♔ CROWNLANDS [closed]

[baenerys]

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queen of skaga // mentions: calahan, audri, mavyron, eldrich, talvayas // tags: gwyn; feyre

The King had perhaps just caught the sensation of magic from Tal's spell, as he locked eyes with the Witch; Saskia was not surprised by this, only noting that it pointed him to be stronger of mind and will than the average person. She could see the King alongside the Prince, engaging in conversation with Mavyron; best to leave them to it, she thought. Her eyes flashed back as swiftly as they had flickered to him, resting again on the golden girl before her. Feyre was pleasant, and bubbly; she spoke with a genuine nature, Saskia believed, without needing one of Tal's spells to tell her so. She touched her golden pins and spoke softly. There was a warmth to her that seemed different to the Gwyn girl, Saskia thought, as he own hand reached up to brush the silver rings in her braid. "These were my mother's as well. Our daughters earn their own, but inherit their mother's as well." Daughters in Skaga could trace their Rings through generations, and the ones Saskia wore that evening were ancient as her family tree; a whole mix of intricate details, each with a slightly different sheen, of varying sizes. Saskia even managed a slight, pursed-lip smile at the prospect of Feyre offering her golden ornaments for her hair to try. "That is kindly of you to offer," she replied. Princess Gwyneth was speaking now, but it took even then some moments for Saskia to turn her head to look at the girl. Eyes of grey met hers of brown; cold eyes, warm eyes. Gwyneth was apologizing her her earlier hostility, as she ought to, Saskia thought, but the damage had been done and the Skagan Queen refused to warm to her. And what did your father do when my mother offered him peace? He spat in her face and slaughtered her people. For a moment, Saskia thought she'd almost do the same, but decided against it in that instance. She doubted that Gwyneth's gesture was entirely genuine, but still. "I wouldn't wish to make a party into such a dull affair." Saskia replied, cold. "Whether your intentions are good or ill, I will decide for myself. I need no apology for a natural reaction. I would try to make myself more fierce if a wolf came into the rabbit's burrow as well." The Queen left the partial threat hanging in the air, and went to step forward to continue on by the two Aeralyan girls towards a relatively empty table and benches. She wasn't one for the flouncy nature of Aeralyan music, naturally preferring the fast-paced thump of drums from the north, but the rhythm now was light-hearted and inspired many people to sweep up in elegant dances. Her gaze drifted around, searching for Mavyron, Eldrich, Talvayas or any of the others from her household, all of whom stood stark in contrast to the flowing golden colours of the Aeralyans. Her gaze rested again on Gwyneth, as she gestured to the open floor, "As I say, I wouldn't wish to make a party into such a dull affair."

[tempest,]

ＥＬＤＲＩＣＨ ＨＡＷＴＨＯＲＮＥ
role queensguard of skaga | location great hall | tags noah

Eldrich was not particularly astounded by the rapidly changing mood in the room, Saskia's stern greeting faced with tactful attempts in dissolving tensions from the local monarchs, then the goal somewhat more successfully reached by the golden-haired woman who managed to strike up a conversation with his Queen. Throughout his service he had viewed royal affairs from the sidelines numerous times. As subtlety had never been his strong suit or piqued his curiosity, he did so without much intent in deciphering the delicate nuances of diplomacy – arguably an oversight on his part. The true intents were rarely found in words declared, sincere as they may seem, but rather markedly written in a person's face, posture, no doubt including his own.

