tears were practically unstoppable. But she couldn’t let herself cry. Even alone in the “facilities,” she wasn’t allowed to cry, because that would show that she was overwhelmed and scared. She had to hold them back.

"This is probably the hardest thing to say, but you can't let anyone push you around and blame you for their mistakes. You're not their puppet; in the eyes of the law, you're a Councillor. You have just as much of a say in things as everyone else, if not, more. You don't have to confront them or anything, but setting boundaries is a quick way to let them know you're not gonna let them push you around.”

“How do I do that? They’ll never listen if I...speak. I don’t--I don’t know how to talk to them. All they do is--.” She didn’t know what the proper phrase was. She should know, but she lacked a full education for someone her age. “--push me around.”

"I know too well how awful things can get in your kind of life. There's no way to sugarcoat it, it just sucks. If things ever go south, or if life gets too intense, you can lay low in Cadenhia at my place. It's a nice suite near the Tiger's Eye, and as long as folks know you're with me, they won't ask too many questions."

“Cadenhia? L-Leslen’s kingdom?” Ehen wiped her eyes. “What’s the Tiger’s Eye?”

[Nuridia]

Henriette turned to address the other leaders as her wife went to go check on Leslen, head reeling at this whole shitshow that had just went on in front of her eyes. What a disaster! And just when things were going so well, how could this happen in front of all these foreign leaders?! And where the hell was Charles?! Probably with some pretty young thing, no doubt. She walked up to the center of the room where everyone was gathered and began to speak. "I am terribly sorry that all of this happened, everyone." The normally composed queen had her hands clasped in front of her to keep them from fidgeting. "You must forgive us, this was definitely not the idea I had in this effort to bring us all together...I was hoping that things would go a bit more smoothly, I'm just grateful that we didn't lose anyone. Thank you all for coming, I must go check on King Leslen...if you have any questions, you may refer them to Minister Falla. Please, enjoy the rest of the night." And with that, she turned off to follow her wife and Leslen in a swish of skirts, cheeks burning and eyes pricking. Oh dear gods, please don't cry...not now.

[Tomia]

Wedding Reception
As Henriette and Tali left the King's room in which he was being attended to, Tali noticed that her new wife was clearly distressed. It would have taken a fool not to notice really and Tali had been trained to read body language and facial expressions. This didn't mean that she knew what to do about it however. She found herself silently panicking. Clearly her wife was distressed and ignoring that seemed cold and uncaring. However bringing attention to it could also be poorly received. She didn't really know Henriette well enough to know how she would want her to respond and she didn't have much natural intuition to help her here either. Once they got far enough away from the King's room so that they were relatively alone, Tali finally spoke.

"I am sorry if this night is not how you imagined it." She said softly, trying to disguise how awkward she currently felt. "The king is in good hands now, and it was stupidity rather than an attacker that brought him to his state but... I know dealing with drunken royalty is not the kind of wedding you wanted." Tali said, silently hoping that Henriette didn't regret having to marry her in the first place. "If it's any comfort, this has gone far smoother than most weddings in my homeland. No one has thrown an axe or stormed the wine cellars, so that is a small victory." She said, hoping her small joke at the end might cheer her new wife up as she reached out and softly took the Queen's hand.

[HypErcApitAl]

Ambertisia

"Well... this is very boring." Alara said, playing around with her Sand powers.

"Might call-up a feast." She said, getting out of her throne.

She walked around the throne room, walking out and greeting everyone with a bear hug before making a pillar of Ice to stand-on and announcing that there'd be a feast, and to tell every tribe to prepare.

She continued playing around with her powers, being very bored and lonely.

Ambertisia proper was very quiet, not much coming from the Southern Tribes, which were of course, very rowdy and rambunctious, but still easy to keep in-line - just show 'em some blood or make 'em dance and they'd be fine and dandy.

The Northerners? Half of the time, they just minded their own business.

Alara took-out her Pipe, and started smoking.

She walked around, very boredly, watching everything in the Forest and listening to the birds chirp and squeak. She thought hard about her next moves as Head Priestess, and how she was going to keep her Power and keep all the tribes United.

She showed a smile as she felt the winds grace her legs and toes, though by not that much since Ambertisia was heavily-forested and in-touch with Nature and the Environment.

