Jared marched ahead, hands on weapons, knowing all too well that Jorrhildr had long been declared hostile territory, marching ahead and clearing the path in the knee-deep snow for his fresh wife Matron Gwyneth Zylmoira who gracefully floated through the crystalline powder like a second home. Onlookers might have perhaps thought it odd that two Isldar, immune to the chills and frost of the coldest climate on Aloria, were wearing thick white fur coats that covered them almost completely. Far from a fashion statement of excess, these garments had a purpose, in that both the whiteness would serve to obscure them among the snow, but the fur was also laced with sewn-in mountain flowers and roots, so as to mask their scent away from Url who would no doubt be aware of their presence long before they would notice being watched or followed. For several hours now, had they tracked the Regalian army's movements by Prince Raymond and Prince Frederick across valleys and hills, past the old Regalian outpost that now lay abandoned, the Regalian banner still torn and waving in the wind by the complete apathy of the Url for statehood. They eventually reached a hill overlooking the Regalian war camp. They were still several hundred feet away, perched on an overlook, as they were just in time to witness the Regalian army form up battle lines, with hordes upon hordes of Url swarming from the forests. Jared wished to speed on to try and rescue the Imperial Princes down on the battlefield, but Gwyneth urged him to stay, stating very factually that the Url had them hopelessly outnumbered, and that Jared could never outrun a galloping Url, to which he eventually relented. Stewing still, the two resolved to watch and report back, assuming correctly for now that they had not been seen yet by either side, Jared impatiently sitting on a rock, and Gwyneth standing next to him with all the poise and grace of a marble tower. But just when the battle seemed to begin, there were odd movements in the army that looked out of place. Forward rode the Princes and the Aunt of the Emperor on horses that seemed to struggle with the bitter cold and the snow, all the while the Regalian army stood unmoving and in defensive positions. Accompanying them were several smaller groups of what the two assumed to be a rag-tag group of hedge knights and Kade-sympathizers, Thousand-Blade Monastery Knights and other assorted allies. Some even looked wealthy, at least one looked like a noble Jared once met in Anglia while visiting as the Baron of Waterveld, and another was the famed duellist Marianne ter Oesterbeyk, who had won many tournaments in Anglia and Kintyr. The riders all dismounted and stood in a perfect line, with Prince Raymond and Aliandre Kade to their flank, and Prince Frederick in the middle. A few Url marched forward from their line, and it looked as if a parley had started to form for the terribly outnumbered Regalian military. Gwyneth raised her arm for words to be carried on the Soul Rivers, bending the direction of a nearby river that would bring her conscience and perception across, so that she could hear what was being said down there, and could see the expressions on the faces of those standing opposite each other. The conversation began with mocking from the Url, some of it not even in Common but Skodje which neither Jared nor Gwyneth spoke, but the disgust and disdain dripped from each word that rolled from the Url's tongues, while Regalians looked entirely unmoved by them. The soldiers in the back seemed unsure, scared even, the occasional glance or whisper of uncertainty. Yet all the people in front, clad in beautifully ornate armor and gold-threaded capes had an expression of tranquility and absolution about them that Gwyneth could not quite place. She might have thought to herself that perhaps it was a sense of foolish superiority or vanity, chins high in the wind for those who were about to be slain or worse. Then all of a sudden, Raymond Kade stepped forward up to the tallest of the Url, who sneered down at him and let his nostrils flare breaths that no doubt smelled fowl all over the Prince's face as he looked up to meet the Url's eyes. Raymond then opened his mouth, speaking words that Gwyneth could not understand. They sounded guttural and throat-y, with long vowels and harsh consonants in a way she might have ever heard Quin or others of the Goretaan Throng refer to each other. Not a whole language, but key words to get a very simple concept across. He then raised his arm besides his face, and clenched his hand into a fist, as if to give a signal. Without a second pause, Prince Frederick and the other companions all, the Knights, the Noble, the Duellist, all except Raymond and Aliandre started removing their armor, dropping the expensive breastplates to the ground, removing their cloaks and even baring their chests. The Url did not immediately respond, more dumb-founded or perhaps curious about what was about to happen, though even they could not have predicted what would happen next. Gwyneth could just make out what the Prince Frederick said, repeating his words in a muttered tone so Jared could hear, his posture immediately changing from that of a protesting child with his chin resting on his hands and elbows on his knees, to perking up his ears for words he had not heard in a long time. "Geeyst ende Ziele, Bloet ende Offer", followed by all others repeating "Voor het Rijck", the Kade family motto. It was then that Gwyneth's mouth fell open as they all brought forward Oorl worms from some hidden pockets, and began the process of Symbiosis on themselves. The next few minutes, Gwyneth and Jared sat simply stunned, perhaps with the same level of bewilderment as the Url on the battlefield, many of who had now stepped forward to watch up closer. The Url closest to them had their weapons drawn, some even their arms