A Beach Feast (IC)

by **Hanoverian Great Britain** » Sun Jan 05, 2020 2:21 am

The response of the young man certainly threw Alexandra's expectations as though she was sincerely expecting for a pleasant company, she didn't anticipated for a dance offer. Before she was to accept such a daring and straightforward answer, she turned back to Lykke, whom she addressed with a slightly lowered tone. "Well Lykke, after I'm finished with the dance, would you and Fiete like to take up my offer for a private ladies' time at somewhere private on the beach?".

Before Lykke could answer, Alexandra surprisingly turned quick to address the man named Fintan. "Such daring of you, Fintan, and as a kind reminder, do not call me Miss, call me Alexandra", complimented her in a joyful tone. In a sudden, with the young man's companions still distracted, Alexandra boldly took his right hand with her left while her right hand circulated his waist. "If you prefer a dance with me in either this outfit or the floral dress I wore earlier, say it now before we get things going", instructed her in a low, teasing-like tone.

by **Confederate American SU** » Sun Jan 05, 2020 2:45 am

Pickett blinked. He was that infamous? Well, it was bound to happen. Those hitpieces really did contribute to his infamy. Still, he definitely recognized the vulpine features on Cao. She had to be from Selkie or somewhere near by. He always was interested in them and seeing one up close was a new experience. She also was really nice. Marie too. It even made him smile softly to actually receive positive attention.

That smile would disappear though when Marie asked him for his name. I can't say my real name! She'd figure out who I am! "U-uhm, I'm Cass. Nice to meet you." God damn it! That's not going to fool her. The one time people actually like you, they're going to realize who you are and get back to treating you like scum! "It's no problem. I...actually felt kind of lonely, so it's nice to meet some new people!" He then gave the two women a fake, awkward smile, hiding the anxiety within.

by **Aurora Confederacy** » Sun Jan 05, 2020 5:27 am

Marvin had scooted to behind Karen when the girls burst out laughing.

Jason however realised his moment, especially has the girls had mentioned militia, and having travelled in Neu Engollon, the term "Militia" had been use for the civil defence agency so hence his thinking.

"Karen would probably kill me if i came home on a motorcycle" jokes Jason as Karen cuddles Marvin, calming him down,
"I would kill him too" replies Karen in a chucklefull manner, gently stroking Marvin.
As he was being stroked, slowly he began to relax and purr

Karen's bikini swimsuit was actually from a local supermarket in Lake Hai'lu'kai so although of good quality, it wasn't particularly flashy.
"there are some great urbex locations you could use in the Aurora Confederacy too for modelling survival clothing, and some great hiking trails too" she replies, gently striking Marvin

by **New Visayan Islands** » Sun Jan 05, 2020 8:43 am

Gerald Vicente
At the Stall

"I am well, thank you," Gerald replied, taking stock of the newcomer--Amy, if he heard the name right--before bowing in return. "What of you?" He had to admit, Amy really did cut quite the figure. Blonde, blue-eyed, and well-endowed? The image got him thinking to himself right off the bat.

If only I had been younger...maybe; let's see, the 32-year-old thought as he took his drink back, thanking Isla along the way.

by **AHSCA** » Sun Jan 05, 2020 12:48 pm

The Selkie wrote:Aonas Folracht of the Tribe of Wicklow.
Iliane nodded with a small smile.
"Indeed, I am of Nouvelle-Dunkerque, that's a small city state in the tropics.", she explained, "I think, that I heard of AHSCA. Your Duchesse is in a relationship with a Kyrenaian Princess, right?"
Well, gossip wasn't exactly the most glorious a foreign nation could be known for, but it wasn't the worst, I thought. Still, even I had heard of Princess Aurelia and Duchess Marcella, a love story like one rarely saw these days.
I liked Iliane's voice and her soft accent.

"Ah, you seem to be aware of our own current events are ya?" She got a chuckle out of that. "You are correct, The Duchess and the Desert Princess are both in a relationship. Ah I suppose it's no great surprised given her family lineage. Well of course her mother the former Duchess palyed the straight and narrow and remains happily with her husband today, Marcella of course does as well but her heart went with that Princess. Guess maybe her lineage steering her towards the fairer sex is the one trait she took from her great grandmother that isn't so scandelous among islanders." Oh wow she was getting into a history lesson for some odd reason...Time to steer her ship back into the wind and wrap it up. Note for later, she'd have to practice socializing with Miela more.

"Oh don't mind the ramblings of an island girl like me, I'm going into a lot of history not many would really care about. I suppose what I'm just trying to get at is, it's all a big surprise but for the most part I think most of us are fine with it. Duchess Villa is quite popular among her people. Personally I think it's rather cute, they seem made for each other, they both like the sea, they both like to sail, they both love boats and tea. Then again who doesn't like tea?"

by **Lillorainen** » Sun Jan 05, 2020 1:00 pm

Chris recognized Cladhaire at once, and one more time, he remembered being totally lost on the carpool at the ferry port of Dumhach, watching out for Cel and suddenly hearing a clattering from the roofs of the nearby vehicles. He had asked him, jokingly, if he was waiting for his fox lady arriving from the ferry, then he had recognized him, from the photos Cel had shown to him back in Purgatio.
How their last meeting in Launceston could feel like ages ago, but in the same moment, his arrival at the ferry port could feel like yesterday, was difficult to give a logical statement on - even for Lillos, who were known for not knowing a lot, but being able to explain everything.
Chris had to laugh about the newest tricks Cladhaire had learned.
"Oii, old friend!" - he said to the vulpine. "Looks like someone's training to join the circus?" - he added, jokingly.

Dragan received another hug and a on each cheek when handing his business card over. Not few lads would most certainly wish to swap with the business card, considering the place it got stored at for now.
Indeed, should Amy ever forget his phone number, she would know where to look it up. Of course, since she was calling from abroad, she would have to replace the initial zero of the number by the Federation's international calling code, +997, but Amy would be likely to know that.
Leo grinned inwardly - her friends from Jillich had described Amy as very hearty and lively, almost the polar opposite of Dragan's more calm and considerate kind (opposites attract, eh?), and they absolutely hadn't promised too much.
She said, "He's been waiting for this moment a long time, eh? Now, it'll take yet a bit, until I will be able to carry my own around - but if nothing goes wrong, I'll have mine around, too, next time - when- and wherever that might be."
"I'm just imagining the friendly competition for the exclusive rights for some hot story between the two of you!" - Kira said, laughing.
Leo grinned. "With a special emphasis on friendly, of course!" - she said, smiling.

by **Shikonjima** » Sun Jan 05, 2020 1:01 pm

Kazuo nodded along - aside from being a few years younger, and not designed for ruining the enemy's day, but rather to spy the land for the ships designed for ruining the enemy's day, the Nichibotsu had quite a similar history. Kazuo wasn't sure as to where she was now, but he inwardly decided to ask his parents about it. Either another private guy, or the RSN Museum (which, of course, rather consisted of ISN vessels).
Kazuo just wanted to reply, as Áed threw a question in. The question of all questions.
Both Yelda and Setsuko grinned. Yelda turned to Kazuo. "Do you wish to explain that to him?" - she asked.
Kazuo shrugged. "If we really do need to talk about that incident ... after all, it's nothing I'd be proud of, if I were you." He had to grin, too.
Of course, Yelda had virtually heard the alarm bells ringing in Faye's head, and it was probably about time to end this embarrassing moment. She nodded. "Do it!" - she urged him.
Kazuo took a breath and turned to Áed, and also to the others around. "Okay, then ..." - he said and sighed. "So, of course I don't know how familiar you all are with the strategy game Age of Empires II, but within the player's scene, I'm, let's say, quite known for being fairly good at it." The light understatement of calling himself, a player with an ELO Score well beyond 2000 points, 'fairly good', was, of course, a stylistic device of politeness. "Now, on the first weekend of the last schoolyear, we went onto the boat with our laptops, using the pretty good Wi-Fi of the Toriyama Marina for a LAN-Party, playing a nice, calm round of AoE II. Of course, our differences in skill were a bit large, so I played on the one side on my own, and Yelda with two mates of ours, Sayuri and Eitarou, in one team. We thought, it would be well-balanced in a three-on-one."
He took a sip of lemonade, then continued.
"Eitarou was down fast, though, and defeating Sayuri was a bit harder, but not much of a problem, either. I was also sure, that I would raze Yelda's town in no time, either, although she did have quite a few points, and since we played in a hidden map mode, I couldn't see what she was doing on the other side of the map. I even razed her gate quickly - but then, she decided to be a very bad girl - using the most cowardly and lily-livered means to avoid getting defeated possible in the game!" While grinning, one could see, that he yet hesitated to pronounce the key word. He took another sip of lemonade.
Yelda snorted. "What Kazuo wishes to avoid telling you, is that I went into the most remote corner of the map, built a few walls and castles and unit production buildings first, and then started building a Wonder!" She let a beat pass. "Cowardly and lily-livered for the pros around here, but an absolutely legitimate means to win a game, especially when playing against an opponent you can't beat by combat means even when teaming in three against one!" She turned to Kazuo. "And if you remember - I did an awesome job at defending my Wonder. If you're just late and can't put my Cavalry Archers and Camel hordes down, I can't help it." She grinned and shrugged.
"It's still cowardly, me lass!" - Kazuo said, laughing.
"But demanding a revenge, insisting on playing Regicide mode, where there's only one way to win, and going for me, my base and my King first, is way less cowardly, of course" - Yelda said.
Kazuo shrugged. "If it's the most efficient way to restore my honor, it's a logical thing to do, isn't it?"
Setsuko had to grin every time the story was dug out again. She had known about Kazuo's attitude towards Wonder and Relic victories in normal gamemode before that night, and she had found it very interesting, that Kazuo had let Yelda get away with that - which not only Setsu, but also Sayuri had interpreted as a sign, that Kazuo must have had a little crush on that steppe girl. However, this had remained the only visible evidence ever since, so maybe, they had interpreted too much into that.