Speaking of which, having discreetly distanced himself from Saskia, for there was no immediate duty he had to attend to, Eldrich locked eyes with an Aeralyan guard vigilantly looming beside the cluster of royals and other closer witnesses of the Skagan entrance. The young man could have been alarmed by Talvayas' previous magic manoeuvres or understandably wary of intruders, though his unwavering gaze seemed to pierce straight into Eldrich, which earned a quick raised eyebrow in return. Unblinkingly, he held eye contact for a couple of seconds, confirming that the other was indeed watching him in particular. Perhaps the guarded stance of a seasoned knight reminded the dark-haired man of his own, yet his intuition told him that the other would be less than receptive to an instinctive playful wink, or the subtle smirk that was threatening to form on his lips. However, it was already a split second too late. Surely nobody else in the crowd would notice, still the watchful guard, if he was halfway perceptive, likely may have. With the current positions of his own people visually marked in his head, Eldrich paced unhurriedly towards the younger man and took up a smooth, perfectly cordial tone, with just a pinch of sarcasm thrown into the mix. "Anything I can help you with?"

[Dragonheart48]

The Witch of the Frozen Moon
talvayas. tags. Gwyn & Feyre


Talvayas mirrored the King's expression with a nod of acknowledgment, and maybe she was a little impressed with him being gracious enough to take a spell being cast on him in stride. With Mavyron taking the King's attention off of her she turned and followed in her Queen's wake approaching the pair of women who first greeted them. "M'ladies", she said with a smile generally trying to look as nonthreatening as possible. Her gaze flicked between the two taking a moment to debate which of the two she should address first. "Her majesty asked to take some precautionary measures as I saw fit, but with your stellar first impression, a definite promise of no ill intentions would likely be the fastest way to smooth things over".

She offered her hand to Gwyn, and she almost lost her composure at seeing someone in the crowd behind stumble away dragging a very confused partner with them. There was a small part of her that was almost sad that people were so afraid of her, but a much larger part recognized the intelligence of fearing what comes from the arcane. Tal had seen the kind of destruction that could come from someone malicious wielding that kind of power, it was something people should be afraid of.

[horror.]

𝐌𝐚𝐯𝐲𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐤𝐬
Prince of Skaga//Located at the Great Hall//Tagged With Calahan, Audri, Saskia//Feeling Restless

"We are grateful for your hospitality, your majesty." Mavyron flashed both the royal brothers of Aeralya a small, polite smile. "However, that decision lies entirely with Queen Saskia." Unlike his sister who kept herself cool and distant, he was a little more forthcoming. Still, he kept an impersonal air about him that most nobility in Skaga showed. From where he was speaking with King Calahan and Prince Audri, Mavyron caught his sister's gaze. He was not daunted.

Although he made his disagreement of her plans heard, he would not betray her, nor the people of his country. His sisters knew this better than anyone.

Before anyone had noticed the brief shift in his attention, Mavyron was once again engaged with the two other men. "I must say, I am unused to the sun in Morena. It is unlike anything in the frigid regions of Skaga." He paused. "It...is pleasantly different. " The fairer weather of Aeralya had given his lighter complexion a rouge tint.

Skagans who lived in the mountainous regions of the north experienced nothing but snow. They thrived on hunting mountain goats and Caribou. Bushes of wild berries grew among hardy spruces and hemlock and made for delicious jams and desserts known only to Skaga.

It was vastly different than his motherland where agriculture flourished, and the country had bountiful harvests. With such mild weather and rich soil, anything could grow, and it was simply refreshing to see. He remembered peering out the carriage window to marvel at a sea of wheat swaying with a breeze. That vivid image ingrained itself into his mind, and he could not forget it since arriving in Aeralya.

He was not given the time to see more of Aeralya. A pity, really, but he had to remind himself that this was not a leisurely excursion. Their journey to the south was to decide the fate of their realms—for better or for worse. He couldn't relax. He was waiting with bated breath.

Everything was set in motion, and when his sister gave the signal, he would follow.

"I'm afraid I'm not dressed for such weather."

