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- Jun 29, 2012
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The diplomatic Mission to Äloï-läy was much anticipated by the Kade court, and supported by a large number of private contractors from Regalia. Not all of them had righteous intentions and even helpful ideas in mind, but everyone got on the transports together, setting sail to Daendroc Once arriving in Daendroc, the whole entourage entered a number of carriages which drove all the way to the southern border of the l'Elvellen principality, before the trip had to be continued on horseback and on foot. Finally, the whole entourage entered a small valley with steep slopes hugging up against an impressive mountain range surrounding the area, almost like a massive crater of sorts with a lush environment within. At the center stood a small city, buildings made of pearlescent white with a variety of blue lights emitting from glass domes and rooftop windows. Fields of gold and green stretched out from the city, where a small winding road would eventually lead them to the thin Elven Architecture towers of the front gate. Immediately upon entry, however, the group faced some splitting.
While attempting to follow the Kade entourage into the interior of the city. Louie Louie the Maiar and Kaisa Decimar were denied entry. Louie Louie on account of being a Maiar, whom the locals considered some infectious diseased animal, refusing to acknowledge his sentience despite his capacity to speak with them, while Kaisa was mistaken for a Kathar, and no amount of convincing caused the local Elves to accept their entry. The city-state of Äloï-läy was pristine, it had declared independence from the Elven Empire during Cataclysm, but already isolated itself from the harmful influences of the Kathar before the fall of the Empire, maintaining strong ties with the Dregodar. To admit a Kathar into their interior was something they could not accept.
Reinhold von Leitner was charged with leading the support brigade, consisting of Ernesta von Rahm with her Longsword, Jarrik av Kongehjem with his Skagger Axes, Victor Decius with his Greatsword, Alexander Amsel with his Longsword, Maximus Krupp with his Longsword and Bartolomeo de Cana with his Longsword. Further military personnel were Reinhardt Alschultz with his Beorl Axe, Andreas Calvarra with his Curve bow, who were both sent along with the Horticulture group, and Natalia Lazarescu with her Crossbow who was tasked to protect Charles du Lioc when he started strolling to the local library.
The Horticulture group consisted of Nadina Haaven, Imara al Qahtani, Marie & Amelina Peirgarten, Joasaie and Lloablen. While they had originally intended to support the diplomatic mission, the presence of the Synod and a large squadron of diplomats made it very obvious that their presence was not strictly necessary, which afforded them some freedom to explore Äloï-läy. Äloï-läy was much like a city of old times, a window to the past even. Nadina Haaven could identify much of the buildings as how the Elven Empire looked during Cataclysm, but far more pristine and in a state of natural beauty. Local Yanar were present, but they seemed to ignore the Horticulture group entirely, despite some attempts to make contact. The group eventually ventured into the Springwell gardens of Äloï-läy, a garden of sorts with randomly occurring water sprouts jumping from plant to flower to bush, seemingly splashing the area before gathering up again and jumping further. Reinhardt thought it was some sort of attack on the group, brandishing his beorl axe and reading to fight until Amelina Peirgarten cautioned him to calm when the botanist approached. The ancient looking elf whose wrinkles were so pronounced that his eyes were barely visible explained that the garden was watered by so-called Water Nymphs, which were magical wisp-like constructs that performed simple tasks. The entire garden was automated with a variety of spells that achieved a number of things from fertilization to watering to pruning. The botanist further explained that the Yanar here were different, more simple-minded, and in fact acted as slaves to the local population. This obviously did not sit well with the Yanar, but they had clear instructions not to cause a diplomatic struggle and were told not to interfere with local business while high profile talks continued in the palace in the upper levels. Andreas Calvarra made all too sure that this was well understood by the group.
Eventually, before leaving, everyone in the group was given so-called Ölvea seeds, an entirely unknown plant in Regalia, but one that supposedly had magical properties. The botanist explained that the plant could be planted, and would grow fairly quickly to produce white flowers which could be harvested without wilting. Most curiously of all, these flowers would change their primary color based on the mood of the person who planted and watered them, even after their plucking. The main colors alternated from red in passion and anger, blue in sadness and loneliness, white in a neutral mood, yellow in happiness and curiosity, green in irritation and envy and purple in serenity and calmness. The group eventually moved back to the rendezvous site, avoiding the palace above so as to not disrupt talks.