by **Polish Prussian Commonwealth** » Sun Jan 05, 2020 2:21 pm

Adelheid let out a 'hmph'.
"Back at home, the local militas get first pick on hand-me-downs from the Reichswehr...at this point, they're basically just reservists in all but name. Some even manage to get tanks, and I heard a few managed to get combat aicraft...granted, they're old T-55s and Fishbeds, but still..."
She abruptly remembered what Yven said. "...I'm sorry, but...What happened with 'Anfa Ridge'?"

by **The Gristolian Imperium** » Sun Jan 05, 2020 6:22 pm

Miss Donatella Pintaral
Pléaráca Beach, Tearmann Island Resort
Walking with Asteria

The Selkie wrote:Asteria Aoibhiúil of the Tribe of Wicklow.
I grinned at Donatella's quite accurate imagination of how an air race looked, but that vanished at the question.
"Yes, from time to time, people crash.", I said and knew, that it most likely implicated also people dying to her. And that was true, too, a danger of the sport, even if most crashes resulted in injuries, not deaths. "But yeah, most air races are going from point a to point b as fast as you can while doing aerial tricks - or rather, that's how most air races I flew are."
I shrugged.
"There are quite a few kinds of air races.", I added.

"Oh, I see," Donatella responded. "Well, you must be at least good enough to have survived your previous races." She wondered, for a moment, if that sounded rude. It would not be the first time something she should not say would fly out of her mouth. "Do you win a lot of races? Honestly, if you did that much racing either you must be very good at it, passionate about the sport, or both!"
As the heiress spoke she could feel her mouth drying up. It was a beautiful beach, but if it going to take a mile hike to get a drink then void help us all...

by **Mediama** » Sun Jan 05, 2020 8:09 pm

The Selkie wrote:
Mediama wrote:Spiorad Ainmhithe Marion thought to herself, What a graceful name for a beautiful species. she hesitated for a moment, someone was waiting for her, but she supposed a few minutes wouldn’t hurt, especially for someone who seemed to take some interest in her clothing and spoke as if they were familiar with it. “It will be my pleasure.” Marion replied back. And so, she picked up her belongings, walked over near the woman, and took a seat next to her, not really aware of her spacing.

She recalled the woman had asked her where she had received such a swimsuit, so she decided to start from there, “I made it myself.” She elaborated further, “I have a real interest in period clothing, even studied costuming in college and university for it.” She pulled out part of her day dress from the carpet bag, “I’m really interested in particular the Victorian and Edwardian periods of dress.” She put the dress back in her carpet bag then smoothed out her swimsuit, “this particular design I had based upon from old records I found from the time period.”

She felt her face had not abated from burning, but continued on, “There aren’t many people like me, but there’s still a sizable amount that still like dressing up in period clothing, and it’s been catching on lately because of the internet and the amount of information it’s giving everyone.” She looked back to the woman, “Pardon for my noticing, but you seem comment as if you’ve done this before, but clearly you haven’t been apart of the trend, how are you familiar with this kind of swimwear?”

Nia Sneachtúil, of Cefnffordd Descent. listened with great interest - she was not only a seamstress, it seemed, but also one, who loved to recreate clothing from days long past, which were in fashion around a century ago.
And, if I may say so, it looked nice.
And I remember Macha mentioning, that she invited someone with that interest, too... might be her, might not be, fact was, that Marionette was a skilled seamstress.
At her question, I replied: "I've seen it worn, a long time ago in a place far, far away from here.", I told her, then shrugged, "Granted, at the time I preferred skinny-dipping, but they wouldn't let me near the beach without one of these things on." I motioned to her dress. "So, my friends and I shrugged and went elsewhere, where they wouldn't control the dress. The pond we chose turned out to be the private fishing pond of a guy, who turned, in time, into my friend as well..." I raised a hand. "...and, no matter what the history books speculate, only my friend."

“The history books?” Marion asked to herself, while she was blushing to herself of seeing the lovely lady in front of her skinny dipping, she was a lot more perplexed with her story of how she became familiar with the type of swimwear she was wearing. “I know it’s a faux pas for someone to ask, but how exactly old are you?” Her blush deepened as she asked half scared of what she was going to find, but more curious than anything else.

by **Minroz** » Sun Jan 05, 2020 11:49 pm

The Selkie wrote: Isla Stiúrthóir of the Tribe of Fingal.
I noticed the woman bumping her husband in his side and I noticed where his eyes were - well, let's be honest here, he had a rather pretty wife and I knew, from myself, that pretty women could be furies when angered.
At the offer, I smiled.
"Sounds awesome, except for one part.", I said and raised a finger, "No paying. Today's a party, I decided to bring enough salads to feed a regiment, so it's on me." I let a beat pass, grinned as I took out a pair of large paper plates. "So, anything you two don't like or can't eat?"

“Really? Oh thank you so much, May God bless you~!” Roksana chirped happily in response to Isla’s mention of non-payment.

Nasrollah’s cue to speak after his wife, “We’re not picky, ma’am. But what we cannot eat is pork or anything to do with it; this includes bacon. Our faith forbids the consumption of pork.”

“Where we’re from, we believed eating pork is unclean. Not only that it’s a sin to consume them.” Roksana adds in, she then shrugged. “I don’t eat them myself but I don’t mind if others eat them. Anyway, can you give us ones without pork if you have any, friend?”

“I’ll go fetch the drinks in the meantime.” The brunette lad said as he walked himself towards the girls (Lykke and Fiete) who provide the drinks, the ones pointed out by Isla earlier.

[“Okay honey~.”] The redhead woman called out before turning to see Isla herself. “Sorry about my husband, he can be uptight but he’s still a man, ahaha~. I have to say I’m looking forward to the party~.” She gave out her friendly grin.

by **The Selkie** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 4:05 am

Isla Saighead of the Tribe of Westmeath.
I smiled at his thanks, while Amy spoke: "I am awesome!", she said with a wide, shining smile, "I study Agronomy in Fortham and finally got out of the city and away from the testing plots - and not only that, I also got to see Filicia again!" I smiled myself. I had a rough estimate as to how close the two sisters were, both by having siblings of my own (myself being the oldest) and by the simple joy in that one smile. "She studies fisheries sciences, specialized in the Archipelago, so she spends a lot of time aboard the Fairtheoir, that's a research vessel of the University of Silverport."

Mervay wrote:Lisolette Camilie Alizee Devienne and Lucas Walker
Clearly and it seemed, the people around them looked at them as a cute couple, which made them blush madly as they walked past everyone. Clearly they were meant for each other.
When they looked at each other, they looked to see their best friends, their partners on all struggles, those that will always be for each other no matter what, those that will always be in love with each other no matter what, those that will be together all their lives, those two were that, a couple that truly loved each other.

They noticed the three girls, clearly sisters taking lemonade for them and waving at the cute couple to join them, they were even taking out ice cubes for Dilly too. It would be disrespecful to not join them after they were taking out all for them so... A exchange of looks and some smiles, off they went to where the three sisters were, grinning at them.

"Mind if we join you girls??"

Lise grinned at them as so did Lucas and their mascot or friend. Of course after asking that they have to tell their names, clearly it was needed and because of respect.

"I'm sorry for my modals, my name is Lisolette, but please call me Lise, the handsome guy at my side is my boyfriend, Lucas and this cute little friend of us is Dilly."

And as such they all bowed at them and smiled at the sisters.

Athena Freezis
She felt someone alongside her as soon as she noticed that she heard someone talk about the wiew, she looked at her side to notice a handsome guy, red haired, tall, muscled young men and clearly pretty too. The lady smiled at him very kindly.

"Absolutely right, the wiew is beautiful and worth the travel if you ask me." She grinned as she looked at him. "Athena, Athena Freezis, nice to meet you Leo." Her smile said it all, she was intrigued about him in a good way. It might be love on first sight or who knows, but clearly she was gonna try and see what are her feelings.

"I believe you are part of Bicini Industries right, one of their models I assume??" She asked at him as she blushed a bit, Of course he is!! He is handsome and pretty!! she added on thought as her face begun to be even more red because of her thoughts.

Vladimir Toschya or Mateo Alfonso Crucitti

It was clear he was all alone, walking and roaming around the beach on his own to whatever fate has for him, his plans for a bright future for his homeland and where at the sametime playing the game to save appareances until he can set his plan in motion and he will entirely set it soon, all it takes was something big to happen to make sure things begin to fall down and luckily there were some events in where he could make things roll.
And this one?? It was one of them. As such he was to focus on his work entirely and straight if he wanted his plans to go alright, then once all done he could enjoy his time here.

He was so focused on his thoughts he didn't noticed the kids running at him as one of them bumped into him and then apologized quickly for that, at which he looked and smiled at him warmly.

