Sinope Harbour Festival (IC, MT)

[The Scarlet Eagle]

At the salute, the girl gave a small bow, but as soon as they were gone, she sighed.
Where in the name of the Endless Sands was she going to get the money changed?
Qadir, meanwhile, did not comment as she led them up the gangplank, neither on the donation, nor on the guard staying at the foot of the gangplank (as long as they respected that the vessel was open to visitors and did not interfere with that, no one would give a damn) and least of all on the visitors already on deck.
She stopped at the top, looking to the young woman on the deck, leaning against a barrel, nineteen years of age, and asked: "Permission to come aboard, First Officer?"
"Depends on who you have with you, Miss.", she asked with a small smile, looking to the Imperials, "There were only four people announced."
Qadir left it to the Imperials to explain that.

Peter, upon hearing the exchange between the two young women, simply turns to his companions before answering:
"Oh them? he asks as he shows Elven 1, 2 and 3. They're friends of us, who we saw along the way. We told them that we would be coming here, and since this ship is open for visitors, we proposed them to tag along. Now that that's out of the way, may we come aboard? asks the former Emperor with a smile.
The young woman nodded. "Sure. All four of them.", she said and raised her hand to wave one of her girls over. The way she emphasized all four did not leave much room for argument. The young woman coming over was maybe sixteen, receiving her order in Kyrenaian and then turning to the Elves. "This is Sarah.", the First Officer explained. "And she'll show you around while your friends are busy with the Crown Prince. We even have Kyrenaian Grog!"
The girl gave a small bow.
"Miss Qadir, welcome aboard again.", the First Officer added as she stepped to the side.
And so, the four grandfathers follow the Able Sailor, while their bodyguards (including Elven 4 who has been waived over by his squad leader), follow Sarah.

(Post written in collaboration with Kyrenaia. Thanks for the cooperation )

[AHSCA]

Aurelia smiled, then nodded with a small bow.
"First Officer...", she said and suppressed a giddy giggle. "...if you would do me the honour of assisting me in Hoisting the Colours?"
She carefully took the flag and not even a minute later, the little Harira was, technically, the flagship of all naval vessels in possession of the Sultanate, from the Naval Service over Coast Guard, Merchant Navy, police, state-owned research vessels, to the Navy.
In just the right moment, the wind picked up and allowed the flag to fly proudly.
Aurelia stepped back, brought both fists to her opposing shoulder, left to the right and right to the left, arms crossed, and bowed her head as a sign of respect.
Raising her head again, she grinned at Marcella.

"Aye Captain, it would be my pleasure!" She held the flag carefully and attached it carefully to run it up the pole. Nodding with satisfaction she could help raise the proud flag of the ship. "It's a beauty, Captain!"

Atif smiled as she affixed the necklace to his neck.
"Thank you, Asuna.", he said, meaning every word and speaking her name as if he was referring to a Goddess. And in his eyes, only the Lioness Herself was higher then the woman so close to him. "I have a gift for you, too..."
He was getting a bit nervous now, he would admit.
"May I ask you to close your eyes, Milady?", he asked with a cheeky smile and wink.

"You're welcome! Oh a gift for me? How-how sweet!" She held her flaming cheeks with her face all red from being so flattered. She had to stop herself from saying no need but she just said that to him so it would be rather silly. "All right." She closed her eyes tight.

[Shamsiyya]

Atif nodded.
"We never really had any mad Princes, only far too many at several occassions.", he said and smiled, "If I remember correctly, Mahmut III. had nine legitimate children and, depending on which number you believe in, up to three-hundred illegitimate ones. All of which fought for the Ilkhanate's throne. With predictable results."
He shrugged.
"A lot of happened in Kyrenaia.", he added, "And I am sure, that a lot happened in Shamsiyya, too..."

The remaining teen nodded, raising a hand and getting out his purse to pay.
His comrade nodded: "Seems like two found each other.", he said, "He's a good lad. He deserves it. Much like you deserved your dance at the graduation party." He leaned back and grinned. "We, too, went through Middle School, but when we left it, we did not celebrate it... mainly because the Academies and other boarding schools also include High Schools and we basically had the same teachers for six years..."
"The feast for Graduation will be awesome, though!", the third one said with a grin.

Layla nodded. Another topic she had gotten in touch with in the New Lands a while ago; she remembered Shirin Bayd enlightening her about Ilkhan Mahmut III. and his possibly record-breaking number of children.
"We've had a few very fertile rulers as well - none of them had a number of children anywhere near Mahmut-Ilkhan's, but three of them share the first place, as for the current state of research. Pharaoh Amunhotep V., Khan Arafat II. and Sultan Hamid Abdaliha IV., each of them with fifty-six known offsprings in total. Luckily, their struggles for the throne were limited to court cases, unlike those of local rulers, who fought each other quite often ... last time, I think, around 1680, when the Princes of the Emirate of Souan-Imisa slightly disagreed on the matter of succession, for both the Emirate itself and the Sheikhdoms subordinate to it. And if you have a neighboring Caliph, who additionally sends his own troops in, to acquire some of the Emirate's lands, as well as other Sheikhs sabotaging them, and shenanigans like these, then congratulations."
She shrugged.
"Compared to this, Bouthaina-Sultana's twelve children weren't many in numbers, but they shared the madness of fifty-six. You see, there was indeed a lot of stuff going on in Shamsiyya, even if, probably, a bit less than in Kyrenaia. Some people say, Shamsiyya used to be one big madhouse back then, and some others" - she had to grin again, "think it still is."

While Iska was waiting for the remaining teen to pay, the price unchanged, Maryam nodded, grinning.
"Middle School Graduation parties are quite a thing with us, even in what's called Integrated Schools with us - that might be closest to the system you're used to. Middle and High School in one. Many students leave after grade nine or ten, so it's often the last chance to have a big party with the entire gang included. It's almost of higher meaning than any birthday. Therefore, people, of course, also want their ideal dance partner - in my case, Samir. While it's still beyond my understanding, why Farida even agreed to such a bet in the first place, knowing that she sucked at Darts ... but maybe it was the alcohol and whatever she's smoked. Whatever - I did profit from it, she kept her ten Guineas and her human dignity, I didn't regret that night, and neither did Samir. Went excellent for everyone involved."
She let a beat pass.
"And it was not the last party we've rocked!"

[Kuronami]

Lady Fara smiled.
"I can imagine.", she said, then sighed with a smile, "Youth these days... always searching for answers!" She giggled. No one would believe, that Yuzu indeed managed to make her giggle. "Please, never loose this spirit and sense of adventure and curiosity. It will be the opener to a whole new world for you."

"Well, not here, nor in the Ilkhanate of Megido as a whole, to my knowledge, but I know of a few, small plantations in the Ilkhanate of Sarepta, where I originally hail from.", Mahmut explained, then stopped to look at the shop himself.
It was a clothes shop, not a tailor like a bit further down the wall, but one, which sold pre-fabricated clothing. They sold traditional Kyrenaian clothing, from child- to adult-sizes, but the majority of their stock were t-shirts and other such clothing, which one found in large cities.
'Straight Outta Sinope', 'No Desert-Ships here' and such phrases.
Mahmut knew, that he would not get any of those for his sisters.

"Thanks.", Shirin said and blushed lightly, then turned back to the object of their observation. She took a moment to spot him again. "Huh... a shirt-shop." She considered for a moment. "Nope, he'll veto that one. At least for his own souvenirs."

"Aha thanks, Miss Fara! I'll be sure to keep it strong and full of conviction!"

"I see." She nodded. "Mmmm a clothing shop, not really considering my family. Best we try another place."

"Oh a clothing shop" Yuki saw the sign after Shirin pointed it out. "I don't see Haru really shopping there either. She'll want something smaller, cuter and more personable."

[Danceria]

"A bit...", Fara said with a smile, "Although Edgar would have to compete with a man of such high renown, that he is bound to loose."
Her explanation was accompanied by her sitting up, smiling at Aceus.
"You have a satisfied customer, if I may say so.", she added with a grin, "But amongst the two of us, Fadia is crushing hard on a lad from the TBA and I have to say, she has taste..."
She smiled and rose from the bench, motioning for him to lay down face down.
"Now, I personally love jazz-dancing and the band is said to be wonderful.", she added, "Maybe we can indeed convince Erika, that she might want to join us... what sort of boys does she like? And does she like boys?"

Aceus first sit next to Fara, before lowering himself onto the bench. "Firstly, Edgar would not do so as soon as he gets a notion that Fadia has someone she likes. If anything, he'll try and play matchmaker..." he would chuckle. "As for Erika...she's...busy finding herself. It's been a while, and I want her to feel comfortable in Danceria before pushing anything. However..." he paused and mused. "I would think that poor Erika is in a bit of an unknowing love triangle. She doesn't have many friends, but the friends she does have are very...close." Aceus would then go onto explain how she met both Anton and Anwen, how they became the three amigos of her high school. Anton was a decent man, humble and a commoner, one of the Christian minority so no surprises on how Erika and him got along together like a house on fire. Anwen on the other hand was Valarist, a slim brainiac of a woman, nowhere possessing any of the "physical distinctiveness" that Fara had. Still, a good woman, a level-headed one, and often the voice of reason and one who prevents fights. Fighting however seemed to be much more common, but much less severe, as the commoners could afford to wear their hearts on their sleeves and fists. Still, Aceus didn't want to file any serious injury reports, and didn't want to hover around him. "As for jazz, she prefers marches, but is fine with folk music." he sighed, and let out a low "ooo" when Fara's hands began to work her magic. "Valar's virtue, how tense are my shoulders?!"