She continued to smoke, staring at her own feet. She had very nice feet, and had done alot of work on them. Usually, she'd just chill back and watch the beauty experts do their thing, or even care for her own looks.

She was made-up, usually covering herself head-to-toe in bodypaints and make-ups, and also paints in-gen. She favored not just one color on her nails, but alot of stripes and zig-zag or curved and diagonal patterns.

She sat down, on the forest floor, then lying down and taking whiffs of her pipe. She wiggled her toes and moved her feet.

She moved her hand up and down her legs, sighing and smoking some more, then biting-down on the pipe as she shifted into a deer and pranced around.

She turned her head, thinking she heard a noise, then she ran up to a tree and started attacking it with her hooves.

She was a doe, but got tired of using her hooves, and so she formed antlers and started banging against the tree and acting like a male deer. She kept on attacking the tree, hearing the same noise again, and deciding to run away from the tree.

"Huh... that deer ran away..." A hunter noticed.

"Weird." He added.

Alara continued to run about, until she was near the castle again. She shifted back into her normal form, taking the pipe out of her mouth and putting it away.

She sighed.

Those tribesmen saw her everyday, but were still very happy to be greeted by her, and taking in her presence. She smiled a very large smile before walking back into the Throne Room, where everyone was now preparing for Dinner.

She sat back on her throne, still very bored, and now feeling Hunger. She got up and went into the Kitchen, eating whatever was in the bowls and making sure to not mess-up her nails or paint. She scrounged around, looking at the mage-preserved food and the barrels of liquor. She couldn't resist.

It was like her stomach was a blackhole; that she could never be satiated. The 16 y/o High Priestess had ate everything before her handmaidens and servants finished preparing the Dinner for the night, and she was still bored.

To occupy herself, she went upstairs, practiced her fighting skills, then went into her room and stared at her very-large wardrobe. She had had so many dresses, tops, bottoms, shoes, accessories, and even many boxes filled with Jewelry.

On her person, already was Jewelry.

And then, she took-out a handmirror and stared at her image. She wasn't vain, but she was a person that did alot of upkeep. She loved her appearance, she didn't possess low self-esteem. If anything, she'd done alot of self-love. But, she was still bored and lonely at the end of the day. Now being a Head Priestess, she had to focus on not just her home and her tribe, but all tribes of Ambertisia. Now, she had to continue upkeep of the Nation, making sure she continued to have her tribes' support.

Already, people debated and scuffled over Religion and if the Church was really Yellowish-green or Greenish-yellow; causing a split, or apartheid, or schism in the Faith. Everyone was fine and dandy with Grue, but for some time now, the Church was also debating the color combination of Green and Yellow. They knew that Green and Yellow, or the gods were combined - and actually one god, but they weren't sure how.

[Western Fardelshufflestein]

Queen Lidia I
Santa-Eluira, Agcron
275 Orange Era

Lidia stormed into her darkened guest quarters, a silvery ghost enveloped in shadows that swallowed the room. Her hair flashed dimly, almost lost to the visible eye for lack of light, and her gown swished furiously to the pumping of her legs. Each footfall was marked by a pronounced thud.

She stopped when she reached her bed, which was draped in a sumptuous ruby cover with an ornate pattern stitched using golden thread. Currently, the bed itself was obfuscated by matching drapes hung from a curved wooden canopy, so she could not see the cover; rather, she sensed it, for there was faint magic woven into the gold. The swirls of power were comforting in the midst of unfamiliarity, regardless of where they came from, though she knew she could trace their origins given time.

She shut her eyes, took a deep breath, outstretched her hands. Surrounded by eerie silhouettes of furniture that turned monstrous under the cloak of night, Lidia was centered in tranquility, her guilt and anxiety was abated by the stalwart anchor of magic.

Just like that, her misery ceased to exist.

Lidia reached out toward Leslen's life force, her mind traveling the corridors of the palace until Leslen's quarters became visible inside her head. She calmed herself even further, her magic approaching Leslen, prepared to envelop him--

And hit a barrier. Solid, invisible, a supernatural block that prevented her from accessing the Cadenhian king and expediting his healing. It was, evidently, intentionally erected, but whoever had done so was skilled enough to prevent her from immediately discerning their identity. Which meant--

Father, stop it. I am trying to help him!

