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  1. #11
    Viator Mundi

    EXP: 155,108, Level: 17
    Level completed: 18%, EXP required for next Level: 14,892
    Level completed: 18%,
    EXP required for next Level: 14,892


    Shinsou Vaan Osiris's Avatar

    GP
    7,753

    Name
    Shinsou Vaan Osiris
    Age
    34
    Race
    Telgradian
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone

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    The Telgradian was renowned for his stoicism, but even he had to fight the urge to protest the show in front of the Faun’s private kingdom. Likely, it had not been Philomel’s intention, but his very public “escort” into the room, the expressions of mock incredulity etched on the hundreds of faces of the Gilded Lily members and Philomel’s deliberately loud announcement made him feel alienated and isolated almost immediately. But, this was the game they played. He closed his eyes and sighed to himself; he shouldn’t have been worried about them, but all day he had been concerned about what they would think of his words. It was exceedingly difficult to find the right tone of conciliation, if he could at all, but Shinsou had eventually resolved that it was a far greater victory to help them see through his eyes than to close theirs forever.

    Suck it up. You had it worse in Telgradia, with a much tougher crowd.

    “Can’t say I feel comfortable, to be honest, but it’s nothing I haven’t been through before.” Flicking strands of dark hair out of his face, he looked up at the Faun, and made sure that she caught his eyes, before turning to the gathered Lily. Some of them whispered amongst themselves, gesturing to him in various ways, some rude and some not. Then, the room fell quiet as they waited with baited breath to hear the words of their oppressor. Shinsou did not wait to be invited to speak.

    He didn’t have to.

    “I have no doubt there are going to be a lot of mixed feelings in this room tonight,” He redirected his gaze to the various faces in the audience. His hair and clothes were still damp with the remnants of the constant filthy drizzle from the afternoon’s walk. His bones ached with the seeping cold, but his eyes were like fire, “So I want to set the record straight, once and for all. Firstly, a few formalities. For those who don’t know, the Assembly and the Brotherhood have negotiated an armistice that will put an end to hostilities, as long as certain conditions are met. As the person jointly most responsible for the damage caused to Radasanth by the Brotherhood, I have agreed that we will make reparations to the government for our part, and, as soon as is practicable, withdraw from Tylmerande. After this, we will continue to help with the aftermath of the calamity that affected us all.”

    The Telgradian looked around to judge the reaction of the hostile crowd. He could feel the mood had shifted slightly, but there was still work to be done.

    “That brings me to the reasons I am here, of which there are three. The first one is that the Assembly felt it would be better suited to have me under the care of the Lily, instead of standing trial, so that my actions and words can be monitored. I can already see there are many of you out there who disagree with this decision, and I do not begrudge you this opinion. That is yours to have. But, nevertheless, I am here, and whilst I am here you can rest assured that I will cause no trouble and will respect this place as I would respect my own. ”

    The horizon of the hall remained obscured by shadows, caused by menacingly evil clouds that had haunted the heavens all day blotting out the sun outside, and this obscured some of the faces in the crowd. Shinsou could not decide whether his words would have any effect on the grieving and angry women below.

    “The second reason, as you have probably heard, regards planning for the destruction of a Brotherhood splinter faction simply calling themselves the Castigars. They are led by a man called Arius Mephisto, and we will, together, hunt down and eliminate this threat to our newly established peace. Philomel will brief you more on this later.”

    Arius…the cunt, The Telgradian silently mouthed, feeling a shiver run down his spine at the mere mention of Mephisto’s name.

    Shinsou readjusted his stance once again as the Vaeron emerged from behind him, obviously wanting to look the Telgradian in the eyes to determine whether or not he could trust the words he spoke.