[Aurora Confederacy]

Marie gave Gina a slight glare. "Oi, toucheth not. We just met, miss."
She coughed.
"In any case, I suppose you want to know what a Martial Order is. A martial order is essentially a monastic order that operates troops-for example, the the Teutonic Knights, the Knights Templar, and so on. Prussia-Poland has two that are still active the Roman Catholic Order of Kraków, and the Lutheran Order of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia. Former just provides medics and chaplains, latter literally has an mechanized infantry brigade to itself."

At that point of protest, Gina didn't press the issue,
"a church order with a mechanised brigade, what does the government think of that?" Gina asks.

"Fitt, that sounds like Terra Azure" comments Robbie, "only there it seems, the guy running the country thought he was god"

"pretty much. Thats why Blackhelm kicked off", I think they trod on the wrong toes. Marie, one thing about where I come from, there is nothing like that, only military order is the military and that's more of a defensive force"

Zoe turned to the group, Ingmar, I take it you will be casting off and joining the parade, Marie is your boat taking part in the parade?" before turning to Gina and Robbie, "you two fancy taking the helm?"

"i don't mind taking the winches and sails, give Robbie the helm" replied Gina as Robbie turned to Marie.

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

At that point of protest, Gina didn't press the issue,
"a church order with a mechanised brigade, what does the government think of that?" Gina asks.

"Fitt, that sounds like Terra Azure" comments Robbie, "only there it seems, the guy running the country thought he was god"

"pretty much. Thats why Blackhelm kicked off", I think they trod on the wrong toes. Marie, one thing about where I come from, there is nothing like that, only military order is the military and that's more of a defensive force"

Marie snorted. "The government was the one that gave it the mechanized infantry brigade in the first place. Prussia-Poland has had a long history of paramilitaries-it was a paramilitary unit, after all, that restored the monarchy in 1919, and then helped defend the nation against the German and Soviet invasion in 1939. After the government went into exile, that same paramilitary unit went overseas and helped the Chinese repel the Japanese."

[Shwe Tu Colony]

The younger priest, unaware that the paramedic stabilized Seafood...

"Yeah, I know that he'd care! Both of our brothers would probably kill anyone who tries to hurt us, but otherwise... it's pretty tough love," Spiciness said in reply to the first comment, rubbing his arms as he recalled what had happened earlier in the day, "I've done a lot of stupid things, never learned from then, & my brother's usually the one to fix it, & also the one to punish me." His voice quavered at the end of his statement, still not quite over how he was incinerated earlier. "I'm impulsive, always have been, always will be. It's just how I am, but I can at least sort of back it up. I don't think they worry over the two of us that much, since they know we can usually handle ourselves. This time, though, I really don't know. Usually the two of us are much tougher if we have our usual energy supplies around, but there's none in this world. This isn't our first time in a place like this, but it's the first time either of us have gotten hospitalized."

"His brother seemed to be more angry than worried, though! All he did was yell at me," Spiciness tried to stand up without the nearby table, but fumbled back onto it, "Ah, gods, I can't even stand up. Wh-whatever, I think I'll be fine. I don't want to waste anyone's time with something like that..." He stopped talking as he listened to the priest's question & explanation. "Hmm? What makes you think that?" he asked before continuing anyway after a brief pause, "But I guess that, yeah, you could call me something like that, being a Psytrine Domeses — basically the best person available for a specific, um, thing. We, er, I've only been around two decades, but I was one of the first outright made for the job. There's thirty-one of us to represent different parts of cooking & we were all made at once, & we consider ourselves the same person: Sousundowa Carême, Domeses of Food & Cooking. If you're ever up in Psytronius or wherever we're touring to, you could come & visit us."

"We're usually in a lot of conflict, though, despite considering ourselves to just be one person..." he sighed, blinking slowly as he thought, "That's why I'm here, actually. I got pissed at one of the other ones, Mature Drinks. I don't like her, & I really don't see how the others put up with her. She's really arrogant, & pretty clearly insults 'commoners' as she puts it, & that... it got our leader agitated & he fell down some stairs, knocking the rest of us out." The veracity of his story seemed doubtful, but he continued to tell it with a certain authority that seemed to indicate some degree of truthfulness. "I know it seems kind of unbelievable, but I guess that's just how well-bonded we are to the main Sousundowa. But anyway, I, uh... I kind of punched her, &, well, my brother, my friend, & his brother had to restrain me a bit." He laughed nervously, "So I got sent home, my friend tried to prank me, but invited this other girl who was less than flattered at being the victim too, & she, uh, got a home run." He paused to look at the priest. "I don't know how much of that you believe, since it's pretty unrealistic, but that's what happened.

[Mervay]

The saleswoman nodded, printed a bill for them as well as a small slip of paper with their customer number and a few other information and a stamp saying, that it was already paid for.
Handing it to either, she explained: "Last I saw them, they were setting up shop at the Western Entrance of the Bazaar. Out, to the right and along the wall, until you meet a main street." She let a beat pass. "Thank you - and have a nice day."
And indeed, the two traditional dancers in the traditional dress, dancing a dance, which could almost be called erotic by many foreigners, veiled - said veils flying at their rapid hip and shoulder movements, the little brass cymbals on their fingers chattering masterfully. Their dresses might hint at many things, but with how graceful they moved, their effect was only enhanced.
The pair was surrounded by tourists and locals watching the performance with interest, the music coming from a battery-powered CD-player.
The two were masters at their subject, smiling as they danced, their movements seemed naturally graceful, as if it was the most normal thing in the world for them.

Jessica grabbed the bill as she heard about the location of the dancers, Western Entrance of the Bazaar, to the right along the wall in an main street or avenue.
It didn't sound complicated to find, it would be an simple walk rather than some complicated travel.

"I see. Thanks for everything madam and have an nice day you too" she said, leaving with her husband to the direction the saleswoman told her.

She thought about the genetic disease she told them, the crystal skin or buttlerfly skin diseases, the most used names out of the medical field; she didn't wanted everyone to pass through it, more the childrens than anyone else.

"I was wondering... That we should do more for help people to fight againsts the diseases like those, help them in all we can" she said as she thought of those ideas, but only one could come to her head now.

"Maybe we could use the foundation and the company for make people be aware about it, make donations campaigns and more, that would be an good start" and her husband told it. Use the Dileva Family influence on home to help as an first step more than nothing.

"Yeah it could work, wharever we can do to help them will help. I won't be as much as we want at the moment but it's an great start" Jess answered as they kept walking to their destiny.
It would be an great start the idea, but of course more would be needed to do.

Then they were out of the Bazaar, their walk was short and they were able to find the dancers they were searching for. They were surrunded by tourists and locals which were seeing their dance, which many close minded and conservaties could call as erotic, they were smiling to the people as they did what they were doing it was just another day for them doing what they loved.

The couple stood there watching the dance and they needed to say that they were really good on it, but they needed to wait for them to end their dance so they could praise them and speak about the donation. It would be of bad education to just interrupt them now.

[Folaisia]

Laila smiled.
"According to her, the Crown Prince heard the story, nodded, said something to the effect of 'If they want, they can come along - the more the merrier!', and grinned in that enthusiastic and charming little-boy-in-a-candy-shop-way, which makes one want to buy all the candy and all possible protests of his niece died a quick and merciful death.", she explained, before she added, "By the way, I'm not a classmate of Aurelia, she's a year above me... Princess Alya, though, you might have heard of her, is a classmate of mine. Once you realize, that they also have to write the same tests, eat lunch at the same diner and listen to the same music, though, the excitement wears a bit off."

Cormag and Alexander nod at her reply, though with looks that seem to conceal one little hint of dissatisfaction under an expression of adequate nonchalance; for Cormag, it is a bit more visible.

"Can we go inside? I've been wantin' to take a look," requested Cormag as he begins recording again.

[Aurora Confederacy]

Marie snorted. "The government was the one that gave it the mechanized infantry brigade in the first place. Prussia-Poland has had a long history of paramilitaries-it was a paramilitary unit, after all, that restored the monarchy in 1919, and then helped defend the nation against the German and Soviet invasion in 1939. After the government went into exile, that same paramilitary unit went overseas and helped the Chinese repel the Japanese."

"Interesting" comments Gina " so what about the official army of the Commonwealth, or is the order the army?" she asks with a curious tone, "back home the term paramilitary has different meanings.

Zoe turns to the Lillo's "fancy a look around?" she asks picking up the empty cups off the table

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Marie snorted. "The government was the one that gave it the mechanized infantry brigade in the first place. Prussia-Poland has had a long history of paramilitaries-it was a paramilitary unit, after all, that restored the monarchy in 1919, and then helped defend the nation against the German and Soviet invasion in 1939. After the government went into exile, that same paramilitary unit went overseas and helped the Chinese repel the Japanese."

"Interesting" comments Gina " so what about the official army of the Commonwealth, or is the order the army?" she asks with a curious tone, "back home the term paramilitary has different meanings.

Zoe turns to the Lillo's "fancy a look around?" she asks picking up the empty cups off the table

Marie sighed in frustration.
"The Order of Saint Adrian is it's own entity, yes. Same with the dozens of militas that the government allows and supplies. But the Commonwealth does have it's own army-the Heer. Along with the Luftwaffe and Kaiserliche Marine it forms the Reichswehr.'