"It's fine, just please be more careful..."

It seemed he had humanity with that smile, mostly because they were kids and like everyone else, they were enjoying their time here.
As much as he wanted to know and talk to people with close ties to the Banphrionsa Family, some BI Models, that Princess from Kyrenaria that was alone or the professor which made international headlines because of him owning and restoring a pirate ship; priorities were set and as such first things first with LCN Members Silvio Esecutore and Aurora Alce being the ones on his list, mostly because he would need more than enough guns to supply his army and begin what he wanted to do.

As such he went and approached to see if they were free to talk.

Enya Cíochach of the Tribe of Navan.
Ida smiled and Kiah nodded at the question, if the three of them could join us, I grinned and nodded with good cheer, handing them their bottles. "Sure, go ahead!"
The two introduced themselves and their "cute little friend", an estimation I wholeheartedly agreed with, their names were Lise and Lucas - and Lucas was good looking. On the other hand, I had a boyfriend, Ida had an It's-complicated and Kiah had a cat, who was quite possessive, so he held some interest, but not romantic.
"It's alright.", Ida said with a smile, taking over talking as the oldest sister, "I'm Ida, those are my younger sisters Kiah and Enya!"
Kiah waved and gave a friendly "Hi!", while I showed more enthusiasm.
"Hi!", I almost gushed, "It's nice to meet you! Dilly is cute!"
I offered him my hand to smell.
"I always thought, that the Cleanóiril was endemic to the Free Lands.", Ida said with a smile, "Where's he from?"

Leonard Rualacha of the Tribe of Wicklow.
I nodded.
"Indeed, I am a model for Bicíní Industries.", I said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. I had a small blush on my cheeks at the very nice smile. She was also quite attractive, to be honest. "I also freshly graduated school, am a swimmer and a Marcach, a man of the blade - though, I must admit, that I am the latter only semi-professionally. I will most likely never measure up to the best of the League, but that should not stop me from trying!"
I grinned at the last.
"What are you doing, Athena?", I asked.

Aurora Alce.
We had quickly left Finn's, Jerald's, Evelyn's and Kiana's conversation - of course we knew Kiana, and the company she worked for, and while we partially served the same market, we were not direct competitors. It was complicated.
The LCN had many ventures and so did the CCVF.
Mangaire only had one.
When Mateo/Vladimir - I neither knew his real name, nor his cover name - approached us, we were free to talk, my boss using a bottle opener to open a bottle of lemonade for both him and me as I handed him a third bottle.
I smiled at him.
"Sciao!", I greeted him with a smile and good cheer, using the Lutetiian Greeting, "Would you like to join us for a lemonade?"

Fintan Muc of the Tribe of Cork.
As Alexandra pulled me into dancing position, I blushed and I was surprised.
Alexandra was such a beautiful woman, yet she seemed to be immediately okay with dancing with me, apparently not knowing, who I was: Fintan Muc of the Tribe of Cork, singer and bassist of the Selkie-Rock Trio Mórbhileog.
My two bandmates were currently more occupied with Miss Fiete and she seemed to be willing to entertain herself with the two lads.
I, meanwhile, recognized the standard dancing position for foreign dances, I placed a hand on her side, hesitant at first, but fine with it after a moment.
"I am fine with your dress...", I replied, also considering, that I wore swimming trunks myself, "...and I would not want to trouble you."
Her teasing tone made my blush only go deeper and I had to force myself to keep eye contact and to not look at her body from up close. She was a beautiful woman.
"Let's go!", I said as I heard the Saraighs, BI's very own fiddle-and-flute-duo, call for the next dance.

Caoimhe Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
I smiled.
"Pleasure to meet you, Cass.", I said with small bow of my head. She was terribly nervous, and apparently shy to the point of surpassing cute shyness. "It's indeed fun to meet new people - and to meet old friends." I motioned to Marie. "Marie and I go back a bit."
I let a beat pass.
"How about you join us delivering the things she and I brought with us to the supplies stockpile?", I asked Cass, also implicating a similar question to Marie, if she was okay with the other girl joining us.

Yven Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
I was dumbfolded at the question for a moment, before I remembered: Heidi was not a Selkie. Of course she would not know of that occasion.
"The Battle of Anfa Ridge in 1903.", I explained, "After several of the Elders died in quick succession, a foreign power decided to invade the Free Lands. A relatively small expeditionary corps, only a few thousand men, a few canons and machine guns. Lots of the latter." I sighed. "They landed near Scilly, the Council of Cities determined to band together again to oppose that foreign invasion. The Gíománra and the militias were mobilized, mercenaries hired, everything. It was determined, that they were most likely to take one of three possible routes to move to the northeast to Lake Mór to conquer the most important cities. The least likely was to be secured by ten thousand young men and women of the Younger Militias, with pikes, crossbows, chainmail, bows, arrows, muzzle loading canons..."
I let a beat pass.
"The enemy took that route.", I added, "He met the Younger Militias at the Ridge near a town called Anfa, hence the name of Anfa Ridge. The Younger Militias, hopelessly outgunned, managed to defeat the enemy under heavy losses." I smiled. "One positive effect in the aftermath was the foundation of the Free Lands in 1905."

Asteria Aoibhiúil of the Tribe of Wicklow.
I laughed, not offended in the slightest.
"I am fairly good, I'd say!", I told her, "Won a few, got second and third in others, went under also-ran quite often, too. Won the Mianach last year and won the Khana Amana Trophy in Kyrenaia a few months ago."
I was also drying up, to be honest, but there was one simple solution: Closeby, there was a cooler, guarded by a man, who watched some girl playing with a baby, smiling at the scene. I recognized the girl as Princess Marla bint-Amina, the adopted daughter of Khana Amina bint-Karim of Kyrenaia, who had given me the Khana Amana Trophy and a kiss on the cheek for the victor a few months ago.
I nodded into the man's, and the cooler's, direction: "Donatella, can you do me a little favour?", I asked of her, "Can you get the two of us a lemonade, please?"
It was usual for such parties, at least among the Selkie, that those, who brought food and drink handed them out free of charge, so I was not worried, that he would ask her for anything worse then a dance later tonight.

Nia Sneachtúil, of Cefnffordd Descent.
I was not offended with the question of how old I was, but I knew, that she was imagining me jumping into the water with nothing on me but my hair - her blush said it all.
However...
"I'm afraid, that I can not give you a straight answer.", I said, a bit sad myself, my wolf ears drooping a bit, "I was born long before the Selkie came to these lands, when the Mountains were young and the forests were ancient." I smiled, softly. "Last I checked, the first document mentioning me was from 126 CE, by foreign calendar. At the time, I was still going by Nia with the Snow-Hair."
It was quite clear, where that nickname came from.
"It must be confusing to you.", I said, then added: "We Spiorad grow incredibly old... if we can die naturally at all."

Isla Stiúrthóir of the Tribe of Fingal.
I smiled, sure that Fiete and Lykke would be happy to give out any sort of non-alcoholic drink they had on stock, without any issues - or asking for money, either. The unwritten rule of Selkie-Parties.
"Alright, no pork.", I said with a smile and knew, which ones I would give them. As I piled them up, I smiled at the woman, adding: "And it is no issue. Your husband, I mean." You had him quite well under control, my dear., I though to myself. "I look forward to the party as well, it promises to be a nice evening, with good music, better musicians, the best food and, most importantly for a single like myself, many strapping young men in swimming clothes!"
I winked at Roksana - who said, that only men were allowed to admire the female physique and not the other way around?
I was finished with the first plate around that time and placed it in front of her, using the spoon to indicate to three of the salads: "A potato salad, after me Mam's recipe. It has potatoes, butter and a dressing of mayonaise.", I explained the first, then moved on to the second, "Cál ceannann or White Headed Salad. It's made of potatoes, unsalted butter, milk, onions, leek, kale, cabbage and a few herbs. We usually give it as a side to meat-meals, but it works fine on its own, too." Better not mention, that I had this recipe from a magazine..., I thought, as I moved on to the third. "And this is a salad made from local fruits, freshly bought this morning. Mangoes are a huge part of it."
I let a beat pass, smiling at Roksana: "Your husband will get three different ones. I hope you don't mind that..."
I had eight different kinds of salads here, two of them included pigs' meat in some form or the other, and it was, in my opinion, impossible to give meaningful portions of all six on one large plate.

Lillorainen wrote:Chris recognized Cladhaire at once, and one more time, he remembered being totally lost on the carpool at the ferry port of Dumhach, watching out for Cel and suddenly hearing a clattering from the roofs of the nearby vehicles. He had asked him, jokingly, if he was waiting for his fox lady arriving from the ferry, then he had recognized him, from the photos Cel had shown to him back in Purgatio.
How their last meeting in Launceston could feel like ages ago, but in the same moment, his arrival at the ferry port could feel like yesterday, was difficult to give a logical statement on - even for Lillos, who were known for not knowing a lot, but being able to explain everything.
Chris had to laugh about the newest tricks Cladhaire had learned.
"Oii, old friend!" - he said to the vulpine. "Looks like someone's training to join the circus?" - he added, jokingly.