She tensed as soon as the words were channeled to her father. The serene illusion shattered, and the heated, frothing frustration rushed in, causing her to stumble.

Lidia, I ordered you to stay away from King Leslen! You have done enough damage to his reputation and well-being, and the last thing he or any of the physicians needs is more of your interference!

The power in his words forced her to the knees. She bowed her head, hands pressed firmly into the ground, breath labored.

You cannot destroy everything your ancestors have built betwixt our kingdoms just because you have a grudge with their sovereign.

She found it strenuous to muster a reply. I lost my temper.

Her face was soaked. Whether it was because she was sobbing or sweating profusely, she did not know.

I'm sorry.

Our diplomatic relations with Cadenhia are too strained. An incident like this may escalate the tension into something far worse than either of our states can handle, especially with the threat of the Frost.

Are we not devising a plan to ensure our survival, even if the Frost envelops all of Paralia?

That is if we are faced with the greatest of tragedies. We must combat it with all we have ere we resort to the plan. The desperation in his voice was palpable, just as the water on her face and the floorboards supporting her body were. He was terrified, truly terrified, for he knew what the implementation of that plan would signify.

With a hoarse grunt, Lidia severed the mental link with her father. She let out a wail and curled her arms around her stomach, bawling into the floor as her hair clung to her cheek. Everything, from her familial relationships to her usage of magic to behavior as Queen, was wrong, and she was at the nexus of something much more ancient, sinister, and chaotic than she could even begin to fathom.

Her father was too busy suppressing his emotions to care. He only focused on the well-being of Silvensia so he did not have to look at the daughter of his dead wife. Three years, and he still didn't understand her, didn't understand what they were involved in any more than she did.

Her mother had not understood, either.

Mom, I don't know what's going on. I'm scared, Mom. Mom, can't you hear me, why aren't you listening, why don't you ever listen?
Why don't you ever listen to me? Why don't you just say something, say something, please, please, please....

[Nuridia]

“Thank you for that.” Henriette smiled.

The Next Morning: Charles
“Get up sleepyhead, the meeting starts in a couple of hours!” Anthony hopped onto Charles’ bed, landing directly on top of the still blanket-covered form of his older brother. “Tony, getoff!” he whined, throwing a pillow over his face.
“That’s not the way the king of Marseille should be acting! Charlie, this is important! We’re discussing the best way to deal with the frost!”
“And I’m discussing the best way to deal with my hangover, now please go away!” Anthony sighed and smacked him with a pillow. “Nobody told you to have a drinking contest with Sparkles McGlitterpants last night, dummy. Take some potion, take a bath and suck it up because breakfast is gonna be served soon and the meeting follows soon afterward.”

“Meeting...oh shit, that’s today?!”
“Yes, it’s today! I’ll be expecting you.” Anthony went to go get ready and Charles got up, immediately regretting it. It felt like his eyeballs were on fire, the light burned and his head was pounding. This was going to be a disaster...hopefully with something to conceal the bags under his eyes nobody would notice. Hopefully. Anyway, may as well try to make himself look presentable and not half-dead, or nobody would take him seriously. And he did care about his country at the end of the day...plus he didn't need Percy nagging him to death.


Henriette
Meanwhile Henriette was getting ready for the day herself, head still reeling slightly from the quite eventful wedding day that she'd had. Tali was quite the pleasant surprise...she didn't know where they were now, but she had the very high hope that if they never fell for each other, they'd at least be close friends. Her wife was actually a very kind and caring person, if you drew her out of her shell a little bit."
"My queen, could you hold still just a little bit? It's hard to get your makeup done when you're moving your face." Tavia huffed at her, the brush that was applying sparkling gemstone dust to her eyelids was hovering in midair.

"Forgive me, I was just thinking about Tali. She's...actually pretty amazing, don't you think?"
"Reality of married life hasn't quite sunken in yet, eh majesty?"
"Not quite, but I do like the little bit that has sunk in. I..I want to get to know her more. I really like her, she's..." Henriette swears she'd be blushing if her skin were paler. "But we do have to focus on the bigger threat at hand right now, which is the Frost." Shaking out her mane of tight brown curls, she turned to Tavia again. "Can you get Ariana to fetch the ministers and wake the other leaders for me, we'll need to meet downstairs before heading to the council chamber."