[Kyrenaia]

Lady Fara smiled.
"I can imagine.", she said, then sighed with a smile, "Youth these days... always searching for answers!" She giggled. No one would believe, that Yuzu indeed managed to make her giggle. "Please, never loose this spirit and sense of adventure and curiosity. It will be the opener to a whole new world for you."

"Well, not here, nor in the Ilkhanate of Megido as a whole, to my knowledge, but I know of a few, small plantations in the Ilkhanate of Sarepta, where I originally hail from.", Mahmut explained, then stopped to look at the shop himself.
It was a clothes shop, not a tailor like a bit further down the wall, but one, which sold pre-fabricated clothing. They sold traditional Kyrenaian clothing, from child- to adult-sizes, but the majority of their stock were t-shirts and other such clothing, which one found in large cities.
'Straight Outta Sinope', 'No Desert-Ships here' and such phrases.
Mahmut knew, that he would not get any of those for his sisters.

"Thanks.", Shirin said and blushed lightly, then turned back to the object of their observation. She took a moment to spot him again. "Huh... a shirt-shop." She considered for a moment. "Nope, he'll veto that one. At least for his own souvenirs."

"Aha thanks, Miss Fara! I'll be sure to keep it strong and full of conviction!"

"I see." She nodded. "Mmmm a clothing shop, not really considering my family. Best we try another place."

"Oh a clothing shop" Yuki saw the sign after Shirin pointed it out. "I don't see Haru really shopping there either. She'll want something smaller, cuter and more personable."

Lady Fara smiled slightly.
"That's the spirit. Atta girl!", she said and led her further down the Boulevard, towards the Smaller Basin, where the Aurelia awaited. One could already see the heads of a few masts, but not the ships themselves.

"Alright.", Mahmut said and led her further, "Hm..."
He looked at the signs.
"A jeweler?", he asked and pointed to a window, where indeed, jewelry was sold - not diamonds and sapphires, but jewelry of crystal glass and less precious stones, for example Lion's Stone. Necklaces and rings, but also bracelets and brooches were on offer.

"Hm...", Shirin made, "She has taste, have to give her that, Milady." The last word was accompanied by a small smile in Yuki's direction. "Shall we follow them into the shop they decide to go into? It would raise our chances of being detected..."

Peter, upon hearing the exchange between the two young women, simply turns to his companions before answering:
"Oh them? he asks as he shows Elven 1, 2 and 3. They're friends of us, who we saw along the way. We told them that we would be coming here, and since this ship is open for visitors, we proposed them to tag along. Now that that's out of the way, may we come aboard? asks the former Emperor with a smile.
The young woman nodded. "Sure. All four of them.", she said and raised her hand to wave one of her girls over. The way she emphasized all four did not leave much room for argument. The young woman coming over was maybe sixteen, receiving her order in Kyrenaian and then turning to the Elves. "This is Sarah.", the First Officer explained. "And she'll show you around while your friends are busy with the Crown Prince. We even have Kyrenaian Grog!"
The girl gave a small bow.
"Miss Qadir, welcome aboard again.", the First Officer added as she stepped to the side.
And so, the four grandfathers follow the Able Sailor, while their bodyguards (including Elven 4 who has been waived over by his squad leader), follow Sarah.

(Post written in collaboration with Kyrenaia. Thanks for the cooperation )

While Sarah led the Elvens away, Qadir led their bosses to the deckhouse, knocking on the door.
After a moment, she opened the door, which doubled as Captain's Cabin (the bed hidden behind a curtain), office and tea room. The table was shin high and surrounded by sitting cushions.
One of them, at the head of the table, was occupied by a man in his early forties, piercing blue eyes and white hair, who rose with a small smile.
"Oh, hello. Wonderful to see you all, General, your Excellency, Misters... I met your grandchildren and when I heard the news about you being here and me being here, I could not pass on the chance.", the man said, then bowed his head, "Crown Prince Ilia ibn-Razia - welcome aboard my boat! Please, sit down!"

Cormag and Alexander nod at her reply, though with looks that seem to conceal one little hint of dissatisfaction under an expression of adequate nonchalance; for Cormag, it is a bit more visible.

"Can we go inside? I've been wantin' to take a look," requested Cormag as he begins recording again.

"Sure.", Laila said and nodded, smiling, "Come with me, I'll show you around! If there are any questions, feel free to ask them!"
She let a beat pass.
"So, this is the Sayarfur's Main Deck, the major work surface for all the stuff done over a normal day.", she explained, "She is a Bagala-Type vessel, a trusty mule of the seas, which carried freight and cargo but which are, nowadays, usually used for recreation. They were also very capable warships, compareable to what others might call corvettes."
She allowed them a wide sweep of the deck with their camera, which also caught a few of her classmates catching a bit of a tan, another one working on a small piece of wood with a rather large-looking knife and a few girls sitting over schoolbooks.
"Of course, once the tasks of daily maintenance are done in a harbour, we are mostly free.", Laila continued, "And since we are all still students, we also learn. Don't worry about me, though, I'm already finished with my school tasks for the day!"

Layla nodded. Another topic she had gotten in touch with in the New Lands a while ago; she remembered Shirin Bayd enlightening her about Ilkhan Mahmut III. and his possibly record-breaking number of children.
"We've had a few very fertile rulers as well - none of them had a number of children anywhere near Mahmut-Ilkhan's, but three of them share the first place, as for the current state of research. Pharaoh Amunhotep V., Khan Arafat II. and Sultan Hamid Abdaliha IV., each of them with fifty-six known offsprings in total. Luckily, their struggles for the throne were limited to court cases, unlike those of local rulers, who fought each other quite often ... last time, I think, around 1680, when the Princes of the Emirate of Souan-Imisa slightly disagreed on the matter of succession, for both the Emirate itself and the Sheikhdoms subordinate to it. And if you have a neighboring Caliph, who additionally sends his own troops in, to acquire some of the Emirate's lands, as well as other Sheikhs sabotaging them, and shenanigans like these, then congratulations."
She shrugged.
"Compared to this, Bouthaina-Sultana's twelve children weren't many in numbers, but they shared the madness of fifty-six. You see, there was indeed a lot of stuff going on in Shamsiyya, even if, probably, a bit less than in Kyrenaia. Some people say, Shamsiyya used to be one big madhouse back then, and some others" - she had to grin again, "think it still is."

While Iska was waiting for the remaining teen to pay, the price unchanged, Maryam nodded, grinning.
"Middle School Graduation parties are quite a thing with us, even in what's called Integrated Schools with us - that might be closest to the system you're used to. Middle and High School in one. Many students leave after grade nine or ten, so it's often the last chance to have a big party with the entire gang included. It's almost of higher meaning than any birthday. Therefore, people, of course, also want their ideal dance partner - in my case, Samir. While it's still beyond my understanding, why Farida even agreed to such a bet in the first place, knowing that she sucked at Darts ... but maybe it was the alcohol and whatever she's smoked. Whatever - I did profit from it, she kept her ten Guineas and her human dignity, I didn't regret that night, and neither did Samir. Went excellent for everyone involved."
She let a beat pass.
"And it was not the last party we've rocked!"

Atif nodded.
"We don't really have that reputation. Sure, we had our madmen, but never really being a madhouse... it's difficult to describe.", he said with a small sheepish smile, which vanished quickly. "If, however, people fight a civil war until they forgot, why they fought in the first place, madness gets a different meaning."

The two teens laughed.
"Indeed, we can imagine!", the second one said, "Must have been an awful lot of fun..."
"We have the Dance of the Cherries.", the third said, "Cherries is the slang term for those kids, which just entered Middle School, their Dance is their formal introduction into polite society. Of course, one often reads, that Prince this-and-that aced it or that Princess here-and-there looked cute, but for us, it's a huge deal. After all, we're one step closer to being an adult!"

The saleswoman nodded, printed a bill for them as well as a small slip of paper with their customer number and a few other information and a stamp saying, that it was already paid for.
Handing it to either, she explained: "Last I saw them, they were setting up shop at the Western Entrance of the Bazaar. Out, to the right and along the wall, until you meet a main street." She let a beat pass. "Thank you - and have a nice day."
And indeed, the two traditional dancers in the traditional dress, dancing a dance, which could almost be called erotic by many foreigners, veiled - said veils flying at their rapid hip and shoulder movements, the little brass cymbals on their fingers chattering masterfully. Their dresses might hint at many things, but with how graceful they moved, their effect was only enhanced.
The pair was surrounded by tourists and locals watching the performance with interest, the music coming from a battery-powered CD-player.
The two were masters at their subject, smiling as they danced, their movements seemed naturally graceful, as if it was the most normal thing in the world for them.

Jessica grabbed the bill as she heard about the location of the dancers, Western Entrance of the Bazaar, to the right along the wall in an main street or avenue.
It didn't sound complicated to find, it would be an simple walk rather than some complicated travel.

"I see. Thanks for everything madam and have an nice day you too" she said, leaving with her husband to the direction the saleswoman told her.

She thought about the genetic disease she told them, the crystal skin or buttlerfly skin diseases, the most used names out of the medical field; she didn't wanted everyone to pass through it, more the childrens than anyone else.

"I was wondering... That we should do more for help people to fight againsts the diseases like those, help them in all we can" she said as she thought of those ideas, but only one could come to her head now.

