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TDM: January
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aefenglom's test drive! All threads can be considered game canon, should you choose to do so; regardless of if you pick specific threads to remain canon to the game, the prompts and test drive itself will be. This will be touched on later in-game, so it's fairly important to note! Aside from that, here are some quick reminders:• Reserves Open Today! If you're interested in securing a spot, put one in! We accept applications without reserves too, of course. Reserves will expire three days before the end of the application period, on the 28th.With that taken care of...
• Applications Open The 24th! These will last until the end of the month, the 31st, with the intro log going up on February 1st. The application page can be found here. As a reminder, this will be our last uncapped application round!
• If you have any questions about the game or the world, please refer to the FAQ page; if you still have questions, feel free to ask them! For questions specific to the test drive, please ask them on the appropriate thread.
• For the purposes of the test drive, your character will have access to all magics taught by the Coven if they're a Witch, and as much of their shifted form as you'd like if they're a Monster. Feel free to play around and experiment with each!
• Test drive threads can be used as samples for your applications!
You feel like you're floating. Around you, colors and sounds and smells swirl as if trapped in a whirlpool, vibrancy and hue ever shifting. The more you watch them, the less solid they are; they only become clear out of the corner of your eye. The area around you begins to feel more solid as well, until your feet are on the ground, the wind brushes playfully against your face -
and you know one thing, and one thing alone: this is a dream, and an incredibly realistic one at that.
The Prehistoric Wilde
Thick summer heat hangs heavy over the uninfected landscape like a damp blanket, smothering. The jungle around you is thick and wet, full of the sounds of chittering animals and the high-pitched drone of insects. The flora and fauna are like nothing you've ever seen before, large and alien in colors and shapes, though they bear no signs of the Cwyld. Flowers the size of a man's head and brightly colored in rainbow hues curl their tendrils invitingly, and giant mosquitoes buzz through the air seeking a meal. You can barely see the glow of the twin moons through the thick canopy above. There are no signs of civilization - at least, not the civilization most will be used to; only the distant sound of the river, compelling you to follow its winding path. But will you go forward, or will you go back?
 Rumble in the Jungle Making headway through the jungle at night is a chore. The foliage grows thick and the humid heat is oppressive for even those who enjoy the warmth. There are no clear paths here, no easy way through. The canopy of the ancient trees far, far over your head is just as dense, but the faintest moonlight filters through the holes left by the huge leaves in stippling patterns across the musty forest floor. 'Large' seems to be the theme - lining whatever path you pick your way through, there are pitcher plants massive enough to swallow a grown man, with small animals and giant insects being digested down inside the sticky liquid that fills them. The flowers are as big as a man's head, and come in a rainbow of colors, their venomous tendrils curling toward signs of life. The trunks of some of the trees are as thick as houses, and shade the ground beneath them with leaves like umbrellas. The hand-sized mosquitoes thrive in the sticky heat and if not killed first, can make off with a full pint of blood from an unsuspecting person. At some point in your journey, the ground begins to rumble beneath your feet. The farther you go, the longer you walk, the more signs of life become visible: thick, winding trails of crushed foliage, huge, animalistic footprints in the mud. Luckily, to this world, you are small and insignificant, and may escape the notice of the local Monsters - the massive, prehistoric ancestors of today's Monsters. They seem like giants, colossal Titanoboa Nagas with hollow fangs like swords, towering Fauns with the lower halves of mammoths, sabertooth Turnskins, pterodactyl Harpies with leathery wings. Even the parts of them that resemble humans (and they have far fewer human-like parts than their modern counterparts) are larger than any actual human being. They operate primarily on instinct, made even stronger by the full moons above, and perceive the strange new creatures as threats - or food. Sticking to the river seems safest - at least until you run into megalodon Merrow, singing an alien, but alluring, song to draw in prey, or the apex predator of this prehistoric world - Dragons, bigger and scalier than the ones Mirrorbound may know, stopped to drink at the river. All other Monsters flee from the huge reptiles, lest they become food themselves. Luckily you can defend yourself with your new abilities, or your neat changes - you're small, but not totally helpless. Interesting to note... while all other Monster types are represented, there are no Fae or Chimeras in the Wilde here, and the Vampires are more like huge bat-monsters that traverse the jungle on all fours than humanoid bloodsuckers. |