    “Thirdly,” Shinsou declared, turning directly to Philomel. He stood in front of her, and knelt, his head bowed as the faun’s eyes widened in surprise. She had never seen the Telgradian bend the knee to anyone before, and could never imagine he would be open to such subjugation so publicly. “You, Philomel van der Aart, who leads the Lily and so courageously stood against us for what you believed in, to you I owe more than I can ever repay. I offer you my apologies for the hurt and pain our campaign caused you and your lily, I offer you thanks for your steadfast loyalty to me even in my darkest hour, and I offer you my sword in defence of the Lily and the Coronian ideals we now need to uphold.”

    “Thank you,” He repeated with a slight subconscious bow as Philomel reverently retrieved the offered sword, Enpera, from her pledge. He slipped back a pace as the Lily collectively whispered in a barely audible rasp, smiling softly to himself. The balance of his words, he hoped, had allowed for greater prospects of reconciliation.

    In the background, Raine’s face flickered briefly from scepticism to a grateful expression. The momentary emotion was well controlled, especially for a human barely twenty five years of age, but not well enough to escape Shinsou’s notice.

  2. #12
    Legend

    EXP: 127,650, Level: 15
    Level completed: 55%, EXP required for next Level: 7,350
    Level completed: 55%,
    EXP required for next Level: 7,350


    Philomel's Avatar

    GP
    14,025

    Name
    Philomel van der Aart (+ Veridian)
    Age
    30 (+10)
    Race
    Faun (+ Fox/Earth Spirit)
    Gender
    Female (+ Male)
    Location
    Corone

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    Why? Why, damn you, you bloody amazing ...

    She couldn't stand him up in that. Not with the hundreds of eyes watching, of her own people who stood and sat in that hall with her reminiscent of a throne room. Him, taking a bloody knee to her and, in not so many words, offering a kind of fealty. Yes, perhaps not to her directly but to the Lily itself.

    Oh he was clever. And he was deadly charming. That cocky gleam in his eye that she saw when no one was looking, that might not have even been intentional.

    Shinsou was her 'prisoner'. Her hostage held for the chaos that was the battle over Corone. He was partly owned by the Gilded Lily, and in offering his sword he was not only cementing that idea into the minds of the world but also - well, proving himself. Confirming he was still a man of honour, willing subjecting himself to the principles and the ideals of the Gilded Lily. Principles that Philomel herself was entirely subject too as well. She was simply the figurehead of the beautiful world that the women long to create - the primary instigator.

    She took the sword and stared at him with wide eyes as she slipped out of her chair, paused and then offered it back. Her heart pounded. Her breath quickened. And her loins ...

    I had sworn off you, she groaned to herself. Stop it, you terrible man. I am trying to fall out of love with you. Not back in ...

    Maybe you never fell out of love, chittered a voice in the back of her head. Over by the wall the golden eyes and white tipped tail of Veridian peered out from under a large chestnut cabinet.

    Oh shut up, she growled as she sat back into her chair. Her throne. Grumpily, she gestured to someone and another chair was soon being dragged up to be beside hers. It was smaller, and less ornate, usually reserved for her daughter but then Celandine was away still. Being shown the world by her governness Gosling, and kept away from all of this terror.

    "Sit, if you will," Philomel sighed softly, looking to Shinsou. She nodded to various groups around the room and bit by bit they began to go back to their conversations.

    Vaeron moved closer, dragging up his own stool to perch within earshot. Seconds passed as the room returned to some form of normality, the words now said, the ceremony now inacted.

    Still, she stared at the man who had stolen her heart. Again. "So. That was ... Not what I was expecting," she muttered when they could speak once more in realtive privacy.

    "Now you've surprised me ... Well," she made a face. "I can surprise you back. Tomorrow morning I'm leaving to go scout the area for Arius. And I'm not taking you with me."
    *admin at your service*

    Matriarch of the Gilded Lily and of its brothels, associated establishments and the army.

    Characters:
    The family triplet: Philomel, Vaeron and Celandine.
    The god and kenku triplet: Stare, Avin and Vixen.
    The Primordials: Professor Charles and Moros.