"Maybe we could use the foundation and the company for make people be aware about it, make donations campaigns and more, that would be an good start" and her husband told it. Use the Dileva Family influence on home to help as an first step more than nothing.

"Yeah it could work, wharever we can do to help them will help. I won't be as much as we want at the moment but it's an great start" Jess answered as they kept walking to their destiny.
It would be an great start the idea, but of course more would be needed to do.

Then they were out of the Bazaar, their walk was short and they were able to find the dancers they were searching for. They were surrunded by tourists and locals which were seeing their dance, which many close minded and conservaties could call as erotic, they were smiling to the people as they did what they were doing it was just another day for them doing what they loved.

The couple stood there watching the dance and they needed to say that they were really good on it, but they needed to wait for them to end their dance so they could praise them and speak about the donation. It would be of bad education to just interrupt them now.

The entire show lasted, from start to finish, for four minutes, ending with both dancers ending on one knee, kneeling to each other with small smiles on their faces, their eyes closed.
The Kyrenaian part of the audience applauded, the tourists mostly joining a few seconds later.
Both dancers rose, the applause subsiding, when one of the dancers took off her veil and spoke a few sentences in Kyrenaian, a soft, velvety voice speaking.
A moment after she had finished, the other spoke in English: "Thank you, everyone, for your kind applause. We still need to learn quite a lot, but it shows us that we are moving into the right direction." She let a beat pass. "We are collecting money for children affected by the Butterfly Skin Condition, more specifically for the Farasha Foundation, which is committed to research and aid. If you want, we would be glad about a small donation."
Quite a few of the Kyrenaians indeed donated.

The younger priest, unaware that the paramedic stabilized Seafood...

"Yeah, I know that he'd care! Both of our brothers would probably kill anyone who tries to hurt us, but otherwise... it's pretty tough love," Spiciness said in reply to the first comment, rubbing his arms as he recalled what had happened earlier in the day, "I've done a lot of stupid things, never learned from then, & my brother's usually the one to fix it, & also the one to punish me." His voice quavered at the end of his statement, still not quite over how he was incinerated earlier. "I'm impulsive, always have been, always will be. It's just how I am, but I can at least sort of back it up. I don't think they worry over the two of us that much, since they know we can usually handle ourselves. This time, though, I really don't know. Usually the two of us are much tougher if we have our usual energy supplies around, but there's none in this world. This isn't our first time in a place like this, but it's the first time either of us have gotten hospitalized."

"His brother seemed to be more angry than worried, though! All he did was yell at me," Spiciness tried to stand up without the nearby table, but fumbled back onto it, "Ah, gods, I can't even stand up. Wh-whatever, I think I'll be fine. I don't want to waste anyone's time with something like that..." He stopped talking as he listened to the priest's question & explanation. "Hmm? What makes you think that?" he asked before continuing anyway after a brief pause, "But I guess that, yeah, you could call me something like that, being a Psytrine Domeses — basically the best person available for a specific, um, thing. We, er, I've only been around two decades, but I was one of the first outright made for the job. There's thirty-one of us to represent different parts of cooking & we were all made at once, & we consider ourselves the same person: Sousundowa Carême, Domeses of Food & Cooking. If you're ever up in Psytronius or wherever we're touring to, you could come & visit us."

"We're usually in a lot of conflict, though, despite considering ourselves to just be one person..." he sighed, blinking slowly as he thought, "That's why I'm here, actually. I got pissed at one of the other ones, Mature Drinks. I don't like her, & I really don't see how the others put up with her. She's really arrogant, & pretty clearly insults 'commoners' as she puts it, & that... it got our leader agitated & he fell down some stairs, knocking the rest of us out." The veracity of his story seemed doubtful, but he continued to tell it with a certain authority that seemed to indicate some degree of truthfulness. "I know it seems kind of unbelievable, but I guess that's just how well-bonded we are to the main Sousundowa. But anyway, I, uh... I kind of punched her, &, well, my brother, my friend, & his brother had to restrain me a bit." He laughed nervously, "So I got sent home, my friend tried to prank me, but invited this other girl who was less than flattered at being the victim too, & she, uh, got a home run." He paused to look at the priest. "I don't know how much of that you believe, since it's pretty unrealistic, but that's what happened.

The Priest listened to the young man - and, which might surprise him, he believed him. It sounded very fantastic, sure, but the young man did not look like he was making it up.
Or straight up lying.
He smiled slightly: "I believe you.", he said, "You shouldn't punch people, though... at least not in the face. One can always use other means, which, truth to be told, are way more effective then punching. Take, for instance, that... Mature Drinks you said her name was?" He let a beat pass. "An arrogant young woman, from what you told me - that means, that it should be surprisingly easy to break her self-confidence."
He let a beat pass.

Aurelia smiled, then nodded with a small bow.
"First Officer...", she said and suppressed a giddy giggle. "...if you would do me the honour of assisting me in Hoisting the Colours?"
She carefully took the flag and not even a minute later, the little Harira was, technically, the flagship of all naval vessels in possession of the Sultanate, from the Naval Service over Coast Guard, Merchant Navy, police, state-owned research vessels, to the Navy.
In just the right moment, the wind picked up and allowed the flag to fly proudly.
Aurelia stepped back, brought both fists to her opposing shoulder, left to the right and right to the left, arms crossed, and bowed her head as a sign of respect.
Raising her head again, she grinned at Marcella.

"Aye Captain, it would be my pleasure!" She held the flag carefully and attached it carefully to run it up the pole. Nodding with satisfaction she could help raise the proud flag of the ship. "It's a beauty, Captain!"

Atif smiled as she affixed the necklace to his neck.
"Thank you, Asuna.", he said, meaning every word and speaking her name as if he was referring to a Goddess. And in his eyes, only the Lioness Herself was higher then the woman so close to him. "I have a gift for you, too..."
He was getting a bit nervous now, he would admit.
"May I ask you to close your eyes, Milady?", he asked with a cheeky smile and wink.

"You're welcome! Oh a gift for me? How-how sweet!" She held her flaming cheeks with her face all red from being so flattered. She had to stop herself from saying no need but she just said that to him so it would be rather silly. "All right." She closed her eyes tight.

Aurelia smiled.
"Indeed, she is. But not nearly as beautiful as this ship's first officer.", she told Marcella in a whisper, only for her. That her Grandmother heard it anyway was missed by her.
Said Grandmother spoke: "Alright, ladies... with the formalities done, Captain, First Officer, I would like for the three of us to sit together for a few moments, if possible outside." She let a beat pass. "But no tea, please, no one wants to need a potty break in a crucial moment."
Aurelia nodded. "We have a few minutes.", she said.

Atif smiled, making sure, that her eyes were closed.
He then gave her the gift, which he had picked out for her, which was, ironically enough, a small necklace, which he put around her neck: He had gotten her a necklace of silver (actually only silvered) engraved with the image of an Edelweiß, a symbol for the beauty of a person.
He placed it around her neck, then his lips sought hers, planting a soft kiss on them.

"A bit...", Fara said with a smile, "Although Edgar would have to compete with a man of such high renown, that he is bound to loose."
Her explanation was accompanied by her sitting up, smiling at Aceus.
"You have a satisfied customer, if I may say so.", she added with a grin, "But amongst the two of us, Fadia is crushing hard on a lad from the TBA and I have to say, she has taste..."
She smiled and rose from the bench, motioning for him to lay down face down.
"Now, I personally love jazz-dancing and the band is said to be wonderful.", she added, "Maybe we can indeed convince Erika, that she might want to join us... what sort of boys does she like? And does she like boys?"

Aceus first sit next to Fara, before lowering himself onto the bench. "Firstly, Edgar would not do so as soon as he gets a notion that Fadia has someone she likes. If anything, he'll try and play matchmaker..." he would chuckle. "As for Erika...she's...busy finding herself. It's been a while, and I want her to feel comfortable in Danceria before pushing anything. However..." he paused and mused. "I would think that poor Erika is in a bit of an unknowing love triangle. She doesn't have many friends, but the friends she does have are very...close." Aceus would then go onto explain how she met both Anton and Anwen, how they became the three amigos of her high school. Anton was a decent man, humble and a commoner, one of the Christian minority so no surprises on how Erika and him got along together like a house on fire. Anwen on the other hand was Valarist, a slim brainiac of a woman, nowhere possessing any of the "physical distinctiveness" that Fara had. Still, a good woman, a level-headed one, and often the voice of reason and one who prevents fights. Fighting however seemed to be much more common, but much less severe, as the commoners could afford to wear their hearts on their sleeves and fists. Still, Aceus didn't want to file any serious injury reports, and didn't want to hover around him. "As for jazz, she prefers marches, but is fine with folk music." he sighed, and let out a low "ooo" when Fara's hands began to work her magic. "Valar's virtue, how tense are my shoulders?!"

Fara, as Aceus sat down, then lied down, listened to his explanation, smiling.
Then, while he still talked, she began to get into position herself, still listening, bringing one knee onto the bench, then swinging herself over so that she straddled him while he looked at the granite bench.
At the news of his daughter being in a love-triangle without realizing it, she smiled. Teenage years were confusing.
Her hands began the reconnaissance runs over his shoulders and back and Fara raised an eyebrow, then began her work, beginning at the neck, then began with light and long strokes, focusing on tension knots with the precision of a guided missile.
"Valar's virtue, how tense are my shoulders?!", he asked after a moan.
"Very much.", Fara said and worked her way downwards, "Edgar playing matchmaker would be appreciated. The lad in question is a bit dense, but a good young man... but we would have to coordinate. That reminds me, at 14:30, Fadia and I have to attend the first rounds of the Axeriders' Contest for the Sailors' Trophy, including the opening ceremony. Interested in joining us before the concerts?"

