A Beach Feast (IC)

[Hanoverian Great Britain]

After making sure that everything is in place, Alexandra stepped out gracefully in her swimsuit attire. The young queen's appearance, made up of her fairly white skin, a matching white swimsuit attire, and her blonde coloured hair might have seen to some that she had somehow almost camouflaged herself in her surroundings. As she walked back to her previous spot, she held her neatly folded floral dress over her left shoulder while her red hand held her black Louis Vuitton clutch purse in a firm grip. To make it short, before she would arrive back at the "bar", she made a quick turn to her seat at the beach, placing everything in order and keeping it safe and secure, with what seems to be a conventional number pattern lock.

Cutting short to her arrival back at the "bar", Alexandra firmly settled back at her original seat earlier, as she politely addressed the two women earlier with a "hello there again". Upon taking a few sips from her well-preserved lemonade drink, she concentrated her attention again on the two "girlfriends" she had met earlier. "So my friend, I do not harbour any interests of putting us all into a rush but when could we expect for the arrival of said guide? I'm quite intrigued right now, really", inquired her curiously.

At the same time, though it might just be her assumption or it is actually happening behind her back, she took little care in caring for the 3 young lads nearby who might or might not be admiring her attractive physique, in the most imaginable ways possible.

[New Visayan Islands]

Gerald Vicente
At the Stall

"Thanks," Gerald replied. As he took the bottle and drank, he couldn't help but notice the way Isla and the lady interacted. It was almost as if they had already known each other...

Gerald took a look at his surroundings. Seeing how everyone else was like got him interested; by most Visayan accounts, he was of the right age to settle down and be a family man, but it was often joked about that his true love was work. Not that it mattered, though: "Say, which way to the men's room?" he asked. It was time to change into something more beach-like.

[Lillorainen]

Amy Laoch of the Tribe of Dundalk.
I smiled as Dragan hugged me back, equally softly.
It was between two friends, after all, nothing more, and nothing less.
Then Kira came up and Dragan might notice with a bit of jealousy, how that went: "Hey, Kira!", I said, immediately recognizing her, letting go of Dragan and hugging the other woman, kissing her on both cheeks before holding her, "How have you been since the little round trip?"
I was happy to see her again.

Celina Treoraí of the Tribe of Louth.
I meanwhile, was, for but a moment, not happy - I was startled out of my wits!
I turned in the arms of the guy, who hugged me, knowing, who he was, and grinned wildly: "Chris!" I threw my arms around him myself, pressing me close to him, which was a wonderful feeling.
He was my beloved and hugging him again, feeling him again, his soul so close to mine and... I had whispered his name into the wind quite often over the last few months, hoping, that he would hear me.
But all the sadness of us being apart, keeping in touch via letters and phone calls, was almost wiped away.
And then, our lips met.
I ask you for some privacy concerning what came next, but I'll tell you as much: There was a lot of tongue involved.

Of course, Chris had startled the living daylights out of his girlfriend, but Cel quickly recovered from it, as the recognized his voice. She turned around in his arms, hugged him, he kept huggin her, but this time properly - then, their lips met.
Three months could get long easily when missing someone ... even in spite of having contact through letters, phone calls, and the Winds. Now, it was about time for hugs and kisses and more hugs and more kisses and some tongue ... yadda yadda yadda ...
... Ronny? The blackscreen, please.
Meanwhile, Dragan was caught in a hug, too - a simple hug between friends, mind you, nothing more, nothing less. However, maybe not even anyone who knew Dragan very well could tell safely, if he was being a bit jealous or rather not, when Amy went over to hugging Kira, as well as kissing her on each cheek.
Amy's Shamsiyyan colleague smiled, hugging her back.
"Oh, I've been quite fine!" - she said. "I've followed the ... advice to extend my exchange by yet another year, and studies are still going on well; I might show up on the screen again next year, and maybe even saying more than just a couple of sentences, but that has yet to be settled - and I entirely voluntarily" - she looked at Dragan for a second, grinning, while stressing the two words, "decided to go through the dark den that is Lillorainian bureaucracy. Went in, slayed the dragon, got the t-shirt, the passport, as well as Permit A-38, and went home again."
Dragan, not being born in the Federation himself, quite knew the whole shebang of naturalization in Lillorainen, and snorted.
"It's not that horrible!" - he said, grinning. "At least we shouldn't put that into awfully horrifying terms, if we wish other people to go through that process someday, too, should it make sense at some point, eh?" He looked at the singer of the Lokahallir March for tonight.
Leonie smiled. "Guude!" - she greeted, bowing her head lightly. "I'm Leonie, but Leo will do. Nice you meet you!"

[Shikonjima]

Faye Donn of the Tribe of Wexford.
Liam nodded, smiled and offered his arm for me to link, which I did, then did the same with Setsu, throwing her a wink.
Regardless of whether or not she took the offer, we were on our way a moment later, moving to where a middle-aged man with long, black hair and blue eyes was sitting next to a lad, who could only be his son, the two of them being competitors of Fiete and Lykke by handing out cold lemonades to everyone, who asked.
I smiled as the lad recognized me and as his father turned, recognizing both me and Liam. Then they spotted the three foreigners.
"Hello, there!", the man called, tapped his son lightly onto the shoulder.
"Cousin Faye!", he cheered and ran towards me, with the enthusiasm of a lad of ten Springs, me letting go of the Captain and hugging the boy.
He was not really my cousin, but I knew his mother, who was a good friend of mine. "Hello, Áed!", I greeted him, then kissed him onto his cheeks. "Hello, Raidri, I greeted his father.
Said man smiled at me, then at Liam. "Captain Fearg.", he greeted with a small bow.
"Mister Gormchló.", Fearg replied with a similar bow of his own. "We were hoping, if we could not join you for a bottle of lemonade?"
Raidri nodded, both at the Captain and the three others. "Suit yourselves, there's enough for everyone!", he said with a slight boast, "Though, who do I have the pleasure with?"

Setsuko gladly accepted Liam's offer, linking their arms.
They moved on, heading for where a black-haired, blue-eyed man Setsuko guesstimated at age thirty-five to forty was sitting, along with a lad around ten, who could only be his son. There seemed to be a friendly competition between them and two nearby lassies at handing out cold lemonade to everyone who deemed drinking some a good idea - given the temperatures, pretty much everyone.
The man's name would soon turn out to be Raidri Gormchló, and his son's name was Áed; the latter referred to Faye as 'Cousin Faye' - although that could just as easily just be some sort of honorary title (in a similar manner as Setsu and Yelda had nominated one another as honorary sisters). They would probably know for sure in a bit.
But now, much was about lemonade - no matter how much sugar might be in it. But of course, the formalities came first, as Mr. Gormchló asked whom he might have the pleasure with.
Setsuko bowed her head. "Setsuko Abe" - she introduced herself. "Or Setsu, for short, as we already have established. The pleasure's mine, sir!"
"Yelda Altanereg" - Setsu's Little Sis went on, indicating a light bow of her head, too. "The pleasure's mine!"
"Kazuo Akayama" - Kazuo said, this time immediately in the name order more likely to be understood correctly in these parts - and, of course, accompanied by another bowing and making clear, that the pleasure was his as well.

[Kuronami]

Galen grinned and Kean smiled at the enthusiasm of both girls, I couldn't help but giggle.
"No, Crúibín and Friochadh are anything but ponies.", Kean said and rose to his full, impressive height of 1.99 meters as he referred to the two horses by their names.
A moment later, the two men were sitting on the backs of their horses, directed their steeds to 'pull up', if you will, alongside Bianca and Isabel, Galen to the left, Kean to the right, and reached down with their hands.
I knew, that both men were strong enough to pull the girls up into the saddles easily, so there was no need to be afraid of that.
It was Kean, who spoke to both girls, "Miladies, may we, humble horsemen and Men of the Lance, for the honour of having you ride with us? Grab onto our hands."
I smiled and gave both girls an encouraging smile.

Both girls smiled as they extended their hands to reach the outstretched hands of the men. "We'd be delighted to join!" Bianca spoke for both of them but no doubt Isabel would agree. "It seems like fun. So yes, please. Bianca isn't too bad with horses herself, even though she can't ride alone just yet. Maybe let her help out with the reins."

"Well, if you'd let me, it would be fun. I do get to ride, usually with my mama or papa at the reins but I have been taught my stuff!"

Isabel watched Bianca with a sharp eye, how cute she did look to her sitting high on a horse. The day would probably come when Bianca was a teenager and capable of riding solo, hopefully then she'd take Isabel for a ride somewhere, anywhere. For now they had the two lancers to guide them on today's ride. It was a good fun day for everyone at the beach.

[Aurora Confederacy]

Brenda Iarnród of the Tribe of Louth.
We noticed the prosthetic leg right about then - indeed, sand in such a thing was not a good thing. We knew that, they knew that, and the three wearers of prosthetic limbs, two arms and a leg, knew that.
Didn't stop Uncle Ciaran from being a glassblower, though.
Anyway, when Jason asked, if we were on a tour of the islands, Ribin shook her head.
"Nah, we're here with BI.", she said and motioned to the big group of people, "Participated in the Archipelago Shooting, now reaping the rewards!"
"And Overwintering a bit until the Younger Militia is mustered to combat the snow.", I added, "Until then, we enjoy our time here with friends... though I do know someone crushing a bit on a colleague..."
Ribin blushed.

"sounds fun" replied Karen, leaning on Jason with one arm, and handing Marvin a kittybit "back home, its relatiavely warm around Lake Hai'lu'kai, however above Peace Valley, its in twenty four hour darknes, and will be until spring"

"shooting? pistol or rifle?" asks Jason, "back home, civilian firearms are restricted, I can have a five-five six or a fifty cal so long as its not self loading, automatic repeating or a pistol, has to be bolt action, and in the north, bears roam but if you want to see the northern lights, Valeria is the place to be"

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Yven Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
I smiled.
"I only have Cao as my siblings, but a veritable army of cousins!", I said and my smile widened into a full-blown grin, "Some of them close enough to be siblings in spirit!" I let a beat pass. "And yes, some of them are either soldiers or with the Orders or City Guards. Cousin Nia, for example... she's with the Shieldmaidens."
Meanwhile, Cao saw Marie being uncomfortable with the topic - and that she wasn't telling everything. Cao, and I, for that matter, had some friends, who's parents were with the Army, some with the 11th Dragan or the 18th Maor - Mobile Forces Command, engaged in Operation Spartacus. They, too, came back differently and Cao believed, that she saw some signs of the same in Marie.
She would not press and neither would I.
Well, she did press something: Herself against Marie, hugging the other girl again.

