Great Nortan Railway Tour: IC [OPEN]

[Great Nortend]

Mr Wainwright, as the diners finished their soup and the first plates of civet de lievre were set, stood and tapped his glass to call them to hear.

'My lords, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to welcome to the Kingdom of Great Nortend!' he said, in a powerful yet soft voice.

'For those who have not yet been introduced, my name is Mr Andrew Wainwright, your tour steward for the Great Nortan Railway Tour, on behalf of His Majesty's Honourable Board of Touring. Your fellow diners here to-day, will be your fellow tourists on this tour, and I beseech you to become acquainted with them.

'After luncheon to-day, we are scheduled to immediately begin our tour, firstly with the renowned masterpiece of 16th century engineering, the Second Tower of Lendert. Please assemble in the main lobby of the hotel by two o'clock. Thank you, and pray enjoy your meal.'

[Smaze]

Enter princess Theresa of Gotha

Theresa cut a piece off of her surprisingly tender hare. The meat tasted incredibly fresh and good, and she wondered what the chefs could have done to make it taste so good. She felt that fresh food and loads of exercise lead to a healthy life, and helped you stay in good shape. She liked this food, because it tasted incredible. As she cut the food, she curiously looked around the room, looking for people to do smalltalk with. Opposed to her sat the Artnachtan prince, pondering about what to say or who to talk to. Theresa felt a bit bored, and decided to talk to him.

She looked up to Nuallan, brightly smiling at his narrow, long face.

"Great hare, eh? There's something about these cooks and hunters doing their job way too well." She grinned, and continued: "I'm already very happy about joining this tour. The food is great, and the lodgings are very good, too. Can you believe that? Good food, good beds, and we haven't even reached the beautiful mountainsides. My name's Theresa, by the way. What's yours?

The princess was exceptionally jolly. She normally wasn't so glad to meet people, but this conversation wasn't with some old, stinky bureaucrat, or a monarchist redneck from Smaze: It was with somebody her age, somebody with whom she identified. She hoped that he'd be so excited to talk to new people as she was when she approached him. As she expected a response, she continued eating a piece of hare.

[Camelone]

Pressing his thumb and the next two fingers together Nuallan kissed them and brought them to his heart muttering a thanks to God for the food once more. He was looking forward to see the sights and be moving around, there was still a lot of energy in the bones of the young prince. As he was about to dig into the new course presented before him a girl from the tour began talking to him. Excellent he did not need to try and start a conversation by his own energies.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance Theresa. I am Nuallan of House O'Devlin and I must agree that the food and lodging is great, though anything is better than what I'm used to at the military academy. This place does come close to rivaling my House's residence in the sacred capital I must admit so yes certainly everything is good." Nuallan replied with a smile, much less enthusiastic than Theresa but just as warm. "If you want to see truly beautiful mountains nothing beats Camelone in the fall, very few teasa get the pleasure to see it."

[Smaze]

"Hello Nuallan, nice to meet you!" Theresa was kind of surprised by the way the Gaelic man thanked God for his food. She didn't want to make a scene or anything, so she just decided to ignore it.

"Thank you for your nice suggestion, I'd love to visit your country, it sure sounds beautiful to visit, and I myself do have a soft spot for great natural sights such as mountain ranges."

She took a sip of the refreshing chardonnay, and continued:

"So, you're in the military? I think that fighting for your country is really heroic and admirable, and I'm glad that there's brave man and women around to defend everything we have. I'm so glad to have a brother in the Air Force, and I'm really proud of him. So are you in the army, or what do you do specifically?"

[Moscareinas]

"All chocolate diet huh? While I do concur you have a slender figure and are well endowed but I'm not certain such a diet works? Then again you are the expert and I'm just a novice unless we're talking materials and clothing which is my real specialty."

Akira smiled. "Noted, Sirin, noted," she replied approvingly as she daubed her lips with a napkin, rather muffling the sound, "but I'll show yoo later the -- oh, here coomes the civet -- why thank yoo sir ---"

After the waiter had left, emptied plates in tow, she concluded, by now thoroughly amused, "Well, we can allays took aboot food when we're famished later! Let's fill up oor goots now, mademooselle!"