Dragan received another hug and a on each cheek when handing his business card over. Not few lads would most certainly wish to swap with the business card, considering the place it got stored at for now.
Indeed, should Amy ever forget his phone number, she would know where to look it up. Of course, since she was calling from abroad, she would have to replace the initial zero of the number by the Federation's international calling code, +997, but Amy would be likely to know that.
Leo grinned inwardly - her friends from Jillich had described Amy as very hearty and lively, almost the polar opposite of Dragan's more calm and considerate kind (opposites attract, eh?), and they absolutely hadn't promised too much.
She said, "He's been waiting for this moment a long time, eh? Now, it'll take yet a bit, until I will be able to carry my own around - but if nothing goes wrong, I'll have mine around, too, next time - when- and wherever that might be."
"I'm just imagining the friendly competition for the exclusive rights for some hot story between the two of you!" - Kira said, laughing.
Leo grinned. "With a special emphasis on friendly, of course!" - she said, smiling.

Shikonjima wrote:Kazuo nodded along - aside from being a few years younger, and not designed for ruining the enemy's day, but rather to spy the land for the ships designed for ruining the enemy's day, the Nichibotsu had quite a similar history. Kazuo wasn't sure as to where she was now, but he inwardly decided to ask his parents about it. Either another private guy, or the RSN Museum (which, of course, rather consisted of ISN vessels).
Kazuo just wanted to reply, as Áed threw a question in. The question of all questions.
Both Yelda and Setsuko grinned. Yelda turned to Kazuo. "Do you wish to explain that to him?" - she asked.
Kazuo shrugged. "If we really do need to talk about that incident ... after all, it's nothing I'd be proud of, if I were you." He had to grin, too.
Of course, Yelda had virtually heard the alarm bells ringing in Faye's head, and it was probably about time to end this embarrassing moment. She nodded. "Do it!" - she urged him.
Kazuo took a breath and turned to Áed, and also to the others around. "Okay, then ..." - he said and sighed. "So, of course I don't know how familiar you all are with the strategy game Age of Empires II, but within the player's scene, I'm, let's say, quite known for being fairly good at it." The light understatement of calling himself, a player with an ELO Score well beyond 2000 points, 'fairly good', was, of course, a stylistic device of politeness. "Now, on the first weekend of the last schoolyear, we went onto the boat with our laptops, using the pretty good Wi-Fi of the Toriyama Marina for a LAN-Party, playing a nice, calm round of AoE II. Of course, our differences in skill were a bit large, so I played on the one side on my own, and Yelda with two mates of ours, Sayuri and Eitarou, in one team. We thought, it would be well-balanced in a three-on-one."
He took a sip of lemonade, then continued.
"Eitarou was down fast, though, and defeating Sayuri was a bit harder, but not much of a problem, either. I was also sure, that I would raze Yelda's town in no time, either, although she did have quite a few points, and since we played in a hidden map mode, I couldn't see what she was doing on the other side of the map. I even razed her gate quickly - but then, she decided to be a very bad girl - using the most cowardly and lily-livered means to avoid getting defeated possible in the game!" While grinning, one could see, that he yet hesitated to pronounce the key word. He took another sip of lemonade.
Yelda snorted. "What Kazuo wishes to avoid telling you, is that I went into the most remote corner of the map, built a few walls and castles and unit production buildings first, and then started building a Wonder!" She let a beat pass. "Cowardly and lily-livered for the pros around here, but an absolutely legitimate means to win a game, especially when playing against an opponent you can't beat by combat means even when teaming in three against one!" She turned to Kazuo. "And if you remember - I did an awesome job at defending my Wonder. If you're just late and can't put my Cavalry Archers and Camel hordes down, I can't help it." She grinned and shrugged.
"It's still cowardly, me lass!" - Kazuo said, laughing.
"But demanding a revenge, insisting on playing Regicide mode, where there's only one way to win, and going for me, my base and my King first, is way less cowardly, of course" - Yelda said.
Kazuo shrugged. "If it's the most efficient way to restore my honor, it's a logical thing to do, isn't it?"
Setsuko had to grin every time the story was dug out again. She had known about Kazuo's attitude towards Wonder and Relic victories in normal gamemode before that night, and she had found it very interesting, that Kazuo had let Yelda get away with that - which not only Setsu, but also Sayuri had interpreted as a sign, that Kazuo must have had a little crush on that steppe girl. However, this had remained the only visible evidence ever since, so maybe, they had interpreted too much into that.

Amy Laoch of the Tribe of Dundalk.
I grinned at the thought of healthy competition, that never hurt!
"I can imagine, that you waited for this moment a long time, Dragan.", I said with a smile at him, my voice quite fond, "I hope, that it did not disappoint?"
My last was a bit more teasing - I knew, that many men and quite a few women would love to swap with the business card, but as soon as I had the chance, I would go and deposit it in my little handbag. It was nothing against Dragan, but I didn't want the card, a first edition Dragan Bandera Business Card, to get damaged or even destroyed tonight.
And I knew, how to work a phone, thank you very much.

Celina Treoraí of the Tribe of Louth.
Cladhaire tittered and I giggled, too, especially as the vulpine went to the edge of my shoulder and looked down meaningfully at my chest, then at me.
"Oh, alright...", I said and angled my arm a bit so that he could jump down easily and take up residence in the crook of my arm, snuggled up against my breast. I smiled at Chris: "The main reason why he learned that. He might be weaned by now, but that does not stop him from enjoying being carried around!"
I turned towards the beach, angled my other arm in the clear will to link it with Chris, and smiled at him.
"Your Selkie got better.", I said, "I think, that you are loosing your Rhenish Accent a bit... come, I want to introduce you to a few people!"

Faye Donn of the Tribe of Wexford.
Raidri and I sighed in relief at the realization, that the story was actually harmless.
Áed seemed to be captivated.
At the end of it, he said: "So, this Age of Empires, is it a bit like Rúid!?", he asked, "That's a strategy game by Forbróir, complete with base building, army composition, resource collection, logistics and everything. There aren't any wonders, though..."
I was a bit surprised to learn, that Áed was informed about computer games that well, I quite honestly had no idea what in the name of Rhiannon's Teats they were talking about and I think, it showed. Raidri seemed to be better informed.
"There are Hero-Units, though.", Raidri said, "Powerful units, which are created, when a singular unit kills enough enemies, and who have combat bonuses and area bonuses. Quite powerful indeed!"

by **Palmyrion** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:20 am

The Selkie wrote:
Palmyrion wrote:Kiana took Jerald and Evelyn to a group of men in another corner of the party, who were apparently talking to someone of high importance. An HVI - High Value Individual - so to say, from his ROTC days in college, and quite a tall, muscularly built man at that. He used to have that physique (sans the height), but years of desk work since his college graduate from the University of Palmyrion meant that his lifestyle became even more sedentary, him having gained a few kilos on top of his college weight.

Kiana and the group of men conversed for a while before turning to Jerald and Evelyn to introduce them. "Jerald, Evelyn, if I may introduce, Silvio Esecutore and Aurora Alce, of the Casa di Commercio dei Viticoltori a Fortezza, as well as our host..." said Kiana before turning to the blonde man, "...Finnegan Drisiúr of the Tribe of Cork of Bicíní Industries." she added afterwards.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. Please, just call me Finn." Finn said, whilst awkwardly offered hands for a shake. Jerald took his hand and shook it, afterwards introducing himself as well. "A pleasure as well to meet you, Mr. Drisiur. Or Finn, as you prefer to be called." Jerald said as he looked at Finn in the eyes square. "I'm Jerald de Leon, CEO of De Leon Armoury - the largest small arms manufacturer of the Royal Palmyrian Commonwealth." he added, with a bit of pride behind the prestige of his position as the man at the helm of Palmyrion's largest small arms manufacturer. He then released Finn's hand and introduced his fiancee as well. "Finn, this is my fiancee, Evelyn del Rey. We've been together for the past decade." he said as Evelyn extended her hand for another handshake.

Kiana Rúisc of the Tribe of Waterford.
I saw, that Finn smiled with a bit of interest in his eyes: He was a businessman himself, and well-acquainted with the CEOs of several arms manufacturers of the Free Lands and their distributors. I knew, that he knew, that this hardly made him an expert in the field or the market, but I also knew, that he could hold his own.
"It's a great pleasure to meet you, Miss del Rey.", he said and bowed his head lightly, then grinned as he admitted: "I would introduce my wife Eithne and our son Ilia, but the two of them are currently occupied elsewhere along the beach." He shrugged. "As long as they have fun, I am all in."
I smiled and nodded, it sounded sensible.
"Please join us, Jerald, Evelyn, Kiana - the three of us were just talking about the year from the perspective of us businessmen.", Finn invited us, then motioned to Silvio, "Mister Esecutore was just telling us about the wine trade and how it boomed as of late for Lutetiian viniculturalists."

Finn was visibly elated. Jerald wasn't quite acquainted with armaments manufacturers other than the Palmyrian Commonwealth's own, as well as the regional arms magnates of Greater Dienstad, namely LAIX, Lyran Arms, and Covenant. Who wouldn't want to talk business with businessmen? Surely, too many connections is, well, too many, but he needed to expand to other frontiers than Palmyrion (and they've saturated the Palmyrian market anyways, with peer competitor Tiglao nipping at their bootheels).