[The Scarlet Eagle]

While Sarah led the Elvens away, Qadir led their bosses to the deckhouse, knocking on the door.
After a moment, she opened the door, which doubled as Captain's Cabin (the bed hidden behind a curtain), office and tea room. The table was shin high and surrounded by sitting cushions.
One of them, at the head of the table, was occupied by a man in his early forties, piercing blue eyes and white hair, who rose with a small smile.
"Oh, hello. Wonderful to see you all, General, your Excellency, Misters... I met your grandchildren and when I heard the news about you being here and me being here, I could not pass on the chance.", the man said, then bowed his head, "Crown Prince Ilia ibn-Razia - welcome aboard my boat! Please, sit down!"

"Hello Prince, replies Peter with a small smile as he takes off his cap and attaches it to his belt. I'm Peter, and these are Frank, Thomas and Joe. You have a nice boat, continues the former Emperor as he and his friends sit. (Peter and Joe on the right of the Prince, Frank and Thomas on his left.) Granted, it's not our favourite type, but its still got his special charm."

[Lillorainen]

"Interesting" comments Gina " so what about the official army of the Commonwealth, or is the order the army?" she asks with a curious tone, "back home the term paramilitary has different meanings.

Zoe turns to the Lillo's "fancy a look around?" she asks picking up the empty cups off the table

Marie sighed in frustration.
"The Order of Saint Adrian is it's own entity, yes. Same with the dozens of militas that the government allows and supplies. But the Commonwealth does have it's own army-the Heer. Along with the Luftwaffe and Kaiserliche Marine it forms the Reichswehr.'

While listening to Marie and her explanations on military and paramilitary sections of the Commonwealth, the Lillos only got quickly interrupted by Zoe asking, 'fancy a look around?', while picking up their empty cups, whereupon they nodded.
Ratko said, "Militias are a thing with us, too. Unlike the Federal Armed Forces, or Bundesstreitkräfte in German, which also divide up into an Army, a Navy, and an Air Force, militias are maintained by the states, which is their explicit right by constitution. In fact, however, most states have either integrated them into their police forces as constabularies, or reduced their purpose to a rather ceremonial one. A notable one might be the Flotillas, a naval militia maintained by the State of Vedjading - they assist the Bundesmarine in keeping our western sea border safe. Polypolia, formerly a loose confederacy of city-states that became one state two years before it joined the Federation, still has its Town Patrols. Or the Furusiyya in Terra Bianca, assisting the Mounted Riot Police."
The latter regularly confused Kyrenaians, who knew Furusiyya as a term describing their chivalry code.
"The trend goes back to forming full militias, though" - Merle added. "I think they are going to pass some reforms in the Rathland, Rigesöer, and even in Visholm. You must know, that the Federation hasn't unified before 1981, a result of which is the right to maintain them. But even before that, paramilitaries have been a thing in the Lillöer-Archipelago - they might not have the same long tradition as their counterparts in the Commonwealth, or the Younger Militias in the Free Lands of the Selkie, or the Qaranisa in Shamsiyya, or ... I could name many more - but they are a thing, and some are expected to enjoy a revival quite soon. If you, then, also consider our quite lax gun laws, you can clearly assume that we know how to defend ourselves."
"Which should also explain the large transparent you see at our major airports when landing there" - said Ingmar and grinned. "It says, 'Conciliatory warning: Annoying us less fun than ever before!' It's some nice joke we've decided to include a while ago."

[Shamsiyya]

Atif nodded.
"We don't really have that reputation. Sure, we had our madmen, but never really being a madhouse... it's difficult to describe.", he said with a small sheepish smile, which vanished quickly. "If, however, people fight a civil war until they forgot, why they fought in the first place, madness gets a different meaning."

The two teens laughed.
"Indeed, we can imagine!", the second one said, "Must have been an awful lot of fun..."
"We have the Dance of the Cherries.", the third said, "Cherries is the slang term for those kids, which just entered Middle School, their Dance is their formal introduction into polite society. Of course, one often reads, that Prince this-and-that aced it or that Princess here-and-there looked cute, but for us, it's a huge deal. After all, we're one step closer to being an adult!"

Layla nodded. Fighting and forgetting what for, this was something well-known to Shamsiyyans.
With another sheepish smile, she said, "For a long time, Kyrenaia as a whole has been thought of as the land of milk and money, even with all the economic crises in the past 150 years. Might as well be a result of the Sultanate's large population, around three and a half times as high as Shamsiyya's, at least nowadays, and the long persistence of the Colonial Empire, and all this surely with more bloodshed than one wishes to imagine, but it has always been perceived as an economic powerhouse that knows how to handle money - in our language, Kyrenaia is called Dawlat Albarqa, and we often jokingly say it's due to all the Barqas you guys make."
As if on cue, Iska let the Barqas she had received from Atif's colleague vanish in the cash register, nodding in approval as if to say, 'I'm getting an idea why.'
Layla shrugged, her grin vanished.
"Kyrenaians as a people are mostly viewed as well-mannered and orderly, as well as precise and accurate when it comes to language. One may argue, whether single points are true clichés, or just working ones, and what it tells about our own self-perception ..."

Maryam nodded.
"The young Princes and Princesses make it into the Yellow Press quite often, eh? Isn't much different with our celebrities, at least. Suddenly, everyone is excited about how cute President Ismaili's forth grandchild is, or spectaculating who the father some actress's offspring might be. Or watches some dance ceremony of their children online, just to have something to talk about. This also concerns foreign famous people, like said Princes and Princesses. There are rumors of housewives wishing our monarchy back, just so that they can watch Shamsiyyan royal weddings on TV."
She had to laugh, then took the first sip of her drink just delivered by Iska.
Then, she continued, "I myself prefer my own fame limited to my own surrounding, in case of the dance, my own school. Just as in here, they are considered another step towards adulthood. Though, mine and others' parents used to seriously doubt, that we really grow up in those nights. Quite on the contrary." She grinned again.

[Danceria]

Fara, as Aceus sat down, then lied down, listened to his explanation, smiling.
Then, while he still talked, she began to get into position herself, still listening, bringing one knee onto the bench, then swinging herself over so that she straddled him while he looked at the granite bench.
At the news of his daughter being in a love-triangle without realizing it, she smiled. Teenage years were confusing.
Her hands began the reconnaissance runs over his shoulders and back and Fara raised an eyebrow, then began her work, beginning at the neck, then began with light and long strokes, focusing on tension knots with the precision of a guided missile.
"Valar's virtue, how tense are my shoulders?!", he asked after a moan.
"Very much.", Fara said and worked her way downwards, "Edgar playing matchmaker would be appreciated. The lad in question is a bit dense, but a good young man... but we would have to coordinate. That reminds me, at 14:30, Fadia and I have to attend the first rounds of the Axeriders' Contest for the Sailors' Trophy, including the opening ceremony. Interested in joining us before the concerts?"

Aceus was rather surprised that Fara would straddle Aceus's own body. The man remained off to the side during his massage of Fara, mostly due to...implications that he'd rather not think about. Instead, he would think about the festivities of today, and the wondrous woman taking care of his aches. "I believe that'd we be delighted." Aceus hummed. "The actual dance isn't for a while off, so we've got time to kill..." the Dancerian king would give a coy smirk over his shoulder. "Though by no means am I putting an end to this session. Not by a long shot..."

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Fadia laughed at that anecdote, noting how Erika covered herself up a bit more.
"Indeed, I can imagine.", she said and smiled, "Hence why our recon falcons carry their cameras on their heads so that the operator sees, what the falcon looks at. As falcons hunt small, ground-bound prey... but Junah is a hunting falcon, specialized less in reconnaissance and more in hunting, both for small animals and for birds, including drones."
She let a beat pass.
"Imagine a two-twenty spanning bird of prey, armoured in light kevlar plates over the body, the claws extended by claws, which can rip apart glass, descending upon a little drone...", Fadia grinned, "Luckily, we mostly only train that, the State Visits, which we escorted, did not need our interference. My Dog Leader has it rougher, though."

So they weaponized birds of prey, eh? Erika thought. Not a bad idea, except for the fact that friendly fire is a major issue. Then again, they might have something to prevent it...I've never heard of people training birds of prey to discriminate among targets, though...
Upon hearing her say 'Dog Leader', she raised an eyebrow. "Is your dog a 'leader', or is his name simply 'Leader'? Or are you referring to a person who leads dogs?"