[ghostie,]

𝚐𝚠𝚢𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚢𝚛𝚘𝚜
( name. gwyn myros ) ( role. princess of aeralya ) ( location. great hall ) ( tags. everyone basically )

Gwyn narrowed her eyes slightly at Saskia's thinly-veiled threat. "Of course, your Majesty." she replied, dipping her head, more to hide the suspicion that had crept onto her face than to show respect. Taking a deep breath, Gwyn cleared her features and replaced any emotions with a blank, placid look. The princess watched as Saskia walked off, turning back to them again. At the Queen's comment, Gwyn gave a closed-lip smile in return that completely dropped off her face the moment Saskia had turned her back.

Gwyn turned slightly towards Feyre. "It's a good thing she seems to like you." she muttered, flaring her nostrils in irritation. While Gwyn completely supported her brother's wishes in bringing peace back between the two kingdoms, she couldn't help but be both suspicious and irritated with the Skagan Queen. She frowned, but at the approach of another figure, quickly cleared the expression from her face. It was then that she realized it was Talvayas, the Skagan witch.

Gwyn dipped her head in greeting and smiled politely. So far, the witch seemed much warmer to her than the Queen, though Gwyn knew it was most likely a facade. "Of course, I can understand wanting to have assurance." She replied, tilting her head slightly. "Though surely you cannot blame me for being surprised at Queen Saskia's arrival." Gwyn added, throwing in a soft laugh at the end purely for the dramatics. "That being said, I assure you I mean no harm to you all," she continued, gesturing vaguely to the rest of the Skagans. "None of us do."

𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚢𝚛𝚘𝚜
( name. cal myros ) ( role. king of aeralya ) ( location. great hall ) ( tags. everyone basically )

Calahan nodded. "Of course." he replied. The King knew he needed to engage in a proper conversation with Saskia, and he scanned the room, trying to catch a glimpse of her silver hair. His attention was brought back to the prince in front of him when Mavyron spoke again.

Cal chuckled, grinning amicably. The prince really was not dressed for Aeralyan weather, what with the heavy cloak and all. Cal found himself increasingly grateful for his light button down and blazer. All the Skagans were dressed for winter, which he supposed made sense since that is where they came from. He just hoped they all had something underneath it all so none of them died of heat stroke. That would be a royal nightmare.

"It is lovely, isn't it." Cal replied, casting a glance out a nearby window, where he could see a breeze ruffling the trees. The sky was dark, but nights in Aeralya consisted of left over heat from the day mixed with the cool breeze of nighttime air. It was Cal's favourite time to stand on the balcony of his room. Now that the Skagans had arrived, he doubted he'd have a chance to do that tonight. "No, you truly are not!" he agreed, gesturing at the prince's cloak. "I can have someone come and take that for you, if you'd like." he offered, flagging down a nearby waiter.

[daughter]

F E Y R E A G N O R
the ward | mentions: | tags: Saskia, Gwyn, Talvayas

The young lady watched as Saskia and Gwyn spoke, knowing this was not a matter for her to speak on. No, this was between Gywn and Saskia. Feyre stood with a relaxed expression while listening, not wanting to appear to be too involved in the affair, as though their conversation was nothing more than two peers discussing the weather. The threat from Saskia did not ease any of the previous tensions but it seemed that for the meantime it be impossible to avoid any uncomfortable moments. The invitation from the Queen set Feyre back into her natural ease. She nodded with a smile as she spoke. "What a wonderful idea. I had actually been dancing before your arrival. I'm assuming that you're music is different to ours. Am I correct? If so, I'd love to hear it one day if it as beautiful as your traditions and clothes are."

For her, it was not a difficult task to get along with others. Years of being prodded by the public after her parent's death had prepared her social skills to be able to adapt under pressure, especially when conversations were going poorly. This was only supported by Gywn pointing out how the Queen seemed to like Feyre. She had noticed it too, not knowing if it was genuine or not. She hoped it was genuine. Feyre squeezed Gwyn's arm, hoping to offer some comfort. "First, we try and get through tonight without a fight. Then we can worry about whether or not they like us." At this, she smiled softly at Gwyn. However, Feyre was aware the odds were not in their favor of a brawl not breaking out so at this point it was trying to delay it for as long as they could.