"After you, Finn." Jerald said, seemingly stoic as he always was.

by **Lillorainen** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 9:15 am

Cladhaire now unambgiuously made clear, that he wanted to switch locations, so Cel angled her arm a bit, to let him jump down and snuggle up against her breast. He still enjoyed being carried around, even though he was weaned a bit by now.
Chris had almost intuitively switched to Selkie, a language deemed incredibly hard to learn by many, not only due to the unusual grammar and pronunciation and melodic cadences, but also because of the sheer number of regional variants and the lack of a standardized variant - if this was the case with any language one wanted to learn, it usually made sense to focus on a particular variant to adopt, and with the first native speaker he had ever met (coincidentally the one he was in a relationship with) being from Cuan, the direction it had gone into was clear.
Then again, the points above were usually also said about German - which quite did have a standard variant, or rather multiple national standard variants akin to other pluricentric languages like English, but in some places, and Chris happened to be from one of these, people rather stuck to their dialects. Yet, many people mastered this, so Chris had never seen a reason to assume, that Selkie would be this much more difficult to become fluent at. After all, there were much more difficult languages to learn, and surprisingly many of these were spoken in countries starting with 'Sh'.
Be it as it may ...
"It's getting better, eh?" - he said, linking arms with Cel. "Well, then, let's go!"

Dragan was totally aware, that the card would soon find a new place, in order not to get damaged or, Gods forbid, destroyed.
"It didn't!" - he said. And he meant it - the moment had been exactly as celebratory and fun as he had wanted it to be. Granted, where he was from, and apparently also not in these parts, it was a bit less grave and formal than in places like Shikonjima, where business cards changed their owner almost like in an act of state, with both hands and a light bow, the only thing missing would be an orchestra playing. They really used each and every of the all but infinite options to go crazy over things ... then again, who would want them to be different?
And no problem - always at your service!
"I even know what would make this moment even better!" - Kira said. "Something cold to drink!"
Dragan and Leo nodded. Yeah, that wasn't a bad idea.

by **Shikonjima** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 9:16 am

Kazuo nodded. Rúid! rang a bell with him, although he had yet to test that one - he took a note in minds, reminding himself of doing so as soon as he would have the opportunity.
"Aside from the Heroes, which are only available in certain campaigns and on custom maps, and the Wonders, which lead to a win of their owner by default, unless it's destroyed within a given time, it's pretty much like that" - he said. "You start of with a Town Center, which produces Villagers and can collect all sorts of resources, and have to build up a base and an economy, until you have enough resources to put a military up - simply spoken. There are different civilizations, each of them with some unique units, techs, and bonuses." He let a beat pass. "The civilization choice can sometimes be crucial for how a game ends ... although I must add, that the Mongol Mangudai parked in front of the Wonder of our lily in here" - he threw a glance at Yelda, grinning, "are incredibly hard to counter with almost everything, especially from distance."
"Another good reason for my civilization choice" - Yelda interjected, "aside from, well, the obvious one."
"I yet have to give Rúid! a shot" - Kazuo continued. "What I'm also looking forward to is the release of Fushigi no Jidai, another real-time strategy, and pretty much the Shikonjimanese response to AoE and other RTS working after a similar principle. The name roughly translates as 'Age of Wonders' and refers to a historical era of our history, around ..." - he thought for a second, converting the era system, which the Shikonjimanese calendar system was based on, into the international calendar, "... 900 to 1300 CE, and is much based on that era, but also includes other civilizations that played a role in that era. The release is projected for April."
"Of course, it will have to compete with quite a few classics, including AoE II - which, despite now being pretty exactly twenty years old, is still popular" - Yelda said. "But there will be Wonders, too, and if the previews are anything to go by, not only few of them. And, at least in my case, lots of Mangudai guarding them!"
"... at least until they can say hello to my Swordfighters!" - Kazuo said.
Setsuko laughed. "Make sure I'll be around when you two have your first test run against each other!"

by **Kuronami** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 2:58 pm

The Selkie wrote:Galen Lannaire of the Tribe of Louth.
The arms of the girl slung around me, we rode like the winds.
I knew, that despite the violent shaking, she would have fun, and despite Kean always seeming so serious, he would be close behind us, the other girl in front of him.
And there he was, pulling up alongside, the hair of his girl flying behind them like a golden banner.
It was neck to neck, but it was also a whole lot of fun to run down the total of six kilometers in full tilt, jockeying my horse along the way.
As the creek came close, we ran full tilt, our mounts jumped over the little stream with ease - at the same time.
On the other side, we came to a stop after a few hundred meters, me grinning and Kean wearing a small smile.
"That was fun!", I said, and turned to look at the girl behind me, to see, if she agreed.

Bianca had a great time on horseback getting really going. Don't tell her mother but occasionally her father rode with her at that speed, although they weren't leaping over the streams like this one did. It was always a fun time and this was no different. "Heee it was a lot of fun. Don'tcha think, Isabel?"

Isabel looked a little petrified from the whole experience at first but slowly a smile crawled across her face "Hahaha yes actually, it was quite fun! A good race with you." Honestly it was scary but exhilarating. "You guys really are skilled horseman!" Bianca chimed with excitement "I think you probably put Kuronamians to shame and the horse is our national animal!"

Isabel didn't reply but internally she said they're good but you'll still become better! it was written on her face even if Bianca was oblivious to it. "It was a lot of fun." Isabel concurred with Bianca "I've ridden but not quite like that. Maybe Bianca has."

"Well papa has taken me for more brisk rides maybe close to that but still not with big jumps"

by **Hanoverian Great Britain** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 3:57 pm

As the two stood holding each other lightly, Alexandra could only genuinely smile at the young man's remarks. "Well then, suit yourself!". As the call for the next dance sounded to their ears, she took a mere two seconds to turn at the source of the sound before turning back to her partner. "As you wish", said Alexandra as she suddenly pulled him to a remarkably close distance, while at the same time, gently bringing him aside to the dancing spot. "So tell me, why are you such charming to ask me for a dance in these kind of outfits?", inquired her in an another teasing manner, taking note of their chosen outfits for the dance. As she maintained the close distance, her hazel eyes fixated itself onto his brown eyes and her fingers, fashioned by her maroon colored nails curled gently around his waist.

Personally, for Alexandra, while it might be a huge blow should her royal status be disclosed, it is seemingly unlikely that someone familiar of her should ever caught her dancing in her bikini with an another man in his swim trunk, here at this faraway land.

by **Polish Prussian Commonwealth** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 9:22 pm

The Selkie wrote:
Confederate American SU wrote:

Pickett blinked. He was that infamous? Well, it was bound to happen. Those hitpieces really did contribute to his infamy. Still, he definitely recognized the vulpine features on Cao. She had to be from Selkie or somewhere near by. He always was interested in them and seeing one up close was a new experience. She also was really nice. Marie too. It even made him smile softly to actually receive positive attention.

That smile would disappear though when Marie asked him for his name. I can't say my real name! She'd figure out who I am! "U-uhm, I'm Cass. Nice to meet you." God damn it! That's not going to fool her. The one time people actually like you, they're going to realize who you are and get back to treating you like scum! "It's no problem. I...actually felt kind of lonely, so it's nice to meet some new people!" He then gave the two women a fake, awkward smile, hiding the anxiety within.

Caoimhe Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
I smiled.
"Pleasure to meet you, Cass.", I said with small bow of my head. She was terribly nervous, and apparently shy to the point of surpassing cute shyness. "It's indeed fun to meet new people - and to meet old friends." I motioned to Marie. "Marie and I go back a bit."
I let a beat pass.
"How about you join us delivering the things she and I brought with us to the supplies stockpile?", I asked Cass, also implicating a similar question to Marie, if she was okay with the other girl joining us.

Yven Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
I was dumbfolded at the question for a moment, before I remembered: Heidi was not a Selkie. Of course she would not know of that occasion.
"The Battle of Anfa Ridge in 1903.", I explained, "After several of the Elders died in quick succession, a foreign power decided to invade the Free Lands. A relatively small expeditionary corps, only a few thousand men, a few canons and machine guns. Lots of the latter." I sighed. "They landed near Scilly, the Council of Cities determined to band together again to oppose that foreign invasion. The Gíománra and the militias were mobilized, mercenaries hired, everything. It was determined, that they were most likely to take one of three possible routes to move to the northeast to Lake Mór to conquer the most important cities. The least likely was to be secured by ten thousand young men and women of the Younger Militias, with pikes, crossbows, chainmail, bows, arrows, muzzle loading canons..."
I let a beat pass.
"The enemy took that route.", I added, "He met the Younger Militias at the Ridge near a town called Anfa, hence the name of Anfa Ridge. The Younger Militias, hopelessly outgunned, managed to defeat the enemy under heavy losses." I smiled. "One positive effect in the aftermath was the foundation of the Free Lands in 1905."

Marie
Marie nodded. "Aye, sorry for starin' at you like that." She grinned. "You're always welcome to join us! Where are you from, Cass? And of course, feel free to join us in dropping off a few bits of food."

Adelheid

Adelheid nodded solemnly.
After a long silence, she spoke again.
"There was a similar incident, long ago, in Prussia-Poland. Back when it was still the Kingdom of Poland, during the Napoleonic wars, during the...War of the 4th Coalition, I think. During the Battle of Auerstadt, I think. They call it 'The Last Charge of the Hussars' at home...the Prussians got creamed badly, everything was going to shit and they were on the verge of rout. King Fredrick William had been keeping back a regiment of heavy cavalry(Some say full-on Winged Hussars, but likely just lancers) from Poland as a reserve. Of course, that had all gone phut, so they were ordered to cover part of the army as they withdrew. It was more or less a suicide mission...and not one man shirked. They just mounted their horses, lowered their lances, and charged. Not one man out of the whole regiment survived to see the next morning...It was far cry from 1683, but it worked."