 The Natives Going backward, away from the distant sounds of the sea and against the current of the river, leads you through dense jungle. How long have you traversed the landscape? Hours? Days? Time passes funny in dreams. Eventually the trees thin out, grow taller and less leafy, and the air becomes drier. Instead of loamy soil beneath your feet, you start to feel rocky, harder earth, and spot outcroppings of stone. The sun begins to rise, which makes it easier to spot people on the horizon, a little settlement coming to life in the morning, nestled where the river forks into two. They're much hardier than the familiar people of Aefenglom, sunburned and dressed in natural, rough fabrics. Their homes, if one can call them that, are shoddy little structures made of sticks and leaves and mud, pressed up against the sturdiness of the stone formations. And, when they spot strangers approaching their village, they scramble for their weapons - crude clubs, stone axes, even just large rocks snatched up off the ground. The translation magic works on them, thankfully. Their speech is halted and simple, but they get their point across. Tell them who you are, or they'll beat your brains in. Monsters might get their brains beat in anyway if they aren't careful, even though they're much smaller than the Monsters these humans are used to. And Witches? May the gods help you if you use magic in front of these terrified, unevolved people, lest they mistake you for a Fae (the word is whispered with fear and revulsion in their voices) and swarm you with simple iron tools. If you're an actual Fae, an obvious Fae? They'll whisk their children into their huts protectively and then run you right out of the village. Violently. The truly observant, or those who can see through illusions, among you may notice something strange, though. Some Fae actually seem to live among them, heavily cloaked in natural illusions, with the primitive humans none the wiser. There are just a few, but all of them look young, twelve or thirteen at the oldest, and they are all scared of their secret coming to light. Fae who get caught tend to be burned at the stake around here. |
 The Invaders Perhaps you chose to go forward, with the current and toward the distant sound of ocean waves, where the river pours into the sea. More long-time residents of Aefenglom may notice that the shoreline is familiarly-shaped, but wider, bigger, not yet worn down by thousands of years of erosion. There is no bustling Harbor, only the waves crashing on the rocks, small islands dotting the water near the shore. There is no Bright Wall - there is no city, even, only an expanse of beach transitioning gently into an idyllic grove dotted with gauzy, pointed tents, and a beautiful, gilded ship half sunk into the sandy earth. It seems safer than the jungle, at first - until you notice all the Fae. They're more insectoid than the ones many are familiar with, with big, glittering eyes and either bright, jewel-toned wings like dragonflies or butterflies, or delicate, leafy wings in greens and browns. They're also taller than modern, lesser Fae, though not by much, and they're thin and angular, standing on spindly limbs that barely seem able to hold them. Characters receive a warmer welcome here, by the band of true Fae that have made their camp in the grove, though the alien-looking beings have a tendency to treat them like toys, children, or both, cooing over their sizes and their magic. "Look at the little Monsters! Aren't they cute!" "We should make some of our own! And oh, the little humans have magic! Delightful!" It's hard to have a conversation with one - they're condescending at best, and at worst, flit off to another entertainment out of boredom while you're mid-sentence. And entertainments abound in their camp. They're served and tended to like emperors by collared humans - adults and young adults do the heavy labor, including pulling grand little chariots for transportation, though there are some highly-supervised human children running about fetching drinks and fanning their Fae masters with palm leaves. Farther out, a large, deep pit has been dug out of the earth, ringed by a waist-high barrier of logs, a few Fae gathering at the barrier and leaning over, talking in conversational, happy voices. Down below, Chimera gladiators fight for their amusement, while the Fae keep up running commentary, discussing each warrior's chances, new breeding prospects, interesting crossbreeds their fellows have come up with ("She's trying an Arachne and a Turnskin together, how delightful!"). Trying to disrupt the proceedings will only result in the Fae turning their magic on you - illusions and curses, nasty little tricks. Sit down, silly little ones! The fight is just getting good! Or maybe... Maybe they'll toss you into the pit to see what your chances are in battle. |
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Unfortunately, it makes all too much sense.