At the appearance of Talvayas, Feyre looked at the witch. She responded with a simple hello to her introduction. Feyre wondered if the reaction of the Aeraylans behind the ladies bothered Talvayas, and decided to try to reassure the woman. "Don't mind them. Our people are strangers to magic is all."

[baenerys]

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knight of aeralya // mentions: saskia, gwyn, // tags: eldrich

The Skagan Queen's threat hung in the air, but as Gwyn made no gesture for him, Noah held his tongue and did not react. Instead, he pursed his lips tight, catching the eye of the Skagan Queensguard again. He knew the man's name to be Eldrich, for he had heard many a tale of this young man who had rose so far up the ranks, and so swiftly. In that moment, as the two knights held each other's gaze, Noah clenched this hands tighter, clasped at his front while the Queensguard approached. He had heard that the knight had been reckless and something of a loose canon before he stepped into the royal household; that he had lacked honour. There seemed to be at least a slightly different person standing here now, so serious and poised. He approached Noah with an easy, long stride, speaking with a voice smooth as honey. Noah detected a hint of sarcasm in there too as he spoke. The younger knight kept his head level, and cleared his mind, reverting back to his own morals and standing, as opposed to acting how he was perhaps expected to. Though he didn't drop his guard, Noah did make an effort to be more approachable than Saskia Ioreks, but not perhaps as forward as Gwyn had been in her welcome. "No, ser," he replied, "Only glad to see that you all came bearing no arms as natural law dictates. You are the Queensguard, Ser Eldrich Hawthorne." It was a statement, rather than a question. No malice behind it, just a comment. "I believe we share similar roles, albeit for different kingdoms. My name is Ser Noah Rivers, household knight for the Myros family." Noah extended his hand, his plain tunic of dark blue not entirely that different to his Skagan counterpart.

[pasdeplumas]

audri myros
prince of aeralya, in the great hall
mentions talvayas, gwyn, feyre, saskia, noah, eldrich ; tags calahan, mavyron

With the unusual formalities out of the way, Saskia had passed Cal and Audri, evidently preferring the company of those Aeralyans that were female. That was his initial thought, but then he noticed how she blatantly ignored the princess, speaking directly to their ward as if she were the only person in the room who mattered. Audri himself had often felt that way, whenever he was trapped in those dull debates among the court, Feyre always seemed to be the one to wave at him from the shadows, making funny faces to try and make him laugh. Pulling his thoughts back to the present, he realized he had seen Saskia smile, however faintly, at Feyre's kind words. Of course she would be the first one the queen went to converse with Feyre was just being herself. He made a mental note to himself to portray the same natural sweetness when speaking with the Skagan queen. She obviously appreciated being treated like a human. Perhaps she wasn't so barbaric as his forefathers believed her people to be.

He wasn't surprised, rather hopeful that this meant Calahan's peace-seeking initiative might not be in vain. His face remained impassably neutral when his brother put a hand on his shoulder, and before long, he had tuned out Calahan's conversation with Mavyron, watching the witch trail along behind her queen. Gwyn was speaking, he could see her mouth moving, but from here, he couldn't hear the topic they were discussing. Based on the look on his sister's face, it was neither pleasant nor disagreeable, but something in between. Her smile was not lighting the room as it usually did, that much was clear.

His brother was talking about the weather of all things. Can we move on from that now? He wondered absentmindedly, as the queen moved away from Gwyn and Feyre to take a seat, however, it appeared she was still open to talking with them and any others bold enough to approach. He knew Cal would eventually sit with her, try and break the ice between them a bit, but he wasn't sure whether he would expect Audri to accompany him. Part of him was itching to hear that conversation above all others, but movement of a dark figure caught his attention. A man, whom he assumed to be the queensguard of the Skagan household, had approached Noah, who responded by offering his hand to shake. Nothing abnormal there, instinct told him that was perhaps where he would be needed first.