Adelheid raised an eyebrow. "Shieldmaidens of Ladra, yes? I've heard of them. Not a bad lot, from what I've heard."

'What I've heard' currently consisted of a few(maybe one or two) news articles and a brief entry on an online encyclopedia.

"I would like to meet your cousin at some point." Adelheid continued. "We don't have an equivalent back home...well, not a sane one, at least."
She trailed off.
"Whose bright idea was it to hand a bunch of angry zealots an old motor-rifle battallion?" Adelheid muttered audibly.

She was referring to the Order of Saint Adrian.

The Order of Saint Adrian, surprisingly, was, in fact, a real monastic order. Unfortunately.

It was, put simply, an order of around 500-600 monks and pious laymen who had, in the twilight years of the Communist government, somehow had come into possession of a full motor-rifle battalion. It had been a key player in the Gdansk Mutiny(also known as the Storming of Danzig), giving the sailors and dockyard-workers the firepower needed to seize the city, and had continued fighting in the revolt all the way up to August 15, 1992, when old Crassus rode a T-80 into Warsaw and deposed the old government at gunpoint. For their service, King Crassus allowed the unit to remain in service, intending for it to act as something of a color guard.

You could imagine his surprise when they refused to put down their arms.
You could also imagine his surprise when they swelled from a battalion to a full regiment, fully equipped with captured Soviet weapons.

Of course, putting them down would be political suicide(even before we get into whether or not His Majesty even wanted to), so, for now, they remained mostly confined to the outskirts of Warsaw, slowly shrinking as the oldies died or went into retirement, under the watchful eyes of the 1st Guards Division.

Marie, for her part, was silent for a few moments. The hug she shared with Cao said more than an hour's worth of words.

At last, she coughed.
"Cao...great to see you again and all, but...I'm carrying quite a load of food and drink...you mind if I put it down somewhere?"

[AHSCA]

"Aha" She giggled nervously "Well....It's not important but I guess you can say I just don't get out much, is all. But being here has been lovely so far, I mean just nice and pleasant, many nice people to see. Including you fine folks!"

Aonas Folracht of the Tribe of Wicklow.
Something was weird about her reply, yet I decided not to press.
She would tell, when she wanted to tell.
I did smile at her compliment. "That you very much, Ayla.", I said and meant it, "The fun part about such parties is meeting new people and getting to know them."
"Speaking of meeting new people...", Dad suddenly began, grinned, "The girl you rode with... who is she?"
I felt my face heat up considerably.

Ayla smiled warmly. "Oh it's nothing really." She shrugged off the thank you with a bit of a bashfulness "And you're so right, fun part is meeting people!" Again as if she knew but this was a good chance finally to come out of her shell. Ayla always was a bit of a shy one but she could be outgoing when needed. She would in good time tell them she was a Chief but for now she just wanted to leave that aside and get more comfortable. Ayla studied Aonas's face a moment it seemed like he was glowing to her, though it could be the sunlight. But she had a good idea. "If I may be so forward, maybe a young lady who has caught your eye? Your flame. Or am I reaching too far?"

[Mediama]

Marion nodded, “That sounds reasonable, I’ll be back in just a few minutes.” She picked up her carpet bag and walked to the clearing, following the instructions Khalid had given her. She looked around as she noted the 8 porta potties, and had briefly noticed that the supposed supply chest was in the process of being refilled. She only took in the sight for a few minutes before she got into the first unoccupied stall.

---

One Wonder-Woman/Superman costume change later...

Marion walked out in her bathing attire, it was a Edwardian swim piece, just to fit with the getup she had earlier, and she had managed to change everything from her swimwear, to the bathing slippers covering her feet (she intend to take them off when she got to the party proper, but for not she was wearing them for sake of slight protection.) she set everything down at the square and took inventory of what she had, making sure nothing was lost, she readjusted her looks and washed her hands before prepping to return to her waiting entourage.

Nia Sneachtúil, of Cefnffordd Descent.
I was waiting on one of the benches, currently a bit undecided about whether I should wait for my cousin Branwen, Elin's girlfriend, and their two friends, or what I should do...
The young woman in the rather old, but very well made dress, which had appeared a few minutes ago, came back out in a swimsuit - some people would look at her oddly, I knew that, but I was a bit surprised.
She sifted through her belongings close to me, after she washed her hands, and I could not help but note to her: "It has been a long time since I last saw such swimsuits...", I told her, then offered a slight bow, "I am Nia."
The wolf ears on my head were perked. I wore a black two-piece bikini myself, so...

Hearing someone note her swimwear and greet her, she replied back to the greeting. “Marionette, my name is Marionette Banner.” She turned to face the source of that greeting, all the while saying, “How long a-”, she paused. Standing right in front of her was a women in a modern black two piece bikini, but that wasn’t what stood out to her.

What stood out to her were the two vulpine ears that stuck out on the woman’s head.

A-Are those real? Marion’s mind stuttered. They didn’t have any mythical creatures like this back in New London, heck, anywhere in North America even.

It didn’t help that the woman looked rather pretty, nay, beautiful in her swimwear. Partially to avoid offending the woman for staring, but also in hiding her flush, either in embarrassment or otherwise, she tried to focus anywhere but her ears as she tried to figure out what to say, or how to finish her question, biting her lower lip and digging her big toe in the sand while doing so.

[The Selkie]

After making sure that everything is in place, Alexandra stepped out gracefully in her swimsuit attire. The young queen's appearance, made up of her fairly white skin, a matching white swimsuit attire, and her blonde coloured hair might have seen to some that she had somehow almost camouflaged herself in her surroundings. As she walked back to her previous spot, she held her neatly folded floral dress over her left shoulder while her red hand held her black Louis Vuitton clutch purse in a firm grip. To make it short, before she would arrive back at the "bar", she made a quick turn to her seat at the beach, placing everything in order and keeping it safe and secure, with what seems to be a conventional number pattern lock.

Cutting short to her arrival back at the "bar", Alexandra firmly settled back at her original seat earlier, as she politely addressed the two women earlier with a "hello there again". Upon taking a few sips from her well-preserved lemonade drink, she concentrated her attention again on the two "girlfriends" she had met earlier. "So my friend, I do not harbour any interests of putting us all into a rush but when could we expect for the arrival of said guide? I'm quite intrigued right now, really", inquired her curiously.

At the same time, though it might just be her assumption or it is actually happening behind her back, she took little care in caring for the 3 young lads nearby who might or might not be admiring her attractive physique, in the most imaginable ways possible.

Lykke Blon.
When Alexandra came back, the three lads were still more into admiring Fiete, chatting with her about music, so I turned to her.
"The tour is set for the day after tomorrow.", I said and smiled, "Though our guide should be around here somewhere..." I looked for him, didn't spot him. "Can't find him... I'll introduce you later, if we meet him, okay?"
One had to say, that Alexandra had taste. The swimsuit looked cute on her.
One of the lads, the youngest, I would say, spent a few moments to look Alexandra up and down, and then seemed to decide something, but he also seemed nervous.

Gerald Vicente
At the Stall

"Thanks," Gerald replied. As he took the bottle and drank, he couldn't help but notice the way Isla and the lady interacted. It was almost as if they had already known each other...

Gerald took a look at his surroundings. Seeing how everyone else was like got him interested; by most Visayan accounts, he was of the right age to settle down and be a family man, but it was often joked about that his true love was work. Not that it mattered, though: "Say, which way to the men's room?" he asked. It was time to change into something more beach-like.

Isla Saighead of the Tribe of Westmeath.
We drank a bit and it was refreshing, a wonderful feeling...
At his question, I smiled slightly, sheepishly: "There're no changing rooms, but there's a number of portable toilets a bit behind the tree line. Many of used them as changing rooms.", I explained, not mentioning, that I had changed back in my hotel room and came here dressed in my bikini. "A bit unceremoniously, sure, but it does its job. Want me to show you?"
I took another sip.

Galen grinned and Kean smiled at the enthusiasm of both girls, I couldn't help but giggle.
"No, Crúibín and Friochadh are anything but ponies.", Kean said and rose to his full, impressive height of 1.99 meters as he referred to the two horses by their names.
A moment later, the two men were sitting on the backs of their horses, directed their steeds to 'pull up', if you will, alongside Bianca and Isabel, Galen to the left, Kean to the right, and reached down with their hands.
I knew, that both men were strong enough to pull the girls up into the saddles easily, so there was no need to be afraid of that.
It was Kean, who spoke to both girls, "Miladies, may we, humble horsemen and Men of the Lance, for the honour of having you ride with us? Grab onto our hands."
I smiled and gave both girls an encouraging smile.

Both girls smiled as they extended their hands to reach the outstretched hands of the men. "We'd be delighted to join!" Bianca spoke for both of them but no doubt Isabel would agree. "It seems like fun. So yes, please. Bianca isn't too bad with horses herself, even though she can't ride alone just yet. Maybe let her help out with the reins."

"Well, if you'd let me, it would be fun. I do get to ride, usually with my mama or papa at the reins but I have been taught my stuff!"

Isabel watched Bianca with a sharp eye, how cute she did look to her sitting high on a horse. The day would probably come when Bianca was a teenager and capable of riding solo, hopefully then she'd take Isabel for a ride somewhere, anywhere. For now they had the two lancers to guide them on today's ride. It was a good fun day for everyone at the beach.