[Edelgard's voice is unintentionally sharp, her gaze darting from Leslie to these fae creatures, eyes chips of violet ice. If this were not a dream, she would likely unsling her axe from her shoulders and make her displeasure clear with it's blade. But it is a dream, and so it's best to simply let it roll off.]
You may be too young to have encountered this...but sometimes creatures that are not human think of us as things to be poked and prodded, or ordered about. Some see us as lesser beings, and those beings are wrong.
[She shakes her head at that.]
These little things are quite wicked, it would seem.
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But...but they can talk to --
["But they can talk to them. How can they think of an entire people as merely things?" She'd been able to talk to people at the Sperado mansion, and that made no difference in being treated like a lesser being. She might not be an entire species of her own, but the family records suggest that every child born with white hair in the family was treated like her. Her face falls, looking like she feels guilty.]
...I'm sorry. It might be my fault that this part of the dream is like this.
[Leslie's been coming to the theory that, since there were many dreamers, the reason this dream looks even stranger than a normal dream is that each dreamer is contributing to the whole. Some of the people she's met seem to not recognize anything, but she met a pretty lady who knew a lot about the bright, poisonous flowers, a short knight who knew legends of one of the giant creatures lumbering about, and a pointy-eared man who remembered a much smaller "forest" like this. It was enough for her to hold onto the theory. But she'd never figured out what she might have contributed.
Beings of great beauty treating others like they were merely tools without feeling the slightest guilt...maybe that was hers.]
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It is not your fault, little one. You have nothing to apologize for.
[On that she is firm, and she uses her stocky build to break Leslie's line of sight, hoping to get her to focus entirely on her. She has yet to reach out, but she keeps herself close.]
None of this is your fault. From what I have seen, this behavior among some non-human species is common within and without the land of dreams. The burden of their sin does not fall upon you in any way.
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She really has no choice but to focus on Edelgard. Briefly, Leslie does glance up at the axe on Edelgard's back now that it's closer to her eye level -- is it moving? -- but in the middle of a strange dream, her belief that it's polite to look the person who is talking in the face wins out over trying to figure out what is with the axe.]
But...dreams aren't real places. Someone has to imagine them up, don't they? Even if there are too many people who say it's their dream for me to have imagined all of this, some part of this must be my own imagination. I don't know anything about forests, or small villages, or the creatures that I've seen around, so I don't know where my part is in this.
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Dreams...are often misunderstood. Some of them are your own imagination, but there are other kinds of dreams. A world beyond sleep, beyond what your dreaming mind might know to be possible. I thought once as you did, but this place has disabused me of that notion.
Still, it's quite clever of you to jump to that conclusion, because it makes a great deal of sense.
[Her head tilts, her hand reaches out, palm up for Leslie to take, if she would like.]
May I know your name?
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wow she must be special since is getting the softness even though she is not a child she is twelveLeslie knows that there are a lot of things she doesn't know. Dreams are something she's never been taught about. She's only guessed from experience, and her experience isn't lining up with what is happening here.But that's a lot to take in. A different world? Somehow travelling somewhere in a dream in some real way? She isn't doubting it, but it's going to take her a few moments to sort it out in her head. Being told that she is clever is a much faster response, looking down and turning a little pink.
She can ask more about this dream world after introductions. For now (after a moment of staring blankly at the offered hand: she knows the etiquette of a maid much better than that of a lady), Leslie will respond to the question by placing one hand hesitantly on Edelgard's offered palm and curtsy, her free hand still lifting her dress on that side.]
My name is Leslie. May I know your name in return?
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My name is Edelgard von Hresvelg, Emperor of Adrestia.
[She continues, rolling over any potential commentary for the moment, wanting to get everything out. Just to be on the safe side, given Leslie's unusual coloration, she feels the need to confirm, and she hopes frankly that she is correct in assuming the girl is from another world.]
I imagine that you have not heard of my homeland. Is that so?
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But she isn't able to get as far as even letting out a syllable before Edelgard is smoothly continuing on past this and Leslie is distracted from her panic over manners.]
No. I...don't know much about what happens beyond the borders of the Rucardius Empire. My previous tutors weren't interested in teaching me the history of other nations. I think they thought that the empire's history was much more important.