He smiled at Mavyron almost apologetically when Cal reached hand out to summon a server to take the prince's heavy cloak.

"How did you find the journey here?" He asked, trying to prevent any further loss of interest on his own part, trying to act engaged until his brother dismissed him. "Hopefully not too arduous."

[tempest,]

ＥＬＤＲＩＣＨ ＨＡＷＴＨＯＲＮＥ
role queensguard of skaga | location great hall | tags noah

Now standing closer, Eldrich could still perceive some wariness from the younger man, even though admittedly the other did a great job at not making it conspicuous. The mention of weaponry, or the demanded lack of it thereof, was not acknowledged with any dubious change in his look, which could betray the intentions of the Skagan entourage, yet he briefly wondered why the fact was addressed in the first place. Similarly, his expression did not give away his surprise upon being swiftly recognized and unable to truthfully claim the same, although from the knight's keen gaze he had recognized that this could be the case. For this quick perception, he had to give the knight credit. "I see you are well informed, Ser Noah Rivers." He did his best to keep the smugness out of his voice and remain fully polite and neutral. Still, he realized that coming off as somewhat haughty could very well be inevitable at this time. Eldrich had made himself familiar with the names of certain people working for the royal family beforehand, including mainly the much older, long-serving guards. The name of Noah Rivers had happened to be off the radar; however, it could be taken positively, for notoriety traveled much farther than good deeds. "Pleased to make your acquaintance." Without much hesitation, he firmly shook the extended hand. Although they had similar duties overall, Eldrich instantly noted that to his mind, his own role was arguably more distinctive. Nonetheless, he couldn't speak for Noah's factual standing with the Myros family, how close and trustworthy he was regarded as. "I hope our arrival hasn't disturbed your evening too much." Referring to the guarded stance of the other man and the intense look that had followed Eldrich for a while before the official greeting. "I would hate to make this visit to Aeralya less than pleasant in any way, especially so early on." Through the general courtesy, a slight edge crept in his voice at this remark.

[baenerys]

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Ｒ Ｉ Ｖ Ｅ Ｒ Ｓ
knight of aeralya // mentions: saskia, calahan // tags: eldrich

Noah couldn't help but notice just how well the Skagan Queensguard hid his emotions and reactions. It must be something to do with being born up north, he thought wildly, for the whole lot of them seemed to maintain expressionless regardless of the words spoken to them. He knew that this man hadn't a clue really who Noah was, not that he expected him to; Noah knew every knight in the north and south firstly from a love for story and song, and second to know exactly who he might encounter one day or the next. Eldrich Hawthorne wasn't that much older than him, but the defining difference between them was that the elder held a title not available in Aeralya. The Myros family only had household knights and guards, all at equal standing - there was no captain, nobody with a title to differentiate from the rest of them. He shook hands with Eldrich, noting the steadiness of his arm, and also noting the slight edge in that last remark. An easy lop-sided grin tugged over Noah's lips and he shrugged, gesturing out to the hall. "We're a prosperous people. We eat and drink and be merry. It is not a bad way of life." It was actually a good way of life. This fragile 'peace', if it could be called that, between Skaga and Aeralya this past while had left the Aeralyan people to grow their crops in peace and reap rich harvests. He supposed that 'peace' wasn't really the correct way to phrase it. In his heart of hearts, he thought that maybe the distance that the Iorek family had shown since their last combat on the battlefield was not a way to grieve, but a way to become stronger. And yet, here they all were, together in one hall, with not a weapon bared. So maybe it was a peace, of sorts. He looked back to the Queensguard, swiping a pair of goblets from a nearby table, filled to the brim with sweet summerwine. He offered one to Eldrich. "King Calahan is... not like his father," Noah was walking on ice here, but he felt he had to say it, "He is... hopeful for peace. We all are."