The second group, the Library Group, consisted of Charles du Lioc and his protector Natalia Lazarescu who wandered to the local library, followed by Henriette van der Delmonte, Ashira Morgwynn and Nadir Kahn who just wondered after them more than anything. The library was considerably less interesting than the botanical gardens, though still showcased some things both of interest and disturbance to some of the members. Natalia Lazarescu, in particular, was not pleased with all with the rampant magic usage in the building, ranging from levitating chandeliers to brooms that were self-cleaning the floors of the inside. At some point, despite Charles du Lioc's best urging, she ended up snapping a few of these brooms and dissipating their magical discharge, doing "her part" to remove the stain of magic to the world. Ashira Morgwynn used the commotion between Charles and Natalia to pilfer through the inventories of the Elven library to find something of use. She eventually found a small old brass device lodged into a display case that she managed to break open, to inspect. Despite her knowledge in Clockwork Engineering, the entire device seemed to break all pre-established notions of forging techniques and mechanics. It resembled clockwork Engineering, but far sturdier and built to last. The device was some sort of mechanical box with a handle and a tube-shaped orifice in the front. It had a small lever-like mechanism on the bottom that, when pulled, caused a clearly audible "click" to be heard, and a chamber-like mechanism to jump open at the top, which could then be closed again, after which the lever could be pulled again. Henriette wandered up with Nadir Kahn, inspecting the tube hole in the front. She observed it had old stains of chemical products, but since the device looked hundreds of years old, could not identify them. Nadir was particularly interested in the engravings, which seemed to resemble large cats holding sticks up in the air, both ignoring for a moment that Ashira was in the process of stealing something. Eventually,, however, the trio decided that the item was practically worthless and too heavy to take along, thus Ashira placed it back in the case and the whole group left. Despite Natalia's cleansing of Magic in the library, no guards or attendees had seemingly taken notice as the library was pretty deserted, and nothing more came of the situation.
Another group that wandered off the beaten path was the art group, largely Gertrude Howlester and Aubrey Gweir wandering about while Beni Yahdga and Djanira Acosta were following shortly after. They wandered into an art gallery of sorts where beautiful melodic singing could be heard but were dumbfounded when they did finally arrive. All the paintings on the walls were moving images of people and flowers and animals dancing to the rhythm of the melodic singing, swaying back and forth and displaying beautiful colors in arrangements. A group of Elves was watching the paintings while listening to the singer who stood on a stage above them. The short interruption of the group entering halted the singing, after which all paintings suddenly froze. The singer would eventually continue after a few seconds of pause, after which all the paintings continued to move. An attendant quickly arrived to hold a tour for the art group, to explain what was going on. The Elven lady explained that these paintings were so-called Ïl'laï paintings made with laï paint, a special form of magically infused paint that did two things. Firstly, the paint would when applied to the brush, take the form of whatever color the painter was thinking of in vibrant richness, allowing even gradient strokes to occur as the painter rapidly switched from color thought to thought. Secondly, when applied to a painting, and exposed to someone with expert skill singing qualities, whatever was painted would, upon the canvas, come to life and dance to the rhythm of the music, whether it be a flower, person or animal. As a gift, the four who entered the art gallery were given a small jar of the black-looking paint, each of them having just enough for a single painting, before they all returned to the rendezvous.
The main entourage entered the Palace grounds of the princess of Äloï-läy where a small kerfuffle between those present occurred. While Eric Decimar, Lana Asska, and Sszaf'liz Lla'sviza were allowed to reach all the way up to the palace gates, the Synod collectively halted the entourage at the top of the stairs and instructed Reinhold von Leitner to bar the Slizzar entry into this Regalian Synod led mission. The Kade Entourage had already entered the palace and could not be appealed to, and it was thus in the face of the military presence of the other warriors and the Synod's pressure, that von Leitner relented and instructed Ernesta von Rahm and Jarrik av Kongehjem to deter entry to the Slizzar, which they then proceeded to do. Victor Decius, Alexander Amsel, Maximus Krupp, Edouard Lambert (who despite being an Url was allowed in) and Bartolomeo de Cana then continued on inside with the Reverends as bodyguards. Reinhold von Leitner eventually took a guarding stance at the top of the stairs so as to deny entry to any further participant, or to simply hold guard at the exit of the building in case an exit strategy was required.
The diplomatic entourage inside was split into three parts. The Kade Entourage itself treated with the Princess at an elevated stage above the ballroom that had some sort of Elven festivity ongoing, while one group led by the High Reverend Leufroy d'Goss would treat with the dignitaries of the principality. Aelfric Harhold used his seminary knowledge to explain the principles of Unionism to the local priests, while Leufroy d'Goss related the Regalian Empire's history to the local generals in context to the Cataclysm. Rothad Kehlen and Gustavo del Puente supported the diplomatic attempts of Medard du Seint Lucia who spoke in fluent Elven to the high diplomats of the principality. Jon Byron meanwhile addressed the local oligarchs of finance, while Tarquinus Krupp and Stephan Valeur used a mixture of charm in poetry and speech to enamor the intellectuals of the principality.