[Trumpisslavia]

By the time a waiter got to his table to serve the civet de lievre, David had long finished his plates. In this state of enforced idleness he let his mind wander to the most disparate topics, but before long his ears picked up not only traces of a woman talking rather quickly in a Moscan English accent -- which confused him at first, but quickly later assumed she must be monied member of the inferior races that had overwhelmed the Tricontinental State -- but the bare pickings of a name -- Nulac or Neilow or something similar he couldn't quite catch.

This possible correlation with the Prince that was almost his roommate (and the possibility of relief from the tedium of waiting and thus boredom) inspired him to inquire of the waiter whether or not a Prince "Nelly or Nulac or Neilow, I don't quite know which" was inside the restaurant, and if he were, whether we was at liberty to receive and maybe have a conversation with a "Master" -- it was a title that he deliberately chose for himself, and he delighted in repeating it -- "Master David E. Dwarf".

[Lux Pulchrae]

Taking a rather long look at the hotel from the outside, Jose scaled the building with his eyes and entered. Entering the establishment, he'd be a bit hard to miss, he wore a rather large, black overcoat with a grey fur collar and black gloves. Along with these he carried a cane, topped with a solid-bronze fist facing forward, in his hand.

Walking up to the front desk he greeted the clerk in a noticeable Spanish accent "Good day, my name is Jose Aldo de Tejada y Constanza. I'm supposed to be meeting up with a group for a tour today. Mind leading me to where I can go? If it's not under 'Tejada y Constanza' it might be under 'Lord Altonuevo', I forgot which I name I had put in. Sorry for any confusion, sometimes noble titles and surnames get mixed together, it is sometimes a mess." Jose said excusing himself, apologizing for what he thought was a frustrating naming custom.

--

By the time she along with the other hotel guests (save whoever was her roommate, unless of course the woman she saw at the front desk moments before was indeed Miss X) had been seated under the glittering spectacle of the restaurant's chandeliers, Satomi scarcely felt like herself, though she was doing her best to conceal her distress; in her impatience and her unwillingness to be late she had quit the slow-moving elevator and raced downstairs, skipping steps as much as her long flowing dress allowed her to. That she further exhausted herself by this need not be emphasized; she was fortunate enough to have come down at the right moment, with Mr. Wainwright calling their attention to the prospect of a midday feast.

Such was Satomi's exhaustion, indeed, that although she had acquired a working knowledge of the French language (she had dealt with Francophone Moscans and Indo-Chinese before, when she was still working for her grandfather the viceroy, and it was partly from them that she acquired her sense of wanderlust), she had trouble understanding what the maitre d' was saying with regards to the food, though she did catch mention of the French word for "duck".

Haven't eaten duck before, she said to herself, before inquiring further, would it go well with coffee?

After having settled his luggage in his shared room, Jose came down to join the others in the restaurant. He now went without his jacket and gloves, revealing a black suit he wore under it with black vest and white shirt. He still carried the cane though. Walking into the restaurant he noticed he was rather late as it seemed many had finished a second course. He noticed a woman eating a meal by herself

Never one to leave people alone, he thought he'd introduce himself to her "Greetings, Senora, may I sit?" he asked as he sat down anyways across from her. "I assume everyone here is on the railway tour as well?" as he spoke, a waiter brought a glass of water.

[United Islands of Polis]

After a lengthy flight Christian Aleksandr Greyhound had landed in the international terminal of the airport, seeing how the refueling in JFK international had taken a bit too long and a grounding of all flights was called for due to high wind speeds. Nonetheless Polisian Airways was able to get him there and pull it off.

Upon collecting his luggage, Christian had decided bit to call for a porter to help with his 1 suitcase which could be rolled on the floor. Christian bobbed and weaved through the other people present in the airport to make it to the express train on time, which he did, seconds before the doors closed, inside his mind he thanked his Junior Cadet Training for his increased stamina.

Upon reaching his stop, Christian buttoned his navy blue Junior Cadet trench coat and stepped off to make his way to the hotel. He didn't really like using it but due to the circumstances of the rest of his coats having been in the washers before he left it was the only one he could use.