Macha Taise, of Cork Descent.
I watched as both men lifted the girls into their saddles, Kean sat Bianca in front of him, an arm slung for security around Bianca's stomach, stabilizing her, while Galen sat Isabel behind himself, slinging her arms around his midriff.
The horses let the two men do as they pleased.
Once both girls were safe and secure, the men let their horses trot a bit so that the girls could get a feeling for their moves - riders of ponies or not, better not take any chances!
Then Galen grinned at Kean: "Last one by the creek is a rotten egg!", he announced.
And off he and Isabel went, Kean sighing: "Youth these days...", he grumbled and grinned himself, letting his horse run as the wind behind the two, or three, in front of him.
If the girls would like the violent shaking of an impromptu horse race was another question...

"sounds fun" replied Karen, leaning on Jason with one arm, and handing Marvin a kittybit "back home, its relatiavely warm around Lake Hai'lu'kai, however above Peace Valley, its in twenty four hour darknes, and will be until spring"

"shooting? pistol or rifle?" asks Jason, "back home, civilian firearms are restricted, I can have a five-five six or a fifty cal so long as its not self loading, automatic repeating or a pistol, has to be bolt action, and in the north, bears roam but if you want to see the northern lights, Valeria is the place to be"

Brenda Iarnród of the Tribe of Louth.
When Jason asked, what sort of shooting we did, with pistol or rifle, and explained about his homeland's firearm legislation, Ribin and I exchanged glances, unsure about what, by Rhiannon's Teats, the man was talking about - in the end, however, we burst out laughing.
"Nah, laddie!", Ribin said with a grin as we had calmed down and hopefully not frightened Marvin, "Shooting as in Photo Shooting! Brenda 'n' I are models for Bicini Industries!"
I nodded. "Swimsuits and utility clothing, that's what we two do best."
"Aye.", Ribin confirmed with a grin. "Especially Motorcycling clothing!"

Adelheid raised an eyebrow. "Shieldmaidens of Ladra, yes? I've heard of them. Not a bad lot, from what I've heard."

'What I've heard' currently consisted of a few(maybe one or two) news articles and a brief entry on an online encyclopedia.

"I would like to meet your cousin at some point." Adelheid continued. "We don't have an equivalent back home...well, not a sane one, at least."
She trailed off.
"Whose bright idea was it to hand a bunch of angry zealots an old motor-rifle battallion?" Adelheid muttered audibly.

She was referring to the Order of Saint Adrian.

Backstory stuff not necessary for the RP, but just nice to know
The Order of Saint Adrian, surprisingly, was, in fact, a real monastic order. Unfortunately.

It was, put simply, an order of around 500-600 monks and pious laymen who had, in the twilight years of the Communist government, somehow had come into possession of a full motor-rifle battalion. It had been a key player in the Gdansk Mutiny(also known as the Storming of Danzig), giving the sailors and dockyard-workers the firepower needed to seize the city, and had continued fighting in the revolt all the way up to August 15, 1992, when old Crassus rode a T-80 into Warsaw and deposed the old government at gunpoint. For their service, King Crassus allowed the unit to remain in service, intending for it to act as something of a color guard.

You could imagine his surprise when they refused to put down their arms.
You could also imagine his surprise when they swelled from a battalion to a full regiment, fully equipped with captured Soviet weapons.

Of course, putting them down would be political suicide(even before we get into whether or not His Majesty even wanted to), so, for now, they remained mostly confined to the outskirts of Warsaw, slowly shrinking as the oldies died or went into retirement, under the watchful eyes of the 1st Guards Division.

Marie, for her part, was silent for a few moments. The hug she shared with Cao said more than an hour's worth of words.

At last, she coughed.
"Cao...great to see you again and all, but...I'm carrying quite a load of food and drink...you mind if I put it down somewhere?"

Note: Quote modified by removal of spoiler-tags.

Yven Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
I smiled slightly, having no idea as to whom Heidi was referring to in particular, but well aware, that there were religious zealots out there, who murdered in the names of their respective Gods - a shame for any Cult and Religion out there.
Still, I replied: "I think, we could do that. Haven't seen Cousin Nia for quite some time anyway, so I doubt, that she'll object, too.", I told her, "I'd have to call her, though, to find out, where she is currently."

Meanwhile, my sister was reluctant to let Marie go.
"Okay...", she said and finally let go, seemed sad, her ears drooping, "I'll show you, where to put everything." And then she seemed to perk up. "And I'll introduce you to Ilia! You'll like him! He's a cute lad!"
In this case, I knew, that cute meant not good looking - he was twelve, so such concerns were not in his wheelhouse right now. Neither was the fact, that some of the most beautiful women in the Free Lands were his honorary Big Sisters...

Aonas Folracht of the Tribe of Wicklow.
Something was weird about her reply, yet I decided not to press.
She would tell, when she wanted to tell.
I did smile at her compliment. "That you very much, Ayla.", I said and meant it, "The fun part about such parties is meeting new people and getting to know them."
"Speaking of meeting new people...", Dad suddenly began, grinned, "The girl you rode with... who is she?"
I felt my face heat up considerably.

Ayla smiled warmly. "Oh it's nothing really." She shrugged off the thank you with a bit of a bashfulness "And you're so right, fun part is meeting people!" Again as if she knew but this was a good chance finally to come out of her shell. Ayla always was a bit of a shy one but she could be outgoing when needed. She would in good time tell them she was a Chief but for now she just wanted to leave that aside and get more comfortable. Ayla studied Aonas's face a moment it seemed like he was glowing to her, though it could be the sunlight. But she had a good idea. "If I may be so forward, maybe a young lady who has caught your eye? Your flame. Or am I reaching too far?"

Aonas Folracht of the Tribe of Wicklow.
I made it like the fish did for a bit, moving my mouth without a sound coming out, my face red hot until I sighed.
"Her name is Iliane Jacobson and...", I began, then stopped, paused. Dad looked at me with a small smile, and I knew, what he wanted. "...gimme a second."
I looked around, found her standing closeby, tending to Asalcloig, my horse. I waved to her, inviting her to join.
She smiled and came over, her brown hair, which went a little bit past her shoulders, her blue one-piece showed, that she was still maturing - and maybe a few years younger then Aonas.
I smiled and rose, she gave me a quick hug.
"Dad, Ayla, if I may introduce? Miss Iliane Jacobson. Lys, this is my Dad, Heardread Folracht of the Tribe of Wicklow, and Miss Ayla.", I introduced and my father got up, his massive frame towering over us - and over Lys, who was nearly half a meter shorter then him.
He bowed his head, grinned. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Jacobson.", he said, clearly joyous, "Please, join our little round! You are from Nouvelle-Dunkerque, right?"
"The pleasure is all mine, Menseur Folracht.", she said with a slight accent, sitting down with me and my father and Ayla. "Oui, I am of the Most Serene Republic."

Hearing someone note her swimwear and greet her, she replied back to the greeting. “Marionette, my name is Marionette Banner.” She turned to face the source of that greeting, all the while saying, “How long a-”, she paused. Standing right in front of her was a women in a modern black two piece bikini, but that wasn’t what stood out to her.

What stood out to her were the two vulpine ears that stuck out on the woman’s head.

A-Are those real? Marion’s mind stuttered. They didn’t have any mythical creatures like this back in New London, heck, anywhere in North America even.

It didn’t help that the woman looked rather pretty, nay, beautiful in her swimwear. Partially to avoid offending the woman for staring, but also in hiding her flush, either in embarrassment or otherwise, she tried to focus anywhere but her ears as she tried to figure out what to say, or how to finish her question, biting her lower lip and digging her big toe in the sand while doing so.

Nia Sneachtúil, of Cefnffordd Descent.
When Marionette stopped speaking, I was, for a moment, confused. It didn't look as if someone had rammed a dagger into her back, so...
Then I noticed, where her eyes were: On the canine ears on my head. She quickly tried to focus anywhere but my ears, biting her lower lip and digging with her toe.
I smiled.
"Don't worry, those are real.", I said and wiggled the ears for emphasis, "I am of the Spiorad Ainmhithe." With a smile, I motioned to the spot on the bench next to me. "Come, have a seat. I am actually quite curious as to where you got that swimsuit from? As said, I haven't seen them in a long time!"
I was waiting on some people anyway, so why not converse a bit?

Of course, Chris had startled the living daylights out of his girlfriend, but Cel quickly recovered from it, as the recognized his voice. She turned around in his arms, hugged him, he kept huggin her, but this time properly - then, their lips met.
Three months could get long easily when missing someone ... even in spite of having contact through letters, phone calls, and the Winds. Now, it was about time for hugs and kisses and more hugs and more kisses and some tongue ... yadda yadda yadda ...
... Ronny? The blackscreen, please.
Meanwhile, Dragan was caught in a hug, too - a simple hug between friends, mind you, nothing more, nothing less. However, maybe not even anyone who knew Dragan very well could tell safely, if he was being a bit jealous or rather not, when Amy went over to hugging Kira, as well as kissing her on each cheek.
Amy's Shamsiyyan colleague smiled, hugging her back.
"Oh, I've been quite fine!" - she said. "I've followed the ... advice to extend my exchange by yet another year, and studies are still going on well; I might show up on the screen again next year, and maybe even saying more than just a couple of sentences, but that has yet to be settled - and I entirely voluntarily" - she looked at Dragan for a second, grinning, while stressing the two words, "decided to go through the dark den that is Lillorainian bureaucracy. Went in, slayed the dragon, got the t-shirt, the passport, as well as Permit A-38, and went home again."
Dragan, not being born in the Federation himself, quite knew the whole shebang of naturalization in Lillorainen, and snorted.
"It's not that horrible!" - he said, grinning. "At least we shouldn't put that into awfully horrifying terms, if we wish other people to go through that process someday, too, should it make sense at some point, eh?" He looked at the singer of the Lokahallir March for tonight.
Leonie smiled. "Guude!" - she greeted, bowing her head lightly. "I'm Leonie, but Leo will do. Nice you meet you!"