  3. #13
    Viator Mundi

    EXP: 155,108, Level: 17
    Level completed: 18%, EXP required for next Level: 14,892
    Level completed: 18%,
    EXP required for next Level: 14,892


    Shinsou Vaan Osiris's Avatar

    GP
    7,753

    Name
    Shinsou Vaan Osiris
    Age
    34
    Race
    Telgradian
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone

    View Profile
    Shinsou's 'theatrics' (as Storm probably would have called them) had gone down well with the assembled Gilded Lily, and their voluptuous leader Philomel. At least, that's what the Telgradian had ascertained from the mild buzz of chatter drifting through the hall. The gathering seemed far happier to tend to their meals and idle banter than to ridicule or even assault him, and this was something he was happy to roll with. But, even this being so, the mention of Arius Mephisto suddenly brought forth a new nervous tension.

    The timing of the treachery of his former right hand man had ended up unwittingly serving two masters, a political one and one of bought time, but there was still a very real danger attached to physicality of what the faun was suggesting. This pushed the conversation in a new direction, of which Shinsou suddenly found himself the uncomfortable purveyor of. For all intents and purposes, he was assigned to the Lily to keep him a prisoner, whether his show of faith to Philomel had been genuine or not (it was). But did that prevent him from taking personal decisions on his own vendettas?

    The spellsword stared briefly at the sky for unavailable answers, and then decided to throw in his lot. Shinsou was sure he’d discern something here either way, whether it be the limitations of his freedom or how much his newly sworn fealty to Philomel and the Lily bought him in terms of goodwill. The Telgradian took a breath, settling his heartbeat. There was something reassuring about the reaction he had gotten from his speech, and if he was going to test the limits of what he could and could not do whilst in service to the faun, then he’d to know what she was prepared to accept from him.

    "With your permission, I'd like to go with you. I can sense him when he's nearby, and I feel that we'd be more efficient with our time and resources if we minimised the amount of ground we needed to cover."

    Shinsou waited for a reaction from the faun, having to stamp down the urge to push his luck further. Ironically, she now filled several conflicting roles in his life. Jailer and protector. Leader and lover. Could she fulfil all of these? If so, how?

    The question rested on his lips as he doused them with water from a cup in his hand, waiting for confirmation.

  4. #14
    Legend

    EXP: 127,650, Level: 15
    Level completed: 55%, EXP required for next Level: 7,350
    Level completed: 55%,
    EXP required for next Level: 7,350


    Philomel's Avatar

    GP
    14,025

    Name
    Philomel van der Aart (+ Veridian)
    Age
    30 (+10)
    Race
    Faun (+ Fox/Earth Spirit)
    Gender
    Female (+ Male)
    Location
    Corone

    View Profile
    She opened her mouth to reply, but the words never came. Instead she went quiet, looking in on herself and sighed. Her dearest friend, her lover, by her side. Softly, she smiled, trying to decide between anger for the people who had ruined their lives and the desire to restore what they had lost.

    The court ended without her giving Shinsou an answer. She left everyone, and went into the kitchen gardens of the fortress, to a place where her mother's remains had blessed the grounds for some years. Thinking about her daughter, who played somewhere in the tunnels beneath her feet, followed by her governess and teachers, philomel considered life and all its goodness. How could the world move forward? Was Arius really that great a danger?

    The answer to that came in a missive and the horn of an arrival to their sanctuary. A rider came fast up the angled pathway, in full view of the guards, tracked by crossbow point. They came through the gate, feverish and gasping, revealed to be one of their own. Shakily, they handed Philomel a scroll directly from horseback as the faun strode into the sunlight. There was an inhale. There was a silence.

    She unfurled it, slowly, and read.

    And found out the dreadful truth -

    Arius had already left Corone.
    *admin at your service*

    Matriarch of the Gilded Lily and of its brothels, associated establishments and the army.

    Characters:
    The family triplet: Philomel, Vaeron and Celandine.
    The god and kenku triplet: Stare, Avin and Vixen.
    The Primordials: Professor Charles and Moros.

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