Adelheid smirked. "They say that a couple of the men who lived through that route later helped Fredrick behead Napoleon at Waterloo. Thing was on a pike outside of Konigsberg up until a few years ago, when pap finally decided to bury the hatchet and send it back to France to join the rest of his body."

by **Confederate American SU** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 10:16 pm

Casey had a sudden mood change as they suddenly became friendly with him. Apparently, the two girls were close. And, Marie's grin was...kind of cute, especially with the utility suit. She seemed...so reliable. "Oh, I'm from America!" the newcomer answered with an excited smile, clasping his hands, "Specifically from the Great State of Pennsylvania." His face was bright and cheery, and it seemed genuine. It really was. "Though, I'm not exactly good at carrying things. I don't know if I would be of much help," Pickett sighed, looking down at the sand. At 4'10" and with a slender frame, he probably couldn't lift anything heavy at all.

by **Mediama** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 10:55 pm

While Marion was listening to what she had to say, she had also observed Nia’s ear movement, it was so adorable that it gave her an urge to want to scratch behind her ears to make her feel better. Further observations of her white hair made the origins of the nickname apparent, but there were other important matters for her to address aside from her little girl crush on the Spiorad.

Like the possibility that she was thousands of years old and was possibly immortal.

“Ah... I see, that would explain how you’re familiar with this.” Marion fixed her skirt. Though scores of more questions popped into her mind, she can’t help but smile a little at some of the implications, “Goodness, I can’t imagine being able to see this kind of fashion at its prime, while I could make drawings come to life, it’s completely different to see so many people wear that similar fashion in person.” after having a careful look at Nia, she added with a darker blush, “And might I dare say this kind of wear may look pretty on you Miss Nia.”

by **New Visayan Islands** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 8:08 am

Gerald Vicente
At the Stall

"Is that so, Amy?" Gerald replied. It was clear in his eyes that there was a hint of interest; while he was by education and profession a manager, it didn't hurt for him to have some familiarity with seacraft. "Must be a charmed life, then; I took a double major in the University of San Carlos. Business Administration, majors in Human Resources Management and Operations Management. Compare to you, I was educated for rear echelon duties; when I was assigned to Victoria Shipyards - Selkie Branch, I had a lot of reading to catch up with. Plenty of time too, seeing as I was aboard the Adamantine Soul. Say what you want about sailing extremely long distances, but it does make for good time to think.

"What of you, Isla?" Gerald asked, requesting more drinks for the three of them.

by **The Selkie** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 10:45 am

Aonas Folracht of the Tribe of Wicklow.
Iliane nodded, and I knew, what she was thinking: Yes, not many would care for the history of the UIS, yet not many would care for the history of Nouvelle-Dunkerque, either. So, why not start with caring for each other's history now?
She was a curious girl, to be honest...
"I like tea, too.", she replied, "Though, from the images, the two seem to have more in common then just their love for the sea and for ships and for tea. Otherwise, half of my school's Boating Club would have a good chance with either of them." She shook her head. "No, on the few images, where they are together, one sees, how much they fit together." She let a beat pass. "My Mother has long suspected, that under the hard shell of a Kyrenaian Princess, Aurelia hides a very soft core, a wounded girl, ripped out of her known world to her father's side in order to become a Princess of a land, which's language she didn't even speak... her finding healing with Marcella... it's very romantic."
Dad and I looked at each other - neither of us were men, who could work with the category of 'romantic'...

Brenda Iarnród of the Tribe of Louth.
"Oh, we have enough of those ourselves.", I said with a bit of pride in our own country, "Areas for hiking and riding, areas for survival and areas, where it'll be very likely, that you won't survive."
Ribin nodded. "If ya join the main group later...", she advised, "...look for Macha and Lyra Cúnamh, they're Children of the Great Woods. They'll be more then happy to tell stories about the dark woods, which they call their home."
I gave an agreeing hum and clicked my tongue to get Marvin's attention and him eventually back to us.

Kiana Rúisc of the Tribe of Waterford.
"Before we get back into the discussion...", Esecutore said with a small, apologetic smile and a small bow to Finn, "...I am afraid, that Aurora and I have to depart you. It was a great pleasure, Finn."
"Indeed, that it was.", BI's boss said with a small bow in return, winked charmingly at Aurora, who smiled, clearly amused and slightly charmed, "I have your business card, Silvio, and if everything else fails, I ask Heardread. I haven't forgotten your words about the quality of Lutetiian wool and I am sure, that Eithne would want to test that out, too."
Esecutore nodded. "We'll see each other then.", he said and after the obligatory round of goodbyes, the two were gone. I would spot them next time conversing with a fellow I didn't recognize.
That all done, Finn turned to Jerald and Evelyn - two people, who Esecutore and Alce had left out of their goodbyes apparently by design - and smiled. "So much for viniculture. I must admit, that I am not much of a wine drinker anyways... I am, however, very fond of Spiorad na Bainne, spirit of milk, a drink of fermented sheep or cow milk. It comes from the Icy Shore, in the north of the Mainland, where both I and Bicini Industries are from."

Galen Lannaire of the Tribe of Louth.
Kean and I smiled at each other at being called 'skilled horsemen', who probably put their own countrymen to shame despite the horse being their national animal. It were slight understatements, in our opinion, as horsemanship was so deeply ingrained into our culture, that there were a lot of kids, who learned how to ride a horse before they learned how to write their own names (myself and Kean included).
Their joy and enthusiasm was not lost on me and neither was it on Kean, though.
Isabel, behind me, looked a bit scared, but that quickly subsided, while Bianca seemed to have huge dreams of becoming a horsewoman herself.
"I wish you luck.", Kean told Bianca, smiling softly, "Horses are wonderful animals, no matter what wind and rain, no matter how much sun or dust, they will always carry you safely." At that, he petted the side of his own steed's throat, smiling and nodding to Bianca, inviting her to do the same. "Take good care of them and they'll take good care of you, as my Dad always says."
I nodded, turned and led us a bit downstream, where a small bridge, nothing too fancy, would allow us to cross without any daring deeds of aerial time, and smiled.
"Many people can ride, but not all of them are horsemen.", I said, "Becoming a horseman requires not only skill, but also dedication and a lot of time, isn't that right?"
I smiled at my horse, who snorted - either in agreement or derision... or because a few grains of sand had come into her nose.
Either of the three.

Fintan Muc of the Tribe of Cork.
She brought me quite close to herself - not yet close enough to indicate romantic interest, but close enough to indicate interest, as far as I knew Teressian Ballroom Etiquette, which was quite limited to be honest. I did not mind, the dance was slow enough to allow for a bit of conversation.
And for teasing, as she asked me: "So tell me, why are you such charming to ask me for a dance in these kind of outfits?"
Her eyes were focused onto mine, which I returned, her hand around my waist as we moved to the music played by the Saraighs.
I still spluttered for a moment, then replied: "This is a beach party, so why not dance in beach clothing?", I explained my logic.
She was beautiful - for all I cared, she could be the Queen of the World (with the notable exception of the Free Lands), but right now, Alexandra was my dancing partner...

Yven Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
I nodded.
"We were less...", I was silent for a moment about a right term, "...symbolic in our treatment of the enemy. The wounded were treated, the dead were buried in a mass grave - and exhumed a few years ago for repatriation - and the prisoners of war were marched to Scuab and held there until the fighting was over. They themselves were rather surprised about how well they were treated."
I shrugged.
"Then again, there are enough tales of Marcach cutting off the head of Christian Knights during the Crusade, so...", I said and shrugged, "I guess, that we all have times in our histories, when there was a need to be symbolic, to drive a few points home."

Caoimhe Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
I smiled, shook my head.
"Do the best you can, then no one can hold anything against you.", I told Cassey, handing her a bag with a bit of stuff, something not too heavy and something, which could not break that easily. "That's what Milady Macha always says." I smiled at my two new friends and then, my own things in my arms, motioned for them to follow me. "Come! Ilia will be expecting these!"

Nia Sneachtúil, of Cefnffordd Descent.
I smiled at her enthusiasm - it was not a mocking smile, but an honest, happy smile. While the times, when people wore these clothes, were not exactly my happiest times, it was still a good time. And seeing someone being so interested, so enthusiastic about the times I actually saw...
It made me happy.
I did not notice the crush Marion was developing.
And I even had a nice, handy, little excuse: There were two girls, both twelve Springs of age, one with golden eyes and silver hair, which she wore in twin pigtails, the other with black hair and blue eyes, which shone like sapphires as she spotted me. In the spirit of the beach party, both wore swimsuits, cute and girly ones with lots of frills and in bright colours.
They both called out: "Colceatrar Nia!"
I had to smile at Marion. "One moment, please.", I asked of her and then received both girls into a little hug. They had been away for a few minutes, using the portable toilets, and not on a circumnavigation of the world. A few moments later, both stood in front of Marion, grinned. "Marion, if I may introduce? My cousins, Tea and Meava."
At the name Tea, the silver-haired girl bowed her head politely, while Meava was the black-haired one.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Marion.", Meava said with a strong Selkie-Accent, rolling Rs and dropped vowels, and smiled, "Your swimsuit looks cute!"