Setsuko gladly accepted Liam's offer, linking their arms.
They moved on, heading for where a black-haired, blue-eyed man Setsuko guesstimated at age thirty-five to forty was sitting, along with a lad around ten, who could only be his son. There seemed to be a friendly competition between them and two nearby lassies at handing out cold lemonade to everyone who deemed drinking some a good idea - given the temperatures, pretty much everyone.
The man's name would soon turn out to be Raidri Gormchló, and his son's name was Áed; the latter referred to Faye as 'Cousin Faye' - although that could just as easily just be some sort of honorary title (in a similar manner as Setsu and Yelda had nominated one another as honorary sisters). They would probably know for sure in a bit.
But now, much was about lemonade - no matter how much sugar might be in it. But of course, the formalities came first, as Mr. Gormchló asked whom he might have the pleasure with.
Setsuko bowed her head. "Setsuko Abe" - she introduced herself. "Or Setsu, for short, as we already have established. The pleasure's mine, sir!"
"Yelda Altanereg" - Setsu's Little Sis went on, indicating a light bow of her head, too. "The pleasure's mine!"
"Kazuo Akayama" - Kazuo said, this time immediately in the name order more likely to be understood correctly in these parts - and, of course, accompanied by another bowing and making clear, that the pleasure was his as well.

Amy Laoch of the Tribe of Dundalk.
I smiled as Kira told me, that she was now a Lillo, congratulated her with another hug, laughed at Dragan's comment of the whole process not being as complicated as everyone made it sound - it was certainly easier then becoming a citizen of the Free Lands - and wanted to add something, as Leonie introduced herself.
I did not know her, but I was too happy to care, bowed my head, then went in for another hug. Would I have been a Spiorad, my tail would have been wagging.
"Pleasure to meet ya, Leo! I'm Amy!", I told her, let her go, grinned a face-splitting grin, "So... where do you know these two from?"

Faye Donn of the Tribe of Wexford.
After introductions, we settled down, Áed choosing to take the seat on Captain Fearg's far side, who sat on my other side.
His father, having taken all three introductions with bows in return, was distributing lemonade. "It's a pleasure to have you all. I am Raidri Gormchló of the Tribe of Fingal, that's my son Áed!"
"Hi!", the boy said, waved into the round.
"Faye and I go a bit back, mostly having to do with her boat, the Reathaí.", he explained and I nodded, "Mostly with the fact, that she was getting on with the years and one of her shafts wasn't too keen on working anymore. We fixed her and Faye and I got to know each other due to this."
I nodded again. "She runs like a breeze again! But still, I am thinking about replacing her, soon..."
Raidri nodded in understanding.

Celina Treoraí of the Tribe of Louth.
Let's skip ahead in time to the point in time, when our lips separated again, either by being satisfied or by the need for fresh air or by whatever.
I looked deep in his eyes, smiled.
"Missed ya.", I whispered in German, our old, not-so-secret code language.

[Hanoverian Great Britain]

Visibly, her sucking on the straw in her lemonade cup temporarily froze, signalling a bit of a clear disappointment. "I see, a bit disappointed I am but I believe that we can make this moment lively, can't we? You and me, and maybe Fiete once she's over with hers", suggested Alexandra with a little smirk at the end directed towards Fiete, as she turned her head slightly towards the shoreline behind her. While she was aware that the two ladies are most likely forced to remain in her position as "bartender" for the moment, the former still hoped that there could be a time where she could spend some time with her newfound friends.

By accident, as she turned her face back towards Lykke, her eyes, despite initial motives could not resist from capturing the seemingly worried look of one of the three young lads nearby. The young man, or teenager looked roughly the same age as hers, with her best guess being that he might be around 2 years older than her or vice versa. Though she had her assumptions, Alexandra soon gave in and decided to help as she quickly questioned the him. "Forgive me for being so nosy but are you in some sort of distress? Let me help you dear, I'm Alexandra", offered her with a caring face and tone.

[Confederate American SU]

A petite, redheaded 'girl' arrived in a knee-length gingham dress and boater hat. Nothing about 'her' suggested that 'she' was the elusive Grand Wizard of the Red Shirts, a paramilitary group dedicated to Jeffersonianism, white nationalism, and syndicalism. He arrived at the resort after hearing that many major world leaders were attending. Why? To mess with them for the entertainment of his viewers. And, the redheaded radical was carrying a lobster purse containing his laptop to livestream while on the beach. That and sun-screen. His pale skin doesn't do well in sunlight. Oh, and a Switch! He can never forget that!

Pickett searched the beach, looking for a table with an umbrella to hide in the shade of. Already, he felt a little tired from carrying the bag around in the hot sun-shine. "Next time, I'm staying home," he muttered to himself.

[Lillorainen]

Amy Laoch of the Tribe of Dundalk.
I smiled as Kira told me, that she was now a Lillo, congratulated her with another hug, laughed at Dragan's comment of the whole process not being as complicated as everyone made it sound - it was certainly easier then becoming a citizen of the Free Lands - and wanted to add something, as Leonie introduced herself.
I did not know her, but I was too happy to care, bowed my head, then went in for another hug. Would I have been a Spiorad, my tail would have been wagging.
"Pleasure to meet ya, Leo! I'm Amy!", I told her, let her go, grinned a face-splitting grin, "So... where do you know these two from?"

Celina Treoraí of the Tribe of Louth.
Let's skip ahead in time to the point in time, when our lips separated again, either by being satisfied or by the need for fresh air or by whatever.
I looked deep in his eyes, smiled.
"Missed ya.", I whispered in German, our old, not-so-secret code language.

As Ronny followed the command to remove the blackscreen again, Chris and Cel took some air, or were finished for now, or whatever. Chris looked back into Cel's eyes.
Of course, the not-so-secret code language came to a use again - still secret enough, at least more than English or Selkie, the latter of which Chris had already turned out to be surprisingly good at back in Launceston.
"Ich han dich uch vermess!" - he replied in Rhenish, I've missed you, too! Although he could surely expect Cel to understand the gist of most sentences, he switched to a less dialectal variant of German, saying, "Three months can be quite a bit of a time, eh?"
Meanwhile, Amy, having laughed about Dragan's comment on his own perception of bureaucracy towards Kira (who, of course, had still kept her Shamsiyyan passport next to her new citizenship), now got over to Leo, greeting her with a hug, as if they had already known each other, and asked where she knew Dragan and Kira from.
"Oh, that's easy to explain!" - she said. "You must know, that I study History and Media Sciences at the University of Wiedheim, where I also happen to be from, aspiring to become a journalist - or, rather, to continue being one, for I already got some experience. In mid-October, I got invited to a congress of media representatives over in Lillorainen, in Roisweiler. And there, I met Dragan." Her pronunciation of Dragan's name with a rolled 'R' and the rising melodic cadence typical for Serbian, a pitch-accent language like Selkie and Shikonjimanese were, showed, that she was tremendously accurate at practicing the pronunciation of foreign names. Back in Eastern Slavia, she also had practiced President Oktyabrskaya's name until she had mastered it perfectly. "We came into a chat, he mentioned, that he's a journalist working for the Jillich Media Center, we exchanged contact data, remained in touch and have seen each other a couple of time since then - both in Lillorainen and in Wiedheim. And by that chance, I also met Kira, and of course also Erik, Schlucke, Janina, Fenja - the entire gang of little rascals."
"And, of course, Attila Debeljak and the other colleagues in charge of sitting around in the basement and correcting our typos" - Dragan added, grinning. "Speaking of which ..." He opened the pocket of his swimming trunks and pulled a little transparent, lockable box around the size of a smaller cigarette pack out. He opened it; it contained small, white cards - the ominous cards they had already talked about back then in Dumhach. He took one out and gave it to Amy.
The business card - white, saying Dragan's name and profession, with the logo of the JMC, as well as Dragan's and the JMC's contact data.
"I can finally carry these around!" - he said, grinning.

[Shikonjima]

Faye Donn of the Tribe of Wexford.
After introductions, we settled down, Áed choosing to take the seat on Captain Fearg's far side, who sat on my other side.
His father, having taken all three introductions with bows in return, was distributing lemonade. "It's a pleasure to have you all. I am Raidri Gormchló of the Tribe of Fingal, that's my son Áed!"
"Hi!", the boy said, waved into the round.
"Faye and I go a bit back, mostly having to do with her boat, the Reathaí.", he explained and I nodded, "Mostly with the fact, that she was getting on with the years and one of her shafts wasn't too keen on working anymore. We fixed her and Faye and I got to know each other due to this."
I nodded again. "She runs like a breeze again! But still, I am thinking about replacing her, soon..."
Raidri nodded in understanding.

The two Shikonjimanese and their Sharulsi friend took Raidri's and Áed's introduction with slight bows in return, too, settled down, then nodded again thankfully when they received their lemonade.
They nodded along, when Raidri and Faye explained where they knew each other from - Raidri once had fixed Faye's boat, which, according to what it sounded like, was already a bit older. Old enough so that Faye considered replacing the Reathaí.
Kazuo nodded in understanding, too - what he understood about it in particular would get clear to the Selkie in a few.
"The three of us go back a bit, too" - Setsuko explained. "While Kazuo and I turned out to be students of the same school for a couple of years, our age gap prevented us from knowing each other - that changed when I gave tutoring to Sayuri, one of Kazuo's friends and classmates, at Politics & Economics, and over the time, we became friends, too." She had to grin. "Age gaps can very easily turn out to be of little relevance, if one shares the same taste for shenanigans. And better be sure, that we do!"
Sayuri Nishimura would surely have remained in memories, if one had met Yelda and Kazuo in their first days on Piffle, as her unusual taste in clothing - a maroon hoodie, pink yoga pants, and dark boots combined - certainly had made people all over the world raise their eyebrows. She had originally planned to come along to the Free Lands, too, but her timetable hadn't allowed that ...
"And at the beginning of the last schoolyear, I joined the group!" - Yelda said. "They were the first ones I met when I arrived at my school exchange year in Toriyama, and I had only very few issues finding into this - well, only the typical issues a Sharulsi naturally has when staying in Shikonjima for a longer time, even when knowing the language." She shrugged. That she had gotten herself a certain fame by having written and published an entire travelogue was something she decided to brag about later. "I survived that year, though, and as you might guess from my presence in here right now, we've stayed friends beyond that point."
"Even though I've left Toriyama after graduation, too" - Setsuko added. "I now study Economics in Moukogawa, a tiny bit away from the North Shore."
Kazuo nodded. "Actually, we have quickly seen how easy it is to integrate a steppe girl into the gang!" - he said, smiling. "My parents happened to own a boat back then, too, a Nichibotsu-class reconnaissance ship which used to serve the ISN until 1974. They have had to replace it, too, in the meantime, for it got a bit old, so they could surely quite relate to your hesitance to tell your Reathaí goodbye ... at least I can." A beat passed; Kazuo had a sip of lemonade. "But back then, we still had it, and we spent the first weekend on it. It was an awesome night!"
Yelda grinned at Kazuo. "Are you sure you would consider everything that happened in that night awesome ...?" - she asked him.
"Well, certain aspects of that night were ... questionable, to say the least."
Yelda snorted upon this wording.