Upon entering the hotel he ran up to the front desk and inquired. "Hello, yes uhm I have a reservation under the name Christian Greyhound, if you can't find it you can try using ....... Cadet Lieutenant Greyhound, knowing my uncle he probably did reserve it like that......." the slight displeasure in using the title could be heard by the trained ear.

After acquiring his keycard he went up to his room to deposit his luggages and went back down to join with the rest of the visitors, hoping that the luncheon wasn't over yet. Hanging his coat on a coat rack by the exit which revealed a maroon sweater underneath it, Christian sat down on a vacant chair and asked the person beside him.

"So how's your day been going?"

[Kuronami]

Akira smiled. "Noted, Sirin, noted," she replied approvingly as she daubed her lips with a napkin, rather muffling the sound, "but I'll show yoo later the -- oh, here coomes the civet -- why thank yoo sir ---"

After the waiter had left, emptied plates in tow, she concluded, by now thoroughly amused, "Well, we can allays took aboot food when we're famished later! Let's fill up oor goots now, mademooselle!"

"Agreed, Akira plenty of time for that later. So tell me more about yourself? When not working what else do you like to do? Are you married, any family to speak of? Maybe you're just like me and just a restless wanderer who's on the move?"

[Great Nortend]

With the second courses finished, the main course, or 'plat principal' as well as the salad of carrots and peas, were served to the waiting diners. The confit de canard aux pommes, or 'confit of duck with apples', had beautiful crispy skin, browned perfectly and highly temptingly. The carrots too were roasted exquisitely, though the peas tasted somewhat starchy and not altogether very sweet. Peter Smith thought the meal was delicious, and desired more, however restrained himself lest he should appear a glutton. He had no idea what the dessert what and stopped a waiter to ask.

'What is the dessert, in English please?' he enquired.
'Well, Sir, it is poire pochée à l'orange, a poached pear in orange sauce to put it simply.'
'Thank you Monsieur.

A poached pear! Peter didn't typically like poached pears as he found them far too mushy; however, he supposed he ought to give it a try. His mind turned to their very first sight: the Second Tower of Lendert. It was a well-known building in Great Nortend, its construction context being one of the staple topics of instruction in History lessons across the country. An extraordinary 350ft stone tower with an additional 90ft wooden superstruction, leading to a combined total height of 440ft. I wonder if we will be allowed to climb it, he thought.

[Camelone]

"Hello Nuallan, nice to meet you!" Theresa was kind of surprised by the way the Gaelic man thanked God for his food. She didn't want to make a scene or anything, so she just decided to ignore it.

"Thank you for your nice suggestion, I'd love to visit your country, it sure sounds beautiful to visit, and I myself do have a soft spot for great natural sights such as mountain ranges."

She took a sip of the refreshing chardonnay, and continued:

"So, you're in the military? I think that fighting for your country is really heroic and admirable, and I'm glad that there's brave man and women around to defend everything we have. I'm so glad to have a brother in the Air Force, and I'm really proud of him. So are you in the army, or what do you do specifically?"

"If you can stand the cold the winter is when Camelone shines with the beauty that God himself granted my fair country. The Valley of the Forsaken is hauntingly majestic, if you close your eyes and listen the sounds of nature seem to echo the ancient battles that took place their with the wind howling through giving life to the war shouts of the long dead. Absolutely breathtaking, especially to camp there on a long and windy night, it brings the legends to life." Nuallan said smiling at the memory. "Aye I just graduated as a cadet, I was enlisted into the cadet program when I was 14 to follow the martial tradition of the nobility and my house. I am now a squire and will put under the command of an officer and deployed into a hot zone when I get back, tis the duty of the high born to breath and cease with a blade in hand and a war cry on their lips. I'll be in the infantry, my scores were not high enough to allow me admittance into the Royal Hunters sadly. What do you do if I may ask?"

At that moment a waiter came over and informed him of the desire of another member of their little group wishing to converse with him. Giving his assent Nuallan sent the waiter away with a yes and waited for the lad to come and talk to him, he was a little surprised that a child was allowed on the tour, he could have sworn the ages allowed were 17 to 24.