The last group was made up of a number of a cultural entourage that performed all kinds of charm offensives. Roesia Alaire Spoke to some of the local citizens to expand their knowledge on the Regalian Empire, while Eleanore von Rahm presented personally expertly woven cloths as gifts to the Princess of Äloï-läy's relatives. Phaden Howlester recited a number of poems of Nelfin history while Hermann Kruger, Caoimhe Howlester, and Anastasie de Letoirneau performed a stage/dance combination to illustrate the history of the Empire, and put the various elven wars into a positive light. After all, technically Regalia was at war with Äloï-läy since it was part of the resurgent Elven Empire, but both groups had already tried using diplomacy to avoid armed conflict and find some sort of peaceful resolution.
Indeed, it was largely the efforts of the cultural group to win the hearts of the locals, while the Synod won over the minds of the ruling elite that caused the Principality to start aligning itself more with Äloï-läy. In fact, the Synod members were so effective that a number of the elites showed a curious interest in the concepts of Unionism and even some showed a willingness to convert. The Princess of Äloï-läy was pleasantly surprised by the supportive efforts of all the people willing to make this mission a success, and granted all those present who came into the palace a Lëfäy of Äloï-läy, a pearlescent broach in the shape of a leaf and a lily which resembled a small piece of cast-lead colored glass, but even in the absence of light shone with a brilliant wavey magical-like pearlescent pattern. Finally, the princess inquired whether she could purchase Edouard Lambert, assuming the Url was an animal. Despite being rejected by the entourage, the Princess made it very clear that she (and her intellectual scholars) were greatly interested in acquiring an Url for research purposes. No other Url were present, however, so the request eventually fell flat.
At the end of the ball, the Princess announced that she had no long-term intention of joining the Empire, but had decided to stop supporting the Elven Empire and would ratify an access treaty as well as an exchange of knowledge treaty between the Regalian Empire and her principality. For all intents and purposes, the Principality would remain autonomous but allow its borders to be used to the fullest extent in the war against the Kathar. Content with the mission's success, the Kade Entourage retreated, along with all other members who returned to the rendezvous at the city's front gate, from where everyone journeyed together back to Regalia (though the Maiar/Slizzar/Kathar lookalike were forced into the same carriage together at the back).
Note: The outcome of the mission is common knowledge, the actions of the people inside the mission are not. Some people who signed up had to be eliminated because they did not sign up correctly on the poll, or failed to meet certain entry requirements.
While attempting to follow the Kade entourage into the interior of the city. Louie Louie the Maiar and Kaisa Decimar were denied entry. Louie Louie on account of being a Maiar, whom the locals considered some infectious diseased animal, refusing to acknowledge his sentience despite his capacity to speak with them, while Kaisa was mistaken for a Kathar, and no amount of convincing caused the local Elves to accept their entry. The city-state of Äloï-läy was pristine, it had declared independence from the Elven Empire during Cataclysm, but already isolated itself from the harmful influences of the Kathar before the fall of the Empire, maintaining strong ties with the Dregodar. To admit a Kathar into their interior was something they could not accept.
Reinhold von Leitner was charged with leading the support brigade, consisting of Ernesta von Rahm with her Longsword, Jarrik av Kongehjem with his Skagger Axes, Victor Decius with his Greatsword, Alexander Amsel with his Longsword, Maximus Krupp with his Longsword and Bartolomeo de Cana with his Longsword. Further military personnel were Reinhardt Alschultz with his Beorl Axe, Andreas Calvarra with his Curve bow, who were both sent along with the Horticulture group, and Natalia Lazarescu with her Crossbow who was tasked to protect Charles du Lioc when he started strolling to the local library.