Isla Saighead of the Tribe of Westmeath.
At several points, Amy nodded in agreement, grinned at the point about having catching up to do - the thing was, she was quite familiar with that particular problem...
When he turned to me and ordered a new round (which Lykke quickly delivered, freshly from the cooler), I smiled.
"I'm fine, too, thank you. I currently have holidays from school.", I explained, smiling a bit wider, "I'll graduate next year and compete for Riverwood's Mounted Crossbows in at least five different tournaments. After that, I plan to study, too... business and economy in Leuda, maybe with the Guild, maybe with the University, don't know yet. The plan, however, is to become a Merchant."
Amy nodded. "Awesome! You thought it out more then I did by the time graduation was only a year away...", she admitted with a bit of sheepishness.

Lillorainen wrote:Cladhaire now unambgiuously made clear, that he wanted to switch locations, so Cel angled her arm a bit, to let him jump down and snuggle up against her breast. He still enjoyed being carried around, even though he was weaned a bit by now.
Chris had almost intuitively switched to Selkie, a language deemed incredibly hard to learn by many, not only due to the unusual grammar and pronunciation and melodic cadences, but also because of the sheer number of regional variants and the lack of a standardized variant - if this was the case with any language one wanted to learn, it usually made sense to focus on a particular variant to adopt, and with the first native speaker he had ever met (coincidentally the one he was in a relationship with) being from Cuan, the direction it had gone into was clear.
Then again, the points above were usually also said about German - which quite did have a standard variant, or rather multiple national standard variants akin to other pluricentric languages like English, but in some places, and Chris happened to be from one of these, people rather stuck to their dialects. Yet, many people mastered this, so Chris had never seen a reason to assume, that Selkie would be this much more difficult to become fluent at. After all, there were much more difficult languages to learn, and surprisingly many of these were spoken in countries starting with 'Sh'.
Be it as it may ...
"It's getting better, eh?" - he said, linking arms with Cel. "Well, then, let's go!"

Dragan was totally aware, that the card would soon find a new place, in order not to get damaged or, Gods forbid, destroyed.
"It didn't!" - he said. And he meant it - the moment had been exactly as celebratory and fun as he had wanted it to be. Granted, where he was from, and apparently also not in these parts, it was a bit less grave and formal than in places like Shikonjima, where business cards changed their owner almost like in an act of state, with both hands and a light bow, the only thing missing would be an orchestra playing. They really used each and every of the all but infinite options to go crazy over things ... then again, who would want them to be different?
And no problem - always at your service!
"I even know what would make this moment even better!" - Kira said. "Something cold to drink!"
Dragan and Leo nodded. Yeah, that wasn't a bad idea.

Shikonjima wrote:Kazuo nodded. Rúid! rang a bell with him, although he had yet to test that one - he took a note in minds, reminding himself of doing so as soon as he would have the opportunity.
"Aside from the Heroes, which are only available in certain campaigns and on custom maps, and the Wonders, which lead to a win of their owner by default, unless it's destroyed within a given time, it's pretty much like that" - he said. "You start of with a Town Center, which produces Villagers and can collect all sorts of resources, and have to build up a base and an economy, until you have enough resources to put a military up - simply spoken. There are different civilizations, each of them with some unique units, techs, and bonuses." He let a beat pass. "The civilization choice can sometimes be crucial for how a game ends ... although I must add, that the Mongol Mangudai parked in front of the Wonder of our lily in here" - he threw a glance at Yelda, grinning, "are incredibly hard to counter with almost everything, especially from distance."
"Another good reason for my civilization choice" - Yelda interjected, "aside from, well, the obvious one."
"I yet have to give Rúid! a shot" - Kazuo continued. "What I'm also looking forward to is the release of Fushigi no Jidai, another real-time strategy, and pretty much the Shikonjimanese response to AoE and other RTS working after a similar principle. The name roughly translates as 'Age of Wonders' and refers to a historical era of our history, around ..." - he thought for a second, converting the era system, which the Shikonjimanese calendar system was based on, into the international calendar, "... 900 to 1300 CE, and is much based on that era, but also includes other civilizations that played a role in that era. The release is projected for April."
"Of course, it will have to compete with quite a few classics, including AoE II - which, despite now being pretty exactly twenty years old, is still popular" - Yelda said. "But there will be Wonders, too, and if the previews are anything to go by, not only few of them. And, at least in my case, lots of Mangudai guarding them!"
"... at least until they can say hello to my Swordfighters!" - Kazuo said.
Setsuko laughed. "Make sure I'll be around when you two have your first test run against each other!"

Faye Donn of the Tribe of Wexford.
And on they went with the computer games - Raidri and Áed seemed to understand, what they were talking about, but I was not.
Not a single word. To me, a computer was an almost arcane machine, my understanding of what worked how limited to opening and working a few selected programs - games were not among them. Least of all this Age of Kingdoms or the other one...
Áed nodded along, began to grin as the Shikonmanjese game was mentioned.
"I'll give it a good look, too!", he said, "Though, I haven't found a demo of it in English yet, let alone Selkie." He shrugged. "Still, the time period sounds fun - it'd end with our Crusade and it would be a wasted opportunity to not have a single player campaign of it. Rúid! is set in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries."
Raidri nodded. "A lot more firearms, I would imagine.", he said with a smile, "I am looking forward to Age of Wonders, too, though I have a similar problem to my son."

Amy Laoch of the Tribe of Dundalk.
I nodded at Kira.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good direction to take...", I said and peeked through the people, "As this is a Selkie-Party, all drinks are free, all food is free and all balloons are free - you just need to clean up after yourself."
And I knew, that the Lillos would.
Then I spotted, what I had been looking for: Lykke and her friend Fiete were manning the 'bar', but the two were having far too much to do, so many evaded and went to the coolers with people sitting by them, not to 'guard' them, but to invite for conversation. The more dancing would come, the more people would move their coolers closer to the 'dance floor', while others would stay away, but still be part of the party.
And then I spotted the ones, who I had wanted to spot: Alya, a.k.a. Princess Alya bint-Sarah, was sitting alone by a cooler, watched the proceedings, dressed in her white-bikini, which she quite honestly rocked, her light hair going well past her waist, naturally curled.
She was attractive and hot, so it was a bit hard to understand, why no lad (not lassie, she didn't swing that way and we knew that) was talking to her - the reason was simple: She was a Princess of Kyrenaia, daughter of the Ilkhana of Kyrene, so... the Gods willing, she would be a powerful woman one day.
I didn't give two damns as I motioned the others towards her.

Celina Treoraí of the Tribe of Louth.
I smiled and led Chris along, Cladhaire still on my arm, grinning.
I was with Chris again!
I was grinning stupidly, to be honest, but I did not care. Why should I? I was reunited, yet again... it hurt every time we parted and it would continue to hurt, no matter what we did, but while it lasted, it was the best! We really needed to figure out how to meet more often then every three to six months...
Still, I had a plan, which was quickly derailed, when Patty suddenly called out: "Cel! Chris! Can we have a moment?"
And there they were, the Twins and their older sister - collectively known as the Leathchúpla-sisters. Ever since a little something she did a bit ago in an inn by Dumhach, I wasn't exactly fond of the oldest sister. The twins were alright, her brother, the few times we said hi to each other, was polite, but Felicia...
Were I an Arrowmaiden, her image would hang on the other side of the archery range. As it was, I was a follower of Abhcan, the Vixen, and Hers were the Daggermaidens - and in Cuan's Younger Militia, I was a Pikegirl, for I couldn't use a bow or a crossbow to safe my life.
Felicia seemed to be equally uncomfortable, at least, and a whole lot more nervous.
I steeled my face and turned to them. "If you must.", I said and I was not the nice girl Chris knew anymore.
The grey-silver haired whore had tried to mess with my boy. I did not like other girls messing with my boy.

by **AHSCA** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 12:31 pm

The Selkie wrote:Aonas Folracht of the Tribe of Wicklow.
Iliane nodded, and I knew, what she was thinking: Yes, not many would care for the history of the UIS, yet not many would care for the history of Nouvelle-Dunkerque, either. So, why not start with caring for each other's history now?
She was a curious girl, to be honest...
"I like tea, too.", she replied, "Though, from the images, the two seem to have more in common then just their love for the sea and for ships and for tea. Otherwise, half of my school's Boating Club would have a good chance with either of them." She shook her head. "No, on the few images, where they are together, one sees, how much they fit together." She let a beat pass. "My Mother has long suspected, that under the hard shell of a Kyrenaian Princess, Aurelia hides a very soft core, a wounded girl, ripped out of her known world to her father's side in order to become a Princess of a land, which's language she didn't even speak... her finding healing with Marcella... it's very romantic."
Dad and I looked at each other - neither of us were men, who could work with the category of 'romantic'...