[Smaze]

Enter princess Theresa

Theresa laughed in marvel at Nuallan's stories about his homeland. She thought they were a bit cheesy in all honesty, and his way of speaking was very immodern and uncommon for a person of her age. She nodded repeatingly, seemingly agreeing with his theses, while her personal opinion of a nation's monarchy was more modern, perhaps more innovative to some. She noticed that he hadn't been in combat, because, from what she took from his words, he treated warfare as a bit of a game, a game on the field of honour in which one lets off his "battle cry". The veterans Theresa had talked to would be highly sceptical from his words. She also found it relatively odd that his nation still enforced the army ranks of "squire" and gave them to members of their royal family. After attentively listen to what he had to say, she answered:

"I work as a civil servant, as an asset to our world assembly team. Representing Smaze internationally is really important to me, and I think th-"

She felt stunned as the humble waiter came up to the table and asked whether it was acceptable for somebody else to join in. Theresa, as arrogant as she usually is, would have turned down the request immediately, and was therefore very surprised when prince Nuallan accepted. She waited in a mixed feeling of irritation and excitement of what was to come.

[Trumpisslavia]

At that moment a waiter came over and informed him of the desire of another member of their little group wishing to converse with him. Giving his assent Nuallan sent the waiter away with a yes and waited for the lad to come and talk to him, he was a little surprised that a child was allowed on the tour, he could have sworn the ages allowed were 17 to 24.

She felt stunned as the humble waiter came up to the table and asked whether it was acceptable for somebody else to join in. Theresa, as arrogant as she usually is, would have turned down the request immediately, and was therefore very surprised when prince Nuallan accepted. She waited in a mixed feeling of irritation and excitement of what was to come.

David received the waiter's word with bland equanimity; his eyes had been tracking the man since he left to tell the Prince of his intentions, and had taken note of his race, where he was seated and who he was talking to. David was not familiar with the young brunette, but could see even from a distance that she was highly bred, possibly a noblewoman of some sort. Her slightly bronzed skin gave him pause, but not by much; he was still in such a good mood from the proceedings earlier that he was prepared to humor a pretty noble, even if she were a mulatto or even a nigger. The possibility of her being his betrothed came up in his mind, but he dismissed it quickly, so preposterous did it seem.

After a few seconds pondering his options and recalling his addresses, David stood up and walked towards the table where the Prince and his interlocutor were sitting. Unaware of the thoughts running through the Prince's and the young lady's minds as they received him, he nodded at them as he started, "Good day, Your Highness. Master David E. Dwarf, at your service." Inclining his head towards the young lady's, he added, "And who might your lovely companion be, if you don't mind me asking?"

[Smaze]

Enter princess Theresa

Theresa smiled at the man of large posture who visited her table. She disliked men that sucked up to women, even if their behaviour corresponded with formalities. She was kind of impressed with his appearance, though. He looked stronger than the man sitting opposite to her.

"Thank you, mister Dwarf, thank you.", she paused for a while, before continuing:

"Oh, let's not be so formal. My name is Theresa, this is prince Nuallan of Cameleone. Would you like to sit with us?" There was one chair to Theresa's left, which she presented to him. Theresa looked awfully innocent, as she wasn't aware of what was going to go down in the next few minutes.

[Dahon]

Satomi was in an unwonted gloom as she sliced and diced her terrine into bite-sized chunks, the better to fork over into her still-admittedly-hungering mouth -- her roommate still had not appeared, and she was alone, no one coming near her or sitting on the same table as her to chat or even rant. Yeah, I'll take a rant over this, she thought, as she struggled to remember a time when she travelled abroad without someone -- her twin sister, now enjoying sensual evenings with her husband back in Yumiko, her much older friends in the Dahoni bureaucracy, anyone -- to keep her company.

Such was her want of company that she briefly considered going back to the lobby to inquire whether or not her roommate had arrived. By the time she changed her mind -- driven partly by the sheer stupidity of pining for a lost roommate and partly by her affection for her cup of coffee, which indeed was complimenting the hare in ways quite new and entirely delectable to her -- and pondered the pros and cons of transferring tables over spoonfuls of jugged hare, a young man was walking towards her table.

Never one to leave people alone, he thought he'd introduce himself to her "Greetings, Señora, may I sit?" he asked as he sat down anyways across from her. "I assume everyone here is on the railway tour as well?" as he spoke, a waiter brought a glass of water.