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And I have never heard of the Rucardius Empire...and I have had an extensive education on all foreign nations known throughout my entire world. I think, Leslie, that it would be a safe assumption that your world is not the same as my own.
[Which is likely for the best. Fodlan is an ugly place, at times. And after five years of warfare, it's not really a place for a child to be happy. Not yet, anyway.]
Have you studied much?
[She tugs on Leslie's hand lightly as she asks this, gradually edging the two of them away from the collared humans and the strange little creatures.]
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oops, checking her description of her education again, I discovered I misremembered. she learned the continent’s history, not just the empire’s. from here on, it will be that she doesn’t know much of the world outside of the continent rather than the empire, but everything else is the same. now back to the current leslie now in progressOn all — oh, yes, of course.
[Her surprise stops suddenly when she realizes: of course an emperor would have to know such things.
...Wait. World??? Small mind-blown moment, but since she’s heard of dream worlds earlier in their conversation, she’s not immediately inclined to protest. She is certainly confused, but she has a question from Edelgard to consider.]
Um. I used to spend a lot of time studying. On how to translate the archaic language and the holy language, and the history of the continent, and Reianthon’s The Noble Art of Etiquette. And philosophy. I had trouble following Avanton’s theories, but I reread all of Nyrokia’s theories until I was able to understand them.
[
90% things that are too world-specific to have the actual knowledge be useful in Aefenglom, but at least she knows how to learn such things.]I only started working with Brother Ruenti today — yesterday? [When you’re asleep does that make the time before you fell asleep today or yesterday??] But I know already he is an amazing teacher.
traps you in HTML hell forever
[She's curious, because once again, she's genuinely impressed with how well spoken the girl is. And how, frankly, expansive her understanding seems to be for her age. Edelgard is not the best at guessing ages, but she is guessing just before her teenage years. Not quite into adolescence...but already thinking more rationally than Bernadetta and Caspar when they had been confronted with the dream world.]
If you've as voracious an appetite for learning as you seem then perhaps Geardagas, the world where we will wake into from this dream, will be of interest to you. The city has a great library, with books on every subject imaginable.
[Best ease her into this, probably.]
I know it might seem strange, perhaps a touch overwhelming and outlandish, going to sleep and then waking elsewhere. But rest assured, all will be well.
1/2 descends through a hidden trapdoor in the floor screaming
And they allow anyone to read the books inside? If it’s supposed to be for a whole city, it must be enor —
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I got distracted by sleepy canon review and forgot to mention butLeslie followed the tug on her hand from Edelgard — she had forgotten her hand was still in Edelgard’s grasp after the surprise of finding out she was an emperor and, while she is somewhat nervous to be hand-in-hand with an emperor she has just met, pulling her hand away seems far ruder — but now Leslie suddenly stops, almost frozen in place.]What do you mean, waking elsewhere? I — my body is still at home in bed, isn’t it?
Welcome to the SHADOW REALM, YOSIE!
Letting go of Leslie's hand, she nods and taps her fingers to her armored breast in a sort of cross-my-heart gesture.]
I mean it as it sounds. This...dream...is a kind of doorway into another world. It pulls dreamers into it, and deposits them into the city of Aefenglom for a time.
[She keeps any trace of concern, worry, or fear from her face admirably. There are some things that hopefully the girl won't have to face, like becoming a vampire, but there are other things she might do well at. Witchdom, perhaps. But best not to worry her further just yet.]
Your body will wake up in the city. And eventually, whatever power brought you to the city will return you home. My friend Caspar, one of my generals, arrived with me six months and then returned home in his sleep not long ago.
I know that might not sound terribly appealing, but there's nothing that we can do, for a time. There are scholars and researchers looking for ways to send us all home, though. So, you need not worry. We will all be home soon enough.
and fifty buzzsaws descend as my lifepoints get lower https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh1nqnZAKxw
[Leslie shakes her head rapidly, eyes wide and hands over her mouth. Subconsciously, she takes a few steps back, as though she's trying to retreat from the news.]
No, no, I can't disappear like that right now. If they can't find me -- if they don't know --
[A flash of realization crosses her face and she surges forward again, trying to take one of Edelgard's gauntlets in both of her hands, her expression pleading.]