[AHSCA]

Aonas Folracht of the Tribe of Wicklow.
I made it like the fish did for a bit, moving my mouth without a sound coming out, my face red hot until I sighed.
"Her name is Iliane Jacobson and...", I began, then stopped, paused. Dad looked at me with a small smile, and I knew, what he wanted. "...gimme a second."
I looked around, found her standing closeby, tending to Asalcloig, my horse. I waved to her, inviting her to join.
She smiled and came over, her brown hair, which went a little bit past her shoulders, her blue one-piece showed, that she was still maturing - and maybe a few years younger then Aonas.
I smiled and rose, she gave me a quick hug.
"Dad, Ayla, if I may introduce? Miss Iliane Jacobson. Lys, this is my Dad, Heardread Folracht of the Tribe of Wicklow, and Miss Ayla.", I introduced and my father got up, his massive frame towering over us - and over Lys, who was nearly half a meter shorter then him.
He bowed his head, grinned. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Jacobson.", he said, clearly joyous, "Please, join our little round! You are from Nouvelle-Dunkerque, right?"
"The pleasure is all mine, Menseur Folracht.", she said with a slight accent, sitting down with me and my father and Ayla. "Oui, I am of the Most Serene Republic."

Ayala smiled and nodded in a 'hello' motion to Miss Iliane Jacobson. "And my pleasure as well." She seemed nice "So, you're foreign to this land, Miss Jacobson?" She honestly was surprised but thrilled to also meet someone from another place as well. As many people as she could meet would be fun. "I'm from AHSCA myself."

[The Gristolian Imperium]

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

---

Asteria Aoibhiúil of the Tribe of Wicklow.
I smiled and began to lead the way.
We had a party to arrive to and it would be rude to be late! Besides, Donatella wasn't the only one, who was getting thirsty...
"It's an event.", I explained, "The Mianach Air Race, held four times a year in Gaineamh. It is a competition of the best pilots, who ever heard of it, many of them from around the region. The conditions and aircraft allowed to be used change every time its held, but this time, it's fixed-wing propeller. I fly a HMW-FW 19 Fighter-Bomber, of course demilitarized, an old warbird, which is actually from Teressien. A wonderful aircraft, especially at speeds... but getting her up to speeds will be a bit of a problem."
Ga followed me, thus hopefully making Donatella come as well.

Following Asteria, Donatella listened as she spoke. From memory, she never heard of any air races back in the Imperium. Horse races, boat races, car races, of course, but never air races. Deciding to think out loud, the heiress began, "How does one air race? Do you go from one place to another as fast as possible?" As she asked, she pretended her hand was a plane and did twirl as she made a poor plane noise. "Or, do you do tricks?"

Donatella's face lit up in wonder as she imagined, most likely inaccurately, a more dramatic scene in her head. She daydreamed planes buzzing around in tight formation doing tricks. It seemed exhilarating. The most action she ever saw was maybe a fast car ride or two per month. Of course, in both cases, the heiress would be in an unique state due to consuming some...unique substances. Regardless, her mind raced at wondering what the race would look like.

But, then her mind stopped and her face became more somber. She asked, "Wait, do people crash?"

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Yven Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
I smiled slightly, having no idea as to whom Heidi was referring to in particular, but well aware, that there were religious zealots out there, who murdered in the names of their respective Gods - a shame for any Cult and Religion out there.
Still, I replied: "I think, we could do that. Haven't seen Cousin Nia for quite some time anyway, so I doubt, that she'll object, too.", I told her, "I'd have to call her, though, to find out, where she is currently."

Meanwhile, my sister was reluctant to let Marie go.
"Okay...", she said and finally let go, seemed sad, her ears drooping, "I'll show you, where to put everything." And then she seemed to perk up. "And I'll introduce you to Ilia! You'll like him! He's a cute lad!"
In this case, I knew, that cute meant not good looking - he was twelve, so such concerns were not in his wheelhouse right now. Neither was the fact, that some of the most beautiful women in the Free Lands were his honorary Big Sisters...

Adelheid
Adelheid nodded and smiled. "I'd be glad to meet her...Are there any other, well...paramilitaries? Both religious and secular, I mean."

---

Marie raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Intresting...Thanks, Cao-" she abruptly cut off.

A petite, redheaded 'girl' arrived in a knee-length gingham dress and boater hat. Nothing about 'her' suggested that 'she' was the elusive Grand Wizard of the Red Shirts, a paramilitary group dedicated to Jeffersonianism, white nationalism, and syndicalism. He arrived at the resort after hearing that many major world leaders were attending. Why? To mess with them for the entertainment of his viewers. And, the redheaded radical was carrying a lobster purse containing his laptop to livestream while on the beach. That and sun-screen. His pale skin doesn't do well in sunlight. Oh, and a Switch! He can never forget that!

Pickett searched the beach, looking for a table with an umbrella to hide in the shade of. Already, he felt a little tired from carrying the bag around in the hot sun-shine. "Next time, I'm staying home," he muttered to himself.

Pickett would find her/himself being stared at by a woman in a dull-grey utility uniform.
It wasn't a 'friendly' or 'curious' one. It resembled the glare of a Northern Goshawk, sizing up his prey silently, watching and waiting for it to make the slightest mistake.
Being its target was not pleasant.
At last, though, she broke off the stare, turning back to the woman next to her. Evidently, whatever suspicions the soldier had were allayed for now.

"...must've been nothing." she said to herself, turning back to Cao.
But I swear I must have seen her face somewhere else. she added mentally.
"Anyway, where should I set it down? I've got a few packages of pierogi in my rucksack, as does the Lady von Hohenzollern-Jagiellon. Plus some hard liquor."

[Minroz]

Isla Stiúrthóir of the Tribe of Fingal.
Well, calling it a stall might be a bit too much, but I had set myself up with a small camping table, setting my supplies up as they came in from Quartermaster Ilia. Three Boxes, which I had loaded onto the supply carts, with something very special, namely the only thing I could cook.
Salads.
I should introduce myself, I am Isla Stiúrthóir of the Tribe of Fingal, by day the leader of the Demonstration Lance of the Defenders of the Temple of Chorn, a Priestess of Rhiannon and a member of Her Lancemaidens. By day, I usually wore the heavy plate armour of a Beast of Rhiannon.
But, something a few people knew, I also had another side: I was a passionate swimmer and water sports woman, who spent a few weeks every year in the Archipelago, if time permitted. Time had permitted it this year, so I was here.
I had long, blonde hair, which went well past my hips, with natural curls and a certain bounce to it, two short hair drills framing my face and making my blue eyes shine like sapphires. I wore a black bikini, my favourite actually, with a halterneck top and a bow in the front, putting emphasis on me being very well equipped as far as my chest was concerned, as well as side-tie bottoms. Both pieces also had highlights in anthrazite, a bit lighter then the black of the majority of my swimsuit.
I was also well in form, which I had to be as a Lancemaiden.
"Salam! Good evening, what did you have here, friend~!?", the red-headed woman told me with a smile.
"And peace be with you as well, good evening.", I replied, thinking her to be Kyrenaian - who greeted with Salaam, Peace be with you, in more formal contexts. "I have salads." I put a small box onto the table. "Potato salads of different kinds, lettuce salad, chicken salad..." I motioned to where Lykke and Fiete were manning their 'stall' a few meters away. "I'm afraid you'll have to get your drinks with those two lassies, but I have the good and solid foundation for the day."
I leaned forward, elbows onto the table, eyes on the redhead - and a very, very nice view for her companion.
"What can I get you?", I asked.

The Aryanians as the people who appreciated healthy meals are pretty interested in all the salads offered by Isla. Although Nasrollah Afshar was bit interested in something else, more like distracted as his eyes lay upon the blonde Selkie’s cleavage as well as the dress she wore has accentuated her figure.

“…I understand…” Nasrollah responded. He didn’t want to admit out loud that he liked her figure due to his pride as a highborn. Not to mentioned, he’s married to his wife who is normally happy-go-lucky woman but downright scary when provoked. The light-haired brunette doesn’t want her to notice what he has down but he’s proven wrong when he felt the nudge in his back from Roksana’s elbow. He may not see it but he can feel his wife is bit displeased with him despite her cheerful expression shown. Nasrollah can testify to his years of spending time with his wife to the point he can feel her mood.

“Oooh, it’s okay~.” Roksana beamed happily in response to Isla as if nothing happened. “It’s no problem for us, we have plenty of time to spare anyway, haha~. Say friend, can we have one of each salads you have~? I’m going to have my husband (Nasrollah) come to get the drinks there while I wait here for the salads. He’ll pay for it afterwards. How’s that sound~?”

Nasrollah wanted to breathe a sigh of relief but he’ll not show it. Nonetheless, he deeply loves Roksana to the core and vice-versa. Despite presenting himself as a gentleman noble, he’s a man with flaws despite being a magic-user with long-life.

[Mediama]

Hearing someone note her swimwear and greet her, she replied back to the greeting. “Marionette, my name is Marionette Banner.” She turned to face the source of that greeting, all the while saying, “How long a-”, she paused. Standing right in front of her was a women in a modern black two piece bikini, but that wasn’t what stood out to her.

What stood out to her were the two vulpine ears that stuck out on the woman’s head.

A-Are those real? Marion’s mind stuttered. They didn’t have any mythical creatures like this back in New London, heck, anywhere in North America even.

It didn’t help that the woman looked rather pretty, nay, beautiful in her swimwear. Partially to avoid offending the woman for staring, but also in hiding her flush, either in embarrassment or otherwise, she tried to focus anywhere but her ears as she tried to figure out what to say, or how to finish her question, biting her lower lip and digging her big toe in the sand while doing so.