Satomi blinked in surprise, but recovered quite quickly. "Quite", s she began to talk while her mouth was full of hare. "Ngt -- ngt -- pffftttuuuuu" she managed, nearly choking on her hare as she did so.

A few coughs, quick gulps of water (coming, naturally enough, from her new chatmate's glass), and hurried daubings with the napkin later, Satomi was ready to speak again and did so; in the meantime, the young man had seated himself. "No, I don't think everyone is, but then the only persons I know who are are me and --"

She stopped.

A few tables ahead of them, a blonde-haired man, both tall and broad, walked with all the confidence in the world, towards where she didn't know, but she knew who he was.

He was one of Donald D. Dwarf's sons. He was on the radar of a half-dozen intelligence agencies, including Dahon's own, ever since the Hopeshead Papers debacle. He was The End of Her Hopes And Dreams For a Peaceful and Exciting Vacation. He was --

"-- and you. Of course. Yes. Yes. By the way, sir," she continued in a bid to change the subject, "Hakase Sa-- I mean Satomi Hakase, from Dahon. And you?"

[Coutuza]

Boleslaw replied to Peter saying "A pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. Smith. My summer was quite uneventful, yet despite the lack of anything particularly interesting happening, the weather was enjoyable and things were generally rather calm." He then took a sip of the consommé and inquisitively asked Peter "So, how was you summer my friend?"

[Lux Pulchrae]

Satomi blinked in surprise, but recovered quite quickly. "Quite", s she began to talk while her mouth was full of hare. "Ngt -- ngt -- pffftttuuuuu" she managed, nearly choking on her hare as she did so.

A few coughs, quick gulps of water (coming, naturally enough, from her new chatmate's glass), and hurried daubings with the napkin later, Satomi was ready to speak again and did so; in the meantime, the young man had seated himself. "No, I don't think everyone is, but then the only persons I know who are are me and --"

She stopped.

A few tables ahead of them, a blonde-haired man, both tall and broad, walked with all the confidence in the world, towards where she didn't know, but she knew who he was.

He was one of Donald D. Dwarf's sons. He was on the radar of a half-dozen intelligence agencies, including Dahon's own, ever since the Hopeshead Papers debacle. He was The End of Her Hopes And Dreams For a Peaceful and Exciting Vacation. He was --

"-- and you. Of course. Yes. Yes. By the way, sir," she continued in a bid to change the subject, "Hakase Sa-- I mean Satomi Hakase, from Dahon. And you?"

Jose just stared as the whole scene came about, looking at his now half empty glass, he asked a passing waiter for another glass. "That was certainly an interesting scene." he remarked to Satomi nearly choking before answering her question "I am Jose Aldo de Tejada y Contanza, Primo of Altonuevo. I'm a nobleman from Lux Pulchrae." He looked back at the man that apparently gave this woman such a scare, eyed him for a bit and turned back. "So who is that man and why did you stop dead in your tracks when you saw him?"

[Moscareinas]

Akira smiled. "Noted, Sirin, noted," she replied approvingly as she daubed her lips with a napkin, rather muffling the sound, "but I'll show yoo later the -- oh, here coomes the civet -- why thank yoo sir ---"

After the waiter had left, emptied plates in tow, she concluded, by now thoroughly amused, "Well, we can allays took aboot food when we're famished later! Let's fill up oor goots now, mademooselle!"

"Agreed, Akira plenty of time for that later. So tell me more about yourself? When not working what else do you like to do? Are you married, any family to speak of? Maybe you're just like me and just a restless wanderer who's on the move?"

After some hesitation -- more a function of ascertaining whether or not the terrine was delicious than anything else -- Akira replied hurriedly, " I doo have famille -- but not here." She hoped Sirin would get message and stop from inquiring further on that specific topic, at least till they were alone.

Trying to compensate, she went further, "As to wantering, I'm noo usial travailer -- I've been work and noo play foor the last ten years. Tooday and foor the next few days... I'll be relaxing. As mooch as I can."

[Great Nortend]

Boleslaw replied to Peter saying "A pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. Smith. My summer was quite uneventful, yet despite the lack of anything particularly interesting happening, the weather was enjoyable and things were generally rather calm." He then took a sip of the consommé and inquisitively asked Peter "So, how was you summer my friend?"