There must be a way to leave a message behind. I -- please, if you know anything, I have to let them know!
God that man is a genius.
If such a way can be found, I will do everything I can to make certain you will be able to, Leslie.
[That much she would do, say, for anyone. However...]
As it stands, we...do not even know fully if time operates in the same way. From what I understand, the scholars believe that time stands still while we are here, and begins moving again once we return.
[It's a slim hope, but she keeps any trace of doubt out of her face. If Caspar had woken up knowing what was going on, and the other members of her army would certainly have noticed she was missing, then they'd have torn worlds apart to get here. The Professor had proven markedly capable of that once before, and Hanneman and Linhardt would certainly help.]
Do not fear, Leslie. Things will be quite alright. I promise you that.
[Famous last words...]
1/2 He's incredible and he's so right about Yu-gi-oh.
Leslie's own face doesn't hide any of her desperation. She tries, but it's obvious from her eyes and the way her lips are held too tightly together. The fear is a little more well-hidden, but the slight shake in her arms is more obvious for Edelgard since Leslie is holding her hand.
A few moments after Edelgard makes her promise, Leslie lets out a sigh and a lot of the tension escapes her body. She drops her head, eyes closed, and speaks in a low voice, speaking to herself but still loudly enough to be audible.]
Things will be alright. That's right. Even if I do disappear, the duchess is clever. She won't let herself get trapped by this. And I might not disappear at all. It will be alright. It will be alright.
[She's still worried, but she's no longer panicking. Or, at least, she's not panicking until she opens her eyes again and sees that she had unthinkingly grabbed Edelgard's hand. An emperor's hand.]
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I...I'm sorry, Your Majesty! I wasn't thinking, um.
[What does one say to an emperor in a situation like this? She's sure she read it somewhere....]
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It's quite alright, Leslie. I do not mind at all.
[The girl is a child, and a frightened one that just had her world dropped out from under her. She can hardly be expected to follow courtly etiquette, and Edelgard is glad that she has not.
So, perhaps thinking to round the conversation back to the girl, Edelgard focuses on a word that stood out.]
You are staying with a duchess, in your home?
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Leslie you have no ideaBut, then again, so was the duchess: the duchess is famously reclusive, one of the most important people in the empire, and a woman that no one in the world — in her world — could dare to disrespect, but just that evening, she’d placed her hand on Leslie’s head to calm her anxieties, too. Granted, Leslie still wouldn’t dare to rush up to grab the duchess’s hands, either, but she wouldn’t be afraid of the consequences if she did. She’d just feel embarrassed that she’d been so childish and disrespectful to someone so amazing, to someone who had been so kind to her. Maybe that’s how this emperor is, too. The thought helps as much as the ruffle to help calm her down, though she does still blush over her previous actions.Ah, and speaking of the duchess...Leslie still isn’t used to the idea of different worlds, so she thinks of the mansion when she hears “your home.”]
It’s her home, but yes, I am staying there. Duchess Salvatore — I heard she was looking to adopt a daughter, and I was able to come to an agreement for her to choose me, at least until I am old enough to live on my own. The law requires every child to live with their parents, and even though I’m not really a child any longer, I am also not an adult yet, legally.
[Leslie looks down, a fond smile growing over her face.]
Even though the adoption process is not over and I am not yet a Salvatore, the duchess has been letting me stay in her home. And even though our contract only requires for her to protect me, both she and her family have been amazingly kind to me. They are all wonderful people. I admire them very much.
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I'm glad to hear that, then. I would be concerned if someone with such a respectable title was not doing all they could for the well-being of a young woman like yourself. I believe quite firmly that caring for youth is one of the greatest duties a noble should be carrying out.
[That is, after all, one of the many reasons that she sought to break down the current system and reforge it.
It also sparked a thought in her. One she was not certain Hubert would like, but one that seemed like the right thing to make. It was a stated obligation, a sacred duty, and if she did not then she would worry, as she had with Michel.]