The Horticulture group consisted of Nadina Haaven, Imara al Qahtani, Marie & Amelina Peirgarten, Joasaie and Lloablen. While they had originally intended to support the diplomatic mission, the presence of the Synod and a large squadron of diplomats made it very obvious that their presence was not strictly necessary, which afforded them some freedom to explore Äloï-läy. Äloï-läy was much like a city of old times, a window to the past even. Nadina Haaven could identify much of the buildings as how the Elven Empire looked during Cataclysm, but far more pristine and in a state of natural beauty. Local Yanar were present, but they seemed to ignore the Horticulture group entirely, despite some attempts to make contact. The group eventually ventured into the Springwell gardens of Äloï-läy, a garden of sorts with randomly occurring water sprouts jumping from plant to flower to bush, seemingly splashing the area before gathering up again and jumping further. Reinhardt thought it was some sort of attack on the group, brandishing his beorl axe and reading to fight until Amelina Peirgarten cautioned him to calm when the botanist approached. The ancient looking elf whose wrinkles were so pronounced that his eyes were barely visible explained that the garden was watered by so-called Water Nymphs, which were magical wisp-like constructs that performed simple tasks. The entire garden was automated with a variety of spells that achieved a number of things from fertilization to watering to pruning. The botanist further explained that the Yanar here were different, more simple-minded, and in fact acted as slaves to the local population. This obviously did not sit well with the Yanar, but they had clear instructions not to cause a diplomatic struggle and were told not to interfere with local business while high profile talks continued in the palace in the upper levels. Andreas Calvarra made all too sure that this was well understood by the group.
Eventually, before leaving, everyone in the group was given so-called Ölvea seeds, an entirely unknown plant in Regalia, but one that supposedly had magical properties. The botanist explained that the plant could be planted, and would grow fairly quickly to produce white flowers which could be harvested without wilting. Most curiously of all, these flowers would change their primary color based on the mood of the person who planted and watered them, even after their plucking. The main colors alternated from red in passion and anger, blue in sadness and loneliness, white in a neutral mood, yellow in happiness and curiosity, green in irritation and envy and purple in serenity and calmness. The group eventually moved back to the rendezvous site, avoiding the palace above so as to not disrupt talks.
The second group, the Library Group, consisted of Charles du Lioc and his protector Natalia Lazarescu who wandered to the local library, followed by Henriette van der Delmonte, Ashira Morgwynn and Nadir Kahn who just wondered after them more than anything. The library was considerably less interesting than the botanical gardens, though still showcased some things both of interest and disturbance to some of the members. Natalia Lazarescu, in particular, was not pleased with all with the rampant magic usage in the building, ranging from levitating chandeliers to brooms that were self-cleaning the floors of the inside. At some point, despite Charles du Lioc's best urging, she ended up snapping a few of these brooms and dissipating their magical discharge, doing "her part" to remove the stain of magic to the world. Ashira Morgwynn used the commotion between Charles and Natalia to pilfer through the inventories of the Elven library to find something of use. She eventually found a small old brass device lodged into a display case that she managed to break open, to inspect. Despite her knowledge in Clockwork Engineering, the entire device seemed to break all pre-established notions of forging techniques and mechanics. It resembled clockwork Engineering, but far sturdier and built to last. The device was some sort of mechanical box with a handle and a tube-shaped orifice in the front. It had a small lever-like mechanism on the bottom that, when pulled, caused a clearly audible "click" to be heard, and a chamber-like mechanism to jump open at the top, which could then be closed again, after which the lever could be pulled again. Henriette wandered up with Nadir Kahn, inspecting the tube hole in the front. She observed it had old stains of chemical products, but since the device looked hundreds of years old, could not identify them. Nadir was particularly interested in the engravings, which seemed to resemble large cats holding sticks up in the air, both ignoring for a moment that Ashira was in the process of stealing something. Eventually,, however, the trio decided that the item was practically worthless and too heavy to take along, thus Ashira placed it back in the case and the whole group left. Despite Natalia's cleansing of Magic in the library, no guards or attendees had seemingly taken notice as the library was pretty deserted, and nothing more came of the situation.
Another group that wandered off the beaten path was the art group, largely Gertrude Howlester and Aubrey Gweir wandering about while Beni Yahdga and Djanira Acosta were following shortly after. They wandered into an art gallery of sorts where beautiful melodic singing could be heard but were dumbfounded when they did finally arrive. All the paintings on the walls were moving images of people and flowers and animals dancing to the rhythm of the melodic singing, swaying back and forth and displaying beautiful colors in arrangements. A group of Elves was watching the paintings while listening to the singer who stood on a stage above them. The short interruption of the group entering halted the singing, after which all paintings suddenly froze. The singer would eventually continue after a few seconds of pause, after which all the paintings continued to move. An attendant quickly arrived to hold a tour for the art group, to explain what was going on. The Elven lady explained that these paintings were so-called Ïl'laï paintings made with laï paint, a special form of magically infused paint that did two things. Firstly, the paint would when applied to the brush, take the form of whatever color the painter was thinking of in vibrant richness, allowing even gradient strokes to occur as the painter rapidly switched from color thought to thought. Secondly, when applied to a painting, and exposed to someone with expert skill singing qualities, whatever was painted would, upon the canvas, come to life and dance to the rhythm of the music, whether it be a flower, person or animal. As a gift, the four who entered the art gallery were given a small jar of the black-looking paint, each of them having just enough for a single painting, before they all returned to the rendezvous.