While listening to Marie and her explanations on military and paramilitary sections of the Commonwealth, the Lillos only got quickly interrupted by Zoe asking, 'fancy a look around?', while picking up their empty cups, whereupon they nodded.
Ratko said, "Militias are a thing with us, too. Unlike the Federal Armed Forces, or Bundesstreitkräfte in German, which also divide up into an Army, a Navy, and an Air Force, militias are maintained by the states, which is their explicit right by constitution. In fact, however, most states have either integrated them into their police forces as constabularies, or reduced their purpose to a rather ceremonial one. A notable one might be the Flotillas, a naval militia maintained by the State of Vedjading - they assist the Bundesmarine in keeping our western sea border safe. Polypolia, formerly a loose confederacy of city-states that became one state two years before it joined the Federation, still has its Town Patrols. Or the Furusiyya in Terra Bianca, assisting the Mounted Riot Police."
The latter regularly confused Kyrenaians, who knew Furusiyya as a term describing their chivalry code.
"The trend goes back to forming full militias, though" - Merle added. "I think they are going to pass some reforms in the Rathland, Rigesöer, and even in Visholm. You must know, that the Federation hasn't unified before 1981, a result of which is the right to maintain them. But even before that, paramilitaries have been a thing in the Lillöer-Archipelago - they might not have the same long tradition as their counterparts in the Commonwealth, or the Younger Militias in the Free Lands of the Selkie, or the Qaranisa in Shamsiyya, or ... I could name many more - but they are a thing, and some are expected to enjoy a revival quite soon. If you, then, also consider our quite lax gun laws, you can clearly assume that we know how to defend ourselves."
"Which should also explain the large transparent you see at our major airports when landing there" - said Ingmar and grinned. "It says, 'Conciliatory warning: Annoying us less fun than ever before!' It's some nice joke we've decided to include a while ago."

Marie chuckled. "I'll be sure to check them out. In any case, how lax are your gun laws? Over here in the Commonwealth...well, depends on the State-the Margraviate of Brandenburg, for example, has much stricter regulations, especially with regards to private ownership of Armored Vehicles and heavy weapons, than the Duchy of Kiev might, for the simple reason that the former faces much less of a threat of an invasion-well, I shouldn't say that. Both face the same risk of armed incursion, but let's be honest here, the military of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland is a joke and one probably has a fair chance of taking Stuttgart with a hundred drunken, illiterate Ukranian conscripts armed with Soviet-era weapons. But I digress. In any case, the Duchy of Kiev faces a far greater threat of an effective invasion, being next to Russia and all-a general rule of thumb is that it's much easier to have firearm-related fun east of the Oder rather than west. In any case, regardless of where you are, if you're only interested in small arms you're set, so as long as you haven't committed a crime, are over 18, and are mentally stable...except if you're in Bavaria. There you also have to wait at least a month, and they banned both bump stocks and fully automatic firearms...which only resulted in some kid making an automatic crossbow."
She leaned back a little. "On a side note, there are no bars to tank ownership in the Archduchy of Finland or the Margraviate of Karelia unless you hold a Russian passport-then you can't buy any firearms.

[Aurora Confederacy]

While listening to Marie and her explanations on military and paramilitary sections of the Commonwealth, the Lillos only got quickly interrupted by Zoe asking, 'fancy a look around?', while picking up their empty cups, whereupon they nodded.
Ratko said, "Militias are a thing with us, too. Unlike the Federal Armed Forces, or Bundesstreitkräfte in German, which also divide up into an Army, a Navy, and an Air Force, militias are maintained by the states, which is their explicit right by constitution. In fact, however, most states have either integrated them into their police forces as constabularies, or reduced their purpose to a rather ceremonial one. A notable one might be the Flotillas, a naval militia maintained by the State of Vedjading - they assist the Bundesmarine in keeping our western sea border safe. Polypolia, formerly a loose confederacy of city-states that became one state two years before it joined the Federation, still has its Town Patrols. Or the Furusiyya in Terra Bianca, assisting the Mounted Riot Police."
The latter regularly confused Kyrenaians, who knew Furusiyya as a term describing their chivalry code.
"The trend goes back to forming full militias, though" - Merle added. "I think they are going to pass some reforms in the Rathland, Rigesöer, and even in Visholm. You must know, that the Federation hasn't unified before 1981, a result of which is the right to maintain them. But even before that, paramilitaries have been a thing in the Lillöer-Archipelago - they might not have the same long tradition as their counterparts in the Commonwealth, or the Younger Militias in the Free Lands of the Selkie, or the Qaranisa in Shamsiyya, or ... I could name many more - but they are a thing, and some are expected to enjoy a revival quite soon. If you, then, also consider our quite lax gun laws, you can clearly assume that we know how to defend ourselves."
"Which should also explain the large transparent you see at our major airports when landing there" - said Ingmar and grinned. "It says, 'Conciliatory warning: Annoying us less fun than ever before!' It's some nice joke we've decided to include a while ago."

Marie chuckled. "I'll be sure to check them out. In any case, how lax are your gun laws? Over here in the Commonwealth...well, depends on the State-the Margraviate of Brandenburg, for example, has much stricter regulations, especially with regards to private ownership of Armored Vehicles and heavy weapons, than the Duchy of Kiev might, for the simple reason that the former faces much less of a threat of an invasion-well, I shouldn't say that. Both face the same risk of armed incursion, but let's be honest here, the military of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland is a joke and one probably has a fair chance of taking Stuttgart with a hundred drunken, illiterate Ukranian conscripts armed with Soviet-era weapons. But I digress. In any case, the Duchy of Kiev faces a far greater threat of an effective invasion, being next to Russia and all-a general rule of thumb is that it's much easier to have firearm-related fun east of the Oder rather than west. In any case, regardless of where you are, if you're only interested in small arms you're set, so as long as you haven't committed a crime, are over 18, and are mentally stable...except if you're in Bavaria. There you also have to wait at least a month, and they banned both bump stocks and fully automatic firearms...which only resulted in some kid making an automatic crossbow."
She leaned back a little. "On a side note, there are no bars to tank ownership in the Archduchy of Finland or the Margraviate of Karelia unless you hold a Russian passport-then you can't buy any firearms.

After putting the cups into the sink ready to be washed, Zoe returned to the front of the cabin and pointed to the side doors to the small vestibule "here are Luna's shower room and the head, its a little cosy" she said. The head is the Luna's lavatory, bout 4 feet from front to back and around 4 feet across so about big enough to sit down on the stainless steel item. A small flip down sink is on the side bulkhead. "for privacy these doors open towards the stern giving some cover if you need to go from the shower to the lavatory, and behind me is the main bedroom". Zoe then opens the door to reveal a small triangular shaped cabin with some windows in the ceiling and soft LED light strips around the edge. Jax had been waiting patiently for Zoe to open the door and when she does he jumps straight onto the bed and makes his way quickly to the head of the bed and runs under the join of the pillars and curls up, the only sign of him being there is the eyeshine in the shadows and the sound of gnawing on a kitty stick. The carpet of the cabin is a long pile carpet about 3 inches in length and it is also soft under foot, there is a small cabinet on each side of the main door and a trio of pull out drawers. "All this here has been totally replaced, under the bed is a small storage area which we can get to by lifting up the end of the bed, thats where bedding is stored whilst the side cabinets are for clothes and life jacket storage, pull out stores are for folded garmets"

Around the sides of the cabin are several photographs including Zoe and her brother, both in captain's uniform standing in front of a large container ship and at the point of the triangular bed there is a small cabinet "behind there is more storage"

Gina turns to Marie, then to Ingmar, "what NO restrictions on owning a tank was that?" she asks, "back home only fire arms we can buy as civilians are bolt action manually cycled rifles with fixed non removable magazines"

[Lillorainen]

Marie chuckled. "I'll be sure to check them out. In any case, how lax are your gun laws? Over here in the Commonwealth...well, depends on the State-the Margraviate of Brandenburg, for example, has much stricter regulations, especially with regards to private ownership of Armored Vehicles and heavy weapons, than the Duchy of Kiev might, for the simple reason that the former faces much less of a threat of an invasion-well, I shouldn't say that. Both face the same risk of armed incursion, but let's be honest here, the military of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland is a joke and one probably has a fair chance of taking Stuttgart with a hundred drunken, illiterate Ukranian conscripts armed with Soviet-era weapons. But I digress. In any case, the Duchy of Kiev faces a far greater threat of an effective invasion, being next to Russia and all-a general rule of thumb is that it's much easier to have firearm-related fun east of the Oder rather than west. In any case, regardless of where you are, if you're only interested in small arms you're set, so as long as you haven't committed a crime, are over 18, and are mentally stable...except if you're in Bavaria. There you also have to wait at least a month, and they banned both bump stocks and fully automatic firearms...which only resulted in some kid making an automatic crossbow."
She leaned back a little. "On a side note, there are no bars to tank ownership in the Archduchy of Finland or the Margraviate of Karelia unless you hold a Russian passport-then you can't buy any firearms.

