Hurried footsteps could be heard coming from the corridor that morning, as maids rushed to and from the far chamber with buckets of water and cloths under their arms. On either side of the entryway, two middle-aged guardsmen looked at each other, though unlike the countless days before, their faces showed signs of celebration and mirth rather than stoic resolve. As servants rushed out the doors and back, the two of them gave confirming not to the other. Both of them remembered the first time such events transpired, and they were only too happy to be apart of the latest moment in history.
The two men were about to begin a slight bout of guard banter, before the sound of several footsteps came down the Royal Oak floorboards. Immediately they returned to their disciplined stances, awaiting the newcomers to the room. In front of the small entourage came a younger man, somewhere around his late 20s and wearing a Kampfer-styled uniform with several medals hanging from it. Behind him followed a man nearly three times his senior, grasping a cane which tapped sharply on the wooden floors. Judging by his white robes and colored stole, this man was clearly a member of the Unionist clergy, only further confirmed the guards' suspicions as to the events taking place in the room behind them. Followed behind were a few other individuals the two guards were unfamiliar with, though judging from the White Calemberg Fox pelts on their outfits, they were clearly visitors to the castle.
As the younger man stepped forwards, the two guards placed their right fists to their chests, greeting him with a silent salute. With a nod of his head, the man acknowledged the greeting with a curt nod, before he opened the doors, allowing the rest of the entourage to follow in. As the doors were closed, the guards returned glances between each other as they had before. With everyone gathered, it would only be a few more moments before everything would change.
Suddenly, a cry came from the room, but the guards did not enter the room. After all, they've been in service long enough to know the cry of a newborn's first breath of air. Immediately after, a few shrieks came from the infant, as the clergyman administered the Sacrament of Birth Blessing, speaking in an ancient language that had long since passed from the common knowledge. With a collective recitation of "Oratario Ode," the two guards thought that their time had come, though as their hands touched the wooden door, a second cry came from the room, though clearly distinct from the first. The two men removed their hands from the door, waiting for the second Sacrament to conclude. Once again the phrase "Oratario Ode" was uttered, and the two men entered the room.
Before them was a dozen or so individuals surrounding a bed, which held a younger women under several blankets, holding one of the swaddled infants in her arms. To the side of her bed stood the young man, eyes looking down at the other babe in his hands, a face of welcoming joy casting down on the infant. After a few moments, the man looked up towards the door, giving a nod to the two guards that entered.
"Gentlemen, please. Come and meet my daughter Marianne and son Wulfric, the future March-Elector of the Drachenwald Lordship."
FROM THE DESK OF HIS LORDSHIP, THE BURGRAVE OF BÜCHNER
AN ANNOUNCEMENT
On this day, the fifteenth day of March, her Ladyship Rianne of the House of Drachenburg has born a pair of healthy twins, a boy and girl, within the confines of the Drachenburg Castle. Fort the public records and for all to bear witness to, their names are as follows:
Marianne Ivonne Aleida
&
Wulfric Dietrich Sigismund Leomarich
May the two live long and prosperous lives in service to His Imperial Holiness and the Imperial Spirit.
Glory to the Empire!
The two men were about to begin a slight bout of guard banter, before the sound of several footsteps came down the Royal Oak floorboards. Immediately they returned to their disciplined stances, awaiting the newcomers to the room. In front of the small entourage came a younger man, somewhere around his late 20s and wearing a Kampfer-styled uniform with several medals hanging from it. Behind him followed a man nearly three times his senior, grasping a cane which tapped sharply on the wooden floors. Judging by his white robes and colored stole, this man was clearly a member of the Unionist clergy, only further confirmed the guards' suspicions as to the events taking place in the room behind them. Followed behind were a few other individuals the two guards were unfamiliar with, though judging from the White Calemberg Fox pelts on their outfits, they were clearly visitors to the castle.
As the younger man stepped forwards, the two guards placed their right fists to their chests, greeting him with a silent salute. With a nod of his head, the man acknowledged the greeting with a curt nod, before he opened the doors, allowing the rest of the entourage to follow in. As the doors were closed, the guards returned glances between each other as they had before. With everyone gathered, it would only be a few more moments before everything would change.
Suddenly, a cry came from the room, but the guards did not enter the room. After all, they've been in service long enough to know the cry of a newborn's first breath of air. Immediately after, a few shrieks came from the infant, as the clergyman administered the Sacrament of Birth Blessing, speaking in an ancient language that had long since passed from the common knowledge. With a collective recitation of "Oratario Ode," the two guards thought that their time had come, though as their hands touched the wooden door, a second cry came from the room, though clearly distinct from the first. The two men removed their hands from the door, waiting for the second Sacrament to conclude. Once again the phrase "Oratario Ode" was uttered, and the two men entered the room.
Before them was a dozen or so individuals surrounding a bed, which held a younger women under several blankets, holding one of the swaddled infants in her arms. To the side of her bed stood the young man, eyes looking down at the other babe in his hands, a face of welcoming joy casting down on the infant. After a few moments, the man looked up towards the door, giving a nod to the two guards that entered.
"Gentlemen, please. Come and meet my daughter Marianne and son Wulfric, the future March-Elector of the Drachenwald Lordship."
FROM THE DESK OF HIS LORDSHIP, THE BURGRAVE OF BÜCHNER
AN ANNOUNCEMENT
On this day, the fifteenth day of March, her Ladyship Rianne of the House of Drachenburg has born a pair of healthy twins, a boy and girl, within the confines of the Drachenburg Castle. Fort the public records and for all to bear witness to, their names are as follows:
Marianne Ivonne Aleida
&
Wulfric Dietrich Sigismund Leomarich
May the two live long and prosperous lives in service to His Imperial Holiness and the Imperial Spirit.
Glory to the Empire!
SIGNED,
Eldrich Reinhard Sigismund Leomarich I
Heir-Apparent to the March-Electorate of the Drachenwald Lordship
Burgrave of Büchner
Eldrich Reinhard Sigismund Leomarich I
Heir-Apparent to the March-Electorate of the Drachenwald Lordship
Burgrave of Büchner