[Tomia]

Morning After the Wedding Reception
Percy had found himself waking up in a room that wasn't his own. Well, no room in the palace was his own of course, but this wasn't the guest room that had been assigned to him. In fact belonged to Kate. The two spent many cozy minutes together on the balcony after which Kate had invited the king's advisor back to her room. He enjoyed their night together but... now it was the morning the he felt awkward to say the least. When they had both awoken, Percy hastily explained he needed to return to his room in order to change for the coming meeting. He was running late, but he also wasn't ready to have the conversation about what their night together meant.

He made his way back to his room in the clothes that he was wearing, hoping he wasn't seen by anyone along the short walk. He quickly got dressed in new dress clothes, though without time to really bathe his hair was still a bit messy. It would have to do as he headed outside to the council room where the rulers and other dignitaries would be waiting.

Meanwhile Tali was readying herself in her room after bathing and putting on her formal decorative armor. Last night she was a blushing bride, but this morning she would be the warrior queen that represented her country. Still memories of the night before lingered on her mind. She and Henriette had gotten along very well, at least Tali had thought so. At the end of the night in Tali's chambers they had a...tender moment but Tali had not felt ready to truly be with her wife. Henriette understood and they parted on good terms but still Tali was embarrassed. Waking up this morning she had found herself wondering what it would have been like if she had had the courage to allow her wife to stay.

However those thoughts needed to wait. Now she needed to focus on gaining support for her country in their civil war and dealing with the civil war that threatened. And so she made her way with her downstairs with her entourage, hoping that Helja wouldn't ask for details about the night before.

[HypErcApitAl]

Ambertisia

Alara was very bored and tired, and so slept-in. There was so much time, and even so, she could just set-back the feast. She just had to rest her pretty, "little" head for right now, and dream.

She had eaten so much, last night. No matter what, she wasn't going to get-up and eat s'more anyways.

Besides that, she wasn't a sleepwalker, she slept like a baby, or so they say. For all people could know, it could be a very whiny, loud and cranky baby, in which, the mother'd have to deal with all night. But, Alara had much time, even if she were Head Priestess.

She enjoyed her power, and didn't really mind her loneliness at-times. Her siblings all went their separate ways, and...

She didn't want to mention anyone else in her family.

She just knew she had an Empire in the making, and that's that.

She got so opportunistic, she'd do anything to boost-up Ambertisia and their tribal ways, even if said ways were thought to have been "too weird," or "too clingy" to outsiders. Ambertisians were very friendly, and such was the custom of kissing and hugging strangers or giving new neighbors fruitbaskets and showering people in gifts.

It happened. The culture had alot of time to buildup. Invaders were bootkicked out, well...

Ambertisia wasn't just one climate, and even if it were, there'd still be so much the Ambertisian people would do - they were kinda resourceful.

She just suddenly started thinking about Sand... and she loved sand.

Well, she kinda had to, it was one of her abilities.

She had spent so much time playing around with Sand and her powers, and also harnessing her skills. Not just because of the longhouse she used to sleep in, with her family, but it was alot more.

She remembered speaking to one of the priests, and they had said she was an Empath, but she wasn't so sure. Maybe that's why she was so likable. It could've been many, many things.

The thought of Sand made her shake in Glee, sleep-glee, but...

---

And so, she felt herself getting lazy, but everyone needs to take a sleep-day. She got up, did her daily regimen of looking-at herself and adjusting her hair, and then exercised and practiced her daggers.

"Yesterday and the other day were good, but now... I'm gonna try something else today." She thought aloud and smacked her lips.

After all of that, she ate. Weird that she had a very-big appetite, but she skipped Breakfast anyways. It was also weird, considering she loved food, being essentially a foodie.

But, eh.

She had to have her time off, or some snoozing, or whatever.

She'd continue eating, and then she'd go around on her normal duties and listen to all of the tribes, councils and tribal leaders and their demands. She wanted Ambertisia to have a reputation, not just being an Empire, but being known for High Fashion and Faires, or Partying. The party lifestyle had never seemed to end, in some tribes.

It was weird, but it felt like she still had alot expected of her - which she did, but it felt like too much.

And... she stressed-out. She smoked, again, trying to deal with the pressure and not crumble like a rock or something under Erosion, or Time, or Friction.