'Well... it wasn't terribly exciting either. At the start of the summer Long Vacation from University, I went down to back to Haverham and stayed with my family at the Rectory. I've got one little sister and I took her riding, though our horse is very old and a bit lame and so it wasn't particularly thrilling. I mainly filled the time fishing in the little stream that runs between the Rectory and the churchyard. I caught up with some of my old school-mates as well, and they came over to stay for a week instead of going up to Lendert, wherein we went coursing a bit, fishing again and played a few games of cricket.'

Peter finished his duck in bites between his recount of his summer, and patted his lips with his napkin. It was a good and filling luncheon, and he was lucky he didn't decide to fill his stomach early on the train. The peas had proved tricky to eat, as usual, as a peaspoon had not been provided, however he had managed to only drop two. The dessert was now being served, and Peter could hardly wait. The smell was tantalising, and all of his earlier reservations on poached pears had vanished.

[Great Nortend]

Lobby, Wednesday

Mr Wainwright stood in the lobby waiting for his group to settle. They were off to see their first attraction, the world-renowned Second Tower of Lendert. After they had all arrived, he guided them out of the hotel and onto the street outside.

'My Lords, ladies and gentlemen, please do follow me,' he said. 'I do hope you have brought your tickets, as we shall be travelling by electric tram. Lendert, and Great Nortend as a whole, is very well-known for its wooden trams. Conveniently for us, there is a tram stop right outside of the hotel. Ah, here it is.'

A narrow, wooden-bodied tram rattled down the street and came into view, the autumn sun glinting off its highly varnished paint-work. Below and above the window-line, the tram was painted a striking red with gold lining, with cream paint in a thick stripe down the side. In fact, the paint had originally been white, however with time the colour gradually became yellower and yellower until the Board had decided to paint it cream to start with. As the group clambered aboard the narrow and very steep steps into the tram, Mr Wainwright thanked the Lord that it was mostly empty, excepting an elderly lady with her companion sitting in the back. A conductor, dressed in a grey tunic uniform, came to the group. He noticed Mr Wainwright's distinctive dress to be that of a tour steward.

'Are you all a tourist group?' he asked.
'Yes, we are, authorised and organised by the Board of Touring in fact, to the Second Tower,' replied Mr Wainwright. 'Please shew the conductor your tickets, ladies and gentlemen, thank you.'

As the tram rattled off, Mr Wainwright told the tour group about the history of the trams.
'The tramway first began in 1832, after the City forbade railways entry in within the city walls. The various city tramway companies amalgamated in 1945, to form the Lendert and Enley Metropolitan Tramway Corporation, whose now-famous company livery of cream and red still is used to-day, as you can see. The tramsways were originally horse-drawn, however were replaced by electricity during the 1950s, excluding the Number 12 route, owing to its great distances, one of the first of many expansion projects undertaken during the period by the newly amalgamated company. Nowadays, there are sixteen tram routes stretching almost fifteen miles out from Lendert proper. This is the Number 2 route we are on to-day, which terminates in Bassenbridge, ten and a half miles hither.

'Ah, now we are coming into view of our destination. The Second Tower of Lendert is a marvel of engineering indeed. Construction commenced in 1525 under the reign of King Edmund V, who was fearful of attack from the developing European naval powers. The towers served a three-fold purpose: firstly, it served as a look-out post wherefrom incoming ships could be seen; secondly, it acted as a deterrent against the European powers; and lastly, it served to showcase the wealth of his Kingdom. All three towers still stand to-day, especially wondrous considering they were built on soft, Lendert clay soils in the 16th century.