After putting the cups into the sink ready to be washed, Zoe returned to the front of the cabin and pointed to the side doors to the small vestibule "here are Luna's shower room and the head, its a little cosy" she said. The head is the Luna's lavatory, bout 4 feet from front to back and around 4 feet across so about big enough to sit down on the stainless steel item. A small flip down sink is on the side bulkhead. "for privacy these doors open towards the stern giving some cover if you need to go from the shower to the lavatory, and behind me is the main bedroom". Zoe then opens the door to reveal a small triangular shaped cabin with some windows in the ceiling and soft LED light strips around the edge. Jax had been waiting patiently for Zoe to open the door and when she does he jumps straight onto the bed and makes his way quickly to the head of the bed and runs under the join of the pillars and curls up, the only sign of him being there is the eyeshine in the shadows and the sound of gnawing on a kitty stick. The carpet of the cabin is a long pile carpet about 3 inches in length and it is also soft under foot, there is a small cabinet on each side of the main door and a trio of pull out drawers. "All this here has been totally replaced, under the bed is a small storage area which we can get to by lifting up the end of the bed, thats where bedding is stored whilst the side cabinets are for clothes and life jacket storage, pull out stores are for folded garmets"

Around the sides of the cabin are several photographs including Zoe and her brother, both in captain's uniform standing in front of a large container ship and at the point of the triangular bed there is a small cabinet "behind there is more storage"

Gina turns to Marie, then to Ingmar, "what NO restrictions on owning a tank was that?" she asks, "back home only fire arms we can buy as civilians are bolt action manually cycled rifles with fixed non removable magazines"

Merle nodded. It was interesting to see how different even these things could heavily vary from one federated state to another (Bavaria not being one, but actually independent, contrary to popular belief), and while she was from a federation herself, variations of gun laws were rather little in Lillorainen.
Zoe opened the doors to the lavatory and the main bedroom; the former looked comfortable enough, just as the one of the Milenka, which had been upgraded to modern standards over the time, the latter looked cozy, too, with LED light strips and small windows. And there was no lack of space for storage. "Not bad!" - Ratko said, whistling through his teeth, while Jax, who had waited behind the door patiently, had his one snack he had obviously left over in case of emergency.
"Now, our own legislation on that is not that much different" - Merle now explained to Marie, "There aren't many weapons concerned by state law - actually, it's just heavy artillery and fully automatic firearms; most states explicitly require them to be carried concealed, so boxed in, in public, but they aren't outright banned in any place in Lillorainen, at least not that I knew. Pistols and other small arms, however, are pretty much sold like candies and can be taken almost everywhere; carrying them concealed is optional, yet strongly recommended and usual - same goes for semi-automatic firearms, but they already require a special license, which you may, for example, get after a certain time of military service. I'm not sure about RPGs and stuff - owning them is very uncommon, yet not entirely unheard of, either."
"I think, tank ownership technically isn't illegal, either" - Ingmar added. "But you're unlikely to ever see that."
"All in all, Fun With Firearms is indeed given" - Merle said. "What I've pretty much grown up with, given how long I've been in the Navy, is the MJR-210, a fully automatic rifle by Morschenich-Jäckrath Systems Limited. It's pretty much a Sturmgewehr, 969 millimeters of total length, a range of 600 meters, rate of fire 720 rounds a minute. But of course, MJR makes most of its domestic market profit by small, non-automatic arms."
Ingmar had to grin. "It's often said, that a semi-automatic rifle like the MJR-102, 105 or 109 belongs into a Lillorainian household as much as a fridge does."

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Gina turns to Marie, then to Ingmar, "what NO restrictions on owning a tank was that?" she asks, "back home only fire arms we can buy as civilians are bolt action manually cycled rifles with fixed non removable magazines"

Marie snorted. "The Archduchy of Finland is a nominally seperate nation ruled by the same Royal Family as ours. Besides...They have good reason to. Russians are getting pissy and all. Such measures would be inappropriate for a relatively safe area like Brandenburg or Masovia, while North-Rhine Westphalia is even better. Privately owned ground-attack aircraft, paramilitaries so numerous the gov stopped counting...I don't even know why we need so much material there. Belgium is our speedbump, France is a joke, Germany is the sick man of Europe, and so on.

Merle nodded. It was interesting to see how different even these things could heavily vary from one federated state to another (Bavaria not being one, but actually independent, contrary to popular belief), and while she was from a federation herself, variations of gun laws were rather little in Lillorainen.
Zoe opened the doors to the lavatory and the main bedroom; the former looked comfortable enough, just as the one of the Milenka, which had been upgraded to modern standards over the time, the latter looked cozy, too, with LED light strips and small windows. And there was no lack of space for storage. "Not bad!" - Ratko said, whistling through his teeth, while Jax, who had waited behind the door patiently, received his next snack.
"Now, our own legislation on that is not that much different" - Merle now explained to Marie, "There aren't many weapons concerned by state law - actually, it's just heavy artillery and fully automatic firearms; most states explicitly require them to be carried concealed, so boxed in, in public, but they aren't outright banned in any place in Lillorainen, at least not that I knew. Pistols and other small arms, however, are pretty much sold like candies and can be taken almost everywhere; carrying them concealed is optional, yet strongly recommended and usual - same goes for semi-automatic firearms, but they already require a special license, which you may, for example, get after a certain time of military service. I'm not sure about RPGs and stuff - owning them is very uncommon, yet not entirely unheard of, either."
"I think, tank ownership technically isn't illegal, either" - Ingmar added. "But you're unlikely to ever see that."
"All in all, Fun With Firearms is indeed given" - Merle said. "What I've pretty much grown up with, given how long I've been in the Navy, is the MJR-210, a fully automatic rifle by Morschenich-Jäckrath Systems Limited. It's pretty much a Sturmgewehr, 969 millimeters of total length, a range of 600 meters, rate of fire 720 rounds a minute. But of course, MJR makes most of its domestic market profit by small, non-automatic arms."
Ingmar had to grin. "It's often said, that a semi-automatic rifle like the MJR-102, 105 or 109 belongs into a Lillorainian household as much as a fridge does."

Marie raised an eyebrow. "Unless it's chambered in a rifle round, it's not an automatic rifle." She then grinned. "Sounds about right, though, with the fridge. I've never owned a gun, to be honest-had a bad time with one as a kid. But I plan on buying one soon-apparently Mauser still makes historical firearms in limited batches- Imperial German Tankgewehr M1918, Austro-Hungarian M1912, even muzzle-loaders. Of course, they also have more modern weapons-for example, the StG17, which is essentially is a clone of the G36, or the G3."

[Kyrenaia]

"Hello Prince, replies Peter with a small smile as he takes off his cap and attaches it to his belt. I'm Peter, and these are Frank, Thomas and Joe. You have a nice boat, continues the former Emperor as he and his friends sit. (Peter and Joe on the right of the Prince, Frank and Thomas on his left.) Granted, it's not our favourite type, but its still got his special charm."

"Indeed she has!", Ilia said with a wide grin, "She is... the Sayarfur, ever since she first hosted students, a ship, that is alive - before, it was a chunk of wood, but now, that she knows the hard touch of a wonderful crew, which still has a lot of things to learn, she is a... beauty. I would not trade her for any vessel in this whole wide world."
He let a beat pass.
"Out of interest, what is your favourite kind of ship?", he said, "And please don't say friendship, we're all too old for that joke!"

Layla nodded. Fighting and forgetting what for, this was something well-known to Shamsiyyans.
With another sheepish smile, she said, "For a long time, Kyrenaia as a whole has been thought of as the land of milk and money, even with all the economic crises in the past 150 years. Might as well be a result of the Sultanate's large population, around three and a half times as high as Shamsiyya's, at least nowadays, and the long persistence of the Colonial Empire, and all this surely with more bloodshed than one wishes to imagine, but it has always been perceived as an economic powerhouse that knows how to handle money - in our language, Kyrenaia is called Dawlat Albarqa, and we often jokingly say it's due to all the Barqas you guys make."
As if on cue, Iska let the Barqas she had received from Atif's colleague vanish in the cash register, nodding in approval as if to say, 'I'm getting an idea why.'
Layla shrugged, her grin vanished.
"Kyrenaians as a people are mostly viewed as well-mannered and orderly, as well as precise and accurate when it comes to language. One may argue, whether single points are true clichés, or just working ones, and what it tells about our own self-perception ..."

Maryam nodded.
"The young Princes and Princesses make it into the Yellow Press quite often, eh? Isn't much different with our celebrities, at least. Suddenly, everyone is excited about how cute President Ismaili's forth grandchild is, or spectaculating who the father some actress's offspring might be. Or watches some dance ceremony of their children online, just to have something to talk about. This also concerns foreign famous people, like said Princes and Princesses. There are rumors of housewives wishing our monarchy back, just so that they can watch Shamsiyyan royal weddings on TV."
She had to laugh, then took the first sip of her drink just delivered by Iska.
Then, she continued, "I myself prefer my own fame limited to my own surrounding, in case of the dance, my own school. Just as in here, they are considered another step towards adulthood. Though, mine and others' parents used to seriously doubt, that we really grow up in those nights. Quite on the contrary." She grinned again.

Atif listened and, in the end, nodded slowly.
"Indeed, cliches tell a lot about self-perception and how other perceive one.", he said slowly, "But just like with an opinion of singular people, it changes from person to person. For example, the Shamsiyyans see us as orderly, polite and accurate in our speech, but in, for example, Eadhra, we are still seen as violent savages."
He shrugged.
"Granted, there's a reason for that, but... well.", he said, "It still stings, when you hear of a president using his social media account to rave about yourself and your countrymen in a manner, which is entirely unsuited for children."

The two teens laughed, then the second one smiled slightly.
"Granted many people want to be famous for what they can do best, we being no exception, it kind of sucks to be famous for something you don't want to be famous for.", he explained, "Take, for example, Atif Qalb - a horseman like us, Axerider, very good at his sport and quite nice, too, plus Captain of the TBA's Horseman Team. He was a bit famous already... before he began dating Princess Aurelia."
"And then, every girl knew him.", the other teen said, "And he hated it. Not dating Princess Aurelia, I mean, who would hate dating a woman like her, but being only known for that."
"The sad part is, that he really loves her, even now that they broke up and she went under the Cuntmunchers.", the second teen said, "That was a low blow."