"Ahah yes a good point, romance goes deeper than a few common interests but it's that spark that starts a fire after all!" She winked with a smile. Her description of Aurelia's persona seemed interesting. Actually, Ayla hadn't met Aurelia as of yet. She was curious to be certain about the young Princess who caught the Duchess's heart and just what she was like in person. She could only speculate what about her was so captivating to Marcella. Islanders were described generally as being romantics, all loved a really solid love affair. "Quite romantic I would agree. Marcella speaks of her openly in the UIS Press and she's always glowing in her ravings for her." Another note for later, try to meet the Princess next time she was in the UIS or if Ayla found her way to the Sultanate sometime. One day Aurelia could be the Duchess Consort and if worse came to worse, Aurelia could be the Regent Duchess of the UIS but by the grace of Goddesses she hoped that wouldn't happen. In the meantime she liked this young lady who was before her, and speaking more of romance it was seeming like she found a lover of her own, with the fine lad who she'd been chatting with. She'd also have to get to know this lady, maybe offer wisdom? Then again was Ayla THAT wise?

by **Lillorainen** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 3:23 pm

The Selkie wrote:Amy Laoch of the Tribe of Dundalk.
I nodded at Kira.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good direction to take...", I said and peeked through the people, "As this is a Selkie-Party, all drinks are free, all food is free and all balloons are free - you just need to clean up after yourself."
And I knew, that the Lillos would.
Then I spotted, what I had been looking for: Lykke and her friend Fiete were manning the 'bar', but the two were having far too much to do, so many evaded and went to the coolers with people sitting by them, not to 'guard' them, but to invite for conversation. The more dancing would come, the more people would move their coolers closer to the 'dance floor', while others would stay away, but still be part of the party.
And then I spotted the ones, who I had wanted to spot: Alya, a.k.a. Princess Alya bint-Sarah, was sitting alone by a cooler, watched the proceedings, dressed in her white-bikini, which she quite honestly rocked, her light hair going well past her waist, naturally curled.
She was attractive and hot, so it was a bit hard to understand, why no lad (not lassie, she didn't swing that way and we knew that) was talking to her - the reason was simple: She was a Princess of Kyrenaia, daughter of the Ilkhana of Kyrene, so... the Gods willing, she would be a powerful woman one day.
I didn't give two damns as I motioned the others towards her.

Celina Treoraí of the Tribe of Louth.
I smiled and led Chris along, Cladhaire still on my arm, grinning.
I was with Chris again!
I was grinning stupidly, to be honest, but I did not care. Why should I? I was reunited, yet again... it hurt every time we parted and it would continue to hurt, no matter what we did, but while it lasted, it was the best! We really needed to figure out how to meet more often then every three to six months...
Still, I had a plan, which was quickly derailed, when Patty suddenly called out: "Cel! Chris! Can we have a moment?"
And there they were, the Twins and their older sister - collectively known as the Leathchúpla-sisters. Ever since a little something she did a bit ago in an inn by Dumhach, I wasn't exactly fond of the oldest sister. The twins were alright, her brother, the few times we said hi to each other, was polite, but Felicia...
Were I an Arrowmaiden, her image would hang on the other side of the archery range. As it was, I was a follower of Abhcan, the Vixen, and Hers were the Daggermaidens - and in Cuan's Younger Militia, I was a Pikegirl, for I couldn't use a bow or a crossbow to safe my life.
Felicia seemed to be equally uncomfortable, at least, and a whole lot more nervous.
I steeled my face and turned to them. "If you must.", I said and I was not the nice girl Chris knew anymore.
The grey-silver haired whore had tried to mess with my boy. I did not like other girls messing with my boy.

Cel grinned a bit stupidly, as they moved on, but Chris cared about that as little as she did. They were reunited, after all, and they would proceed to see awesome things in here, happier than any couple north of Kuronami, south of the Northern Islands, west of Fenchuikuo and east of Wanne-Eickel. Maybe even beyond these points. No, most certainly beyond these points. Nothing under the sun could prevent them from roaming around, united und the carefully watching eyes of Freyja and Rhiannon, together, unseperably. Nothing could do that.
"Cel! Chris! Can we have a moment?"
Well, almost nothing.
Chris immediately recognized the Leathchúpla-Sisters, the Twins, Patty and Nora, and their older sister Felicia. While Chris had nothing particular against the Twins, and their brother Raidri, the famous NASJAR pilot and Jet Racer, had been very polite back then ... there was Felicia, who wasn't only a letter and an accent away from the name of a classic, old pop song, but also had little to do with the meaning of that name - at least, if one asked Chris or Cel.
Her image surely wouldn't only be a target for Arrowmaidens, if Cel were one (Daggermaidens and Pikegirls had little to do with arrows, though), but also would improve the skills of any target shooter at a Lillorainian gun range.
Chris was aware, that Cel's mood would just as quickly perform a 180 degree flip as his own did, and her tone said it all. Then again, Felicia didn't exactly seem to be delighted at this meeting, either.
"Yeah, sure" - he said, frowning, and that was the end of story. The fewer words he made, the sooner this moment would be brought behind them.

Of course, everyone was aware about the most important rule of Selkie-Parties - everything brought here was for free. As this was known, this would, of course, also include the Lillorainian Beer, the Shamsiyyan Raki, the Wiedheimer Äbbelwoi and whatever the others had brought. While this principle could vary in Lillorainen, there was one important rule back home as well - once everything got declared for free, it stayed for free. There was no way back.
And of course, they would leave every spot in here just the way they expected to find it.
In front of one of the coolers, which Amy headed towards, as Lykke and Fiete were a tiny bit too busy at the 'bar', they spotted a lassie well-known to them. Princess Alya bint-Sarah, a Princess of Kyrenaia, daughter of Sarah (who would have guessed?), Ilkhana of Kyrene, known for her deep voice (especially when singing) and for having gotten through the Al'Arz Terrorist Attack luckily only slightly wounded.
She once would be a powerful woman, without a doubt ... being a Kyrenaian Ilkhana wasn't exactly the same as being Mayor of Laerdonk (despite this city had some sad history of accidentally electing some guys who felt as if they were on the top of a Kyrenaian Ilkhanate) or being 'Miss Theenhagen-Nerlich 2019' (same here), not even close to being on the top of a Lillorainian State or Shikonjimanese Fiefdom. This wasn't exactly something which would encourage many lads to approach her right now ...
But Amy, knowing her as a fellow model for BI, didn't have this problem. And BI models, as well as their non-BI companies, were quite accustomed to meeting people who were, or would be at some point, at a powerful position. Dragan remembered having met Khana Amina bint-Karim of Sheliak back in Dumhach, and he was sure to already have spotted her in here as well (not that a person of her size would be hard to overlook).
Amy motioned towards her. Dragan, Kira, and Leo followed.

by **Shikonjima** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 3:25 pm

Kazuo nodded. Finding a demo of Fushigi no Jidai in English, or any language other than Shikonjimanese, for that matter, had, so far, not been a thing to easily succeed in, probably because video game companies back home had little to no tradition of making demos available abroad. Which, again, was probably because few games were actually made for foreign markets - a thing that was about to change slowly, but surely.
"Yeah, pre-release demos are a tiny bit less common in Shikonjima than abroad" - he explained, "especially foreign-language versions thereof. I hope, that this is about to change soon, for I personally think, that keeping one's secrets even as late as a couple of months before the release, and only showing some previews on one's own channels, is not the wisest decision, if one wishes to reach international audience ..." He let a beat pass. "But as far as I'm informed, it will be made available outside Shikonjima on its release date. At least, the previews I've seen suggest, that there are several language versions understood on a more international scale, including, but not limited to German, English, French, Spanish, and Russian - so no worries, as soon as it's released, you will be able to play it without learning our language first. And I would be surprised to not find a campaign dealing with the Crusades, given the time."
He took another sip of lemonade.
"As for Rúid! - the 17th,18th, and early 19th century are absolutely an interesting era to deal with in Shikonjimanese history as well - considering, that within that span of time, the Clan Wars occured and got ended, cementing the rule of the current Royal House and its related lineages as well as the modern feudal system we still have in place; the Shikonjimanese Empire got founded, and with it, the ISA and ISN, both of which have still been a thing for the better part of the last century. The vast majority of all colonies we've ever had in history were conquered and founded within that particular time. Almost no year of that time has passed without any event in history involving the Shikonjimanese military in some way or the other. I hope, we don't come too short!"
Yelda nodded, grinning. "It was an interesting time, absolutely - even if it was pretty much the end of the glorious days for us Sharulsi. Despite the Sharulsi Empire getting smaller and smaller, there were still important wars we've fought - and won. It was the time where the Khaganate became less of a tribal federation happening to hold a huge territory and more of the consistent body politic we now know as the modern Sharulsi Khanate. Speaking of military, the Mangudai still played a vital role - but with the number of different nations we've interacted with during that time, the Khan's Army didn't only adopt more modern means of warfare, like gunpowder weapons, but also improved them, in order to become more light weapons easier to transport from A to B - a crucial bonus in a steppe empire with a long tradition of making advantage of mobility and flexibility, and, as I would assume, also a huge bonus in any RTS featuring us. So, even though, objectively spoken, the Sharulsi Empire ceased to exist in the form everyone knows about, the devolution thereof was the founding base for a number of states that exist now - and it's not any less interesting when it comes to military history."
While Setsuko was still listening to her friends' explanations, she also noticed, that they had lost Faye fairly soon in this conversation once it had evolved into a shoptalking about videogames, and while it was distinctly more focussed on history right now, she still decided to get back to the topic they had come from - without wanting to disrupt the gaming talk. Thus, she lowered her voice and asked Faye, "By the way, what I'm a bit curious about right now - since your Reathaí is fairly old and has switched its owner a few times until it ultimately became yours, how common is it to use decommissioned and demilitarized old SDF ships as private boats in here? Just to know, if it's more or less widespread than where I'm from ...?"

A Beach Feast (IC)

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