raised mid-motion as if they expected the Regalians to kill the Oorl worms in a show of defiance or mockery, but froze mid-movement at the display before them. As those Ailor turned to Url, Raymond Kade continued to stare the tallest Url in the eyes even if he had stopped staring back to look beyond instead. Only Aliandre's face had a veneer of disgust about it for the display, perhaps a betrayal of her disagreement with what was happening. Soldiers beyond were equally confused, but knew better than to disobey direct orders from a Prince, so they kept their formation in line. The first to stand was Prince Frederick Kade, now an Url, stomping his hooves on the ground a couple of times before a single page with a long Regalian banner ran up from behind him in the army formation, draping the Regalian flag over his shoulder that was now much higher like a toga. As the other once Ailor-companions-now-Url stood, for each of them, a page ran from the army formations behind, draping them in similar Regalian symbolism, a chain of Union, a sword with Proto-Regalian engravings. Upon seeing this, many in the Url army became rowdy. Some of them seemed to want to walk over to the Regalian side, while others tried to stop them, and a few fights broke out. The tallest Url turned back to see what was happening, just long enough for Raymond Kade to quickly hide his shaking hands under his cloak, a subtext Gwyneth saw just in time to betray that perhaps, for all the certainty Raymond Kade showed, he was making a massive gamble, a gamble that had seemingly paid off. The large Url barked some orders to the other Url behind him and the fighting mostly stopped, though some Url had already made it to the other side, making shy attempts to meet or converse with the new Url and even regular Regalian soldiers. The tall Url seemed annoyed at this, and the parley turned more into an actual conversation, instead of a mockery that the Url had likely originally intended. What seemed to have happened, was that Raymond had gathered a crowd of willing soldiers and loyalists who would submit themselves to Symbiosis, either to cause dissent in the Url lines for those who still harbored loyalties to an Empire they thought had abandoned them and hated them, or to draw the Url into more meaningful negotiations on Regalian home-turf. Indeed, the tall Url who seemed to be the leader of this throng along with several other Url followed Raymond and Aliandre into the royal tent, along with Frederick and the Anglian Duellist, now two large and horned beasts that parted the Regalian battle lines like a parting sea of metal. Jared and Gwyneth remained on the outlook for several hours, before the whole Regalian army marched back to the old Regalian outpost, and the Url army also turned around. Curiously however, a large portion of the Url army broke off from it returning to the forest and fell in line with the Regalian army marching back to port, the large Url among them. Jared and Gwyneth eventually caught up at the port fort that they had encountered earlier, at first being halted by Regalian soldiers that assumed they were Isldar spies, before Frederick Kade pushed forward, having recognized Jared from working with the Emperor, his father. As the armies started boarding the ships along with the Url, Frederick explained that Raymond had come up with a crazy idea to try and pacify the Url and even induce some of them into the Regalian ranks, believing them to be cheap warriors who would not care for coin but rather a good fight. He had intended to give them a good fight in Ellador, against the Isldar occupation, but could not come up with a workable idea on how to shell-shock them into actually talking to him, as opposed to just murdering him and whatever army came with him. Frederick then added it was his idea to submit to Symbiosis willingly in front of the Url, to show both that the Regalian Empire could hold the Url in high esteem, but also that there were individuals who did indeed acknowledge the Url as superior in some sense, and not that they too had a place in the future of Ailorkind. He added that Raymond wanted to play on the repressed sympathies many ex-Regalian Url still had, believing that the slightest show of sympathy and support from Regalia would immediately turn them. He admitted it was a massive gamble on their part that could have gotten all of them killed, but that he was happy it paid off, and that he was also happy to offer himself up to both his family and the Empire, but above all the Spirit in absolute service, remarking that his age was already starting to creep up on him, and that he was no longer as fit as he once was for battle. Now that he was an Url, he reckoned he would have at least another 100 years of fighting left in him to protect and serve the Empire as he had always intended, as opposed to the 10 years before retirement to become a drill-sergeant or instructor for Tenpenny soldiers which he considered a soldier's worst spiritual death. He added he felt stronger and more sure about the decision now than before, before moving on, with Prince Raymond eventually passing on horseback with Aliandre. Raymond never liked Jared, and it was obvious in that he did not even look at him. Aliandre cast Jared a glance momentarily, but equally straightened out her posture as she too passed by, keeping faces with the Url and showing only resolve for the battles to come, at least until the Url were well integrated into the fighting force so that there would be no second doubts about their co-operation. Jared and Gwyneth made their own way back to Regalia with their yacht that was off shore beyond the bay, eventually taking the whole report and handing it to the Government for dissemination across the Nobility, where the news would eventually leak through servants and stewards to the common people and Crookback beyond.