So they weaponized birds of prey, eh? Erika thought. Not a bad idea, except for the fact that friendly fire is a major issue. Then again, they might have something to prevent it...I've never heard of people training birds of prey to discriminate among targets, though...
Upon hearing her say 'Dog Leader', she raised an eyebrow. "Is your dog a 'leader', or is his name simply 'Leader'? Or are you referring to a person who leads dogs?"

"I actually mean a person, who leads the dogs.", she explained, "Mounted Falconry as a sport sounds simple, but is highly difficult to actually pull off, but here's the short version: There are two humans, two horses, one falcon and four to eight canines, usually Sand Wolves. And, of course, the prey."
She smiled a bit sheepish.
"Usually a rabbit or something - quicker then the dogs, but slower then the Falcon.", she explained, "So, the two humans sit on the horses, the dog leader, who trains the dogs for hunting and and seeking prey, rides with them as they seek, the falconer keeping the falcon at the ready. And as soon as the prey is found, the hunt actually begins. The prey runs from the predators, they give chase and the falcon is released." There was excitement creeping into her voice. "And it is important to release the falcon at just the right moment, so that it does not miss the prey. And then, the real chase begins as the falconer rides to the Dog Leader the falcon gets the prey, if the falcon is skillful enough and from there, you have the entire procedure."
She grinned.
"I would love to give you a live demonstration, but I don't have my horse with me...", she said.

Aceus was rather surprised that Fara would straddle Aceus's own body. The man remained off to the side during his massage of Fara, mostly due to...implications that he'd rather not think about. Instead, he would think about the festivities of today, and the wondrous woman taking care of his aches. "I believe that'd we be delighted." Aceus hummed. "The actual dance isn't for a while off, so we've got time to kill..." the Dancerian king would give a coy smirk over his shoulder. "Though by no means am I putting an end to this session. Not by a long shot..."

Fara smiled, leaned down to whisper into his ear, propped on one hand and using the other to keep her breasts up so that they didn't touch his back or shoulders - she imagined, that he was not entirely sure about this, so no need to add something uncomfortable... or something, that was too comfortable.
"I can imagine, why you wouldn't want this session to end prematurely.", she said, "You are in a terrible condition... but let me help you with that..."
And with that, she gave him a small peck onto the cheek and rose again to continue, smiling to herself.

[Mervay]

The entire show lasted, from start to finish, for four minutes, ending with both dancers ending on one knee, kneeling to each other with small smiles on their faces, their eyes closed.
The Kyrenaian part of the audience applauded, the tourists mostly joining a few seconds later.
Both dancers rose, the applause subsiding, when one of the dancers took off her veil and spoke a few sentences in Kyrenaian, a soft, velvety voice speaking.
A moment after she had finished, the other spoke in English: "Thank you, everyone, for your kind applause. We still need to learn quite a lot, but it shows us that we are moving into the right direction." She let a beat pass. "We are collecting money for children affected by the Butterfly Skin Condition, more specifically for the Farasha Foundation, which is committed to research and aid. If you want, we would be glad about a small donation."
Quite a few of the Kyrenaians indeed donated.

Four minutes of an good show to say at least, it was great and good to always see street art when they have the chance.
They clapped as many tourists and locals after having enjoyed the show, then both of them explained in Kyrenaian and english that they were collecting money for the butterfly skin condition and to be handed for an foundation which was helping against it; the Farasha Foundation, they might make an visit there if they wanted to help more closely.

After some of the people donated, the couple decided to finally approach the two dancers and bow to them in respect.

"Excuse us young ladies, but we wanted to tell you two that you were great back there and we appreciate what you for help those childs" Edward told them grinning. "Allow us to present ourselves, my name is Edward and the woman at my side is my wife, Jessica" his wife then bowed again and continued.

"We came here to at least give our small contribution for the cause and we hope you don't mind about it" after Jessica said that, she and her husband took out their wallets for hand them the money, however it wasn't an small quantity... Fifty thousand Barquas. Yup they changed an lot of money in the exchange market before come here.

"Here, we hope that it is more than enough for help"

[The Scarlet Eagle]

"Indeed she has!", Ilia said with a wide grin, "She is... the Sayarfur, ever since she first hosted students, a ship, that is alive - before, it was a chunk of wood, but now, that she knows the hard touch of a wonderful crew, which still has a lot of things to learn, she is a... beauty. I would not trade her for any vessel in this whole wide world."
He let a beat pass.
"Out of interest, what is your favourite kind of ship?", he said, "And please don't say friendship, we're all too old for that joke!"

"Don't worry, replies Thomas with a laugh, we totally agree that this joke was outdated logn before we were born! Anyway, for us four, our favourite kind of ships are the ones we were stationned on in our heydays, and who gave the Japanese Navy a run for her money. Our good old Essex-Class Carriers, Iowa Battleships, that sort of thing.
-Before we continue with the pleasantries, Prince, continues Frank with a more serious tone, we would like to adress a small issue concerning your Aide de Camp.
-As we were on our way down here, explains Joe, we were talking about Naval Submarine Doctrine, and the conversation stumbled upon the fate of civilians that would happen to be caught in the crossfire. The way Miss Qadir said it, it sounded as if the RKN Subs would deal with civilian cruise liners and the like the same way the Fleet Ground Forces dealt with civilians in Va'a Mamao last March. Although we personnally didn't comment on her answer, our bodyguards did.
And so, as the Able Sailor wasn't too pleased with what she heard, she sort-of reported her anger on Peter, who had done nothing wrong. And she didn't change her attitude when Frank told her to tone down and adress him with more respec, considering our background, without mentioning the fact that if it weren't for us, your niece would have joined her mother last October during the Hunt.
-I don't know what it is with you Kyrenaians and your trademark Pride, says the former Emperor as he strokes his chin, but it sometimes is a pain in the ass. I'm all for the young Miss to express her anger for a few misplaced words, but in this case, have her report her anger on the right persons, aka our guards, not on us guests. Would you feel comfortable if we were to be angry with your brother during the return visit because of some misplaced words by a Tabardariyya or a Handmaiden?
-Seeing as how your brother's acolyte, Captain Elba, is already on thin ice with us concerning her interactions with my grandaughter in July, continues Frank, I can't imagine Anax's reaction if we were to tell him that his grandfather was disrespected by an unruly brat. You are aware of the Emperor's impulsive instincts, especially when it comes to family, no?
Anyway, new that we've said it, what's your say on the matter Prince? asks the former General.

[Shamsiyya]

Atif listened and, in the end, nodded slowly.
"Indeed, cliches tell a lot about self-perception and how other perceive one.", he said slowly, "But just like with an opinion of singular people, it changes from person to person. For example, the Shamsiyyans see us as orderly, polite and accurate in our speech, but in, for example, Eadhra, we are still seen as violent savages."
He shrugged.
"Granted, there's a reason for that, but... well.", he said, "It still stings, when you hear of a president using his social media account to rave about yourself and your countrymen in a manner, which is entirely unsuited for children."

The two teens laughed, then the second one smiled slightly.
"Granted many people want to be famous for what they can do best, we being no exception, it kind of sucks to be famous for something you don't want to be famous for.", he explained, "Take, for example, Atif Qalb - a horseman like us, Axerider, very good at his sport and quite nice, too, plus Captain of the TBA's Horseman Team. He was a bit famous already... before he began dating Princess Aurelia."
"And then, every girl knew him.", the other teen said, "And he hated it. Not dating Princess Aurelia, I mean, who would hate dating a woman like her, but being only known for that."
"The sad part is, that he really loves her, even now that they broke up and she went under the Cuntmunchers.", the second teen said, "That was a low blow."

Now, it was Layla's turn to nod slowly.
"Of course, it's a matter of perspective. If you ask a Mairani about their opinion on Shamsiyyans, they are unlikely to describe us as the lovely and chaotic bunch of sun-worshippers we're usually perceived as in Northern countries - at least in those that don't mistake us for Muslims, that is, but that's a problem you guys know from somewhere as well. Now, the perspective is always dependent on a certain background, usually found in history. There has never been any major war between Shamsiyya and Kyrenaia, at least none I could think of out-of-hand, so there is no noteworthy bad blood between our countries and peoples. If I had grandparents who could remember my home city being bombed back into the Middle Ages, I'd surely have a different opinion as well."
A beat passed.
"Other than that, it does sting a lot to hear, or rather read such insults from a foreign statesman, no matter the history - especially if it's the President, who is actually supposed to appear as a role model for his people, especially the youth." She shook her head. "I vaguely know what has been going on in Eadhra back then, and it was plain horrible, but the leader of a country still shouldn't behave like that. Although we seem to live in a time where some decency in public and on public platforms seems to be asked too much from many. Sadly."

Maryam nodded, smiling.
"This is the thought I had back then. I decided, quite quickly, that being famous for winning a bet and getting a dance with the most-desired guy in school - not to mention what came afterwards - is better than being famous for taking a beer shower and losing an amount of money that is a lot for someone who has just finished Middle School. As easy as that. And I think it was the first point ever that Farida eventually agreed with me on!"
She grinned for a moment, then turned serious again.
"And Atif Qalb even made it into Shamsiyyan media - of course, rather as the guy dating Princess Aurelia than as a world-class Axerider, although he'll surely have gained fame within the scene before. Pretty much the kind of fame he hated. Now he's famous for being the one who got foiled by her, thanks to her switching teams. I honestly don't know what's worse."