Nia Sneachtúil, of Cefnffordd Descent.
When Marionette stopped speaking, I was, for a moment, confused. It didn't look as if someone had rammed a dagger into her back, so...
Then I noticed, where her eyes were: On the canine ears on my head. She quickly tried to focus anywhere but my ears, biting her lower lip and digging with her toe.
I smiled.
"Don't worry, those are real.", I said and wiggled the ears for emphasis, "I am of the Spiorad Ainmhithe." With a smile, I motioned to the spot on the bench next to me. "Come, have a seat. I am actually quite curious as to where you got that swimsuit from? As said, I haven't seen them in a long time!"
I was waiting on some people anyway, so why not converse a bit?

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?”

[New Visayan Islands]

Gerald Vicente
At the Stall

"Thanks, but I'll manage," Gerald replied. While he found the thought of leaving Isla to her own devices for a few moments somewhat distasteful, the possibility that she was setting him up for something--he didn't know what, but he figured it was best if he didn't find out--made his skin crawl; attractive she may be, she was still the 18-year-old daughter of one of SDY's big shots. The age gap and her status made her off-limits in whatever regard he was worried she was setting him up for, even after one did not consider professional courtesy.

Faced with this, Gerald saw that he just had to head to one of the portalets. "I'll be back," he added.

As soon as he made it to the tree line, he entered one of the portalets; he needed a bathroom anyway, and it was better for him to relieve himself before anything else. It was after draining the snake that Gerald changed; he was already wearing trunks under his suit, hence the briefcase.

True to his word, Gerald returned after washing, appearing in his trunks. The trunks were a solid deep blue, extending to just above his knees, while Gerald's torso showed the scars of a man who, at fifteen, survived two bullets in the stomach and a glancing shot to the ribs protecting two female classmates from an enraged rioter.

[Confederate American SU]

Pickett would find her/himself being stared at by a woman in a dull-grey utility uniform.
It wasn't a 'friendly' or 'curious' one. It resembled the glare of a Northern Goshawk, sizing up his prey silently, watching and waiting for it to make the slightest mistake.
Being its target was not pleasant.
At last, though, she broke off the stare, turning back to the woman next to her. Evidently, whatever suspicions the soldier had were allayed for now.

"...must've been nothing." she said to herself, turning back to Cao. "Anyway, where should I set it down? I've got a few packages of pierogi in my rucksack, as does the Lady von Hohenzollern-Jagiellon. Plus some hard liquor."

Pickett paused from a moment. His paranoia about being punched by Antifa made the Grand Wizard extremely paranoid, especially since he was only 4'10". I'm being watched. By-

A woman in a utility uniform? She was like the yin to his yang. He was frilly and girly, while she was dressed practically. And, he oddly liked the attention, even if it were negative. This was a guy who accepted a nihilistic existence where he was hated by all except for his fringe following. And, his first thought was to avoid her...

But, Pickett thought on it more, facing the sandy ground. I can't live my life this way. Being afraid of everyone. Plus, she doesn't know who I am. Just play the girl act and everything will be fine! And so, the programmer approached the group. How am I going to greet them? This isn't like the Internet where you can drop N-word bombs like it's nothing. "H-Hey there," he stuttered with an oddly soft voice, clutching to his lobster-themed purse, "I n-noticed that you were looking at me." His pale, freckled face turned beet-red, obviously more from embarrassment than the scorching sun.

[Kuronami]

Macha Taise, of Cork Descent.
I watched as both men lifted the girls into their saddles, Kean sat Bianca in front of him, an arm slung for security around Bianca's stomach, stabilizing her, while Galen sat Isabel behind himself, slinging her arms around his midriff.
The horses let the two men do as they pleased.
Once both girls were safe and secure, the men let their horses trot a bit so that the girls could get a feeling for their moves - riders of ponies or not, better not take any chances!
Then Galen grinned at Kean: "Last one by the creek is a rotten egg!", he announced.
And off he and Isabel went, Kean sighing: "Youth these days...", he grumbled and grinned himself, letting his horse run as the wind behind the two, or three, in front of him.
If the girls would like the violent shaking of an impromptu horse race was another question...

Isabel's eyes widened as she suddenly felt the force of a quick dash off by the horse and before she could so much as yell everyone seemed out of sight. Bianca looked on a bit surprised and lost for words but she knew Isabel would be okay, these men for sure knew horses like the back of their own hands. "Well, what are we waiting for? You heard him, let's go!" She cheerfully urged on the competition between Galen and Kean. She was ready to ride with the wind and have her golden locks trail behind her.

[The Selkie]

Visibly, her sucking on the straw in her lemonade cup temporarily froze, signalling a bit of a clear disappointment. "I see, a bit disappointed I am but I believe that we can make this moment lively, can't we? You and me, and maybe Fiete once she's over with hers", suggested Alexandra with a little smirk at the end directed towards Fiete, as she turned her head slightly towards the shoreline behind her. While she was aware that the two ladies are most likely forced to remain in her position as "bartender" for the moment, the former still hoped that there could be a time where she could spend some time with her newfound friends.

By accident, as she turned her face back towards Lykke, her eyes, despite initial motives could not resist from capturing the seemingly worried look of one of the three young lads nearby. The young man, or teenager looked roughly the same age as hers, with her best guess being that he might be around 2 years older than her or vice versa. Though she had her assumptions, Alexandra soon gave in and decided to help as she quickly questioned the him. "Forgive me for being so nosy but are you in some sort of distress? Let me help you dear, I'm Alexandra", offered her with a caring face and tone.

Lykke Blon.
The young man swallowed, less worried and more nervous with each passing second as Alexandra focused on him.
He then replied, stuttering: "I'm Fintan, Miss Alexadra.", he brought out, bowed his head lightly, "I am less in distress, but more wondering, if you would be willing to have a dance with me?"
Well, that was one way to go about asking a girl out for a dance.
He also motioned to where the musicians of BI, Enya and Finnegan Saraigh, were still warming up with a few Selkie-Dances, a few already dancing to their fiddle and their flute. It was not a formal dance or ball, not by a long shot, but it did its purpose well enough.
I smiled at the scene.

Ayala smiled and nodded in a 'hello' motion to Miss Iliane Jacobson. "And my pleasure as well." She seemed nice "So, you're foreign to this land, Miss Jacobson?" She honestly was surprised but thrilled to also meet someone from another place as well. As many people as she could meet would be fun. "I'm from AHSCA myself."

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.

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

---

Asteria Aoibhiúil of the Tribe of Wicklow.
I smiled and began to lead the way.
We had a party to arrive to and it would be rude to be late! Besides, Donatella wasn't the only one, who was getting thirsty...
"It's an event.", I explained, "The Mianach Air Race, held four times a year in Gaineamh. It is a competition of the best pilots, who ever heard of it, many of them from around the region. The conditions and aircraft allowed to be used change every time its held, but this time, it's fixed-wing propeller. I fly a HMW-FW 19 Fighter-Bomber, of course demilitarized, an old warbird, which is actually from Teressien. A wonderful aircraft, especially at speeds... but getting her up to speeds will be a bit of a problem."
Ga followed me, thus hopefully making Donatella come as well.

Following Asteria, Donatella listened as she spoke. From memory, she never heard of any air races back in the Imperium. Horse races, boat races, car races, of course, but never air races. Deciding to think out loud, the heiress began, "How does one air race? Do you go from one place to another as fast as possible?" As she asked, she pretended her hand was a plane and did twirl as she made a poor plane noise. "Or, do you do tricks?"

Donatella's face lit up in wonder as she imagined, most likely inaccurately, a more dramatic scene in her head. She daydreamed planes buzzing around in tight formation doing tricks. It seemed exhilarating. The most action she ever saw was maybe a fast car ride or two per month. Of course, in both cases, the heiress would be in an unique state due to consuming some...unique substances. Regardless, her mind raced at wondering what the race would look like.

But, then her mind stopped and her face became more somber. She asked, "Wait, do people crash?"

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.

Adelheid
Adelheid nodded and smiled. "I'd be glad to meet her...Are there any other, well...paramilitaries? Both religious and secular, I mean."

[...]

Yven Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
I smiled slightly.
"The Six Orders, of course, the Younger Militia and that's about it, as far as legal paramilitaries are concerned.", I said, "Though, one should add, that the Younger Militia these days is mostly additional manpower for disaster relief and has some ceremonial functions. No one expects us to march against an enemy with our pikes, crossbows and chainmail." I frowned slightly. "No one wants a second Anfa Ridge."

Pickett would find her/himself being stared at by a woman in a dull-grey utility uniform.
It wasn't a 'friendly' or 'curious' one. It resembled the glare of a Northern Goshawk, sizing up his prey silently, watching and waiting for it to make the slightest mistake.
Being its target was not pleasant.
At last, though, she broke off the stare, turning back to the woman next to her. Evidently, whatever suspicions the soldier had were allayed for now.

"...must've been nothing." she said to herself, turning back to Cao. "Anyway, where should I set it down? I've got a few packages of pierogi in my rucksack, as does the Lady von Hohenzollern-Jagiellon. Plus some hard liquor."

Pickett paused from a moment. His paranoia about being punched by Antifa made the Grand Wizard extremely paranoid, especially since he was only 4'10". I'm being watched. By-

A woman in a utility uniform? She was like the yin to his yang. He was frilly and girly, while she was dressed practically. And, he oddly liked the attention, even if it were negative. This was a guy who accepted a nihilistic existence where he was hated by all except for his fringe following. And, his first thought was to avoid her...

But, Pickett thought on it more, facing the sandy ground. I can't live my life this way. Being afraid of everyone. Plus, she doesn't know who I am. Just play the girl act and everything will be fine! And so, the programmer approached the group. How am I going to greet them? This isn't like the Internet where you can drop N-word bombs like it's nothing. "H-Hey there," he stuttered with an oddly soft voice, clutching to his lobster-themed purse, "I n-noticed that you were looking at me." His pale, freckled face turned beet-red, obviously more from embarrassment than the scorching sun.