The main entourage entered the Palace grounds of the princess of Äloï-läy where a small kerfuffle between those present occurred. While Eric Decimar, Lana Asska, and Sszaf'liz Lla'sviza were allowed to reach all the way up to the palace gates, the Synod collectively halted the entourage at the top of the stairs and instructed Reinhold von Leitner to bar the Slizzar entry into this Regalian Synod led mission. The Kade Entourage had already entered the palace and could not be appealed to, and it was thus in the face of the military presence of the other warriors and the Synod's pressure, that von Leitner relented and instructed Ernesta von Rahm and Jarrik av Kongehjem to deter entry to the Slizzar, which they then proceeded to do. Victor Decius, Alexander Amsel, Maximus Krupp, Edouard Lambert (who despite being an Url was allowed in) and Bartolomeo de Cana then continued on inside with the Reverends as bodyguards. Reinhold von Leitner eventually took a guarding stance at the top of the stairs so as to deny entry to any further participant, or to simply hold guard at the exit of the building in case an exit strategy was required.
The diplomatic entourage inside was split into three parts. The Kade Entourage itself treated with the Princess at an elevated stage above the ballroom that had some sort of Elven festivity ongoing, while one group led by the High Reverend Leufroy d'Goss would treat with the dignitaries of the principality. Aelfric Harhold used his seminary knowledge to explain the principles of Unionism to the local priests, while Leufroy d'Goss related the Regalian Empire's history to the local generals in context to the Cataclysm. Rothad Kehlen and Gustavo del Puente supported the diplomatic attempts of Medard du Seint Lucia who spoke in fluent Elven to the high diplomats of the principality. Jon Byron meanwhile addressed the local oligarchs of finance, while Tarquinus Krupp and Stephan Valeur used a mixture of charm in poetry and speech to enamor the intellectuals of the principality.
The last group was made up of a number of a cultural entourage that performed all kinds of charm offensives. Roesia Alaire Spoke to some of the local citizens to expand their knowledge on the Regalian Empire, while Eleanore von Rahm presented personally expertly woven cloths as gifts to the Princess of Äloï-läy's relatives. Phaden Howlester recited a number of poems of Nelfin history while Hermann Kruger, Caoimhe Howlester, and Anastasie de Letoirneau performed a stage/dance combination to illustrate the history of the Empire, and put the various elven wars into a positive light. After all, technically Regalia was at war with Äloï-läy since it was part of the resurgent Elven Empire, but both groups had already tried using diplomacy to avoid armed conflict and find some sort of peaceful resolution.
Indeed, it was largely the efforts of the cultural group to win the hearts of the locals, while the Synod won over the minds of the ruling elite that caused the Principality to start aligning itself more with Äloï-läy. In fact, the Synod members were so effective that a number of the elites showed a curious interest in the concepts of Unionism and even some showed a willingness to convert. The Princess of Äloï-läy was pleasantly surprised by the supportive efforts of all the people willing to make this mission a success, and granted all those present who came into the palace a Lëfäy of Äloï-läy, a pearlescent broach in the shape of a leaf and a lily which resembled a small piece of cast-lead colored glass, but even in the absence of light shone with a brilliant wavey magical-like pearlescent pattern. Finally, the princess inquired whether she could purchase Edouard Lambert, assuming the Url was an animal. Despite being rejected by the entourage, the Princess made it very clear that she (and her intellectual scholars) were greatly interested in acquiring an Url for research purposes. No other Url were present, however, so the request eventually fell flat.
At the end of the ball, the Princess announced that she had no long-term intention of joining the Empire, but had decided to stop supporting the Elven Empire and would ratify an access treaty as well as an exchange of knowledge treaty between the Regalian Empire and her principality. For all intents and purposes, the Principality would remain autonomous but allow its borders to be used to the fullest extent in the war against the Kathar. Content with the mission's success, the Kade Entourage retreated, along with all other members who returned to the rendezvous at the city's front gate, from where everyone journeyed together back to Regalia (though the Maiar/Slizzar/Kathar lookalike were forced into the same carriage together at the back).
Note: The outcome of the mission is common knowledge, the actions of the people inside the mission are not. Some people who signed up had to be eliminated because they did not sign up correctly on the poll, or failed to meet certain entry requirements.