The Second Tower was in fact the last built, construction having been set back by the partial collapse of the stonework during a great thunder-storm. The square Stone Tower is built in a highly decorative Gothic style, quite unusual in military architecture of the time. However, despite its filigree and fanciness, it is at its heart a very solid, stone tower, with walls over five feet thick at its base. The wooden superstructure was added later, in the 17th century, to further increase the height of the tower as well as to serve as an optical semaphore. The Stone Tower is 350 feet tall, from its base, and the wooden trellis so-called 'High Tower' is an additional 90 feet, resulting in a total height of 440 feet, or 146 yards and 2 feet. I hope none of you are scared of heights, or very tired, for we are to ascend the tower'

[Adab]

Shalmaneser gazed at the tower in amazement. He had seen some medieval towers back home, but most medieval structures there had either been demolished or fallen into decay over the centuries. This one, however, was very much intact - and indeed its beauty seemed to have been untarnished by the passage of time. That, or it had been renovated a few times. He listened intently as Mr. Wainwright went into details on the tower's history and specifications before announcing that they were climbing the tower, his eyes alternating between him and the tower. He nodded as Mr. Wainwright, ever the considerate man, warned those who were afraid of heights or too tired to make the climb.

"I see, how many steps do we have to climb?" commented the young lord. "Even too many steps will tire a young man's knees," he added, pointing to his knees with a grin.

[United Islands of Polis]

Christian had been observing the others for the past few minutes and it was a mix of people of all kinds of walks of life, but he wasn't here to judge others, no he was here to see the sigths.

As it was their time to visit their first location they began to make their way to this tram, waking out of the hotel Christian had put his trench coat back on, while waiting for the rest since he had finished his luncheon earlier than than others and didn't really have anyone to talk to he had went back to his room to try to cover up the chevrons and bars on the sleeves of his trench coat, sadly he'd be walking around with it until he could buy another one.

As they rode to their destination Christian listened with all the intent for learning as if Mr. Wainwright had been his Politics and Governance teacher. Christian always liked historical pieces, especially those of significant military and political significance

As they got closer to the stop Mr. Wainwright had said they'd be climbing the tower, given he wasn't a fan of heights he wasn't scared of them either. Looking at the tower it looked very well kept, either the tower was lucky enough to be untouched or restoration projects had been done on it, much like the Great Halden Bridge in Jeris town.

Christian eventually got exited to see this magnificent sight and indeed it was grand, to most it as nothing more but a tower, to others with a more well trained and educated eye it was a masterpiece. Eventually he did hear a comment, seeing it was from his supposed roommate, Lord Shalmeneser, he took the advantage to strike a conversation up.

"Don't worry friend, tiredness leads to progress, you'll do fine."

[Adab]

Christian eventually got exited to see this magnificent sight and indeed it was grand, to most it as nothing more but a tower, to others with a more well trained and educated eye it was a masterpiece. Eventually he did hear a comment, seeing it was from his supposed roommate, Lord Shalmeneser, he took the advantage to strike a conversation up.

"Don't worry friend, tiredness leads to progress, you'll do fine."

"Well, let's see if your words still hold true by the time we reach the top of the tower," said Shalmaneser, smiling, a split second before he even realized he was talking to someone. He promptly turned to the other man, scanning him. "I'm sorry, but I don't seem to remember your name. You are?"

[United Islands of Polis]

Christian eventually got exited to see this magnificent sight and indeed it was grand, to most it as nothing more but a tower, to others with a more well trained and educated eye it was a masterpiece. Eventually he did hear a comment, seeing it was from his supposed roommate, Lord Shalmeneser, he took the advantage to strike a conversation up.

"Don't worry friend, tiredness leads to progress, you'll do fine."

"Well, let's see if your words still hold true by the time we reach the top of the tower," said Shalmaneser, smiling, a split second before he even realized he was talking to someone. He promptly turned to the other man, scanning him. "I'm sorry, but I don't seem to remember your name. You are?"

Christian had completely forgotten to introduce himself before saying something, luckily it seemed to be perfectly fine since he everyone was a tourist, they weren't on a diplomatic meeting of sorts.

"Ah yeah I forgot bout intros........ name's Christian Aleksandr Greyhound, In formal meetings, local and abroad it becomes Cadet Lieutenant Christian, or by the time the next semester starts, Reserve Lieutenant. But please don't use those titles." Christian replied with haste in his response but it was unnoticeable to most.

"And uh.... you are?"

[Kuronami]

Sirin took a long look at the tower. She was excited to be here and see the sights but this was a bit surprising. "Heaven's me, this looks like quite a climb. I'm afraid I'm really not wearing apt shoes for long stair climbing." She glanced at her heels she was wearing. She was a fashionable woman after all.