So with that said, when we wake, I will seek you out. You are still young, yet and Aefenglom can be a complex and confusing place. I have established myself, and have even begun gathering a library of my own. I would happily ensure you are kept safe and without worry, with plenty of opportunity to read and learn until such time as we all return home.
Furthermore, if the Duchess Salvatore arrives here, I would be loathe to have you returned to her care in a worse state than when last she saw you.
[It would reflect poorly on her indeed.]
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That expression, though, is blown away by her shock at Edelgard’s offer. Duchess Salvatore’s help, once given, has been basically all-encompassing, offering Leslie more than she could have ever dreamed, but even then, Leslie was the one who needed to make the first move. This is the first time in her life someone has offered her help proactively.
Of course, in this place, the barriers set in place by the Sperado family don’t exist, but her magic also isn’t there to be an advantage to looking after her. Big Brother Ruenti tells her that she is much smarter than she’d been told, but it’s not like Edelgard knew any of the books Leslie told her about. Even though Edelgard isn’t suggesting anything as monumental as adopting her away from an unwilling noble family, Leslie’s thoughts immediately turn into securing her place with a mutually beneficial contract.
Leslie clasps her hands together in front of her stomach. Her expression is tense as she tries to hold back her excitement (a library in the house! one like in the Salvatore mansion, where she doesn’t have to sneak in to read a book from it! someone to help her navigate a new world! a roof over her head!), but it’s clear in her eyes and the rapid pace of her words.]
Are you sure? Even if I can’t offer much, Big Brother Ruenti says I’m good at studying, so I’m sure I could help you in some way, but I’ll be okay if I have to find a place to live myself. I don’t want to put you out, and most of the reasons I had to ask the duchess for help won’t be a problem here. I’m sure she’d understand even if she comes to the city later.
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[Her honor demands such. She has played herself, small child. Well done. However, the earnestness of Leslie's statement and her sincere desire to do something useful is not lost on Edelgard. She doesn't even miss a beat when she continues on in reply.]
You are not putting me out. I live in a fairly large house with one other person, so realistically you would be assisting the city by sharing residency with someone who is already established.
Though, I think perhaps I could also find some tasks for you. You are clearly able to read, so I assume you know your letters, so you could assist Hubert and I as a scribe, and once you learn the city you could be a messenger for me.
[These are all reasonable tasks to expect of a self-sufficient young lady.]
It will be no trouble at all, Leslie. In fact, I think having another person around would make our home a more cheerful place.
the calculus involved in whether to reference other unfinished threads
"Of course. Any noble worth their salt would do the same. ......aw shit."
Leslie's hands grip each other more tightly as time goes on, but it's clear from her trouble hiding it in her expression that it's because she's trying to not have too much excitement burst out of her. No being childish ever, but especially not in front of an emperor, as kind as this emperor may be!! She does separate her hands when it comes to hearing about working as a scribe, but that is for her hands to fist in a kind of "I CAN DO IT" gesture.]
Yes! I can certainly write! And I am confident in my spelling. I will do my best to make sure it is neat and quick.
[Should she bow? It's probably right to bow when thanking an emperor, but also Edelgard seems to be okay with something more casual. Would it be more insulting to imply too much distance with someone she might be living with temporarily? She waffles for a couple of seconds and, in the end, doesn't bow.]
Thank you, Your Majesty. I wouldn't want to inconvenience the city, and it will be really helpful for me to be with someone who already knows the city and is established. I don't know if I'm the best person to cheer up a home, but I will do my best!
[...Hubert. Hubert. That sounds familiar. Something recent.... It's been hard to keep track of what she's been doing in this dream, which probably would worry her more if she wasn't dreaming. But she vaguely recalls meeting someone else and asking about the collars. She concentrates and tries to remember....]
Oh! You're the emperor that Marquis Vestra said he serves!
The Calculus of Angels
I trust that you will.
[She chuckles, though breaks off a bit at the mention of 'Marquis Vestra.'
Not in a bad way, just considering...]
I am indeed. Marquis Vestra, Hubert, is my closest confidant and adviser. Though, I know he can seem a touch unsettling at times, he is among the most loyal people you could ever hope to meet.
Was he kind to you?
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1/2
2/2 I thought this was going to be a lot less in-depth??
haha it's okay!
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