Caoimhe Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
Before I could answer Marie with her inquiry, the girl, which had caused her pause, approached, greeted us and turned to Marie.
Something was not right with her, but I could not put my finger on it.
"Hi there.", I said, the vulpine ears on my head perking while the tail gently swished back and forth. "I'm Cao - sorry if we made you uncomfortable, lassie." She seemed nervous, so I spoke gently, then turned to Marie, smiling. "We are, aren't we?"

Gerald Vicente
At the Stall

"Thanks, but I'll manage," Gerald replied. While he found the thought of leaving Isla to her own devices for a few moments somewhat distasteful, the possibility that she was setting him up for something--he didn't know what, but he figured it was best if he didn't find out--made his skin crawl; attractive she may be, she was still the 18-year-old daughter of one of SDY's big shots. The age gap and her status made her off-limits in whatever regard he was worried she was setting him up for, even after one did not consider professional courtesy.

Faced with this, Gerald saw that he just had to head to one of the portalets. "I'll be back," he added.

As soon as he made it to the tree line, he entered one of the portalets; he needed a bathroom anyway, and it was better for him to relieve himself before anything else. It was after draining the snake that Gerald changed; he was already wearing trunks under his suit, hence the briefcase.

True to his word, Gerald returned after washing, appearing in his trunks. The trunks were a solid deep blue, extending to just above his knees, while Gerald's torso showed the scars of a man who, at fifteen, survived two bullets in the stomach and a glancing shot to the ribs protecting two female classmates from an enraged rioter.

Isla Saighead of the Tribe of Westmeath.
I did not know, that he presumed me being up to something, but allow me to put my cards on the table: I did not want him to bone me.
To be honest, despite the international cliche about Selkie-Women of my age group, I was not out to be boned tonight, quite on the contrary. I wanted to charm the living daylights out of him, dance a bit, reward him with a peck or maybe even two, and next see him in a few months, when someone hosted some party or the other.
I might not have a boyfriend, but that did not mean, that I was a whore.
When he returned, I was conversing with a young woman a few years older then I was. Her blue eyes shone like sapphires, while her blonde locks fell in natural curls. She wore a grey bikini with lace trimmings in some places, halterneck, side-tie bottoms hidden a bit by a pair of denim shorts. Oh, and, to my utter jealousy, she was busty.
Like, watermelons-busty, if you get, what I mean.
Truly, I envied Amy Eitpheil of the Tribe of Cavan a bit.
I noticed Gerald before I noticed the scars, Amy letting her eyes wander over them as well. Granted, my eyes were focused on him cutting quite a good figure in his trunks.
"So...", I said, smiled as I handed him his drink back, "...this is Amy. Amy, Mister Gerald Vicente."
"Hi.", she said with good cheer and bowed her head slightly, bottle in one hand, "How do ya do?"

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.
I 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."

Isla Stiúrthóir of the Tribe of Fingal.
Well, calling it a stall might be a bit too much, but I had set myself up with a small camping table, setting my supplies up as they came in from Quartermaster Ilia. Three Boxes, which I had loaded onto the supply carts, with something very special, namely the only thing I could cook.
Salads.
I should introduce myself, I am Isla Stiúrthóir of the Tribe of Fingal, by day the leader of the Demonstration Lance of the Defenders of the Temple of Chorn, a Priestess of Rhiannon and a member of Her Lancemaidens. By day, I usually wore the heavy plate armour of a Beast of Rhiannon.
But, something a few people knew, I also had another side: I was a passionate swimmer and water sports woman, who spent a few weeks every year in the Archipelago, if time permitted. Time had permitted it this year, so I was here.
I had long, blonde hair, which went well past my hips, with natural curls and a certain bounce to it, two short hair drills framing my face and making my blue eyes shine like sapphires. I wore a black bikini, my favourite actually, with a halterneck top and a bow in the front, putting emphasis on me being very well equipped as far as my chest was concerned, as well as side-tie bottoms. Both pieces also had highlights in anthrazite, a bit lighter then the black of the majority of my swimsuit.
I was also well in form, which I had to be as a Lancemaiden.
"Salam! Good evening, what did you have here, friend~!?", the red-headed woman told me with a smile.
"And peace be with you as well, good evening.", I replied, thinking her to be Kyrenaian - who greeted with Salaam, Peace be with you, in more formal contexts. "I have salads." I put a small box onto the table. "Potato salads of different kinds, lettuce salad, chicken salad..." I motioned to where Lykke and Fiete were manning their 'stall' a few meters away. "I'm afraid you'll have to get your drinks with those two lassies, but I have the good and solid foundation for the day."
I leaned forward, elbows onto the table, eyes on the redhead - and a very, very nice view for her companion.
"What can I get you?", I asked.

The Aryanians as the people who appreciated healthy meals are pretty interested in all the salads offered by Isla. Although Nasrollah Afshar was bit interested in something else, more like distracted as his eyes lay upon the blonde Selkie’s cleavage as well as the dress she wore has accentuated her figure.

“…I understand…” Nasrollah responded. He didn’t want to admit out loud that he liked her figure due to his pride as a highborn. Not to mentioned, he’s married to his wife who is normally happy-go-lucky woman but downright scary when provoked. The light-haired brunette doesn’t want her to notice what he has down but he’s proven wrong when he felt the nudge in his back from Roksana’s elbow. He may not see it but he can feel his wife is bit displeased with him despite her cheerful expression shown. Nasrollah can testify to his years of spending time with his wife to the point he can feel her mood.

“Oooh, it’s okay~.” Roksana beamed happily in response to Isla as if nothing happened. “It’s no problem for us, we have plenty of time to spare anyway, haha~. Say friend, can we have one of each salads you have~? I’m going to have my husband (Nasrollah) come to get the drinks there while I wait here for the salads. He’ll pay for it afterwards. How’s that sound~?”

Nasrollah wanted to breathe a sigh of relief but he’ll not show it. Nonetheless, he deeply loves Roksana to the core and vice-versa. Despite presenting himself as a gentleman noble, he’s a man with flaws despite being a magic-user with long-life.

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?"

Macha Taise, of Cork Descent.
I watched as both men lifted the girls into their saddles, Kean sat Bianca in front of him, an arm slung for security around Bianca's stomach, stabilizing her, while Galen sat Isabel behind himself, slinging her arms around his midriff.
The horses let the two men do as they pleased.
Once both girls were safe and secure, the men let their horses trot a bit so that the girls could get a feeling for their moves - riders of ponies or not, better not take any chances!
Then Galen grinned at Kean: "Last one by the creek is a rotten egg!", he announced.
And off he and Isabel went, Kean sighing: "Youth these days...", he grumbled and grinned himself, letting his horse run as the wind behind the two, or three, in front of him.
If the girls would like the violent shaking of an impromptu horse race was another question...

Isabel's eyes widened as she suddenly felt the force of a quick dash off by the horse and before she could so much as yell everyone seemed out of sight. Bianca looked on a bit surprised and lost for words but she knew Isabel would be okay, these men for sure knew horses like the back of their own hands. "Well, what are we waiting for? You heard him, let's go!" She cheerfully urged on the competition between Galen and Kean. She was ready to ride with the wind and have her golden locks trail behind her.

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.

As Ronny followed the command to remove the blackscreen again, Chris and Cel took some air, or were finished for now, or whatever. Chris looked back into Cel's eyes.
Of course, the not-so-secret code language came to a use again - still secret enough, at least more than English or Selkie, the latter of which Chris had already turned out to be surprisingly good at back in Launceston.
"Ich han dich uch vermess!" - he replied in Rhenish, I've missed you, too! Although he could surely expect Cel to understand the gist of most sentences, he switched to a less dialectal variant of German, saying, "Three months can be quite a bit of a time, eh?"
Meanwhile, Amy, having laughed about Dragan's comment on his own perception of bureaucracy towards Kira (who, of course, had still kept her Shamsiyyan passport next to her new citizenship), now got over to Leo, greeting her with a hug, as if they had already known each other, and asked where she knew Dragan and Kira from.
"Oh, that's easy to explain!" - she said. "You must know, that I study History and Media Sciences at the University of Wiedheim, where I also happen to be from, aspiring to become a journalist - or, rather, to continue being one, for I already got some experience. In mid-October, I got invited to a congress of media representatives over in Lillorainen, in Roisweiler. And there, I met Dragan." Her pronunciation of Dragan's name with a rolled 'R' and the rising melodic cadence typical for Serbian, a pitch-accent language like Selkie and Shikonjimanese were, showed, that she was tremendously accurate at practicing the pronunciation of foreign names. Back in Eastern Slavia, she also had practiced President Oktyabrskaya's name until she had mastered it perfectly. "We came into a chat, he mentioned, that he's a journalist working for the Jillich Media Center, we exchanged contact data, remained in touch and have seen each other a couple of time since then - both in Lillorainen and in Wiedheim. And by that chance, I also met Kira, and of course also Erik, Schlucke, Janina, Fenja - the entire gang of little rascals."
"And, of course, Attila Debeljak and the other colleagues in charge of sitting around in the basement and correcting our typos" - Dragan added, grinning. "Speaking of which ..." He opened the pocket of his swimming trunks and pulled a little transparent, lockable box around the size of a smaller cigarette pack out. He opened it; it contained small, white cards - the ominous cards they had already talked about back then in Dumhach. He took one out and gave it to Amy.
The business card - white, saying Dragan's name and profession, with the logo of the JMC, as well as Dragan's and the JMC's contact data.
"I can finally carry these around!" - he said, grinning.

The two Shikonjimanese and their Sharulsi friend took Raidri's and Áed's introduction with slight bows in return, too, settled down, then nodded again thankfully when they received their lemonade.
They nodded along, when Raidri and Faye explained where they knew each other from - Raidri once had fixed Faye's boat, which, according to what it sounded like, was already a bit older. Old enough so that Faye considered replacing the Reathaí.
Kazuo nodded in understanding, too - what he understood about it in particular would get clear to the Selkie in a few.
"The three of us go back a bit, too" - Setsuko explained. "While Kazuo and I turned out to be students of the same school for a couple of years, our age gap prevented us from knowing each other - that changed when I gave tutoring to Sayuri, one of Kazuo's friends and classmates, at Politics & Economics, and over the time, we became friends, too." She had to grin. "Age gaps can very easily turn out to be of little relevance, if one shares the same taste for shenanigans. And better be sure, that we do!"
Sayuri Nishimura would surely have remained in memories, if one had met Yelda and Kazuo in their first days on Piffle, as her unusual taste in clothing - a maroon hoodie, pink yoga pants, and dark boots combined - certainly had made people all over the world raise their eyebrows. She had originally planned to come along to the Free Lands, too, but her timetable hadn't allowed that ...
"And at the beginning of the last schoolyear, I joined the group!" - Yelda said. "They were the first ones I met when I arrived at my school exchange year in Toriyama, and I had only very few issues finding into this - well, only the typical issues a Sharulsi naturally has when staying in Shikonjima for a longer time, even when knowing the language." She shrugged. That she had gotten herself a certain fame by having written and published an entire travelogue was something she decided to brag about later. "I survived that year, though, and as you might guess from my presence in here right now, we've stayed friends beyond that point."
"Even though I've left Toriyama after graduation, too" - Setsuko added. "I now study Economics in Moukogawa, a tiny bit away from the North Shore."
Kazuo nodded. "Actually, we have quickly seen how easy it is to integrate a steppe girl into the gang!" - he said, smiling. "My parents happened to own a boat back then, too, a Nichibotsu-class reconnaissance ship which used to serve the ISN until 1974. They have had to replace it, too, in the meantime, for it got a bit old, so they could surely quite relate to your hesitance to tell your Reathaí goodbye ... at least I can." A beat passed; Kazuo had a sip of lemonade. "But back then, we still had it, and we spent the first weekend on it. It was an awesome night!"
Yelda grinned at Kazuo. "Are you sure you would consider everything that happened in that night awesome ...?" - she asked him.
"Well, certain aspects of that night were ... questionable, to say the least."
Yelda snorted upon this wording.

Faye Donn of the Tribe of Wexford.
I smiled as I dropped a little bomb: "My Reathaí was built in 1930.", I told them with a small smile, "Originally, she was a small torpedo boat, decommissioned in 1949, destined to ruin the day of everyone, who dared himself to come too close to the shores of the Free Lands." I shrugged. "Some rich guy bought her before she could be scrapped, demilitarized her and used her as a speed boat and yacht, before he died. She changed hands a few times since 2013, when I bought her... I can barely let her run her 50 knots."
I shrugged.
"But she's a good boat.", I added, "Maybe the SDF Museum is interested, after rebuilding her to the original condition?"
As I wondered out loud, Áed raised a hand. "My apologies for asking, but what happened aboard of that yacht?", he asked as innocently as a lad of ten Springs could - and all alarm bells began to shrill in my head.
I really, really hoped, that it was not something, that wasn't suited for a boy's ears...

Amy Laoch of the Tribe of Dundalk.
I nodded as Leo explained how she got into contact with Dragan and his friends as he surprised me by drawing out his business cards, grinning like a madman.
I grinned, too, as I hugged him, kissed him on both cheeks, and told him: "Congratulations, Dragan! Finally, eh?" I took one and commented with a wink: "Should I ever forget your phone number..."
I placed it in my bikini top, left breast, between fabric and tissue.
There were certainly worse places to be, if you were a business card!

Celina Treoraí of the Tribe of Louth.
I meanwhile nodded at Chris' words, before I heard a yipp of a Little Black Fox from my feet.
I smiled even more as I looked down and recognized the vulpine immediately: "Look who's there to greet you, too!"
With this, I gathered him up, and Chris would certainly remember him, as Cladhaire was a rather distinctive chap. He quickly got rid of my hands, climbed up my bare arm and stood on my shoulder, which made me laugh.
"And he learned a few new tricks, too!"

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Caoimhe Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
Before I could answer Marie with her inquiry, the girl, which had caused her pause, approached, greeted us and turned to Marie.
Something was not right with her, but I could not put my finger on it.
"Hi there.", I said, the vulpine ears on my head perking while the tail gently swished back and forth. "I'm Cao - sorry if we made you uncomfortable, lassie." She seemed nervous, so I spoke gently, then turned to Marie, smiling. "We are, aren't we?"

Pickett would find her/himself being stared at by a woman in a dull-grey utility uniform.
It wasn't a 'friendly' or 'curious' one. It resembled the glare of a Northern Goshawk, sizing up his prey silently, watching and waiting for it to make the slightest mistake.
Being its target was not pleasant.
At last, though, she broke off the stare, turning back to the woman next to her. Evidently, whatever suspicions the soldier had were allayed for now.

"...must've been nothing." she said to herself, turning back to Cao. "Anyway, where should I set it down? I've got a few packages of pierogi in my rucksack, as does the Lady von Hohenzollern-Jagiellon. Plus some hard liquor."

Pickett paused from a moment. His paranoia about being punched by Antifa made the Grand Wizard extremely paranoid, especially since he was only 4'10". I'm being watched. By-

A woman in a utility uniform? She was like the yin to his yang. He was frilly and girly, while she was dressed practically. And, he oddly liked the attention, even if it were negative. This was a guy who accepted a nihilistic existence where he was hated by all except for his fringe following. And, his first thought was to avoid her...

But, Pickett thought on it more, facing the sandy ground. I can't live my life this way. Being afraid of everyone. Plus, she doesn't know who I am. Just play the girl act and everything will be fine! And so, the programmer approached the group. How am I going to greet them? This isn't like the Internet where you can drop N-word bombs like it's nothing. "H-Hey there," he stuttered with an oddly soft voice, clutching to his lobster-themed purse, "I n-noticed that you were looking at me." His pale, freckled face turned beet-red, obviously more from embarrassment than the scorching sun.

Marie nodded. "Aye. Sorry 'bout that, lass. Thought I recognized you from somewhere, that's all."
She smiled and help out her hand. "My name's Marie...you?"

Now that she was up close, Marie felt her suspicions returning but quickly quashed them. The hell was she going to do, film them? Shoot up the beach? Nah, she was probably safe-no, definitely. This wasn't exactly Saranidia, and the girl seemed harmless enough.

Still, there was that nagging feeling at the back of her head.

[Mervay]

Enya Cíochach of the Tribe of Navan.
I was no stranger to the flora and fauna of the Free Lands, I was, after all, half a Selkie and grew up here. I was also one of the three daughters of Teressien's Ambassador in Fortham, the youngest of the bunch, and the girlfriend of Teressien's Prince, or Fürst, Alrich III..
So, it was as if it was logical, that I spent some time with my prospective Mother in Law, and yes, Oda was here and was enjoying a nice conversation with Prince Elian ibn-Sarah right now, the Kyrenaian Prince having appeared as if he was the cavalry to occupy the old lady elsewhere, I also had to wear a modest swimsuit.
Sure, I was not a woman of the horizontal occupation, so I like swimsuits, which were more then two triangles and a dental floss, I had quite a cute one with a sailor collar, which had been vetoed... well, next time I saw Alrich, he would get a bit of a private fashion show!
As it was, I wore a competition swimsuit, a black one with red and white highlights - not bad, especially when considering my figure, but I envied my sisters a bit... Kiah wore a black bikini and a pair of dark denims, the straps of the bikini bottoms peeking over the edge of said denims, emphasizing her hips, while Ida wore a sports bikini. The three of us sat together and enjoyed a lemonade, Ida having just explained us something from her studies of philosophy and the three of us contemplating her words, a bottle of lemonade from the cooler with each of us.
Well, complaining did nothing to lighten my mood, but the couple with the Little Black Fox did. They looked cute together, both the two humans alone and the fox with them. The girl wore a bikini, which looked quite gravity-defying, if you asked me, but it worked and it worked well.
I waved to them, my sisters following my look and as they spotted the three, Kiah, a cat owner herself, grinned.
If they would join us or not depended on them, but Ida was already taking out two bottles of lemonade and a few of the ice cubes for melting, so that the vulpine had a chance to drink something as well.
They looked cute!

Leonard Rualacha of the Tribe of Wicklow.
The woman with the violet eyes in the 'simple' swimsuit, which suited her very nicely, piqued my interest. As a rather tall, muscled young man, who was both a student, a model and a part-time Marcach, I had the interest of many women, but I had only interest in a few.
Lugh, my best friend, was not with me, which was strange enough, but the tinkerer was about to talk shop with some of the motorcyclists... to each their own, I guess.
As two-wheeled motorized transportation held little interest for me anyway, I was looking for a different conversation partner - and Miss Violet, I had no idea, that she Athena Freezis, looked like a nice partner.
With a bottle of lemonade in hand, I approached her, looked out to sea.
"Nice view, innit?", I asked. "I'm Leonard, but please, Leo is fine."

Meanwhile, the man known as Vladimir Toschya or Mateo Alfonso Crucitti, or by whichever other moniker he went, would find himself mostly left alone. A few kids ran past him, one almost bumping into him, but immediately apologizing, but that was about it.
He had the possibility to join any group he wanted, from models of BI, which were more then a pair of tits, but indeed had something in their heads, to their photographers, one of which was a rather eccentric fellow, who wore a rather stifling-looking coat, to a tall man with a pair of black cat ears peeking out of his white hair.
Gwydion Ddeliwr, of Cefnffordd Descent was a Spiorad and a very old and very experienced merchant with good ties to the Banphrionsa-Family. His two daughters, Carys and Olwyn, who usually posed as his maids, were merchants in their own rights as well, and while the short haired Carys was helping with offloading the supply carts, Olwyn with the long hair was by her father's side, dressed in a white summer dress.
Another option was to join one of the groups with coolers and lemonade or any other form of non-alcoholic drink, Vladimir might recognize Silvio Esecutore and his beautiful apprentice, assistant and secretary Aurora Alce, Professor Clais Levasseur from the University of Nouvelle-Dunkerque, who had made headlines a few years ago as a 'pirate', sailing a replica of a pirate-frigate from the 17th century to close to a modern trade convoy with predictable results, Isa Tropp from the Teressian travelling agency TAMS, as well as Princess Alya bint-Sarah, who was nursing a bottle of lemonade on her lonesome, which was quite interesting considering, that she was literally a Princess.
He had options.

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.